Empty Smiles

This isn't a love story, but almost a love story. Irina and Eric share a world through dreams and time travel. They have a strong mutual understanding about the feelings they have for each other, at the same time understanding that they cannot be together. Eric: I open my eyes and find myself standing alone in an empty room. The ceilings and the walls are neatly painted white. And the floor is composed of polished light brown wood. And there is a dark brown framed window at one corner where the light comes from. A bright yellow and pale red orange light tells me the sun is setting and soon it will be dark. Eric is a ghost who always appears in Irina's dream. Irina: I open the door to the bedroom. There is a dark brown framed window at one corner where the light is coming from. The yellow orange light passes through the open window. I see Eric standing right there on the spot captured by the yellow light. ‘You came back.’ I said. He stood there looking me in the eye. I almost died. Irina is a time traveler who may or may not change his fate. They alternatively tell a bitter sweet story. Love doesn't always mean together, sometimes it is deeper apart. Eric: I stand alone in the rain looking at the dark sky where all I can see is water, for it is both the rain and my tears flowing to my face. Irina: And suddenly it is no longer my reflection I see inside the mirror. What I see now is a figure of a man. I draw closer to see him clearly. But the closer I walk towards him, the farther I become from him. I couldn't get close.

After our eighty-eighth canceled wedding, I called my business partner. "I'm taking the Haviana market project." There was a beat of stunned silence. "Seriously? That's ten years overseas. You just got married—well, weren't you? Does your husband even know? What about your parents? You always said staying close to them was everything." I glanced around the empty church and let out a sharp laugh. "There was no wedding. No husband. And my parents? They've got Cindy. That's all they need." Another pause. "Alright. Pack your bags. You leave tomorrow." After the call, I ran a hand down my wedding dress. One last tear slipped out, quiet and pointless. Cindy had another "episode" today. Claimed she'd off herself. Andrew canceled—again. I'd looked at him, drained. "It's the eighty-eighth time." He dropped his head, guilt all over him. "Just a little more time, Viv. She's been off since the accident. I'm scared she'll actually do it. I swear, I'll talk to her. For real this time. Then we'll get married. Promise." My parents didn't hesitate. "Vivian, let Andrew go. If Cindy hadn't gotten kidnapped trying to save you, she wouldn't have these breakdowns. Are you really putting a wedding over your sister's life?" "How could you be so selfish?" I'd heard it all before. Used to fight it. Not this time. If neither my fiancé nor my parents wanted me around, then fine. I'd leave.

"Oops, I did it again. I played with your heart, got lost in the game.” I close my eyes; I am enjoying the sun on my face and the wind in my hair. The sound of my voice echoing across the fields. Then I open my eyes; I am scared out of my mind by someone standing over me. "Where did you come from?! You should not creep up on people!" "I can ask you the same thing, what the hell are you doing out here?" His eyes run over my body, and I can see amusement build in his smile. "I never thought I would see the day that I find a clearly lost woman in a wedding dress in the back seat of a car singing to Britney Spears." Tyler Moore is the Sheriff of a small town far out from the city. With a body that is carved to perfection, this soft-spoken man should not be underestimated. Even though he is elegant and yet powerful, there is far more than lives underneath the façade that he brings. Jenna Davis, a girl that decides to leave her husband at the altar, runs away to the small little town where Tyler lives. She gets stuck on the side of the road in nothing but an empty tank, a wedding dress, and singing to Britney Spears. Tyler is the one that finds the poor damsel on the side of the road. Even though he finds her situation amusing, he is immediately captivated by her. She pushes him to his limits and brings the danger that he craves, that he desires. The two soon send off on a whirlwind relationship, but there is one thing that Tyler refuses to give…his heart. Will Jenna ultimately win his heart?

Alan circled them slowly, his gaze lingering on her flushed skin and then Karl’s tense body. “You want me to keep quiet, right?” He asked. “Then you… have to be mine. Both of you. " He slapped Karl's dick and the traitor sprang back to life. Karl gulped but said nothing. Alan stalked to where Selina was, half of her body on the bed and the other half resting on air, her pussy available for anyone to view. "Just for me.” He cupped her right breast and molded the flesh. She swallowed, feeling a dangerous thrill course through her veins. “I… agree.” She whispered, almost breathless. “I’ll be yours.” ******** Selina’s marriage is flawless to the outside world—and empty behind closed doors. Two years as a wife have taught her loneliness, silence, and a husband who treats her more like an obligation than a woman with needs. Starved of affection and desperate to feel wanted, Selina finds herself drawn into a dangerous temptation within the walls of her own home. What starts as a single reckless mistake soon becomes a web of secrets she can’t escape. But everything shatters when the unthinkable happens—and Selina realizes she’s crossed a line that can never be erased. Now trapped between desire, guilt, and forbidden attraction, Selina must keep her secrets hidden while living under the same roof with the very people who could destroy her. Every glance feels loaded. Every moment is a risk. And every choice pulls her deeper into a scandal that could ruin them all. In a house built on silence and betrayal, Selina will learn that the most dangerous desires are the ones no one is supposed to see.

"I love you," he gazed at her eyes which are dropped on the floor while he cups her cheeks with his palm. She doesn't look at his eyes. She seems scared. But with what he doesn't understand. "Do you not like me? Even a little bit?" his voice enunciates but she doesn't response to it. He waits for her answer but she doesn't reply him. He tries to back away from her. But as he is leaving, she holds his hands suddenly. "I don't know. I don't know whether I like you or not. I just don't want you to go away. I just don't want you to leave me," she says with the tears sparkling on her eyes. "Esther!" He presses his forehead against her as his breaths fasten. He can feel that along with his, her breaths are quickened as well. He realizes that the fire is burning on both side and she is equally anxious as she is. A smile creeps on his lips as he feels that. "I love you, Esther. You're made for me and I am made for you. We are made for each other," he smiles and presses his lips against her. "You're day dreaming one more time? What the fuck are you dreaming about Esther? Is it about my old man? Are you dreaming about him?" He pushes her against the wall and punches hard on the wall making his knuckles be red and bleed. "Nooo...Nooo... Caden! You're wrong," she cries.

"I thought you were the man who saved me. I didn't know you were the one who set the fire." The day my father gambled away my life was the day I learned that some monsters don't have claws—they wear tailored suits and drink vintage scotch. To the world, Abram is a philanthropist, a billionaire, and the undisputed King of the Lycan Underground. To me, he is the man who bought my freedom for the price of a debt he secretly engineered. He calls me his "Little Wolf." He dresses me in diamonds that feel like cold chains and keeps me in a soundproof penthouse where my screams are just background music to his obsession. He is the Gentle Gaslighter. He whispers that he loves me while he wipes the blood of my past from his hands. He tells me I have nowhere else to go, forgetting that he was the one who burned every bridge behind me. But Abram made one fatal mistake: He taught me how to survive him. Underneath my silk gowns and practiced smiles, the girl he "broke" is dead. In her place is a master manipulator who has learned to weaponize his own obsession against him. I will let him mark me. I will let him believe he won. And when he is at his highest, I will show him that a velvet noose still strangles just as surely as a hemp one. He told me I was his entire world. Now, I’m going to end it. Tropes: * Mafia Alpha x Captive Omega * Age Gap (42 & 20) * He Falls First (Obsession) * Vengeance/Revenge Rebirth * Betrayal & Tragic Twist

"Didn't I tell you that you are mine? How dare you allow that punk to touch what's mine?" Nikolai pulled her roughly towards him, so that she is so close that she can feel his breath on her face. Ivy looked at him with confusion. This is new. He kidnapped her, tortured the man whom she had a crush on, He humiliated her by tearing her clothes, starved her for two days. After all that, he somehow changed the misery in her job. He saved her from getting killed and raped. "He is my best friend. I like him" she tried to remind him that she has a crush on Jason before he kidnapped her and that did not change. But he didn't like it at all. He kissed her roughly to remind her what he had with her. "Is it? Then what am I?" he demanded angrily. ...... Nikolai Knight, a man who is cold to his bones and lack empathy. He killed countless men for revenge. His parents were killed, and he is after their murderers. He kidnap a girl whom he thought will bring her father to him. But he didn't expect her to change everything. Ivy Johnson, a sweet and caring girl who has a crush on her childhood best friend Jason. Despite her sweet smiles, she is hiding a dangerous truth. She knows who killed Nikolai's parents. Nikolai starts to fall for his captive. When truth of that unveil, will he still feel the same or kill her in a rage. This is the story of a cold hearted man and his captive.

His hand fisted in my hair while the silk tie kept my wrists helpless above my head, his voice dark and thick with lust against my neck. “You’re soaking my fucking pants, Celeste—moaning like a needy little wife who wants to be fucked until she forgets her husband’s name. Is that what you want?” I arched into him, breath hitching as the words tumbled out, “Yes, sir.” ___ Celeste Maddox is the picture-perfect political wife, composed, elegant, and utterly unwanted. Behind closed doors, her marriage to golden boy Ethan is a hollow performance: no affection, no passion, just cold smiles and a carefully curated public image. But everything shatters when she walks in on Ethan tangled in the sheets with her own sister. Heartbroken and reckless, Celeste lets herself unravel for one night in the arms of a commanding stranger—someone who touches her like she matters, who makes her ache and moan like she’s never known pleasure before. She never planned to see him again. But fate has other plans because the stranger? He’s Dr. Rowan Wolfe, the couples therapist Ethan hires to fix their broken marriage. Now, every session is torture. Every glance, a spark.And when Ethan stops showing up, Rowan doesn’t stop seeing her. Talking turns to touching. Therapy turns to sin. And Celeste finds herself tied to the bed of the one man who makes her forget every vow she ever made. She swore she’d never cheat. He swore she was only his plaything. They’re both liars. However, some sins are worth every damn consequence.

My husband, Ryan Costa, is one of the most renowned scientists in the apocalypse. To retrieve a reagent, he goes deep into the high-risk zone with his secretary, Clara Gibson. I, Alice Ashford, lead an elite squad to protect him all the way. But when a zombie horde besieges us, he refuses to retreat. "With the reagent Clara brings back, I can develop a serum that saves all of humanity! Just ten more minutes! Ten minutes, please!" Ryan insists. I feel torn as I see the zombies closing in. I can't gamble with the lives of my squad on a vague, uncertain sliver of hope. In that split second, I knock Ryan out and drag him onto the helicopter. As a result, Clara dies being torn apart by the zombies. When Ryan wakes up, the first thing he does is slap me hard across the face. He rages, "How can you be so selfish? You've doomed all of humanity!" I am sentenced to be burned at the stake. I die in unbearable pain as the crowd curses me relentlessly. When I open my eyes again, I am back at the moment when Ryan stands in front of the helicopter, blocking our retreat. I am just about to speak when I suddenly hear his inner voice, "Clara should have grabbed her makeup bag by now. Hopefully, she brings something back with her. Otherwise, I'll have a hard time explaining myself to Alice." My mind goes blank, and I stare at him in shock. He smiles at me just like he did in my previous life and asks, "Darling, don't you think we should wait?"

For five years, Jessie Moore suppressed her personality, wore clothes she hated, and hid her staggering wealth. She did it all for one reason: to prove to her mother that true love could exist without a billion-dollar price tag. But on the day they were supposed to register their marriage, her boyfriend, Allen Walker, didn't show up. When Jessie went to find him, she didn't find an apology. She found a celebration. Allen was toasted by his friends for finally escaping "the fat girl" to get engaged to a "proper" socialite. “Take this million-dollar cheque and get out of my sight," Allen sneered, tossing the paper at her feet. Jessie didn't cry. She threw wine in his face, tore the cheque to pieces, and walked out—straight into the arms of the city’s most powerful, icy, and untouchable man: Stephen Harrington. Stephen is her best friend’s brother and a CEO who has never spared a second glance for any woman. He needs a wife to stop his family’s meddling; Jessie needs a husband to satisfy her mother’s inheritance demands. It was supposed to be a cold business deal. No feelings. No mess. But as Jessie returns to the Moore Empire to reclaim her throne, she realises the "Icy CEO" is anything but cold behind closed doors. And when Allen discovers the "penniless" girl he dumped is the very heiress he’s desperate to sign a contract with, he comes crawling back on his knees. He’s too late. “You had your chance, Allen.” Jessie smiles, leaning into Stephen's possessive embrace. “Now, I’m the one calling the shots.” Now Jessie is reclaiming everything that belonged to her…including the heart of the icy CEO.