Cold Reads Novels & Stories

Liana Elizabeth Rose of the prestigious Rose family woke gasping—remembering everything. At first, she thought it was a dream. Or a hallucination. Maybe heaven, maybe hell, or wherever people go when life has been cruel enough to steal their breath. But the room was the same. The curtains were the same. The smooth, unscarred skin she touched was the same. As if the last five years of betrayal and humiliation had never etched themselves into her. Then the panic hit. She remembered. Every. Single. Thing. The cold metal of prison bars. Her husband Adrian’s dead, beautiful eyes accusing her of the accident. The trial. The cousin who framed her. The family who abandoned her. The little brother who no longer remembered her voice. Her death. And the cruelest truth: she wasn’t even from this world. It was a book a stupid novel her roommate had recommended. She died inside a story she didn’t write. And now, she woke up at the moment everything began to crumble. Fine. Sharpen her mind. Feed her ambition. And when the plot tried to drag her back, she’d pull harder. Then there was him—Adrian. From his point of view, the world shifted. Her scent. Her voice. Her existence. Everything about her crawled under his skin, sank into his bloodstream, coiled around his bones. He didn’t understand it. He didn’t want to. He only knew: if she breathed, he wanted it. If she moved, he followed. Obsession wasn’t a symptom—it was his nature. And Liana? She had rewritten herself into the one thing he could never let go of. This time, she wasn’t the victim. She wasn’t a plot device. She was the storm. And Adrian? Learning, too late, that even possession has a price.

On our anniversary, my husband, James Marshall, purchased a painting as a gift for me with my secondary credit card. When I got home, I went to my study to retrieve an urgent court document. The door was slightly ajar. Inside, I could hear the flirtatious voice of my assistant, Julie Summers, mingled with my husband’s low murmurs. “James, your wife is just a money-printing machine. What does she know about art? She could never appreciate you like I do.” James sighed. Then, in an indulgent tone, he said, “Claire is too perfect—so perfect it’s suffocating. Not like you, full of life and warmth.” Just then, my mother-in-law, Susan Marshall, called James. He put her on speakerphone. “James, you need to move faster. While Claire still trusts you, turn all her client contacts into yours. That Julie girl seems promising. She’s much easier to control than that iron-fisted career wife of yours.” I gripped the cold doorknob, listening to the pair of shameless lovers in the study and the wretched woman on the phone, and immediately drafted a divorce agreement. At the same time, I forwarded asset-protection filings for all my holdings to my legal team. “I’ll see you all in court, parasites.”

Dante Cruz looks untouchable star quarterback, all muscle and tattoos, the guy everyone either wants to be or wants to have. But his grades are tanking, and if he fails one more class, football won’t save him. Eli Summers never expected to room with him. Eli’s a lit major, more at home with novels and coffee stains than roaring crowds. He’s blonde, silly, always running late, and his painted nails drive Dante crazy in ways he can’t explain. What starts with late-night tutoring and bickering over laundry turns into something else something hotter, riskier. A kiss in the wrong place. A touch that lingers too long. Suddenly, keeping boundaries feels impossible. But the campus is watching. Rumors spread fast, and Dante has everything to lose if anyone finds out. Eli has to decide if he’s okay being Dante’s secret or if love this strong deserves to be seen.

"Leave this country and don't ever come back!" Being the sole survivor of her family's tragic car accident, a mysterious man gave Stephanie Ruan a chance to flee for her life. Eight years later, Stephanie Ruan returned to the country as the director of an internationally renowned publishing firm. Upon knowing that her family's car accident is related to the prestigious Zhong Family, her best bet is to get close to Javier Zhong to find out the truth and avenge her family members. "I want to be your fiancé." With her new identity and strong character, she fearlessly plotted against the most powerful and ruthless man in the country, Javier Zhong. Unlike other women whose biggest dream is to marry him, Stephanie Ruan spat out those words with much unwillingness. Of course, to scheme against such a dangerous man, there would be risks and sacrifices involved. She could either be killed by him or... unexpectedly fall deeply in love with him? Whichever the result is, Stephanie Ruan knows that once she enters this game, there is no turning back!

Arlo grew up knowing exactly where he stood on the edges of a world that was never meant for him. The son of a servant in a house built on power, rules, and silence, he learned early that some lines should never be crossed. Especially not with someone like Nikolai. Cold. Untouchable. Dangerous in ways Arlo never questioned. Until the day Nikolai started paying attention. What begins as something quiet—familiar, almost harmless—turns into something neither of them can control. Because in Nikolai’s world, desire isn’t just forbidden. It’s dangerous. And when someone from that world decides Arlo doesn’t belong anywhere near him… Staying might cost him everything. But leaving? Might be the one thing Nikolai won’t allow.

My boyfriend thought I was just a nerd. When he was drunk, he complained to his friends. “Does it matter if she has good grades? Her family’s broke. You know, I could slap a wad of cash in her face, and she’d come crawling like a dog.” However, I later ended up crying and sitting on a certain someone’s lap. He kissed me from behind my ear down to my neck and chuckled softly. “Hmm, a nerd? Does he even know that you’re actually the daughter of the city’s biggest real estate tycoon?”

Jamie Reyes doesn’t do one-night stands. But after a soul-crushing breakup and too many glasses of whiskey, he lets himself fall—just once—for a stranger’s hands, lips, and whispered promises in the dark. No names. No strings. No future. Until Monday morning, when his anonymous hookup steps into the conference room… as Julian Black, his new department supervisor. Julian is everything Jamie shouldn’t want—older, emotionally locked down, and strictly off-limits. Yet the tension simmers, sharp as ever, and pretending it didn’t happen is impossible when every brush of fingers feels like a memory. They’re supposed to be professionals. They’re not supposed to want more. And if they’re caught, everything Jamie’s worked for could fall apart. But what happens when the lines blur, and a one-night mistake becomes the one thing neither of them can walk away from? A steamy, slow-burn MM office romance filled with forbidden tension, secret glances, and the kind of chemistry that doesn’t stay buried.

Billionaire CEO Damien Voss hasn’t slept peacefully in three years — not since the car accident that broke him. When his assistant drapes a forgotten lavender-and-strawberry scented blanket over him, Damien finally finds rest… until the precious scent is washed away forever. Desperate and unraveling, he turns to the blanket’s owner: Liora Kane, his assistant’s younger sister. With a single threat her brother’s job or her compliance Damien forces Liora into a contract: eight hours per night in his bed, nothing more. Her days remain her own. Six months only. He tells himself he is being reasonable. He only needs her scent to sleep. Nothing else. But Damien Voss was once the city’s most sought-after bachelor tall, devastatingly handsome, and powerfully built. Even after the accident, his striking looks and commanding presence remain. And though he has never been with a woman, he quickly learns how to use every inch of his body to seduce the innocent woman lying beside him. Night after night, Liora lies stiff beside the domineering CEO as he buries his face in her neck, inhaling her like a drug. What begins as clinical necessity slowly turns carnal. His touches grow bolder. His hips start to rock against her in the dark. He rubs himself against her thigh or stomach until he shudders and spills in his boxers, whispering filthy praises against her skin while she fights the unwanted heat building inside her. The contract promised safety. It promised only eight hours and nothing sexual unless she consents. Yet Damien’s obsession deepens with every shared breath. Jealousy ignites. Possession takes hold. And Liora finds herself dangerously seduced by the broken, beautiful man who needs her more than air a man willing to break every rule to make her crave him.

Someone is watching Sebastian Mercer. Someone who knows when he sleeps. When he works late. When he stands alone in the dark of his penthouse office. When the threats finally surface, the board hires elite security. They assign him Kane Maddox. What they don’t know is that Kane has already memorized Sebastian’s routines. Already studied his weaknesses. Already decided no one else is worthy of standing at his side. Kane’s protection is absolute. His control is intoxicating. His touch is addictive. And as enemies close in and secrets unravel, Sebastian must decide what’s more dangerous The men trying to destroy his empire… Or the bodyguard who refuses to let him belong to anyone but him.

When I was discharged from the psychiatric hospital, my brother and sister-in-law dropped everything to personally pick me up. Even my nephew, who had just finished his college entrance exams, arrived with a box of carrot cake he had waited in line all day to buy. His warm smile was the picture of innocence. “Auntie, congratulations on your discharge. With me here, you’ll never feel lonely again.” To outsiders, we were the perfect family—envied by all and even awarded the title of a local model family. But behind the facade of family bliss lay a very different story. On the very day my brother transferred the last of the family properties to me, I went live on social media. In front of an audience that idolized my so-called perfect family, I boasted about my "accomplishments." I conned my nephew into paying for a spot at an elite school, duped my sister-in-law into stepping into a scandalous club, and tricked my brother into losing everything he had worked for. “My brother has treated me with nothing but kindness. And I can only repay his kindness with betrayal.”