Ways To Kill Someone

On my 30th birthday, my boyfriend of seven years asked to meet at the City Hall. He even told me to bring my ID and wear a wedding dress. But when I showed up just as he asked, he was laughing and looked really excited. “Pay up, pay up! I told you all. No matter how embarrassing it is, Wrenna will always do what I say!” I just looked at him wordlessly. Matthew Young raised his eyebrows at me. “Come on, it was just a joke. You’re not mad, are you?” When I stayed quiet, he got annoyed. “Alright, alright. I said I’d marry you, and I will. Just not right now.” His good-for-nothing friends started laughing and making fun of me. They said I was his simp and would never get angry. And they were right. I was not angry. I did not come here today for him anyway. After everyone left, I walked into the City Hall. “Sorry I’m late. Let’s go get married.”

I bloomed early, my curves more defined than other she-wolves my age. The year I came of age, my Alpha brother, Asher, was terrified I’d be snatched up by some rogue. He asked his best friend—Alpha Caden of the Nightshade Pack—to personally look after me. What my brother didn't know was that the very first time we met, Caden got drunk and took me. He pinned me against the wall, claiming me with a primal urgency. He left his scent all over me, kissing every inch of my skin like he was obsessed. But the next day, he told me that if my brother found out, he would kill him. And so began our four-year secret affair. For four years, I was his personal healer by day and his secret lover by night. Until his first love, an Omega she-wolf, came back. I watched them in a passionate embrace as Caden kissed her with a tenderness he never showed me. As for me? The same mouth that had been tangled with mine just yesterday was now spitting venom. "Aria, don't forget it was you who faked the scent of my fated mate to seduce me four years ago." "Are you going to make a scene and try to force me to marry you again?" In that moment, I finally saw him for who he truly was. I called my brother. "Asher, I'll do it. I'll accept the marriage alliance with the Silvercrest Pack."

It's 11:30 pm. Home alone, I decide to order some takeout. When the map shows the delivery guy is zero miles away, I receive a call from him. I pick up, only to hear unsettling silence from the other end. I hang up, annoyed. The next moment, the guy texts me, "Sorry, I'm hearing-impaired and unable to speak. I called to notify you to pick up your food as soon as possible. I can't explain things over the phone, and I apologize for that." Then comes another text. "You must've been waiting for a long time. I've left your order at your door, so please pick it up as soon as you can." Just as I prepare to open the door, I see bars of live comments—reminiscent of livestream chats—floating right before my eyes. "Don't open the door! That dude isn't a delivery guy at all! He's a murderer!" "He called you to check if you're a woman living alone!" "Seriously, why are all thriller story protagonists always so dumb? The delivery guy is obviously suspicious, yet she still wants to open the door."

Our entire class gets dragged into The Tyrant's Atonement game. The only way to escape alive is to reach a 100% atonement score. The system lets us choose our roles. The class belle, Isolde Adler, picks the tyrant's first love. Her atonement score shoots straight to 99% on the first day. The class president, Asher Brooks, chooses to be a loyal chancellor. His atonement score jumps to 80%. Spectators watching the game flood the screen with comments. "This new batch is smart and way better at picking roles than the last. They might just clear the game in three days." "Even if just one person hits 100%, the whole class goes free. I'm looking forward to seeing who finishes first." "My money's on the first love. She's already at 99%." Just as everyone starts celebrating, the next morning hits us with bad news. All 20 classmates who picked their roles are dead, and Isolde suffers the cruelest fate of all.

She was never meant to survive. He was never meant to find her. For seventeen years, Nova Moonveil existed as a secret locked away in an Ashbane tower — chained in silver, starved of her wolf, and forgotten by the world that slaughtered her bloodline. The Moonveil Pack is dead. Or so history claims. When Alpha King Finric Shadowclaw arrives to negotiate a political alliance meant to secure peace, fate intervenes. A dream. A scent of vanilla and moonlight. A girl hidden where no one should be. Finric strikes a bargain to bring her back to Shadowclaw. He knows better than to want her. He is bound to another, duty-bound to his crown, and determined to keep his distance from the dangerous pull she awakens in him. As Nova struggles to find her wolf and survive a court where cruelty wears a crown, something ancient inside her begins to wake. Powers long thought extinct stir beneath her skin. Secrets buried in blood rise to the surface. Fate is not done with the last Moonveil.

SOMEONE'S TORTURING ME Olivia despised married people who cheated on thier better half, especially women. But she has no idea na mangyayari din 'yon sa kanya. She doesn't see it coming.. the man from her past, Johann Estevez. Ang lalaking dapat sana ay siyang magiging asawa niya. She met him before her husband Nike. Kaya sadyang mapaglaro ang tadhana, sinusubukan siya kung hanggang saan ang paniniwala niya in the world of a married couple. She's torn between responsibilities and love. Who would she choose? Her husband that is sometimes ignoring her but because of their child, she chooses not to mind him and continues being a good wife? Or someone who keeps on torturing her by what she missed and who keeps on making her feel what love really is?

Five years later, Stella was released from prison—only to face the brutal vengeance of Joseph, the new Alpha. Convinced she had caused his father’s death, he tormented her mercilessly. Yet he never imagined the truth: the accident five years ago had been his father’s doing, and Stella had been innocent all along. Now, as Joseph realizes he’s fallen in love with her, where does that leave him?

I was the prime suspect in the notorious murder of my parents-in-law in Cardinal City. The one who arrested me was my wife—Linda Reese, the police chief. While the verdict was still pending, the killer struck again. The new victim was murdered with the same savage cruelty. Linda knelt before me, begging me to tell her the truth. I told her I didn’t know. The victims’ families screamed, demanding that I be carved into pieces. Three months later, Linda found me beside a garbage bin, bringing with her a memory-decoding device. Her hands trembled as she pressed two thin needles into my temples. “I’m sorry, Finn. I know you’re not the killer. I just want this slaughter to end. I don’t want anyone else to die. Let everyone see your memories—let them see what really happened back then.” But when she finished watching my memories, she collapsed to the ground, utterly broken, and fell to her knees.

In the shadows of Italy's underworld, one rule reigns: 'Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.' Alessandro Morano, a Mafia Godfather, walks a thin line between loyalty and deception. When Amelia Cooper enters his life, Alessandro must choose: Protect his empire or risk everything for love.

Enzo Romano, what you do to me means nothing to you. But to me, your touch burns, Enzo Romano. It hurts! In a month and a few days, this round will be over, and we will each go our own way. You will go back to your stable life, to your lover who was always there. And me? I will go back with a huge emptiness in my chest, with a hole in my heart that aches like I am cursed! Who is going to pay the price in the end, Enzo? Huh? ********* "Enzo!" I breathed heavily, the heat burning in my throat. Damn, what is he doing? "Shhh. Stay like this for a moment, Celine. Please." He whispered with a faint voice, mixed with a strange madness, while I felt his chin rest on top of my head, his hot breath sneaking into my hair. "Enzo, what are you doing?" A tremble crept into my voice, and the heat rushed through me, making me feel dizzy! It was like my stomach tightened hard, as if I had suddenly caught a deadly disease! "Let me see it, Celine." He whispered, leaning his head more, his panting breath touching my bare shoulder, hitting the sensitive spot near my neck! "Enzo." I whispered his name like I was breathing him in, my eyes closed, and all the walls I built around myself started to fall without any fight! "Do not say my name like that, Celine." His voice shook just like mine did, as if we drowned in the same whirlpool, but why? He has a whole life. He already has a lover. A perfect woman, steady in his world, someone who does not shake and does not break. So why then is he playing with me?