Chord Empty Space

On the day Tristan Spallone, the head of a mafia family, and I mark our fifth wedding anniversary, the manager of the Spallone family vault calls. Something that was stored away for a long time has finally come due, and Tristan is to retrieve it. He's so busy that he barely has a moment to breathe, so I go in his place. What I bring back is an old roll of film. The manager warned me that if it wasn’t developed soon, its age might cause it to be ruined beyond recovery. But when I have them developed, frame after frame is filled with Winnie Leigh, his first love. Her smile looks so sweet in those pictures that they nearly suffocate me. What about me, one may ask? I never once appeared on his albums. The office door slams open. Tristan bursts in, already out of breath. "Anna, is your life really so empty that you have to dig through mine?" I turn toward him, the man who's usually so composed. I neither question him nor break down. Instead, I speak slowly. "We're getting a divorce." Tristan frowns and thrusts the stack of photos into the shredder. He then looks back at me. "They're gone. Do you still want a divorce?" A bitter smile tugs at my lips. "Yes."

Alexander's mistress was pregnant. He turned his back on me without a shred of hesitation, canceled our marking ceremony, and brought her home instead. As he passed by, he didn't even look at me. He just left a brief order hanging in the air. "She's weak. You know medicine. From now on, you'll handle her meals." When he reached the first floor, he paused again. "She's pregnant. She can't be frightened, and she needs me to sleep beside her." His voice was flat, devoid of any feeling for me. "There are plenty of empty rooms. Move out of mine." I packed my things quietly, without a word, and walked out of the estate. The butler tried to stop me, but Alexander's voice cut through the hall, cold and final. "Let her go. Once she cools off, she'll come crawling back on her own." His men, watching the scene unfold, exchanged amused glances. They even placed bets right in front of me—how many minutes before I'd regret leaving and come running back. But none of them knew the truth. The Alpha King my parents had chosen for me had already sent a car to wait for me outside the gate. This time, I wasn't coming back.

A Feral Curse swept through the werewolf world. Those wolves touched by it become monsters that devour their own packmates; others die in agony as the infection burns through them. The survivors formed an Alliance to fight back. I fought alongside my mate, Alpha Liam, until the very end. Until rescue finally came. But our transport was seconds from takeoff. That’s when Liam's first love, an omega named Chloe, ran back. All for a beat-up music box. Liam insisted we wait. The feral pack was closing in. I had no choice. I forced the ramp shut. Chloe was torn apart by ferals. Back at the Alliance base, I thought we were safe. I was wrong. That night, Liam knocked me out and threw me to a captured feral wolf. The infection was pure agony. It felt like my veins were erupting from the inside out. I died alone in a cold, empty cell. His last words echoed in my mind through our link: "You let Chloe die. It's your turn to feel what she felt." Then I opened my eyes. I was back. Back on the airfield. On the day he refused to leave. I saw the feral pack in the distance, and a cold smile touched my lips. He wants to save Chloe so badly? Fine. This time, they can die together.

"What's an Omega like you doing here?" he sneered. "Don't you belong in the slum, or something?" His friends snickered at his cruel joke, and I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment. I tried to ignore them and head to the empty table, but Eric wouldn't let it go. "Look at her, pretending to be a real wolf," Eric sneered. "As if an Omega could ever be anything more than a loser." *********************** Shannon’s life has always been hard as an Omega. She is bullied and abused by the pack members everyday. She has only one wish: to find her true love on her eighteenth birthday and runaway with him. But her hopes are shattered when she finds out she is mated to Alpha Eric, the most desired Alpha in school. Eric rejects her blatantly and taunts her publicly for being weak. She moves to a different pack, hoping to start afresh but things are not quite different there. She has new stepbrothers, the Alphas triplet sons, who turn out to be her worst bullies. They hate Shannon and her mom for trying to take their dead mother’s place. But what happens when they find out that they are all mated to the girl they humiliate constantly? There’s a struggle for her, each one desiring to have her for himself. But Shannon can only choose one of them but must she? Will she end up with all three brothers and how will she navigate her complex relationship with them?

'Gwen pushed him back, trying to create enough space between them. "I do not love you." Alexander smirked. "You do. You just don't know that you do." Gwen moved back. "Do you know the ways of my heart." "Yes, I do. And it tells the truth. You are only too stubborn to acknowledge it." He moved closer, pressing her against the wall. "When you decide to tell yourself the truth, I will be waiting." He kissed her forehead. "But don't make me wait long. I am not as patient as people think." This time he kissed her lips and staked off, leaving Gwen in a complete daze.' Marriage and a family is all life is to Gwen and she would see to it that she is not humiliated before then. A wife, and not a mistress is what she plans to be, but what can be done when the king of her country makes a proposal to put her by his side? Alexander is used to getting what he wants and getting his way, after all, he is King. But when he sets his eyes on the young and beautiful Guinevere who is just as stubborn as he is, will making her stay at the castle earn him her love, or will it be the beginning of his undoing? (Hating Her King is the sequel to Loving Her Duke and is also the second book of the British Blood Trilogy.)

Eight years ago, a night of drunken recklessness left me carrying Grayson Ulrich's child. But from that moment on, he began to hate both me and our daughter. He never allowed her to call him "Dad." He wouldn't let me step into his study, either. Because inside that study, every inch of space was filled with traces of another woman—Sandra Wright, the ex-fiancée who had once left him for freedom and happiness, who had gone abroad to marry a rich man. She was the one Grayson could never forget. The one he still loved. On our eighth anniversary, Sandra returned. That night, Grayson got drunk for the first time in years. He held our daughter in his arms and wept until his eyes were red. My daughter looked at me, bewildered. "Mom, why is Uncle crying?" I held back my tears and told her softly, "Because he is very happy. The person he loves has finally come back." Then I said, "So, Mommy's taking you away—so we won't disturb him and the woman he loves, okay?"

In a world where appearances are everything, Lola Navarro's carefully constructed life shatters when a twist of fate entwines her with Santiago Morales—her best friend's enigmatic older brother. He's a titan of industry, a rumored playboy whose charisma is as legendary as his fortune. A sudden, inescapable scandal thrusts them into a high-stakes charade: a public engagement designed to deceive the voracious media and safeguard their reputations. Forced into the same living space, their lives become an intricate dance of whispered secrets and undeniable proximity. Beneath the dazzling facade, the carefully built walls around their hearts begin to crumble. Sparks fly, tempers flare, and as the lines between their 'performance' and their true selves blur, an electric, forbidden attraction ignites. But the world watches, and the powerful forces that brought them together threaten to tear them apart. Can Lola, fiercely independent and suddenly thrust into the limelight, navigate the treacherous currents of Santiago's world? And can Santiago, a man accustomed to controlling every aspect of his empire, surrender to a love that defies all logic? In a city built on illusions, they must decide if their burgeoning connection is a dangerous fantasy or the most powerful truth of all. Will their love story be a fleeting headline, or a timeless romance forged in the crucible of public scrutiny?

"How many men were there before me? None. Do you know how much shame I carry having you by my side as my girlfriend? Even your own mother is ashamed of you - you said it yourself." "I never begged for your love, Jun," I snapped back, tears stinging my eyes. "Why date me if you're ashamed of my size?" "Pity. That was it. I dated you out of pity. And yet, you're still so ungrateful." --- All Charlotte ever wanted was to become an actress. But growing up in a family that constantly belittled her and dating a man like Jun, who tore her down because of her size, made that dream feel unreachable. After a devastating breakup, she flees to the United States, desperate for space to breathe. But she never imagined everything would change before the plane even touched down. Now, she finds herself entangled with a mysterious billionaire - one who seems dangerously obsessed with her. Charlotte knows better than to trust too easily.  But how do you protect your heart when someone seems too good to be true… and refuses to let you go?

Alexis thought she had it all: a thriving career, a charming husband, and a Pinterest-worthy life. That was before she walked in on Kevin and Stephanie, her cousin sleeping together. Without an ounce of shame, Kevin files for divorce from her and takes her company as his draining all her accounts. Left with nothing but a broken heart and empty savings, she’s forced to start from scratch. Desperate to pay a loan shark and too broke , she lands a cleaning job at the Carter Penthouse. It’s not ideal—but it’s a paycheck. And the perfect place to plot her revenge. There she meets Pierce Carter a cold billionaire and devilishly handsome—and unfortunately, her new boss. He’s arrogant. She’s petty. He’s got issues. She’s got bills. When Pierce makes a ridiculous bet with his best friend that he can last a week without firing her, Alexis sees an opportunity: get fired, walk away with a small fortune. But just when they think they’ve rid themselves of each other, fate has other plans. Pierce needs a wife to claim his inheritance from his late father, and Alexis needs the ultimate revenge: showing up married to a billionaire hotter than Kevin could ever dream of. It’s the perfect solution… until real feelings start to get in the way. A fake marriage is born. The rule is simple: You can look but you can't touch. No love. But who will break it first?

I came back to life the day Cedric Gramont got drugged. This time? I didn't offer my body to him. I called his so-called soulmate instead. In my last life, I stupidly fell for the uncle who wasn't blood-related. When I found out he'd been hit with something strong, I ignored his plea to call Elyna Humbert—and "helped" him myself. A month later, I was pregnant. He had to marry me. On our wedding day, Elyna, who'd gone abroad to "clear her head," got kidnapped and killed. Before she died, she called Cedric 199 times, begging for help. He didn't pick up once. Too busy sealing the deal with me. Later, he just stared at those missed calls, not saying a word. Then the day I went into labor, he locked me in the basement. I begged him to take me to the hospital. He just smiled, cold and empty, and watched me die screaming, the baby still inside me. Last thing I heard? "If you hadn't gotten pregnant, I wouldn't have married you. I wouldn't have missed Elyna's calls. You deserved to die." When I opened my eyes again, it was that same day—Cedric was drugged, but this time, I knew better.