Usurper Dies

Buried deep in the Aster estate was the Heartwood—ancient, sacred, mine. Told my husband, Julian Aster—back when he actually listened—that if it ever fell, I'd die with it. At first, he freaked out. Flew in glacier water, hired a whole squad of plant experts to nurture it 24/7. Then one day, just because his childhood friend—Isabella Duvall—got a scratch from the bark, Julian had the Heartwood ripped out. The second it crashed, I choked on glowing blood—ichor. My power? Gone. Barely standing, I grabbed his arm. "You knew. If the Heartwood dies, I—" He laughed. Straight-up mocked me. "Sera, come on. That fairy tale? Only Grandma still believes that crap. Is that mayo on your mouth? Relax—it's a tree. I'll buy you a forest if you want." Overnight, my hair turned gray. Skin cracked. Eyes dulled. Still, I dragged myself to his grandmother, Henrietta. "I kept your family safe for two hundred years. That's why the Asters thrived. But the Heartwood's gone. Debt's paid. One day left. Whatever happens next? Not my problem."

The night her father was killed, Sydney saw a wolf with a crescent scar. Years later, she falls in love with a man who bears the same mark. Liam is charming, protective, and everything she didn’t know she needed. He’s also a lie. A runaway Alpha’s son hiding in the city, pretending to be human while his pack searches for him. When Sydney is kidnapped and dragged into werewolf territory, the truth tears her world apart. Liam isn’t just a wolf — he’s the heir to the very Alpha who murdered her father. Love dies quickly after that. Sydney walks away. Disappears. Starts over in another city. Another life. Another man. But two years later, the wolves come hunting. Liam is dying from a curse tied to the mate bond he tried to escape, and the pack believes Sydney is hiding his heir — the only one who can save him. They’re wrong. The child they’re searching for isn’t Liam’s. Now Sydney must protect the life she rebuilt while the pack closes in, convinced she carries their future. Because in a world ruled by wolves, truth doesn’t matter. Blood does.

My husband and his twin brother get into an accident during a test drive. To protect his older brother, my husband is thrown from the car and dies on the spot. Hearing the news of his death, I, four months pregnant, collapse in tears outside the hospital morgue. When I come to, I overhear my sister-in-law, Gloria Quinn’s voice outside the door. "Mason, are you sure Celine won't find out about this?" Mason? Isn't that my husband, who died in the crash? A familiar male voice replies, "Gloria, you're the one I truly love. If I hadn't mistaken Celine for you that drunken night, I'd never have let you end up with Jason. Celine loves me so much and is carrying my child. "If I take on Jason's identity and look after her, I swear she'll never leave me. Then, all her family's money will be ours." I smirk coldly as I listen to their conversation. He cheats on me, yet expects me to keep his child? Since he's already "dead", he's lost everything.

I had been dating Andy Lawson for five years. He had gone bankrupt, and during the worst of it, we had to sleep in parks and scavenge leftovers for food. After a hundred days of that life, I was just going to the blackmarket to sell some blood for money when someone sent me a video. [Surprise.] It was a livestream site, set up for rich kids to prank the common folk—and a video of me was pinned to the top. My finger trembling, I tapped on it and saw myself hidden in a corner of a park, munching on leftovers to nourish my frail body. On the split video, Andy was reclining against the armchair of a five-star hotel and savoring his gourmet menu. "Oh, this is amazing! All Andy has to do is say that he's sick, and she's selling her blood for him!" "On the sixteenth prank, she fell into the ocean… And on the fifteenth, she was sent flying in a car crash! Why is she so hard to kill?" "Well, Andy already made it clear that if she survives until the end, he will marry her and swear off women!" "One month to go! Will she die from the pranks, or marry into the Lawson family with pomp and circumstance?" "I'm betting fifty mil that she dies tragically! Hahaha!"

"Lisa?" I croaked, barely able to form words, my voice hoarse and weak. My heart had leapt at the sight of her, a moment of hope flickering through the haze of fear. "What's going on? Why... why are you here?" But the look in her eyes, the cold amusement that twisted her lips into a smirk, had stopped me short. It wasn’t concern. “Why am I here?” she had repeated, laughing softly, as if the very question was absurd. “Oh, Anna, sweet, naive Anna. You still don’t get it, do you?” I had stared, my mind unable to keep up, still too clouded with hunger and exhaustion. “What... what are you talking about?” And then, her voice had changed, hardened. “I’m the reason for all of this. The reason your father’s company collapsed, the reason your family is dead, the reason Josh betrayed you. Me.” After discovering that her best friend, Lisa, isn't the person she thought she was and is the reason for most of the disasters in her life, Anna dies, only to wake up five years in the past. With a second chance, Anna is determined to protect her loved ones and take revenge for the pain Lisa caused.

The adopted younger sister claimed to be suffering from depression. To make her feel better, my parents hung me on the cliff, as if I were a kite. Servant reminded my parents that the little tree to which I was hung was fragile, leaving me in danger. My mom, Luna of the pack, replied scoffingly: "She makes Laurel sleep panic. She deserves to be treated like this. If she dies, it's her fate." My older brother, Zayn, joked by her side, saying: "It's a good chance to record how long werewolves live when they do not conduct feeding activities. We can contribute a lot to the Werewolf Council with this precious data." Even my mate, Greyson, showed an attitude of stoniness, uttering: "She is a vicious she-wolf. If she were not educated well enough before her transformation ritual, she would cause greater trouble to others." They left me alone on the cliff after saying these words. Three days later, it finally crossed their minds that I was still hanging. When they finally arrived at the cliff, they found nothing but emptiness—because I had already died long before. And when they realized the truth, they howled in agony, begging for me to come back to life. But I was long gone.

Arabelle Moretti never imagined her forbidden love affair with Lucia Romano—daughter of her family's greatest enemy—would cost her everything. But when her father discovers the truth, his punishment is swift: a forced marriage to Dante Valerio, a ruthless mafia don with a haunted past and secrets that could destroy them all. Trapped by a contract that binds her for life, Arabelle enters Dante's world as a prisoner in a wedding dress. She expects cruelty. Instead, she finds restraint, protection, and a slow-burning attraction she can't resist. But when her father dies under suspicious circumstances and Lucia returns with devastating confessions, Arabelle's carefully controlled life explodes. Torn between the woman who first captured her heart and the husband who now owns it, Arabelle uncovers a conspiracy that shatters everything she believed about loyalty, family, and love. As three mafia empires descend into war, she must make an impossible choice—one that will either save her or destroy everyone she's ever loved. In a world where love is the deadliest weapon, Arabelle will learn that some bonds can never be broken—only bled for.

Mom dies of rage when she discovers that the bride at my wedding has become Nelly Johnson, Harvey Fisher's business partner. My wedding turns into Mom's funeral the moment she breathes her last breath. Despite that, Harvey insists that the ceremony continue as planned. He even orders me to put the wedding ring on Nelly's finger. "Hurry up and put it on! I'll explain everything to you tonight!" he snarls. I ignore him and leave the hotel with Mom's body in my arms. The wedding ends with a banging success at 8:00 pm. Nelly updated her social media with a post that's liked by tens of thousands of people. "I've finally married the light of my life! I'd like to thank a certain homewrecker for leaving after remembering her place." Harvey updates his social media with a similar post. "Those who are unworthy don't deserve to be loved." I like both their posts in the ice-cold morgue. I comment, "I wish you two a lifetime of happiness." Then, I head home with Mom's ashes. When I enter the house, I see Harvey holding Nelly tightly while making out with her.

My mate, Xander Smith, falls into the Red Moon pack's fire trap when he's out. I'm burned, heavily injured, and rendered unconscious while saving him. When I blearily come to in the clinic, I hear him tell the healer to kill my wolf. "Are you sure? Ophelia bore your heir. How can you hurt her wolf?" The healer's hand trembles as he clutches a silver needle. He's unwilling to be so cruel to me. However, Xander says firmly, "Dahlia is back, and I want her to attend the appointment ceremony as the mother of my heir. The only way to stop Ophelia from fighting Dahlia for this is by making her as weak as an Omega. "Dahlia has already been banished from the Red Moon pack after losing her mate. I can't let the werewolves in the New Moon pack scorn her. As for Ophelia… she'll forever be my Luna." I clench my fists and squeeze my eyes shut. My love for him dies as my wolf does. Since Xander insists on giving another woman a place in his life, it's time for me to take my leave.

Sebastian Pena hates me for a whole decade after his true love's death. I try to please him at every turn, but he merely scoffs. "If you really want to make me happy, you should go to hell." That hits hard. However, when a truck hurtles toward me, Sebastian throws himself at me. He saves me, but he dies in a pool of his blood. Before he breathes his last breath, he looks into my eyes and says, "If only… I'd never met you…" His mother is devastated at his funeral. "I should've given Sebastian and Gillian my blessings. I should never have forced him to marry you!" His father resents me. "Sebastian saved you three times—he was a good person. Why weren't you the one who died?" Everyone regrets having Sebastian marry me, myself included. I'm kicked out of the funeral. Three years later, someone invents a time machine, and I travel back in time. This time, I'm going to sever all ties with Sebastian. Everyone will get the happiness they deserve.