

Everyone in the family can see the countdown above Eli Nash, my brother, so we all know he dies the day he turns 16 years old. Thus, Eli becomes the most pampered person in the family. He gets all the good food, the latest limited-edition sneakers, and even the bedtime stories from Mom and Dad. I feel very bad for him, yet I am jealous of all the love he receives. I finally make it to the eve of his 16th birthday. But Mom and Dad fear that I will cause trouble, so they lock me in a storage room while I am suffering from a high fever. I panic as I bang on the door. "Please let me out, Mom! I'm running a fever, and my head hurts so badly!" Mom snaps through gritted teeth, "That's enough, Ash! Eli is going to die tomorrow! Why can't you just put up with it?" "I feel really sick, though…" I start losing consciousness as the sounds outside the door die down.

I was pregnant, and when I went to a private club to have Ronan sign the divorce papers, he was tangled up with his mistress, Molly. Under Ronan's coercion, I drank the wine Molly handed me. But what I didn't expect was that Molly had slipped an abortion-inducing pill into the drink. I collapsed, yet Ronan left with Molly in his arms. "I'll bring in the top medical team to save the baby." he said. "Ronan, there are only eight days left on the marriage contract. We will never meet again in this life." I replied. But Ronan didn't hear me—he was too busy answering Molly's call. Fortunately, my baby survived. Eight days later, I returned to my grandfather's farm with my child, severing every last tie to Ronan. Just when I thought life would settle down peacefully, Ronan knelt at my doorstep.

Just as I was on the verge of miscarriage from a fall, my husband—New York's most powerful Don—was throwing a lavish birthday gala for his childhood sweetheart, Camilla. I called, begging for help, but he dismissed it as a cheap stunt and coldly hung up. As his wife, I bore the honor of being the Donna—yet no one knew I couldn't even scrape together a thousand dollars. All because, to "train" me into a proper Donna, he had handed total control of my life and finances straight to Camilla. Desperate, I begged anyone who would listen. But by the time I finally scraped the money together, my baby's heartbeat stopped forever. After waking up in that hospital bed, I dragged myself back to his penthouse to pack my bags. That was when I stumbled upon the auction receipt for Camilla's birthday gift. A ten-million-dollar mansion in Beverly Hills, plus endless custom jewelry. Just then, his deep, raspy voice drifted from the study next door. He was on a call with his underbosses. "Boss, was Scarlett really at the hospital begging you for a grand?" Cassius scoffed. "Scarlett is my Donna. She has my men guarding her 24/7. How could anything possibly happen to her? She's just pulling a cheap stunt for attention. Camilla is right. I've spoiled Scarlett too much lately. If Camilla isn't strict with her, how is an orphan going to earn the Famiglia's respect? She'll understand my good intentions later." Tears slipped down my face. Fuck his rules. Fuck his Donna. The second the doctor called my baby's time of death, I decided I was out of his life—never to return.

I finally scored the World Cup tickets my fiancé, Louis, had been dying to get. I was thrilled and about to tell him the good news when I overheard his friend talking to him: "Skyler turned down a design gig at Milan Fashion Week just to be with you, and now you’re giving the ticket to Monica? That’s a dick move, man." Louis just chuckled, his tone dismissive. "Watching it with her is boring. You know I’m used to having Monica around for every World Cup." So he had already gotten tickets, and he never planned on taking me. The realization hit me then: for the past twelve years, every single World Cup, he had been by Monica’s side. Every time their team scored, she was the first person he hugged to celebrate. Back then, he would coax me: "Monica and I grew up together. I’m just used to it—she was around long before you were. Don't be mad, okay? Next time, I promise it’ll just be you and me." Suddenly, I just felt exhausted. I tore up the tickets, canceled our marriage registration scheduled for next month, packed my bags, and booked a flight back to my hometown for the very next day. This time, I was the one walking away.

Jord's sister tragically lost her life in a car accident, and her last call was to Jord's wife, Sarah. Unfortunately, a misunderstanding arose, leading Jord to wrongly believe that Sarah was somehow responsible for his sister's demise, resulting in a fracture in their relationship. Later, influenced by Tasha's manipulations, Jord coerced a pregnant Sarah into having an abortion and compelled her to donate a kidney to Tasha. Seizing an opportunity presented by a fabricated death from stomach cancer, Sarah managed to escape, reemerging three years later with a new identity – Lucy...

"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.

Year 3610, ten years after the great interstellar war. Space pirates and Void forces plague the galaxy. Thorne, former Star Marshal and weary of war, lives incognito on Neon Star, running a quiet bar with Ileah, heir of the Mogul clan. But Ileah’s broken engagement offends the Abyss family, and the Shadow of the Void covets her rare healing ability. Enemies close in. Thorne sheds his disguise, defeats the Abyss heir and a Void squad leader, and returns with Ileah to the Eight Great Clans. Lord Regan of Abyss and Void Commander Dexter strike back. Thorne wields lightning, spatial arts, and nanotech armor to crush them, uniting the Eight Clans to destroy the Shadow of the Void. Yet when the battle ends, an alien claw emerges from a deep-space rift — a new cosmic crisis begins.

My father's adopted daughter was only locked in the cramped storage closet for around fifteen minutes, yet he punished me by tying me up and throwing me inside. He even sealed off the ventilation with towels. "As Wendy's older sister, if you can't take care of her, then you should also experience how scared she was," he declared coldly. He knew I was claustrophobic, but my desperate pleas for mercy, my terror, were met with nothing but heartless reprimands. "Let this be a lesson on how to be a good sister." As the last sliver of light disappeared, swallowed by the oppressive darkness, I struggled helplessly. A week passed before my father finally remembered my existence and decided it was time to end my punishment. "Let's hope this week served as a good lesson for you, Jennifer. If this happens again, you will no longer be allowed in this house." He would never know that I had already taken my last breath in that suffocating room. My body had begun to rot in the darkness.

Stella Carter had been secretly married to Adrian Whitmore, an old-money Manhattan heir, for three years, believing she had found the most precious love of her life. It was not until she was pregnant and saw her husband at the hospital staying by the side of the famous actress Vanessa Bennett—and overheard Adrian planning to take her child away and hand it over to Vanessa to raise—that she realized she had never been the one her husband truly cherished. Stella terminated the pregnancy, signed the divorce papers, and accepted an invitation to join a Zurich aerospace program. Before leaving, she sent evidence of Vanessa’s provocations and her own abortion report to a family dinner, publicly exposing the relationship between Adrian and Vanessa, and then vanished completely. Only after losing her did Adrian realize that Stella was not only the one who had truly saved his life, but also the wife he had shattered with his own hands. By the time he followed her to Switzerland, Stella had already returned to her scientific career and had also begun to recognize the love Julian Harrington had quietly kept for her all those years. Adrian’s remorse, Vanessa’s crimes, and the reckoning between the two powerful families erupted one after another. After all the hurt and farewells, Stella ultimately completed the aerospace program and married Julian, who truly respected and cherished her, while Adrian could only cling to his belated regret and watch her embrace a life of her own.