Raising the Wolves

My father raised seven brilliant orphans to be my potential husbands. For years, I only had eyes for one of them, the cold and distant Caspian Vance, believing his distance was a wall I just had to break through. That belief shattered last night when I found him in the garden, kissing his foster sister, Lyra—the fragile girl my family took in at his request, the one I had treated like my own sister. But the true horror came when I overheard the other six Ashworth Fellows talking in the library. They weren't competing for me. They were working together, orchestrating "accidents" and mocking my "stupid, blind" devotion to keep me away from Caspian. Their loyalty wasn't to me, the heiress who held their futures in her hands. It was to Lyra. I wasn't a woman to be won. I was a foolish burden to be managed. The seven men I grew up with, the men who owed my family everything, were a cult, and she was their queen. This morning, I walked into my father's study to make a decision that would burn their world to the ground. He smiled, asking if I'd finally won Caspian over. "No, Dad," I said, my voice firm. "I'm marrying Silas Blackwood."

Chapters

Chapter 8

Caspian and Ronan looked the most stunned. Their faces were white with shock.

"Is this a joke?" Caspian finally managed to say, his voice tight. "Seraphina, are you doing this to make me angry?"

Ronan stepped forward, his eyes pleading. "Seraphina, why him? I can be whatever you want me to be. You can use me, hurt me, anything. Just don't choose him."

His performance was so convincing that a wave of murmurs went through the crowd.

"Wow, he really loves her."

"To be willing to be her plaything... that's true love."

"What a shame. She's breaking his heart."

I almost laughed. I stepped away from Silas and faced Ronan directly. "You love me? Is that what you're saying?"

"Yes," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "I would die for you, Seraphina."

"Really?" I asked, my voice dangerously sweet. "Because I seem to recall you saying, and I quote, 'Why is it our job to cheer her up? I'd much rather be with Lyra.' Or was that someone else?"

The color drained from Ronan's face. He stammered, "I... I don't know what you're talking about. Someone must be spreading lies!" He looked around desperately. "I swear, Seraphina, I love you!"

His acting was flawless. He almost looked like he believed it himself.

"Is that so?" I said, pulling a small digital recorder from my clutch. I pressed a button.

Ronan's own voice filled the ballroom, loud and clear. "Why is it our job to cheer her up? I'd much rather be with Lyra."

The room fell into a dead silence. Ronan's face was a mess of horror and disbelief.

"That," I said, my voice as cold as steel, "was you. This morning. So please, stop the act. It's pathetic."

Ronan's eyes welled with tears as he struggled for words.

Before he could speak, Silas strode forward and punched him squarely in the jaw. Ronan crumpled to the floor.

"No one," Silas snarled, standing over him, "insults my fiancée." He looked up, his eyes sweeping over the other Fellows. "I love her more than any of you ever could."

Caspian's jaw tightened at the word "fiancée." He stepped forward, trying to regain control. "Seraphina, stop this foolishness. You know you want to marry me. We are meant to be."

He tried to give me a reassuring smile. "I will cherish you. You will have everything you desire." He lowered his voice. "Don't ruin the relationship between our families over a little tantrum."

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"You're not doing this on my birthday, are you?" I asked Quinn, my eyes covered in tears as I watched him glare at me with disdain. "You aren't leaving me dejected after sacrificing three whole years of my life with you!" "And I'm giving you a life to be free, isn't that way better?" He asked in return, stretching the dreadful file towards me. "Consider this a birthday gift and leave. I'm going to specifically make sure you get all the benefits associated with the divorce." "You're .." "Leave Anastasia." He interrupted mildly. "Leave now and say nothing else.. you can have the Ferrari or any of the Estates in Paris as part of the compensation.. just go." ** Anastasia Beverly thought she had found her happily ever after when she married the successful and charismatic Quinn. But five years later, her dream life is unravelling. Her husband's attention is elsewhere, and his heart seems lost to a ghost from the past-his first love, Veronica Rodriguez. On what should have been a day of celebration, Anastasia's birthday becomes a nightmare as Quinn comes home late, drunk, and distant. When he hands her divorce papers, her world shatters. Left with no choice but to pick up the pieces, Anastasia discovers a strength she never knew she had. As she rebuilds her life and carves out her own success, she becomes someone that even Quinn can't ignore. But just as Anastasia rises to prominence, Quinn realises too late what he has lost. Now, he is desperate to win back the woman he once took for granted. But can he rekindle a flame that he extinguished, or is he too late to mend the heart he broke?

Horror Modern Romance

9.8

Deleted but Not Dead

9.8

Facing total erasure by the system after a failed mission, the protagonist of this horror mystery spends her final twenty-four hours fulfilling her family's selfish desires. She donates a kidney to her sister and confesses to plagiarism she didn't commit to appease her parents and husband. Having finally become the 'perfect' woman they demanded, she vanishes from existence. However, the discovery of her cold corpse triggers a descent into madness for those she left behind.

Fantasy Horror Modern Mystery

9.3

Five Years After My Watery Death

9.3

Five years after drowning, a woman's remains are finally recovered from a river. Though forensic experts reconstruct her face, the Clarke family remains cold. Her brother publicly denounces her as a murderer who spent years fleeing justice, yet his physical trembling hints at a darker truth. The mystery deepens as it is revealed that a desperate distress call made to him half a decade ago was the very catalyst for her demise. This horror tale explores a sister's tragic end and a brother's hidden guilt.

Horror Modern Mystery

7.9

Frozen Retribution

7.9

Frozen Retribution follows a terrifying act of vengeance when Ean drags the protagonist into a warehouse and locks them inside a rusted freezer to avenge Helen. Though Ean believes the unit is broken, it functions perfectly, trapping his victim in a plummeting sub-zero environment. After a week of desperate screaming and clawing at the icy walls, the protagonist perishes. When Ean finally returns to witness the results of his cruelty, he discovers only a frozen corpse and the bloody evidence of a slow, agonizing death.

Action Horror Mystery

8.2

Poisonous Flower

8.2

In Poisonous Flower, a pregnant Luna is subjected to horrific torture by her mate’s enemies while Alpha Louis remains blinded by devotion to his first love, Lily. Demanding a bone marrow donation for Lily, Louis ignores his mate's desperate situation, dismissing her pregnancy as a manipulative lie. After she perishes from the assault, Louis unknowingly stands before her decaying corpse, still cursing the woman he believes abandoned his pack out of spite.

Action Horror Mystery Romance Werewolf

8.9

Rebirth Game: I Watch My Bestie March Into the Sweatshop

8.9

Sydney Cox is a toxic friend who believes the world owes her everything. In a past life, her entitlement led her to burn down her benefactor's neighborhood after being given a comfortable job, killing an entire family. Now, the protagonist has been reborn just before Sydney's first day at the factory. In this gripping mystery and horror story, the survivor must navigate the deadly consequences of Sydney's greed and decide whether to step in or let her friend face a grim fate.

Action Fantasy Horror Modern Mystery

Raising the Wolves

Chapter 8

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