Deadpan Expression Novels & Stories

Three years after my fiancé fell off a cliff while on a sketching trip in the mountains, I walked straight into his solo art exhibition by accident. And there he was, the man I hadn’t been able to forget for a single day, gently adjusting the scarf around a young woman’s neck. Every wall around us was filled with portraits he once promised he would only ever paint for me. Yet now, every single one of them was of her. Beside me, Timothy Hansen, his closest friend, the one who had helped me handle the aftermath back then, grabbed my arm. “Lexie, don’t do anything rash. Ethan had his reasons. He was rescued by Jane after the fall. He hit his head and lost his memory. It wasn’t on purpose that he didn’t come back.” I gave a wry smile. “So he lost his memory. Did you lose yours, too? If Ethan was alive all this time, why didn’t you bring him back? You watched me spend the last three years drowning in pain, surviving on sleeping pills. Was that entertaining for you?” Timothy said nothing. He didn’t even dare to look at me. Meanwhile, the girl—Jane Green—shrank back, hiding behind Ethan like a frightened animal. Then, Ethan finally looked at me, his expression cold and distant. “Ms. William, I didn’t come back because I didn’t want to. Jane is the one I love. As for the past, since I don’t remember it, just think of it as something from a past life.”

After 18 infamous gang leaders of Wicked Valley stumble upon me, they adopt me and work hard in raising me. Since my dads refuse to let me get in contact with all males while showing their violent sides to everyone else all day, I run away from home out of anger. I've left home for three years so far. Throughout the years, I've gotten into a passionate relationship. But on the night my boyfriend, Vincent Gray, proposes to me, he has the nerve to lace my red wine with drugs. Then, he ties me up and delivers me back to Wicked Valley. "The 18 bosses of Wicked Valley have posted a lucrative bounty on a young woman with a phoenix tattoo on her arm. It so happens that you have it. "My younger sister, Wendy Gray, has offended someone out there. Only by giving you to those bosses can Wendy's life be spared!" Then, Vincent adds sorrowfully, "Don't worry, Noelle. I'll definitely include you in my family tree once you're dead. I'll make sure that you won't die without a family." As I stare at Vincent's phony expression, deep down, I'm elated. It's been three years. Finally, someone is taking me home. While faced with Vincent's shocked look, I smile while snapping my fingers at the group of people, who are about to pick me up. "What are you waiting for, everyone? Prepare some seasonings! We're eating good tonight! Let's have lamb soup!"

"I will make you wish for death," Marvin spat wickedly, his eyes blazing into mine. "But death... will be too far away." I sniffed and blinked a couple of times. “I, Rita Maxwell, would only wish for one thing.” Marvin’s head snapped toward me. Indifference coated his expression, sharp and cutting. Yet beneath the deep-rooted hatred was a flicker of something uncertain that didn’t last long. But I continued, “…I, Rita Maxwell, reject…” “Enough!” Alpha Philips’ voice broke through the air, both stiffening and unbearable. “You clearly wish for death, don’t you?” he blurted through gritted teeth. ***** Rita Maxwell was hated by all, including her mum and her twin sister, Becky, due to the birth scar on her face, the same scar that was termed a curse and had condemned her. What could be more cruel than having fate take a twist into one’s worst nightmare? Rita’s kindness was mistaken for treason and attempted murder, and she was reduced from a despised daughter to a rejected and hated maid in the packhouse. But on her eighteenth birthday, the tables turned so cruelly that she wished they never had. All she ever asked for was love, a perfect life with a mate who cherished her, not the other way around. Fated to the very man who was betrothed to her twin sister, wasn't what she ever wanted. As the hands of time ticked and broken hearts bled, what becomes of the bond that was termed a curse, a taboo… manipulated? What becomes of Rita, the cursed and hated pack omega in this journey of survival? And Marvin, would he ever see her any differently, especially with the demise of Becky and the impending chaos? What if there are better options for Rita?

"Marry me, Olivia," Felix said to her, his expression stern and commanding. "What?" The statement was so unexpected that she choked on the water in her hand. Water dripped down her chin as she coughed and sputtered. She tried breathing while tears filled her eyes. "What did you just say?" She asked hoarsely when she recovered. There was no way he could have said what she thought he said. "Married? Just like that? You can't be serious!' she shook her head in disbelief. "Didn't you seduce and sleep with me just to be with me? Marry me and let's get this problem over with." Olivia Thompson's life takes a complete turn when she sees pictures of her boyfriend of two years with a new girl on the school's social media platforms and her father's demand for her to marry his 50-year-old friend to settle his debts. I'm an attempt to distract her from her problems, her best friend drags her to a lavish party, but everything changes when she wakes up naked on Felix Walton's bed, her best friend's enigmatic brother. Felix offers Olivia a marriage contract to protect his family's reputation after she unexpectedly becomes pregnant; Olivia accepts out of desperation. However, there is a problem: his parents have another woman they would prefer him to marry and she conceals secrets that could destroy the family. What will happen when Olivia faces her deepest fears? Will Olivia and Felix be able to overcome all the challenges in their way and build a future together or will the shadows of their past tear them apart forever?

Today was supposed to be my sister's wedding day. Instead, I'm the one walking down the aisle. The man waiting for me is a billionaire tycoon, cold, untouchable, and infamous for crushing anyone who stands in his way. Power bends to his will, money erases his mistakes, and emotions are a weakness he never allows himself to feel. I was never meant to marry him. I'm only here because my sister ran away… and if he discovers I'm a substitute bride, my family will be ruined overnight. So when the officiant asks if I accept him, my lips tremble as I whisper, "I do." His gaze locks onto mine, dark and possessive. "You're mine now, kitten," he murmurs, as if sealing my fate. The nightmare begins that moment. I manage to escape his bed on our wedding night, hiding behind excuses and fragile lies. But the days that follow terrify me more. The walk-in closet is filled with clothes in my sister's favorite colors. The dining table overflows with dishes she loved. He researched her. Memorized her. Or so I thought. Then he slides a peanut butter bagel toward me, my sister's favorite. I'm allergic. I glance up, my pulse roaring in my ears, only to find his expression unreadable. Calculating. Watching. Has he already realized I'm not the woman he married? And if this ruthless billionaire uncovers the truth… will he destroy me? Because marrying him was never part of my future, and falling for him might be the most dangerous mistake of all.

In my previous life, Leon, the Alpha who was supposed to complete the marking ceremony with me, suddenly changed his chosen mate to my younger sister, Rose, on the very day of the ritual. Watching the two of them act intimately together, a wave of humiliation swept over me. Just as I was about to step forward and demand an explanation, the pack was suddenly attacked. All three of us died in the riot. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day of the marking ceremony. This time, I chose to fulfill their wish. After leading the members to suppress the riot that would have happened in my previous life, I left the pack and entered human society. I thought I would never cross paths with them again in this lifetime. However, three years later, on the day of a birthday banquet, I unexpectedly met Rose and Leon again. Rose was leaning shyly into Leon’s arms, greeting me with a look of feigned surprise. “Claire! Why are you at such a grand banquet? “Didn’t you go to live in human society?” When I stayed silent, Rose mocked me with a laugh. “Could it be that you couldn’t survive in human society and now want to return to the pack?” Leon looked at me from the side, his expression filled with unconcealed disgust. “I would never agree to let you return to the pack even if you kneeled and begged me. “However, as my slave, you’d still be qualified. We could go back to how things were before.” I smiled faintly. I was here because my mate was the new Ultima of the wolf packs’ Alliance. And this exquisite birthday banquet was specially prepared for me.

When the girlfriend of my childhood friend, Shane Sheridan, comes over for the first time, I help to prepare a feast to welcome her. Lydia Forestwood glances at the garlic butter shrimp and suddenly flies into a rage. "You deliberately made something I'm allergic to! You want to embarrass and badmouth me in front of my boyfriend so you can take my place. Stop dreaming! If he were ever interested in you, then I wouldn't be here." I'm confused and quickly explain that his mom broke her leg and asked me to come and help. I also explain that I already have a fiancé and have zero interest in Shane. She lets out a cold laugh. "Stop playing hard to get. I can spot a scheming woman in a glance. You cling to my boyfriend shamelessly by claiming to be his close childhood friend every day. It's disgusting! "Take a good look at yourself. You're old and ugly. What man would ever want you? If there's one, he'd have to be blind." Shane is holding back laughter the whole time. Just as I clench my fists, ready to lose my temper, he wraps an arm around his girlfriend and shows off smugly. He says, "She has a sharp tongue, doesn't she? Finally, there is someone who can put you in your place. You won't be able to bully me from now on." I stare at his indifferent expression and slap him hard across the face. "Get lost! Both you and your girlfriend aren't even worthy of my time!"

Everyone called Mia a shameless whore. However, the one trailing behind her was the youngest don of the Yorick family, James. He hand-washed her lace camisoles, broke three ribs for her, and even with his face covered in blood from a beating, he could still smile at her. One night, after too much drinking, the underboss he trusted most leaned down beside him. His face was full of disdain. “Boss, Mia is a disgrace to all of us! A woman like that, how could she ever be worthy of you?” James suddenly laughed. His eyes went terrifyingly blank. The cigar between his fingers glowed faintly in the dark. “Back then, before I secured my position, I was young, greedy for power. To get my sister-in-law that antique necklace she wanted, I took advantage of Mia being drunk and took pictures of her myself… “Ten dollars a copy. I sold thirty thousand of them. Things blew way out of control… I owe her.” James took a long drink of whiskey while his Adam’s apple bobbed. “Thankfully… she will never know. I will spend my whole life making it up to her, treating her twice as well.” He did not see the private room door quietly close the moment he said those words. Mia turned around with a blank expression on her face and walked into a small clinic on the corner. She laid down on the operating table. He would never deserve to know that he had once been a father, if only for a moment. That whole lifetime he planned to spend making it up to her, she did not want it anymore.

"Don't you know how to fake a smile anymore? Those irritating little smiles of yours that screamed nothing but desperation? We're making an appearance in front of several high calibre people for goodness sake. You must carry this facade on without any slip, Rosalie.” He said.  My chest pinched, and I looked away, pretending to adjust my bracelet to hide the pain. “I know."  ~                                    ~ “Rosaline...” Ezra murmured. “Why help me to ruin a man you once loved?”   "Why?" I repeated. "Because they took everything from me—the one thing I loved more than life itself. They destroyed my life, my reputation, my happiness, all to serve their own selfish agendas. Him and his mistress. I've been maltreated and betrayed severally, countlessly! But no more. It's my turn to take what I deserve: their pain, their humiliation, their downfall." I paused, my face hardening into an expression of pure, vengeful rage. "And I will make them suffer for it.” *                  *.             * Rosalie’s journey had been a tumultuous one– betrayal and pain. The transactional marriage that she had entered into, hoping one day it would turn around to be a marriage for love, had instead left her heartbroken and betrayed. Her ex- husband’s infidelity, coupled with an unimaginable cruelty that he had subjected her to, had shattered her beyond repair.  Now, fueled by a desire for vengeance, Rosalie had returned to seek revenge on those who had wronged her. Joining forces with her ex-husband's rival, a ruthless business tycoon who harbored his own grudges against her ex-husband, she plotted a scheme that would bring them both justice...and ruin.

"Sex slave? Is that what you thought?" "What else would you have dragged me here for?" I said, my voice trembling. He took a deep breath and looked me over, from head to toe, with an assessing expression that made me shrink back. "Don’t flatter yourself, female. You don’t meet the requirements to be one of my sex slaves." "Oh yeah? And what would those be?" He gave me that same smug, evaluating look again, but this time I puffed out my chest—and he seemed to notice, even if just for a second. "The first is being attractive." "What? Did you just call me ugly?" "Does it matter?" "Of course it matters! First of all, you're wrong! I’m not ugly, and I do meet all the requirements to be a sex slave!" — By the goddess, what was I saying? Marius looked at me, visibly confused, until he asked: "Why does it sound like you’re applying for the position?" Jane is an orphaned, rejected she-wolf who dreams of receiving her wolf and leaving the orphanage behind. One night, when she goes to a party with her friend, she finds herself in danger after realizing there is no party only three wolves with the worst intentions. Everything changes when the feared and cruel Marius, a wolf accused of massacring his own pack in the past, saves her. Or rather kidnaps her. Marius makes it clear: Jane will be his prisoner for one year, until she receives her wolf and can give him what he wants. But how can Jane trust a killer? And what is she supposed to do with the wild attraction they both feel, trapped together in an isolated cabin?