Kawakami Gift Guide Novels & Stories

The night before my victory gala, I heard my husband, Matteo Bellandi, promise my credit to his mistress. "Vivian, I'll put Sofia's project credit under your name. Consider it an early second-birthday gift for our son." Vivian laughed softly. "Will Sofia agree to that?" Matteo sounded bored. "She has the title of Mrs. Bellandi. That's enough." I thought I had misheard him. But the next night, my award was given to Vivian, and Matteo personally walked her onto the stage. "Young talent needs room to grow," he told the room. "From now on, Vivian will lead this project." The gala went silent. Everyone tried not to look at me. I sat in the corner Vivian had arranged for me and finally understood. Matteo had kept the title for me, then given the credit, the money, and his future to his mistress and their son. Fine. I left the ballroom without looking back. I was done being Mrs. Bellandi. From now on, I was Sofia Valenti again, the princess of Chicago’s most feared family.

Freya loved the wrong Alpha for eight years. She gave him her body, her loyalty, her soul—and in return, he kissed her with someone else's name. When she finally walked away, she believed she'd found peace—and love—in Silvano, the Alpha who saved her. But years later, on her birthday, silence greeted her again. “Bella,” she whispered to her daughter, “did you forget Mommy’s birthday?” “Not now, Mommy. I'm making a gift for Aunt Aurora. Daddy helped.” The name landed like a wound reopening. Freya once survived being ‘the other woman’. Now, fate flipped the roles—and the silence, late-night absences, and missed calls feel all too familiar. As betrayal knocks again, she must choose: bury herself in heartbreak once more—or rise, not for love, but for herself. When even your mate forgets your worth, how many times must you walk away before you stop coming back? This time—maybe for the last time—she won’t look back.

On the fourth day after my son's death, I decided to secretly dissolve my military marriage with my husband. Before that, I had three days to settle everything for my son. On the first day, I tricked my husband into signing the cremation papers. On the second day, I went to the school and collected the textbooks my son would never get to use. On the third day, I cooked a table full of dishes and begged my husband to celebrate our son's last birthday. He agreed, but soon after claimed he had a mission. Instead, he spent the entire night setting off fireworks with his childhood sweetheart. That night, I cooked. Then, I sat alone before my son's photo and ate all my son's favorite foods. The next day, my husband returned, guilt flickering in his eyes as he handed me a brand-new backpack. He said it was a gift for our child's first day of school. But he didn't know—our child would never have a first day of school.

“Lance… I’m pregnant.” Celine showed the gift box to her husband. “I can’t have a child with you. You need to abort that child.” — Lance. **** Celine Rodriguez and Lance Hart did not love each other when they got married, but over three years, Celine fell in love with Lance. Celine did everything to be a good wife to Lance, but on their third wedding anniversary, she received divorce papers. Until the end, Celine fought for her marriage with Lance, even if it meant aborting their child. But Lance still went ahead with the divorce to marry another woman. Celine’s devastation and loss of hope that Lance would love her led her to sign the divorce papers. After six years, Lance realizes his truly love is Celine. Lance chases his ex-wife even if it means losing everything because, for him, she is his everything. Following all that Celine suffered at the hands of Lance, will she grant Lance a second chance or will Celine push Lance away? How far will Lance’s heartlessness go just to get Celine back to him?

On the eve of our engagement party, my fiancée, Alissa Coleman, gets a marriage certificate with her male best friend, Rhys Pritchard, and celebrates it in the bar. Yet, she acts completely unconcerned about what she has done. She says flippantly, "It was just a joke. We'll get divorced tomorrow. Everyone knows Rhys and I are just best friends." Rhys responds with a provocative grin. "Even though the marriage is just for a day, there's still a special bond between us. Are you all just enjoying the show and won't even prepare a wedding gift for us?" Everyone at the table laughs raucously. "Sure. I happen to have a project in the western suburbs. I'll give it to you as a wedding gift. But there are rules at this table. If you want it, you'll have to win it with a game of dice." I say nothing more and simply take a seat at the table. Meeting Alissa's perplexed frown that is directed at me, I flash her a small smile. "Isn't this supposed to be a dice-rolling game for wedding gifts? I'd like to play too," I said.

After three years of dating Nathan Foster, I thought I knew where we were headed. But he never proposed. Instead, he fell in love at first sight with my stepsister. His pursuit of her was bold and relentless, leaving no room for doubt. This time, I didn’t break down or wait around, hoping he’d return like before. I made a clean break. I threw away every gift he had given me, shredded the wedding dress I once secretly bought, and on his birthday, I left Riverdale behind. Just as I was about to board my flight, Nathan messaged me: “Where are you? Everyone’s waiting for you.” I smiled, didn’t bother replying, and blocked him on every channel. He had no idea that, two weeks earlier, I had accepted the proposal of my college senior, Eustace Cooper. When the plane landed in my new city, Eustace and I were ready to begin a new chapter of our lives together—as husband and wife.

Freedom... Was all Anastasia Redeye, an eighteen years old werewolf princess wants, however, it was like when an Omega dreams of becoming a Luna. Unless there is a miracle, it is going to be forever that way. Anastasia was made to dress and behave the way she didn't want, and on the day she clocks 18, her father reveals his plan to her, and that is, she was promised as a gift to the greatest Werewolf Alpha. Well, not as a bride, but as one of his mistresses. This struck Anastasia's heart, remembering her the need to leave this prison called home, thus, she escape. However, on her journey to find this freedom, she met a guy who she didn't hesitate to tease whenever they met, and gradually, she fell into the pool of love. But what would she do when there was suddenly a crisis in his pack and he asked her to leave? Would she stay because of love or leave because of her freedom? If we commit ourselves to one person for life, this is not, as many people think, a rejection of freedom; rather, it demands the courage to move into all the risks of freedom, and the risk of love which is permanent; into that love which is not possession but participation.

"Kylie, this year's annual bonus is evaluated based on two factors: performance and peer reviews. "Since your team never participates in company social events, your coworkers all gave you poor ratings. That's why this is your year-end bonus." Around me, the male employees were receiving bonuses in the tens of thousands. And yet, the women I led—developers who had worked for over ten years and built every core system the company relied on—each received nothing more than a coffee gift card and a mug engraved with the company logo. I laughed out loud. Then I turned and walked into my office and submitted resignation requests for the entire technical team. The manager, Preston Alec, sneered. "Good riddance. AI can replace women like you who only know how to have children." A few days later, the very people who had mocked me were standing in front of me, begging me to come back. I smiled in return. "AI conquers everything, doesn't it?"

Samir Kane was the man of my dreams, the man I’ve always wanted. So imagine my joy when he walked into my favorite cafe, went down on one knee, and brought a ring up to my face. I was beyond elated of course. I mean it was a dream come true. Little did I know that it was also going to be my nightmare disguised as a dream. Samir not only roped me into a marriage with him for selfish reasons. However, I’ve yearned for his love and acceptance for years, but he treated me with the opposite and disrespect instead. And after he was fed up, he decided to discard me. He decided I’m no longer worth it, that it’s time we part ways, and his thoughtful gift for me on the night of our five years anniversary were divorce documents. How rich? Because that was all it took for me to venture into the brutal side. Watch out Samir, I’m now on the hunt for your wreckage, and there’s no stopping until I’ve brought you exactly where you once had me.

Kiara is betrayed by her mate, Alpha Ray, who marks Princess Tara as his Luna before his people. Shattered, she hurries back to destroy the special gift she left for Ray, only for the Alpha to catch up with Kiara, discovering the truth about her pregnancy. She's carrying his unborn child. He showers Kiara with love and promises to make his mother, Queen Nora, accept their relationship. Out of selfishness, he destroys the last hope Kiara had for him by joining hands with his mother to poison both Kiara and the baby. They both dimmed her unworthy to bear the Royal family's heir. Kiara passes out and soon wakes up to find herself at the hospital, rescued by Jeffrey, a bodyguard to a powerful wealthy old Luna. The Luna picks an interest in Kiara's life, and takes it upon herself to make Kiara a terror to her enemies. .... "Trust me, I'll make you a whole new person. And when you start your work, the result will be splendid," Queen Avara promised.