Colosseum Spectacle

SLOANE HOLBROOK is a thirty-five-year-old copywriter whose only commitment is to sarcasm, but every major holiday turns her into a single, pitiful spectacle for her judgmental family. Her solution? JACKSON, a charming, commitment-phobic Australian golf coach who needs a distraction just as badly as she does. They forge the "Holidate Pact" a year-long contract to be each other’s flawless, platonic plus-ones for every major event, with one rigid rule: zero feelings. But when a New Year's Eve kiss designed for public consumption feels startlingly real, Sloane and Jackson realize surviving the holiday calendar is easy; surviving the relentless, rule-breaking, undeniable attraction might be impossible. They signed up for a cynical transaction, but what happens when their fake relationship becomes the most honest thing in their lives?

On the night of the Silvermoon Festival, the entire Black Forest pack is bathed in the light of the Moon Goddess. I'm about to share the spectacle with Kaelen through the mind-link, but then I spot a familiar figure. Kaelen Payne, my Alpha and fated mate, is holding a she-wolf in his arms. She tilts her face up to him, her voice edged with challenge. "Kaelen, prove I'm not just a secret. Mark me." My blood seems to freeze as I hear Kaelen murmur his agreement before pressing his mouth to hers. My wolf lets out a painful howl inside me. Just an hour ago, Kaelen's voice had come through the mind-link, "My Luna, I wish I could see the festival too, but there's an emergency at the border. Don't forget to share it with me through the mind-link." My fingertips turn cold, and I instinctively reach for him through the mind-link.

Katherine Donovan's world shattered when she discovered her billionaire husband, Castiel Mikaelson, in bed with her identical twin sister, Caroline. Betrayal, humiliation, and the public exposure of their secret left her broken. Seeking solace and healing, she escapes to the quiet country side, vowing to leave her past behind. Years later, Katherine returns to her hometown, a transformed woman. She's built a successful business, found confidence, and is fiercely independent. But the scars of betrayal remain, driving a burning desire for revenge. She sets her sights on Castiel, now engaged to Caroline, and orchestrates a plan to make him suffer. Her path to revenge leads her to Zayn Hogan, Castiel's best friend, a wealthy and charismatic man. Katherine, with her undeniable beauty and charm, embarks on a passionate affair with him, fueled by a thirst for retribution. But as their connection deepens, Katherine finds herself questioning her motivations. Can she truly find happiness in a love born out of revenge? As Castiel, desperate to win Katherine back, makes a public spectacle of his remorse, Katherine must confront her past and her feelings for Zayn. The lines blur between revenge and genuine love, leaving her at a crossroads. Will she finally find closure and forgiveness, or will the weight of her past ultimately consume her?

After landing a major project for the company, I receive a ring from my girlfriend, Kiera Ripley. I happily share a picture of it on my socials, thinking she was finally going to announce our engagement. But Kiera's newly hired assistant, Trevor Horton, suddenly slaps me hard and overturns my entire work desk. "You're a director, for God's sake! Don't you feel the least bit ashamed, stealing the present my wife gave me?" Trevor snaps. Not only does Kiera not retort to Trevor's words, but she even says I am not fit for my position as director of the tech department. She then announces to all the staff that Trevor will be taking over the project I just secured for the company. Only then do I realize that the person Kiera wants to publicly announce as her boyfriend isn't me, but Trevor instead. All the staff immediately raise their phones to record me, enjoying the spectacle that is my misfortune. But instead of getting angry, I shove my nametag into Trevor's hands and say, "Since Mr. Horton will be taking over the project, you can take over my position as director as well. I wish you two a long and happy life together!"

My mother is in the late stages of cancer. Yet, she sits in a wheelchair with an oxygen tube and endures a long train ride just to attend my wedding with Isaac Pudley. But when it's time for him to walk down the aisle, I don't see him anywhere despite screaming his name. It turns out his childhood sweetheart, Megan Ericsson, is having another depressive episode and is threatening suicide again. "Isaac, I can't live without you," she screeches. Isaac is always so stern and composed, but he now holds Megan in his arms and begs me to call off the wedding so they can leave. Relatives and guests watch the spectacle with thinly veiled amusement. To make matters worse, my mother is so angry that she faints. However, Isaac believes that my mother is feigning illness. He only wants to take Megan with him and leave. He even takes away my mother's wheelchair. But he seems to have forgotten that he has hurt me 97 times by now. After he hurts me 99 times, I’ll definitely leave him.

I've waited five years for my mafia fiance, Daniele Moretti, while he keeps pushing our wedding back again and again. I've turned down every man who approaches me and put up with all the snide comments from high society. On the eve of exchanging our marriage alliance contract, thanks to a bet with his lover, Daniele decides it's hilarious to switch the groom's name. He replaces himself with his uncle, Samuele Moretti, a man who is practically on his deathbed. Daniele laughs as he brags to his friends, "Regina's obsessed with me. When she finds out, she'll cry and beg me to change it back." I stand just outside the door and hear every word. On the day of the wedding, I take Samuele's arm—the "sickly wreck" Daniele keeps mocking—and walk him up the aisle. When Daniele finally shows up late with his lover and tries to turn the ceremony into a spectacle, I slap him across the face. Now he's the one who has to call me Aunt Regina.

"Sir, is there a problem?" I lift my face flooded with tears and snot to this person held in front of me. She is handing me disposable tissues and I take them from her hands while thanking her. I clean tears from my face. The stranger sits next to me on the public bench where I am sitting. I suddenly feel ashamed to have been caught by a stranger crying, moreover a woman. I then tell her with my head down "I'm sorry that you attended this pathetic spectacle!" "It's nothing. It happens to everyone to have problems in life. And believe me, it is advisable to cry to evacuate your pain. "She said to comfort me. "Thank you!" "So why are you crying? What is your problem with as for you? I'm sure there must be a solution." The young lady asked, while sitting next to me, in a sympathetic tone. "I don't really believe that there is a solution to my problem. Unless a large sum of money falls to me miraculously from the sky. " I replied, looking desperate. "Then marry me!" Such was the declaration of this young woman. I may have been in a desperate search for money, but she was mad to make me such an offer. Dinam is a young man desperately looking for a job. His mother having been diagnosed with blood cancer, he is ready to do anything to find the money to pay for therapy, even if it means marrying against his will. Believing to get out of misery thanks to this marriage, Dinam does not know that he was throwing himself directly into the mouth of the wolf. Conspiracies and low blows from his wife's stepmother will now be his daily life.

I have been hopelessly in love with Don Lorenzo Greco since the first time I saw him ten years ago. As the only daughter of the long-established Messina mafia family, I have set aside my pride and chased after him for a decade. On my 25th birthday, the way Lorenzo looks at me finally changed. He's not seeing a child anymore. He's looking at a woman. Lorenzo says yes to me, and I finally kiss the mouth I've been dreaming of all this while. The next day, Lorenzo announces to the world that he will hold the wedding of the century. 9,999 roses, fireworks all night, and a spectacle so grand it will shock every family in Northern Darvent. I stand there with tears in my eyes as the fireworks spell out another woman's name. Elena Lagioia. The assistant who has always been at Lorenzo's side, the girl I have never once taken seriously. I plan to confront Lorenzo with a gun in my hand. However, I stop outside the door when I hear him speaking to his consigliere. "Elena's parents are gambling addicts and owe a large debt. If I don't marry her, she'll be sold to a brothel in Malicuria tomorrow. Let's keep Cinzia in the dark for now. After this is over, I'll divorce Elena and marry Cinzia. After all, she loves me so dearly." On Lorenzo's wedding day, I'm wearing a wedding dress and resting in the arms of a far more powerful Don of the Argento family from Southern Darvent. I look at Lorenzo and smile. It drives him crazy. He swears to do whatever it takes to win me back.

PLEASE DON'T READ (Under major editing*) He stepped closer if that was even possible at this point. "I want you, Melanie." He rasped beneath his breath, his gaze falling to mouth. I hated the way I shivered visibly at his words. "So much." He ran his thumb along the inside of my elbow, closing his lips over mine again. One minute we were trying to kiss slowly. The next he was parting my lips and we were back to devouring each other. Our lips stayed locked even as he moved his fingers higher and higher. **** Melanie Steele and Damon Trent were practically the two opposite poles of a magnet. They had almost nothing in common. She liked her solitude, he liked being in the spotlight. She loved living for herself and being comfortable. He was in a constant competition with nobody. She hated attention, he craved it like the oxygen he breathed. They could never work... Or could they? When Damon finds out that he had to be married to get possession of his late father's properties, he let his friends talk him into putting up an ad in the News Paper and making a public spectacle to look for his future wife. What he didn't see coming was Melanie signing up for the competition. Somehow along the way, lines are not just crossed they're being completely erased. He's broken all his rules with her and she's thrown way her sanity when it comes to him. They find themselves battling an attraction that was slowly becoming something more. What happens when Damon's secret gets out? Would Melanie be able to forgive him? Or will their story end before it even has a chance to begin?

Mon frère Dylan, parce que sa maîtresse Rosalie avait exprimé le désir d'assister à une pluie de météores, avait emmené tous ses gardes personnels à la campagne pour lui organiser ce spectacle romantique. Cette nuit-là, des anciens rivaux qu'il avait écrasés en ont profité pour s'introduire chez nous, bien décidés à exterminer toute la famille en guise de vengeance. Ma mère m'a protégée de son corps, subissant des blessures mortelles. J'ai appelé Dylan en pleurs, le suppliant de revenir. Heureusement, il a fini par rentrer avec ses gardes. Les intrus étaient alors capturés, mais des nouvelles horribles nous sont parvenue de la campagne : Rosalie s'était suicidée, laissant une lettre m'accusant d'avoir volontairement éloigné Dylan, ce qui l'avait conduite à être torturée par des ennemis. Dylan a brûlé froidement sa lettre d'adieu tout en murmurant : « Ce n'est pas grave. » Plus tard, notre père, déçu par son comportement, m'a promis la direction de l'entreprise familiale. Mais le soir même, après le banquet de célébration, Dylan est entré dans ma chambre et m'a assassinée. Ses derniers mots ont glacé mon sang : « Une personne aussi malfaisante que toi méritait de mourir ! » « C'est toi qui devrais être mort ! L'héritage me revient de droit ! » Je suis morte les yeux grands ouverts, pleine d'amertume. Quand j'ai rouvert les yeux... j'ai entendu à nouveau les intrus défoncer la porte d'entrée...