big bad husband, please wake up! 2

The night before high school graduation, Ethan Luciano pulled me into his bedroom. His hands were rough, his touch demanding, yet my heart overflowed with a decade's worth of unspoken longing. I'd loved Ethan for ten years, and finally, it seemed my silent wishes had come true. Afterwards, as we lay tangled in his sheets, he whispered that he'd marry me after graduation. Once he took over the Luciano family's empire from his father, he'd make me the most cherished woman in the family. I believed him. The next morning, I sat curled up against his bare chest as he casually told my foster brother, Lucas, about us. My cheeks were flushed, and my heart raced, still clinging to the sweetness of the night before. However, then their conversation shifted into Italian. Lucas smirked, leaning back against the doorframe. "Not bad, Young Boss. Your first time, and the school's 'it girl' just threw herself at you. So, how's my little sister taste?" Ethan gave a lazy chuckle. "Looks like an angel, but a freak in the sheets. Who would’ve thought?" The room erupted in low, conspiratorial laughter. Lucas raised a brow. "So, should I call her my little sister or my future sister-in-law?" Ethan’s tone darkened, his arm tightening around my waist for a moment. Then he let out a sigh. "She’s nothing. Just practice," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "I’m trying to hook up with the cheer captain, Sylvia Dawson, but I don’t want her thinking I’m clueless in bed. Cynthia Saville’s just a warm-up." He paused. "But don’t tell Sylvia. I don’t need her getting all emotional." They didn't know that I’d spent months secretly learning Italian, preparing for the life I thought I’d share with Ethan. I didn't say a word. Later that day, I quietly withdrew my early decision application to Caltech and applied to MIT instead.

In the Valenti Family, you're born with a chip. It's fused into the bio-watch on your wrist, its digital face counting down every second you have left to live. Everyone could see the numbers ticking down on my twin sister's watch. And on mine. They all knew she would die on our 18th birthday. So Vivian became the untouchable princess of our brutal world. Every diamond-stitched gown was hers. The rarest jewels were hers. Even our father's last shred of humanity was hers. That single sliver of warmth he showed only after his gun was holstered. I used to pity her. Her time was running out. But God, I envied her. She had everything I never did: our parents' love. Then, the night of her 18th birthday party. My parents worried I'd make a scene. That I'd piss off the Don of an allied Family. So they locked me in the cellar. Damp. Cold. While a deadly fever burned through me. I pounded on the heavy oak door, my voice cracking. "Mamma, please! Let me out! I'm burning up. My head is splitting open…" Outside, my mother's voice was a steel trap. "Enough, Sienna! Today is your sister’s 18th birthday. Her last day alive! Stop the theatrics! Can't you suffer in silence for the Family's honor?" "But I'm really sick..." Her footsteps clicked away, fading into nothing. Then the darkness swallowed me whole. And on my wrist, the bio-watch was flashing a critical alert. CRITICAL ALERT: Vital signs mismatch. Paired chip data incompatible. Please verify user.

My daughter, Ruby Pratt, has leukemia. She needs a bone marrow transplant—and fast. Out of everyone in the family, my husband, Dan Pratt, was the only match. I begged him for an entire month before he finally agreed to go through with the donation. But on the morning of the surgery, he went completely off the grid. I stood outside the hospital all day, waiting. No calls. No texts. Not even a shadow. That night, his childhood friend, Valerie Kinder, posted on Instagram. In the photo, Dan was holding Valerie's hand with one arm and carrying her young son with the other—on a beach in Lulabo City. The caption read: [Soaking up the sun! Dan cleared his whole schedule to join us on a month-long trek and we finally made it to the coast! My little boy said Uncle Dan made his ocean dream come true. Pure joy!] My heart splintered. While I was drowning in worry over my daughter, he was off playing happy family with them. I wiped my tears and typed a comment beneath her post: [Not 'Uncle.' From now on, he's your son's father.] That night, I finally got a call from him. "Babe, don't be like this," Dan said. "You're not being fair. "Valerie's son has been bullied at school for not having a dad. I couldn't stand seeing him hurt, so I took them on this trip. It was supposed to help him heal. "I'll catch the first flight back tomorrow and head straight to the hospital to donate the marrow. I promise." I hung up with a bitter smile. The next morning, Dan rushed into the hospital room. But all he found on the bed was a death certificate.

When my CEO wife, Nina Wynn, learned I voluntarily handed a multimillion-dollar project to her favorite assistant, Zach Channing, she thought her three-month cold treatment finally worked. Beaming, she suddenly suggested we fly to Ivesland for our long-delayed honeymoon. When Zach found out, he became jealous and threatened to quit. Panicked, she spent three days and nights comforting him, then canceled our honeymoon again with the excuse of a business trip, giving him my ticket instead. Later, she casually explained to me, "Romance is trivial. Work comes first. As the boss, I have to prioritize. You’re my husband; you should understand." I looked at Zach’s latest social post, which was a photo of the two of them leaning intimately with their hands forming a heart, and said nothing. I only nod. Thinking I’d become more thoughtful and obedient, she was pleased. She even promised to make it up to me with a more romantic honeymoon when they got back home. However, unbeknownst to her, I’d already resigned. The divorce papers were already signed, and there was no future for us ever again.

Due to a betrothal settled by her grandma, Rosie Turner married into a very rich family. Though she spent her wedding night alone, she quickly acquired a landmark commercial building. Everyone mocked Sean Gibson for marrying a useless wife, who was even neglected by her husband. Then, the Gibson Group crisis and the Webb family's conspiracy happened. Rosie easily turned the tables in the boardroom and became a legend on the racetrack. When the truth of a family murder case that happened 16 years ago came to light,people realized that the woman they had mocked was not a gold-digger climbing the social ladder, but a vengeful goddess returned. Sean stared at the familiar figure in the financial headlines,pulled out a washboard, and said, "Honey, please accept my company's CEO position and my heart."

At a lavish banquet in Metrovale, billionaire Ethan proudly introduces his new wife from the countryside: "My wife is gentle and soft-spoken—she's new here and not familiar with all your city games. Please look after her."But the guests know better. This "gentle" woman, Roxelle, once single-handedly took down an entire gang—ten men, no problem. Ethan insists she's "innocent and romantic,"while global business tycoons are secretly begging for her cooperation after her groundbreaking research shook the world economy. What began as a marriage of convenience slowly turns into something real. Until one shocking revelation changes everything—Ethan's beloved daughter… is actually Roxelle's own child.

Six years ago, Winni and Chester were a loving couple, until Chester's old friend Ruth returned to the country. Ruth disguised herself with a kind face and became friends with Winni, secretly plotting to replace Winni as Chester's wife. Not long after, Winni became pregnant, but the doctor informed Chester that the child had no blood relationship to him. Chester iced out Winni and gradually grew closer to Ruth. Six years later, Winni's son, Ron, was critically ill with leukemia. Only Chester's bone marrow could save him. In order to please Chester, Winni had to bow down to Ruth. However, during their interaction, she gradually uncovered why Chester thought Ron was an illegitimate child.

I was eight months pregnant and had just gone into labor, but my Alpha mate, Damien, locked me in a silver cage in the basement to delay my labor. When I cried out for help, he just told me to wait. Because his late brother's mate, Victoria, was also giving birth that day. The Pack Seer had foretold that only the firstborn pup would be blessed by the Moon Goddess and become the future Alpha. "The title belongs to Victoria's child," he said. "She lost Marcus. She has nothing. You already have all my love, Elena. The silver cage will make sure you deliver after her." The contractions were torture. I begged him to take me to the clinic. He grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him. "Stop pretending. I should've known you never loved me. All you've ever cared about is wealth and status!" "To force your labor early, just to steal what belongs to my nephew… You're truly wicked." Pale and trembling, I whispered: "The pup is coming, I can't stop it. Please, I'll make a blood oath. I don't care about the inheritance. I only love you!" He scoffed."If you loved me, you wouldn’t have forced Victoria into that contract to give up her pup’s birthright. I'll come back for you after she delivers. After all, that's my pup in there, too." He stood guard outside Victoria's delivery room. Only after he saw the newborn pup in her arms did he remember me. He ordered his Beta to release me. But the Beta's voice trembled. "Luna… and the pup… they're dead." And in that moment, Damien went feral.

"For ten years, Elena loved Jason with everything she had. The day she finally became pregnant, she expected the happy ending she'd always dreamed of. Instead, she caught her husband and his pregnant mistress in their marital bed. His pregnant mistress mocks Elena to her face. When Elena looks to her husband for an explanation, he coldly orders her to leave the room. When Jason ordered Elena to leave the room for his lover... something inside her finally broke. She spent ten years loving him. Now she'll spend the rest of her life making him regret losing her."

I had been married for eight years when I inherited a fortune worth hundreds of millions that my grandfather left to me and my mafia boss husband. However, just as the lawyer was finalizing the transfer, we discovered my marriage certificate was fake. That meant the entire inheritance could only go to me. “Ms. Rivers, according to the system, you were divorced a year ago. Your husband, Zayn Levine, is legally married to… Whitney Sanders. According to the papers, you're single. In other words, Mr. Levine has no right to claim the inheritance.” Whitney, the woman Zayn had once loved before she went abroad, the one he never forgot. I stared at the lawyer’s message, unable to accept it. All of Zayn’s affection and tenderness over the years had been nothing but a lie. I had planned to tell him on our anniversary that after eight long years of marriage, I was pregnant. It was the miracle we had both been waiting for. Yet it seemed like he had never really been looking forward to it at all. As I gently rested my hand on my belly, I told myself that even if my twins grew up without a father, they would be just fine. In this place built on nothing but lies, the only thing left for me to do was run away.

Zoe Simmons's husband, Morgan Lawrence, was a man incapable of love. Yet, he sheltered another woman—Mia Sutton, a girl praised for her angelic purity. At the family banquet, Zoe's defiance only earned her a divorce agreement. When she refused to sign, Morgan escalated his cruelty, ultimately causing her parents' deaths. Reborn to the day she discovered her husband's infidelity, Zoe gets a second chance.This time, she swiftly moves her parents to safety and drafts the divorce papers herself. But one burning question remains: just what kind of "angel" is the other woman, Mia? She is determined to see her with her own eyes.

Zoe Simmons's husband, Morgan Lawrence, was a man incapable of love. Yet, he sheltered another woman—Mia Sutton, a girl praised for her angelic purity. At the family banquet, Zoe's defiance only earned her a divorce agreement. When she refused to sign, Morgan escalated his cruelty, ultimately causing her parents' deaths. Reborn to the day she discovered her husband's infidelity, Zoe gets a second chance.This time, she swiftly moves her parents to safety and drafts the divorce papers herself. But one burning question remains: just what kind of "angel" is the other woman, Mia? She is determined to see her with her own eyes.

I had been married for eight years when I inherited a fortune worth hundreds of millions that my grandfather left to me and my mafia boss husband. However, just as the lawyer was finalizing the transfer, we discovered my marriage certificate was fake. That meant the entire inheritance could only go to me. “Ms. Rivers, according to the system, you were divorced a year ago. Your husband, Zayn Levine, is legally married to… Whitney Sanders. According to the papers, you're single. In other words, Mr. Levine has no right to claim the inheritance.” Whitney, the woman Zayn had once loved before she went abroad, the one he never forgot. I stared at the lawyer’s message, unable to accept it. All of Zayn’s affection and tenderness over the years had been nothing but a lie. I had planned to tell him on our anniversary that after eight long years of marriage, I was pregnant. It was the miracle we had both been waiting for. Yet it seemed like he had never really been looking forward to it at all. As I gently rested my hand on my belly, I told myself that even if my twins grew up without a father, they would be just fine. In this place built on nothing but lies, the only thing left for me to do was run away.

Flora, an attendant of the Hall of Wealth, owned a magic brush that made her drawings real. But she accidentally changed the fate of Henry Bell, the mortal world's richest man, turning him from wealthy to penniless. To avoid heavenly punishment, she went to the mortal realm to help him regain his fortune.Ever since their meeting,Henry's bad luck reversed. Pleasant surprises kept coming: a riverbank ruined by enemies hid tons of gold; his father, manipulated by his stepmother, saw the truth and reconciled with him.With her magic brush, Flora helped Henry shame his stepmother and her son on the racetrack and win a huge contract. As his fate gradually corrected itself, her mission approached its end.

Three days before my marking ceremony, someone set fire to the bridal shop while I was inside trying on my ceremonial dress. Alpha Marcus threw the arsonist into the pack prison, sentencing them to the harshest punishment our laws allowed. I lay in the hospital bed, my body covered in third-degree burns, refusing to wake fully as the reality of my disfigurement sank in. In my semi-conscious state, I heard Marcus speaking with the pack's healing witch. "Alpha, we can still heal her completely with the ancient magic. If we wait any longer, Sarah will bear these scars for life! You just want Miss Rachel to be your Luna at the marking ceremony. This is cruel beyond measure!" "Let her keep the scars. I'll provide for her for the rest of her life, but if she's healed, she'll definitely cause trouble at the marking ceremony." "I promised Rachel that her pup would be welcomed into the pack with full honors. Only when Sarah is completely disfigured will she be grateful enough to raise Rachel's child as her own. The scars are necessary - at least this way, she won't dare mistreat the pup." In the corner of the room, where no one was watching, a tear slid down my burned cheek. So this was the truth. The marking ceremony I'd dreamed of was nothing but a lie. The mate bond I longed for would be my death sentence. If that's how it had to be, I would give him what he wanted.

The doctor told me I had 72 hours left, unless I got access to the newest experimental treatment. However, there was only one slot available, and my husband Bowen Liddell gave it to my sister Yvonne Lawson instead. "Her kidney failure is more critical," he said. I nodded and swallowed the white pills that would only speed up my death. In the time I had left, I got a lot done. The lawyer's hand trembled as he passed me the documents. "Are you sure you want to transfer the two billion dollars in shares?" I replied, "Yes. Give them to Yvonne." My daughter, Candice Liddell, was giggling in Yvonne's arms. "Mommy Yvonne bought me a new dress!" I said, "It looks beautiful. Make sure you always listen to Mommy Yvonne, okay?" The art gallery I built from the ground up now had Yvonne's name on the sign. "You're too kind, Kathy," she said, crying. I told her, "You'll run it even better than I ever did." I even signed all my parents' trust fund away. That was when Bowen finally gave me his first genuine smile in years. "Kathleen, you've changed. You're not so aggressive anymore... You're beautiful like this." Indeed. This dying version of me finally became the 'perfect Kathleen Sullivan' in their eyes—obedient, generous, and no longer argumentative. The 72-hour countdown had already begun, and I couldn't help but wonder what they would remember when my heart stopped for good. The good wife who 'finally learned to let go', or the woman who completed her revenge by dying?

Three years ago, Jenny's mother passed away after a serious illness. On her deathbed, she entrusted Jenny to her best friend Mia, who was the richest person. Under Mia's arrangement, Jenny entered into a flash marriage with Mia's son Charles. Right after the marriage, Charles went abroad for work. Three years later, Charles returned home. He mistook Jenny for someone else and accused her of infidelity. Jenny, having waited for her husband in vain for a long time, also felt resentful towards him. Charles hired a detective to investigate Jenny, and by a strange twist of fate, Jenny herself was the one who took on the investigation assignment. During their work interactions, the two developed admiration for each other. Persuaded by Mia, Jenny also rekindled her hope for her husband. However, they missed the chance to clear up misunderstandings at a family gathering. Charles mistakenly thought Jenny was late, left in a fit of pique, and insisted on getting a divorce. Later, Jenny was framed by Jennifer and Johnson. At the critical moment, Charles arrived and rescued her. In an attempt to bring the two together, Mia arranged a bidding conference. At the conference, Charles made a high-profile bid to humiliate Jenny's ex-boyfriend. But due to another misunderstanding, the two missed the opportunity to recognize each other once again...

Three days before my marking ceremony, someone set fire to the bridal shop while I was inside trying on my ceremonial dress. Alpha Marcus threw the arsonist into the pack prison, sentencing them to the harshest punishment our laws allowed. I lay in the hospital bed, my body covered in third-degree burns, refusing to wake fully as the reality of my disfigurement sank in. In my semi-conscious state, I heard Marcus speaking with the pack's healing witch. "Alpha, we can still heal her completely with the ancient magic. If we wait any longer, Sarah will bear these scars for life! You just want Miss Rachel to be your Luna at the marking ceremony. This is cruel beyond measure!" "Let her keep the scars. I'll provide for her for the rest of her life, but if she's healed, she'll definitely cause trouble at the marking ceremony." "I promised Rachel that her pup would be welcomed into the pack with full honors. Only when Sarah is completely disfigured will she be grateful enough to raise Rachel's child as her own. The scars are necessary - at least this way, she won't dare mistreat the pup." In the corner of the room, where no one was watching, a tear slid down my burned cheek. So this was the truth. The marking ceremony I'd dreamed of was nothing but a lie. The mate bond I longed for would be my death sentence. If that's how it had to be, I would give him what he wanted.