Crying Behind Smile

She was never meant to be loved—only used. Lorelie Montgomery was the illegitimate daughter of a powerful political dynasty, raised in silence and trained to serve. When her family arranged a marriage between her and Governor Sebastian Kingston, she knew it was just another move in a game she never asked to play. To the public, they were the perfect political couple. Behind closed doors, there were strangers bound by suspicion, secrets and hidden agendas. Sebastian saw her as his pawn to get close to her corrupt family. Lorelie never trusted him and wanted nothing more than to escape from him and her family. Every smile was rehearsed. Every word was measured. Every laugh was practiced. Every touch was calculated. But as the lines between ally and enemy blur, and buried truths claw their way to the surface, Lorelie begins to see the cracks in Sebastian’s armor—and he starts to question everything he thought he knew about his wife. Can love save them from the lies that built their world? Or will it be the reason they lose everything?

Just a hug. You're running away. Gets stuck in some trouble. A guy saves your life. Who also happens to be a really famous singer. Now, What if you hug him instead of taking an autograph? What if you both feel the spark? What if you get scared? But...what if he doesn't let go? ------ "You're stuck with me, angel." Asher whistled from behind me. "You'll wish you could take back those words." I said noticing a sort of sinking feeling in my stomach as I turned and looked at him. "What if I don't?" He asked leaning quite close to me. "You will. Everybody does." I said stepping away and continuing to walk. "Even if I'll want to, just hug me and I'll stay." He said making me stop and look back at him. He winked with that breathtaking smile. "Okay, Asherboy." I said back as a smile formed on my lips too.

My best friend, Adeline Miller, and I marry into the Caldwell family together. Coincidentally, we become pregnant at the same time. I'm married to Rowan Caldwell, the older brother who's a famous psychiatrist. As for Adeline, she's married to Elliot Caldwell, the younger brother who's an extremely skilled doctor. Rowan gives me a ride to the hospital, hoping to accompany me to my prenatal check-up due to the discomfort I've been feeling throughout my pregnancy. But on the way there, he abandons me by the road and leaves me there because of a phone call from his first love, Veronica Whitmore. As I sob, I beg him, "Please, Rowan, I'm begging you! It's raining heavily right now! Can you please drive me to the hospital first?" Rowan shakes my hand off impatiently. "Veronica has slit her wrist! This means she might die! Can you be more understanding toward her situation, Emilia? I'm going to tend to her injury right now! You can go to the hospital on your own!" It's raining cats and dogs out in the world. Yet, Rowan doesn't hesitate to ditch me on the highway. Left without a choice, I can only call Adeline and ask her to drive over to pick me up. Unexpectedly, on the way to the hospital, we see a truck barreling toward us. While I'm unconscious, I hear Adeline crying while calling Elliot on the phone, only to get reprimanded by him. "Stop messing around, Adeline! Must you come up with all sorts of lies whenever I'm spending time with Veronica?" It's thanks to a passerby's help that an ambulance is called to the crash site. That's how we get to survive afterward. Alas, we both end up losing our babies. Upon regaining our consciousness, we just smile bitterly at each other. "Are you getting a divorce?" "Yeah."

He was an arrogant and cold man but he cherished her the most. She was beautiful and innocent. She felt safe only in his strong arms as he used to protect her from the cruelty and ugliness of the world. "Why are you so good to me?", she used to ask him while blinking her beautiful and innocent eyes. "Because you live here", he pointed at his heart. But life is not a fairytale for everyone. "Sky! Where are you going??", Elliot asked her while grabbing her arm. "I can't live here anymore", Sky said as she stood in the heavy rain. "But where will you go??", he panicked. "I don't have any home now, everyone has abandoned me. I'll go wherever destiny takes me", Sky said as she looked away. "But, didn't you say? I'm your home." Elliot asked with immense love and affection in his eyes. Sky bit her lips for a while but then she asked, " what about your family?" "You are my family Sky!!! You're my everything." Elliot held her tightly as he said that. Finally she smiled while crying heavily as she hugged him back, thinking about him being the only person she could trust. As she was sure, he won't abandon her no matter what. But, no one knows what future holds for them! A shadow sneered while looking at them, "I'll see how long she's gonna stay here, I'll make her life a living hell!" She took out her phone and dialled someone's number, "Is it Sean Hill?" "Yes, who's this?", the man asked arrogantly. "I know who you've been searching for your whole life! And I guess, I've found her", she said with an evil smile as she looked at the two figures embracing each other in the heavy rain.

Johanna Thorne and her sister, Allison Thorne, marry into the Silverplume family, the most prestigious werewolf family in the Northern Wolflands, on the same day. Their husbands are the only pair of pureblood Alpha twins in the family—Carlin Silverplume and Uriel Silverplume. Throughout the continent's long history, fewer than ten such twin pairs have ever been born. They are seen as blessings from the Moon Goddess herself, a source of pride for the entire family. Johanna is wed to the calm and stoic younger brother, Carlin. Her sister becomes the mate of the elder twin, Uriel, the family's strongest warrior Alpha. But during a mission to hunt down rebel wolves, Uriel is tragically killed. His body is never recovered. With his death, his bloodline ends. The news devastates the matriarch. She weeps before the altar, crying that this is punishment for the Silverplume family. With Uriel gone and no heir left behind, one of the family's two remaining pureblood lines is now severed. The future of their legacy hangs by a thread. Three days later, the matriarch summons Carlin and Johanna to the council hall. Before the gathered elders and priests, she solemnly proposes a solution. "Carlin shares the same blood and bone as Uriel... In the name of our ancestral spirits, I ask that Carlin form a breeding pact with Allison to fulfill Uriel's unfinished duty." Johanna's hands clench tightly. She turns to look at Carlin. In that moment, she doesn't know whether she's still his Luna or just a sacrifice offered up to preserve the family's bloodline.

I was diagnosed with cancer. After much deliberation, I called my husband. He fell silent for a long while. “Most of our mortgage is unpaid, and our children need money for school. You should go for conservative treatment.” I called my mother while weeping. “You’re so troublesome. None of my friends or family have cancer!” I stopped crying and started living for myself. God favored me and let me see reality early in my life. He even gave me a chance to start over.

But as much as I loved him, there were cracks in our perfect marriage. Damien didn’t want children. He’d been clear about it from the start, even though I had always dreamed of being a mother. He’d smile that charming smile of his and say, “Pups will tie us down, my love. You’re so beautiful and vibrant and pregnancy would change that. I want you to stay just as you are.”

Promises are meant to be broken. That's what Infinity believes. Because ever since no one has kept their promises to her. Until she learned not to hope, because, in the end, it would not come true either. Until one man changes her beliefs, he fulfills everything he says and promises to her. Now she began to hope, to believe, to trust, and to love once again. But fate has another plan for her. The man behind her smile left her hanging. That turned her life into nothingness once again. Because of this, she only writes painful stories. That's why The Journal, the biggest and most well-known online reading application and website in the country, editor-in-chief dubbed her The Tragic Writer. After that, she began to rebuild herself. She’s trying to survive and be alive, even in pain and nothingness. But the past keeps on haunting her. Until someone came who made her feel alive again, he made her believe that she was not alone, that she was worth it and had a place in this world. Is he her saving grace? Or another heartbreak?

Blurb My mother didn't come back for me. She came back for my face. For nine years, I was the forgotten twin, the one left behind in the mountains while my sister Cara lived a life of runways, cameras, and fame. Then Mom showed up at my door with a devastating request: pretend to be Cara. Just for a little while. Just until she recovers from the accident that shattered her mind and nearly destroyed her career. It was supposed to be simple. Wear her clothes. Smile for the cameras. Be the perfect copy. But nothing about Cara's life is simple. Her world is full of secrets, lies, and a dangerously attractive stranger who looks at me like he knows I'm not who I claim to be. The deeper I sink into her identity, the more I realize: my sister's life isn't just glamorous, it's deadly. And now I'm trapped in a reflection I can't escape. They say every girl wants to be a supermodel. But what if becoming one means losing yourself forever?

No matter how hard she tried, Darius always met her with nothing but cold indifference. He forgot her birthday. Dismissed her achievements. Even their daughter turned her back on her, choosing Emma—the woman with a sweet smile and a heart full of lies. One glance from Emma mattered more to Darius than all the years she stood by his side. One whimper from Emma was enough to make him drop everything and rush to her like she was the only woman that ever existed. She waited. She gave her all. And in return, she was left behind—again and again. Even her own daughter stood with Emma now. So she finally made her choice. She left. She was once a blazing star in the AI world—a prodigy feared and admired. And now, she was done playing the quiet, obedient Luna. She stepped back into the battlefield, into the world that once bowed at her feet. The she-wolf doesn’t stay silent forever. Silence was never her nature. Fighting was.