Welch Ave Barber Shop

Three days before my wedding, Eric Foreman's childhood love returned to the country with her terminally ill mother. She wanted to marry Eric to fulfill her mother's dying wish. I objected furiously to it in my last life, and Eric eventually rejected Naomi Corbin's request. Naomi appeared with her mother's funeral picture in the middle of our wedding and accused Eric of being heartless. Eric got the bodyguards to kick her out, and our wedding continued without a glitch. However, he did not return home that night. Since then, he insisted that we sleep in different rooms. He would rather get drunk than touch me. When I questioned him about this, he said to me drunkenly as his eyes glazed over, "Ayla, every time I look at you, I'm reminded of the look of despair in Naomi's eyes and her mother's dying face… I regret making that decision!" His answer depressed me, and I eventually died from it. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day Eric tried to convince me to give Naomi our wedding. This time, I agreed. I called my family as I watched him leave happily. "I agree to the marriage alliance. We can hold the wedding in three days."

On our fifth wedding anniversary, my husband cancels a 100-million-dollar business deal to take me on vacation. While we're together, breathless and intimate, I'm about to tell him the news that our IVF finally succeeded when he answers his phone. His Valerian flows, smooth and effortless. "Of course I'm coming to tomorrow's prenatal checkup. That's our baby." "But won't your barren wife get jealous?" The woman on the other end speaks with a sultry lilt. Ethan Shaw traces his tongue along my neck as he responds, "What she doesn't know won't hurt her." My mind went blank, like lightning striking too close. I stuff the pregnancy report back into my pocket without thinking. "Honey, who's that?" Ethan pulls me close by the waist. "Just a business partner in Valeria. Time difference, that's why they're calling now..." I can't process the rest of his words. Ethan doesn't know I understand Valerian. Since he's clearly not excited about our child, I'll make sure this baby grows up without him as a father.

On the day of our wedding, Maverick Lowe sacrificed me as bait to save his childhood sweetheart, Janet Stewart, from her kidnappers. I was left behind, brutally tormented by the gang. The next day, the entire internet was flooded with indecent videos of me. Maverick publicly branded me a disgrace, broke off our engagement in front of everyone, and soon after, paraded Janet as his bride. While I was drowning in despair, my childhood friend Alfred Hawkins confessed his love. He said he had always cared for me, and vowed to shelter me from every storm. With him by my side, I slowly climbed out of that darkness. We married, and soon after welcomed our daughter, Ruby. The three of us built a life of simple, perfect happiness. Until one day, I stumbled upon Janet sobbing in Alfred's arms. Between tears, she choked out, ''The doctor said… without a matching heart, Yoana won't last another month…'' Yoana, her little girl, had been born with a congenital heart defect. Alfred's hand lingered tenderly on her shoulder as he whispered. ''Don't cry. I told you, Ruby's heart was always meant for Yoana. ''After her birthday, I'll arrange the accident. Then Ruby will be delivered straight to the hospital…''

When her stepbrother moves in, Scarlett's human best friend is mesmerized by him. Sienna is popular and beautiful, but Adrian curtly informs her that while he is not interested in having a girlfriend, she may serve as his slave. Sienna believes she can win him over if she spends enough time with him, unaware of his status as Alpha. Meanwhile, Scarlett is falling head over heels for his Beta-Riley, who has been strictly forbidden to mate with her. Will she follow the rules of her Alpha, or rebel for the sake of love?

In a world full of skepticism and mystery, two hearts of different principles and personalities teamed up to find the justice they yearn for a long time. But when the worst-case scenario came to challenge each other's trust, are they ready to risk their love to fulfill the long-lost justice?

My husband, Julian Sutton, is busy with work on the day of my prenatal checkup. His childhood sweetheart, Vera Levine, with whom he's been amorous for years, offers to drive me. On the way there, she suddenly swerves and rams into the back of a truck. The car is flattened. Julian is a doctor in the emergency room, but I don't call him. Instead, I dial 911 and wait for assistance. Why? I called him in my past life, and he took me to the hospital. Our child was saved, but Vera died due to significant blood loss. Julian claimed not to blame me and even arranged for me to stay in a private hospital ward. But on the day I was discharged, he dragged me to Vera's grave and stabbed me. I lost the child and was on the verge of death as I stared into his bloodshot eyes. They were filled with unbridled hatred as he snarled, "Vera wouldn't have died if you hadn't grabbed the wheel! Don't think I'll believe you just because you're acting innocent! An eye for an eye—I want you to die for her, but only after experiencing the pain she felt in a hundredfold!" He twisted the blade and stabbed me repeatedly. My blood splattered on Vera's gravestone, dying it red. When I open my eyes again, I find that I've been taken back to the scene of the accident.

Framed for her mate’s murder. Stripped of her wolf. Sold to the enemy. Seraphina thought slavery was the worst fate. She was wrong. Because the most feared Alpha didn’t break her. He claimed her. As his Bond Slave Luna.

In the coastal quiet of Baler, a studio is born—not of architecture, but of intention.* Founded by Yam, a poet whose words cradle pain gently, and Franc, an artist who paints tenderness into walls, the studio becomes a refuge for those learning to stay—with grief, love, longing, and themselves. As visitors arrive, they leave behind more than footprints: a sigh recorded in bamboo, a poem tucked into the “Found Letters” shelf, a mural painted in crooked lines. Through zines, tea, silence, and sketchbooks, the studio teaches softness as revolution. Ren creates the *Window of Soft Returns*, an installation of anonymous voice recordings—each whisper forming a community of echoes. Drew builds the *Staircase With No Wrong Turns*, inviting people to walk through emotions without shame. Franc offers brushstrokes as brave work, and Yam curates writing circles that map healing in half sentences. Together, they host festivals that feel like hugs, and they begin traveling their archive, letting softness cross oceans. Even those who once left—like Miguel—return, discovering that some doors never truly close. Others, like Tala, capture the studio’s sound and turn it into a podcast of breath and becoming. Over seventy chapters, the studio transforms into something larger than itself: a mural of memory, a sanctuary for second chances, a place where return is sacred and voice is proof of survival. In the final bloom, the studio stands not as a monument—but as a reminder: > *“Staying isn’t easy. > But chosen together, > it becomes home.”*

My son is gravely ill. His inner wolf is too weak to awaken, and the healer warns that without the Alpha’s blood to strengthen his spirit, he may not last the next full moon. He clutches my hand, his feverish golden eyes dimming. “Mother, can Father take me to the Barnum & Bailey Circus？” But no matter how many times I summon my mate through the pack bond, he does not answer. His presence in the mind-link is an empty void. I can only hold my son as his small body trembles. I whisper stories of wolf warriors and great Alphas, but his breathing grows weaker. When the dawn breaks, his tiny fingers slip from mine. His wolf never wakes. A few days later, the scent of wild roses floods our pack’s sacred grounds. I turn—and there he is. My mate. My Alpha. He strides into the hall with my sister cradled in his arms. Her neck bears his fresh scent mark. His mark. I watch as he presses a lingering kiss to her lips, his hands caressing her like a treasure. Their love is bold, shameless—an unspoken declaration to the entire pack. And only then do I learn the truth. While my son lay fighting for his life, waiting for his father’s touch, longing for his Alpha’s strength… my mate was deep in Rose Valley, tangled in passion with my own blood. I thought my heart had long since gone cold from his neglect, but at that moment, it shatters. I make my decision. I will leave this pack. Yet just as I turn to walk away, the mate who had only ever treated me with indifference suddenly drops to his knees. A broken sob rips from his throat. For the first time, my proud, untouchable Alpha weeps.

CONTENT WARNING This story contains graphic sexual content and explicit scenarios intended for mature audiences 18 years and older. Reader discretion is strongly advised. Veronica Harper devoted five years of her life to a man who never loved her—because she was never more than a bet. Her devotion, vulnerability, and virginity were handed over… all for entertainment. She walked into her bedroom—and saw her best friend screaming her name from another man’s mouth. Her boyfriend’s mouth. Betrayed in her own bed, humiliated in public, and framed for a crime she didn’t commit. Then two lines on a pregnancy test changed everything. Pregnant, disowned, and hunted by lies she didn’t create, Veronica fled, carrying two secrets no one could ever touch—her unborn twins. Five years later, she returns for a funeral, keeping her children hidden and her heart locked away. She believes the past is buried. She’s wrong. Forced back into the orbit of the man she once gave herself to—and still loves—Veronica must protect the quiet life she built alone. But grief and betrayal are cruel guides, and the woman who destroyed her life now threatens everything she holds dear. The worst betrayal isn’t in the past. It’s happening now.