Always Smile Quotes

He was forbidden. My brother's best friend. The most dangerous man in the country. And I signed myself over to him. Eve Thorne had one rule: stay away from Dimitri Valentino. It shouldn't have been difficult. He was ruthless, feared, and devastatingly beautiful in the way that only truly dangerous things are. The kind of man who owned nightclubs, commanded armies, and made grown men weep with a single look. The kind of man her brother Mike trusted with his life. The kind of man she had absolutely no business wanting. But one shattered marriage, one bottle of whiskey, and one catastrophically bad decision later, Eve wakes up in Dimitri's bed with a signed contract on the nightstand and six months of her life no longer her own. Her body. His rules. No exceptions. The contract is iron-clad, the penalty clause suffocating — fifty million dollars she doesn't have. And Dimitri Valentino, the Wolf of the Italian underworld, has absolutely no intention of letting her go. He says he'll ruin her for other men. He's not lying. Because beneath the cold control and the thousand-dollar suits is a man who has wanted her for seven sinful years — who has memorized the curve of her smile, the sound of her laugh, and exactly how to take her apart piece by piece until the only word left in her vocabulary is his name. Eve came to him broken, looking to feel wanted. She never expected to feel owned. She never expected to love it. Undressed by the Mafia Lord is a scorching dark romance about forbidden hunger, dangerous obsession, and the catastrophic moment a good girl stops running from the wolf who has always been hunting her. Some contracts change everything. Some men are worth the fine print.

Ten years ago, the Varyn Pack slaughtered the Serans, leaving nothing but ashes behind. But one survived... The Alpha’s daughter. Born of both Alpha and Omega blood, she was an anomaly. An Almega. Now she’s back, hiding behind the mask of a weak and naive omega, her smile deadly and her goal to destroy the Alpha of the Varyn Pack and his Pack itself. She will make him trust her. Desire her. Fall for her. And when he does, she’ll destroy him and everything he loves, slowly, beautifully, and without mercy. Because an easy death would never be enough.

Dad has a stroke and needs money to save his life. I'm left with no choice but to borrow money from my secret CEO boyfriend of five years. Before I can even say anything, he frowns and tells me he's busy. Then, he hurries off to attend his childhood sweetheart's birthday celebration. He only remembers me the following day. "What did you need?" I hold Dad's death certificate and smile wanly at him. "Nothing. I just wanted to tell you that we're over."

**MATURE CONTENT** It was supposed to be a harmless prank. A fake marriage contract. Just a little revenge for all the years Segundo Congreene spent secretly liking Olivia Carmen while hiding behind weakness and fragility. But when Segundo tricks Olivia into marrying him, the game turns terrifyingly real. Trapped in an old mansion, hidden away from the world and without internet, Olivia starts to fall for the man she once thought was harmless. Yet beneath Segundo’s soft smile lies a dangerous obsession. Because Segundo has loved her for years. Watched her. Followed her. Obsessed over her.

I had always been a people pleaser. Yet somehow, I ended up transmigrating into the role of the vicious wife of a general. After three years away at war, Scott Holden returned and brought his so-called true love back with him. I handed over the main bedroom without hesitation, cooked for her myself, stayed up all night stitching a pair of matching pillows, and even had all the staff lined up to welcome her properly. But instead of being pleased, Jennifer Cross burst into tears. "This is all my fault. I have no name, no status, yet I'm staying here at Holden Residence, letting Lillian humiliate me like this. If that's the case, I'll just leave!" It hit me all at once. So that was what she wanted. A proper title. So I drafted a divorce letter for Scott myself, brought it to him, and said with an ingratiating smile, "After you divorce me, could you maybe keep me on the side as a mistress? My parents are gone. I don't have anywhere else to go." Scott flew into a rage. "I see right through your little tricks. Jennifer is just staying here temporarily. Are you really that petty?" From that day on, he never set foot in my room again. Then one day, enemy forces attacked. Jennifer and I were both captured and strung up on the city wall, forcing Scott to choose between us. Before he could even decide, I shouted eagerly, "I'll die, I'll die! I'm totally willing! I love that rush you get from falling from high up, that adrenaline spike!" After all, once I died, I could finally go home. But for the first time, Scott's eyes turned red with panic.

During the holidays, I've worked my ass off just to whip up a feast filled with my wife, Willow Steele's favorite dishes. But soon, my mother-in-law pulls out a paternity test report and announces with a smile that the birth father of my daughter, Naomi Johnson, is actually Willow's childhood sweetheart, Luther Lloyd. Everyone bursts into laughter before saying teasingly that "no wonder Naomi looks so much like Luther". Willow's father even pats Luther on the shoulder while looking at him as though the latter were a part of the family. What stings my heart the most is that Willow is laughing so hard that she can barely stand up straight. So, that leaves her clinging to Luther while she taps Naomi on the forehead with a finger. "Go on, call Mr. Lloyd 'daddy.' He's your real dad, after all." Naomi, who has always kept me at an arm's length, rushes into Luther's arms without hesitation and starts calling him "daddy" sweetly. I fall silent for a moment as I watch everything unfold. Then, I draw to my feet and look at Willow. "Let's get a divorce." But Willow just chuckles icily in return. "Must you go that far? My mom was just joking around." When I'm about to leave, Willow turns to tell the others, "He's just being ridiculous. Once I give him the cold shoulder for a few days, he'll still beg me to return to his side pathetically." But what Willow doesn't know is that I've chosen to endure everything she's hurled at me out of love in the past. Now, I want nothing more than to leave her permanently.

"I told you to stay away," Evanora whispered, her voice wavering. Eros's cold smile widened. "You made your choice. You came to me, offered yourself that night. Now, you think you can run?" "It was supposed to be one night," she breathed, meeting his gaze. Eros traced her jawline, his voice low. "One night wasn’t enough, tesoro. It never could be." He pinned her against the wall, his lips brushing her ear. "And if I have to burn the world to keep you, I will." _________ Sometimes, a single mistake can either ruin your life or change it forever. Evanora Scott, the youngest and most powerful woman in New York City, had everything—a successful career respect, and control, an excellent actress. But after finding her soon to be husband in bed with her best friend, she made a reckless decision. Heartbroken and drunk, she decided to give away the one thing she’d always guarded—her virginity. She chose the man in front of her, a stranger who radiated danger and mystery. Hypnotized by his charisma and the alcohol in her system, she surrendered herself to him, never expecting to see him again after that night. But she couldn’t have been more wrong. She had fallen into the clutches of Eros Kane, the most feared billionaire. A man with more than just political power—he was the embodiment of terror and sin. In the mortal world, he was a billionaire with influence, but in the underworld, he was something far more dangerous. Lucifer. The King of Darkness. The creator of sin and ruler of hell itself. After that one night, Eros couldn’t forget her. She’d imprinted herself on his dark soul, and now, there was only one solution. She had to be his—forever. She has to become his wife....

[MATURE CONTENTS, NO RAPE, VIOLENCE, DARK] She didn't realize she was slowly falling deeply for the handsome billionaire who always hid in the shadows, shrouded in darkness and mystery. Despite the blaring alarm in her head screaming 'danger alert,' she just had to trust him. But he wasn’t just a wealthy heartthrob; he was a bad boy with sinister intentions. He became her weapon for revenge, an addiction that transformed her into a villain. (EXTRACT) Eamon's gaze flicked to the name tag on her uniform, which read "Mia." He smirked, clearly aware of the deception. "Heather, do you think you can save your life from me in a hospital?" he teased. "Well, if... if you're a disease," Heather retorted, trying to regain some semblance of control. Eamon chuckled softly, a chilling sound. "Sure I am. A terminal one." "Anyway, Mr. Eamon, sorry for taking things the wrong way this morning. Perhaps you thought I was mocking your blindness by saying you changed my clothes," she said sincerely. "It's alright," Eamon replied, a hint of amusement in his tone. "I saw everything though." Heather blinked in confusion. "Huh? But... you're blind. How can you see everything like you claimed?" Eamon's smile widened, and he leaned in slightly. "Let me tell you a secret then, Ms Heather," he said, removing his dark lenses to reveal a set of emerald green eyes. "You have a fading tattoo 'A & H' on your left waist and a tiny black dotty mole underneath your right breast," Eamon said, his voice low and intimate. Heather: "...." Eamon's eyes bore into hers, a predatory glint in them. "You can't hide from me, Heather. Not in a hospital, not anywhere."

The doctor told me I had 72 hours left, unless I got access to the newest experimental treatment. However, there was only one slot available, and my husband Bowen Liddell gave it to my sister Yvonne Lawson instead. "Her kidney failure is more critical," he said. I nodded and swallowed the white pills that would only speed up my death. In the time I had left, I got a lot done. The lawyer's hand trembled as he passed me the documents. "Are you sure you want to transfer the two billion dollars in shares?" I replied, "Yes. Give them to Yvonne." My daughter, Candice Liddell, was giggling in Yvonne's arms. "Mommy Yvonne bought me a new dress!" I said, "It looks beautiful. Make sure you always listen to Mommy Yvonne, okay?" The art gallery I built from the ground up now had Yvonne's name on the sign. "You're too kind, Kathy," she said, crying. I told her, "You'll run it even better than I ever did." I even signed all my parents' trust fund away. That was when Bowen finally gave me his first genuine smile in years. "Kathleen, you've changed. You're not so aggressive anymore... You're beautiful like this." Indeed. This dying version of me finally became the 'perfect Kathleen Sullivan' in their eyes—obedient, generous, and no longer argumentative. The 72-hour countdown had already begun, and I couldn't help but wonder what they would remember when my heart stopped for good. The good wife who 'finally learned to let go', or the woman who completed her revenge by dying?

"Run little she-wolf, as far as you can because if I ever catch you, your worst fucking nightmare will become your reality.” He whispered dangerously, his grip on me painfully tight. A smile curled the corner of my lips, and I raised an eyebrow, running the tip of my nail down his chiselled jaw challengingly. “Oh but you’re wrong Blue-Eyes because I am the stuff of nightmares, and I'm here to create hell in your life. Not scared, are we?” Icy blue eyes met my unblinking bright blue. “I'm warning you, don’t mess with me.” He growled. “Oh? But the thing is, I always do what I'm not supposed to.” ----- Azura Rayne Westwood. Known for her devilish ways and wild personality, was the youngest child of the renown Westwood couple. From her days at the Academy, word of her antics spread far and fast, yet there was far more to the young nineteen-year-old woman. The skeletons of the past are never left buried, and life isn't all as carefree as Azura portrays it to be. When demons from her past begin to make life difficult, she ends up making an even bigger mistake. Spending a night of intense passion unknowingly with the infamous stone-hearted Leo Rossi, changing her life forever. When Leo finds out that the woman he bedded was from none other than one of the packs he resents the most, he turns away from her, but he forgot one very vital detail; Azura was no angel, and when you mess with the Westwood Devil, you're tied for life. In a journey of passion, fire, strength and rejection, who will triumph? The young girl with the heart of fire, or the Alpha who yields nothing but hatred and resentment? Follow me at author.muse on IG!