

To investigate an underground casino, journalist Waldron is betrayed and killed by its manager, Samuel. Three years later, his daughter Winona, now a master card cheat, infiltrates Samuel's casino to save her aunt from gambling addiction and hunt down her father's killer.

I was the second princess of the Phoenix Court. And I fell in love with a lowly black serpent. In my past life, just to be with him, I purposely picked that black serpent during the Sacred Bonding ceremony when we each chose our companion beasts. After that, we spent every night together. I didn't care what the whole clan thought. I was determined to marry him. But on our wedding day, that same serpent I'd given my heart to drove an arrow straight through me, killing me while I was three months pregnant. As I lay dying, I heard him hiss bitterly in my ear, "If it weren't for you, I'd have been with Seraphine by now. You should've died a long time ago." That's when I finally got it. All he cared about was power. And he'd been in love with my older sister all along—the sister who was next in line for the Phoenix throne. When I opened my eyes again, we were back at that same moment—the Sacred Bonding ceremony. Before everyone, he dropped to his knees and confessed he loved my sister. He begged not to be bound to me. The whole clan looked at me with pity. But I only smiled and pointed to a small white serpent resting quietly off to the side. That black serpent thought clinging to my sister would make him powerful. What he didn't realize was that only the one I chose would become the true heir to the Phoenix Court.

On our fifth wedding anniversary, I nestled in the arms of my vampire husband, Alaric, and offered my neck to his lingering kisses. My breath caught as my hand fumbled in my pocket for the pregnancy test crystal. It glowed faintly, showing a clear positive result. I planned to reveal my pregnancy as my final surprise for the night: we were going to have a half-vampire child of our own. Alaric's confidant, Roman, grinned suggestively and asked in the Old Tongue of the Kindred: "Your Highness, and what of your childhood friend, the beautiful pureblood Elise? Does she satisfy you?" Alaric's mocking laughter rumbled against my chest, sending a chill down my spine. He replied in the same Old Tongue: "Like fire, wild and intensely hot. The harder you bite, the sweeter she yields." His fingertip was still tracing the bite marks on my neck, but his gaze was far away. "Just be sure to keep this quiet. I'd be ruined if my dear wife found out." The clansmen chuckled, raising their blood-filled goblets to pledge their secrecy. The warmth in my blood ran to ice. They had forgotten. Born of a noble human line that had intermarried with the Kindred for generations, I was fluent in their Old Tongue. I forced myself to remain calm, keeping the perfect hostess's smile plastered on my face, but the hand gripping my glass began to tremble. Alaric probably thought that if I found out, I would cry and demand to know why he treated me this way, just as I had before. But what he didn't know was that this time, everything was different. The marriage contract was void. I sent a message to my father: "Father, I've lost the bet. I am coming home to inherit the family estate."

My show-quality service beastkin doesn't like me. He only wags his tail for my sister. I then bring home a low-grade venting beastkin. But he's now so upset that he's nearly in tears. "Layla Manfred, there can only be one hound, and that's me!"

I was just a maid in the house—until they forced me to marry a man in a coma. They said it was just a formality. They said he'd never wake up. But the moment I touched his abs… He opened his eyes. Worse yet, his younger brother tried to claim me while he was "unconscious." But I had no idea—the real monster hadn't even woken up yet. The man I married… is the King of Vampires. And when he wakes up, no one gets out alive.

My adopted sister won the Elixir Challenge by stealing my potion. To her shock, she was informed that the event was a selection event for the future wife of the Serpentkins' future head—the same heir who was infamously impotent, barbaric, and hideous. When the Serpentkins sent over a proposal letter, demanding her hand in marriage, my fiance panicked and promptly took my adopted sister away for a quick marriage and even consummated. Once the deed was done, she returned triumphantly, showing off the mark on her lower back. "Well, what are you going to do now, Winnie?" she gloated. "Your fiance is mine now, and you'll be twenty-five in three days. If no one comes to pick you up, you'll just be dumped into the hands of some wife-beating Rogue who is ageing and unwanted…" Actually, she was wrong—I had a choice. I went to the parlor where my parents—who were busy fixing the mess my adopted sister made—were, announcing, "If she refuses to marry the future head of the Serpentkins, I will!"

"Just because my wolf mom scratched Ava Shaw's favorite dress, Noah Potter called a butcher. He punished her seriously. I found her dying body and screamed at him. ""I told you before—I was raised by wolves. What you did to her is no different from killing my mother!"" Noah stayed cold. He covered Ava's eyes and stared at me. ""You are just a stray kid my stepmom picked up. Stop trying to fool me."" My wolf mom was still bleeding as she dragged herself toward me. I crawled to her and held her tight. ""I stayed here to repay Noah's family for helping the wolf pack. You chased me for miles because you could not let me go. I never thought I would end up hurting you instead."" That night, I held my wolf mom and knelt in front of Aunt Wendy's memorial. ""Aunt Wendy, the Potters' Zoo are everywhere now. They do not need my gift anymore. I should leave.""

Lucas Jones gets thrown out of an S-rank survivor base as deadweight. The moment he hits the ground, the Underworld’s Business System awakens, and he opens a restaurant at the end of the world. His ingredients are S-rank anomalies. His staff, once tamed, are the Hell Wardens, the Soul Escorts, and Brewmother herself. Climbing from lowly Underworld Worker all the way to King of Hell, he rescues a desperate survivor base with a single meal, swindles the obscenely wealthy with a single apple, and erases every past humiliation with compounding interest. He isn’t here to survive the apocalypse. He’s here to get rich off it and enjoy every bite.

When the apocalypse arrives and Rosie Dixon is moments from death, a figure cuts through the horde with terrifying precision. The Zombie King's crimson eyes find only her: come with me. It takes her a beat to realize the most powerful undead creature in existence is Henry Miller, the boy who has quietly loved her for years. The horrors don't stop there. At the Miller family villa, his elegantly undead parents offer her raw meat and call her daughter-in-law with impeccable manners. Then her academic advisor calls with the real news: the cure requires the Zombie King's genetic material. Have a baby. Save the world. Rosie looks at Henry—cuddly and clingy by day, lethal and devoted by night—and opens a dating tutorial. First: win his heart. Then: handle the apocalypse.

Layla Nott has been infatuated with Seth Upton since she was a teenager and even willingly gives him her vast inheritance to help him build Upton Group, transforming the Upton family into one of the most prominent families in Yeldon. However, ever since she married into the Upton family, her health has deteriorated. One day, after a visit for medical treatment, she returns home to find Seth fooling around with her stepsister, Sharon Black. Septh's mother, Susan Upton, is at home and clearly condones the affair. After being humiliated by Sharon and Susan, Layla is left shaken by Seth's confession—he has only ever been interested in her wealth and has never loved her. He has even purchased a massive life insurance policy on her and is now waiting for her death to cash in on the payout. Heartbroken by the revelation, Layla feels her life is pathetic. Impatient for her demise, Seth takes her to the rooftop and pushes her off. As she plunges to her death, Layla swears that if she were given another chance, she would exact her revenge and make sure they pay for their betrayal.