Deadpan Expression Novels & Stories

On our third anniversary, the restaurant my wife, Selena Sander, and I frequent is reserved by her twisted first love, Shane Johnson. He tramples over the rose petals that are scattered all over the floor while making his way toward our table. Then, he slaps a pregnancy report onto the table. "Three years ago, I personally tattooed a rose on Selena's abdomen. I even made a vow with her, saying that she cannot give birth to your child until I find someone I love more than her." As Shane points at the name shown on the pregnancy report, he flashes me a cruel smile. "Now, I've found my true love. That's why I came to inform Selena that our vow can now be broken." The bitterness that I tasted from the countless contraceptives that I've taken over the past three years suddenly floods my mouth. I then turn to look at Selena. There's no trace of guilt shown on her expression despite having gotten exposed by Shane. Instead, she just looks at me coldly. "You heard him, right?" she utters. "We can have a child together now." At that moment, I feel like strangling her more than anything else in the world.

After being dumped for the 99th time for being a “chatterbox,” I finally met my soulmate, Lysander Thorne. As the Mafia godfather, he was a man of few words, but listened to every single word I said with rapt attention. His proposal shattered the curse that had doomed me to a hundred rejections. But, I discovered a fatal flaw in Lysander after we got married. Whatever he spoke to me, he never exceeded ten words. I thought it was his stoic personality until I gave a hand to a girl being harassed by a thug at the bar. At the police station, the girl asked, “Has your husband not arrived yet? My friend will pick me up and you can leave with us.” The next second, I saw Lysander rushing in, looking utterly disheveled. “Elara Thorne! Why do you stir up trouble on your very first day back home? You've got wings of your own now, haven’t you? Did I ever tell you to stay safe firstly when something happened? Stop being so impulsive!” It turned out Lysander could get emotional. How ridiculous! When Lysander entered, his eyes were solely fixed on Elara. I looked at him with a blank expression, and wordlessly walked out of the police station.

On our tenth anniversary, Evan Rodger and I decided to tattoo each other's names on our chests. After the tattoo session, I woke up with my head still feeling groggy. To my dismay, I found the words "Old Crone" tattooed in a bold font across my chest. Upon noticing the way my expression dropped, Isabel Hawthorn, who was the tattooist, snickered, "You’ve been dating Evan for a decade, but he still hasn’t registered your marriage together. What does that make you if not an old crone?" I smashed the mirror on the spot, which spewed broken shards in her direction. Evan practically threw himself in her direction and pulled her into his arms to protect her. He snapped at me with a ferocious scowl, "She’s just a young, naive girl who was trying to make a joke. Why are you picking on her?" I stared intently at the parted collar of his shirt. What was supposed to be my name tattooed on his chest had been replaced with "Isabel Hawthorn, My Only Love". Isabel wrapped her arms around Evan. She expertly played the victim and appealed dearly to him, "Evan said he liked my name last time, so I was only trying to make a joke. You wouldn’t be upset at me, would you, Claire?"

The Andersons' rule was simple and brutal: the inheritance passed to sons, never daughters. So, I lived as a man for ten years. Even Winston Quinn, the one I had been promised to since childhood, had no idea. To him, I was just his best friend. After taking control of everything, I was finally ready to tell him the truth. Before I could say a word, Winston grabbed my arm, smiling like he couldn't be happier. "Sam, there's something I've been keeping from you. Louise quietly came back last month. We're getting married! She really looks like you." My whole body went rigid. That “sister” I had made up, the one who was supposedly recovering overseas? Before I could react, a woman who looked eerily like me peeked out from behind him. She shoved me aside, her expression sharp and smug. "I'm back, Sam. Stop clinging to Winston just because you're my brother. Have some shame. Otherwise, I'll tell everyone you've got twisted feelings for your future brother-in-law!" I looked at the arrogant impostor in front of me and almost laughed from sheer anger. She was Louise Anderson? Then who the hell was I?

" I....I don't have anything else left with me, except my heart with love." She said crying her heart out with a pained expression in her black orbs. Staring at her vulnerable state, I went near her pulling her into my embrace and hugging her tightly preventing her from crumbling into pieces. Tears well up in my eyes too, but I blinked back squeezing my eyes shut. I didn't lie to her saying that everything will be okay and false promises that everything will be better. I stood there hugging her that would say enough for her that I'm there for her no matter what! Athena is a broken girl with only the memories of the horrible past which she hides it from everyone. She always smiles to heal her broken heart. Liam Knight is one hell of a successful and ruthless billionaire who owns Knight Industries. No one stands when it comes to business. To him, love means nothing but a trash and has no sympathy or kindness towards anyone. But she changes him at first sight. What happens when Athena is appointed as the Personal Secretary of Liam in which Liam tends to find the mystery about her that catches him off-guard. Will he protect her with all his life? Content/Trigger Warning: this story contains sexual content and deals explicitly with sexual assault and violence.

"She is not property. She is my mate and you will not mention 'her' like you're talking about a burnt banana peel."   My breath hitched.   No one had ever defended me like that.   Not once.   Kael glanced over his shoulder at me, his expression softer now, protective. "But it’s her choice. Not mine. Not yours." .......................................................... At just eighteen, Meeva Vale thought that she had found her fairytale ending, an Omega chosen as Luna by the Alpha of the Sinhound Pack. But six years later, her marriage to Alpha Jared has left her silenced, sacrificed, and stranded in a life that no longer feels her own.   When the powerful Alpha Kael Edgar of the Brawnstorm Pack storms into her territory to confront Jared over a broken trading treaty, everything changes. With a single glance, the bond between Kael and Meeva ignites. But Meeva is already claimed, married even.   But Kael doesn’t give two fucks.   He lays siege to the pack and takes Meeva with him, officially staking his claim as her mate. Her wolf betrays her heart, surrendering to him long before she does. What begins as a sinful passion quickly transforms into a deeper whirlpool.   With a dark sorcerer on their tail, their story is about to take a very unnerving turn.  

At the company's annual gala, my CEO girlfriend made a special exception for the new intern and let him draw from the prize box as many times as he wanted. The first time, he drew my $300,000 year-end bonus. He blinked at me and laughed. "Sorry, Evan. But you're such a good guy. You won't hold it against me, right?" The second time, he drew my vice president position. My girlfriend, Vanessa Sloane, did not hesitate. She ordered on the spot, "Clear out the vice president's office immediately. From now on, he can transfer over and work as Ryan's assistant." The third time, he drew a public three-minute French kiss with Vanessa. Amid the cheering, Vanessa blushed and kissed him with lingering enthusiasm. Only after she caught sight of my stiff expression did she pull away, still unsatisfied, and say impatiently, "Ryan won the prize. This is a company benefit. You're a grown man. Don't be so petty." I let out a cold laugh, lowered my head, and texted the chairman at corporate headquarters. "Since when does our annual gala include a benefit where the CEO has to kiss someone?" "Dad."

On the day of the SAT exam, my girlfriend, Shirley Jackson, gave me a gift for good luck. It was a brand-new pair of glasses. "May all your predictions come true. Once you get into Alpheno College, we'll get engaged!" Carrying her blessings and expectations with me, I opened the test paper. To my surprise, I really did guess the questions correctly. But when the scores came out, my teacher informed me that all my results had been invalidated. No matter how much I tried to explain, the school insisted that I, the top student in the grade, had copied answers from Ian Seinfeld, the worst student in my class. Callisto College turned me into a cautionary tale. Every other college blacklisted me. I was cyberbullied by everyone online. In the end, I broke down and took my own life. When I opened my eyes again, I'd returned to the moment Shirley put those glasses on for me. While looking at her gentle expression, I suddenly heard her inner thoughts. 'As long as Ian can see Keith's answer sheet through the camera, he'll definitely get into Alpheno College. Ian and I can finally be together in public then.'

The day the company was exposed for accounting fraud, my CEO husband did the unthinkable. To protect his favorite assistant, Ivy Kane, he called a press conference and publicly pinned all the blame on me, vowing to make sure I paid the price. Ivy put on a heartbroken expression and said, "Olivia, I warned you a long time ago not to misuse company funds, let alone falsify financial records. Why wouldn't you listen?" My coworkers stared at me in shock, expecting me to defend myself. Instead, I smiled, accepted every accusation, and voluntarily resigned. My husband thought I had finally learned my lesson. He lowered his voice and promised, "When this is all over, I'll make sure you get your job back. And when the time comes, I'll make our relationship public. Consider it my way of making it up to you.” What he didn't know was that, to protect the company's interests, the chairman instructed me on opening day to install monitoring software on every computer in the office. The moment those system logs were retrieved, their lies would fall apart on their own. And when that happened, what awaited them wouldn't just be massive financial penalties, it would be prison.

My beautiful savior's eyes blazed with fury as he leaned in, his voice low and rumbling. “Little one, how do you envision their deaths?” he asked, his words dripping with power and command. I swallowed hard, my mind spinning. Their deaths? I have never thought about the end of this, They are my family. “I...I don't know,” I stammered, my voice barely audible. Fear constricted my throat, making it hard to breathe. Maybe I was blowing this out of proportion. My savior's expression softened as if he could feel my fear. “Take your time, little one,” he whispered, his voice gentle. “Their fate is now in your hands.” Fiona had always faced cruelty at the hands of her father, stepsister, and her stepmother. Tagging her as the unfortunate one of the family who had killed her mother. Until the day when her father sold her to the alpha king to pay for his debts. Fiona thought life would be better anywhere away from home and took the chance but how can a human girl survive in a werewolf world with lots of enemies? Her hope for freedom suddenly becomes blurry and now she has to fight even harder for love and respect.