Anime Smiles

He was the richest man in the country, yet his cold heart was shrouded by pain and grief. Her life was in the captivity of four walls but she smiles brighter than the sun. What happens when two unlikely souls meet under the strangest circumstances? The mighty CEO Jason Cho finds himself in a predicament when his estranged older sister dies and gives him the custody of her little daughter, Alina. Hiding the scars of his abusive past and shrouding himself behind a wall of anger, he neglects his niece who serves as a reminder of his nightmares. Neglected by her uncle and saddened over her parents’ deaths, Alina resents her uncle for his indifference. But everything changes when a mysterious girl named Alya enters their lives like a wrecking ball. Highly optimistic and naive, Alya's bright outlook begins to clash with the cynical Jason while Alina is delighted to have a companion. Alya's positive influence bridges the gap between the uncle and niece. Jason, too, finds himself drawn to the girl who was determined to break his fences. Alya was also attracted to his inherent goodness, her heart beating erratically whenever he was near. But the deep rooted secret Alya hid was going to endanger Jason’s life. The secret which had made little Alina’s parents the target of a sinister man and led to their deaths. That Alya was not a human being. She was a mermaid. Can Jason accept Alya after knowing the truth? Can Alya protect her newfound family from the man who is hellbent to recapture her and throw her back into captivity? Can the powerful CEO save his lady love from those who are threatening to destroy their happiness?

"I thought you were the man who saved me. I didn't know you were the one who set the fire." The day my father gambled away my life was the day I learned that some monsters don't have claws—they wear tailored suits and drink vintage scotch. To the world, Abram is a philanthropist, a billionaire, and the undisputed King of the Lycan Underground. To me, he is the man who bought my freedom for the price of a debt he secretly engineered. He calls me his "Little Wolf." He dresses me in diamonds that feel like cold chains and keeps me in a soundproof penthouse where my screams are just background music to his obsession. He is the Gentle Gaslighter. He whispers that he loves me while he wipes the blood of my past from his hands. He tells me I have nowhere else to go, forgetting that he was the one who burned every bridge behind me. But Abram made one fatal mistake: He taught me how to survive him. Underneath my silk gowns and practiced smiles, the girl he "broke" is dead. In her place is a master manipulator who has learned to weaponize his own obsession against him. I will let him mark me. I will let him believe he won. And when he is at his highest, I will show him that a velvet noose still strangles just as surely as a hemp one. He told me I was his entire world. Now, I’m going to end it. Tropes: * Mafia Alpha x Captive Omega * Age Gap (42 & 20) * He Falls First (Obsession) * Vengeance/Revenge Rebirth * Betrayal & Tragic Twist

My husband, Ryan Costa, is one of the most renowned scientists in the apocalypse. To retrieve a reagent, he goes deep into the high-risk zone with his secretary, Clara Gibson. I, Alice Ashford, lead an elite squad to protect him all the way. But when a zombie horde besieges us, he refuses to retreat. "With the reagent Clara brings back, I can develop a serum that saves all of humanity! Just ten more minutes! Ten minutes, please!" Ryan insists. I feel torn as I see the zombies closing in. I can't gamble with the lives of my squad on a vague, uncertain sliver of hope. In that split second, I knock Ryan out and drag him onto the helicopter. As a result, Clara dies being torn apart by the zombies. When Ryan wakes up, the first thing he does is slap me hard across the face. He rages, "How can you be so selfish? You've doomed all of humanity!" I am sentenced to be burned at the stake. I die in unbearable pain as the crowd curses me relentlessly. When I open my eyes again, I am back at the moment when Ryan stands in front of the helicopter, blocking our retreat. I am just about to speak when I suddenly hear his inner voice, "Clara should have grabbed her makeup bag by now. Hopefully, she brings something back with her. Otherwise, I'll have a hard time explaining myself to Alice." My mind goes blank, and I stare at him in shock. He smiles at me just like he did in my previous life and asks, "Darling, don't you think we should wait?"

From riches to rags. From perfect to flawed. Avianna has lived the best life everyone dreams of. Her life was perfectly filled with joy and happiness. She had everything and anything she wanted. And finally is married to the love of her life. But everything changed in a blink of an eye. Smiles curved into sadness. Happiness into tears. She lost everything, maybe even a bit of herself. No more riches, the man she loved dearly being a reason for the loss of their unborn child. And the reason why she can never have a child again. After losing everything to him she finally decides it's enough and divorces him. She finds herself drinking in a night club trying forget about everything that happened to her. Under the influence she ends up sleeping with a man she doesn't even know. ***Excerpt*** "What's your name?" he whispers his hot breath burning my ears. His beard tickling my skin. Hearing his voice for the first time I think I melted. Processing the deep, fruity voice in my mind. It took me just as long to answer his question. Scared that I might have already forgotten my own name. It felt hard to find words for it. "Avi-Avianna," my voice faint and brittle. " Beautiful name for a beautiful queen, " he whispers again. Did he just call me a queen? Beautiful queen? I couldn't control the smile that spreads on my face. " What's yours? " I ask. Even though knowing it didn't matter. I didn't care who he was but only what he was about to do to me.

Ember accepted her lot in life. On the run, she only wishes to find out the truth behind her dreams and solve the memory of her past. Keegan has only cared about protecting his pack, but when he sees the beauty dancing on stage and the flicker of flames in her eyes his body screams, Mate! Can Keegan tame the flames of Ember and together solve the mystery of her missing past? Or will they all burn together? Excerpt: “This is the reason I’m always tired,” I think to myself. Twenty-four years of coming here and still not a single clue, but every time I close my eyes, I return to this place. I know my surroundings perfectly. Oddly the place is beautiful to the eyes. The old house sat among flowers growing around all sides. The aroma of honeysuckle and jasmine fill my lungs filling me with a moment's peace. I’m sitting in my usual spot. Gripping the ropes of a swing in the front yard held by a large oak tree. Waiting I begin pushing my legs back and forth sending me in motion. I know something is about to happen. It happens every night. The house moves in front of my eyes. I see the shadows coming, but I don’t stop swinging. They are black as night but I can see smiles within the shadow grinning bright. “What is this place!” I cry, fed up with this nightly repetition, but no sound emerges. A noise can be heard from the back of the house. One of the shadows turns toward it. I jump down to follow only to have the other shadow hold me back. “Don’t go. Not yet. Listen to me!”

The entire pack knows that my Alpha mate, Cassian Blackhowl, treasures me more than his own life. Against everyone's objections, he chooses me, an Omega, to be his mate. Before we form a mate bond, I suffer from a blood disease and hover at death's door. Cassian searches the world, draining his fortune, just to find someone with a blood type that matches mine so that I can have a transfusion to save my life. He stays by my bedside for months, never leaving, until I finally recover. But after we form a mate bond, I'm unable to conceive a pup. Cassian simply smiles and says, "Then I'll just have to try harder until you get pregnant." We get lost in our acts of passion more frequently until I finally carry a pup. However, I lose the pup, and the cycle repeats. Each time, the agony tears through me like my body is being ripped apart, leaving me weaker and weaker. Seeing me in such torment, Cassian gathers me into his arms. "Let's not try for a pup anymore. We can always adopt one." … Five years pass, and just as he once promised, he makes me the most envied she-wolf in the pack. But on the very day of our five-year bond anniversary, I receive a message. It's an invitation to a pup's birthday party. The message is withdrawn almost instantly, but not before I see the names of the parents—Cassian Blackhowl and Elara Wolfhart. I stand there, frozen stiff. Cassian is my mate. My Alpha. My life. And Elara is the she-wolf who once saved me with her blood.

When my wife, Sandra Lane, finally returns from her business trip, I pin her against the wall, my lust overwhelming my rationality. Halfway through our session, Sandra's phone starts ringing all of a sudden. She quickly pushes me off her body before grabbing her phone. "Sandie, I'm feeling a little uncomfortable. Can you check out what's wrong with me?" A racy video is soon sent to Sandra's private chat. Angered, I question Sandra, "Has William gone nuts? Why did he send you these videos? Is he going to keep badgering you just because he can't find himself a wife?" Sandra responds by slapping me instantly. "What the hell are you talking about, Steven? What's with that gutter mind of yours? I've just rescued William from another city! His parents are already dead, so I'm the only one left in his life! Naturally, I'm obligated to take good care of him! "You disgust me to no end, Steven! Hurry up and apologize to me right now, or else we're getting a divorce!" Sandra and I have been married for six years. During these years, she has used divorce as a threat against me multiple times. But when I'm with Sandra, I've already confessed 1001 times to her. Upon noticing my silence, Sandra just smiles smugly, thinking that there's no way I will ever leave her. But this time, she's wrong.

For two years, Alexandra “Lexi” Richmond Blackwood played the perfect wife. To the outside world, she was married to Ethan Blackwood, the billionaire every woman dreamed of and every man envied. Their love was the envy of New York’s elite. Their smiles, flawless. Their empire, unshakable. But behind the marble walls of their penthouse, Lexi found out the hard truth. His fake marriage and his betrayal withSophia Mendez, the childhood friend and mistress Ethan couldn't let go of. She knew about the lies, the betrayal, and the mockery he made of their vows. And she knew how to destroy him. For two years, Lexi had waited. She’s played the part, worn the diamonds, smiled for the cameras, hoping he would love her someday. But knowing the truth hurts too much and so she plotted. A carefully constructed plan takes an unexpected turn the night she meets Maxwell Reed, Ethan’s most dangerous rival. Maxwell is powerful, cunning, and devastatingly charming, a man who sees through her games yet can’t resist playing them. What begins as a strategic affair turns into something far more dangerous… passion. As Lexi seduces her way through a world built on power and lies, she finds herself caught between two men: One who ruined her life. And one who could ruin her heart. When Ethan’s empire begins to crumble and long-buried secrets rise to the surface, Lexi realizes the most dangerous betrayal may not come from her enemies, but from herself. In a world where loyalty is bought, love is a weapon, and revenge has a price, Lexi will either reign as queen… or lose everything.

To save his mother’s life as she lay critically ill in the operating room, Dante had no choice. The hospital bills kept piling up. Every door he knocked on for help closed, one by one. Until an offer came—dirty, dangerous, and binding. To become a mafia boss’s kept man. Leonard Virelli was not just a wealthy man. He was the shadow ruler of the city—ambitious, manipulative, and accustomed to getting whatever he wanted. Including Dante. Dante knew this was not simply a “relationship.” It was an unspoken contract of ownership. Of a body paid for. Of a life slowly brought under control. He had never imagined himself stepping into a world like that. But for the cost of the surgery, for the only family he had left, Dante was willing to swallow his pride. What he did not expect was how dangerous Leonard truly was. The man did not only want Dante’s presence at his side—he wanted obedience. Loyalty. Perhaps even… his heart. Behind the expensive suits and cold smiles, Leonard harbored an unhealthy obsession. He was not used to being rejected. Not used to losing. And the more Dante tried to keep his emotional distance, the tighter Leonard’s grip became. Trapped between guilt, desperation, and feelings that began to grow without permission, Dante found himself asking a question he was afraid to answer: Did he sell himself to save his mother? Or had he unknowingly surrendered himself to a man who would never let him go? In the mafia world filled with blood and betrayal, love is not tenderness. Love is possession. And Dante has just signed a contract with the most dangerous man in the city.

“I do not need you to love me.” He rebuts coldly. “I need you to marry me.” “I do not want to, Mr Bolt.” I reiterate in case the stubborn asshole hadn’t understood my view on the subject. “I believe you think you have a choice in the matter.” He smiles wolfishly. “Marry me or I’ll let those wolves have a field day with tearing your company from your hands.” “I would rather take my chances with them than you.” He smirks, stepping close enough that his sandalwood scent wraps me in a cloud I wasn’t eager to escape. “Marriage to me wouldn’t be so bad as you well know it.” He smirked running an eye up and down my body. “I’ll keep your days busy with clients and your nights very warm.” *** Maria Belluci had lived a rather peaceful life as the daughter of one of London’s elite businessmen but she had her carefully organized life torn away from her when she found her half-sister in bed with her fiancé a few weeks before their wedding. Distraught, she had a one-night stand with the famed billionaire CEO Sebastian Bolt and left before he could wake up. She decided to leave her family, who had sided with her half-sister and everything associated with them, behind to start over, but her story was far from over as this gripping tale of passion, desire, and betrayal spun her into the arms of Sebastian again. Would they overcome all odds stacked against them or would their romance shatter under the weight of adversity?