when did half life 2: episode 2 come out

My dad called me right after I got paid. He said my little brother needed money for school, Grandma had medical bills, and there was still the rent, water, and electricity. Then, at the end of the call, he admitted he’d lost money gambling. I sat in the security booth, rubbing my bad leg, completely lost for what to do. A car horn blared, and I quickly raised the security bar. Just one look and you could tell how expensive the car was. It belonged to the boss, who had a thing for amputees. Damn it.

To prevent the merfolk from being slaughtered, I decided to go ashore and seduce my childhood friend Cyrus, who had become the Alpha King. He still loved me deeply, and we spent three passionate days and nights together in bed. Waking up from a haze of pleasure, I hadn't even had the chance to rejoice before a corrosive elixir was dunked over my head. Listening to my pained wails, Cyrus smirked. "So even an immortal mermaid can feel pain, too? "Well, this is just a taste of what's to come if you don't tell me where my parents are!" Yes, he was convinced that the merfolk were behind his parents' disappearance. From then on, I was forced to watch him flirt with his mistress, Emily; had to extract my mermaid pearl to help heal her body; was forced to dance barefoot to entertain Emily so that she could sleep… Cyrus hated every fiber of my being, yet always held me tenderly in his arms whenever I was on the brink of death, carefully feeding me medicine. Sometimes, he was cruel. "Do you think I'll go easy on you just because I love you? Quick, continue torturing her!" Sometimes, he was gentle. "Can't you be good and tell me where my parents are?" Silently, I endured his twisted love without a word. Soon, however, these days would come to an end, and I wouldn't have to keep that secret any longer. After all, a mermaid who did not return to the sea after three years on land… Would turn into seafoam. And now, there were only three days until my time was up.

In my previous life, my girlfriend's childhood friend impersonated a rich heir and messed around with the fake power he had. I exposed him, and he crashed his car into me. In my final moments, my girlfriend's sister begged on her knees, pleading for my girlfriend's aid, hoping she could save me, but my girlfriend did nothing. "He wouldn't do that. Zacharias is beyond this. He would never dirty his hands for a nobody like this guy. He might be my boyfriend, but that doesn't mean he can do anything he wants. He'd better know his place." My girlfriend's sister remained on the ground for three days. In the end, Zacharias dragged her away, violated her, and killed her. Even at my dying breath, my girlfriend was still covering up for her childhood friend. She refused to believe Zacharias hit someone with a car and violated her sister. And then I was reborn. This time, I did not beg and plead for my girlfriend to give me a moment of her time. I called my brother instead. "Hey? Yeah, it's me. Some bastard impersonated me and is dragging my name through the mud. I need you to take that guy out. Also, I'm not marrying Annabelle Lawson. I'm taking her sister instead." I gave the Lawsons a lot of resources so they could grow, and what did I get in the end? An ungrateful woman who would leave me stranded and dying all for another man. With all their resources pulled, Annabelle and her childhood friend would be saying goodbye to their good old days and hello to their personal hell.

Dorian Valmont, crown prince of the ancient Navorin era, awakens as a 6-year-old child in modern times after a drunken accident. With ancient wisdom hidden behind a child's face, he outsmarted every adult in the decaying Valmont family, tore down their corrupt legacy, and built a new empire from the ashes. Just when he's about to claim his rightful place as the head of the family, new enemies emerge from the shadows. Now, a storm is brewing—one that threatens to destroy everything he's built and expose the thousand-year-old secret he carries.

In her past life, Dahlia Whitmore—the precious heiress of the Whitmore family—was tortured to death by the three foster brothers she grew up with and the scheming scholarship girl, Chloe. After her rebirth, she cuts every tie with them and boldly enters a political marriage with Adrian DeLuca, the mafia heir who proposed to her ninety-nine times before finally winning her hand. Adrian treasures her like a queen—while the three brothers, too late, realize just how much they’ve lost.

I spent six months and over $20,000 to plan a family vacation. However, when my mate’s childhood sweetheart Victoria heard about our trip, she begged to join us. Alexander didn't hesitate. He cancelled my spot in the protected convoy and gave it to her instead. He forced me to travel alone through deadly Shadow Pack territory - a thirty-six hour journey where three wolves had died last month. The whole family supported Alexander's decision without a thought for my safety. So I changed my travel plans. I headed north instead of south. I spent three months enjoying myself, ignoring their mindlink message. That's when the family started to panic...

After graduating from a top university, Willa Lloyd founded her own company. But the Stanton Group crushed her business until it was on the brink of bankruptcy. To save everything she built, Willa got dragged into a series of ridiculous run-ins with the Stanton family…

Travis, a secret crown prince, now a deadly beggar, is saved by a noble heiress who defies her family to marry him on the streets. But when assassins sent by his usurper brother come hunting, the "beggar" unleashes his hidden martial arts and poisonous arts to reclaim his throne.

Aurelius spent a thousand solitary years on an immortal assembly line, rolling pills in paradise. A cosmic traffic incident cuts that career short and drops him into the body of James Cross, a mistreated eldest son, pressured into a humble marriage, and apparently everyone's punching bag. What Aurelius finds instead is a wife and mother-in-law who offer nothing but patience and gentle care. For someone who has never once been loved, it undoes him completely. He can't repay them with money or status. So he does the only thing he knows how—he decides to take the whole family to immortality with him.

She was the Kingsley heiress who gave up her crown for love. Karina fell for her boss, William, and after one reckless night, carried his child. He married her—but only in secret—while his heart still belonged to Fiona, the woman he could never forget. Years later, Fiona returned with a son, and William made the cruelest choice: embracing another child while abandoning his own. Shattered, Karina clung to her son Galen’s plea: “Give him three more chances.” But with every chance William wastes… Karina edges closer to walking away forever.

Six years ago, Annie Sparks shares a one-night encounter with the drugged Ian Locke and becomes pregnant, but goes to prison to protect her pregnant sister Joyce McDonnell. Joyce uses half a pendant to marry into the Locke family under false identity. Six years later, Ian and his father return to the country. Andy Locke discovers the bullied child Charlie bears striking resemblance to the Locke bloodline and confirms he is Ian’s biological son. Joyce attempts to eliminate Annie and her son to conceal the truth. After Annie reunites with Ian, the family of three finally recognizes each other through numerous trials. Annie exposes Joyce’s crimes, and Joyce faces legal consequences. Annie becomes the rightful young madam of the Locke family, holds a proper wedding ceremony with Ian, and achieves family completeness.

Yara, hailed as a business genius, repays her fiancé Charles's life-saving act by helping him build a company from scratch and granting him ten chances to make mistakes. Thanks to her drive, his firm quickly takes root in the capital but still can't go public, so Yara travels overseas to open new markets. Three years later,she comes back exhausted to a changed Charles, now harsh and,influenced by his cousin Sophia, constantly hurting her. When he exhausts all ten chances,Yara ends the engagement, and that very day Charles's company falls into crisis.

I'm a killer who accidentally sleeps with a mafia boss twice. The first time, I walk away without saying anything, leaving behind nothing but a note and a bank card. "Fantastic night. Thanks." The second time, he lands himself at the top of the killer hit list and has a sky-high bounty placed on him. Later, he traps me in his room as I fade in and out of consciousness, drowning in his presence. He holds my hand and aims my gun at himself with a chuckle. "You're shaking so badly. Can you even keep your gun steady?"

While the criminal was brutally killing me, my dad, the head of the criminal investigation division, and my mom, the chief forensic pathologist, were attending my sister Lily Lambert’s match. In a bid for revenge, the criminal, who had once been captured by my dad, cut out my tongue and used my phone to call him. My dad only said one thing before hanging up. "No matter what’s going on, Lily’s match is the top priority today!" The criminal sneered, "Seems I’ve kidnapped the wrong person. I thought they would love their biological daughter more!" At the crime scene, my parents were shocked by the brutal state of the body and condemned the cruelty of the killer. However, they did not realize that the horrifically mutilated corpse was their own daughter.

Travis, a secret crown prince, now a deadly beggar, is saved by a noble heiress who defies her family to marry him on the streets. But when assassins sent by his usurper brother come hunting, the "beggar" unleashes his hidden martial arts and poisonous arts to reclaim his throne.

After traveling back in time, Wendy Suhl enters a marriage alliance with Axel Frost to get her revenge, crushing enemies and driving away the scheming homewrecker Lulu Cobb, her family's sponsored student. Her four foster brothers Grant,Evan, Leo, and Zane side with Lulu when she falsely accuses Wendy of plagiarism, only to have it blow up in their faces. On her wedding day,the Suhl Four all propose to marry Lulu to steal the spotlight, but Axel furiously confronts them. After losing their power, the four imprison and torture Lulu. When pregnant Lulu tries to escape,she uses her own blood to write slanderous accusations on banners. Eventually,Wendy reveals surveillance footage that drives Lulu to madness, and the four scumbags end up in prison—justice served!

Natalie Jane, once dismissed as "stupid and malicious," awakens to find herself trapped in a scripted world. To save her adoptive grandfather,Beck Shaw, she defies fate, tearing up the original plot and returning to age 18. As she leads a rebellion against the script's rules, she entangles with the Shaw family's three masters: Greg, the cunning illegitimate son; Lance, her former tormentor;and Justin, her love-hate partner. Rewriting her grandfather's destiny, Natalie becomes the true love of all three men. With the power to choose her path, she decides to stay in the present, rewriting her own story.

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.