Far Apart, Safe at Last
During a snow-mountain expedition, an avalanche buried me alive. By the time they dug me out, the cold had already drained every last trace of warmth and life from my body.
Julian Crowe dug through the snow with his bare hands for ten straight hours. His fingers were torn and bleeding by the time he finally pulled me out. Then he chartered a private jet and rushed me to the most elite private hospital for emergency treatment.
Inside the thermal recovery chamber, a faint thread of consciousness returned to me. Through the haze, I heard Julian arguing with the doctor.
"Weren't we supposed to amputate just to save her life? Why are you draining all of her hematopoietic stem cells too? Mr. Crowe, you're personally destroying her last chance of survival!"
Julian's voice, usually so controlled, carried a chilling cruelty.
"Letting her live safely and comfortably until today is already the greatest mercy I've ever shown her. The only woman who will grow old with me is Serena Vale. And the only thing that can save Serena is her life. She owes Serena that much, and now it's time to repay it."
So the promise to live and die together had only been my own foolish fantasy.
Julian had married me, Stella Hart, for one reason only. To turn me into a walking blood bank for his precious mistress.
If that was the truth, then I would give them exactly what they wanted.
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Chapter 3
"To ensure the purity of tomorrow's stem cell extraction, we need to perform a bone marrow puncture tonight as preparation."
The head nurse's cold voice echoed through the empty hospital room.
My blood seemed to run cold as I stared at the thick puncture needle, more than ten centimeters long.
"I just had surgery. My body can't handle this! You're trying to kill me!"
I desperately shrank toward the corner of the bed, trying to avoid the hands reaching for me.
The head nurse remained unmoved and signaled to the two male orderlies beside her.
They immediately pinned my shoulders and legs down from both sides.
"Miss Hart, please cooperate. Mr. Crowe made it clear that if we didn't use some force, you wouldn't cooperate."
I struggled in sheer desperation.
"Call Julian here! I want to see him!"
The head nurse let out a cold laugh as she picked up the thick needle.
"Mr. Crowe is busy helping Miss Vale try on her birthday dress for next month. He doesn't have time for you. Oh, and Mr. Crowe specifically instructed us that in order not to affect the stem cells' activity, this puncture will be done without anesthesia."
My mind exploded in shock.
No anesthesia?
They were going to drive that needle straight into my pelvic bone?
"Has he lost his mind?" I screamed hysterically.
The head nurse didn't give me a chance to resist and lifted my hospital gown.
Cold disinfectant was spread across my lower back.
The next second, a searing pain shot straight through my bone marrow.
I screamed in agony.
My body jerked violently like a fish thrown onto dry land.
The orderlies held me down firmly, not letting me move even an inch.
The pain felt like someone was dragging a dull saw back and forth across my bones.
My nails dug into the bedsheet until they snapped, blood staining the fabric.
"Hold her tighter. If she moves and the needle breaks inside, we'll have a real problem." The head nurse gave orders coldly, her hands never pausing.
Pain darkened my vision as cold sweat and tears soaked my face.
Julian...
How could his heart be so cruel?
For Serena's sake, he wouldn't even allow me anesthesia.
I had no idea how long the torture lasted.
By the time the needle was finally pulled out, I had already blacked out from the pain.
When I woke again, the surroundings had changed.
The air was thick with the sour smell of mold mixed with disinfectant.
The soft hospital bed was gone. I was lying on a hard military cot.
Above me hung a dim bulb that flickered weakly.
This was the hospital's basement storage room.
I turned my neck with difficulty and saw piles of discarded medical equipment nearby.
The sound of high heels echoed outside the door.
The door opened, and Serena walked in wearing a tailored suit.
She covered her nose in disgust and nudged my cot with her foot.
"Well, well. The once-proud Mrs. Crowe is now lying here like a piece of trash. How pathetic."
I looked at her coldly and said nothing.
Serena looked down at me from above, her eyes gleaming with vicious satisfaction.
"Don't look at me like that. The VIP room is full, and there's nowhere to put all my supplements. Julian said you're basically useless now anyway. It doesn't matter where you sleep, so they moved you down here."
As she spoke, she pulled a delicate invitation card from her bag and tossed it onto my face.
"My birthday banquet is next week. Julian said that to celebrate my new life, he'll announce our engagement at the party."
I stared at the bright red invitation, my heart turning cold and empty.
"So you came here just to show off?"
Serena covered her mouth and giggled softly.
"Of course not. Julian ordered that you must attend next week's party. After all, without your blood, how could I stand beside him looking so radiant?"
She suddenly leaned down, her lips close to my ear.
The sound of leather shoes stepping across the concrete floor echoed outside the door.
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Colt, realizing what he's lost, suddenly wants her back.
Now Rain is caught between the man who broke her for years...
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One offers familiarity.
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Rain must choose which brother she'll walk toward-
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9.5
Reyna has one mission... And it is definitely not falling for the guy who ruined her best friend's life.
Reyna Davidson is twenty and torn when her best friend, Varna Soni's heart gets broken by Grentwood's hockey-star-playboy, Evander Gabriel.
His betrayal sparks a chain effect, driving Varna into drugs, and eventually, psychiatric hospitalization.
Reyna, overtaken by grief and anger, sets her vengeful eyes on Evander.
She transfers to Grentwood College, armed with one mission: Get close, make him fall, then crush his heart until it bleeds and he feels the pain Varna felt.
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And she becomes the target of a psychopathic girl who is obsessed with him.
With growing feelings, a mentally ill best friend, and the psychopath, Reyna is about to discover that there is more to her mission... than revenge.
7.1
The captain is dead to the world. And I'm the only one holding the kill switch.
Ethan Carter, the "Glacier of Silvercrest," was the most feared Alpha to ever step onto the ice. Now, he's nothing but a shell-a broken, comatose legend trapped in his own body.
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I thought I was just a glorified nurse. I didn't realize the Alpha was listening.
When Ethan finally wakes, he isn't the hero the Kingdom of Valeria remembers. He's a starving predator with amber eyes that burn holes through my defenses and a temperament that makes the frost in the mansion seem warm. He hates the bargain, he hates the pack, and-most dangerously-he hates the way his scent turns wild whenever I'm near.
He wants me out of his sight. I want to be out of his reach.
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Frozen hearts are meant to shatter. But in the fire of this pack, we're both going to burn.
9.8
I was an arrogant, canceled reality TV star, trying to salvage my ruined reputation on a live broadcast.
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The canvas shattered, and a terrifying woman with glowing golden eyes stepped out of the wall.
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My grandfather, instead of saving me, groveled on the floor and abandoned me to her mercy.
"You are the disgrace that will end this family."
She hijacked my entire life, forcing me to act as her submissive baggage handler on my own survival reality show, broadcasting my humiliation to millions.
I didn't understand why this ancient monster was tormenting me. Why did she strip away my pride, treat me like a broken tool, and force me to endure the mockery of the very ex-girlfriend who had ruined my life?
But when those same cast members tried to corner me in the dark woods, Cecil stepped in front of me, her eyes locking onto the silver ring of the man mocking me.
"To catch the wolf, one must sometimes walk with the sheep."
That was when I realized she wasn't here to destroy me—she was here to hunt the parasites who had been secretly siphoning away my life force.
7.7
Whispered secrets. Shared bodies. No regrets.
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9.2
I woke up suffocating in the dark, only to find my mind trapped inside a tiny, plump, and entirely uncoordinated body.
A cold, mechanical voice echoed in my brain, announcing that I was dead in my original world and had transmigrated into a corporate revenge novel as the six-month-old illegitimate daughter of Edward McClure, the story's ruthless villain.
The system mercilessly outlined my doomed fate. Tonight, my cold-blooded father would abandon me to a state orphanage. By age two, he would officially sign my rights away, leaving me to die miserably at the hands of human traffickers. Outside my nursery, I could hear his terrifying footsteps approaching, his voice devoid of any human warmth as he debated throwing me out like garbage. I was completely helpless, trapped in a baby's body, staring up at a man who looked at me with pure, visceral disgust.
Why did I have to be reborn as the tragic cannon fodder of a tyrant destined to put a bullet in his own head? How was I supposed to win over a severe germaphobe when my unequipped infant reflexes made me literally pee and vomit all over his pristine Tom Ford suits?
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Hearing the system's terrifying ultimatum, I swallowed my adult panic, forced a pool of pitiful tears into my large eyes, and reached my chubby little hands toward the monster.