Empty Smiles

For the hundredth time, my dad hints at us that he really wants to become a grandfather during New Year Eve's dinner. Lydia Cooper, my wife who has insisted on living a childless life for the past decade, just smiles before placing more food on his plate. After dinner, she ducks out to the balcony and murmurs into her phone, "Be good, now. Mommy will visit you a few days later." I can feel my blood running cold in my veins as I stand in the living room with a glass of water. As I approach Lydia, I do my best to keep my voice light and teasing. "I just heard you say the word 'mommy.' Do you have an illegitimate child out there somewhere?" Lydia rubs her nose, her tone now awkward. "You might be hearing things. It was just my friend's child…" My heart plunges into my stomach pit at her words. I've been in love with Lydia for ten years. It's only natural that I know how she acts whenever she's lying.

Lila only wanted to fit in for this one night and this one party. So she had one fake boyfriend to keep her from feeling invisible in a sea of confident smiles and perfect couples. It was supposed to be simple until her fake date ditched her under the blinding strobe lights, leaving her stranded and humiliated in the middle of the hockey team’s Freshers Welcome Party. But humiliation took an unexpected turn when Ethan, her best friend’s brother, and worse, her brother’s best friend stepped in to save her. That moment should have been the start of something new. Instead, it became the beginning of everything she never saw coming. Because while her heart recognized something in his eyes, his stayed shuttered, cold and unreachable. And just when she thought she was ready to forget, the fake boyfriend returns, this time, asking for something real. Between two hearts that shouldn’t collide and a past that refuses to stay buried, Lila must choose: follow the safety of what she knows, or risk everything for what she can’t seem to let go of?

Have you ever pain so raw it feels like your hear is being dragged out of your heart? The type that breaks into pieces you could never find because they are lost to the wind of scorn and shame. Cassandra carries her pain like a weight on her shoulder everyday despite her smiles and jokes, too young to remember what it felt like to have parents before she lost hers to an accident her grandparents do not like talking about she is trying to find the little good life has in store for her. But she is given a brutal awakening when the one person she thought would bring her much needed happiness tosses her aside. So Cassandra runs away from it all, she runs far enough to never feel the despair looming behind her. And she runs into the arms of Ray, handsome, cocky, but caring, considerate, and loving. Cassandra is about to find out love works without the mate ties and build bonds with the most unlikely people. Cassandra is about to find the love acceptance she always yearned for in the most unlikely place.

For eight years, I was the ghost in Lorenzo Valenti's empire. By day, I was his executive assistant, the engine of his criminal enterprise. By night, I was the most submissive bird in his gilded cage, and the nameless body in his bed. I loved him with a devotion that bordered on madness, a foolish flame I'd nurtured since I was a scholarship student pulled into his orbit. I believed my quiet love could one day melt the ice around his heart. I was wrong. The day his unforgettable first love, Isabella, returned, the man I knew vanished. The rare smiles once reserved for me were now all for her. My presence by his side was erased, replaced by hers. Even when she framed me, he believed her without hesitation. He chose her, again and again. I submitted my resignation. He signed it without looking. He thought I'd crawl back, broken and begging. He was wrong. While he was busy playing house with his "cuore mio", I was quietly packing away my life, preparing to vanish from his world forever.

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?

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."

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.

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."

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.

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.