

My daughter, Ruby Pratt, has leukemia. She needs a bone marrow transplant—and fast. Out of everyone in the family, my husband, Dan Pratt, was the only match. I begged him for an entire month before he finally agreed to go through with the donation. But on the morning of the surgery, he went completely off the grid. I stood outside the hospital all day, waiting. No calls. No texts. Not even a shadow. That night, his childhood friend, Valerie Kinder, posted on Instagram. In the photo, Dan was holding Valerie's hand with one arm and carrying her young son with the other—on a beach in Lulabo City. The caption read: [Soaking up the sun! Dan cleared his whole schedule to join us on a month-long trek and we finally made it to the coast! My little boy said Uncle Dan made his ocean dream come true. Pure joy!] My heart splintered. While I was drowning in worry over my daughter, he was off playing happy family with them. I wiped my tears and typed a comment beneath her post: [Not 'Uncle.' From now on, he's your son's father.] That night, I finally got a call from him. "Babe, don't be like this," Dan said. "You're not being fair. "Valerie's son has been bullied at school for not having a dad. I couldn't stand seeing him hurt, so I took them on this trip. It was supposed to help him heal. "I'll catch the first flight back tomorrow and head straight to the hospital to donate the marrow. I promise." I hung up with a bitter smile. The next morning, Dan rushed into the hospital room. But all he found on the bed was a death certificate.

I was the second princess of the Phoenix Court. And I fell in love with a lowly black serpent. In my past life, just to be with him, I purposely picked that black serpent during the Sacred Bonding ceremony when we each chose our companion beasts. After that, we spent every night together. I didn't care what the whole clan thought. I was determined to marry him. But on our wedding day, that same serpent I'd given my heart to drove an arrow straight through me, killing me while I was three months pregnant. As I lay dying, I heard him hiss bitterly in my ear, "If it weren't for you, I'd have been with Seraphine by now. You should've died a long time ago." That's when I finally got it. All he cared about was power. And he'd been in love with my older sister all along—the sister who was next in line for the Phoenix throne. When I opened my eyes again, we were back at that same moment—the Sacred Bonding ceremony. Before everyone, he dropped to his knees and confessed he loved my sister. He begged not to be bound to me. The whole clan looked at me with pity. But I only smiled and pointed to a small white serpent resting quietly off to the side. That black serpent thought clinging to my sister would make him powerful. What he didn't realize was that only the one I chose would become the true heir to the Phoenix Court.

On our seventh wedding anniversary, I was straddling my Mafia husband, Lucian, kissing him deeply. My fingers fumbled in the pocket of my expensive silk dress, searching for the pregnancy test I'd hidden there. I wanted to save the news of my unexpected pregnancy for the end of the evening. Lucian's right-hand man, Marco, asked with a suggestive smile in Italian: "Don, your new little canary, Sophia. How does she taste?" Lucian's mocking laughter vibrated through my chest, sending a chill down my spine. He replied, also in Italian: "Like an unripe peach. Fresh and tender." His hand was still caressing my waist, but his gaze was distant. "Just keep this between us. If my Donna finds out, I'm a dead man." His men chuckled knowingly, raising their glasses and swearing their silence. The warmth in my blood turned to ice, inch by inch. The one thing they didn’t know was that my grandmother was from Sicily, so I understood every word. I forced myself to remain calm, keeping the perfect smile of a Donna fixed in place, but the hand holding my champagne flute trembled. Instead of making a scene, I opened my phone, found the invitation I had received a few days ago for a private international medical research project, and tapped "Accept." In three days, I would disappear from Lucian's world completely.

Police prodigy Mia goes undercover at the 15th Precinct, tasked by Internal Affairs Director Vance to gather evidence of corruption against Captain Victoria. From day one, Mia endures Victoria's cold hostility and harsh treatment, yet amidst the friction, she finds herself drawn to the captain's unyielding resolve and hidden sense of justice. During a dock raid, Victoria takes a bullet for Mia—an act that shatters Mia's emotional defenses. Shortly after, a gallery murder rocks the city: the victim is none other than the Oversight Director's only son. As Mia and Victoria join forces to investigate, they uncover a web of deceit—and discover that their seemingly reliable colleague, Leo, is the real mole. Leo lures them to an abandoned chemical plant, rigged with C4 explosives. In the ensuing firefight, Victoria kills him. The case appears closed, but when Mia reports to Vance, she senses something deeply wrong—he shows no surprise at any of the twists, and Leo's personnel file has been systematically erased. Mia realizes she has been a pawn all along. Vance's true plan is to rebrand Leo as a ""heroic undercover agent"" who died in the line of duty, and use Mia's own firearm as evidence to frame Victoria for murder. Torn between duty and conscience, Mia confesses her undercover identity to Victoria. Devastated and betrayed, Victoria cuts all ties and expels her from the precinct. Vance immediately places Mia under house arrest, threatening her with a forged confession and life imprisonment. Under 48 hours of relentless psychological pressure, Mia refuses to break. Meanwhile, Victoria works in secret, gathering irrefutable proof of Vance's collusion with the dark web and his fabrication of evidence. At a live televised press conference where Vance intends to pronounce Mia guilty, Victoria storms in with federal agents and exposes his crimes on air. Vance is arrested, and Mia is publicly exonerated.

I dated my lawyer boyfriend for five years. He canceled our wedding.Fifty-two times.First time? His intern messed up some paperwork. He ditched me at the beach to fix it. I waited all day.Alone.Second time, we were mid-ceremony when he bolted.Heard that intern was getting heat from another lawyer and left me to face the guests and their stares.After that, every time we tried again, there was always some ""emergency"" with her. Always.I finally hit my limit. I was done. Packed up and broke it off.But the day I left Ainsley? He totally lost it trying to find me.
![[ENG DUB] Something Stirs After Closing Time](https://acfs3.goodshort.com/dist/src/assets/images/pc/common/f901131c-default-book-cover.png)
A night security job at a museum seems like the easiest money Jorden Leon has ever made. But on his very first shift, he discovers that the museum's relics are anything but ordinary. Driven by instinct, he restores a shattered Eight-Armed Asura bronze statue. As the final crack disappears, an ancient force surges into him, awakening powers beyond imagination. Unaware that he has just prevented an S-Class catastrophe capable of destroying the city, Jordan steps into a new destiny. Soon, whispers spread through the city of a mysterious guardian who protects the living from dangers buried deep in the past.

My fiancé, Alpha Caleb, had an Omega secretary. One day, she took the Thorne pack's black card on a massive shopping spree in the luxury district. She even mocked me in a high-end salon. She called me a useless Rogue with no background—just a leech clinging to the Alpha. I snapped and cut off her access. She tried to pay. The card declined. She became the laughingstock of the pack. The Enforcers even detained her in the holding cells for a whole day and night. Caleb found out. He wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. His hot Alpha breath hit my neck. He bit my earlobe gently. "Aurelia, stop acting like a jealous little she-wolf. You have no manners. You embarrassed her in front of the whole pack." He didn't scold me. He acted normally. Until our anniversary night. He booked the Cloud Room, the most exclusive restaurant downtown. He ordered dozens of vintage wines and expensive caviar, promising a celebration with the core pack members. "Honey, I need to take a call. I will be right back." I waited and waited. The restaurant was about to close. No sign of him. No sign of his so-called friends. I pulled out his supplementary card to pay the bill. The manager looked at me coldly. "Miss, your card is frozen."

Blessed with a serendipitous aura, Meave Shaw's wedding day takes a strange turn when she meets CEO Yannic Pinkman, whose car has run out of gas. After she mistakes his vehicle for her wedding car and gifts him sweets in apology, his fuel tank inexplicably refills. Grateful, he searches for her, but she has already married into the Wayne family, whose fortunes soar with her luck. However, wealth corrupts them, and after her husband's betrayal, she is determined to divorce him and moves to the city. There, she takes a job at a hotel owned by none other than Yannic, bringing their intertwined destinies full circle.

Eight years ago, a massive fire broke out. Viola risked her life to save Kael. She was left with severe burn scars across her back, and her parents lost their lives in the disaster.Overwhelmed by guilt, Kael made a marriage promise to her. The two ran a mountain lodge in Banff together.On the eve of their wedding, an eighteen-year-old girl, Sera, stepped into their lives. Kael became addicted to the easy comfort he felt with Sera, hurting Viola time and again. From public humiliation at a bonfire party, to a life-or-death choice on the cliff, and being blocked at the airport — with help from her attending doctor Lynn, Viola ran away.She moved to Portland and became a trauma recovery counselor. There she met Dr. Eason, and slowly faced her scars and emotional fears. But Kael could not let go; he kept chasing and pestering her. consumed by love turned hatred, Sera set a new fire crisis.Viola traveled overseas for further studies. Kael sold the lodge and crossed oceans to track her down.The two finally met in London for their final farewell. Kael let go of his obsession and left.No longer trapped by debts of gratitude, past pain, or other people’s love, Viola made peace with herself — and started living for her own sake.