Anya Older

Everyone in the Titanus region would have heard the older generation tell them this—during sky burials, the vultures wouldn't eat the corpses of people who'd committed heinous crimes. My husband is the sky burial practitioner who buries me. The vultures circle my corpse in the air above the burial site, but they don't prey on me. My husband frowns at the sight. "It looks like this person must have committed crimes when alive. They deserve this." Suddenly, I remembered him pointing at me, his eyes ablaze with flames of rage as he shouted, "Nancy wouldn't have lost her baby if not for you! Someone like you doesn't even deserve to get a sky burial!" It looks like his words are coming true. But later, he falls to his knees before my grave and weeps. He begs me to forgive him.

"Meet my older son, Dino." I can hardly believe my eyes. My mother’s new fiancé is a billionaire Mr. Alessandro. But it’s his son, Dino, who makes my stomach twist. Dino Alessandro, my worst high school nightmare. The boy who made every day a living hell, who left me with a scar that serves as a constant reminder of everything I endured. Now, he’s going to be my stepbrother. But Dino is different now. Gone is the reckless teenager, replaced by a charming, arrogant man who acts as if our past never happened. He seems intent on winning me over, pushing boundaries and testing limits, as if he can erase the hurt with a single smile. But I haven’t forgotten the scar he left on me. I swore to hate him forever. So why can’t I ignore the way my heart races whenever he’s near? When love and hate collide, will my past wounds finally heal, or will he scar me all over again?

Age is just a number. Or at least that's what Maxwell Cooper thinks whenever he hits on his best friend's mother, Amanda, who is very much divorced and extremely attractive in his eyes. Amanda, highly aware of the obvious infatuation that Maxwell has on her, tries to avoid his advances towards her given their conflicting age differences. She speculates that Maxwell's attraction towards older women is deeply rooted to fact that he might just have some 'Mommy issues'. Maxwell refutes the hypothesis by claiming that he's only attracted to her , not older women in general. Both are put to the test when Amanda , returning from yet another failed date one night, runs into Maxwell who notices the tears in her eyes and proceeds to comfort her. This leads to her inviting her to her house which would be a convenient move seeing as Zac, Maxwell's best friend and Amanda's son, had gone to visit his father in New York for the weekend, leaving her alone for the weekend. They end up sharing a bottle of wine, getting drunk while reminiscing on the simpler days. A kiss is shared during the vulnerable moment between these two, which would lead to regrets and broken friendships.

After my father passes away, my mother—now married into the wealthy Hawthorne family—brings me to live with them. Everyone laughs, saying I'm being groomed to become either of the Hawthorne brothers' bride. Even I start to believe it. But later, when I try to marry one of them, both reject me. The older brother says, "I'll need to marry for business one day. Why would I marry her?" The younger one scoffs. "She's older than me. Who'd want an old woman?" But the very next day, the two of them propose—together—to my assistant. I instantly become a joke. After that, I call my mother. "Mom, I'm willing to marry into the Grant family."

Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and just barely recognizing yourself in the reflection? Well that is me, I have loved and lost. Survived and thrived, screamed and cried into my pillow tears nobody else got to see. But I never gave up hope, never lied down and never let them see me cry. Until him, he could see past the facade and see the real me. He wanted to love me, concole me and protect me. But I have lost hope in humanity, men, true love because life just arent a fairytale right? Its hard work and nothing comes easy even if you would like to believe it does it just doesnt. He is my mothers new husbands son and 10 years older than me. His blue eyes keep staring at me, it should warm me to the core right. Make me feel something anything. But it doesn't he makes women run after him and beg on their knees. But me, I have been down this road before. The charming smile, arrogant cocky attitude. It always ends the same, me covered in bruises crying on the bathroom floor. Thinking its all my fault, all me. But he just wouldn't let go. He wouldn't give up. And the more I turn him down the more it turns him on. I am only that strong before I give in,and even though I know how this is about to end. If he keeps staring at me with desire in his eyes as if I am the reason he is breathing. I know I am about to take the leap this can go down to damn ways. But the question is do I or dont I. Because fear can be your anchor or it can be your wings

“Assassinate the Alpha.” His instructions were clear and easy. Easy because it was me. I had taken down strong men and powerful women. Men who never thought they could be taken down. Taking them down was not easy either but again it was because it is me. Men stood no chance where I stood. There are older men and even women in our club. Yet I joined six months ago and I have taken down more than each has in the last thirty years since my father founded the organization. I overheard people in the organization murmur and gossip among themselves that my father trained me differently, but that was where they missed it. My father never trained me. In fact he did not want me anywhere close to the organization. He said multiple times that he wanted a normal life for me. That I am a happy girl with the nature of a sunflower – I was always happy. Which is an absolute contrast to my name if you take out the two latter words.

During lunch, an older female colleague asked me, "How old are you? Do you have a boyfriend? When are you planning to get married?" I shook my head. "Twenty-seven, no boyfriend, and no plans to get married." She was momentarily stunned. "What are you talking about? How can a woman not get married?" she asked. I smiled without responding. Realizing I wasn't joking, her expression darkened. "Did you work as a escort and get caught? Is that why no man wants you?"

Aslan Kennedy was born an Alpha, but his body does not function as it should. He calls himself broken. Then Aslan's life changed when one night he accidentally crashed into a car parked at a gas station because he was being chased by his enemy. He thought the accident would be settled with money, but it turns out that the owner of the car is an asshole. A man a few years older than Aslan demands accountability. But even after the compensation was paid, the man continued to annoy Aslan. He kept showing up wherever Aslan was. As the intensity of their encounters increased, Aslan became used to the man's presence. But on the other hand, Aslan wondered if their closeness was the right thing? Was the man simply interested in him, or was there some other purpose?

Martina was a compassionate daughter for her father, who became disabled due to an accident caused by her. Feeling bad, she vowed to do anything her stepmother wanted, which included marrying a stranger. She initially resisted the idea, but her evil stepmother threatened to cut off her father's treatment if she didn't. She had no choice but to marry the man her stepmother had arranged for her. She soon found that the guy she was about to marry was someone wealthy, which motivated her to believe that her future husband might be able to assist her father's recovery by arranging for the best physicians and treatment available. She was willing to give herself up for her father's sake, but what she didn't expect was that the man she is about to wed is one of the richest men in the world, someone who was much older than she was—even much older than her dad! After being married, Zion decided to bring his new wife to his place, an island secluded from civilization, where Martina met a handsome man, a handsome man that made her heart flutter.

I stand in the hospital after my two older brothers decline all 99 of my phone calls. They finally appear, bringing with them the biological sister they found. My gentle eldest brother, who had once rescued me from my so-called abusive parents, raises his hand and slaps me across the face. "Cynthia, you're actually pretending to have a terminal illness just to compete with Sarah for our affection? And you came to this kind of place to frighten us?" I clutch my swollen cheek and listen as my second brother, who always says he'll trust me no matter what, holds Sarah in his arms and laughs out loud. "Are you trying to fake being sick to get our attention after seeing that Sarah is in poor health? "Just cut the act. You've been living in luxury since childhood and have always been in perfect health. How could you possibly be ill?" Sarah Crawford speaks up thoughtfully, "Don't blame her, you two. I think she just feels like I've stolen away your love for her, which is why she has become so unreasonable..." I look at the two brothers who have doted on me for ten years and suddenly feel that nothing matters anymore. After all, I only have seven days left to live. In seven days, everything will return to normal after my departure. But by then, they'll be the ones unable to accept it.