Liquid Courage

"Stop… stop kissing me… mm…" I had my sights set on my buddy's sister-in-law, planning to take advantage of her while she was drunk. But halfway through the kiss, I realized the woman in my arms had somehow turned into my buddy's wife. "Sandra? Why are you—" But she tasted just as good. So I figured I'd just go with it…

My daughter, Annabelle Turner, was diagnosed with hereditary heart disease. I spent the past five years searching for a compatible heart donor for her. Now, I finally found one. Right before Annabelle is sent into the surgery room, my husband and renowned cardiologist, Gabriel Turner, tearfully makes me a promise. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I'll make sure Annabelle gets a shot at life again." Yet halfway through the surgery, Gabriel suddenly leaves in a hurry without giving any explanation. I stumble into the surgery room and see Annabelle lying on the operating table, covered in blood. Her chest is cut wide open, laid bare for all to see. Tyler Rotwell, Gabriel's assistant, stammers out, "Dr. Turner said… that Anna can still hold on a little longer, but Ms. Byron's son can't. "Dr. Turner took the heart that was meant for Anna and left…" I immediately break down and repeatedly call Gabriel's number, but Gabriel never answers a single call, not even when Anna's blood has completely dried… While settling my daughter's post-mortem affairs, I happen to see a newly posted update on Gabriel's childhood friend, Suzanne Byron's social media. "Turns out it was just a misdiagnosis," was what the caption read. "In that case, let's give this useless little thing to our good boy Oscar as a treat!" The video attached depicts Suzanne's dog Oscar tearing into the heart that was supposed to be donated to Annabelle. As I turn to look at Annabelle's cold body, the last shred of love I have for Gabriel starts crumbling apart. By the time Gabriel finally remembers Annabelle, whom he left on the operating table, only an empty bedroom and an urn containing her ashes would greet him…

I stand before the judges at the jewelry design competition and admit to plagiarism. Then, I announce my withdrawal from the contest, along with my resignation as Design Director of Fairchild Group. My fiance, Caleb Fairchild, shoots daggers at me. "If you walk away from this competition, our engagement is off!" My father follows up by slapping me across the face. "First, you plagiarize your own sister, and now you're breaking off your engagement with the Fairchilds? Are you trying to ruin our family?" "Oh, I'm not just calling off my engagement. I'm also cutting off my ties with you," I respond apathetically. I make this decision because I have been given a second life. In my previous life, my stepsister and I competed in this contest. First place earns the title of the nation's top jewelry designer and 50 million dollars from Fairchild Group. However, round after round, her designs are exactly the same as mine, and she submits them before I do. The judging panel gives me a pass because of Caleb and lets me advance to the finals, but not without a warning to never plagiarize again. I refuse to believe it. I switch to a brand-new computer, lock myself in my room, and pour everything into a new design. Yet, when the final designs appear on the big screen, history repeats itself. In the end, my sister takes first place and walks away with everything that should have been mine. The reputation I painstakingly built is ruined, and my name is dragged through the mud online. My parents are ashamed of me. They knock me out and sell me off to the countryside to marry an old man. Ultimately, I die after endless abuse. When I open my eyes again, I'm back at the semifinals. Everyone is pointing at me as they stare at the two identical designs.

Zoey Bennett only wanted revenge on her ex. After being humiliated and left at the altar, all she wanted was to walk into that ballroom as an irresistible woman, with the perfect date on her arm. But how on earth did her hired gigolo turn out to be a billionaire? Standing before her was Christian Kensington, the maddeningly arrogant and devastatingly gorgeous CEO of Kensington Winery, one of the richest men in the country. In that moment, Zoey felt the ground slip right out from under her feet. No problem? Oh, there was definitely a problem. The entire internet now believed they were a couple. And the biggest problem of all? So did Christian's grandfather. Now Christian would need to keep up the charade if he wanted to inherit the family business. Zoey just wanted to get out of this mess without being sued. But when the line between lies and reality started to blur, Zoey realized she might be stumbling into the most dangerous trap of all: falling in love again. "I've been left before, Christian. I won't make that mistake again." "Who said this time you'd be the only one to lose?" This is a romantic comedy full of twists, buried secrets, and a passion too irresistible to ignore. Will Zoey find the courage to open her heart again?

She's a talented chef, and he's a famous actor. When their fates collide, what will happen? Audrey Fuentes is in love with her childhood friend and superstar, Shane Vargas. When her parents died in a plane crash, she was forced to live on her own until she was given a chance to be with the man she loves. Shane's parents fly back to the country to attend their wedding, which was arranged for a long time before her parents passed away. Just like any other bride, Audrey was excited to walk on the red carpet and meet up with the man of her dreams at the end of the aisle. What happened on the day of her wedding ceremony was nothing like what she envisioned. Shane left for another country after signing their marriage contract the day before the ceremony. To make things worse, Audrey gets involved in the accident when she's on her way home on the same day. Five years passed, and so Audrey confronted the man. She gathered enough courage to propose an annulment when she returned. Will she be able to completely move on and let go of her love? After several years, her heart still beats so fast whenever she sees him. The problem is, Shane is already head over heels with someone else. Audrey Fuentes is Shane's deserted bride.

"Take my life but don't ruin my soul, please... I...I am a widow, " Tears streamed down from her eyes, watching that man hovering over her. Inessa softly hissed, when he slightly pressed the tip of the knife against her chin. "I didn't take your husband's life in front of your own eyes, so that I could let you go, " Her eyes widened when she found him wiping the knife against those tears in the corner of her eyes which made her fear intensity even more because she thought he was going to pierce it into her skin as she had seen him taking uncountable numbers of lives with no remorse. She again shut her lashes and waited to feel the sharp pain of her skin penetration but in the very next second, she felt the knife to get apart from her skin and warm drops of liquid falling on her lips. Her eyes opened when that liquid proceeded inside her parted lips and her tongue felt that metallic taste, and then she saw his palm bleeding. She teared up more by watching his soul quivering smirk. "Leave me.. Lea..." Her words got stuck inside her throat when she felt him grab her jaw which made her froze. She looked into his flaming darkened eyes with her reddened watery ones, and her whole body shivered in terror, feeling his palm getting inside her clothes. "Why? " her eyes never stopped forming tears . That question fell out from her mouth which was the question of her existence. Why did she have to endure all of that and why was she fated to get destroyed by him like this? "Because I am insane for you…." *DARK ROMANCE*