Fractal Noise

My father loved silence. He believed noise was the mark of lesser people, so he installed a decibel meter in our home. Speaking above 40 decibels meant that we would have to pay him 10 dollars, laughing above 60 decibels meant 50 dollars, and crying or throwing a tantrum was a serious offense at 100 dollars per second. The year I turned four, I fell and broke my arm. I did not make a single sound. I bit down so hard that I cracked two teeth, but I saved thousands in noise fees. He praised me for it and called me a "high-value child," one that was worth the investment. I treasured that compliment and observed the rules carefully, keeping the house wrapped in suffocating silence. Then came the stormy night a thief broke in. He had a knife and was creeping toward my mother as she slept, and I watched it all from the gap in the wardrobe where I was hiding. I wanted to scream. I wanted to shriek and wake my father, to do something, anything. However, my eyes drifted to the decibel meter on the wall, and my hand found nothing but an empty pocket. I did not have enough allowance. One scream would cost hundreds, and I simply could not afford it.

Empty vessels make the most noise, and men who fit that description to a tee hardly make for suitable partners. When Corinne had to go on a blind date with someone like that, she did the unthinkable simply to show her disinterest in him—she kissed a handsome older man whom she had never met before. "I hereby pledge myself to you," the older man vowed. If a single kiss from her was all it took for him to devote himself to her, would a second kiss entail much more? There was only one way for Corinne to find out…

Some secrets are kept in the dark. Others are screamed into the pillow. Aubrey "Yuna" Vance is a girl living a double life. To the students at Dam’s College, she’s the quiet, studious wallflower. But behind the closed doors of her mother’s new mansion, she is a voyeur, haunted by the rhythmic sounds of her stepfather’s bedroom and the shadow of a stepbrother who knows her every shameful habit. Jake Thomas is the billionaire athlete-turned-coach who built an empire on discipline. He’s the man who saved Aubrey’s mother from poverty, but to Aubrey, he is a walking temptation, a "hunk of a man" whose every glance feels like an intrusion. Then there is Drake, Thomas’s son. A popular biker with a cruel streak and a mountain of blackmail. He’s caught Aubrey at her weakest, and his price for silence is her total submission. When the school’s golden boy, Brendan, enters the fray with a public declaration of love, the fragile peace in the Thomas household shatters. Aubrey is no longer just watching; she’s being hunted. Between a stepfather who hides a mistress and a dark desire for his stepdaughter, and a stepbrother who wants to claim her out of pure spite or the sweet golden boy Brendan in which the world will be very much willing to accept but Aubrey is drowning in a sea of forbidden heat. In a house where the walls are thin and the secrets are thick, Aubrey must decide: Will she play the "good girl" for the world, or will she surrender to the noiseless dreams that keep her wet and awake at night?

Lee, Simon, Hans, Elliot, Dylan, Karlisle, and Steffan are close friends ever since they were in middle school. But as they became mature and grew as sought-after and eligible bachelors in the society, it was extremely hard for them to see each other and get together.Lee then thought it would be a wonderful idea if they take a week-long vacation, just so they could enjoy themselves, become reunited, and chill while far from the stress and noise of the city.However, this same week-long getaway will become the beginning of the romantic and steamy relationships between some of them, waking up their desires towards each other that have been bottled and unbeknownst to them for some while.The hidden love and desire they hid from each other will slowly be revealed, and with this, will they all stay as friends?Or will completely take over?

"Miss Hudson, we have prepared a corpse identical to you, just as you requested. It will be delivered to your wedding with Mr. Warhol in ten days." Hearing the voice on the other end of the line, Violet Hudson felt a small knot of tension unwind inside her. "Alright. Thank you." "You're welcome. This is our job. Please rest assured—no one will ever suspect a thing." With that guarantee, she exhaled, the weight on her chest easing just a little. After confirming the final details once more, she ended the call and pushed open the door to the private room. The noise inside had been a constant hum, a mix of voices overlapping, but the moment she stepped in, silence fell like a curtain.

Alya has been living in her cocoon since forever that stepping into NYC calls for an adventure. Or rather, to curb her wandering mind of what it feels like to have something you've been dreaming of- married to someone who has all the criteria you've seen only in movies. She leaves her comfort zone and dives into a life that has been scripted since day one. It can be two things, either a liberating experience to be someone who doesn't have to think much and just live the way it's been laid out, or to feel suffocated by how much scripted and planned everything is. Yummy DILF has been living his life in pretence. But if money can buy imagination who are we to judge him on that? He didn't exactly ask for our money to live that way, so leave the judgement by the door and come in for a read if you feel like you're open to this absurd pretence. *** "I need you to come for me." He orders in a stern tone after I've let out all sorts of noise while he tongue-fucked me. It finally dawns on me that I'm being a desperate bitch I never wanted to be when I first accepted this job. What have I become? "Come for me, B." His finger is pressing me into following his order to which I reluctantly shake on his mouth. As quiet as it began, it ends in the same way as he helps me with my thong and pulls down my dress to its original state. Stepping in my view he smiles at me smugly, "See, being my wife isn't always so difficult."