feels like we have matching wounds

For eighteen years, I, Althea Quinn Calder, wanted nothing more than torn shorts, hiking boots, and a detector in my pocket. My family was known across the stars as a glamorous treasure-hunting team, but what most people never knew was that our real fortune came from finding alien artifacts hidden inside ancient ruins. At a charity gala on Sobek Space Station, I was forced into an elegant dress and high heels, only to discover that the night was not just another social event. Our old rival, Alistair Draven, appeared again, watching us like a predator and hinting that he already knew about the secret mission my father had planned. Even worse, my father had hired a new intern without telling me. His name was Kaelan Frost, a brilliant student with green eyes, a Capellan accent, and the most dangerous effect on my concentration. I hated the idea of adding anyone to our team—until he joined our next expedition to New Haven, where a dive into the wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge led me to a hidden metal box, a ruby ring, and a cipher connected to the lost lover of the infamous space pirate Edward Teach. The clue pointed us from a sunken ship to a protected estate, then to a secret garden where another message revealed something far bigger: Teach had hidden not only pirate treasure, but the missing fortune of a destroyed Spanish treasure fleet. Every clue brings Kaelan and me closer, but it also brings Alistair closer to us. He has followed every expedition we ever took, and this time, if he discovers what I am carrying, the next treasure we uncover may become the one that gets us killed.

Five years after giving up college due to an unexpected pregnancy, Coral Stirling works tirelessly to raise her son, Bran. When powerful businessman Jotham Zane, pressured to have a child, meets Bran—who looks just like him—he signs a father-son agreement. Later, to keep Coral close, Jotham hires her as a maid. Amid jealousy and secrets, love blossoms. And a second test reveals the truth: Coral is his destined one, and Bran his real son.

On the fifth day after I get born into this world, my biological mother chooses to abandon me. But I'm not sure what she's thinking when she's picking out the location, for she actually abandons me at the entrance of the Bianco family. When the beautiful women of the family notice me, they are quick to frown. "Why don't we take him in?" Since then, I have 109 sisters in my family. At home, I'm the bratty ruler among my sisters. In order not to cause them any trouble, I've been leading a normal life for more than a dozen years. That is, until I've encountered bullying in high school. Giovanni Rossi, a rich student, has me cornered in the washroom with his lackeys flanking him. Not only do they dump cold water on me and tear my clothes off me, but they also use their phones to take pictures of my face. "What are you glaring at, huh? You're just a low-income student, so why are you still putting on airs around us? As if a piece of trash like you can ever get into college!" But since the beating I've received is far too brutal, so I holler at the top of my lungs as I yank Giovanni and jump off the third floor with him. When I wake up, Marcella Greco, the school's nurse, berates me angrily. "All Giovanni did is beat you up, and yet you're already planning to kill him, huh? Shouldn't you be reflecting on yourself when others scold and lay a finger on you? How dare you plot revenge against him instead! "I want you to summon your guardian here right away! If you can't do that by today, you can forget about leaving!" All of my hair stands on end as soon as I hear the command. Weakly, I ask, "Are you sure you want to meet my guardians, Ms. Greco?"

Out of desperation, Queenie Xavier sells her first night to Yarden Lewis, the man she's secretly loved for eight years. Yarden enjoys the thrill but keeps her as a secret lover, never imagining it could last. She feels the same. When the time comes, she walks away.Only then does Yarden realize he's been in love with her to the very core all along.

To pay for her mother's medical bills, Teresa drops out of school and works as a cafeteria worker, but is discriminated against and framed because she is mute. Nolan is a cold, aloof CEO. The two should never have crossed paths, yet they accidentally spend a night together, and Teresa is horrified to discover she's pregnant. Strangely, Nolan develops telepathy and can read her mind. From then on, every thought of hers reaches him. She finally has someone to rely on and love, no longer bullied, and is doted on like a precious treasure. But a new crisis is already looming...

Claire Graves transmigrates into the cultivation world and finally has a family, except her birth mother wounds her deeply and conspires with her vicious elder sister to steal her phoenix bone. Her young daughter Jessi raises her tiny hammer with one declaration: anyone who makes her mother cry is getting cooked. Mother and daughter handle their enemies with remarkable efficiency.What Claire never anticipates is her amnesiac servant. She contracts him carelessly, barely paying attention. He turns out to be Lucas Blackwell, one of the most feared immortal sovereigns in existence, bound to a cultivation path that forbids attachment of any kind. He recovers his memory and promptly becomes hopelessly devoted to Claire, pestering her daily for a formal commitment. The entire cultivation world watches their most terrifying sovereign dissolve into a lovesick fool in real time. Nobody is taking it well.

To pay for her mother's medical bills, Teresa drops out of school and works as a cafeteria worker, but is discriminated against and framed because she is mute. Nolan is a cold, aloof CEO. The two should never have crossed paths, yet they accidentally spend a night together, and Teresa is horrified to discover she's pregnant. Strangely, Nolan develops telepathy and can read her mind. From then on, every thought of hers reaches him. She finally has someone to rely on and love, no longer bullied, and is doted on like a precious treasure. But a new crisis is already looming...

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.

"Don't move. Your dress isn't on properly." Alpha Leo Stonewell lifted a hand to adjust my ceremonial gown. But the next second, the words that came out of his mouth sent a chill down my spine. "Layla, let Lilith wear this dress instead. Don't show up at our marking ceremony on the night of the full moon. She'll take your place then." I looked up immediately. "Have you lost your mind?" He sighed softly as if to suggest I was being unreasonable. "Lilith is just an Omega in the pack. I can't bear to let her stay with me without a rightful title. Tomorrow, I'll officially mark her during the ceremony." The northern wind sliced across my face. It felt bitterly cold, but it could hardly compare to the freezing ache in my chest. "We're supposed to become mates tomorrow. If you're going to mark her, then what did the past ten years between us even mean?" Leo frowned. Impatience crept into his voice. "Your wolf spirit has been dormant all this time. To the other werewolves in the pack, you're no different from an Omega. Layla, don't worry. Even if I mark her, I'll still take care of you for the rest of your life. Let her have this marking ceremony. Lilith is young and beautiful. She can't handle being wronged." My face slowly drained of color. If this Alpha thought I wasn't as young or beautiful as Lilith Lambert, then I didn't want him as my mate either.

Renee Rainsdorf had been with her lawyer boyfriend Owen Tadd for five years. He canceled their wedding fifty-two times—always for the same reason: his intern, Vanessa. The first time, he left Renee waiting alone on the beach all day. The second, he bolted mid-ceremony. After that, every wedding attempt was derailed by yet another "emergency" involving Vanessa. On the fifty-second try, Owen abandoned Renee yet again—this time for Vanessa's sprained ankle. That was the breaking point. Renee finally walked away, packed up, and left Ainsley for good. But the day she left, Owen frantically searched for her everywhere. Back in her hometown of Carverton, Renee rebuilt her life from scratch and rose to become a top lawyer. Owen, however, fell apart without her—his career collapsed, Vanessa bled him dry, and he ended up right back where he started. Five years later, Renee stood at the scene of her old wounds—and smiled toward the future.

Vivian, the bankrupt heiress, walks in on her fiancé and her best friend plotting to pull her father's ventilator plug at their engagement party. While fleeing, she falls into the arms of her fiancé's uncle—Alistair, the "Tyrant of Wall Street." He offers to save her father in exchange for a binding marriage contract. Vivian fights back: she gets her fiancé drunk and ruins his reputation, and sends her best friend to prison. But she mistakenly believes Alistair is the one who killed her mother, and teams up with foreign investors to short his conglomerate. When the truth comes to light—he is the boy who saved her from a fire ten years ago, his back bearing burns that never healed—the two powerhouses join forces. She takes control of the financial empire in the open, while he secretly deploys phantom funds to counterattack. The scumbag fiancé goes bankrupt, the best friend descends into madness, and the mastermind behind it all is left without access to medical care. At the pinnacle of their victory, he kneels and fastens a necklace around her ankle: "I am willing to be your prisoner." She lifts his chin with a smile: "We have been each other's captives all along."

I am diagnosed with severe systemic lupus erythematosus, and I only have three days left to live. When my husband rejects my 188th plea for help, I take my test results and enter the hospice care center. "Hello, I'd like to schedule my own cremation process and apply for government aid." Ten minutes later, they arrive. Before I can speak, my lawyer husband, Jasper Horton, coldly slaps me across the face. "You're faking a terminal illness just to steal attention from Janice?" My doctor brother, Casey Carter, snatches the medical report from my hand and scoffs at it. "Lupus? If you're going to fake being sick, at least make it believable. Only one in a million people gets this." I endure the pain in my body, return to the counter, and hand in the application form and my medical records once more. The staff member sees the butterfly-shaped rash on my wrist and sympathizes with me. "I have no family left," I say. "I'm requesting cremation in three days, location doesn't matter. I just don't want my death to burden anyone."

Everyone knows Colin Dunn and I are trapped in a loveless marriage. We don’t love each other.On the night of our fifth wedding anniversary, I am attacked in my own home.Desperate, I call him for help—only to hear the line go dead. For the sake of his first love, he hangs up… and abandons me.

On our fifth anniversary, Alpha Liam gave me nothing more than a simple pack mark of protection. That same night, he held a bonding ceremony with his first love, the she-wolf Seraphina. I refused to accept it. He accused me of being irrational. “My bonding with Seraphina is for the future of the pack, not because I still have feelings for her.” “You’re only human. Shouldn’t my pack’s mark be enough? This was your final test, Elena, and you’ve failed.” I walked away. And he turned around and proposed to Seraphina. Five years later, we met again at an exclusive hotel designated by the Alpha Council. His pack was on the verge of becoming a major power, and he had Seraphina, draped in a moonlight silk gown, on his arm. When he saw me, covered in sand and standing ankle-deep in the hotel’s ornamental fountain, he frowned. “Elena,” he scoffed. “You looked down on my protection back then. Look at you now. I bet you can’t find a single pack in this city willing to take in a human.” “And don’t think this pathetic display will make me take you back.” I ignored him. My cub’s treasured moonstone, a gift he’d found while combing the beach, had slipped into the fountain. The little guy was beside himself, and I had to find his precious amulet.

On the day of my mate-bonding ceremony, my parents suddenly brought my mate home and told me the marking ceremony that day would be with someone else. “Your sister was poisoned by wolfsbane. There's no cure, and her dying wish is to become David’s mate.” “You’re her older sister. Can’t you be kind and help her out?” My mate also tried to persuade me. “Don’t worry, it’s just for show. After she dies, we’ll still be each other’s one and only.” Still, I refused. However, my parents forced me to drink a potion that blocked my mind link, tied me up, and threw me into the silver mine behind our villa. “We’ll untie you once the ceremony goes smoothly,” they said. But soon after they left, I was attacked by a vicious rogue wolf. After endless torment, I was killed. It was only when my body started rotting that they remembered I was still bound in the mine.

Everyone knows Colin Dunn and I are trapped in a loveless marriage. We don’t love each other.On the night of our fifth wedding anniversary, I am attacked in my own home.Desperate, I call him for help—only to hear the line go dead. For the sake of his first love, he hangs up… and abandons me.

For five years, Luna Stone pretends to be deaf and mute, not for herself, but to help Sean Porter survive his darkest years. Quietly, she also funnels her parents' entire inheritance into keeping his studio afloat. She asks for nothing. She says nothing. Then Sean recovers his hearing, his studio becomes a company, and life turns good again. In an unguarded moment,he says out loud what he actually feels: he never wanted to marry her. His heart still belongs to someone else. Luna hears every word. She walks away without making a scene, and into a waiting arrangement with Kilan Arden, the man she was always supposed to find.

John Foster is actually a super-rich second-generation heir, but his parents deliberately raised him in poverty, so he remains unaware of his true background. As an adult entering society,John never feels inferior about his poor status and instead earns the favor of beautiful CEO Cora Bradley. The two pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend when meeting each other’s parents, which attracts jealous villains who plot against them. Through his exceptional wit and his parents’ secret assistance, John gradually breaks through each crisis. John finally realizes his extraordinary origins and, after understanding his parents’ intentions, accepts his new life.