Emperor-beyond-the-sea Novels & Stories

Luca's expression turned serious. "What's going on, Isabella? You can tell me anything." Isabella took a deep breath before blurting out the truth. "I'm pregnant, Luca." The room fell silent. Luca's eyes widened in shock. Isabella continued, her voice shaking. "And the father... is Vincent Moreno." Luca's face turned grim. "The mafia king?" Isabella nodded, feeling a wave of fear wash over her. She knew what this meant. She knew that she couldn't keep her pregnancy a secret from Vincent. He would stop at nothing to claim his child. Luca's voice brought her back to reality. "You know what this means, don't you? You can't keep this a secret from him. He'll find out, and when he does... " Isabella's eyes flashed with determination. "I'll do whatever it takes to protect my child, Luca. I'll go to the ends of the earth to keep them safe from him." Luca's expression turned somber. "How long can you keep running, Isabella? You can't hide forever." Isabella's jaw set in determination. "As long as I'm alive, Luca. I'll never let him near my child." *** "WHERE IS MY CHILD, ISABELLA?" He thundered, his eyes blazing with fury. Isabella's cup fell from her hands, shattering on the floor. She felt like she was frozen in time, unable to move or speak. The man took a step closer, his eyes fixed on hers. "You've been hiding my child from me for seven years. It's time I took what's mine."

Aryan Blakley was a nobody, or at least she was until her senior year at Grandview Academy. A school for the top werewolf packs in the country. Why she attended such a prestigious school? It was because her Godparents were on the faculty and she was there on a scholarship. She had the grades, but it was clear she didn't belong. Although she had a wolf inside her, she couldn't shift. For a while she was able to stay under the radar, until a group of girls started making fun of her. They bullied her endlessly until one day she had enough. Her bullies wanted to humiliate her and told her that someone like her would never belong in their world. Aryan snapped back and told them she belong just as much as anyone else did. In front of the entire class the girls bet Aryan that she couldn't land the hottest guy in school. Why she agreed to the bet was beyond her. Especially when the hottest guy in school was none other than Kierian Laken, the Lycan Prince and star athlete. How would she be able to get Kierian to fall in love with her when she knew in her heart she was a nobody? Secrets can be deadly...

On the day I went to try on my wedding dress, Enzo had said he would come with me—but he never showed up. The train of the gown was too long. I stood alone in front of the mirror, bending over again and again to fix it more than a dozen times. The third time I stepped on the hem, my phone finally buzzed. 'Natalie just came back and isn't used to the weather here. I'll go pick her up. You try on the dress first.' The next second, a new post popped up on social media. Natalie had uploaded a photo. In it, Enzo was crouched in front of her, one hand wrapped around her slender ankle as he carefully fastened the strap of her high heels. The caption was only one line. 'He still couldn't bear to let me bend down.' When I tapped into the post, I saw that Enzo had already liked it. The bridal assistant sensed the shift in the air and tried to comfort me in a low voice. "Ms. Blackwood, Mr. Beck really cares about you. He was worried you might secretly diet and hurt your health, so he specifically told us not to alter the waistline any further." I smiled. He cared about me, yes. But his care had never stopped him from favoring someone else. I lowered my head and looked at the wedding dress on my body. Then it suddenly struck me. The thing that did not fit had never been the dress. It was this wedding.

Jack's first love, Alice, came in for her prenatal checkup. Tested positive for Corrosion Sickness. I told him right away. But Jack insisted I was spouting nonsense and went around the pack slandering me—claiming I had no medical ethics, that my surgical skills were a joke, and that I’d killed a fellow werewolf through malpractice. Because of him, the Werewolf Medical Association revoked my healer title, and I was nearly torn apart by the patient’s furious family! On our third mating anniversary, Jack sank silver into my veins. I begged him to save me, but he locked me in a cellar and left me there to die. "Just die already," he said. "I need your estate to have marking ceremony with Alice." The next second, I opened my eyes—I wasn’t dead. I was reborn! I was reborn on the day Alice came in for her prenatal checkup! This time, I won’t tell him the truth. I’m leaving that scumbag behind! Let him and Alice enjoy their filthy love!

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.”

My boyfriend is the heir to Sicily's top mafia clan. To test my loyalty, he never spent a single dime on me during our five years together. Even when we bought condoms, he insisted we split the bill fifty-fifty. Last week, I was in a car accident. To save the baby in my womb, I urgently needed $1,000 for emergency surgery. I called him from the hospital, begging for the money, but he accused me of lying to extort cash from him and hung up. Desperate, I begged every friend and contact I knew. By the time I finally scraped the sum together, a unbearable pain tore through my abdomen—my baby's heart had already stopped beating. After burying my baby, I went back to pack my bags. That was when I accidentally found a birthday gift list he had prepared for his childhood neighbor, Nadia. A luxury yacht, a star named after her, and endless designer goods. Right then, his voice drifted in from the next room as he spoke on a phone call with his underbosses. "Hey Boss, is it true Elena begged you for a grand?" Dante Moretti scoffed arrogantly. "Yeah, and I stood my ground and refused. Nadia is right. Elena is just a helpless orphan who can't leave me. But to enter my family, she has to pass a strict test. It’s almost over. She’ll realize I did all this for her own good." So my five years of devotion, and my baby's life, were nothing more than a twisted test for a repulsive mafia title. Whatever. It didn't matter anymore. The moment the doctor announced my baby was dead, I had already decided to walk away from him forever.

I've been engaged to my boyfriend, Evan Shaw, for five years. He's a military commander, which is probably why he has delayed our wedding 56 times so far. The first delay has occurred because one of his female soldiers, Chloe Brooks, has gotten injured. Evan needs to rush back to the military camp due to the incident, which causes the wedding to be delayed. The second delay has occurred because Chloe has received a promotion. After sending me to the church's entrance, Evan quickly leaves with the celebratory gifts. … The 56th delay has occurred halfway throughout the ceremony. Apparently, Chloe has called Evans on the phone and crying about her break-up. Of course, Evan gets ready to ditch me at the altar without hesitation. I've begged him to not leave me, only for him to remove my hand coldly. "We can always delay the wedding. The thing is, Chloe wants to jump off a building right now because she's gotten her heart broken. How could you ever compare the importance of your wedding to the life of a nation's pride?" Evan has told me before that if I want to become a military wife, I need to have a higher endurance limit than others. I need to get used to the fact that he prioritizes others before me. But I've never even had a proper wedding of my own. How can I be considered a military wife just yet? So, I submit an application that makes me a covert operative that needs to be transferred back into the government's ranks. But after I've left, Evan breaks down in tears. With the wedding ring in hand, he tries to make it up to me by promising to complete the unfinished wedding ceremony with me.

Randy’s mother, Monica, was on her dying bed. Her only wish before she died was for him, my alpha boyfriend, to perform our marking ceremony before she passed. When Monica looked at him eagerly, Randy agreed to mark me. But after we left her room, Randy said that he was going to marry Alina. “Alina’s mother is critically ill. She also wants to watch her undergo the marking ceremony before she passes. We can wait a little longer before we conduct our own marking ceremony, Emma.” “But what about your mother? She wants to witness us undergo the marking ceremony too!” “My mother can hang in there a little longer. Don’t worry.” Randy then grabbed the ring that Monica had given to me. It had acted as a symbol of me being her daughter-in-law, but Randy gave it to Alina. Unbeknownst to him, Monica was already at Death’s door, and she was feigning a picture of health in front of him. On the day Monica passed away, Randy performed the marking ceremony with another woman. After I made preparations for Monica’s funeral, I vanished from Randy’s world. To my surprise, he started begging me to become his mate after I left.

As Jastrelle's golden girl, I draw lots to pick my groom, and fate finally hands me Felix Ledger, the childhood sweetheart I've wanted forever. During the impromptu wedding, a funeral convoy belonging to a scion of a rich family in Jastrelle passes right outside. I hate the omen. Felix laughs, pulls me into his arms, and places the veil over my head himself. "I'll take it as a good omen. With you, I'm covered from first breath to last," he says. His adoptive sister, Winnie Ledger, hears him, bursts into tears, and bolts outside. The funeral convoy runs her down, and she dies. Felix barely reacts. Three years later, Dad is framed, driven into bankruptcy, and falls gravely ill. He dies, and I lose everything. At the funeral, Felix sends everyone off, shoves me into the open grave, and buries me alive. He spits, "You rigged everything to get me. You left Winnie ruined. She bolted outside, and that funeral convoy ran her down. For three years, remorse has eaten me alive. I want you torn apart! "With your last protector gone, I can finally make you suffer a hundredfold the pain Winnie felt and ease my hatred!" When I open my eyes, I'm back at the groom-selection ceremony. Dad smiles as he hands me the lots. I shake my head, look out the window, and point at the funeral convoy passing outside. "I'm not choosing anyone. I'll marry that dead man!"

Lydia is a once straight A college student turned Escort. Her mother was in a terrible accident and the only way Lydia can afford to pay her bills is to join an A list Escort service. Drake is a Real Estate Mongrel. His a self made billionaire and owns his own company. He hails from a broken family that comes from old money. He’s received an invitation to his younger brothers wedding celebration and he needs to find a date in order to keep his mother at bay from throwing every eligible bachelorette his way. Drake turns to the Escort service to find a perfect date. Can Lydia and Drake trick Drakes family into believing they real lovers?