Tragic

The nights in Vicente were a coexistence of order and gunfire. Tonight was the wedding, ten years overdue, between Anthony Oliver, the don of the Oliver mafia family, and Mabel Samson, the woman who had stood beside him through bloodshed, betrayals, and underworld wars. A top-tier luxury hotel had been cleared by the family's soldati. Below them glittered a sea of city lights; above them bloomed fireworks commissioned for the future Donna alone. The man known for his ruthlessness knelt on one knee with a rare diamond ring, his eyes filled with rare tenderness. "Mabel," he said, "you walked through hell at my side. Let me give you peace for the rest of your life." It seemed that all the sacrifices and patience had finally led somewhere. However, just as Mabel's fingers were about to touch the ring, a piercing scream came from above. "Don't! Anthony! Save me!" That single cry drew all of Anthony's attention away. The girl was not unfamiliar to Mabel. Two years earlier, Anthony's twin brother had been tortured to death by a rival mafia family while covering his retreat. His body was never recovered. And Cheryl Reyes was the fiancée he had protected with his life. Mabel watched as the man she loved abandoned everything without hesitation and ran toward another woman. She stepped forward and tried to stop him. "Don't go. The wedding isn't over." However, when their eyes met, the Don accused her coldly of being heartless and selfish. And in that moment, Mabel felt tired. Perhaps it was time, just once, to choose herself over the Family.

I've been in a five-year relationship with my mate, Alpha Callum Nash. However, he has delayed the Luna Coronation Ceremony 52 times so far. The first time it was held, Seraphina Vance, an outsider Omega whom Callum had taken in, lost control of herself and shifted into a wolf on the training grounds. He quickly returned to the grounds to soothe Seraphina, but in doing so, he abandoned me in the sacred grounds for the entire day. The second time it was held, Callum had sensed that an elder was making Seraphina's life difficult halfway through the ceremony. He immediately interrupted the vowing ritual and headed back to the pack just to defend Seraphina. As I stood on the altar on my own, I could hear the rest of the pack making fun of me. Since then, whenever the Luna Coronation Ceremony is held, Seraphina will keep coming up with different problems that require Callum's immediate attention. In the end, I've completely given up on Callum, so I decide to sever our mate bond. On the day I leave the pack territory, Callum, who's no longer able to pick up my scent, goes crazy.

At the height of my love for Seth Scott, he gave his heart to someone else. The winter chill seeped through the walls, and I lay beneath my blankets, trembling through the long, dark hours. He was out there, holding another woman close, warming her feet against his chest. He dismissed me as dramatic, refusing even a final glance. But what he didn’t realize was that I was dying. And he would never have the chance to see me again.

"How can you say that about me, Nathan? I never had a kid!" Aaron Fuller protests. My wife, Jenny Green, stands protectively in front of him. "That's enough! You can't slander Aaron just because you're jealous of him. Just you wait, Nathan. I haven't settled the score with you for calling Aaron this afternoon and insulting him!"

Everyone knew that the mafia family's second son, Luca Romano, loved Serena Vitale to his very bones. Five years ago, Serena climbed into bed with the Romano family's eldest son, Adriano Romano. Photos from that night spread everywhere, but Luca quietly suppressed them all. Four years ago, Serena gave birth to Adriano's child, but Luca raised the baby as his own. He could forgive Serena for anything she did, as long as she loved him. The underworld whispered that Serena stayed with Luca not out of love but to grab at the mafia's power and influence. Luca did not care. He poured every ounce of his strength into treating Serena and the child well, but it was not enough. Serena became Adriano's caged canary instead. The night they broke up, she threw his illegitimate birth in his face to humiliate him. Yet she willingly, even gladly, let herself be imprisoned by Adriano, enduring the wax and the whips. Everyone cursed Serena for being shameless and desperate, but she was the only one who knew the bitterness she endured.

The shewolves in Shadow Pack all said I was lucky. Alpha Erwin Keller had doted on me alone for eight years. However, the same werewolf who swore he would only ever want to be with me gave me two 'gifts' the day I brought him home to meet my mom, Katie Spencer, to discuss our marking ceremony. The first gift was tying Katie to a chair and having his Beta rip her clothes apart right in front of me. The second gift was deliberately opening the door and letting my dad, Felix Spencer, who had already lost his wolf spirit, run outside. There was pouring rain outside. Felix ran to the edge of a cliff and fell over. Katie was still tied to the chair. She watched Felix die right in front of her. She snapped the ropes like a mad wolf and jumped off the cliff to die with Felix. In a single night, I lost both my parents. I kneeled in a pool of blood and asked Erwin why he did all this. He pinched my chin and sneered. "Lara, did you really think I loved you? I came for revenge!" It turned out that during the territorial war ten years ago, his dad died saving mine, and his mom took her own life afterward. Erwin spent eight years carefully weaving a lie of love. It was all so I could experience what it felt like to lose my entire family. Later, Erwin kept me trapped by his side and tortured me. I tried to kill myself 99 times. He saved me all 99 times. He said we would torture each other until we grew old. What he didn't know was that ten years ago, when his wolf spirit was completely destroyed and he was barely alive, I was the one who begged an Alpha from another pack to place a curse on me so that he could live. In return, I only had eight years left to live. Now, I was seven days away from my own impending doom!

Vera Nightingale was the only human in the werewolf pack, raised alongside Alpha Kieran Ashford since childhood. When she was 14 and rogues cornered her, Kieran was the one who fought them off. When she was 16 and a Beta confessed to her, Kieran kissed her in front of the entire pack and made it clear she belonged to him. The day she turned 18, Kieran announced to everyone that she was his mate, his future Luna. Vera thought she had found her happily ever after. Then their marking ceremony arrived, and Kieran did not show. She waited until moonset. When he finally arrived, he had an Omega with him. "She reminds me of how you used to be," he told her. "I want to keep her." Vera agreed. Kieran thought her love for him meant she would share. He was wrong. In Vera's mind, betrayal only happened once. After that first time, everything that followed did not matter anymore. If that was how he wanted to play it, she would find herself a new mate.

In the seventh year of marrying Don Sebastian Quinn, I finally stopped loving him. After finishing the family business in the afternoon, I found an excuse to go out for coffee; He wanted to take me to attend the family core meeting, but I politely declined by saying I had to fly to Paris to watch a show; When he finally refused his social engagement and tried to get intimate with me, I lied about feeling unwell and slept in a separate room. Even when his lover was wearing my silk nightgown and commanding the housekeepers in the living room, I calmly complimented her good figure. My indifference finally hurt this man. He forcefully grabbed my chin in the middle of the night, his eyes red. "Why aren't you mad seeing another woman sleeping in my bed? Nicola Scott, I'm your husband. Don't you care at all?" I looked at his out-of-control state and only smiled faintly, thinking, 'Sebastian, you've probably forgotten that I loved you the most during the years you punished me by making me kneel and reflect on my actions.'

When I get reborn, I quietly change the name of the man I want to marry the most to the hedonistic playboy in the neighborhood. My dad, who's a political officer, is quite surprised to see the change, but he still accepts my choice. In my previous life, when Dad asked me who I liked the most among the young men of the military housing office, I uttered Judd Garrison's name with scarlet cheeks. Dad nodded. "Judd is your childhood friend, not to mention our families are compatible in terms of social standing and wealth. You two have grown up together since you were kids, so I believe he will treat you well." Later on, Judd and I got engaged and married. Our wedding was a fancy and high-profile one to the point that even the political leader gave us his blessings. But Judd was quick to submit an application to help defend the border half a year into our marriage. He claimed that he wanted to contribute to the country with his efforts. Not only did he abandon me, leaving me to take care of my in-laws on my own, but he also cut off contact with me when Dad was falsely accused of being corrupted. Just as I thought I couldn't function anymore after suffering from the pain wrought upon me by Dad's death, I received the tragic news that Judd had died in a mountain flood as well. Thanks to the devastation caused by both pieces of bad news, I ended up taking my own life by hanging myself. What I didn't expect was that a gray-haired, elderly couple would visit my grave to pay respects to me 40 years after my death. Judd, who should've been dead, had an arm wrapped around my cousin, Megan Whitlock, as they stood before my grave. "It's my fault for faking my death and lying to you, Julie. Back then, I had to marry you in order to fulfill my parents' request. Megan has always been the woman that I truly love. "This is all my fault, Julie. I just hope that you can stop pestering Megan from now on. If you really are resentful, you're free to direct your resentment at me." To think that they loved each other to this extent… Judd was willing to give up on his identity and fake his death in order to get out of his life with me so that he could stay with Megan forever. He even clung to the superstition that my postmortem resentment was the reason behind Megan's cancer. Having found out about the truth, I let go of my obsession and faded into nothing. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day Dad asks me who I like the most.

People used to say Pierce Voss, my husband, also the boss of the largest mafia in Kingsburg, and I were the kind of couple others envied. He once lit fireworks across the entire coastline just to celebrate my birthday. He bought me a private island because I mentioned loving the ocean. He made the entire mafia respect me as the most esteemed woman in the world. He shut every woman out of his world so I would never feel insecure. I thought our love was unbreakable. After ninety-nine rounds of IVF, I finally got a positive result. I was so happy I couldn’t sleep the whole night, planning to surprise him at our tenth-anniversary party the next day. But instead, I cut into our wedding cake and found Lena Young’s pregnancy report hidden inside. She fell to her knees in front of everyone, sobbing. “Serena… I have cancer. I don’t have long. Please… let me stay with Pierce for whatever time I have left. Give my child a name.” The room erupted, with gasps, whispers, cruel amusement. And in an instant, the woman Pierce Voss had supposedly adored became the laughingstock of the entire Kingsburg city. The love I had been so proud of shattered like cheap glass. Clutching my own pregnancy report, I held back my tears and prepared to walk away with my baby, far from his world, far from the lies. But before I could escape, someone framed me for harming her. I was thrown into detention for three days. And in those three days, I lost my child. Pierce Voss lost me, and every last piece of love I ever had for him. No matter how desperately he begs later, there is no returning to who we used to be.