My boyfriend, Soren Hale, was Moonskar Pack's Alpha heir.   On our wedding day, just as we were about to exchange rings, his first love, Ella Dawson, burst in to stop the ceremony and claim him for herself.   Soren stopped the ceremony on the spot, replaced me with her as the bride, and told me, "The wedding is only a formality. You'll still be my only true mate."   Furious, I broke our mate bond right there and chose a wolfless man from among the guests as my new groom. Everyone dismissed him as a loser because they believed a wolfless man could never have a fated mate.   Everyone laughed at me.   What none of them knew was that the "loser" I chose was actually the powerful and respected Crown Prince.   I attended a charity gala with my husband 5 years later and ran into Soren again.   He looked down at me arrogantly. "You married a loser just to spite me. Finally ready to come back? If you ask nicely, I might consider restoring our mate bond."   'Restore a mate bond with him? Please. My son's already talking.'

The day I was brought back to Manhattan from Montana, I finally learned I was supposed to bear the Winslow surname—the family that controlled half the shipping trade along the East Coast. Life at the Winslow estate was nothing like the hostile welcome I'd braced for. My birth father, the current patriarch of the family, met me with red-rimmed eyes and publicly claimed me as his child in front of every household member. Even Isabel Winslow, the adopted daughter who'd occupied my place for twenty years, greeted me politely as her younger sister and personally walked me through proper table manners and social etiquette. Still, a heavy knot sat tight in my chest. Every time I misused silverware or stumbled over my words at formal gatherings, I could hear the staff snickering behind my back, their voices hushed. One day, I reached my breaking point. I raised my hand and slapped the maid who'd been mocking me. Mom snapped at me, at the end of her tether. "What on earth are you trying to do!" My voice shook as I spoke. "All of you keep comparing me to Isabel! You say I'm crude, that I'm an embarrassment to bring to society events. But every single thing she has right now was stolen from me. Why do you all get to laugh at me like I'm some joke?" I fixed my gaze hard on them. "This house can have either her or me. Not both." Dad flinched, avoiding my stare. "This isn't Isabel's fault." Not her fault. Then whose fault was it? Mine? "Figure out which one of us you want."

Everyone who worked at Ashford Manor envied me.   I was Cressida Bennett, personal maid to Elliot Ashford, the sole heir to the Ashford family. I looked after his daily needs and earned a million dollars a year.   Then a new maid named Megan Doyle arrived at the manor. When she heard what I was paid, her eyes nearly popped out of her head.   "She makes a million dollars just for looking after Mr. Ashford? Mr. Ashford even gave her such an expensive necklace. Is she his maid or his mistress?"   Early the next morning, Megan went straight to Elliot's father, Victor Ashford.   "Mr. Ashford, I'd like to take over as your son's personal maid. I'll accept only 90,000 dollars, and I promise I'll do a better job than Cressida."   Afterward, she came looking for me, smug satisfaction written all over her face.   "Elliot's father has already agreed. He's been unhappy with you for a long time, and the Ashfords will throw you out any day now."   She expected me to be furious. Instead, I nearly laughed out loud with relief.   'At last, I'm going to be free.'   What none of them knew was that Elliot was a vampire more than 200 years old. When he was in a good mood, the way he licked my neck and sank his fangs into me could be almost unbearably tender. When he lost control, he bit me all over without caring how badly he hurt me. A single feeding could leave me at death's door.   Being his personal maid meant feeding him my blood whenever he wanted it. For an ordinary human, taking the job was practically a death sentence.

To get a firsthand look at the company, I hid my background and downplayed my abilities, taking an internship at one of my family's subsidiaries as an invisible nobody.   My coworker, Vivian Cook, was obsessed with selling herself as the true heiress of a wealthy family who spoke eight languages and had unmatched business instincts, so she picked me to make herself look better.   When investors from Florenne visited to discuss a partnership, the director assigned Vivian to receive them. She froze on the spot and couldn't get a full sentence out. I stepped forward instead. My fluent Florenian and strong negotiating skills won the contract without a hitch.   People whispered behind the cubicle walls.   "Oh my God, Diana's amazing! She has made the rich girl Vivian look like a total airhead!"   Vivian snapped on the spot, "Did you steal my spotlight on purpose? My brothers have spoiled me my whole life. No one's ever dared treat me like this. Now, apologize to me in front of everyone, and bark like a dog. Then I'll let this go."   I stared at her in disbelief. "Did your brain suddenly stop working?"   Vivian curled up in fear and made a call. "I need help. Someone's picking on me at work."   A few minutes later, three luxury cars worth millions pulled up and blocked the company's entrance.   The employees whispered excitedly behind the cubicle walls.   "Oh my God! The three young masters came to back Vivian up!"   "I knew it. Vivian really is the heiress to the Crownstone Group. Diana's done for this time!"   I almost laughed out loud. What were my good-for-nothing brothers doing at the office? Oh no. Was Vivian actually Karen Cook, my family's chauffeur's daughter who always slipped into her hometown dialect whenever she panicked?   Before I started working here, I told my brothers to give her any position they could. Instead, they shoved her into the top company in our industry and spoiled her beyond saving?

I was born rolling in money, but I traded all my brains for it. My father was the favorite son of the richest patriarch. Everyone said my grandpa was naturally suspicious, yet he handed full control of the Group and the family trust fund over to my father.  My mother headed an artistic household. She won tons of major art awards, and everyone in the industry praised her grace, taste and poise. Still, every socialite grew jittery the second they laid eyes on her. My eldest brother, Ethan Shaw, graduated from MIT at eighteen. He served as the CFO of the Summit Group. My second brother, Leo Shaw, joined the special forces at seventeen. He turned into a top-tier special operator famous across the whole nation. Then there was just me. I could not make heads or tails of financial statements and had zero eye for art. I sucked at practically everything. The rest of the family were all outstanding elites. Someone had to balance things out, right? I was perfectly fine playing the useless rich young lady. Then today, a young woman showed up at the door clutching a paternity test report. She claimed I was the fake heiress and she was the real one.  I stared at her and nearly jumped out of my skin from excitement. I knew it! Someone like me could never be blood-related to this family. I'd be nothing but a disgrace to the whole family.

I fell in love with my father's adoptive younger brother, Julian Crane, a man fifteen years older than me. On the night of my twentieth birthday, he lured me into his room. And for the first time, I had tasted the forbidden fruit. He coaxed me in that low, seductive whisper, "Be good. Give yourself to me." Blushing furiously, I tangled with him all through the night. To be wanted by the man I had secretly loved all along—what more could I ever ask for? After that, we carried on a secret affair for seven years. When I finally mustered the courage to tell the world about our relationship, I overheard his friends mocking me outside the door of a private booth at a bar. "Julian, your first love is back from overseas. What are you going to do about that niece of yours? You know, the one who's basically just your bed warmer." The words sent the whole room erupting into laughter. Another friend piled on right after. "Julian really is something else, isn't he? Sleeping with his niece, and then using the whole uncle-niece relationship as an excuse to keep her quiet and keep it all under wraps." The group dissolved into raucous amusement. The next day, Julian announced my identity in front of all his friends and showered me with every indulgence imaginable. But when a horse went berserk and charged wildly at the equestrian club, he immediately let go of my hand and pulled Vivian Ashford, who was farther from danger, into his arms instead. I left covered in wounds, and I opened his private Instagram account. It was filled with photos of Vivian, along with a chronicle of their love story. At that moment, every last ember of love in my heart was extinguished. I picked up my phone and dialed Julian's archrival, Grayson Shaw. "All those years ago, you said you would marry me. Does that offer still stand?"

My ex-husband was Daniel, the Alpha of the Dubois Pack. Five years after our divorce, he showed up with a diamond ring in his hand and that same smug, self-assured smile on his face. "Honey, I'm right on time to ask you to take me back. Marry me again, okay? We can restore our mate bond." It had all started five years earlier, at his adopted sister Mia's birthday party. She had looked at Daniel and announced her birthday wish for everyone to hear. "I want to know whether you and Amelia are really true mates. So, you two have to get divorced, and you can't see each other for five years." "If she agrees to marry you again after those five years are over, I'll believe your love is real." Daniel hadn't hesitated for even a second before agreeing. He had glanced at me, his face filled with absolute confidence. "I know what we have is unbreakable. My wife will only ever love me for the rest of her life. There's no way she won't take me back." I hadn't said a word. He had no idea that, in that very moment, I had given him his first and last chance to choose me. I pushed the memory aside and returned to the present. Daniel was kneeling before me on one knee, holding up the enormous diamond ring so it sparkled in the light. I didn't even glance at it. Instead, I raised my left hand and showed him my wedding ring. "You came too late. I'm already married."