Empty Smiles

During an elective class, the campus belle, Jemima Ford, who is our senior, describes her ideal type with everyone egging her on. She says, "My future husband has to be at least six feet two inches tall. His parents must be college professors, and his grades should be top three in his major…" The room buzzes with teasing chatter and gossip. At the same time, I snap up my head in surprise. Why does Jemima's description of her ideal type sound like my boyfriend, Elijah Sanders? The next second, the professor standing by the podium smiles obsequiously and says, "Very well said. If Eli hears this, he'll definitely be very happy! Later, the two of you can meet. That way, he won't get tricked by some naive girl into going abroad." Amid the burst of laughter from the class, I lower my eyes and look at the message my parents sent me. It reads, "Sweetheart, are you really going abroad with your boyfriend? There'll be no one left to inherit our company with you gone."

On the fifth year after marrying Giovanni Santoro, the Don of the Santoro family, he decides to make a public appearance with his mistress, Valentina Conti. He no longer denies the truth behind the romantic scandals. Videos of them that have been taken in secret, as well as salacious gossip featuring the two, are spread like wildfire in New Albion. It's an act of declaring ownership over Giovanni that he himself has silently permitted. There are even busybodies who don't know their place and decide to prod me for answers with smiles on their faces. "Does this mean someone else is going to replace you as the Donna of the family?" That night, the underworld of New Albion secretly goes through a thorough purge. I file for a divorce with Giovanni immediately before marrying his biggest enemy, Franco Messina. After that, the Santoro family goes into bankruptcy. Their power and authority easily crumble into dust. Giovanni kneels before me. With tears running down his face, he begs me for forgiveness. I just smile while waving the divorce agreement in my hand. "Sorry, but we're already divorced."

My husband doesn't love me or our daughter. It's been six years since she was born, but he's never held her. The doctors say he has an emotional disorder, and that he doesn't know how to express the way he feels. But when his true love returns, he smiles at us for the first time. He even brings our daughter a gift. I think it's because he's finally seen sense… until she and I see the photo he uses as his phone's wallpaper. In it, his eyes are crinkled as he smiles. He has one arm around a little girl whose front tooth is missing, and he holds his true love's hand with the other. My daughter tugs on my hand, and her eyes redden. "Mommy, do you think we should leave? Should we give Daddy three final chances? Let's leave him if he still doesn't want us after that."

The day Pedro Palmer's mom was supposed to get my kidney, I ghosted. He waited outside the OR for ten hours. What did he get? A death notice. After that, he went full beast mode on his career. Five years later, his company blew up. Media darling. CEO. Power suit. And yeah, he was holding another girl's hand, all smiles for the cameras. "Do you have anything to say to Ruth Rackham? We heard she supported your early days," a reporter asked. Not even a pause. "Yeah. Thanks for vanishing. For letting my mom die with questions. For wrecking me. She taught me not to trust anyone." He stepped in closer, eyes cold. "This is what you wanted, Ruth? Too bad. Love's gone. And you? Not even worth my hate." That's when Nellie Lyon, the reporter, went pale. "Mr. Palmer... Ruth Rackham died five years ago. She was the test subject. She donated her body—before she passed..."

While we're having our dinner on Christmas Eve, my mom suddenly asks me loudly, "Do you have your chastity?" I look confused. "What?" My mom just smiles very smugly. "I knew you were the adventurous type! You must have lost it because of someone else!" After that, she shoots my husband, Louis Hartson, a knowing look. "You don't know about this yet, right? Before Yvonne married you, she was an absolute player in the dating pool. Her father and I couldn't keep her under control at all!" I widen my eyes in shock. "What are you talking about?" My mom is even happier when she sees how angry I am. "Oh? You have the guts to do it, yet you're too cowardly to admit to it?" I can only clench my fists tightly under the table after hearing my mom's slanderous accusations. Since she likes spreading baseless rumors about me this much, I'm not going to keep her secret for her anymore.

Kai has spent his whole life trying to survive an abusive uncle, cruel classmates, and a world that never wanted him. He’s invisible. Until the day he walks into an empty classroom… and meets Mr. James Ashford who has a cold look. James sees everything Kai tries to hide—his fear, his hunger, his desperation—and he wants it. What starts as “private tutoring” quickly becomes a contract, new rules, a new home, and a new version of Kai shaped by the hands of a man who should never want him. But when threatening messages appear, describing what they’ll do to Kai just to break James, the teacher becomes something far more dangerous than a protector. James is willing to destroy anyone or anything to keep Kai safe. Or keep him his. Kai knows he should run. He knows he should be terrified. But the most dangerous cages aren’t locked… They’re whispered, touched, and promised by a man who says: “I’ll burn the world before I let it take you.”

"Xander. Please, have pity" she pleaded miserably at my feet.Disgusting. I thought and scowled....Her pitiful state did nothing to me.Seeing her lying in her own filth, crying in pain and on the brink of death brought a little bit of satisfaction to my distorted empty heart.......Crossing the threshold of her cell, I turned my head and looked one last time at the pitiful mess that was my mother. *******Meet Alexander Rage.Sociopath, psychopath and neighborhood villain with a secret agenda. You could say his behavior is influenced by his horrible past or just the fact that he's a sad miserable vampire.But then again,he might just be really evil deep down. Elite vampire. *******Meet Elle Rivers.Not so quiet,shy, straightforward kinda girl.Middle class vampire.Isn't too fond of the elites and prefers to stay at home taking of her father and serving as the village doctor.Do they find love in each other in the mad chaos that is their lives?This is a cliché-ish vampire book. Read at your own risk. Though some unexpected twists and turns are promised.

"If I leave now, I'll never come back! I might end up dying. Is that what you want?" She asked. "Yes. Who cares if you die? I'm already lenient with you for not sending you to jail!" I said. __ Elise Sinclair got entangled with the wrongest person in the world, her step-uncle but what happens when he cast her aside when the world turned against them. Years later, she came back as the most sophisticated while she threaded on thin ice. She got threatened by her unknown enemy from the past. How will she navigate all the setbacks in her life? Damien Sinclair was empty and emotionless after Elise left. He had to enter into a relationship with his ex because of a few circumstances surrounding the situation. However, his heart still longed for Elise. When he finally sees her again, his hope is reignited, only to be dashed again. How will he get his love back? Will he go to the ends of the earth for her?

Three days before our wedding, my fiancé, Raphael Russo, was killed in a gang shootout. They didn't even find a body. As I was drowning in grief, comments suddenly flashed before my eyes: 【Wake up, girl! the coffin's empty! He faked his death! The scumbag ran off to be with that scheming bitch chloe, the one pretending to be sick!】 【While you're crying your eyes out at the funeral, Raphael is fucking Chloe’s brains out in a hotel bed.】 【When he comes back, he'll claim he has amnesia. You won't know a thing and you'll forgive him. You poor thing…】 A month later, news of my marriage to Mafia Don Marcello Falcone spread through New York. Raphael’s right-hand man cornered me, furious. “How could you betray the Boss?” I tightened my grip on Marcello’s arm and smiled. “A girl can’t mourn forever, can she? I’m sure Raphael, in spirit, would be happy for me.”

The werewolf lands are the only world Maria has ever known. Lands ruled by packs, bound by tradition, and governed by fate. Born the alpha’s daughter of the Veilwood Pack, Maria grows up among women blessed with extraordinary abilities. Some command the elements. Some read minds. Others glimpse the future. But as her twenty-first birthday approaches, Maria has nothing. No gift. To protect their legacy, her parents arrange her marriage to a stranger. They ignore her pleas and seal her fate with a man she never chose. Desperate to escape, Maria runs, only to stumble into a land that looks different from the world she knows. When escape fails, she is forced back into a marriage empty of love. Betrayal soon follows, shattering what little hope she has left. Seeking solace, Maria flees to a tavern, where fate introduces her to her mate, a man who hesitates. And then there is the rogue. Pulled between an alpha and a rogue, Maria is forced to confront a truth the moon itself cannot change. Fate will never grant her two mates. She must choose. Only one man can claim her. And the choice may cost her everything.