1396 Book(s) Related to hades how to get epilogue

Damn, Kairus Dennis Brovarian. This man is the brother of my brother's wife, and my brother just got married a week ago. He was asked to look after me by my brother, which shouldn't be necessary.

After my brother got married, I thought I could enjoy life on my own. I had assumed that I could now live without being in his close, overpowering sight, but I was wrong. He even recruited Kelsey's brother to keep an eye on me when they were abroad on their honeymoon.

Hello? Just a month away and I'm already eighteen!

This is why I wanted fire. I don't want someone to approach me, touch me, or even try to take control of my life. I desire to ignite my own fire. I prefer to make all decisions alone, not in conjunction with anyone else.

I can't drink, party, or can't even invite my bestfriend to see a movie with me here. I'm not even permitted to leave the house this weekend, and if it keeps up next week, I really hope I can make it.

I sighed.

He went home late again. I stood up and let the fire in the hearth live. I whirled around and fixed my eyes on him. He's at it again with his gaze like this. It's odd. It's cold and strong. His jawline's hair is beginning to somewhat grow. He has a mature, yet imposing, appearance.

Kelsey, Andrew's wife said that he attracts a lot of women. She talked a lot about his brother, and Kairus is the only single of the family.

When fire and a rock fuse together, what kind of explosion could be?

Catherine Lane doesn’t believe in love. Not after the divorce that shattered her family—or the silence her father left behind. Focused, brilliant, and emotionally guarded, she builds walls no one gets past. Especially not at Statham Enterprise, New York’s most cutthroat corporate empire.

Erik Statham doesn’t have time for distractions. Ruthless in business, cold by design, he built his empire by staying detached. But when Catherine storms into his world—sharp-tongued, unapologetic, and smarter than anyone else in the room—she threatens everything he thought he wanted… and everything he’s afraid to feel.

What begins as a power struggle explodes into a slow-burn, high-stakes romance laced with betrayal, obsession, and the kind of passion that scars.

But when rivals conspire, secrets unravel, and trust is shattered, Catherine must decide what she wants more: revenge—or a chance to rise from the wreckage on her own terms.

A dark, emotional, and seductive workplace romance where love isn’t a weakness—it’s the final move.

On my wedding night, I discovered the man in my bed wasn't my husband.
It was his twin brother—the one the family had exiled.
In my previous life, I exposed them in a rage.
My cheating husband came back, smashed my head open, and threw me into the ocean to be fed to the sharks.
But this time, reborn with a second chance, I cupped the face of the man in front of me—the face identical to my husband's—and slowly untied my wedding dress.
"Since he personally delivered you to my bed, then from now on... you're the husband."
This time, I'm going to raise up the loyal stand-in, and take everything from that bastard.

Detective Lana Cross has paid her dues in the department. Raised in foster homes, beaten down by life, and hardened by trauma, she's clawed her way up in a system designed to keep her out. Her last big case catching Vincent Greaves, aka the Skull Artist should’ve earned her a promotion and peace of mind. Instead, it left her scarred and sidelined.

The Skull Artist’s crimes were beyond anything the city had seen: victims were killed, their skulls removed, and crime scenes turned into sickening “exhibits” abstract expressions made of flesh, bone, and blood. Greaves claimed it was all part of “revealing what lies beneath.” Lana caught him, barely, and the case was buried.

But now, just when she’s told her promotion is on the table, another body turns up displayed exactly like Greaves’ original work. Except Greaves is still locked in maximum security.

The case threatens to unravel everything she’s fought for. And as the press explodes and her department hesitates, Lana is told she can have her promotion… if she solves this new case.

Lelandi Wildhaven is terrified when she sees her cousin Ural slink into the woods in his wolf form. She decides to enter the Silver Town Tavern, which is remote, surrounded by forest, a haven from the harsh reality of the forced marriage, and secure from Bruin’s retribution. She is surprised to find five bearded men at the table, who have seen her disguise and are admiring her. She suspects that the worn-out antique mirrors on the rear wall behind the bar have been silent witnesses to the events there for a long time. Lelandi arrives at a pub frequented by gray lupus garous and is greeted warmly by the bartender.

Despite her differences in appearance, she still feels like Lelandi, Larissa’s triplet. She is given a large green glass and a chilled bottle of water by the bartender and pays for the water. She chooses a table that is partially concealed by shadows in the farthest corner, hoping to come across as unremarkable, unworthy of anyone’s inspection, and human. Darien Silver should arrive shortly. Lelandi is confronted with the idea that Larissa had the gall to mate with a gray, especially considering that she already had a mate. She believes it was her own fault and is determined to track down her brother and uncle and curse them for abandoning the family after learning what had happened to Larissa and burying the killer.

Her heart was broken from her childhood. She has no way to find but she fought with every obstacle in her life and reached the goal of her life.

Her life is not a fairy tale. She is not a princess. She is a common girl who faced the wrath of society and was betrayed by the people whom she trusted like her life. But she didn't break though her heart was broken.

When she became the billionaire by achieving her dreams, there happened an incident where she was married without her consent.

She didn't love him. She hates family. She hates bonding. She hates children. She hates everything which is an obstacle to her dreams.

He is a man of his world who married unwantedly. He didn't want to know her heart. He didn't want to heal her. He doesn't care for her because he assumes that she is money minded girl who never know to love.

Will he ever know her heart? Will he ever heals her?
Will she ever loves her husband? Who will play the cupid in their tale? Why do they hate marriage?

He married her for revenge by blackmailing her father. She married him for her dad who loves her so much.

He is kind and loving to everyone except to her and her father. She couldn't forget her past love and move on. His anger made her scared of him every minute. He forced her to cut all connections with her family.

Why a carefree and loving Jay became an arrogant and rude husband? What is his past? Will he torture her to hurt her father forever? Or gives her love? Is it possible for her to move on forgetting her past love and forgiving Jay for marrying her without her acceptance?

The story revolves around Jay’s revenge against Vidya’s father. Vidya becomes a toy in the game of his revenge as her father loves her a lot. What's the reason behind his revenge will be revealed later. A girl who is loved by her family a lot faces hatred from Jay who makes her life the worst. Is it possible for her to forget her past love and love the one who hurts her every second? How would fall for one another? Let’s see how she makes her life filled with her husband’s love by valuing the sacred bonding of marriage.

Let's see the journey of Jay and Vidya whose bonding started with hate but finally made them to fall for one another completely. See how he became her confidence and how she became a support to him in his lonely fight over his enemies.

Sakshi's POV:

"As of today, you are dead," said Randhir, increasing my fear.

"I am sorry, please," I said.

"I will never forgive you. You are the one who ruined my life. I married you to show you how painful it is to be cheated by someone you trust," Randhir said, coming toward me.

"I've realised my mistake. Please, trust me," I said, begging him.

"You deserve to be hated, punished, and thrown away, not to be trusted, loved, or forgiven, my beloved," came Randhir's immediate reply.

I moved back even though I knew well that I couldn't escape him. Randhir was my husband, and no one knew that he had married me for revenge.

"Stop right there. Don't you dare take even one more step without my permission."

My name is Jack Morris, a bottom-rung janitor on the docks.
Every day, people walk all over me, and I live on moldy bread.
Until one day, an old man I saved handed me a photograph. "This is my granddaughter. She's being held at the Black Swan Casino."
That used to be my place. Ten years ago.
Her father was a brother who died in my place.
I was once the king of the underground.
And now, at the banquet celebrating the tenth anniversary of my death, they're treating that old man's granddaughter like a toy.
If my disappearance only made those animals more brazen...
Then they can finish that drink and celebrate their own deaths next.

Life is something which doesn't happen according to our wish, but thrills us with it's unexpected twists and turns.

For most of the girls,life is an everyday challenge. From her birth,she faces problems in many forms- girl discrimination, love, lust, betrayal, s*xual harassment, acid attacks and many more. This book is a war against acid attacks on girls.

Everyday we read about acid attacks on girls, in newspaper. In this book, let's see how RUDRANI fights with fate, life, society and wins her life.

The real men never fall for outer beauty of a girl. He will try to read her heart and loves her as she is. Let's see whether ASHUTOSH is a real man to understand RUDRANI or a normal guy who hurts her as everyone do.

Love is a magical word which had power even to tranform a life of a person who doesn't have any hope on life. It can heal a heart or break a heart. Let's see whether ASHUTOSH heals RUDRANI or further breaks already broken her heart one more time.

Love is something which we love a lot. But in this book let's learn to love ourselves first to be loved by anyone else. Let's start being in a position where we share love to others than expecting love from others. Let's see love from a different side. Let's see a girl who is strong enough to decide her own fate. A Romantic journey which includes many emotions and dreams.

Join me in the beautiful and never experienced love journey of RUDRANI and ASHUTOSH.

I LOVE YOUR TEARS- He healed her Heart which was broken by him.

She was broken; he healed her.

She was betrayed; he taught her to fight back.

She was selfless, and it was taken as an advantage by everyone; he made her strong and smart.

She was immature; he changed her thought process.

She was a failure; he brought a successful and inspirational woman out of her.

She lost trust in love; he showed her what true love is.

She thought she was a broken bottle and useless; he encouraged and supported her to become an inspirational woman and source of life for many women who were broken and betrayed.

Jwala, the one who inspires every woman. Agni, who encouraged her. If life throws challenges at you and troubles you at every point, never give up. CHALLENGE THE CHALLENGES AND TROUBLE THE TROUBLES.

The concept in brief:
Patience, sacrifice, kindness, tears make a person strong, but not weak. Every success starts with failure. Any great story contains tears. Pain makes a person know their hidden capacity. Never ask God why me because God or fate gives problems only when you are capable of facing them. A stone which was depleted by a sculptor turns into a beautiful sculpture. A person who suffers most becomes most successful person on the Earth.

Girls are not vulnerable; they are strong. They inherit qualities like love, sacrifice, patience, and kindness which enhance the beauty of their heart but often misinterpreted as their weakness. They bear pain because of their kind heart, but they can create miracles if they are left freely without binding their legs. Read the book to find out how a naive girl Jwala, who faced worst circumstances, became an independent woman with encouragement from the love of her life, Agni.

The story of a girl Roopa who aspired to join the Indian Police Service and then the Intelligence Bureau, which is a part of the National Investigation Agency of India (NIA). Joining NIA is nothing, but being ready to give up life at any time for the safety of the nation. It is highly risky and confidential. Maintaining secrecy and being prepared to accomplish the mission assigned at any time is the primary duty of the team of NIA.

Roopa joined the NIA clearing the Civil Services, the seventh toughest exam in the world, which is unknown to her parents. As her parents opposed her goal to join the Police Department, Roopa achieved her goal, hiding it from her family. Her parents got her married to Preetam, who is handsome and wealthy. He married her with love, but his love turned into anger when he came to know the secret of her profession.

The entire nation except her parents, husband and in-laws appreciated Roopa for her courage, sincerity and never give up attitude. However, her family accused her saying she is reckless, selfish and cares least for the family.

Let us join in her journey where Roopa inspired every girl and changed the mindset of every parent, in-laws and husband.

In the wasteland era, the soil is dead. Whoever can grow food is king.
In my last life, my brother gave me the spore we had nearly died to get, and the two of us awakened plant-growing powers together.
But every grain he grew was full and perfect, and the leader placed him on a pedestal; everything I grew was poisonous, and I was mercilessly cast out as worthless.
It wasn't until I died that I learned the truth: his power was never plant-growing, but transfer.
As long as he had eaten the spore, he could transfer away all the crops I grew.
When I got a second chance, I returned to the very day my so-called brother tried to shove the spore into my mouth.
This time, I slammed into him, knocked the spore to the ground, and crushed it under my foot.

Diya is a great, bold, and adventurous journalist. She is known for bringing out the darkest secrets of the high profile people. But, none knows about the darkest secret of her life.
Shourya is a sincere, emotionless, brave, and honest cop. He is a terror in the hearts of the criminals. His duty is everything to him, and love, relationships, and family are trash to him.
Unexpectedly, Diya and Shourya were trapped in a marriage by the Central Home Minister, an enemy to both of them. Shourya doesn't know about the darkest secret of Diya's life. After a long time, Diya's trials to win Shourya's love became successful. But before they get closer, her darkest secret comes out, ruining Shourya and his family's reputation. And her secret is also connected with his past, which none of them knows it.
What is Diya's past, and how is it related to Shourya? Is he going to forgive her for hiding such a big secret from him? Does he accept her after knowing her secret? Inspite of politics and many conspiracies, is it possible for Diya and Shourya to chase the happiness and love they craved?

I took my sister’s place to save my family. Now I am living a life that could destroy me. I never wanted anything to do with the mafia. But when my twin sister vanished without a word, I stepped into her world and became her… the wife of Rowan, a man people fear and never question.
Every day, I live a lie. His son, Dante, looks at me like I am his mother, and something inside me breaks every time he says in a low voice that l look like his mom. But not everyone is fooled.
Rowan’s family watches me too closely. They see what does not belong and they are waiting for me to slip so they can get rid of me for good.
I tell myself I can handle it. That I just need to survive long enough to protect the people I love.
But I am losing control. Because the man I was never meant to love is starting to look at me differently. And the worst part is… I think I am falling for him too.

Married for seven years, I lived my life like an absolute joke.
For the sake of my brother, my wife personally uprooted the roses I had so painstakingly cultivated. To please her uncle, my daughter pointed at my nose and called me a "bad daddy."
The entire family even held a vote to force me to donate my bone marrow. My wife, Elena, raised her hand without a second thought: "You'll just lose a little bone marrow. Liam will die without you."
In that moment, my heart died.
The surgery was a success.
As the anesthesia wore off, Elena was holding my hand tightly. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her voice trembled with remorse: "Aaron, I was a jerk before. As long as you were willing to save Liam, I will love only you for the rest of my life."
She thought I would be as pathetically grateful as a dog, begging for her affection and humbly forgiving her.
But I merely frowned in disgust and pulled my hand back as if shaking off garbage.
In the dead silence, I looked at this tearful woman before me and asked, politely yet confused:
"Excuse me, ma'am... who are you?"

The Wizards of Hoods was a schools for talented beings, even humans attended. But soon the humans saw magic as a old stuffs, they found a new God just like the Wizards would say,technology. The humans believed so much in their technology that they killed witches and any one with special powers.
They believed ones you special you become a treat to the society. But if you can find your way to the school you get trained on how to use your power.
Soon the shadow’s returned with a partner, the worst enemy of the Wizards of Hoods. The attack started from the Home of the Hoods, Rivers. The shadows preyed on their people while the Wizards were busy with their nightmare, the Lord of Darkness.
Hood Kripson a young trainee in the school, saw it like an action film in real life, the punches flying and body flying all over. But neither did he know that the faith of the people would soon be on him and his friends.
When the Wizards saw their was no way to win the war, they decided to lock their self in with the demons while their people ran to the human world that does not accept being with powers. But they were ambushed at night and only few made it to the human world with the help of Hood Kripson.
Hood Kripson made it to the human world in half, he was damaged and dying, he could survived but he thought he would just lead the shadows to the peaceful world. But in less than few seconds, he felt a power surge hit him, and then he knew it happened, the Wizards of Hoods were down and now it was left to him so he did the same.

Bethany Wayne is a simple twenty four year old nurse at a junior high school. Like every other person at her age, she is desperate to find a mate. She hopes that they will be simple, loving and understanding. She hopes that they will accept her and fulfill her dreams of having a happily ever after.

Not long after her twenty fourth birthday, her mate finally makes an appearance.
What she doesn't expect is her mate is The Carson Gray. The richest, most eligible bachelor in town and the epitome of beauty. And worst of all, The Carson Gray is a brother to one of the students at the junior high school and one of the new school board members.

To avoid the unnecessary chaos, she seeks help of an old friend who helps her mask her scent in case she runs into Carson unexpectedly.
It seems to work for a while and as she and Carson keep running into each other in pretty unpleasant encounters, she realizes that she made the right decision. There is no way Carson Gray is capable of being her dream mate. He is arrogant, cold, heartless and narcissistic.

The medicine seems to mask Bethany's scent for a while until it's a birthday party of one of Carson's and Bethany's mutual friends. She forgets all about the medicine and goes swimming, and the water successfully wipes off all the scent- masking medicine.

Carson obviously finds out and to say that he is angry is an understatement.
He wants to know why Bethany denied him a chance of being his fated mate. He wants to know why Bethany thinks the worst of him. He has so many questions which Bethany answers in all honesty.

She tells him how irritating he is, how much of a showoff.

There’s nothing more exciting than fate, nothing more desirable than forbidden love and nothing more consuming than the burning desire of a lover.

First daughter and pride of the Blue Hive, Clarissa Mark was a blessed girl loved by her father and every member of her pack.

Brought up in a happy home, she had everything she wanted and people who would do anything to provide what she needed. She was confident about her future and to make it more exciting, she found love.

A lover so passionate that he ignited feelings she couldn’t process and it made her feel like she was on top of the world.

The only problem was the man responsible for making Clarissa lose all her reasoning.

Clarissa believed she knew everything about her new lover, Gabriel Lance. She knew He was off bounds, being the heir of the rival pack- Blood Moon but she couldn’t listen to her head. She saw a good in him no one else saw and was determined he was not like everyone in her pack claims.

He was different, a charmer and a passionate mate and he loved her with all his heart.

She was so positive of his love for her but everything changed when she came back from her one month vacation, pregnant and mated to the one person she should never have had something to do with.

Her father, who loved her more than anything was willing to accept her back as long as she got rid of the forbidden child which she blatantly refused to.

Clarissa left the pack she knew as her home as she couldn’t bare to loose the child and her father couldn’t bare to raise such a shame and damnation in his house.

Three years ago, Ye Chen was the unrivaled genius of the Azure Cloud Sect—until the woman he loved betrayed him, shattered his dantian, and stole his Spiritual Bone to climb higher. Cast into the Spirit Beast Stables as a cripple, he is beaten, starved, and forgotten.

But when his blood awakens an ancient ring, everything changes.

The Supreme Overlord System binds to his soul, repairing his body and granting him heaven-defying power. In mere breaths, he reclaims lost cultivation. In a single night, he crushes his first enemy.

The sect believes he is trash.

They are about to witness the birth of a god.

And Ye Chen has a debt to collect.

All her life, Caroline used to believe werewolves are fantasy creatures. Not until her 18th birthday was Caroline told that she was adopted and to make her feel worse, she was adopted into a werewolf family. More importantly, she was her stepbrother's Mate and her stepbrother is an Alpha. Just when Caroline was blending into the situation, she was found by a man who told her he is her real cousin.
She was also told her identity as a Lycan- werewolf's most hated enemy and the only way to live is to escape.
What happens after Cara found out that her mate's grandfather is the one that murdered her parents? Although her mate is one of the leaders in the academy, what if other leaders did not accept Lycans? Will Caroline run from the academy or will she fight against them to be with her mate?

Nora, the wolfless daughter of a powerful Beta, has spent her life cherished by her pack and devoted to her best friend, the future Alpha, Damon. But on the night of her eighteenth birthday, when the mate bond reveals they are destined, he shatters her world with a brutal public rejection, declaring her weakness a liability. Cast out and heartbroken, Nora forges a new life alone, until a charismatic Alpha from a rising pack offers her a home. When her dormant powers awaken with breathtaking force, Nora must decide if she will hide in the shadows or enter a legendary tournament and force the world, and the man who broke her, to witness her true strength.

When the apocalypse struck, my brother Leo didn't hesitate to choose the offshore sanctuary.
In our past life, faced with a choice between a powerful inland warlord commanding a massive army and a leader clinging to a solitary island, Leo snatched up the first option.
But when a zombie horde overran the mainland and defenses collapsed, he fled to my island for refuge.
Jealous of how well I was surviving the end of the world, he and our parents knocked me unconscious in the dead of night and threw me into the ocean to drown.
Now that I've been reborn, Leo immediately took our parents to the maritime base, leaving the "dangerous" mainland to me.
He thinks the ocean is a natural barrier that guarantees his safety, that he can sit back and relax while the world burns.
But there's one thing he doesn't know.
Zombies aren't just static, mindless walking dead—they evolve.
And when they do, that offshore sanctuary will become a floating hell with no way out.

"Nancy has returned. I'll have my secretary prepare the divorce settlement."

Andrew Lopez, the superstar and my secret contract husband of three years, buttoned his shirt coldly. For three years, I was his perfect, obedient wife in the shadows. I fulfilled his every need and never caused a single scandal. But the moment his first love returned, I became entirely disposable.

"Very well, I will sign it," I smiled, understanding my place.

I packed my bags and prepared to step aside. But the script didn't go as he planned. When his "innocent" first love tried to bully and humiliate me, I refused to be a pushover, tearing off her fake mask. And when my handsome former classmate showed up to protect me, Andrew completely lost his mind.

He pinned me against the wall, his eyes burning with intense jealousy. "You're still my wife! Stay away from him."

I let out a cold laugh. "We're getting divorced, remember? You chose your true love. Now, watch me shine and live my best life without you."

Is a stay-at-home wife just a maid in her marriage?

I say: Absolutely not.

I worked late just to buy my daughter a birthday cake.
But when I got home, I accidentally heard her on the phone with another woman.

She was ashamed of me, called me a maid, and begged that woman to act as her family member at the parent-teacher conference.

Later I found out my husband had been with that woman all along.
Hidden inside my daughter’s watch was a small group chat with just the three of them.

My own daughter said she hated me and planned to drive me away.
And my husband let it all happen.

My heart was completely broken.
On my birthday, I signed the divorce papers and left home quietly.

After leaving, I discovered a much bigger world and achieved my dreams.

But their lives fell completely apart.

She stole from the wrong billionaire. Now she's his most valuable prize.

Half-fae thief Vesper thought she'd pulled off the heist of a lifetime—until she discovered her mark was a dragon in disguise. Draken, the ruthless CEO who rules Las Vegas with an iron fist and a hoard of gold, doesn't forgive. He doesn't forget. And he never lets go of what's his.

One stolen memento. One impossible connection. One soul-bond that neither of them wanted.

Now she's caught between vampire syndicates, dragon-hunters, and a possessive billionaire who claims her as his fated mate. But none of them saw it coming: her half-fae bloodline wasn't a weakness—it was the perfect vessel for primordial dragon magic, a power no mortal was ever meant to wield.

Now she can see through any lie, bend probability at the casino tables, and challenge the immortal elite who've ruled Vegas for centuries. In a city where money is god and magic is currency, Vesper must master these stolen abilities before her enemies weaponize her gifts—or before Draken's obsession consumes them both.

Everyone thinks I'm the wild child of the family, the one who won't fall in line.

Blake's the young king of the business world—rational, cold, always in those perfectly cut suits.

But every night, he's got me pinned underneath him, breathing my name.

He said I was his, but never let me see daylight. Until she came back—my father's mistress's daughter, in her white dress, smiling like an angel.

On my birthday, he went to pick her up from the airport. When the chandelier crashed down, he carried her to the hospital and left me bleeding on the floor. When she smashed my mother's heirloom, he made me apologize on my knees. He said she was fragile, needed care; said I was strong enough to understand.

Then I heard them on my bed, her moaning his name.

So I left. Married a man who truly loved me. And he went insane.

He kidnapped me, forced a wedding, announced to the world I was his wife.

But this time, I just smiled and shook my head.

"Let go. It's too late."

I used to be the Blackwells' best killer. For him, I walked away from that life and became his wife. I even gave him a daughter.

I thought it was redemption. Turns out, it was the start of something worse.

Three years ago, during that shootout at the docks, his first love showed up with his bastard son. When the rival family put guns to both kids' heads, he didn't hesitate. He chose to save her son.

My daughter burned in the explosion.

That was the day the man I loved for ten years died. What's left is just my sworn enemy.

At the Met Gala, I heard my husband tell his friends in French that I'm "boring." That his 22-year-old girlfriend is "so much more exciting in bed."

He laughed when they asked if I knew. "Elle ne comprend même pas 'bonjour'." (She doesn't even understand 'bonjour'.)

What Marcus doesn't know: I spent two years at the Sorbonne.

Je comprends tout, Marcus. I understand everything.

The diamond necklace he gave me after my miscarriage suddenly feels too tight. I smile at him across the champagne and candlelight.

He has no idea what's coming.

Everyone says he loved me more than anything. So I chose to answer that love with death.

Forbes cover stories, tearful speeches at charity galas, shutting down Fifth Avenue every Valentine's Day just to watch fireworks with me. They said he ruled a business empire but would kneel in front of the entire world and call me his reason to live.

I used to believe it.

Until I discovered my perfect husband had built another home with another woman. A warm one, filled with laughter and his child.

So I chose to disappear the night the storm swallowed everything.

They say he spent three days on his knees at the cliff's edge, screaming my name into the black ocean. The man worth billions couldn't even find his wife's body.

When the rescue team recovered that burned-out car, he finally opened the safe I'd left for him. Inside was a positive pregnancy test and a divorce agreement that would never be signed.

By then, nothing mattered anymore.

At the bar, I watched Ethan get publicly dumped and made a crazy proposal fueled by liquid courage—a three-month fake dating contract.

I thought this was my only chance after twenty years of secret crushing. Until his ex showed me the text: "With Mia? Pretty convenient. She's been following me around since we were kids."

So I was just a tool.

The day we broke up, he shouted with red eyes: "I've been crazy about you for twenty years!" I thought he was acting, until his mom handed me a worn journal—

That careless comment I made at thirteen, "I'm never marrying Ethan," he'd remembered for twenty whole years.

Every page of that diary was filled with my name...

Every time my husband wants to make me give in, he slaps divorce papers on the table. Every time my parents want me to cave, they threaten to disown me.

What they want is simple: give everything to my twin sister.

I used to fight back. I cried. I demanded to know why it always had to be me.

But when the doctor slides the test results across his desk and tells me in that pitying voice, "Stage four brain cancer. You have a month, maybe less," something in me just... stops caring.

I'm dying anyway. They can do whatever the hell they want.

Three years after returning to the Duke's estate, I finally admit the truth: the phoenix I poured my heart into raising doesn't love me. He only spreads his brilliant tail feathers for the replacement.

I was six when traffickers took me, stuck in the slums for twenty years. A year after losing me, the Duke and Duchess adopted an infant from the church.

That girl became the new daughter, enjoying everything that should have been mine.

When they found me at twenty-six, my parents looked at me with guilt, yes, but mostly like I was a stranger. They loved the daughter they raised more.

I don't blame them.

Twenty years in the slums taught me: don't count on anyone's love. Only power and gold won't betray you.

So when he refused me for the third time, I went to the black market auction and bought a battered wolf slave.

The phoenix finally panicked, feathers flaring, voice shaking:

"Master, you promised you'd only keep one magical beast..."

Ethan and I grew up together. We were supposed to exchange rings at the altar, make our vows. But on our wedding day, he left me standing there to go save his so-called suicidal ex. Almost killed my parents from the shame.

Four years later, I'm back in Portland with my husband. The city isn't that big, and of course fate decides to throw him in my path again.

He has the nerve to ask me to be his mistress.

I hold up my left hand, the ring catching the light. "Are you blind?"

The day I get diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, I can finally stop selling plasma.

For five years, I thought I was paying for the fire that killed my parents and son, left my brother disabled. Selling plasma, joining drug trials, doing the worst jobs imaginable, all to pay back a debt that wasn't even real.

The doctor says I have a few weeks left. I clutch the diagnosis report and head home to tell them.

The moment I push open the door, I see my parents in the kitchen, the ones who supposedly died in the fire. My brother, who was supposed to be in a wheelchair, stands there raising a glass, laughing with my husband.

My brother shrugs like it's nothing. "The broken leg was fake the whole time. You were the only one hurt in the fire. We just wanted to teach you a lesson, make you appreciate things."

"We were going to tell you eventually." My husband pats my shoulder. "Go apologize to Vanessa. Stop giving her a hard time."

"All the money you gave us went to Vanessa," Dad says. "That's what you get for throwing your bio-daughter status in her face."

I touch the diagnosis in my pocket. Everything was a lie. The only truth is that I'm dying.

The first thing I do with my second chance is sell off my perfect fiancé for ten million dollars.

The first time around, I became someone else for Julian Whitmore.

He likes nude-toned dresses. Hates when I wear anything with color. He won't let me have more than one glass of champagne in public. Won't let me laugh too loud. Won't let me initiate anything in bed.

His voice is always so calm, like he's correcting a disobedient pet.

I spend three years turning myself into what he wants: docile, proper, flawless. Until depression drags me under. Until that night I lay in the bathtub and watched the water turn red.

When I die, he's still downstairs in his study, editing my speech for tomorrow's charity gala.

When I open my eyes again, I'm sitting in the Winters' living room with that unsigned arrangement in front of me.

This time? Fuck perfect.

But when he lifts that veil at the wedding and realizes the bride isn't me, this man who's spent his whole life in control completely loses it.

The night the team wins again, the roar inside the arena could raise the roof.

On the ice, the captain has his arm around the new cheer captain, spinning her under the lights. His skates cut clean lines across the ice. Teammates whistle and shout, someone yells "ask her out!", someone else films on their phone. Everyone waits for me to show up and make a scene. Cry, stumble onto the ice, drop to my knees and beg him to come back. Pathetic, like every time before.

But no one knows I'm in the back of the locker room right now, pressed against a cold metal locker.

The quiet backup player has his hand on the back of my neck, his voice barely steady. "You sure about this?"

I push up on my toes and kiss him first.

Being born a Moretti daughter means one thing: the family owns you.

In my past life, Vivian thought she had what it took. She promised Dad she could handle it, swore up and down she'd make him proud. Six months later, she'd burned through three generations of work and left us with nothing but an empty shell. Our enemies found her eventually. Broke both her legs.

And me? I married Marco Rossi.

Everyone envied me for marrying into one of the most powerful families in the city. What they didn't know was that I was his prisoner. He used me, turned my family's connections into stepping stones for himself, spent my money on his mistresses, used my body as a bargaining chip at his deals.

In the end, Vivian killed me. Jealous of my "perfect life," she dragged herself over on those broken legs and put a bullet in me.

When I open my eyes again, I'm sitting in Dad's study.

The door slams open. Vivian bursts in, cutting me off before I can speak. "Dad! I'm marrying Marco Rossi! Give the family to Sienna!"

I look at her and smile.

This time, I'm going to survive. And I'm going to do a hell of a lot better than just survive.

In my past life, we were camping in the wilderness area of a state park when my best friend handed out "lucky charms" to the whole group. Charms she'd secretly packed full of wildlife attractant.

A wild boar knocked me to the ground outside the cabin door. Its tusks tore into my stomach. I pounded on the wood with both fists, screaming. "Help! Open the door!"

Inside were my boyfriend of two years and the best friend I'd been quietly supporting for just as long. Autumn Warren.

"I'm so sorry, Brynn." Autumn's voice broke into sobs, but her weight stayed pressed hard against the door. "There are boars everywhere. We open that door, we're all dead."

"Just hold on! I'm calling 911!" Wyatt Fletcher's voice rang out with the kind of conviction that cost him absolutely nothing.

I paid for that trip. I'd fallen behind because I'd stopped to pull Autumn along.

And they stood on the other side of that door, my blood soaking into the dirt, and locked me out.

I open my eyes. I'm back. It's the day we left.

For the top university in the North American wolf packs, transfer students aren't exactly breaking news. But this one sets the entire forum on fire.

It starts with a photo. A girl standing next to a tall, imposing man. Both faces are deliberately blurred, but that build, that presence... every wolf in North America recognizes it. The Alpha King. The caption reads: "Dad why'd you send me this 😭 I'm not ready to go public yet."

Minutes later, the post vanishes. But screenshots flood the forum.

"Moon Goddess above! Is that really the Alpha King?"

"The girl in the photo... could she be the royal princess no one's ever seen?"

The comments explode. Compliments flood in. Even my aloof boyfriend joins in.

Something feels off. I type out a comment: "The Alpha King keeps a low profile. His daughter should do the same. Posting photos like this... doesn't seem right."

Less than a minute later, the replies come.

"Who do you think you are to question her?"

"Can't stand seeing someone else do well, huh?"

My boyfriend chimes in too: "Quit it. You're embarrassing yourself."

I pick up my phone and dial a number. "Dad, since when do you have another daughter?"

The moment I gave up wasn't when I found out my husband was cheating. It was when I heard my ten-year-old daughter laugh into the phone and say, "Mom's so clueless. She has no idea about Dad and Summer."

Ten years ago, I was a top biomedical researcher, making six figures. I gave it all up for his promotion and our newborn daughter. Ten years later, the perfect marriage I traded my career and youth for turned out to be nothing but an elaborate lie.

He called me his safe haven, then got in our bed with his mistress and discussed how to keep me in the dark.

This time, I'm not going to cry or make a scene. I'm going to quietly gather my evidence and call the lab director I've turned down seven times.

The fake heiress and I died twice fighting over the same thing—which of us would get adopted by that wealthy couple.

The first time, I got the necklace. I became their daughter. I thought I'd finally have everything I'd ever wanted. Three months later, they drowned me in the bathtub.

William's voice still echoes in my head. "This is your fault! If we'd taken Chloe instead, she'd still be alive!"

The second time, I gave Chloe the necklace. Let her have the good life. I thought that would keep me safe.

Five years later, Chloe turned up dead in their mansion. The Harringtons called the cops on me. They said I broke in and killed her out of jealousy. I died in prison, broken and tortured. The last thing I heard was Catherine's voice through the visiting room glass, cold as ice. "You belong in the gutter."

The third time, I open my eyes again.

I watch the couple smile at us, all warmth and kindness, and one question burns in my mind. Which daughter do they actually want?

Marlowe Crane is my best friend, and she's also a succubus.

She was born with this power that makes men lose their minds, but she always told me she only wanted to use her "gift" to protect me.

So every time I dated someone, she'd volunteer to "test" him.

Without fail, every single man fell at her feet.

She'd send me photos of them in bed together. "See, Rosie? They're all trash. Lucky I caught them for you."

After breaking up more times than I can count, I had a breakdown and moved from Boston to Los Angeles.

That's where I met Holden Kingsley. I thought the nightmare was finally over.

On my wedding day, Marlowe showed up in my dressing room with a glass of drugged water.

In my past life, I drank it and passed out. She stripped off my wedding dress, put it on herself, and climbed into Holden's bed.

Someone threw cold water on my face to wake me up. When I walked in with the bridesmaids, I caught them tangled up together.

I lost it. Screamed and cried and called the police right there.

And what happened?

Holden didn't feel guilty at all. He acted like I was the bad guy, like I'd ruined Marlowe's life.

Under Marlowe's succubus influence, he believed she was innocent, that I forced her into it.

After that, my marriage became a living hell.

Now I'm back, standing in front of the mirror, staring at that drugged glass of water in my hand.

This time, they're the ones going to hell.

Everyone knew Ethan Blackwood and I were Professor Richard Hartwell's two proudest students. From childhood easels to Columbia studios, inseparable for over a decade.

Everyone assumed we'd get married, stand together on the Pritzker stage someday. Until he fell in love with Sophia Crane, daughter of our mentor's academic rival.

I let him go. Love isn't something I can design.

But I never thought he'd destroy our mentor's entire life for her.

Five years later, he's back in New York riding high on his success, excited to "make amends" with Professor Hartwell.

I laugh.

Go ahead, Ethan Blackwood. You'll spend the rest of your life searching.

At a late-night party, when the bottle spins to my boyfriend Tyler, he picks dare.

"Kiss anyone here except your girlfriend," the host announces with a smirk.

Tyler barely hesitates. He walks straight to my best friend Sienna and kisses her for a full seven seconds in front of everyone.

When he comes back, he leans close to my ear. "Don't sweat it, we'll have fun when we get home."

When it's my turn, I choose truth. "Tell us a secret nobody knows."

I look around at all these drunk college kids, then say calmly, "I killed someone."

I'm a figure skating prodigy from one of the wealthiest families in the country. I'm also an idiot.

I believed that if I was kind enough, people would be kind in return. So I sponsored Haley Dunning, a scholarship skater on our team, and treated her like my own little sister.

The day before the NCAA qualifier, she came up to me with a sports drink, said she wanted to help keep my energy up.

I drank it. Went down on the ice with a broken leg. Drug test came back positive for banned stimulants.

Overnight, I went from the queen of the rink to the face of a scandal no one could stop talking about.

Expelled from school. Torn apart on social media. Calloway Corporation's stock in freefall.

Haley stood in front of the cameras, tears in her eyes: "Piper just wanted to win so badly. I never thought she'd go this far..."

I fell into a depression. Couldn't sleep without medication.

Then one day, she showed up at my hospital room with my boyfriend, bearing "comfort": a cup of water and a few pills: "Piper, take your meds, okay? This is all my fault for being so stupid..."

Three minutes later, I'm coughing up blood, convulsing on the floor.

Right before I died, I caught the look on her face. That sweet, innocent face. A slow, vicious smile spreading across it.

She knocked over the pill bottle and started screaming: "I grabbed the wrong ones! I mixed up her antidepressants with some old person's heart meds! I'm so stupid!"

My boyfriend pulled her into his arms. Didn't even glance at me dying on the floor: "She meant well. Piper just had bad luck."

I was poisoned to death in that hospital room.

Then I opened my eyes, and it was the day before the qualifier.