Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess

Celeste was an abandoned princess, and a wolf-less she-wolf who held no value to her father. Horres was the ruthless Alpha of the Iron Fang Pack-a ticking time bomb. As a peace offering to a rival pack, Celeste Holmes knew her life would be difficult as the Luna to an Alpha who would give anything to wipe her pack from the surface of the earth. Even then, she felt it was her ticket to escape her father’s clutches, yet nothing prepared her for the horror awaiting her. People said Alpha Horres was scary, but to Celeste, he was a demon. Alpha Horres Thorne had everything planned out for the daughter of his nemesis. The humiliation, pain, torture, and everything that could break her was set the moment her father thought of offering her to him. Horres enjoyed watching her bleed. Relishing her despair, and seeing the helplessness on her face gave him the energy to plot more schemes against her evil father. Everything was supposed to move perfectly, but there was a flaw in his plan. After that fateful night, he experienced every single pain he inflicted on her, just the way she felt it. Even her subconscious fears and insecurities were felt by him. Didn’t they say Celeste Holmes had no wolf? How then did she do it, or did Alpha Holmes’ daughter succeed in bewitching Horres while he was enjoying his time torturing her? Did he lose in his own game of chess? How would he take revenge when he couldn’t even hurt her anymore? Was he supposed to just surrender and love her now? What about his grievances?

“He pressed me to the wall with one hand tight around my throat, the other sliding beneath the thin silk clinging to my skin. I should’ve been begging for help. Instead, my knees went weak when he leaned in, his mouth hot against my ear. ‘Does it hurt, darling?’ he whispered. I shook my head, even as his fingers left bruises. ‘Good. I like it when you take it.’ God, I hated him. God, I wanted him to never let go.” A DARK, EROTIC TALE OF OBSESSION, HUMILIATION, AND HUNGER. They called him the Devil, a sadist with a crooked smile and hands built for breaking men. In the underworld’s most perverse auction, Luca Ruelle is nothing but trembling prey, sold for a price no soul should fetch. Silk-wrapped, bare, choking on shame and smoke, he should be praying for rescue. But Kain Astor doesn’t rescue. He claims, corrupts, and devours. He teaches Luca how it feels to be owned. How pain can bloom where fear lives. How pleasure is just another kind of cruelty. Every command is a dare, every punishment a promise. Under Kain’s hands, Luca learns the exquisite agony of surrender, and the terror of how badly he needs it. He should be fighting for his life. Instead, he’s sinking to his knees, eyes glazed, lips parted, whispering the one word that seals his fate— “Please.”

“I paid you! Why do you keep stalking me, then?” She burst out, while glancing at the door as if she was expecting someone to come in and save her. Not that she needed any saving though. I placed both hands on the table, and leaned down towards her. “We fucked.” My lips curled. Her face colored crimson. “It was a nightstand. Adults have one nightstands all the time. Moreover, I paid you-” “I’m not other people, Inez Raymond,” I said, cutting off her words. “Let’s make a deal.” Interest sparked within her eyes, yet she eyed me cautiously. “What deal?” “That you'll agree to be my wife for three months. If you don't fall in love with me during that period, I'll let you be.” She hesitated. “No sex?” I smirked. “I can't promise that. So, what do you say?” She took a deep breath. “Okay.” *** In her drunken and broken hearted haze, Inez Raymond has a one nightstand with a stranger. She pays him off the next morning, and part ways with him. But then, he starts stalking her. When he forces her into a deal with him, she agrees. What she doesn't know is that the stranger was connected with her in ways she could never imagine. Nor was she aware that she was the only heiress of the most powerful family in Europe, second only to the Celvins. While she's determined not to fall in love with him within three months, he's determined to make her fall in love with him, to find out who made her lose her memory years ago, while helping her get revenge on her ex-husband. Who will emerge champion, in their little game of chess?

"wanna know something about pawns, Ursula?" He murmured, his breath hot against my ears. " You can move them around all you want and they'll still think they are in control." My grip on his shirt tightened. " You, bastard, I'm not your slave." " You are worse. You are my wife." Zachary Wellington; cold, ruthless, feared by everyone except one woman; Valerie Hampton, the one woman he despises so much since high school . He calls her Ursula — the villain in his love story and she calls him Dracula, the devil's spawn . She bullied his first love and she died when she discovered a secret about Valerie. Years later, they meet again. Only this time, it’s no accident. Zachary orchestrated an arranged marriage to claim his billion-dollar inheritance . Fueled by old wounds and a twisted thirst for revenge, he turns their union into a twisted game of chess guided by cold rules, where every move is calculated, and trust is a luxury both can't afford. But what begins as punishment spirals into something far more dangerous: desire, obsession, and secrets that refuse to stay buried. From betrayal and childhood trauma to a violent heir lurking in the shadows, Valerie and Zachary are about to uncover a truth that could destroy them both. Love was never part of the plan. But in a marriage built on lies and vengeance, it might be their only way out.

Yasmin spent her entire life in the church as a nun. Her father was a well respected and over zealous priest and she was as silent and quiet as an empty chapel. But all that changed the day she met Jacob West, a dominant billionaire bad boy and every girl's dream lover. She learns things about herself that she never knew. He engages her mind and body and teaches her pleasure and pain, a different kind of pain than the one her father inflicted on her for tiny mistakes. Her entire world changes, she knows too much. Will her father ever forgive her? Maybe she was just not cut out to be a nun after all.

In the coastal quiet of Baler, a studio is born—not of architecture, but of intention.* Founded by Yam, a poet whose words cradle pain gently, and Franc, an artist who paints tenderness into walls, the studio becomes a refuge for those learning to stay—with grief, love, longing, and themselves. As visitors arrive, they leave behind more than footprints: a sigh recorded in bamboo, a poem tucked into the “Found Letters” shelf, a mural painted in crooked lines. Through zines, tea, silence, and sketchbooks, the studio teaches softness as revolution. Ren creates the *Window of Soft Returns*, an installation of anonymous voice recordings—each whisper forming a community of echoes. Drew builds the *Staircase With No Wrong Turns*, inviting people to walk through emotions without shame. Franc offers brushstrokes as brave work, and Yam curates writing circles that map healing in half sentences. Together, they host festivals that feel like hugs, and they begin traveling their archive, letting softness cross oceans. Even those who once left—like Miguel—return, discovering that some doors never truly close. Others, like Tala, capture the studio’s sound and turn it into a podcast of breath and becoming. Over seventy chapters, the studio transforms into something larger than itself: a mural of memory, a sanctuary for second chances, a place where return is sacred and voice is proof of survival. In the final bloom, the studio stands not as a monument—but as a reminder: > *“Staying isn’t easy. > But chosen together, > it becomes home.”*