A Grief Observed 소설 & 이야기

Natalie Grimaldi has always been a fighter. Rebellious, sharp-tongued, and unwilling to break under pressure, she’s spent most of her life enduring the cruelty of her uncle, Gideon Grimaldi , a greedy man who raised her only to use her as a pawn. When Gideon announces that she’s to marry Viktor Roman, a Russian billionaire twice her age, in exchange for a debt settlement, Natalie is furious, broken and frustrated. On the day of the wedding something unexpected happens she is claimed in a contract marriage by California's most feared Italian Mafia family, LORENZO DE LUCA. She finds herself being sold twice!! Lorenzo doesn't know her name, doesn't care about her except his own gains(the real reason he bought her) but something in her fire, her refusal to bow, stirred something long buried in him. He buys her for something much more deeper —nothing more. But Natalie refuses to break. Even as he claims her body, her life, she hides her heart, planning escape, revenge, and freedom. But the longer she remains under Lorenzo's roof, the more she begins to see cracks in his stone facade: his silence, his shadows, his haunting grief and most of all HIS SECRET. The real reason he bought her. And against every wall she’s built, Natalie begins to feel the tug of something she vowed never to give him—sympathy. Maybe even more. As Natalie secretly builds her own power, forging connections and learning the dark truths behind Lorenzo's empire, she must face the hardest question of all: Can she destroy the man who bought her, if he’s the first one who ever saw her? Or will she fall for the devil who was never meant to love?

I won eight million overnight. The first thing I did was rush to the hospital to pay for my son's surgery and treatment. That was when my phone rang. Ian, a coworker from the company, called, "Something urgent came up! You need to get back here right this instant!" My wife, Mara, took the bank card from my hand, and said with an gentle and understanding voice, "You can give me the PIN. I'll take care of our son's hospital bills. Go. Work is important. Don't worry about us." In my previous life, I didn't hesitate one bit. I trusted her completely and hurried back to the office. My son never made it into surgery. Instead, the police came for me. It turned out that Mara and Ian had conspired together to frame me, pinning the crime of embezzling company funds on me. The very money Ian had stolen. With no money for treatment, my son died in the hospital. My parents, shattered by grief, suffered fatal heart attacks one after the other. And I, rotting in prison, ended my life in despair. After my death, my soul drifted to the holiday villas of Moldeves, where Mara was on vacation. I heard her laughing as she spoke to Ian, "That idiot won a fortune and wasted it on that useless sick kid. He dragged me into a miserable life." Laughing even harder, she added, "Now, their whole family is dead, and we get to enjoy wealth for the rest of our lives. Consider it compensation from that idiot! Haha!" Then, I opened my eyes. I was back in the hospital corridor, at the exact moment my wife reached out and took the bank card from me. This time, I still told her the PIN.

In a world ruled by ancient shifter packs, two women carry secrets powerful enough to ignite wars — or end them. Louve has spent years building walls around her heart. A fierce and determined member of the Star Crox Dynamite Wolves, she buried the most dangerous secret of her life — a fated bond with Lynx Cross, Alpha of Stone Peak, her family's bitterest enemy. Their forbidden love was forged in stolen moments and shattered by war, a conflict that stole her father and swallowed Lynx whole. She learned to survive. She learned to move on. Until he came back. Lynx's return tears open old wounds and ignites something far more dangerous than desire. With enemies stirring in the shadows of pack politics and her carefully constructed world unraveling, Louve discovers she is carrying Lynx's child — a secret that can no longer be kept. When her family uncovers the truth about her mate's identity, their grief explodes into fury. Convinced Lynx murdered their father and former Alpha, Alexander and the pack march toward all-out war. Louve is caught in the crossfire, fighting desperately to protect her mate, her unborn child, and the family she loves — before a devastating truth buried beneath years of rage finally surfaces too late. Running parallel is Selin, Louve's sharp-tongued best friend, whose ordinary life as a bartender in a neutral border town is shattered when panther shifters come hunting her for reasons unknown. Rescued by a mysterious Beta wolf, whose presence awakens something deep and undeniable within her, Selin begins peeling back the layers of her own identity — uncovering hidden abilities and a connection to the pack war that suggests her role in this world is far greater than she ever imagined. Two women. Two destinies. One war that will demand everything.

*She was banished to die. He saved her to possess her. Now three kings want to claim her… and the secret she carries could shatter kingdoms.* Elysia Belrose has spent her entire life as nothing—scentless, powerless, invisible. The night her mother dies, she drowns her grief in the arms of a brutal stranger who makes her feel wanted for one perfect moment… before shattering her: *“Don’t get the wrong idea. This didn’t mean anything.”* Two years later, she finally finds hope when Killian, the Alpha’s son, claims her as his mate. She tells herself she can earn his love. She’s wrong. When she discovers him in bed with the Alpha King’s daughter, her rejection provokes his rage. Beaten bloody and accused of seduction, Elysia is banished to the Wildlands for 100 days—a death sentence wrapped in mercy. But the man who saves her is the same stranger from that night. The one who broke her. Rhaegar Draven. The Alpha King. He doesn’t want her. He doesn’t believe in second chances. But when she begs for 99 days of protection, he agrees to one condition: she stays silent, obedient, and out of his way. Except Elysia is hiding something that pulses beneath her skin, growing stronger with each passing moon. A forbidden bloodline. A secret pregnancy. And a truth that makes her the most dangerous woman alive. Three men are hunting her—one who wants to reclaim her, one who wants to breed her, and one who’s trying to convince himself he doesn’t want to burn the world down to keep her. But Rhaegar’s wolf knows what he refuses to admit: she’s his. His mate. His queen. His salvation and his ruin. In 99 moons, everything will change.

Delilah thought she married the perfect man. Charming. Respectable. Devoted. But then she discovered the man she trusted was a fraud — cheating behind her back, controlling her every move, and secretly stealing from the people who once believed in him. Her marriage wasn’t love. It was a trap. And when she lost the child she was carrying, alone, abandoned, and broken in a cold hospital bed, everything shattered. That’s when he returned. Thorne Weston. The estranged, adopted brother her husband never spoke of. The boy who once made her college life hell — cruel words, wicked smirks and relentless taunts. He's her tormentor. Her shadow. The one who looked at her like he wanted to ruin her… and maybe always did. He disappeared after graduation. Vanished. Forgotten. But now he’s back — colder, richer, and far more dangerous. And he’s watching her. And when she breaks down in the hospital, barely breathing through grief, he corners her in the shadows and makes her an offer that freezes her blood — and sets her body ablaze. “You want revenge? I want you. Be mine… and I’ll destroy him for you.” She should scream. She should hate him. But hate doesn’t explain the fire curling in her belly every time he whispers her name. Hate doesn’t make her knees tremble when he steps too close, smelling of smoke, leather, and sin. And hate isn’t what makes her crave the rough, twisted salvation only he can give. Because Thorne Weston is no longer a cruel boy with a chip on his shoulder. He’s a man forged in violence. Obsessed. Possessive. Unhinged. And he doesn’t just want her — he owns her. Body. Soul. And every shattered piece her husband left behind.

18+ “Please.. I will pay the rest of the money I owed, don’t do—“  He didn’t let me finish, and so abruptly his finger clipped on my hardened-red-abused nipples, so hard that I yelped out as pain reverberated through my being.  And he didn’t flinch. “You dare?” he said flatly. “The likes of you don’t owe me money.” His grip remained merciless, “Your life is mine now. Nothing of worth. Just my property.” I nodded frantically, tears spilling, my body shaking — but he didn’t stop. …. Ruyi signed her husband’s ten million dollars mafia debt to herself without reading the fine print. Ruyi Wynter thought love meant sacrifice. Orphaned young, married at eighteen to the boy who once protected her, she worked herself raw to pay a debt that was never truly hers… until he betrayed her and shattered everything she believed in. He cheated with his co workers, constantly abused her emotionally. Yet she stayed. because leaving meant a miserable lifetime of debt. Until she was captured by Lucien Blackwood, the billionaire mafia lord feared across the world, Ruyi becomes collateral in a war fueled by blood, grief, and obsession.  Lucien doesn’t want her money. He wants repayment far more intense than cash. Cold. Cruel and Unforgiving. Lucien sees her love and devotion to her useless husband as an insult to him, after her very husband played a part in the death of his beloved fiancée.  Ruyi must survive this man who despises her—until loathing blurs into something far more sinful…. her soft moans.  Disclaimer: This book contains dark erotic themes, consensual non-consensual dynamics, emotional manipulation, and explicit adult situations. mature readers only (18+).

Eli Ashcroft is an Omega whose scent is so faint it is almost nonexistent. His first mate, Elric, betrays him by cheating with Eli’s own Omega best friend, Liam. The double betrayal destroys their bond, shatters Eli’s trust, and leaves him emotionally numb just as his father becomes gravely ill and medical bills begin to suffocate him. With no other choice left, Eli accepts an absurd solution: a contract marriage. His husband is Lucen Blackthorne, the most powerful and feared Alpha in the region. To the pack, the reason for Lucen’s choice is cruelly obvious. Eli bears an uncanny resemblance to his late older brother, Elion, the Omega rumored to be Lucen’s lost mate. The contract is mercilessly clear—three years as a substitute to stabilize Lucen’s unstable wolf, generous payment, then a clean separation with nothing owed. For three years, Eli survives by erasing himself. He suppresses his scent, mimics his brother’s habits, believing imitation is the only reason he is tolerated. When Lucen’s wolf writhes under grief, Eli comforts it quietly, never expecting affection meant for him. Lucen shields him during full moons and touches him with restrained care, yet his golden eyes always seem to look past Eli, searching for someone else. That silent distance hurts more than betrayal ever did. When the contract ends, Eli returns it calmly and prepares to leave, telling Lucen he is finally free. He expects indifference. Instead, Lucen’s control snaps. Alpha pheromones crash down as Lucen tears the contract apart and pulls Eli into his arms, his wolf roaring through his voice as his fangs brush Eli’s nape. “Leave?” Lucen growls softly. “My little wolf… your scent has soaked into my den for three years. And now you want to run? Too late.”

My son, Tim, was kidnapped by a group of rogues. My husband, Alpha Kieran, spared no effort, using every resource at his disposal to find him. Finally, he tracked him down to an pub training center nearby. But when Tim regained consciousness, he discovered that he was disabled. As the only son of Kieran, destined to inherit his father’s title, he couldn’t bear the reality of his condition. Despair consumed him, and in his grief, he attempted to take his own life by drowning himself in the lake within our territory. I arrived too late. By the time I pulled him from the water, my strength was nearly gone. Kieran rushed me to the pack hospital, holding me close as he whispered into my ear, "Please, Selene, stay with me. I cannot lose you too." But after my surgery, as I lay in bed, I overheard Kieran speaking to his Beta, Damon, in the hallway. "Alpha, sacrificing the rescue mission that could have saved Tim seemed… excessive. Finding another heart donor wouldn’t have been impossible. Using Tim’s—he was your only son with Luna Selene." "I allowed him to be born because I knew he could save my daughter. I’ve already raised him long enough. It’s only right that he gives me what I need now." "And the doctor said siblings have a better chance of surviving heart transplants. Ana is my most precious child—I won’t risk her suffering another heart attack." Kieran’s words shattered me. He was my fated mate, the love of my life. Yet he had sacrificed our son—our son—to save the bastard child he had with his mistress. The marriage I once cherished, the fated mate I once believed in, had now become my own personal hell.

Vaelora Arden was born to privilege as the daughter of Alpha Theron Arden of the powerful Nightbane Pack. Destined to marry feared Lycan King Lucerian Veyth and unite two powerful bloodlines, she instead chose love over duty. Believing Alpha Kaiven Drax loved her more than power, Vaelora abandoned her title, inheritance, and family to run away with him. Her sacrifice soon turned into nightmare. Once her family disowned her and cut her off from their wealth, Kaiven's affection vanished ,humiliated, and forced to endure his endless infidelities, Vaelora clung to her failing marriage until a violent confrontation led to loss of her unborn child. Broken abandoned, she returned home in disgrace. Desperate to restore their damaged alliance, her family offers her one chance at redemption: marry the Lycan King she once rejected. Lucerian accepts, but not out of love. Kaiven is his hated stepbrother, and Lucerian has spent years plotting revenge. Their marriage begins as cold political arrangement built on mutual wounds and resentment. Yet as war erupts and secrets are revealed, Vaelora discovers that beneath Lucerian's ruthless exterior lies lonely, broken man burdened by grief and hatred. As they grow closer, love blossoms where neither expected it. Together they bring down Kaiven's empire, but victory comes at terrible cost when Vaelora is gravely wounded and learns she's pregnant again. When Lucerian orders the pregnancy terminated, she leaves him, devastated. Only later does she discover the truth: Lucerian is dying from a rare illness and wanted to spare her the pain of raising a child alone. Faced with an impossible choice, Vaelora sacrifices her unborn child to save the man she loves. In the end, love triumphs over betrayal. Lucerian survives, Vaelora is crowned his true Luna, and together they finally build the family and future they once thought impossible.

Three lost pregnancies. A mountain of medical expenses that kept growing. A marriage that had become nothing more than a hollow shell. Olivia Hart sacrificed years of her life trying to be the perfect wife, believing love could survive any hardship. Instead, she watched her dreams crumble piece by piece as grief consumed her, her confidence faded, and the man she once adored slowly turned his attention elsewhere. Every day, she felt herself disappearing, until the woman staring back from the mirror was someone she barely recognized. When overdue hospital bills threaten to destroy what little stability she has left and her husband brushes aside her suffering as nothing more than dramatics, Olivia finally realizes she can no longer keep fighting for a relationship she is carrying alone. Then Ethan Cole walks back into her life. The boy who knew her before the heartbreak. The one person who understood her without explanation. The first man who ever held her heart. While Olivia struggles to rebuild from the ruins of betrayal and loss, Ethan becomes the steady presence she never knew she still needed. With his support, she uncovers a life-altering truth buried in her past and begins a transformation so remarkable that the people who once overlooked her can scarcely believe she is the same woman. Especially the husband who let her go. But fate has one more surprise waiting. Just when Olivia begins embracing a future she never imagined possible, she discovers she is carrying the child she had nearly given up hope of having. Now the wealthy man who broke her spirit wants another chance to reclaim what he threw away. But can a man who destroyed her trust endure the agony of watching another man cherish the woman he failed to value?