Was That The Bite Of 87

My mom decides to implement an income-based rationing system. Everything at home is delegated to everyone based on their income. At a holiday dinner, I decide to grab myself an extra helping of pasta. As soon as I fill up my plate, my mom snatches it from my hands. "Hold on. Just look at the spread on the table. The sea bass is already worth 180 dollars. The scallops are worth 200, whereas the lobster goes for 300 dollars. "You only earn 3,000 dollars per month. If you want a second serving, you must pay up first. I'll charge you based on the family rate. It'll be three dollars, thank you very much." My mom sticks out three fingers while smiling at me.

At the company's annual party, my fiancée, the CEO, was chosen for a game called "opposite-gender squats." With the whole room cheering, she did not hesitate. She jumped onto a young male intern and wrapped her legs tightly around his waist. He held her by the hips as he lifted and lowered her again and again, while she laughed as if she did not have a care in the world. Then came the second round: blindfolded face recognition. When her hands reached the intern, her fingers lingered on his lips and traced them slowly. He suddenly licked her fingertips. Right there, in front of everyone, he smirked. "Miss Smith, your hands are really soft. The way you touched my lips just now… that felt amazing. This kind of perk beats any year-end bonus. You smell incredible, Andrea." Her face flushed red, but she did not deny it. She only smiled, shy and pleased. That was when I let out a cold laugh. "If you like it that much, I will assign you as the CEO's assistant. All business trips next year, you two can go together." Her expression changed instantly. "Daniel, what is with the attitude? Can't you handle a game? It's just for fun. Why are you making such a big deal out of it? Who is going to dare play with me after this?" "Fine. If you enjoy playing so much, then go play with him. Because that CEO seat is about to belong to someone else," I muttered.

After I was reborn, I dumped the cheating bastard and married his older twin brother. But as it turns out, I still picked the wrong man. In my past life, I married Maxwell Vaughan, the younger twin. Not long after our wedding, he started sleeping with Kelly Sloan, the maid's daughter. For her, he set the house on fire while I was sleeping. I woke up burned beyond recognition. Amoura, the world-famous lingerie brand, dropped me overnight. Just like that, my modeling career was over. This time, I chose Charlie Vaughan, the older twin. We were in sync and deeply in love. I thought I'd finally made it, that I'd rise to the top and become the supermodel I was meant to be. But the night before my Amoura runway show, my face was burned again. Charlie uncovered the truth quickly and had Maxwell arrested. For a moment, I thought I'd made the right choice this time. Six years later, I overhear something I was never meant to hear as Charlie tucks our sons, Declan and Dylan Vaughan, into bed. "Dad, Uncle Max already took the fall for Kelly. So why did she have to leave the country? Couldn't she have stayed here with us?" "Yeah, Dad. We still want Kelly to be our mom. We hate that freak!" Charlie pulls Declan and Dylan into his arms. His gaze softens with sorrow, then hardens with quiet resolve. "I already betrayed your mom once for Kelly. I'll spend the rest of my life to make it right." A rush of emotion surged through me, the pain cutting deeper than the fire ever did. For six years of marriage and eight years of love, I've been nothing more than a joke. Only now do I see it—Charlie loved Kelly all along, just like Maxwell did. Our marriage was nothing more than a matter of convenience. Even Declan and Dylan call me a freak and wish Kelly were their mother. If that's how it is, then so be it. I'm done with all three of them.

After the video exposing my sister Issa Acosta’s plot against me was revealed, my parents and my fiancé, Henry Nolan, stood firmly by my side, making me feel loved and safe. I confidently handed over all the evidence to them, trusting them to handle it. However, they told me that after Issa was kicked out of the house, she died in a sudden car accident, and I believed them. That was until five years into my marriage, when I accidentally saw Issa—the woman who was supposed to be dead. She was holding a little boy, clinging tightly to Henry’s hand. "Henry, if it weren’t for you and my parents, I’m afraid Zoe would’ve thrown me in prison. Thankfully, my parents destroyed the evidence and even opened a jewelry design studio for me. To avoid suspicion, you even sacrificed your own marriage. Thank you for everything in the past five years.” "Think of it as me atoning to Zoe on your behalf. As long as you and Bear are happy, that’s enough for me." So, what I thought was a happy family was nothing more than a giant lie—a scheme concocted by my parents and Henry. My parents, my husband, and Issa were the real family, and I? I was just the fool who had been deceived for five long years. Whether it was family or love, none of it was real, and I don’t want any of it anymore.

For twenty-four years, Alpha Draegon longed for a son, but the Moon Goddess had other plans. When his wife bore a daughter, he defied fate and raised her as a boy, hiding her true identity from the world. On Valen’s eighteenth birthday, the feared Lycanis warriors descend upon their kingdom, demanding a male from every family—or war will follow. To protect her secret, Draegon prepares to offer himself in her place. But before dawn breaks, Valen is gone. She has surrendered herself to the Lycanis. Taken to the High Dark Mountain—a cursed land where no man has ever survived—Valen learns the terrifying truth. The Lycanis are on the brink of extinction, and the men taken captive are meant for one thing: to breed. The strongest among them will become warriors, the weakest will become slaves. To her horror, Valen is both strong and dangerously beautiful, making her the most desired among the Lycanis females. But one man’s attention is deadlier than all their King. A monstrous warrior feared by all, he chooses Valen as his personal guard, unwittingly drawn to the one person who holds his fate in her hands. Valen struggles to conceal the truth because he is bound by duty, tormented by forbidden dreams, and forced to endure his darkest indulgences. Yet, secrets have a way of unraveling. And when war erupts, a single spear thrust reveals the one truth that could change everything—Valen is no man. Now, the King must decide: will he cast her aside as a traitor, or will he claim the only soul that can soothe his madness?

Once betrayed, twice reborn, Amanishakheto Strelitz will never forgive. Future Alpha Vance was her chosen mate and had spurned her, bound instead to his fated mate Zebub, whose venomous schemes dragged her into ruin and left her condemned to die. But the Moon Goddess has given Amani a second chance, and this time she will not be the perfect Luna. She will be the storm. With vengeance burning in her veins, Amani vows to expose Zebub’s lies, sever Vance ’s hold to the Eclipse Star pack and claim the Alpha’s throne for herself. When she crosses paths again with Menelik Mecklenburg, the formidable wolf male with a hidden identity, the past collides with the future. Bound by a childhood debt and drawn together by fate, Amani steps into a war where vengeance and love intertwine, and the course of every pack will never be the same.... 

Five years ago, Carla left her soul mate in their rumpled bed in a rented house in Mykonos, convinced she doesn’t deserve him, and he comes back to her life the secret lover of her best friend. Carla’s childhood friend Thera is visiting Greece after ten years, bringing Jake Winters with her, her boss whom she has been a long time secretly in love with. But Jake turns out to be Tom Sawyer, the pseudonym he used as a male escort five years ago – and he is still hotter than sin. It did not take long to see that the passion that drove them that blissful whole week together drives them still. He remains the only man who makes her feel that happiness is possible, but giving in to him means betraying her best friend, even though it’s evident that they aren’t lovers. That Thera made it all up. Billionaire programmer Jake Winters took over a gigolo trip for a friend once five years ago and that changed his whole life. But the culprit in doing so left him without a goodbye. When he finally finds Carla again, she turns out to be the childhood friend of his sweet secretary. As fierce as she is in bed, she is as loyal to people she cares about and he has to clear the air between him and Thera because the only thing he’s thinking about is becoming Carla’s gigolo again. For life. And as soon as possible. Like yesterday.

I was reborn the year the Blood Moon War began. The first thing I did? I sacrificed my child. The child of my blood-bonded mate, Lord Lucius of the Covenant. In my last life, he chose to protect his childhood sweetheart, Lilith, when she slept with a werewolf. He stole my pureblood heir and replaced it with her half-breed mongrel. They branded me a traitor. In a sun-scorched dungeon, they burned my scarred body to ash with holy light. And my own son, his mind poisoned by Lilith, stood on my ashes and cursed me to Hell for all eternity. When I opened my eyes again, the blood ritual for my heir was already three months along. I didn't hesitate. I went straight to a witch, and with a potion brewed from my own heart's blood, I ended it. Then, I put on something else: an expensive amulet of Blood Illusion. It faked the energy of a pureblood fetus. It masked my true state, cloaking me in the sweet, alluring scent of a pregnant vampire. It even created a perfect illusion of a growing belly. Lucius needed an heir to cover for Lilith’s crime. Fine. I’d play along. This time, I had no weaknesses.

When I went for my prenatal checkup, I filled in my mafia husband Enrico Salvatore's information in the spouse column. However, the doctor told me, "The system shows no record of you ever being married. You're unmarried." I froze, unable to believe it. "How is that possible? We got married five years ago. Please check again." The doctor pulled up the system records again, and only one line appeared on the screen: [Marriage Registration: None.] At first, I thought the hospital had made a mistake. Then, I overheard Enrico talking to one of his men. "Isabella's the only one in my heart. I'll give her everything else she wants. But Luisa gave me a daughter. For the sake of the family's bloodline, I have to register our marriage and give her that status. Isabella can never find out about the registration." At that moment, I finally understood. The small wedding five years ago was nothing but a cover. We never registered. There was no legal marriage. Even the child I was carrying had no legal standing. It was all an elaborate lie he had crafted. Since none of this ever truly belonged to me, I would just leave.

I was in San Aria Bay with my mom, enjoying a quiet, sunlit getaway, when my phone suddenly lit up with a string of messages from my husband's ever-arrogant secretary. She sent a photo. The woman in it had been stripped naked, her body covered in blood, the sight almost unbearable. A voice message followed, her tone dripping with disdain. "Jeannie, do people like you always take advantage of others like this? "Mr. Smith just bought this house, and you already had your mother move in for free? As his chief secretary, it's my responsibility to remove anyone living off him."