Empty Smiles

My contract with the company is about to come to an end, and I'm already planning to renew it. But a few days before that, my boss, Dustin Kline, requested that I lower the percentage of my bonus in the project. The reason he gave is that I'm still young. Even if I were to take over other projects, I'd also do a good job. Dustin even made empty promises to me just so he could get me to give the projects I'm in charge of to Sandy Richmond, the new department manager in the company. When I refused to do so, he threatened to not give me my salary in order to get me to comply. The next day, the company is reduced to a laughing stock at the product launch event. Our client thinks the company's technological skills are too weak to back up the big talk, so they refuse to pay the remainder of the contracted sum. When Dustin begs me for help, I just look at him in amusement. "I refuse to get manipulated by anyone in this workplace. You're more than capable of dealing with your own problems. I believe in you, Mr. Kline."

Anastasia Williams did not have the chance to enjoy her teenage years. Being an orphan at the age of five, Ana never really felt loved. Although she has been taken care of by her uncle, she never received any affection from him and his family. When Anastasia's cousin, Eva, is to get married, she elopes on her wedding day. Ana is now forced to marry the man in Eva's stead. But her heart belongs to her childhood love and best friend, Nate, who died in a car crash five years ago. Tyler Walker is a young millionaire who has built up a number of profitable businesses throughout the globe. He only wants to be married for three months before calling it quits. Will Anastasia and Tyler find love despite sharing traumatic and heartbreaking pasts? Or will everything be over in three months? This story talks about two broken souls who, one, felt empty on the inside and the other struggling with its demons, finding peace and comfort in each other, but more... finding love. It also teaches that having a positive mindset really makes bad circumstances turn into a good outcome, with patience."

YELENA: I didn't think twice when I accepted my parents’ offer to marry our Alpha. He was a man every she-wolf in our pack wanted… I thought marrying him would mean love, protection, and respect. Instead, it meant betrayal. Tristan Crosswood, my husband, the Alpha of Blue Moon pack never wanted me. I was just a Luna by contract, replacing his empty title. He chose his mate repeatedly when she found her way back to the pack while I was foolish to reject mine the first time I saw him. I was such a fool… and I suffered for it. So, I did the only thing left for me to save myself. I filed for a divorce, and Alpha Tristan signed the papers happily. I walked away broken but free, and when I started to heal, I discovered that I was carrying his pup. Now Alpha Tristan wanted me, the Alpha who signed my freedom with his own hands became the Alpha who regret divorcing me. But what he didn't know was that… I wasn't the desperate Luna he discarded.

was sixteen years old when he was first killed; when he stood on Matthew's chest, his best friend, blood spurted from all over their bodies so that it was an exhausting and even battle between them until Matthew at last gave way to victory. Jaden breathed out, feeling the fires of hell all around him. His palm shook over the sheath of his sword, recalling that nightmare that steals sleep from his eyes: the moment he was kneeling on Matthew's chest, raising his rusty dagger, reluctant to take his soul, his eyeballs shaking turbulently and his chest rising and falling at an exhausting pace, and Matthew grabbed his trembling palm and led him towards his chest containing the dagger. Empty not to retreat, not to coerce and relieve him from his hell, but to kill him and prove to everyone that he will no longer be the prey. On that day, everyone around him was waiting, waiting for him to retreat in order to pounce on them, the mighty king's monsters, who made a vow to himself to turn his life into hell from the moment he was born and did the most heinous things.

The yacht that my parents and my younger sister, Amanda Portman, were on exploded in the middle of the sea. None of them survived. Despair and heartbreak fill my senses when I'm faced with an empty home and an astronomical debt. Just as I'm about to jump off a rooftop, I see comments appearing before my eyes all of a sudden. "The truth is, your parents have won a jackpot of 300 million dollars. They've taken Amanda on an overseas trip for some fun!" "Heheh! Amanda doesn't even know that the so-called poor and blind boyfriend, whom she's just broken up with, is the heir of the Wright family. He's just pretending to be poor around her." "Once Amanda comes home after spending all of her money, she will get imprisoned by the enraged Mr. Wright as a form of punishment." "Hey, cannon fodder! Hurry up and die already! I can't wait for Amanda to make her glorious return!" It's at that moment I decide not to die. That night, I barge into Xavier Wright's rented apartment while completely drunk and drenched.

After losing his best friend from a horrible encounter with few wolves from an enemy pack, Kael became sad and empty, then he met Ana , a human on his journey back home. Ana became Kael’s obsession, sparking a forbidden love that defied the rules of his pack. Wolves and humans could never end up together, the unlikelihood of conceiving together made their union unacceptable. Determined to disobey tradition, Kael was prepared to risk everything for Ana. But his pack, being scared of his dissent, thought to eliminate Ana. She was luckily rescued by wolves from the white wounds pack, led by their enigmatic Alpha- Kael’s estranged stepbrother. As Ana drew closer to her hero, fate brought her and Kael back together during an intense journey, igniting a clash of betrayal, loyalty and love. Secrets of the past unfolded, including the unsettling truth of Kael’s stepmother’s betrayal and the battle that claimed his father’s life. Will Kael and Ana’s love for each other endure the forces ripping them apart, or will destiny lead them down different directions forever?

Akana is a lowly desert nomad, while Sidastir Den Raffiben is the Elven king Eiter Kingdom. Eiter, a once full of life kingdom is now, nothing but the ghost of its past. The story begins with a marriage contract between two people; one who cannot feel cold, and the other is an Ice mage. They say it's pure fate. Together they set out on their path to Virtus Scolaris, the most prestigious institution in all of the Nine Kingdoms. Slowly throughout their time there, the couple nurtures an unbreakable bond. Akana is far from welcomed at the school. He was considered barbaric and should not move among the civilized races of the Nine Kingdoms. However, everything changes when Akana loses his way back to his chambers and stumbles across an empty cold alley. The situation becomes toxic when a violent incident reveals Akana's hidden abilities and brings light to his people's darkest secret. A story in a world where monsters walk amongst humans, the truth is rarely pure and never simple, and to face the truth raw is to face the ugliness of our being. In a world where the price for love is losing your own existence, where you stand one moment away from flipping the switch, what would you choose?

To save his childhood sweetheart suffering from a congenital heart condition, my mate Ethan—the storm pack’s Alpha—forced me to remove my heart to be given to his beloved. "Don't worry, you are the rarest white wolf with the strongest healing ability. I have prepared an artificial heart for you, and you will be fine." Ethan said. I tried to explain to my mate Ethan that my healing ability has become very poor in the past year, so that transplanting my heart would kill me. My mate snarled at me with disgust, "Selene is so gravely ill, and here you are, jealous and fighting for attention! She saved my life when I was suffering from silver poisoning a year ago! You won't die anyway, so why can't you help her?" Under the mandatory order of my mate, I was sent to the pack healer for the heart transplant. He didn’t know that I was the one who had exchanged my rare white wolf's healing ability with a witch to save him from silver poisoning. In the end, with my healing abilities gone, I died miserably in a forgotten corner of the empty healer's cabin.

I never wanted to be an Alpha. It was my brother’s destiny to lead the pack. But Dad refused to give him the position, believing he would lead with his heart, not his head! As his only other child, the title falls to me. Following my father’s death, the Wolf Council is demanding that I find a mate before I turn 21. Or they will choose a new Alpha for the River Valley Pack. Why? Because a female is supposed to be a Luna, not an Alpha.   But I am not a Luna, I am the Female Alpha of the River Valley Pack. I won’t be made to choose a partner who doesn’t deserve me. But I won’t find one hiding in my pack. I need to put myself out there. It’s the only way to save my pack.    I travel to find out what people think of their Alpha. Perfect smiles or fancy cars won’t fool me, not even for a second.     If I find my mate on my journey, I will see if he is worthy. If he’s not, a rejection is in his future. I will not settle. A male Alpha wouldn’t. Why should I?

As soon as Danielle Bradford has recovered from her postpartum period, she brings her baby to the county clerk's office to register for the baby's birth certificate. "My baby's full name is Taylor Gardner. Her father is Matthew Gardner." The employee types on the keyboard, but his brows draw tighter afterward. "The system has flagged another child with the same name under the same father." His words leave Danielle momentarily stunned. Thinking that her ears have deceived her, she blurts out, "That's impossible! Our baby has just turned one month old!" But Danielle feels her phone buzzing in her pocket before she can finish speaking. She taps on the screen, only to see a photo sent by Matthew's assistant, Meghan Landry. In the photo, Matthew has his left arm wrapped around Meghan's waist while carrying a five-year-old boy with his right arm. The three of them stand in front of a kindergarten's entrance with smiles so bright that they practically sting Danielle's eyes. On the boy's chest is a nametag that clearly says "Taylor Gardner".