Empty Smiles Mga Nobela at Kwento

My anxiety spiked during our wedding photoshoot. A sharp pain stabbed through my chest. My fiancé, Caius—the Falcone family heir—was helping his adoptive sister, Fiorella, try on my wedding dress. He didn't even spare me a glance. He was on one knee, focused on adjusting the lace on Fiorella’s hem. Before we’d even left the shop, Fiorella posted a selfie in the dress. She was all smiles, my fiancé standing beside her, posed like her groom. Calmly, I pulled out my phone. I sent a message to a painter I keep on retainer. "A royal portrait. The two of them. Old-world style. Use the cheapest materials you can find. I want the frame dripping with fake diamonds. Make it look like trash." I'll have it sent to Fiorella. A wedding present. The note will be simple. "A work of art as priceless as your bond. Best wishes on your wedding."

On the day of his funeral, I discovered that my fiance, Zachary Gray, had come back to life. His friend says teasingly, "You sure know how to stage an act, Zachary. Your fiancee cried so much over your fake death that she almost went blind!" Zachary smiles indifferently and says, "Stepping into marriage is like taking one foot into the grave. Of course, I have to have some fun first." I stand in the shadows and watch him bend down to kiss another woman. He then points at the tombstone I had carefully and painstakingly carved for him, laughing until he can't catch his breath. Watching him, I feel like an utter fool. I take out my phone and call my father. "Dad, since Zachary is dead, our engagement is null. Let's pull out of the collaboration with the Gray family's company."

For eight years, Cecilia Moore was the perfect Luna, loyal, and unmarked. Until the day she found her Alpha mate with a younger, purebred she-wolf in his bed. In a world ruled by bloodlines and mating bonds, Cecilia was always the outsider. But now, she's done playing by wolf rules. She smiles as she hands Xavier the quarterly financials-divorce papers clipped neatly beneath the final page. “You're angry?” he growls. “Angry enough to commit murder,” she replies, voice cold as frost. A silent war brews under the roof they once called home. Xavier thinks he still holds the power-but Cecilia has already begun her quiet rebellion. With every cold glance and calculated step, she's preparing to disappear from his world-as the mate he never deserved. And when he finally understands the strength of the heart he broke... It may be far too late to win it back.

A story of betrayal, revenge, and a second chance at life. Sia was loved, respected, and accepted—until the day her own family turned against her. Accused of trying to kill her step-sister, she is brutally punished by the people she trusted the most. Her husbands, powerful and merciless, stand by as her life slips away, while her step-sister Ritu smiles like a devil, hiding a deadly secret. But fate has other plans. Sia wakes up five years in the past—alive, reborn, and filled with a burning resolve. This time, she is not the same gentle girl who begged for love. This time, she is a new Sia—strong, fearless, and ready to rewrite her destiny. She has been given a second chance… and this time, she will live for herself. But when love turns into betrayal, and betrayal turns into revenge, the world will tremble. Meet the new Sia—whose heart now holds only one emotion: hatred.

For years, I lived unseen, unwanted, and unloved. I was always the one that was overlooked. Still, I thought I was lucky. I had a home, a little daughter who adored me, and a husband whose rare smiles made me feel like I finally mattered. But that illusion shattered the night I was kidnapped. When the flames closed in and I screamed for help, my husband never came. He left me to burn, to die as quietly as I had lived. But fate had other plans. When I returned, I wasn’t the same timid woman he discarded. I was reborn, stronger, sharper and breathtakingly beautiful. The world that once mocked me now worshipped me. And him? He looked at me desire dripping from his eyes, not realizing who I truly was. He begged for a chance, pleaded for my love. But it was too late. I had already married another man. And this time, it was my turn to play the game.

In my seven years of being married to my husband, Mark Chapman, he always gives me whatever I ask for and prioritizes me in everything. This goes on until he keeps sending food coupons to a female college student named Hayley Larkson. Not only that, he stands up for her and beats up some thugs on her behalf. One time, he even takes her to the hospital to get treatment. Holding a toy, my daughter asks Mark innocently, "Dad, Ms. Larkson is so gentle and pretty. She's not as strict and mean as Mom, who always makes me do homework. Can you ask her to move in and be my teacher?" Mark smiles and replies, "Sure." I stand frozen in a corner, my lips trembling. Just then, the system's cold voice speaks in my mind. It asks if I want to go home. I close my eyes and reply, "Take me home."

Ivy was auctioned into marriage by her greedy uncle to arrogant billionaire Cyrus Wray as settlement for a debt. Cyrus treated the marriage as a joke — a signature on paper, nothing more. When Ivy discovered she was pregnant, Cyrus laughed. "Prove it's mine." She walked out that same night and never looked back. Five years later, Cyrus is dying. His kidneys are failing and no donor match exists anywhere. His doctors deliver one final truth — only a direct blood relative can save him. A mutual person betrays Ivy's location for money and Cyrus arrives at her small town door — pale, weakened and humbled. But what destroys him isn't seeing Ivy. It's the five year old boy standing behind her — wearing his exact face and his exact eyes. Ivy smiles slowly. "You wanted proof. Here he is. Now beg."

Callahan Hastings is relentless when it comes to getting what he wants, and what he wants is me–to be his private chef in the Hamptons for the summer. My dream job served to me on a silver platter by one of the wealthiest members of Pembroke Hills Country Club. The only catch? He’s my ex-boyfriend’s older brother with a reputation for being as charming as he is cunning. But Cal doesn’t take no for an answer. He draws you in with flirty smiles and extravagant promises. I should have seen him coming, but I didn’t. I should have stayed away, but I couldn’t. His playful touches and burning gaze have ignited a fire in me. The more I resist him, the more irresistible he becomes. I've always known there's an expiration date on the job–an expiration date on us. But leaving isn't going to be easy with Cal on his knees, begging me to stay...

I broke my leg in a car accident last week and had been stuck at home recovering, unable to go anywhere. Just as I was starting to go stir-crazy, a couple moved into the house next door—the one that had been empty for ages. I pressed my ear to the wall, catching every sound of them making love, and even recorded quite a bit. Still, I never expected something so sinister to happen. The man next door sounded exactly like my dead husband! I moved my phone closer to the wall and listened carefully. Suddenly, a scream exploded through the wall. “Lindy, you’ll die for this!” My scalp went numb. My husband was mute. The only time he ever spoke in his life… was the night I forced his head into a bucket of water. How did the man next door know my husband’s last words before he died?

I left Seaport for Crellan, thinking I was about to marry Bryson. Instead, I got drugged and kidnapped on our engagement day. Barely conscious, I caught him talking to his assistant. "Doctor and kidnappers—handled?" Bryson said. "Get her kidney. Lily's out of time." The assistant wavered. "She's not in great shape. This could ruin her." That gave Bryson a flicker of guilt—but it vanished quick. "She's not fragile like Lily. She's a broke student. If her kidney didn't match, she wouldn't be living like this. That's worth it." His face stayed ice-cold. I clenched my fist so hard my nails dug in, blood pooling in my mouth. So that was true Bryson—a monster in disguise. He thought I wanted to sell my health for some empty marriage. Too bad I never wanted it.