Time Is A Cruel Mistress Novels & Stories

After I was brought back from the kidnapping, my mafia boss husband, Jonathan Caruso, arranges for me to live in a new villa. "You've suffered so much over the years, Nat…" Jonathan caresses the scar on my face, sympathy and pain evident on his face. As I listen to his words, I just smirk in return. Sure, he's been keeping up a loving and devoted facade. Unfortunately for him, I've always known that he doesn't want me to survive at all. After all, he's the one who has delivered me into the dark and damp water prison three years ago as a wedding gift for Governor Frederick Romano in order to marry his daughter, Kelsey Romano.

A group of unexpected guests suddenly barged into my relative’s funeral. The woman, Xena Carter, leading them claimed to be my husband’s girlfriend and declared that she was here to punish me, the supposed mistress. Out of respect for the funeral, I did not want to make a scene, so I calmly suggested she wait until it was over. But out of nowhere, she lashed out and ordered her group to shred all of my clothes. My relatives around us did nothing and watched coldly as it happened. I calmly dusted myself off, stood up, and led her over to the urn. "This urn for my mother was bought by your boyfriend. It cost nearly a million!" As expected, the mistress flew into a rage, smashing the urn to pieces. "You shameless family of lowlifes! Don’t think you’ll get a single cent from my boyfriend, even in death!" What she did not know was that when I said "mother," I was referring to my husband’s mother, my mother-in-law. She was causing a scene at my mother-in-law’s funeral, and she had just smashed her urn to pieces.

After the sudden death of their parents, two step-sisters, Carla and Catherine, are left to fend for themselves. Carla sacrifices her education to support Catherine, working tirelessly to make ends meet while Catherine’s life remains untouched by struggle. In love, Carla gives up her dream to help her boyfriend, Charles, pursue his dream of becoming a surgeon. Months after he travels abroad to study, Carla discovers she is pregnant with his child. But when Charles returns, Carla uncovers a devastating betrayal—Charles has been cheating with Catherine’s friend, Ivory, and they have a child together. Heartbroken, Carla is abandoned at the altar by Charles, who chooses to be with Ivory instead. In the aftermath, Carla’s daughter, Mia, falls gravely ill. Despite Carla’s desperate pleas, no one comes to her aid, and Mia tragically dies. Carla vows revenge and in bid of that enters a contract marriage with Carlos, Catherine’s ex, intending to destroy her step-sister. But Carlos is still in love with Catherine, pulling Carla deeper into a web of lies and deceit. Just when Carla believes she has lost everything, she is saved by Henry Wordsworth, heir to TJX Fashion Company. With Henry’s help, she embarks on a quest for revenge, determined to take down everyone who wronged her. But what happens when she discovers that the parents of her newfound love, Henry, are the ones behind her parents' deaths?

When I got reborn into my youthful years, I turned down the marriage proposal of Seth Klein, the future major general. Instead, I chose to be with Nathan Prescott, who lived a poor life. My mother thought I was possessed. After all, the entire village knew that I, the village chief's daughter, used to follow the well-educated Mr. Klein around all the time. Apparently, I was willing to do anything just to marry him. I soon recalled what happened in my previous life. After I married Seth, we never consummated our marriage. He even brought back a child, claiming that said child belonged to a fellow soldier who had passed on in the war. I viewed the child as my own and made an effort to raise him. It wasn't until our fiftieth anniversary that I discovered a secret after barging into Seth's study, which had always been forbidden to me. It turned out that the study was plastered with photos of my older cousin, Catherine Parker—the most beautiful woman in the village. The thing was, she had been dead for a long time. The truth was, Seth has always been capable of performing in bed. He was merely practicing abstinence because of Catherine. Furious, I collapsed and was admitted to the hospital. But my son, whom I treated as my own, was the one who unplugged my life support with his own hands. "If it weren't for you taking over my mom's position as the actual wife, she wouldn't have died as an unknown mistress!" After my death, I witnessed Seth getting a joint burial with Catherine as husband and wife. As for my ashes, they were randomly scattered into a dried-up river. Now that I was reborn, I chose to fulfill their wish!

My husband, Simon Fuller, brings home his secretary, Alicia Reed, who has just given birth. He expects me to take care of her while she recovers from the delivery. Instead of tossing Alicia's things out, I put on my apron and prepare a nutritious meal. Since then, I've been reduced to the biggest laughingstock in our social circle. Despite being Simon's lawfully wedded wife, I'm treated like the housekeeper. I spend my entire day waiting on Alicia and changing the diapers of Simon's illegitimate son, Mason Fuller. Satisfied with the way I've been fulfilling my role as his dutiful wife, Simon brags to his friends, "Zoe's far too madly in love with me. As long as I don't divorce her, she's willing to put up with all kinds of mistreatment. "She also said that a hired nanny couldn't be trusted and insisted on raising Mason herself." Banking on the fact that she'd given Simon a son, Alicia orders me around like a housekeeper, demanding that I wash her clothes for her. Everyone starts placing bets on when I'll finally lose my mind. The bet ends up going on for 18 years. By now, everyone says I have to be hopelessly in love with Simon. I've willingly sacrificed 18 years of my youth, reduced to being a housekeeper, all in the hopes of winning him back. However, I'm the only one who knows the truth. This whole time, I've been waiting for Mason's 18th birthday party. Once he turns 18, I will finally receive 30% of Fuller Group's shares.

They couldn't be my mates. Not them. Not my stepbrothers. "Welcome to your official hell, Anna." Lorenzo's smile was cruel as he stepped closer. I stepped back — and hit a wall of solid chest. I spun around. Alexander's dark eyes met mine. His hand shot up, gripping my jaw with bruising force."Time to pay, Princess." *** Anastasia's life has been nothing but survival. An abusive father. A pack that treated her like nothing more than a servant. And just when she thought it couldn't get worse... fate delivered its cruelest blow. The Moretti brothers—her stepbrothers—returned for revenge. With vengeance in their veins and hatred in their hearts. Her father escaped but she remained trapped. Now... They had her. And they swore to make her pay for what her father had done to their family, they wanted repayment. From her. Not knowing she, too, was a victim of the same despicable man. Their only goal was to make her life a living hell. They hated her. Craved revenge. They tortured her, broke her, made her suffer every second of the day... But then came her first shift—the night that turned her life upside down all over again. Because she learned the truth. They were her mates. Alexander and Lorenzo—the very men who had sworn to destroy her—were bound to her by fate. Now trapped in a deadly game of hatred and destiny... What will happen to Anastasia? Will she survive them? Or will they succeed in destroying her—just like her father destroyed their mother?

Fire suddenly breaks out at the hotel where we're hosting our wedding. My fiance, Alan Godwin, doesn't hesitate to pick up Brenda Larkin, my cousin who has already collapsed out of fright, and rush out to safety. Meanwhile, my parents and older brother hurriedly cart away the wedding gift Brenda has made. They don't want her to get sad if the gift is damaged in any way. As for me, I've twisted my ankle, making it inconvenient for me to escape from the hotel. Everyone has already forgotten all about me, so I end up getting severe burns all over my body. When they look at the bandages wrapped around my body, they shoot me disgusted looks. "Why are you such a jinx? How is it possible for a fire to break out at your own wedding? Thanks to you, Brenda has fainted out of shock!" "Well, it's not like you're suited for any public appearances when you look like this, anyway. Brenda's figure is similar to yours. Why don't you let her replace you in the wedding?" I just nod calmly and agree to the suggestion. After that, I sort out the details of getting dispatched overseas for my job with my boss. One month later, I board my flight on the day Brenda is set to wed Alan. I no longer want Alan, who's blind to the truth, and my family, who are nothing but biased toward Brenda. But why is it that they are filled with regret after I leave them?

Leno Dockett and I dated for ten years, and we've also been married for ten years. He's the illegitimate son of an Alpha. At five, he was cast out and forced to grow up in a cave near the silver mines. As an adult, he was poisoned with wolfsbane, and his wolf was nearly been killed. He was banished. I was the one who took him in. I cared for him. I traded one of my pack's most treasured relics to get the best herbs so he could be cured of the wolfsbane. Then, I helped him rebuild his pack from nothing. Everyone in the pack says I bet on the right wolf. Now I'm the Luna. But they don't know that Leno has always loved another she-wolf. For years, I've endured everything—his coldness, his insults, and the other woman's taunts. Still, I refused to break our mate bond. Yesterday, he told me his mistress is pregnant with his heir. And when I once again refused to break our bond, he raised his claws against me in front of our pup. Staring at my pup, who was about to lose his right to inherit, I finally agreed to let go. But on the day we were meant to break the bond, Leno was ambushed. The enemy injected him with wolfsbane that damaged his brain. Now… His memory is stuck 15 years in the past—when he loved me the most.

It was almost New Year. I had just withdrawn money from the bank when I noticed that the amount on my passbook didn't match the cash in my hand. I counted carefully—my passbook showed a different figure than the five thousand dollars I was holding. Frustrated, I turned and went back to the counter to find the teller who had handled my transaction. Clutching the receipt, I tried to be polite. "Excuse me, I think there might be a mistake with this transaction." Instantly, she snapped, pointing her finger at my nose. "Don't you know that once you leave the counter, we are not responsible for any discrepancies?" I waved my hands, trying to explain. "No, wait, look again. I clearly withdrew five thousand dollars, but on my passbook, it shows…" She cut me off impatiently. "When you filled out the form, it was all right there. Once you leave the counter, it's not our problem. You signed the form yourself, confirming everything. Are we supposed to correct it every time someone claims a mistake after leaving the bank?" I froze. No wonder she kept repeating that the bank isn't responsible after leaving the counter. She thought I had come back to ask for more money. What I was really trying to explain was simple: I withdrew five thousand, yet my passbook showed that I deposited five thousand.

When I'm washing Julian White's pants, I pull out a management fee invoice from one of the pockets. Surprisingly enough, the address is the unit on the floor above my apartment. The thing is, Julian's name is put down as the apartment owner. As I clutch the invoice, I feel my blood turning into ice. Suddenly, I recall the way Julian kept telling me he had overtime shifts to pull over the past six months. Because of that, he often came home past midnight. There were a few times when I realized that his car was still parked in its designated parking slot of the apartment block despite the fact that he had already "gone out". When I asked Julian for the reason, he answered, "The gas prices are very high right now. Taking the subway is more convenient, not to mention I get to save more money for our family's expenses." I used to feel happy about the fact that Julian cared so much about our family. But now, I finally realize that his so-called overtime shifts are just excuses for him to spend time in the unit upstairs. At that moment, I hear the sounds of a key being inserted into the front door's lock. Julian is home. When he notices the invoice in my hand, he takes it from me casually. "Maybe the staff placed it in the wrong mailbox." I nod with a smile. "It's nothing. I'm going to take out the trash first." After leaving the apartment, I head upstairs right away. Once I knock on the door, the woman who came to open the door for me is heavily pregnant. It seems that she's about to give birth.