surreal ink

"Father I have sinned. I have a confession." I lean against the confession booth relieved that I could finally tell someone this niggling secret that haunted me. I wasn't Catholic, heck I wasn't a Christian but when your mom worked four jobs just to keep a roof over your head and your best friend and only friend think you are a psycho, a priest seems like a reasonable option to tell a sin that robs you of sleep constantly. "What is it, my child?" The priest's voice comes out through the window. "The devil kissed me and I liked it." As I walked back home, my head down, hands tightly holding on to my backpack because of my squalor-like neighbourhood which breeds crime. I couldn't help but smile a little, amused at the priest's face as I tried to convince him I didn't mean a figurative devil but the real deal. I'm Prudence, a runt litter, a nobody in my private high school, and a charity case on scholarship but somehow the devil chose me.

800,000 years ago Earth was being defeated by the people of the underworld in battle. Some of the humans were taken as slaves and were mated with which led to the discovery of how pure their genes were and how it makes their eternal posterity un aging. So every millennium as an exchange for Earth's freedom, the male of mating age was free to pick a woman from earth, who was free to come back once they are done birthing a child. Nobody knew what the underworld people look like because none of the women who left ever came back. Kimberly Clarkson had heard the little myth that made her curious 6 years old eyes widened, the thought of another world fascinating her but now, whenever she remembered the little tale no one could prove exists she Scoffs, knowing better. The underworld story was well, just a story. She just turned 23, had a childhood sweetheart that adores her, and was finally having a chance to contribute her quota to society now she was working at her dream firm as a lawyer. But what Kimberly doesn't know is that soon everything she has ever believed in is going to change because it is time for the underworld people to cash out on their agreement and Kimberly's name falls among the lots.

The champagne tasted like ash. My daughter, Lily, beamed beside my beaming husband, David, celebrating her university graduation-a picture-perfect moment I' d relived before. In my previous life, it was on this very day that she had shattered me, screaming, "You're not my real parents!" after draining my retirement, all to fund the biological family who' d thrown her away. That betrayal, that sickening realization of my life's savings gone, had led to my death in a car crash, a distraction of overwhelming grief. I didn' t understand how the sweet girl we had doted on for twenty-two years could be so cruel, so utterly devoid of gratitude, bleeding us dry for people who saw her as nothing but a walking ATM. But then, I woke up, back in my own bed, on the morning of this exact party. This time, there would be no selfless mother, no victim. This time, I was a survivor, and I was ready for war.

For nearly a decade, I walked through life as Mrs. Hamilton, wife to the charming and successful Ethan. Our perfect marriage was more than a facade; it was my very existence, bound by a secret Soul Pact that determined whether I lived or died. Then, seven days before my designated survival deadline, Ethan casually dropped a bombshell: he needed a temporary divorce for his latest fling, a demanding young intern named Chloe. He offered me designer bags and an unlimited credit card, oblivious that he was asking me to sign my own death warrant, effectively sealing my fate. Chloe, triumphant and venomous, reveled in my humiliation from my very own penthouse, mocking me as "old news" while lounging in my favorite spots. Ethan, valuing his mistress's fleeting whims over my life, eagerly discarded our shared history and sent me away. The chilling countdown from the Soul Pact System inside me confirmed my imminent end-a meticulously "staged accident" awaited. How could someone mistake my life for a casual game, oblivious that his "temporary break" was my permanent end? My heart ached with the profound loneliness of carrying this fatal secret alone, a cruel irony after years of quiet endurance. I died in a fiery crash, right on schedule. But then, a cold, digital voice whispered, "System error. Collect 100 Regret Points from Ethan to be reborn." Now, an unseen spectator, my very existence hinges on the depth of his sorrow.

My hands, once horrifically scarred, were healed by a cosmic bargain: save one struggling soul, Ethan Hayes, in another reality. For eight years, I poured my life into his, turning a broken man with crushing debt into a tech titan. We built an empire, married, and for a time, I truly loved him, believing our future was forged in shared dreams. But then, the architect of his redemption became the victim of his betrayal. His intern, Chloe Vance, slid into our lives and straight into his bed. Three years of his gaslighting, hidden affairs that became blatant, and the grinding neglect slowly extinguished the vibrant woman I once was. The final, brutal blow came when Chloe, smugly pregnant, revealed Ethan had "gifted" her our vineyard estate-my home. My heart, once shattered, had simply turned to ash. I meticulously liquidated a fortune I' d fought to earn, preparing for an escape he' d facilitated with every lie and condescending guilt-gift. He bought me diamond necklaces while Chloe flaunted her presence in our penthouse. On my birthday, he cornered me, enraged, accusing me of threatening his new family, blind to the fact that his actions had already killed everything between us. He was a stranger, a ghost clinging to a broken past. I was long past anger, past pain-only a chilling resolve remained. How could he not see? How could he not understand that the woman who healed him had been destroyed by him? So, as he lunged forward, his face contorted with a fury born of his own making, I didn't resist. Instead, I calmly whispered, "Happy birthday to me." And then, with a resolute step onto nothingness, I embraced my "death," not as an end, but as a long-overdue return to the life and self I was always meant to be.

The noose bit my neck. My mission, set by a mysterious 'System' to save my dying real-life self, was to win 'absolute devotion' from four men. I'd failed. Framed by Seraphina Bellweather, the 'heroine,' my ex-boyfriend, mentor, brother, and childhood friend had all publicly abandoned me, branding me a manipulating pariah. Four years of hell followed, my attempts at escape through death repeatedly thwarted. Then came the chilling truth: fail here, and my real body would die, fueling Seraphina' s power. Imprisoned in her brutal 'wellness center,' her torturous 'treatments' slowly broke me. My heart burned with injustice. How could these men, once my world, so easily condemn me, blind to the manipulative monster orchestrating my downfall? Was I doomed to perish, or could I reclaim my fate? I refused to be her sacrifice. When they visited, seeing me as 'unstable,' I seized my chance. With a silent, deadly strike, I exposed Seraphina' s true nature and delivered a fatal blow. As they grappled with their guilt and betrayal, begging me to stay, I took my final leap-claiming my freedom, and sealing their 'absolute devotion' in death.

My mother' s voice, thick with religious fervor, announced her latest decree for SAT season: 100 days of no secular music, no TV, no internet. This wasn't the first time. I remembered falling down the stairs, Molly's raging accusations still ringing in my ears, right before the darkness consumed me. Now, I was 16 again, trapped in the same suffocating reality, but with the chilling knowledge of how it all ended for me. My twin sister, Molly, quickly embraced Mama's extreme rules, her 'pious' facade masking pure laziness, while I quietly perfected my escape plan. As Molly spiraled into isolation at school, earning the nickname "Amish Girl," my mother, Debra, only tightened her grip, even forbidding basic hygiene. The SAT scores revealed my 1580 against Molly's dismal 850, shattering Mama's carefully crafted image, especially on live stream. Instead of facing reality, Mama demanded I sacrifice my Duke acceptance, "for Molly's sake," a sister who had literally killed me in my past life. How could my own mother expect me to give up my entire future, again, for the one who destroyed me? Why was I back? This time, I wouldn't argue, I wouldn't compromise, and I certainly wouldn't die for their delusions. This time, I was getting out, even if it meant watching them burn their own lives to the ground.

I, Aurora, last heir of the Sunstone, stood ready for my Unity Ceremony with Ethan, leader of the Stormriver, a sacred bond prophesied to secure our lands. I believed in our shared duty, even in a slowly blooming love for him. But at the altar, Ethan publically scorned me, declaring his "true love" for my trusted aide, Sylvie, shattering our alliance and the very foundation of our world. The Council, dazzled by his reckless display of power and Sylvie' s fabricated innocence, abandoned me and my lineage, allowing Ethan to devastate our Sunstone Valley, extinguishing my peoples' light and our sacred Sun-crystals. Then, as I prepared for my crucial Solar Renewal, he shattered my power core and entombed me alive in a collapsing mountain. How could the very people I was sworn to protect, including the man I considered my dearest, fall so utterly blind to a manipulative lie, sacrificing everything for a power-hungry charade? They thought they had buried a guardian, but they merely forged the Shadow. I did not die in that tomb; I was reborn as the formidable Shadow Sovereign, and now, armed with terrifying darkness, I will make every betrayer regret their choices.

"Until death do us part." Those were the words that had clung in the recesses of Solene's mind as she stood at the center of the altar with her soon-to-be-husband. True that she had been favored by accidents since she was still a child and that probably, one of these accidents would end their marriage early if she weren't careful. Little did she know though, that when the vows were said, her groom meant it literally. Only this time, it had a twist. A spell-binding, delightfully-inviting twist. All Rights Reserved JMFelic Books 2020 Book Cover by Whendell Souza Lira THIS BOOK IS COPYRIGHTED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINES. THE AUTHOR HAS GIVEN MOBOREADER ONLY AUTHORIZATION TO POST THIS STORY IN THEIR APP. THIEVES WILL BE DEALT WITH ACCORDINGLY.

Mo Xuetong has lost everything. Her mother, her child, even her servants, have been killed. Betrayed, disfigured, and alone, she dies trying to destroy the people who deceived her… …and wakes up as a child again. Given a second chance, she vows to make things different. This time she will not be a naïve child. This time she is beautiful, cold, and willing to do whatever it takes to get revenge. But her plans are disrupted when she uncovers a thirty year old conspiracy that changes everything. Will she still be able to change her fate? And even if she does, will her new fate be any better, or will her hunger for revenge destroy her?

I woke up floating. Not in a dream, but tethered to a nightmare. My body lay cold on the bed, while my son, Leo, whispered, "Papa won't wake up." My wife, Eleanor, stood by the door, her face a mask of ice. I was a ghost, able to watch, but powerless to intervene. Then Julian Croft appeared, oozing charm and false sympathy. The man who'd received my liver, the root of my demise. Eleanor dismissed Leo's desperate pleas, accusing *me* of manipulation, of using our son. She chose Julian, leaving Leo behind, a small, trembling figure in our empty home. What followed was agony. I watched my seven-year-old journey miles to her office, only to be publicly humiliated, framed by Julian, and then viciously beaten. Eleanor, blind to the truth, abandoned him again, leaving him bruised and alone in a dark alley. My spirit seethed, consumed by a cold, useless rage. How could she believe such lies? How could she discard her own child so easily? The injustice was unbearable. I was murdered, my son brutalized, and the woman I loved stood by my killer. I longed to warn her, to protect Leo, but I was just air. A silent scream. Then Julian delivered the final blow: my little boy was tossed into the freezing Hudson River. But as Leo's small form sank into the darkness, a desperate hope ignited. A stranger, an angel, pulled him from the depths. My death was real, my son's suffering unbearable. And now, the true battle for justice, and for Leo's future, was about to begin.

When I decided to put my job as a sugar baby behind me, I never thought that 3 supernatural men would appear before me. Renald, the spoiled movie star –also a vampire-werewolf hybrid. Tony, the most wanted bachelor in the whole city –who is a demon. And Michael, the cold billionaire –plus an angel. On top of that, my previous sugar daddy admits that he is an immortal sorcerer AND is the other three men’s father! What is going on???