

Helen Carter is the daughter of the Cockfighting Sage, the man who mastered cockfighting not to profit from it but to fight gambling itself into submission. He raised her with one absolute rule: never touch the roosters. Then, he was murdered by his own disciple Sean Holt, a man who chose greed over everything he was taught, and ten-year-old Helen barely escaped with her life on the breath her dying father bought her.Years later, her husband's gambling debts drag her back to the one world she swore never to enter. Helen steps back into the ring quietly and dismantles every opponent in her path, one bout at a time, until she is standing across from Sean himself. The final fight isn't just about the debt. It is about her father, about justice, and about burying the man who buried him. She wins, exposes everything, and walks her husband out of the gambling halls with the only wisdom her father ever needed anyone to hear: the longer you play, the more you lose. Not getting into it at all is the only way to win.

This is the ninth year Dante and I have honored the Month of No Masters. The Corinni family's heir apparent believes this will make our relationship last longer. For one month after our dating anniversary each year, he is free, and we stay out of each other's lives. If either of us finds someone more suitable, we are to wish them well. If not, we go back to the way things were after a month. Around me, the men of the family are spraying champagne with abandon. "To another year of freedom! Congratulations to our Underboss on reclaiming his bachelor status!" "The family betting pool is open! Place your bets on the left if you think they'll still get married, and on the right if you think it's over for good!" Through the hazy cigar smoke, I sat on the corner of a leather sofa, a cold observer, as if this whole farce had nothing to do with me. Dante's hand was curled around Scarlett's waist as he brushed past me, whispering, "Don't get any ideas. You'll always be my only Donna." "I'm a kite. No matter how far I fly, the string is always in your hand." I pressed my cold fingers against the gentle swell of my belly, my expression a blank mask. Dante, this time at the family's betting table, I'm putting my money on "the end." I'm going to vanish from your world completely. That kite string you're so proud of? Tonight, I'm cutting it myself.

Reborn three hours before the apocalypse, Damon Burke awakens the Emotion System! In his previous life, he was betrayed, murdered,and devoured by his fiancee and a local thug. This time, he maxes out every loan, liquidates all his assets, and frantically stockpiles supplies. Watch as Damon takes revenge on his treacherous ex, brutally eliminates the thug, and conquers his apartment building, neighborhood, district, and eventually the entire city—step by step unraveling the truth behind the apocalypse.