Rejected Luna Finds Hope

Alayna was working a grueling catering shift in worn-out heels to support her broke college boyfriend, Caiden, who claimed to be studying at the library. But through the crack of a VIP suite door, she saw him wearing a bespoke suit and a Patek Philippe watch, sipping expensive liquor. "It's a little poverty role-play. Keeps things interesting." He was laughing with his rich friends, mocking her as his clueless "charity case." To make matters worse, she was forced into a humiliating mascot costume just in time to watch him passionately kiss his wealthy ex-girlfriend. That same night, Alayna's mother collapsed with gastric cancer, requiring a half-million-dollar surgery. When a desperate Alayna begged Caiden for help, he refused. "Why don't you just apply for Medicaid? That's the path for people like you." For two years, she had starved herself to buy his textbooks, his tickets, and his shoes. He had stolen her sweat and her sacrifices, all for a cruel game. The sheer audacity of his betrayal made her blood run cold. When a billionaire stranger stepped in to pay her mother's medical bills in exchange for a one-year fake marriage, Alayna didn't hesitate to sign the contract. She slipped the flawless diamond ring onto her finger, opened a spreadsheet, and sent Caiden an invoice for every single cent. This time, she was going to dismantle his entire life.

Chapter 1 It was their seventh wedding anniversary. Carolyn found the divorce agreement in Roger’s nightstand. The pages were covered in scribbles and corrections, as if he’d agonized over them for years. *"If, during the marriage, I fall in love with another person, I voluntarily relinquish all assets and leave with nothing. Asset details as follows…"* His first impulse had been to walk away empty-handed. But the asset section told a different story—a mess of revisions. First, he’d crossed out the property he intended to give her. Then, the fifty million earmarked for her was scratched out and replaced with five hundred thousand. Finally, as if in penance, he had written a single line. *"Better to have Carolyn leave with nothing. No choice, Catherine is pregnant."* … Carolyn sank onto the bed, disbelief washing over her. On the agreement, Roger’s signature was clean and decisive, without a hint of hesitation. And the document had been drafted seven years ago—the very year they married. That year, Roger had been willing to give up everything for her. Yet every year after, he had crossed out another piece of their shared life. Now, seven years later, the one leaving with nothing would be her. Her phone buzzed abruptly. A message from Roger. *"Urgent business. Won't be back."* She called, only to find his phone already switched off. Another notification flashed—a screenshot from a friend. Catherine, the student she sponsored, had posted on social media. *"Wow, got praised! To commemorate my first period without a leak, the big boss said we should celebrate properly!"* In a nine-photo collage, Roger gazed at her, eyes crinkling with affection as he fastened a dazzling gemstone necklace around her neck. The post was tagged at a couples-themed hotel. Carolyn’s breath caught. He couldn’t remember seven years of marriage, of weathering storms together—but he could find the energy to celebrate Catherine’s… leak-free period. And that pendant… she’d seen it at an auction just last week. It was her mother’s lost heirloom. She’d been ready to bid when her bank card was frozen. She’d asked Roger why. A long time later, he finally texted back, telling her not to waste money on such impractical things. Clutching her bidding paddle, she’d sat helplessly in the auction hall. In the end, she resolved to sell one of her own designs to raise the funds. But someone on the phone swooped in with an unbeatable offer and took it. For weeks afterward, Carolyn hated herself—hated that she couldn’t protect her mother’s last keepsake. She never imagined the one who snatched it away was Roger. He knew exactly how much that pendant meant to her. Yet he gave it to Catherine. Even on their seventh anniversary, Roger had lied about being busy with work, while wining and dining the girl she’d sponsored. The anniversary gift he left her was a divorce agreement demanding she leave with nothing. Seven years of marriage. Seven years of infidelity. And Carolyn had known nothing. She’d even introduced the other woman to him herself. Catherine was the impoverished student Carolyn sponsored. The first time Catherine came to their home to give thanks, Roger found her intrusive and disliked her on sight. *"That girl has no manners. Tracked mud all over my cashmere rug."* *"If her grades aren’t up to par, cut the sponsorship."* Back then, Carolyn had teased him, saying not to be jealous—it was good the girl had a grateful heart. She never once suspected Roger and Catherine. For seven years, everyone in their circle believed Roger never played around. That he loved only Carolyn. But by their next meeting, Catherine had become Roger’s personal assistant. Roger explained, *"The girl’s had it tough. You’ve sponsored her for years. Giving her a job is just helping you out."* Carolyn had laughed it off. Now, hands trembling, she opened Catherine’s social media feed. Catherine had always hidden her posts from Carolyn. Now, she seemed desperate to flaunt everything. While Carolyn drank until her stomach bled to secure a deal for Roger, Catherine was using Roger’s card to buy her first Louis Vuitton. While Carolyn changed bedpans for Roger’s bedridden grandmother, Roger was taking Catherine to a perfume atelier for a blending class—calling it a business trip. Catherine had even complained online. *"Your wife is such a pampered princess. Can't handle the tiniest thing without you running back. Can she not live without a man?"* And Roger had replied beneath it. *"If she were half as independent as you, I’d have an easier life."* But that day… Carolyn’s mother had lost her battle with cancer. She’d cried until her heart felt shredded, scrambling to handle the arrangements. All the while, Roger kept checking his phone impatiently, eager to leave. Not for work, she realized now—but because he was desperate to get back to Catherine.

"You will regret all of this, Vick. You will see the true form of the woman you have humiliated. I will not remain silent!" Ten years of Amora Cassidy Shane's devotion collapsed in an instant when the plump woman discovered her husband, Vicktor Caldwell, having an affair with her own longtime friend. To make matters even more cruel, Vicktor brought that woman and the child born of their affair into the house, then cast Amora out after seizing the entire Shane family fortune. With a shattered heart but a blazing determination, Amora accepted the divorce. Yet behind her downfall, a vow was born: this vengeance must be fulfilled.

The monsters we killed came back wearing our children's faces. The moon we murdered is singing again from inside the girl who murdered it. One mother with claws and one daughter with a god in her teeth must descend beneath the lake where the dead rehearse the end of the world. This time the lock is a heartbeat. This time the key has to break herself to turn.

The lingerie felt like a mistake the moment I slipped it on. I stood in our penthouse bathroom—all marble and chrome, cold as a morgue—staring at my reflection. Black lace. Nothing too obvious. The saleswoman at La Perla had promised it was elegant, sophisticated. I'd nodded like I knew what I was doing, like I hadn't spent the last five years sleeping alone in a king-sized bed while my husband worked through the night in his study. Five years. Our anniversary. I twisted my wedding ring. The platinum band caught the light, throwing fractured rainbows across the mirror.

Ember Frost, a wolfless girl, was taken in by the Moonshine Pack after being abandoned in the woods. When Owen, the future Alpha, discovers they are mates on his twentieth birthday, Ember's world should have been set. But Owen doesn't see a mate in her; he sees weakness. Rejected in the most humiliating way, Ember's heart is crushed. In a desperate moment, she leaps off a cliff, thinking it will be the end. But fate has other plans. Instead of death, Ember's fall uncovers a shocking truth: she is the long-lost daughter of the Lycan King, heir to the Lycan's Pride. Now, Ember is not the weak, rejected girl she once was. She's a princess. She's the heir to a mighty throne. And when Owen discovers her true identity, he wants her back-but Ember is in love with someone else. Owen won't stop until he reclaims her. But Ember will do whatever it takes to protect her pack and the life she's chosen, even if it means facing the man who once shattered her world.