2nd-glance

"You can’t be serious," Bethany whispered, cradling the emerald Caleb had placed in her hand. "I’ve never been more certain," Caleb said, his silver gaze locked on hers. "I would give you the world if I could. But all I want is you. My mate." Her breath caught. "You barely know me." Caleb’s fingers trailed up her cheek. "I’ve waited forty years to find you, Bethany. I knew you the moment I caught your scent. And I’m never letting you go." Caleb is the unmated Alpha of a cursed werewolf pack until he meets Bethany, a shy diner waitress with a hidden strength that shakes his world. For decades, Caleb believed fate had abandoned him. But one glance, one touch, one scent changes everything. Bethany doesn’t believe in fairy tales. Abandoned at birth, she’s lived a life of invisibility and heartbreak. So when the dangerously compelling Caleb declares her his mate, her world turns upside down. With bear shifters closing in and the full moon rising, Caleb and Bethany must defy the rules of nature, power, and fate to claim a love destined to save an entire pack

In the split second when the research lab explodes, my boyfriend, Thomas Bastion, dashes to Melody Harper, who is standing furthest from the blast zone. He shields her from the impact with his own body. When the sounds of the explosion stop, the first thing he does is carry Melody to the hospital. I'm lying on the floor. My body is covered in fresh blood, but he doesn't spare a single glance at me. Thomas has taken care of Melody for the past 18 years. His heart is filled with nothing but her. There's no space for anyone else. I only survived because my colleagues rushed me to the hospital. When I am discharged from the ICU, I call my teacher, Louis Carpenter. Both my eyes are swollen from how much I've been crying. "Mr. Carpenter, I've made up my mind. I'm willing to join you for the confidential research. It's fine if we have to leave in one month. I don't care that I'll be unable to contact anyone for the next five years." The wedding ceremony that I have been dreaming of is supposed to take place in a month's time. However, I no longer want to get married.

“I’ve warned you from the beginning. Don’t marry him, but you won’t listen.” Darcy stood close to me and smiled with concern. “You’re not a woman worthy of a man as handsome, rich, smart, and virile as Blaze.” My whole body trembled at her words. “Have you no shame?” I asked. “Take a good look at yourself, Heather.” She stared at me in the mirror. “You can’t even glance at your ugly face. Do you think Blaze can endure a lifetime of gazing at that scar?” Heather Bailey got a surprise from her husband: a divorce agreement. After a year of marriage and facing ups and downs, she couldn’t believe Blaze intended to divorce her. She was devastated when she saw him gazing lovingly at another woman. After signing the divorce papers, shockwaves caught her up. Her flower shop was burned to the ground. Her father’s company collapsed, and her parents blamed her. She struggled to rebuild her life from the ground up and became more successful than ever. Having many customers from influential families, she started her revenge on Blaze. She won the very thing he wanted, but that was just the beginning.

Her world was crumbling under the betrayal of her fiance and sister, spurred on by her parents’ favoritism, when he appeared before her. He was her guardian angel in her darkest hour. This man could change the Brookville city’s destiny with just a glance, yet he chose her. “"Marry me. I'll bring you unimaginable happiness!" After marriage: "Sir, her elder sister's been terrible to her!" “Get that agency contract signed and make my wife the boss instead!" "Sir, your grandfather is offering the lady money to leave you!" "Did she take it?" "Yes, but she claims it's not nearly enough!" "Well, then let's double it," he said, pausing thoughtfully. "Get the extra from Granddad." "Sir, everyone’s whispering about how she's not good enough for you!" "Well, they've got it wrong. It's me who strives to be worthy of her presence." As time went on, all of Brookville came to know of Charles Hoffman and the wife he cherished beyond reason, doting on her to the point of wild abandon. However, not a single one of them knew about that fateful summer day she leaped into his embrace under the rustling trees. In that moment, their love was sealed for eternity.

Four years of marriage. One signature—his own—that set me free, though he never realized what he was signing. I was Sophia Moretti, the invisible wife of James Moretti, heir to the city’s most powerful mafia family. But when his childhood sweetheart, the dazzling and privileged Vicky, returned, I finally understood: I had always been temporary. So I played my final move. I slid the papers across his desk—divorce disguised as routine university forms. James signed without a second glance, his fountain pen scratching across the page as carelessly as he'd treated our vows, without noticing he was ending our marriage. But I walked away with more than my freedom. Beneath my coat, I carried his unborn heir—a secret that could destroy him when he finally realized what he'd lost. Now, the man who never noticed me is tearing the world apart trying to find me. From his penthouse to the underworld's gutters, he's turning over every stone. But I'm not some trembling prey waiting to be found. I rebuilt myself beyond his reach—where not even a Moretti can follow. This time, I won't be begging for his love. He'll be begging for mine.

"Tell me you don’t feel the same way," Xavier murmured, his dark eyes locked on mine. "Tell me you don’t feel your heart racing every time you see me. Tell me you don’t think about me for hours, imagining things… imagining me touching you. Tell me you don’t feel jealous when you see me with another girl who isn’t you." He stepped closer, his lips curling into that infuriating smirk. "Tell me, Princess," he whispered. My throat went dry. My words stuttered. "I… I don’t feel anything for you," I barely managed. "You're such a terrible liar," he said, his grin darkening. ••• Everything changed the night my father died. Six months later, my mother’s whirlwind engagement brought me here — to his mansion, to his world, to him. Xavier Knight: arrogant, reckless and rebellious. The one person I shouldn’t want. The one person I can’t stop noticing. He’s not supposed to be mine. I’m not supposed to want him. And yet… every glance, every word, every heartbeat pulls me closer to danger.

“You fuckers, I thought you are genuine to me but here, I loved one person but shared by two, how hilarious” Amethysta shouted desperately while the Dempsey twins stayed silent. A pearl of tears streamed down her cheeks and blurred her vision in no time. Princess… Isaias stepped forward to hold her in his embrace but Amethysta stopped him and gave him a death glare. “Listen to us Angel, I know we made a mistake by fooling you all these days but believe us Angel, We love you” Icarus pleaded with glossy eyes. A blood-craving monster was pleading with a girl which is something unbelievable but true. “OK leave it, You fooled me because you two loved me, but you approached me for my father. Now deny it, will you?” Amethysta asked while wiping her tears harshly. Dempsey twins shared a glance and their silence proved the answer Amethysta wanted. Her words choked on her throat and the overwhelming emotions pooled out of her heart. “It's over between us, don't show your faces to me in the future” She threw a diamond ring and the chain on their face walking away. The bloodthirsty Alphas now bow to the queen of their heart who they played with. But none know what the future holds for them.

Maya de Cruz is at the lowest point of her life—her career is in ruins, her uncaring family has her backed into a corner, and her past continues to haunt her. In the depths of her despair, Maya’s world tilts when Aaric Salvaterre Bernardi—her ex boyfriend, now her sister’s fiancé—appears with an offer too tempting to resist, one that could either save her or destroy everything she once held dear. Aaric, with his deadly charm and power to subdue anyone, drags Maya back into the web of his dangerous world. What begins as a risky deal slowly turns into a seductive and inescapable game of desire. Maya struggles to suppress the emotions slowly invading her heart, but Aaric's undeniable magnetism pulls her deeper into his orbit. Every glance, every word, unravels her defenses, leaving her at war with a dilemma that threatens to shatter her principles and pride. Amidst a swirl of intrigue and dark secrets that are increasingly revealed, Maya finds herself at the crossroads between a burning forbidden love and the threat of losing herself. As reason gives way to desire, a single question lingers like a haunting melody: will Maya dare to risk it all for the man who shattered her world, yet awakened a flame within her she thought had long died?  

On the day of our engagement, as we were driving to the banquet hall, a man holding a few-month-old baby stepped in front of our car. My first thought was that it was some kind of scam. I was about to get out and deal with him when I saw the panic on his face. "Cassidy," he said desperately, "our baby won't stop crying. Do you think something's wrong?" The moment she heard that, my fiancée shoved me out of the car. She took off with them without a single glance back. I just stood there in shock. So this was the truth. She'd been hiding a child with her ex all along. Alone, I went to the banquet hall to handle what remained of our celebration. Later, she called. "I feel terrible about this," she said. "I thought if I gave him the baby and gave you the marriage, it would balance things out. But when Stanley showed up today, I realized—he's the only one I want." I was done with her games. If that's how she felt, I'd walk away. So I made a simple phone call. "Grandma, I'm coming home. I'm ready to run the family business now."

She signed his contract to survive, never expecting to lose her heart. Amber Rose Adao’s world collapses when her late father’s debts fall into the hands of Leon Viremont—the cold, calculating billionaire heir who doesn’t believe in love. Losing her job and facing pressure from her step-mother, she signs his agreement: three months as his bride. No strings attached. No emotions involved. Just survival. However, every stolen glance risks breaking the rules, and every touch ignites a passion hotter than she ever anticipated. Leon was supposed to be untouchable, so why does his icy facade crack only for her? As enemies close in and whispers circulate, Amber discovers that danger lurks in the shadows of Leon’s mansion. Isabel Miller will stop at nothing to destroy her. Leon's powerful mother wants her gone, and buried secrets may connect Leon to the debts that ruined her father. Three months were meant to set her free. Instead, Amber finds herself caught in a web of passion, betrayal, and a man she swore she would never love. Because in Leon’s world, promises are dangerous, and falling for him could cost her everything.