Today Dinner Chapter 9

Hilda Oakley, the charity case Mom and Dad take in, steals my family right out from under me. She slips drugs into me, driving me into a bipolar disorder. She turns me into someone who snaps and screams at Mom and Dad without meaning to. She paints me as someone rotten inside, as the bully at school, and as someone who'd shove her down the stairs at home. And because of that, my whole family turns on me. Mom calls me a bad seed. Dad says I'm no daughter of his. Then, they adopt Hilda and throw me out in the dead of winter. My bipolar flares. Naked, I sprint onto the rooftop and jump to my death. When I'm reborn, I realize I can make the thoughts in other people's heads audible. So, at the dinner table, I let Hilda's thoughts spill right before Mom and Dad. 'I kept that witch Valerie drugged for three years. She finally broke! They still don't suspect that Alex isn't really her brother. He's Susan's son. Once we poison Valerie's parents, the Coopers' fortune will belong to us.'

She has the perfect life. The perfect marriage. The perfect lie. On the night of her wedding anniversary, Ariana Cole receives no flowers, no kiss, no warmth. Just a cold dinner and a silence that finally breaks her. Then came Luca, the man who once made her feel like fire and vanished without a goodbye. When fate throws him back into her life, so does everything she thought she buried: her desire, betrayal, and the aching truth that her perfect marriage is a beautiful lie. Torn between a husband who’s suddenly desperate to win her back, and an ex who never truly left her, Ariana slips into a dangerous double life. Then come the anonymous messages, the buried secrets, the undeniable chemistry and the truth that her past was stolen… not forgotten. As passion reignites and manipulation turns deadly, Ariana must confront a devastating revelation: someone close to her stole her chance at happiness. And they’re not done yet. With her reputation shattered, a scandal threatening to destroy her career, and the man she truly loves falsely accused, Ariana has one choice: surrender to control or fight her way to freedom, truth, and love. This time, she’s not breaking. This time, she chooses herself …and love follows.

"Making you my Luna is the one thing I’ll always be ashamed of!" On our third anniversary, my husband, Alpha Keegan, brought his mistress home. He served her the dinner I cooked and asked her to live with us. I was the Luna, but I was just a ghost in his life. Then came the twist that shattered my world: she’s pregnant with his child. When an "accident" threatens her life, his cruelty becomes absolute. He doesn't want me; he just wants my rare, "golden blood". He orders me to become her living blood bank to "ensure Sienna and the baby's health". His final plan? To replace me as Luna. He thought I was just a weak Omega he could discard. He forgot I was once his strongest warrior. "I, Lilian Harrington, reject you as my mate and my husband." I'm done. But he refuses to sign the divorce papers, determined to keep his possession. He thinks I'll have nowhere to go. He's about to find out what happens when the warrior he cast aside is offered a new life by his biggest rival.

Moving on and asking herself why her fiancé didn't show up on their wedding, Callie decided to take another leap in life. After losing her mother and brother in a car accident, her work, her fiancé, working in a coffee shop in Canada's bustling street can be a good start. But just when she's about to begin another chapter of her life, a familiar scent annihilated her focus. Ethan, the boy next door, is starting to get into her nerves. She did everything just to keep him away from her but the more she tried to drift away from him, he's taking twofold steps to close the distance between them. Once a hater, Callie found herself embarking in a love affair with Ethan. Ngunit hanggang saan nga ba ang kakayanin ng kanilang pagmamahalan? Could Callie handle the truth about Ethan?

Sandra thought that she had the perfect life; she was inarguably one of the most sought-after models in the country and married to the nation's heartthrob, Lucas Hudson, CEO of Hudson's enterprises. Then a string of events led her to an exclusive hotel room where her husband, whom she had loved without restraint for the past 3 years, was in bed with another woman. He claims to be innocent, and he is unaware that Sandra had been drugged and assaulted, but the stage had already been set by someone who had desired her for years and now finally had a chance to penetrate her life. But when she thinks that all is over with Lucas and that chapter of her life, she finds out that she's pregnant with triplets, 5 years go by and fate brings him to her city entangling their paths once again, Will they be able to find each other once more, or is their love doomed to fail?

Fed up with her abusive husband, twenty-three-year-old Cara Hellington runs away from home and ends up in a notorious bar, destitute, sad, but relieved and free. When she gets into a verbal altercation with the snotty bartender over the ownership of her credit cards, an unlikely savior comes to her aid. Eros Kazan Alfred. He's tall, massive, rippling with muscles, and covered with dark tattoos. Everything Cara is not used to. Everything Cara is drawn to. When he buys her dinner, and she narrates her ordeal, Eros propositions her to marry him, and he'll make sure her abusive ex never sees or gets close to her again. But Cara is hesitant. Eros is a stranger. And judging from his appearance, he looks like trouble. The muddy kind. She should run towards the opposite direction, away from him. But she runs right onto his bed. After a hot sizzling night together, Cara is comfortable and confident in him taking good care of her. But tensions are rising all around them, as significant figures from their past will stop at nothing to bring them both down. Will they succumb under the wickedly twisted circumstances fate seems to be throwing at them?

Lauren thought her life was perfect until a Valentine’s Day dinner turned into a nightmare. Accused of pushing her mother-in-law down the stairs, she quickly realizes it’s a setup. Sylas, her husband, and her own sister Taylor orchestrated the whole thing to trap her and end their marriage. With nowhere to go, Lauren runs straight to the one person she never expected: Enzo, her mysterious and ruthless neighbor, the Mafia King everyone fears. As she starts plotting revenge, she uncovers a shocking truth: Sylas is involved with a rival mafia family, and she’s been dragged into a war that could destroy everything she knows. But things get even more complicated when Enzo reveals he’s hunting for a set of rare paintings that hold the key to a hidden vault of untold wealth. Intrigued, Lauren agrees to help him, even though she knows it could drag her deeper into the mafia’s deadly world. As Lauren navigates this treacherous new reality, she must decide whether to use Enzo and the growing attraction between them to exact her revenge, or risk losing herself in the chaos. Will she expose the lies and take back control, or will she be consumed by the very world that betrayed her?

Attending a high school reunion, I rode my motorcycle to the venue. By the time I arrived at the Moon Valley Hotel, most of my former classmates were already there. Everyone seemed to be doing well for themselves. The parking lot was filled with luxury cars belonging to high-ranking pack members. There was even a Rolls Royce that belonged to the son of an Alpha. As I dismounted from my motorcycle, a former male classmate I barely remembered looked at me with disdain. "Well, well, if it isn't our former class president. Still riding a basic bike like an omega, I see." During dinner, everyone was fawning over the Alpha's son while completely ignoring me in the corner. Only Derek, our former class monitor and now a beta, sat beside me with a sympathetic look. "Don't worry about it. Even though you're still just an omega like your parents, I'm sure one day you'll rise up in the pack rankings." I couldn't help but smirk, whispering under my breath: "This isn't just any motorcycle. It's the Royal Guard's official vehicle."

At the dinner table, my mother-in-law slid a contract across to me, right in front of more than 20 relatives. "Just sign it," she said lightly. "Consider it a favor to me." I looked down. A home mortgage agreement for 150,000 dollars. Across from me, my husband's younger brother, Jim Canfield, watched with a grin. Beside him, my husband's eldest sister, Cindy Canfield, urged impatiently, saying, "Shirley, what are you waiting for? Just sign it." I said I needed to go home and talk it over with Howard Canfield first. My mother-in-law's expression darkened. "What? You can't even make this decision for your own marriage?" That night, I did not sign anything. Later, she sent a three-minute voice message in the family group chat, accusing me of being childish, ungrateful, and heartless. More than 70 replies followed—not a single one in my defense. A month later, I came home from work to find three men waiting at my door, there to seize the house. I pulled out my phone and checked the property registry. The record was clear. [Mortgaged. 150,000 dollars.]

Most kids want toys, candy, or a new puppy. Pearl Reed wants a dad. And not just any dad—she wants Detective Alex Ramos. Ava Reed is perfectly happy as a single mother. By day, she’s a world-class surgeon, running the most prestigious private hospital in the city. By night, she’s The Godmother, ruling one of the most dangerous mafia syndicates in the country. Saving lives on one end. Taking them on the other. Romance? Not on her agenda. But when her too-clever-for-her-own-good daughter pulls off the matchmaking stunt of the century, Ava finds herself sitting across from a man who is as charming as he is infuriating. Alex never saw it coming. One second, he was working a case. The next? He was being blackmailed by an eight-year-old into dating her mother. One fake date? Fine. One viral post announcing their engagement? Not fine. Being summoned for dinner by an eight-year-old with a five-step plan to make him fall in love with her mom? …Yeah, he’s in trouble. Ava has no interest in love. Alex has no interest in marriage. But Pearl? Pearl has other plans. And when Pearl sets her mind on something, not even a mafia war can stop her.