Who Was Jack Skellington Before He Died

My husband's first love jumped to her death due to depression and landed right on me as I was passing by. I was rendered unconscious on the spot and subsequently rushed to the ICU. However, my orthopedic surgeon husband stayed by his first love's side to comfort her over her minor scratches. He even refused to sign my Critical Care Notification. "Whoever joined her charade can get lost along with her! Come to me when she's really dead!" he said. It wasn't until he received a death certificate that he realized in horror—the deceased's information was identical to mine.

Five years after my death, my daughter, Emma, dialed Xander Green’s number. She cautiously asked, "Do you like my mom?" She was trying to get an answer to the question I once wrote in my diary. "Xander, do you like me?" Unexpectedly, the voice on the other end sneered, "Did your mom put you up to this? Using her own daughter like a pawn? What an unfaithful woman! She’s already with your dad, yet still trying to rekindle things with me?"

Ten years. Ten years I gave Viktor Volkov everything; my hands, my loyalty, my designs, my silence. When his father stepped in front of a moving truck to save my life and died on that pavement, I became his son's by debt. By duty. And somewhere along the way, by something far more dangerous than either. Love. Foolish, one-sided, ruinous love. Now the doors of the Volkov estate are closing behind me with the quiet finality of a verdict. No argument. No goodbye worth remembering. Just the click of a latch and the ghost of a matching tattoo Viktor had lasered off his wrist before she arrived Elara Conti, all silk and Italian marble, the woman he chose in the time it took me to stop pretending he ever saw me. He gutted my studio. Erased my name from every wall. Turned ten years into a footnote. What Viktor doesn't know is that I'm walking out of those gates carrying the one thing he can never erase. His. And I will burn this entire life to the ground before I let him find out.

I am the daughter of the Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack, my parents are very rich, but I have nothing. When black magic was eating away at me with a month to live, I asked to borrow ten dollars and they said I was "not worthy." I dragged my sickly body to buy the cheapest herbal medicine, but I saw them spending billions of dollars to celebrate my foster sister Vivian's 18th birthday. Tears streamed down my face, I just wanted to spend ten dollars on a piece of fabric and make my own ceremonial robe, even though I wouldn't live to be eighteen.

He didn't want me as his real mate—just a contract Luna he barely tolerated. But everything changed the night my wolf stirred, and I found out I was carrying his child. Now, with only thirty days left before our marriage ends, my Alpha chooses another woman. He looks at her with a love he’s never given me. I'm left with one choice; to leave and protect my child. And I will disappear from his world forever. But when the truth awakens, will the Alpha who rejected me finally realize what he’s lost?

Having been reborn, this time around, I look straight at Arthur Thorne and choose to break our mate bond. Lilian Wilder, the she-wolf he's been seeing on the side, is carrying his pup. To let her pup become his heir, he pleads with me to step aside and make room for her. "Lilian saved my life before. I can't let her and my pup live on the outside as rogue wolves. You'll help me, right? Once my heir is born, I'll bring you back." Back when Arthur had been besieged by the Silvermoon pack, Lilian betrayed her pack and rescued him. Having survived the attack, he became the Alpha, but Lilian got chased out of her pack. Ever since then, he'd been looking after her and would leave the pack from time to time to accompany her. In my previous lifetime, I'd adamantly refused to break our mate bond. However, in order to let his precious Lilian become his Luna, Arthur poisoned me with wolfsbane himself, subjecting me to endless torment. Unable to bear the pain any longer, I chose to break our mate bond. Lilian stared at me mockingly and said, "It's just a bit of wolfsbane. Why are you acting like it's torture? And don't tell me you're going to slander me by saying I did it!" Arthur didn't want to let the love of his life suffer in any way. So, he dragged me right to the burial grounds and watched as I bled to death. Now that I've been reborn, I'm not going to let myself be at anyone's mercy again!

Warning! Mature Content! *Excerpt* "Does it make you nervous when I stare?" His voice was laced with sinful passion. "Will you hate me if I do this?" His dark gaze took in her entire frame. "I am obsessed with you, Delaney." *** Delaney, a beautiful woman, only wished for one thing - A peaceful life, and perhaps, a little touch of financial independence. But throughout her childhood, life gave her a contrast to her wish. She grew up knowing nothing but hatred from her family, and eventually, from her fiancé too. For three years, Delaney paid for a sin she never intentionally committed - losing her virginity to a stranger. This innocent mistake chattered her life and her relationship with Blaine. He detested her so much. But one question is: Why hasn't he called off their engagement? Gradually, Blaine was becoming the man she hoped he'd be. She'd secured a job at a prominent company too... She was already inching closer to her dreams when suddenly, he resurfaced - The stranger who had almost ruined her life three years ago. This stranger who was perfectly built for sin turns out to be Blaine's boss, the most dreaded Adonis Langston. And this time, he wanted more than just a one-night stand... Poor Delaney's life was set into panic once again. Little did she know that she had also cast her spell on her soon-to-be boss, who turns out to be Adonis's childhood best friend! Oops! Financial Independence, power, and fame at its peak... All hell is about to let loose as these three men are never known for surrendering. She had all she needed to exert revenge on those who'd hurt her, depending on the decision she makes. But in all of these, she is about to face the biggest betrayal of her life.

My husband, Jared Smith, let me take his spot for a highland vacation. After I departed, I found out that I won a random lottery that I had bought before for $50 million. In order to not delay the redemption of the lottery ticket, I took a red-eye flight back home and wanted to share the news with Jared. Before I went into the house, I heard his smug laugh. “That jacket belongs to Sammy, I’m sure! That dumb witch has been eaten by a bear! I’m so glad that Penny and I sent her on that trip.” It just so happened that the tour group chat sent a video of a member being eaten by a brown bear. My jacket was bloody. However, I was not the one who had been wearing that jacket. It had been his lover, Penny Lee.

They called her barren. Her husband believed it. His mother engineered it. And for four years, Bella Cole lived inside that lie — shrinking herself, surrendering her career, swallowing her grief in a marriage that was slowly erasing her. Then came the dinner party. The added chair. The pregnant maid with her hand on her stomach and victory in her eyes. And something in Bella went very, very quiet — and very, very awake. Because the math didn't add up. The diagnosis didn't make sense. And the man who couldn't keep his hands off the help? He couldn't have fathered that child if he tried. Literally. Now Bella isn't grieving. She's building. Piece by piece, witness by witness, document by document — she is assembling the truth that was stolen from her. And when it finally comes apart, it won't just cost Ethan Cole his heir. It will cost them everything. She was never the problem. She was always the answer. And she is only just beginning.

On the night of my wedding, my best friend's younger brother wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked me, “It’s a little big. Can you handle it?” I stared at his perfectly defined abs, my mind going completely blank. “What?” He repeated, “Can you handle it?” My voice jumped an octave from my panic. “Aren't we supposed to take things slow? Isn’t this way too fast?” That night, the sound-activated lights in the house flickered on and off until dawn. Meanwhile, my ex-husband was squatting downstairs. His eyes were swollen red from crying, but I did not even spare him a thought. Back then, when I agreed to let him proceed with a fake wedding with his childhood sweetheart, Miles Carter thought our cold war was over. When he explained things to me, he said, “Vivian and I will only be married on paper. The ceremony is just to satisfy my mom. I swear, when this is over, we’ll live as a real couple.” I remained silent. I just stared at the countdown on my phone, counting the days until I could finally leave. He did not know that the moment he tricked me into signing the divorce papers, our marriage had already ceased to exist.