138 Book(s) Related to hayley gunther

Harlem Rahim. A girl from the hood. From Brownsville, Brooklyn.

Born of an Israelite father and an afro american mother. Quite a juvenile delinquent and not ashamed to be.

If you grew up the way I did, you'd probably be one too. Just turned eighteen years old. Poor but not stupid.

I'm gonna go all the way to get out of this mess.

To get 'us' outta this. Even discover a world out of the hood life.

But never forget where I come from. Where I belong.

"I would give up Heaven again in a heartbeat of it means you get to live."

Samarra Hayden has spent her whole life running from things no one will explain.

New towns. New names. New rules she’s expected to follow without question.

Mill Hollow was supposed to be just another stop.

It isn’t.

The shadows close in, her identity is challenged and when the broody bad boy in her new school takes an interest in her, her whole world changes.

Caught between a fierce eternal love and a burning desire to belong, Sam must chose if she will succumb to the powers growing inside her, or cling to the angel that has kept her safe, hidden, alive.

When Mia’s five-year-old son suddenly collapses, her world begins to fall apart.

The people who should stand beside her turn their backs instead. A husband who treats her like nothing. A family that refuses to help. And time running out for the only person she cannot afford to lose.

With nowhere else to turn, Mia is forced to face the one man she never thought she would see again.

Mason Hayes – a powerful billionaire and hotel magnate. Six years ago, he was the love she walked away from.

When Mason discovers the truth Mia has hidden for years, fury is his first reaction. Yet as he steps in to protect the child who carries his blood, it becomes harder and harder to deny the love he still feels for her.

Now Mason is ready to burn down the world for the woman and child who should have been his all along.

But their path is far from simple. A ruthless husband who refuses to let her go. A family who betrayed her. And a powerful dynasty determined to keep them apart.

Eighteen years ago, my mother traded her newborn for a gold-plated life, leaving me in a rust-stained trash can like a piece of discarded waste just to marry her rich boyfriend.

Now, she was back, weeping about "maternal regret" and "postpartum shadows”, saying she had regretted her decision every second of her life.

Overjoyed that my mother wanted me back, I packed my belongings and rushed to meet her.

However, the moment I stepped foot at her doorstep, I overheard her conversation with her darling daughter with her new husband.

“Of course, sweetheart! You will always be my one and only darling. I’m only adopting Vanessa back to wed her to Mr. Blackwood to save your Dad's bankrupt company.”

“You are not lying to me, Mom, are you?” Ramona, my step sister, tugged to my mother’s arms. “You won't share my love with sister Vanessa, will you?”

“Never.” My mother replied, her voice contained no warmth when mentioning me. “How can a village’s trash can compare to our princess?”

“If we wouldn't have to please that old hag of Blackwood company, we would never have brought your sister back.”

“An old master of Blackwood company and a village girl with no literacy, I think that's a match made in heaven.” Ramona smirked, followed by the sound of their laughter.

My legs at the doorstep froze, the momentary joy I felt shattered. The cold heart that had melted seeing my mother shed tears, became ice.

I watched the duo of mother and daughter, laughing and making fun of me, completely unaware that the company they were trying to please by offering me, was actually owned by me.

I was the CEO of Blackwood Groups.

Lucas Hale has a lacrosse scholarship, a spotless record and a future mapped out to the last detail. Then his grades start dying one class at a time and he has no idea why.

Madeline Reyes has the same problem. Except hers isn't an accident. Someone has been messing with her scores and she wants to know who.

They meet in the principal's office after breaking into it for completely different reasons. The cameras caught them. Now they're each other's punishment.

Tutoring sessions were not supposed to feel like this.

Now Madeline Reyes realises their is more to the eyes than the perfect score and the cock character that Lucas carries around him like a sheild

Synopsis: Dr. Camelia Hayes, a famous marriage counsellor has the perfect husband. He is handsome, kind, and successful.

Then one day, she receives an anonymous package containing photographs of seven women.
Each woman dated the same man and each woman disappeared after saying yes to his proposal.

The shocking news: Her seemingly perfect husband is the man in every picture.
The problem is...
The photos were taken years before he was born.

"In the toxic halls of Eastview High, Aria Bellwyn has mastered the art of being invisible. But when she's forced to tutor golden boy Knox Hale, she's thrust into a world of danger and desire. As they navigate the treacherous social hierarchy, Aria becomes the target of Knox's manipulative ex, Blaire, and the ruthless queen bee, Sarah. But Knox's secrets run deeper he's trapped in a deadly debt to a local crime lord, and Aria's the only one who can help him take down the corrupt empire controlling the school. As they risk everything to expose the truth, can they survive the betrayal lurking in every corner and find love in the process?

Dive into this heart-pumping, high-stakes romance where the line between invisible and irresistible is about to get blurred."

Married besties. A rocky road to parenthood. Is their tight-knit group headed for a passionate collision?

Taylor Taft is ready to make big changes. After breaking free from an abusive relationship, the twenty-something has finally sworn off bad boys. So the selfless party girl leaps at the chance to do some good when her best friends beg her to act as their surrogate.

Fully committed to her beloved pals, Taylor stubbornly tackles all the medical, financial, and personal hurdles head-on. But with tempting fantasies swirling about the father of the child she’s carrying, she wonders if she’s made a terrible mistake.

Will this baby destroy their inseparable bond or become their lifelong forever?

Contains: explicit sex scenes, memories of abuse and assault
Suggested Age 18+

Third Wheel is created by Haley Rhoades, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

The best day of Marcia's life was the day her husband had thrown her dying body into the cold North Dakota night. When a handsome stranger found her and nursed her back to health she found the one thing she had always wanted, but never had, a family. Together they ran the Quiet Moon Wolf Sanctuary and for once Marica felt safe and happy.

The delicate balance that Marcia had found in her life came crumbling down in a single night. Her best friend and savior was dead, her home burned to the ground, werewolves were real, and apparently, one was her soul mate.

When he went to collect the body of his older brother the last thing Marcus thought he would find was his mate. Even stranger was the fact that she seemed to be human but there was something else about her. Marcus had never considered that his mate would be a human but he would not question the Moon Goddess's judgment.

He was determined to help her accept him and his world but what would happen when long-lost secrets became revealed? Would he still accept her when he found out who and what she really is? Could they protect each other and their pack when those that were hunting her found them?

Gabriella must do the one thing engrained in her DNA, Trust an alpha. Gabriella family was curse as she puts it. She cannot be commanded by any Alpha and for that she cannot belong to any pack. From an early age her father and 6 older brothers taught her how to fight. She’s excelled at multiple forms of martial arts and finally of age was allowed a position as turning 18 she is made the lead female warrior trainer at the Academy. The Academy was the starting ground for all Alphas, known Lunas’, and many lead warriors to various packs. Her older brother Antony ask that she take over his classes for a few weeks to months so that he can travel the packs to find his mate. Uninterested and not caring about finding her own mate, she excitedly agrees unknowingly she would be challenged beyond compare. Meeting Alpha Samuel was a complete surprise. When he marks her without permission her wolf in unveiled only to explain that her mission is a long one. She must bring together the paranormal community and create harmony amongst the Vampires, Witches, Wolfs, Demons and Faye realms. To do so her and her family and friends must band together to create the Royal Counsel to over see all paranormal laws. When many of the packs refuse to submit to any leader, especially one that is a woman, the Royal counsel must rise up to fight the upcoming battle to bring harmony once and for all.

From the dark imagination of Harley Steele, a chilling story unfolds—a frightful tale of twisted horrors.

Hey, my name's Alice, and my boyfriend's name is... Yeah, no, we're not doing that song and dance. Naw. Once upon a time, I was just another girl hoping for a simple life after high school. Now, I'm ensnared in the grotesque reality of Naughty Nectar Farms (NNF), not a farm but a prison where shadows don’t just whisper—they scream with the horrors of the night.

My stepfather, blinded by greed, sold my freedom and my innocence to this nightmare. Here, I am nothing more than livestock, subjected to the twisted whims of those who see women as commodities to be bred, milked, and broken. But while they may have trapped my body, they can't imprison my will.

Each day, I hear the hushed, sinister talks of breeding and milking disguised as agricultural innovation. I see the cruel fate of my fellow captives, poked, prodded, and dehumanized. Yet in this lab of horrors, where humanity is stripped away, I hold onto one truth—they think I am weak, demure, broken. They are mistaken.

I am guilty of many things, but submission is not one of them. Here in the depths of despair, my fury simmers. I am plotting, waiting. For though they have taken much, my resolve grows with each passing day. I will lead us out of this darkness, or die trying. This is no ordinary farm, and I am no ordinary woman.

Strap in for "Galactic Survival Games: Hucow U-Verse," where every week is a ruthless fight for survival on a cosmic scale. Our hucow heroine isn't just another contestant; she's bait in the galaxy's most vicious reality show, thrown into savage new worlds each week from dinosaur-ridden wastelands to treacherous alien oceans. Here, survival isn't guaranteed—it's stolen, fought for, and drenched in the blood and sweat of its contenders.

Amid the chaos, she finds a recurring connection with a man doomed to forget her as his memories are scrubbed clean after each harrowing ordeal by their sinister alien overlords, the Grays. Their twisted game is designed to entertain a galaxy that thirsts for desperation, despair, and an all-you-can-consume buffet of carnal pleasures.

But the game's endgame erupts when the Forgotten—a rogue faction her love interest belongs to—storms the stage in Week 52. As his memories flood back, revealing the bonds they forged in the crucible of alien landscapes, she faces the ultimate choice: remain in the relentless glare of the galaxy’s cruel spotlight or vanish with the Forgotten.

This series is not for the faint-hearted. It's raw, it’s gritty, and it slaps you with the harsh reality of love and memory in a universe that prizes spectacle overall. Readers can tune into "Galactic Survival Games" on Novel Snack and ride the razor's edge of passion and danger. Will she fade into obscurity, or rise as a legend among the stars? The cosmos is brutal, and so is this story. Witness it.

When Lust Meets Fate, The 7 Deadly Sins Await. Join the journey of seven couples as they overcome envy, gluttony, greed, lust, sloth, pride and wrath to find their happily ever after. From teachers to rock stars, from homemakers to millionaires, everyone sins as they strive for happiness.
7 Deadly Sins Series is created by Haley Rhoades, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

Divorcing my striper husband is a love story that unfolds the two birds who have been enjoying their lives until Ava gets hired at her former college colleague who owns the company and this made Herman jealous and they kept on having fights from time to time.
Ava one day saw Herman entering a restaurant while holding a waist of one girl and she started suspecting that her husband was cheating on her…her boss Liam knew some secret about Herman but he didn't disclose it to her but rather advised her to pay attention to her husband’s words and actions if she wanted to find out the truth.
Ava turned into a stalker and one day followed him up to a nightclub but she couldn't believe her eyes because her husband was striping with many girls around him…Ava filed for a divorce because she couldn't stay in marriage with such a man and surprisingly everyone around her knew about it except her…Will Ava's boss Liam take his shot with Ava after divorcing Herman?? Will Herman change his character and get a decent job in order to win Ava back?? Well all that will be unleashed in this beautiful journey of Divorcing my striper husband.

“Dangerously Sweet” features Annie Caldwell, a curvy, blonde baker from Texas, living in Atlanta, and her man, Mason Blacksteele; a billionaire gym owner with family issues.

Having just survived a mugging that left her shook, Annie is looking for a personal trainer to teach her self-defense.
Former playboy, Mason, isn't looking to settle down; he just wants to focus on building his business and his bod, but his controlling mother has a steel grip on his finances. Before she relents to turn his business over to him at last, she requires him to find a wife.
Enter Annie, looking for a custom training program.
The two quickly strike up a deal; Mason will personally coach her for free if she pretends to be his serious girlfriend for a weekend at the Hamptons with his family.

At first glance, these two people couldn’t be more different, but they have more in common than they think. They are both passionate, hardworking business owners, neither one looking for love, yet they both possess something that the other needs.

In the ashes of a fallen empire, fire is forbidden and those born with it are hunted.

For twenty-one-year-old Kaelin Dravyr, survival means hiding her emberfire beneath scars and silence. Once a smuggler of dragon relics, now a fugitive, she’s spent her life outrunning the Crown that burned her kind to extinction. But when a duel in the undercity ignites the flame within her for all to see, Kaelin’s secret shatters and the realm’s deadliest heir takes notice.

Prince Ardyn Varell, the empire’s young regent, offers Kaelin a single, ruthless choice: execution, or service. Sent to infiltrate a rebel faction rumored to protect the last living dragon, Kaelin accepts but the deeper she goes, the more she learns that the true monster might sit upon the throne.

As whispers of prophecy stir and a dragon’s heartbeat echoes in her chest, Kaelin’s fire awakens an ancient bond that could either save the world or burn it down.

Torn between a rebellion’s trust, a prince’s obsession, and the inferno rising within, Kaelin must decide what kind of flame she’ll become: weapon, savior, or sovereign.

What happens when a demon yells right in front of a Church?

Unfortunately for the demon, Pastor Norman knows how to take him out.

If he can just find him!

While the Pastor and Jessica's grandmother are working out the problems, Jessica is having to deal with keeping her GPA up all while learning about her past and the family abilities.

Oh, and dealing with an imp for a familiar.

Being a teenage witch isn’t all as it’s cracked up to be… unless Jessica can learn what she needs which creates a problem.

Without her mom's permission, Jessica won't learn a thing.

"The contract marriage has expired. You're no longer useful to me," Lucas's cold voice pierced my heart. After three years of devotion, I was nothing but a disposable tool.

Then, he brought her home. Amelia, his cherished true love—and the daughter of the mafia family that slaughtered my parents. She sneered at me, flaunting my mother's stolen sapphire necklace, while Lucas ruthlessly kicked me out, calling me a mere "housekeeper."

My heart shattered entirely, but the tears finally stopped. I signed the divorce papers and walked out into the night.

He thought I was a penniless nobody who would crumble without his wealth. He didn't know my real name was Isabella Sorelli.

When I appeared at a top-tier banquet, flanked by my three wildly protective, billionaire brothers, Lucas's eyes widened in sheer shock. I am the heiress to the city's greatest empire now. You threw me away for a snake, Lucas? Watch me crush her. And when you finally realize what you lost, begging on your knees won't be enough.

On the night of my rebirth, fueled by alcohol and rage, I stumbled into the room of my fiancé’s sworn enemy—and kissed him.

Everyone thinks Atlas is a heartless playboy who toys with women.

Only I know how submissive he can be, and the filthy, dirty things he whispers when he calls me "Baby."

Outside the door, my scumbag ex-fiancé, Knox, was screaming, begging for a second chance.

Inside the door, Atlas’s wandering hands were exploring every inch of my body.

"Be a good girl," he rasped against my ear. "Moan loud enough for him to hear."

The next day, Knox pinned me against the wall, his eyes red with jealousy. "I can do better than him. Choose me, okay?"

I shoved him away coldly. "Too late."

From the moment I was reborn, my goal was to make Knox pay. Why simp for a cheater when I can make him lose his fortune, his reputation, and force him to kneel at my feet?

Atlas smirked, pulling me into his arms. "Choose me. I'll help you destroy him."

My name used to be whispered in fear by dictators. Now, it’s mocked by cheerleaders.

I am—or I was—Phantom. I killed for a living, and I was the best. But my retirement plan was cut short by a sudden darkness I never saw coming.

Fate, it seems, has a twisted sense of humor. I’ve been reincarnated into the body of Raven Martinez, a high school girl with a life so tragic it makes my old job look like a vacation.

Now I have to deal with pop quizzes, teenage hormones, and a hierarchy of bullies who think they run the world.

They pushed the old Raven to her death. But they’re about to learn a very painful lesson: You don't corner a viper unless you're ready to get bitten.

High school is hell. Lucky for me, I'm the devil.

After Alpha King Kaius publicly rejected Elowen, she left his kingdom and never looked back. She had to start over completely - no pack, no family, no one to help her. She built a new life on her own and thought she was safe. But on what should have been a peaceful birthday, she found herself captured by the King's guards and thrown into the castle dungeons. Now they think she's some kind of enemy spy, and she needs to escape before Kaius figures out who she really is and discovers all the secrets she's been hiding. The problem is, she's not the same broken girl who left four years ago, and he's not exactly the same cold bastard who rejected her either. With lives on the line and nowhere left to run, can she get out before everything falls apart?

[WARNING 18+]
This book contains descriptive intimate and violent scenes. There could be triggering content like self-harm, drug addiction, and depression.
[TROPES]
Billionaire. Revenge. Second Chance. Escape while pregnant.

When Mellow Fanning married Zeath Lupin, the cold chairman of Lupin Group, she thought their love was forever. But everything crumbled when he introduced his pregnant mistress at a family dinner.
Angry, Mellow sought to make Zeath restless by kidnapping the mistress. However, that resulted in a tragedy that nearly claimed her life and that of the child growing inside her—a child Zeath didn’t deserve.
She faked her death and ran away, bound to return as Zeath’s only means to remain as the chairman of Lupin Group.
Would he recognize her? Would she accept his apology if he ever gave one? And what would happen when the threat she once fled from rekindled, endangering her and her child’s lives once more?











“Do you know how much I wished you wouldn’t come near me, or even... touch me?” Zeath drones on. “All those cuddles and kisses, all the affection, made my skin crawl—like a troll embracing its victim before gobbling them. One can only imagine how much it stinks. You are no different from that troll. You merely caught my attention because you were a self-absorbed twonk, and we needed to test if you even had the heart to love another.”
“We?” I croak out.
Then Zeath’s fingers trail gently along my face, his eyes glinting with pure poison, and his voice is no better.
“Poor Mellow, it is all a dare, a gratifying one. Divorce or not, it’s your choice.”

To save my dying sister, I provoked James Smith, the city's most dangerous Mafia Don.

I thought it was a simple transaction, but he pinned me against the wall, his fingers tracing my lips as he whispered dangerously, "Sweetie, since you call me your sugar daddy, then fulfill your obligations. Remember, your first time was mine, and you’ll never escape me in this lifetime."

I believed he was a heartless monster until, facing death, he shoved his only gun into my hands and placed his ring around my neck. "Ella, run! Hide and wait for me..."

As his black SUV drifted into the gunfire to draw them away, I was left trembling. Would he make it back alive to claim me again?

I came to Warton Academy to find my mother. I stayed for the boy who breathes fire.

He’s the school’s pariah, a Dragon shifter with a temper as hot as his flames. Everyone says he’s evil. Everyone says to stay away. But when a pack of werewolves attacks me in the dorm hallway, it’s George who saves me. It’s George who looks at me like I’m the only thing worth protecting in this cruel world.

Our romance is a secret, a spark in the dark. But someone on campus knows my secret too.

They know I’m not just a witch. They know I’m something rarer.

With George by my side, I’m ready to decode the mystery of my past and prove that even a "nobody" can tame a Dragon Prince.

I thought ten years of childhood sweethearts could weather any storm.

Until that night when Charles rushed out after her call, leaving me alone in bed with his child growing inside me, not knowing how to tell him.

Seraphina Blackwood, tech dynasty heiress, threatened Charles with her father's billion-dollar empire to marry her. And me? Just an orphan girl who seemed to mean nothing in Silicon Valley's power games.

When I watched him remove our wedding ring, when I saw their sweet photos at the hospital, when I lay bleeding on the floor and he chose her... I finally understood that maybe love really can't survive against money.

But what I didn't know was that while I started my new life in Switzerland, there was a man secretly protecting me with his kidney, his heart, his everything...

Until his assistant appeared at my little bakery, desperation in his eyes: "Ms. Thorne, please, you have to save him!"

At the board meeting, he voted to dilute my equity.

"This is business, Elena. Not personal."

Three years of hidden marriage. I thought we were partners. But in that moment, I finally understood—I was just his technical supplier on the road to success.

What Ryan didn't know: that Technology Contribution Agreement he signed three years ago contained one clause. 70% of NexTech's core algorithm IP belongs to me. Personally.

Product launch day. Two hundred investors watching. I took the microphone.

He thought I'd present the tech specs like always.

He was wrong.

Dante Ashford is my stepbrother, and the one person I should never have fallen in love with.

When I was ten, my parents died saving his family. The Ashfords took me in. He was good to me back then. Somewhere along the way, I fell for him.

When I was eighteen, he nearly died in an ambush. I donated blood, then a kidney to save him. I was unconscious for three days. When I woke up, Vivian Ross sat by his bed—and he believed she was his savior.

After that, he pushed me away. Vivian became his fiancée.

In my past life, Vivian's crimes brought disaster to our family. Dante got on his knees and begged me to take her punishment. I refused. She died anyway. Then he pretended to love me, planned our wedding—and on that day, his assistant announced to everyone: "This wedding was a lesson to show Miss Elena Hayes what it feels like to be abandoned by the whole world."

I jumped from the church balcony.

When I opened my eyes, I was back at that moment—him on his knees, begging.

This time, I said yes.

Dante, from now on, we're done.

My father died owing the Callahan family a blood debt. His payment? Me and my sister—married off to their sons.

I woke up reborn on the night they buried him.

Standing in that funeral chamber, watching the lawyer crack open the sealed will, I discovered I could suddenly hear thoughts. My sister Vivienne's voice ripped through my head: Not marrying that butcher. No way in hell.

She lunged forward and grabbed Adrian—the refined bastard son who looked like a lawyer instead of a mobster. The same "perfect gentleman" I married in my past life.

Which left me with Dominic Callahan. The scarred heir. The Executioner.

Last time around, Vivienne married Dominic and got beaten down for years. I married Adrian and lived like a queen.

I almost laughed out loud.

Because she has no idea—this time, she's the one who grabbed the monster.

Everyone in this city knows that the king of the underworld, my husband Vincent, is crazy about me.

Three years ago, when that bullet tore through my abdomen, it took away my chance of ever being a mother. He held my blood-soaked body and swore to God he'd make the shooter's entire family pay. A month later, that family was wiped off the map in this city. No one dares speak their name anymore.

He sat by my hospital bed, holding my hand. "I don't need kids. I only need you."

I believed him.

Until six months ago, when his brother died in an accident, leaving behind his wife Serena. The family pressure came like a tidal wave. An heir. A bloodline. That's all they cared about. And that woman became everyone's golden ticket to keeping the Caruso name alive.

That's when my husband stopped coming home at night. Every night, I hear them through the wall. Sounds that used to be mine.

But today, the doctor told me my body is healing. The chances are slim, but there's hope.

I clutch the medical report and rush home, imagining Vincent's face when he sees the results. Maybe everything can go back to how it was. Maybe he'll realize he doesn't need her.

Until I stand outside our mansion and hear laughter pouring out.

"Serena's pregnant! Can you believe it? The family finally has an heir!"

"Finally. The family's saved."

I thought I'd signed up for an immersive dating show.

Turns out it was a 99.9% death rate, globally livestreamed horror game.

And me? Half-blind without my contacts, desperate to go viral, I somehow talk my way through a death game like it's a romance.

I mistook blood for ketchup, human eyeballs for sashimi, a murderous child ghost for a kid who just needed some love.

Worst part? I fell for the guy running the place, the one who could kill you without blinking, and tried to get his number within the hour.

My teammate hissed at me, shaking. "You wanna die, fine, just don't take us with you!"

I just waved him off. It's a dating show. Relax.

The day I died in a foreign country, my boyfriend was in the spotlight with another woman.

He's the man I built from nothing. Five years ago, I saved a broke orphan fresh out of college from the gutter. He said he wanted to be famous, wanted to make it to the top of the hockey world. In exchange, he became my boyfriend for five years.

I gave him the best coaching staff money could buy. Bought an entire hockey franchise and made him the centerpiece. Called in every favor I had to make him MVP.

But while he enjoyed everything I gave him, he refused to make our relationship public. Said it would "hurt his brand." He could make headlines with reporters and models, but nobody could know I existed.

He even said on national TV: "Those owners who just throw money around are pretty boring. Hockey is about skill, not money."

So why did he lose his mind when he found out I was dead?

One hundred years married to Everett, and I've learned one thing: whenever he wants to push me into a corner, he throws the mate bond dissolution agreement in my face. Whenever my parents want me to cave, they hold the family name over my head.

They've always wanted the same thing — for me to hand over everything I have to my twin sister Rosalie, who's been sick her whole life.

I've fought it. I've grieved over it.

But when the doctor slid the diagnosis across the desk — Blood Depletion Syndrome, late stage, less than two weeks left — something in me just went quiet.

What's the point of fighting when you're already dead?

The alliance between the Human Empire and the Wolf Empire has stood for centuries. The treaty requires the Human Empire to send a princess to the Wolf Empire every so often, to become the Wolf King's mate and strengthen the bond between our kingdoms. Now, it's time to honor that pact again.

Father is old now, ready to step down. My sister and I have to choose.

In my past life, Adelaide chose the throne. She thought power meant she could do whatever she wanted. Within three years, the Human Empire crumbled in her hands. At home, she bled the people dry, filling her own coffers while they starved. Abroad, her arrogance drove away our allies. The Dwarven Empire, the Serpent Empire, they all cut ties. In the end, the surrounding kingdoms banded together and attacked. The Human Empire fell in the war. Our parents died by enemy blades, and Adelaide had to flee.

And me? I went to the Wolf Empire, just like the treaty said.

On the surface, I was the Wolf Queen, worshipped by every wolf, living in the grand Wolf Court, attending state banquets. In reality, I was his prisoner. Forced to run as prey in the hunting ritual, slapped to the ground in front of the council, shoved forward as a hostage when conflicts arose.

At one banquet, Adelaide appeared in front of me, gripping a dagger, madness burning in her eyes. "This is your fault! If you hadn't been so useless in the Wolf Empire, we wouldn't have lost everything!"

The blade sank into my chest. I collapsed in a pool of blood.

When I open my eyes again, I'm back in the throne room with Father watching us.

Adelaide barely hesitates before speaking up. "I'll go to the Wolf Empire. Let Brynn take the throne."

I smile.

Foolish Adelaide. She has no idea that beneath the Queen's crown lies nothing but chains and blood.

One snide comment from my worst enemy, and I dropped eighty million gold coins on a custom golem built to look exactly like him.

My requirements were simple: same face, same body, and a personality that's submissive, obedient, and takes whatever I dish out without fighting back.

I've had that insufferable face fetching me coffee, rubbing my feet, massaging my shoulders, even wearing a maid outfit.

Watching him bow and scrape for me finally lets out most of the resentment I've been carrying.

Then tonight, the workshop sends a message out of nowhere:

[Due to a shortage of high-purity mithril, your custom golem needs another month to complete. Thank you for your patience.]

I look over at the man kneeling by the couch, rubbing my legs.

So who exactly have I been treating like a dog for the past two months?

My beast companions are in the middle of my medicinal soak when a soft, dramatic little "ow" drifts in from outside.

Vex, my wolfkin companion, drops my leg. Brom, the bearkin, jerks his hand and a fortune's worth of elixir spills into the water.

They crash through the floor-to-ceiling window and bolt outside without a single glance back — all for some ordinary girl.

I'm still staring at the broken glass when a stream of glowing blue text pops up out of nowhere.

[The main character Ivy literally fake-tripped in the garden and these two idiots jumped out a window for her!]
[Honestly, the original side character Lillia had it so rough. Backstabbed by her own companions, dies a miserable death, and they end up in Ivy's entourage…]
[And she never even figures out what's happening. Just suffers through the whole thing without a clue.]

I read through all of it, and one thought slowly rises: seriously?

If my companions won't behave, just get new ones. Simple.

I go straight to my mom, and before I've even finished talking, she's already pulling me toward the door.

"Any beast that turns on its master isn't worth keeping. Come on, baby — let's go pick you out some new ones. Mom's paying, so make it the most expensive ones they've got."

Ryan loves me deeply—at least that's what everyone says. Seven years together, we look like the perfect couple to outsiders. But only I know he's betrayed me three times.

The first time was three years ago. His brother died saving him, leaving behind his widow Sophia—Ryan's unforgettable first love. He married her behind my back. When I found out, I completely fell apart. I have dignity. I refuse to be the other woman. I wanted to leave, but he begged on his knees. "This is just to take care of my sister-in-law. Once I find the truth about my brother's death, I'll divorce her. Then we can get married."

I believed him. I forgot that a man never lets go of a lost love he's gotten back.

The second time was at last year's company anniversary. In front of everyone, he introduced Sophia as his wife. I watched them on stage, a knife through my heart. That night he explained, "It's just for show. Once everything's over, we can be together."

I believed him again.

The third time was two weeks ago. Surveillance footage showed Ryan with Sophia entering a hotel room. I rushed to confront him, but heard her voice outside his office. "Ryan, I'm pregnant. It's your baby."

Through the crack in the door, I see him hesitate. In that instant I understand.

He's going to keep her.

He spots me and rushes out in a panic. "It was an accident! Let me explain! After she has the baby, I'll give her money and make her leave. She won't be in our lives anymore!"

In that moment, I finally wake up. There will be no future for us.

Foxes are born to bless their mates, unlocking their bloodline and putting them on the throne of the Beast King.

In my last life, the Golden Lion prince Rein picked me, and my sister Lilith got stuck marrying Austin, the black dragon everyone steered clear of.

Then Austin's bloodline woke up and he took the throne, and Lilith rode his coattails straight into a crown.

I threw everything I had into blessing Rein and it never worked. He blamed me for every failure, dug my core out with his own hands, and tossed me into a cell like trash, leaving me there to rot.

Now I'm back, and at the mating ceremony, Rein walks right past me and takes Lilith's hand instead.

That's when I know. He's been reborn too.

But he has no idea. It was never my fault the blessing failed. He was never going to hold power, no matter who blessed him. That throne was never his to take.

The mafia boss chose me as his decoy—a body double for the woman he loves.

Eight years. Three bullets, one car crash, one explosion. The doctor said ten more minutes and I would've died on that operating table when they took my kidney. I gave him a son. He let me play "the boss's wife" in public.

Until he cleared every obstacle for her and decided to marry her.

Her wedding photos replaced mine in the master bedroom. He has her initials tattooed on his arm. When I questioned him, he had his men slap me at a charity gala, forced me to admit "I'm just a stand-in." When I touched her, he took away my custody, declared she was "the true lady of this house."

The punishments got worse. When he threatened to cancel my mother's insurance, I finally learned to shut up.

He pulls me close, whispers in my ear: "She gave up everything for me. Not like you—you were born to take bullets for me."

"Deal with it. She's not replacing you. This is her house now."

Even my son took her side.

"Stop being dramatic! Natalie actually loves us! You're nothing!"

But their pure, innocent Natalie? She unplugged my mother's ventilator while I was locked in the basement. Let his enemies slip poison into my drink during the last job.

When Grayson found me, all he said was: "She's pregnant and emotional. Go rearrange the flowers at the wedding venue."

I wipe the black blood from my lips. Look at him quietly.

"I'm dying."

Everyone in our circle knows I'm Adrian's caged bird, and the "bad woman" his son Miles hates most.

For Miles, I gave up my fellowship in Zurich and spent seven years playing housewife.

What did I get in return? Adrian took Sophie to gallery openings on our anniversary. Miles smashed cake in my face in front of everyone, calling me a frumpy housewife.

Adrian was certain I couldn't leave him. Certain I couldn't leave our son.

He threw the divorce papers on the table with a cold smile. "Sign this, and you lose everything. Including Miles."

He expected me to beg on my knees.

I didn't.

I picked up the pen and signed without hesitation.

"Fine, Adrian. You keep Miles. And I get to keep myself."

For just a moment, I saw shock flash in his eyes.

I heard later that Adrian searched for me like a madman, and the son he doted on cried and screamed for his mommy.

Too bad. I'd already burned it all down myself.

I've been secretly married to him for five years, but he's never treated me as his wife. Our six-year-old daughter has never called him Dad in public.

One drunken night, I got pregnant. He gave me a marriage contract that came with one condition: secrecy.

I thought time would change everything. I stood by him through the company's darkest days. When I was hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer, he didn't come. When our daughter was born, he was in a meeting. Every moment that mattered, he wasn't there.

Then that clumsy intern showed up.

From that point on, he gave her all his attention and patience. He broke his own rules for her again and again. That's when I finally understood: when someone doesn't love you, they just don't.

So I took my daughter and disappeared from his world completely.

But why did that calm, controlled man lose his mind?

I helped him claw his way up from nothing—from the family's bastard to king of the underworld.

I saved him when he got jumped in the streets. Took bullets for him when his father beat him half dead. We fought our way up from nothing, survived assassination attempts, built an empire that made people fear our name.

I thought we'd always stand together.

Until the day I nearly died giving birth, and all I found in the bassinet was a stack of cash.

I asked him where our baby was. He couldn't look me in the eye. His stepmother walked out holding my son. Smiled and said she deserved this, a child of her own, since she couldn't have one herself. He'd given my baby to another woman.

Turns out he'd been sleeping with her the whole time.

I threw the money in his face. I spent the next six years trying to get my son back.

Last week, when some small-time gang grabbed him, I went in alone with a gun. Bullets flew past my ears, kicked up concrete dust. I fought my way to the back and pulled him out. At the hospital, he pushed me away, crying, "Why'd you have to come?! We could've been a real family by now! Just leave! Leave me alone!"

I stared at his small face for a long time.

Finally, I said, "Call me mom one last time. Then I'll let you go."

I'm the top account director at my firm, always on the road, running myself ragged on golf courses and client dinners. Some months I barely make it back to the office at all.

Right after I land a $300 million contract for the company, my boss decides to hand the whole thing over to a new intern.

My manager says I'm wasting company resources, that my attitude's a problem. My boss tells me to give the new hire a chance. The intern thinks she can just take over my job without breaking a sweat.

None of them get it. Without me, this project never gets off the ground.

I don't bother telling them that.

Once the handoff is done, I walk straight into our biggest rival.

And watch them beg me to come back.

A hundred years ago, old Duke Rowland saved me with a bowl of hot soup when I was dying. To repay him, I swore myself, as the Silver Wolf Goddess, to a hundred-year covenant protecting House Rowland.

I taught Garrett how to hold a sword. I turned Caleb into a prodigy at the Mages' Guild. I saved Preston's family from ruin.

But Lillian took a potion to fake being sick, and all it took was her claiming only my heart could save her to turn three men's knives on me.

In my last life, I begged them to listen, told them that cutting out my heart would tear down the foundation of House Rowland itself. They finally backed off.

Then Lillian, trying to keep the lie going, secretly upped her dose and poisoned herself to death in her own bed.

The three of them lost their minds and blamed me for her death.

"A beast doesn't get to call itself the guardian of House Rowland. Die."

They cut my heart out. I died on that altar.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day they took my heart.

This time, I didn't waste my breath. I handed it over myself and let them have what they wanted.

The goddess's heart fell. The covenant ended.

They just didn't know yet how badly House Rowland would fall apart without me.

First day back after the long weekend. I get a few artisan gift baskets shipped in from my family's farm: maple syrup, raw honey, smoked beef jerky, handmade jams. Top-shelf stuff, every single one. Shipping alone runs me a few hundred dollars.

After the morning meeting, I hand them out one by one. The team crowds around me, all smiles, falling over themselves saying things like "You're literally the best, Ms. Bennett" and "Oh my god, you're such an amazing boss."

They're barely out the door when I notice the conference room projector is still mirroring someone's phone. Up on the screen: a private group chat. Fifteen members.

Everyone on the team is in it.

Everyone except me.

A new message pops up: [Farm junk? Really? Preston Vance's team got $200 gift cards AND black truffle. Sloane's such a cheap ass lol]

Replies flood in. Someone photoshops a picture of me. Someone else hopes I drop dead at my desk.

To them, I'm just another boss squeezing her people dry.

Last quarter, I handed every single one of them a three-thousand-dollar cash bonus out of my own pocket. Plus a brand-new phone. Each.

Fine. If they think I'm not giving enough, I'll give them exactly what they're asking for.

Though later, when they come crawling back one by one, I find myself wondering what exactly they think begging is going to get them.

Our engagement has gone unfulfilled for ten years.

My parents saved his family in that yacht accident. With their dying breath, they asked his family to look after me. In return, we go to city hall every year, trying to fulfill this obligation.

Ten attempts. Ten failures.

Elevator malfunctions, food poisoning, home invasions, car crashes... Every single time, I get hurt at the worst possible moment while he walks away without a scratch.

This makes ten. A truck slams into the passenger side, my head smashes against the window, and he's already running across the street, pulling that woman into his arms.

On my way to find him after they stitch me up, I hear his assistant's voice in the hospital corridor:

"Mr. Ashford, the truck driver's been taken care of. Money'll hit his account like we agreed... but is this really fair to Miss Bennett? It's been ten years, every single year—"

William's voice comes out low and tired. "I don't have a choice. Her parents saved me, but I'm in love with Emma."

I look down at the diagnosis. ALS. Late stage.

Turns out I've been trying to marry a lie this whole time.

My best friend Bella had a cluster of mushrooms growing on her back, every color you could imagine.

They throbbed like something alive, and the smell coming off them was like nothing I'd ever smelled.

She called it Moonlight Bloom, a gift straight from Viscount Lucas himself.

If she kept that thing on her body for forty days, not one more, not one less, until it bloomed its brightest spores, the viscount would marry her and take her into his estate.

So she refused to shower. Wouldn't let a drop of water touch her.

Everyone in the pack knew me as the one who always looked out for people, and I figured she'd been cursed with dark magic. So one night while she slept, I grabbed a bucket of soapy water and a stiff brush and scrubbed that thing clean off her back.

The next morning, she ran her hand over the raw patch of skin where it used to be, grabbed a silver dagger, and drove it straight through my heart.

"You jealous bitch! You just ruined my whole future!"

Bleeding out on the floor, that's when it hit me. She never cared how disgusting that thing was, or what it was doing to her body. All she cared about was marrying into money and status.

When I opened my eyes again, I'd gone back in time.

This time around, I decided I wasn't going to stick my nose where it didn't belong. I was going to sit back and watch that mushroom grow.

Landon Rhodes and I grew up together, both dreaming of becoming top chefs. But I knew he was the one with a palate kissed by God.

So when Rowan Stone, this street-rat punk, got her claws into him, I took the drinks, the smoke, the slaps for him. When he wanted to skip the National Young Chefs Competition to stay with her drunk ass, I dragged him back to the culinary lab.

He won the championship, got recruited by a three-star Michelin restaurant, graduated and made millions. I became the most invisible prep cook in his kitchen.

Until Rowan wrapped her car around a pole during one of her episodes, and he lured me into a basement.

"This is all your fault! If you'd minded your own damn business, she'd still be alive!"

His foot came down on my right hand. Bones cracking. My fingers ground to pulp.

All those 5 AM trips to the fish market for him. All those nights watching stock simmer for forty-eight hours straight. All the praise he soaked up at final practicals. My sacrifices, and all I got in return was his hatred.

"These worthless hands that can only cut vegetables deserve to rot in the ground with her."

The pain swallowed me whole.

When I wake up again, I'm back to that afternoon when he said he was going to the bar to find her.

This time, I won't stop him.

I promised Ethan Caldwell, the boy I grew up with, I'd give up the top schools to attend some mediocre college with him.

On the final day of application submission, I brought homemade soup to his studio.

Outside the door, I heard him bragging to his friends: "Claire Bennett's like a damn puppy. I tell her to come to NYU with me, and boom, she changes her whole application to NYU. Lily's grades are shit. If Claire doesn't go for that full scholarship, Lily's got it in the bag. And Claire's so whipped, even when she finds out, she'll just suck it up like always."

The thermos in my hands feels cold now.

As the only daughter of a mafia family, I learned early that trust doesn't come cheap. When my father got sick, he gave me an ultimatum: if I want to take over the family, I have to get married first.

Everyone assumed I'd pick my childhood friend, Vincent Moretti—son of my father's right-hand man. Hell, even I thought so. Until my last life, when he left me to burn.

Father died in an ambush. I was trapped in a metal cage at an abandoned dock warehouse while flames swallowed everything. I begged Vincent for help. He stood thirty feet away, the cage key right by his feet.

"Cat, as long as your father's alive, he'll never give me the family. This isn't personal. It's business."

Sophia was wrapped around him—my so-called best friend. She smiled at me and said she'd take good care of everything.

Before I lost consciousness, I saw a figure in black charging into the flames—Elijah, the bodyguard I'd called "trash" and "a dog."

Then I opened my eyes and woke up a month before my birthday party. This time, I'm giving that position to someone who actually deserves it.

But why is Vincent on his knees at my engagement party, crying and begging me to marry him?