2.12
Unconditional obedience to him? Dream on! Regrettably, after marrying Tang Yuchen, An Ruo's daily thoughts were of escape, escape, and more escape! Someone grew furious, "You want to flee? The only way out is if you die, or I perish!" Fine, she chose death! Yet he laughed wickedly, "Woman, do you intend to kill the son in your womb?"
A week before our bonding ceremony, I overheard my mate talking to his friends. “You actually changed the location for Kira?” one of them teased. “Without telling your fiancée?” Then came his arrogant reply, laced with a smirk I could practically hear through the door. “It’s fine. She loves me so much she nearly died for me. She’ll do whatever I say.” He was so sure I’d follow him to that California beach. So on our bonding day, when his furious mind-link message finally came… “Sarah, where the hell are you?!” I just smiled at the snow falling on my chosen mountain peak. “I’ve been here for a while.”
My Alpha mate Damien and his Beta were talking in the study. They were speaking in the ancient tongue of the wolves. I had secretly learned it, wanting to be closer to his world. “You only bonded with Elara to give Rosalie an Alpha's pardon,” Mason's voice was laced with unease. "You're giving her suppressants. Calling them 'nerve-calmers.' She'll break when she finds out the truth!" My mate's cold reply echoed through the door. "The point is to prevent a pup, not have one." "As for Elara? I'll protect her... as long as she stays out of Rosalie's way." They didn't know I heard every word. I stood outside the door, the fresh mark he'd left on my neck still stinging. In my hand, I held the pills he gave me to "calm my nerves." So his love was a lie. My salvation was a cage. If that's the case, then I'll make sure they get exactly what they wish for.
My sister faked going feral to break her bond with Alpha Wyatt. I was forced to be her replacement. I thought my secret love was finally mine, but his pack made my life hell. Then my sister murdered me with poison. I woke up back on that first day. I accepted the proposal from Jaxon Thorne. They call him the Cursed Alpha. Infamous for a brutal temper. Unable to bond with any she-wolf. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Wyatt snarled. "Are you betraying me for him?"
In this life, I told my father I wouldn't marry Rhys Beaumont. His brother will become my groom. My father was shocked. Everyone in Seattle knew I’d spent a decade chasing Rhys like an idiot. But in my past life, I died for him. Bled out on a delivery table, giving birth to a baby that wasn’t even mine. It belonged to Rhys and his ‘innocent’ little lover. They used my life's work—gene-editing technology—to create it. After I died, they got their perfect family. But this time, the moment Rhys saw his brother’s ring on my finger, he lost his mind.
The pack's healer diagnosed me with the Moonshadow Curse. I had three days to live. The only hope was a high-risk Blood Moon Ritual. But my Alpha mate, Ethan, gave the one chance for a cure to my adopted sister, Seraphina. He said she was more important to the pack. To appease my entire pack, I gave up the chance. I gave the runecraft workshop I had poured my heart and soul into, along with all its core design blueprints, to Seraphina. I agreed to sever our mate bond so he could bond with Seraphina. I even allowed my daughter, Chloe, to call Seraphina "mother." My pack, my mate, my daughter—they were all satisfied with my compliance. No one noticed the dark markings blooming on my skin, nor did they care about the blood I coughed up. They only accused me of playing the victim for attention. I just have one question. When they find my body, will they still be able to smile?
Three days before the wedding, I found out that Shane Rossi had changed our wedding venue from my grandmother's small town in Italy to a Las Vegas casino, the favorite spot of his childhood sweetheart, Tara Bianchi. I ran to confront him, only to overhear him complaining to a friend: “Thank God Tara has good taste, otherwise I’d be the laughingstock of the family for the rest of my life.” His friend reminded him, “Didn’t you promise Quinn you’d have the ceremony at her grandmother’s place? Aren’t you afraid she’ll get angry and call off the wedding?” Shane Rossi scoffed. “The Moretti family is on the verge of bankruptcy. Marrying me is her only way out. She can’t afford to gamble it away.” “I’ve already had someone inform her. She’s probably scrambling to change her flights and visa as we speak.” Anger and indignation welled up in my chest. I bit my lip and, in the end, turned and walked away. Three days later, the casino wedding in Las Vegas went on as scheduled. I didn’t change my flight, nor did I show up. Instead, in my grandmother’s small Italian town, I exchanged rings with another man. To this day, Shane Rossi doesn’t understand. I wasn't marrying him for a so-called ""way out,"" but because of a love that had lasted for ten years. But once I woke up from that dream, it was time for me to have other choices.
The crippled Don of Chicago demanded a bride from the Kovalenko family. To secure a vital business alliance, my parents decided I would be the sacrifice, as they couldn't bear to send their precious adopted daughter, Sophia. In my past life, I refused and fled. Sophia was forced to marry him instead. Her subsequent affair and suicide brought disgrace upon our family and utterly destroyed our business. I begged my fiancé, Marcus, to save us, but he only sneered: “I spent a fortune to bring you all down. If you hadn't forced Sophia to marry that cripple, she wouldn't be dead!” He threw me to his enemies himself, watching as I was tortured to death. Only then did I realize: in everyone's heart, there was only Sophia. Reborn, I volunteered to marry into the Chicago family. But when I wore the matriarch's crown and stood at the pinnacle of power, they were all driven mad with regret...
Gaia and I were kidnapped. Frost, my mafia boss husband, came to negotiate our release. The kidnappers gave him an ultimatum: choose one to live. I dropped to my knees, begging for my life. Frost’s eyes were ice cold: “Gaia is pure—she doesn’t deserve to be touched by scum like you.” “But this whore? She’s already been used. Take her.” He threw me to them like garbage. Four months pregnant with his child, he had no idea. He also didn’t know he’d never get the chance to regret it.
My partner and his alleged "sibling" were apprehended during an anti-prostitution operation at a local inn. Upon arriving to secure his release, I noticed his neck was covered in love bites, and he was consoling her as she wept. "Her residence was unsecured, and she felt unsafe, so I kept her company," he explained. Previously, I would have become enraged and demanded explanations. This time, however, I chose not to play the role of the jealous, irrational girlfriend. I quietly completed the release documents without uttering a word. A colleague from the task force inquired, "Relatives?" I shook my head and replied, "Just neighbors." Then I glanced down and messaged my mother. [Regarding that prearranged marriage you mentioned? I agree to it. Allow me three days, and I'll return home.]
My fiancé fell in love with his intern secretary, insisting on breaking off the engagement with me. I kindly advised: "She has no influence behind her and can't help you become the heir of the Grant Family, you might as well keep her outside first." The secretary felt humiliated, and committed suicide by jumping off a building in front of everyone. Five years later, the first thing he did after becoming the heir was to divorce me, causing me to lose everything. "This is what you owe Lily." When I woke up again, it was my twenty-second birthday banquet. Grandpa Grant asked me what wish I had. "I hope Marcus Grant and Miss Blake... have a long-lasting marriage." I bowed slightly: "Please, Grandpa Grant, agree to cancel my engagement with Marcus Grant!"
Ethan Blake's father was my family's bodyguard. He was brutally stabbed to death while rescuing me from kidnappers. My father, consumed by guilt, took Ethan into our home and raised him as part of our family. He planned for Ethan to marry me when we grew up, as a way in honor of this debt of gratitude. I also felt indebted and tried everything to win Ethan's affection, almost to the point of fawning over him. However, Ethan always treated me with cold indifference, barely acknowledging my existence. One evening, I was working on my personal statements for university applications, he suddenly came to see me and asked about my preparations for the Science Innovation Award. I thought he had finally warmed up to me and excitedly shared all the details of my project with him. One week later, I discovered that Ethan's childhood sweetheart, Olivia, had stolen my idea and submitted it as her own for the competition. She ended up winning first place in the Science Innovation Award and received an early admission to Stanford University. Heartbroken, I confronted Ethan about why he had extracted my ideas to help Olivia. He replied with utter indifference, "Aren't you supposed to be capable? Even without the early admission opportunity, you should be able to get in on your own merit."
The club dancer my husband, Dante, kept on the side loved to play twisted games of 'true love'. For her ninety-ninth game, she kidnapped my daughter. "Dante, I can't stand you being with anyone else," she'd purred. "I'll sell her off to Mexico. Then you'll only have me." My voice like ice, I ordered my husband to get our daughter back. Dante just rolled his eyes. "Chloe just loves me too much. She'll bring the kid back once she calms down. Stop making a scene." I glanced at my phone. A video showed my daughter, the corner of her mouth split and bleeding. I made another call. "In the Moretti family, what's the price for stealing an heir?" "She goes to the bottom of the lake. No exceptions."
On the day I was meant to deliver my twins, I bought out the clinic’s entire stock of contraction inhibitors, forcing my body to halt the labor. I held on until the next day, watching as my husband announced that his mistress had been the first to give birth to his child. Her child would be the future heir of the Russo family. Only then did I let out a relieved breath and allow myself to give birth to my twins. In my past life, Victor was diagnosed with fertility problems. To secure an heir, he kept ten mistresses and declared that whoever gave birth to his child first would see their child become the family heir. I was ecstatic when I unexpectedly became pregnant with twins, but on the day of my delivery, I was met with his fury. He ordered the doctors to shove my babies back inside me. He told them to sew me shut. I felt my newborn twins suffocate in my womb. “Sophia died in childbirth,” my husband, Victor, snarled. “Her baby, too.” “Now you’ll pay for what you stole from her.” He beat me to death in front of her grave. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on that day. This time, they can have their perfect little family.
On the day my twin pups were due, I bought every suppressant herb in the pack's territory and forced myself to delay labor. I held on until the next day, just in time to watch my mate, Damien, announce to the entire pack that Selena had been the first to bear him an Alpha heir. In my last life, I didn’t wait. I believed his lies. I thought giving him the firstborn would make him mine. But when my labor started, he murdered our pups inside my womb. "Selena and her pup died in childbirth," he snarled, dragging me to her fresh grave. "You tried to steal her son's birthright. Now you'll pay the price." He killed me with his own hands in front of Selena's grave. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to that day. This time, I would give that family of three exactly what they wanted.
After waking from a coma caused by a car accident, Clair learned that her husband Jasper—the son of an Alpha—had never once visited her. She had always known about Jasper's first love, Elodie, and now she resolved to let go completely, reclaiming her freedom. But only after Clair left did Jasper realize how much she truly meant to him. By then, it was already too late for redemption.
When the yacht accident happened, Jason chose to save his childhood sweetheart, Arielle, first. Even my daughter begged, “Save Auntie Arielle! I don’t want my mom!” “Your wife will suffocate if we don’t rescue her immediately,” the rescue team warned. Jason replied coldly, “Save Arielle first. My wife is a good swimmer.” I watched them celebrate Arielle’s survival while I nearly drowned. I had given them everything, but my life was worth less than a scratch on someone else. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day of the accident. This time, I would live for myself…
My fiancé had it all figured out. Fake marry another woman so she could get his insurance benefits. Get her pregnant because “she might lose her fertility.” All to help his mother’s supposed lifesaver. He presented it like he needed my permission. But the pregnancy test I found told a different story. She was already months along. I was planning our future while he was creating one with someone else. So you know what I did? On our wedding day, while he stood at the altar waiting, I was starting my new job at a research lab in Seattle. Two years later, I came back engaged to someone who actually deserves me. Now he’s begging for a second chance. Funny how the tables turn.
Alexander Hayes despises me for ten years after his beloved Eleanor dies. I desperately try to win his love, but he only sneers. "Want to make me happy? Then disappear forever." When flames engulf our apartment building, Alex rushes back to save me. He pulls me to safety but gets trapped himself, dying in the inferno. His final words haunt me: "My biggest mistake... was ever knowing you." At his funeral, his parents blame me through their tears. "We should have let Alex marry Eleanor instead. You destroyed our son's life." Everyone wishes I had died instead of him, myself included. They throw me out of his funeral. A few years later, someone invents a time device, and I travel back in time. This time, I'll rewrite history and set us all free.
My husband brought me to an underground auction in Budapest. He was there to show off his new toy, a shop girl who'd clawed her way into his bed. She pressed against his shoulder, trembling like a frightened rabbit. "Boss, these people are so brutal... I'm scared." I couldn't stomach her pathetic act. "Weren't you the one begging Mason to bring you here? You wanted to 'see the world,' remember?" "If there were fewer thrill-seekers like you," I added coldly, "maybe fewer souls would be forced onto these stages." My husband’s response was a chillingly calm defense of his pet. "Darling, why pick a fight with a girl?" He let her cry into his suit jacket and said nothing more. But later, he had his men drag me from the restroom and dump my body onto the circular stage in the center of the hall. Ready to be sold.