

A week before Easter, Adrian gave me seven days off and had a ticket to Stockholm slipped into my bag. I thought he was finally learning how to care. Then I heard him talking to our son on the staircase. “Dad, are you really going to marry Aunt Bianca? What about Mom?” Noah was holding his model car, trying to sound brave. Adrian was quiet for a moment. “It’s only a legal marriage. Matteo is gone. Bianca and Sophia are exposed, and I can’t leave them that way. They need the DeLuca name for protection.” “Does Mom know?” “She can’t know.” His voice softened. “Keep this from her, Noah. On your birthday, I’ll buy you that Aston Martin model you want.” So the ticket was never a gift. It was a way to move me out of the picture. If he could put his family name on another woman, even for show, then I could take back the pride and ambition I had buried in this marriage. This time, when I left for the north, I would not come back.

Six years ago, Nora Carson spent a night with the formidable Perry Moore. Unwilling to be seen as a gold digger, she chose to walk away without looking back—never realizing she was carrying his child. Now, six years later, her aunt is pressuring her into an unwanted marriage. Desperate for a way out, she has no choice but to send her daughter to find the one man she once left behind. And just like that, their fates intertwine once more, setting the stage for a love story neither of them saw coming.

Landy Taylor quit school as a teenager to put her siblings through theirs.She built Reverie Hotel from nothing and runs it quietly, without fanfare. At her father's seventieth birthday, she shows up simply dressed, and her siblings make sure everyone knows what they think of her. What they don't know is that three of the most formidable people in the country are on their way and happen to call her Mom. The reckoning is public and thorough. Later, a chance encounter on a flight with her son's fiancee, who doesn't know who she's insulting, sets up a second one. Landy has never needed to announce herself. She just waits.

Dean Zela was forced by his daughter and son-in-law into a nursing home, only to realize it was nothing more than a prison for the elderly—once inside, there was no escape. Crushed by despair, he withered away and died. But to his surprise, God granted him a second chance at life. This time, Dean swore to cast out his daughter and son-in-law's family and reclaim everything that had once been stolen from him!

Molly Stowe, a member of the Stowe family, was kidnapped and sold eighteen years ago. She was then adopted and changed her name to Susie Handley. After going through trials and tribulations, she was finally found by her uncles. Susie refused to forgive her ex-husband, Mills Chancey, and returned to the Stowe family as Ms. Stowe. To find out the truth of her kidnapping, she hid her identity and entered a company under the Stowe Group. However, her cousin Nancy Stowe posed as her and bullied her. Susie persisted in her struggle and exposed the truth. Eventually, she became the new CEO of Stowe Group and severely punished the embezzlers. Her uncles appreciated her tenacity and became more and more fond of her. In the end, the Stowe family won a happy ending.

The day my parents brought home an AI daughter, I lost my place in the family. Maddison Matthews was flawless. Gentle, intelligent, and obedient, she was the perfect daughter. Overnight, I became the problem child. Dad stopped hiding his disappointment. Mom compared me to Maddison in everything I did. Even my brother, Bailey, treated me like an embarrassment. "What else do you know how to do besides throwing tantrums and fighting for attention?" The day I finally snapped and shoved Maddison, Mom slapped me so hard my ears rang. "If you were even half as mature as Maddie, I wouldn’t be so exhausted every single day! Go to the Intelligent Excellence Academy and learn properly how to be an obedient daughter!" Then she sent me away. I was forced into a three-year exchange program at the Intelligent Excellence Academy, a place designed to train human children alongside advanced AI models. Three years later, my family finally came to bring me home. They called my name again and again, but I never answered. The director smiled calmly beside them. "Mrs. Matthews," he said softly, "you’ll need to say ‘Power On’. Unit 1314 no longer responds to human names."

When my mind-link request had been ignored by my parents for the twentieth time, I went to the Werewolf Council, clutching the report on silver dust corrosion in my hand. “Hello. I’d like to renounce my pack identity—effective immediately.” Ten minutes later, my parents burst in, dragging my adoptive younger sister, Elsa, with them, panic written all over their faces. The door burst open with a bang, and my Beta father charged in like a storm. His fangs bared, claws twitching. “You’re nothing but a spoiled brat craving attention! Stop this pathetic act. You’re an embarrassment to a Beta’s name!” My mother, a forensic specialist for the pack, immediately snatched the report from my hand. After a brief glance, she let out a cold sneer. “You faked this report just to get our attention? You’ve been a liar since you were a pup.” Elsa clung to both of them, tears in her eyes as she sobbed, “I’m sorry, Jenifer. It’s my fault for holding the shifting ritual. But please... don’t lie to our parents just to make them feel guilty!” Blood was still pouring from my nose, but I wiped it away calmly and stood tall before the werewolf councilors once more. “I haven’t had a real family for a long time. Please—remove all my personal records from the pack. I just don’t want my funeral—scheduled for three days from now—to be delayed.”

When my mind-link request had been ignored by my parents for the twentieth time, I went to the Werewolf Council, clutching the report on silver dust corrosion in my hand. “Hello. I’d like to renounce my pack identity—effective immediately.” Ten minutes later, my parents burst in, dragging my adoptive younger sister, Elsa, with them, panic written all over their faces. The door burst open with a bang, and my Beta father charged in like a storm. His fangs bared, claws twitching. “You’re nothing but a spoiled brat craving attention! Stop this pathetic act. You’re an embarrassment to a Beta’s name!” My mother, a forensic specialist for the pack, immediately snatched the report from my hand. After a brief glance, she let out a cold sneer. “You faked this report just to get our attention? You’ve been a liar since you were a pup.” Elsa clung to both of them, tears in her eyes as she sobbed, “I’m sorry, Jenifer. It’s my fault for holding the shifting ritual. But please... don’t lie to our parents just to make them feel guilty!” Blood was still pouring from my nose, but I wiped it away calmly and stood tall before the werewolf councilors once more. “I haven’t had a real family for a long time. Please—remove all my personal records from the pack. I just don’t want my funeral—scheduled for three days from now—to be delayed.”