

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.

Five years ago, on a blood moon night, Ruth, a hotel maid, stumbled into the room of Arthur, the Vampire King. Bound by the pull of soulmates, they shared one night, and Ruth fled the next morning. Now, Ruth is a desperate single mother whose half-vampire son, Leo, suffers from a rare ""photophobia"" illness that requires a fortune to treat. When a chance encounter brings her to Arthur's castle for a high-paying job, he instantly recognizes his mate. Furious at her disappearance, he coldly torments her, but she endures it all for her son's life. When Ruth's greedy aunt sells Leo to the extreme ""Exorcism Courtyard,"" Arthur, sensing his bloodline in danger, arrives just in time to witness Ruth shielding their son with her own body. He shatters their defenses with a roar: ""Who dares touch my son!"" The family is united. From protecting his wife and child from a jealous noblewoman to showering them with absolute devotion, Arthur proves that for the ones he loves, he will destroy anyone who stands in their way. Their story ends in a grand wedding and a long-awaited happily ever after.

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.

For seven years, Kelsey Dale ran a business empire from the shadows and called herself a housewife. She gave up her name, her position, and eventually her health to prop up a husband who needed her more than he admitted, including nursing him through a near-fatal illness with everything she had. On the day their infant son turns one hundred days old, Gaige Hamilton walks through the door with his mistress and their child, backed by his parents, and offers Kelsey a choice: accept them under her roof and keep managing the household, or leave without her son. Seven years. That is what they thought they were owed.

When my appendix bursts, my parents, my brother, and even my fiancé are all too busy celebrating my sister's birthday. I'm outside the operating room, frantically calling every family member I can think of to sign the consent form, but every call is either ignored or hung up on. After hanging up on me, my fiancé, Joel Graham, texts back."Sophie, stop being dramatic. It's Yvette's 18th birthday today. Whatever it is can wait until after the party." I quietly set my phone down and sign the consent form myself. It's the ninety-ninth time they've chosen Yvette Norton, my sister, over me. This time, I choose not to care. I'll stop letting their favoritism hurt me. Instead, I'll do everything they ask of me without complaint. They'll all think I've finally learned to be obedient, and they'll never realize that I'm preparing to leave them for good.

When my appendix bursts, my parents, my brother, and even my fiancé are all too busy celebrating my sister's birthday. I'm outside the operating room, frantically calling every family member I can think of to sign the consent form, but every call is either ignored or hung up on. After hanging up on me, my fiancé, Joel Graham, texts back."Sophie, stop being dramatic. It's Yvette's 18th birthday today. Whatever it is can wait until after the party." I quietly set my phone down and sign the consent form myself. It's the ninety-ninth time they've chosen Yvette Norton, my sister, over me. This time, I choose not to care. I'll stop letting their favoritism hurt me. Instead, I'll do everything they ask of me without complaint. They'll all think I've finally learned to be obedient, and they'll never realize that I'm preparing to leave them for good.

Underworld boss Yara Jenkins dies saving Nina Shaw from a push off a building and wakes up in Nina's body. Hoping to leave her violent past behind and attend college, she discovers she's the school's worst student—and that Nina was bullied by the Shaw family's fake heiress and the entire household.Yara strikes back ruthlessly, crushes the Shaws, and reunites with her former right-hand men. But her exiled sister is secretly returning, vowing to seize power.

Alexander makes a deal with the commander to protect Jessica's family, trading a severe injury that leaves him with an amputation,shrapnel in his brain, and little time to live for their safety. Six years later, he runs into his daughter Alice, who doesn't know he's her father, and shares his past with her. When he saves Jessica at a lion dance event, his identity is exposed. Jessica presses him for the truth about the past, but Alexander, aware his days are numbered, resolves to hide it, breaking her heart. To end their bond, Jessica forces him to perform the lion dance again. Alexander pushes through to take the stage, but his prosthetic limb malfunctions, shrapnel shifts, and he is on the brink of death.

"I had spent my whole life living in the shadow of my sister, Juliana, the woman everyone in the mafia's heir circle adored and protected. She had no idea that I had been reborn. Just like in my previous life, she smiled sweetly and gently, insisting that I pick my fiancé first, pretending to be thoughtful and gracious. However, this time, I refused. In my previous life, I naïvely believed she meant well. I married the man she recommended, Chester Kane, an heir who was said to have been paralyzed after an ambush. I gave up my right to inherit the family, becoming his caretaker, his crutch, the medicine he used to fight loneliness. However, no matter how much warmth I gave him, his heart remained frozen. The truth only came out during my sister's pregnancy celebration. When an assassin from a rival family raised his gun toward her belly, the man who had not stood in years suddenly rose to his feet. He shoved me toward the muzzle of the gun. All seven bullets tore into my womb. As I collapsed, I saw him pull my sister into his arms, shielding her with his own body and taking the final shot for her. Only then did I understand. He had never been paralyzed. His family had never abandoned him. He pretended to be sick because Juliana's heart belonged to another man, and he refused to be tied to me. ""I'm sorry, Tania,"" he said. ""I lied to you. However, I couldn't let Juliana lose the heir she's carrying. I'll repay what I owe you in our next life."" When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day my father asked us to choose our marriage partners. This time, I chose no one. Yet back then, they were the ones who begged for my love."