Characters With No Teeth Novels & Stories

Seven years ago, Selene Ocean was framed and forced out of the world of elite marine research. She lost her career, her future, and the man she once loved—Ethan North, the proud corporate heir who believed the lie that broke her. Now she returns, not as a victim, but as the brilliant founder of the global marine conservation initiative, Heart of the Deep. Armed with unmatched intuition and a mind sharp enough to read the ocean itself, Selene rebuilds reefs, exposes corruption, and rises to international recognition. When the truth is revealed, Ethan collapses under the weight of his regret—but Selene’s heart is no longer his to claim. With the dangerous and manipulative Veronica Shaw closing in, the storm around Selene only grows stronger. In this story of betrayal, resilience, and redemption, one truth stands firm: The past cannot drown a woman who has learned to rise from the depths.

Even on my hundredth proposal, Isabelle Cole still turns me down. We've been together for seven years. For the previous 99 proposals, she said her childhood friend isn't married yet, and she can't bring herself to break the promise they've made. Staring at the ring in my hand, I finally can't hold it in anymore. "If Ronald never gets married, are you going to keep him company forever? What am I to you?" Isabelle's expression turns gloomy in an instant. She snatches the ring and throws it into the river. "Ron and I made a promise when we were kids that we'd get married at the same time. How can I just abandon him? "And besides, is that piece of paper really all that important, Lucas? We've been together for seven years. What difference would it even make?"

In order to secure the five-million-dollar business deal with a major client, I end up getting hospitalized from overdrinking. On the day I get discharged, I see a text message on my department's group chat. My manager, Robert Spradlin, has tagged everyone in the group chat. "Everyone must attend the celebratory afterparty tonight. We're celebrating the fact that our department has secured the biggest deal of the year!" As I stare at the screen, I feel a hint of warmth bubbling in my heart. Even though Robert is often stingy and loves putting on airs, I'm pretty sure that this is his way of acknowledging my efforts. I specifically go home and change into new clothes. Then, I arrive at the private room right on time. The moment I open the door, I feel a blast of hot air mixed with a strong smell of spice hitting my face. It's so overwhelming that I can't help but cough violently. "Sit, sit! I've specifically ordered these dishes for you!" Kristie Madison, the newly-recruited admin, gushes. But when I take a good look at the dishes, I feel my smile freeze on my face. Spice, spice, and more spice. Kristie has ordered 20 dishes, and yet I can't even stomach every single one.

I'm supposed to be Kyle Thornwood's Luna. But for the past five years, he has abandoned 52 of our marking ceremonies, proving to the Moon Goddess that he doesn't deserve me. The first time, Elara Bennett—the Omega he took in—gets lost during a hunt. He cuts the ceremony short to find her, leaving me alone on the ritual altar while our bond unravels into nothing. The second time, right in the middle of negotiations with a rival pack, he senses through the mind-link that someone is bothering Elara. He drops everything and runs back, leaving me to face a room full of hostile wolves alone. After that, it doesn't matter which full moon I choose. Elara always has some crisis that needs him. She gets hurt during training, other wolves pick on her, or she has a bad dream. Eventually, something inside me breaks. I decide to sever this so-called destined mate bond for good. The day I leave the Graywolf pack, Kyle loses it completely. He tracks my scent everywhere, clinging to whatever is left of our connection.

On the way to buy holiday groceries, I ran into an old classmate I had not seen in years. The moment he saw Stefan Adler, the first thing out of his mouth was, "Did you know Nadine Keller is back in the country?" I looked at Stefan by reflex, only to find him smiling at me too. "Overthinking again, babe? We have nothing to do with each other anymore." Then he turned to our old classmate and introduced me seriously. "This is Elise Bauer. She was the girl from the class next door back in college, and now she is my girlfriend." I had not really overthought it. After all, Stefan and Nadine had ended badly. She had blocked him in front of everyone, and for a long time afterward, Stefan's face would turn cold whenever anyone mentioned her. I went to the next aisle to pick out snacks while they caught up. When I came back, I happened to hear the old classmate say, "Actually, Nadine asked me for your contact information yesterday..."

Tomboy Lily Bennett gets into an accident and is mistaken for the identical twin she never knew she had, turning her entire world upside down! With her twin still missing, she gets sucked into the wild world of beauty pageants in her place. With the help of an old high school classmate and her twin's fiance, Lily tries her best to temporarily take over the role of Miss California while they look for her. The problem? She's no beauty queen!

While I was on vacation with my parents, we stood on the deck overlooking the sea when my father suddenly asked, "Mother duck says quack, quack, quack, quack. But?" I was about to reply, "Only four little ducks came back," when he kicked me into the water. "What's taking you so long to finish a song? Are you cognitively arrested or what?" he barked. Cold water filled my lungs like lead as I bobbed in the waves. "Help me, Dad! I can't swim!" My mother told the captain to steer the superyacht away instead. "Then stay in the water a little longer. Self-preservation may finally make you learn to swim. That's what you need. Real grit and adversity to unlock your potential." I flailed my arms and fought to stay afloat, but panic took over. My right leg cramped and refused to move. I could only watch the superyacht fade into the horizon. I drifted for a while before I could catch up with my parents' superyacht. I wished I could tell them how many ducks came back, but they would never hear my voice again.

Every year, the village had to choose a girl of age to become the Blossom Bride. The girl who was chosen would be sent into the cave as the village god’s wife. She would spend the entire night with him. If she came out alive, she would be honored for the rest of her life as a village elder. Any child she bore was said to be blessed, destined for a life of effortless fortune. If she died, the village would simply wait for the next year, when another Blossom Bride would be chosen. The blessing of the Blossom Bride was believed to pass on to her parents and elders as well. However, no one wanted to be chosen. To escape the ritual, families quietly left the village, one after another. I was the only one who volunteered. I had a lust problem, and I had always wondered what it would feel like to be with a god.

"Mom, Dad. I've changed my mind. I'm willing to go back to Bimern and marry Mr. Coleman, even if he's in a coma." I keep it a secret from Frederick Kirby, my boyfriend of seven years. I'm going ahead and arranging a wedding with someone else. Lennon Downey, Frederick and I grew up together. I had fallen in love with Frederick when I was a teenager, while Lennon was always like an older brother to me. We are close, and we've always been that way. That is, until the three of us went on a trip and got caught in a flash flood. Florence Cooper, the fake heiress, stole the credit for saving their lives and even lied that I left them behind to save myself. Since then, they've taken her side in everything. They've even hurt me for her. I cried, fought, and tried to explain over and over again. I thought that they would see her for who she really is one day. However, they never did. All I got in return was betrayal, again and again. I'm done. I just want to leave. I want to disappear from their lives and never, ever see them again.

On my way to the bank, I stumbled across a post: [What's the most shameful thing you've done behind your partner's back?] One comment stood out: [I secretly married my first love, and my girlfriend keeps dumping money into our joint account like an idiot. She actually thinks I'm saving for a house. There's already sixty-seven grand in there. Once she hits eighty, I'm taking it all!] The flood of likes made my stomach twist. I pulled up my account balance. Sixty-seven grand. Not a penny more, not a penny less. So, my boyfriend secretly married his ex.