Freeze Framing Novels & Stories

"My husband walks about freely, lavishing my fortune, with his mistress by his side, while I am condemned to spend the rest of my life in an island prison for his death. If this is my fate, I will fight it until my last breath."~~~ MARIANNE Betrayed by the ones she trusted most, Marianne finds herself convicted for a crime she did not commit. In a desperate attempt to change her new reality, she ends up at the brink of death but gets a second chance in Troy; An unusually sexy billionaire willing to place the world at her feet. Marianne swears she is done with men and love, and her life's goal is revenge against those who wronged her. But why does her heart race uncontrollably at the sound of his voice? ***His hands reached out, framing my face, his fingers tracing the outline of my lips as if committing them to memory. His touch moved lower, his thumbs grazing the sensitive peaks of my nipples. The sensation sent a wave of pleasure rippling through me, making it impossible to think. I closed my eyes as his lips found the crook of my neck, kissing and biting lightly, leaving me breathless and trembling. "Troy," I panted, my eyes flying open as I took a step back, trying to create distance between us. But he followed me, closing the gap I had made. His voice was low, a whisper that seemed to reach into my soul. "Do I scare you?" I nodded, my eyes unable to meet his, looking anywhere but at him. His brows furrowed as he gently lifted my chin, forcing me to face him. "Why, Anne?" I swallowed hard, trying to find the words. "Because... you make me feel things I've never felt before."***

After the Ig publication S.H.I.T Journal goes viral, I search its website out of curiosity. The satirical journal bills itself as a home for all things academic garbage. The moment I open the site, the top trending article catches my attention. It reads, "A Research on How to Deceive a Gullible Foster Mother With Face Blindness and Trick Her into Raising Me as Her Biological Daughter for Twelve Years". "Keywords: deception, face blindness, self-delusion, false family bonds" I freeze and click into the full article with trembling fingers. The more I read, the more terrified I become. "1.1 Definition of face blindness and how to swap daughters to deceive the foster mother" "2.1 Practical uses and drawbacks of the foster mother" "3.1 How to profit by exploiting the foster mother through her face blindness" The content sends a chill through my entire body. The comment section is already in chaos. "Does this mean the author is actually the daughter of the mistress, and her father swapped her to be raised by his wife for twelve years?" "That's not all. Didn't you read 2.1? The wife had her own daughter, and the husband deliberately handed her over to traffickers!" "What the hell… In 3.1, it even says that because the wife has face blindness and can't tell people apart, the author makes deals with single fathers of classmates and sends the wife to…" At that point, my phone slips from my hand and crashes to the ground. The screen shatters instantly. I have severe face blindness, and I have a daughter who was kidnapped and only found again after three years.

When I was ten, my mother married into the Corleone family, and I followed her into that house. Before Vincent Corleone learned to hate me, he had once treated me like a real little sister. Later, he became the one who hurt me most. He believed my mother had driven his own mother to her death, and from that day on, he made sure I paid for it. Humiliation, contempt, cruelty—he never spared me any of it. Then Leo Moretti, Vincent’s closest friend, confessed that he loved me. I thought he was my way out. I was wrong. The morning after I gave him my first time, I overheard him speaking to Vincent behind a half-closed door. “I got the photos from her first night,” Leo said quietly. “Are you really going to make them public?” Vincent’s voice was cold enough to freeze my blood. “She owes my mother a life. If I can’t take that, then I’ll make sure she pays another way. I want her ruined.” That was the moment I understood. The tenderness had been fake. The love had been a trap. And the man I had trusted most had been waiting all along to destroy me. What they didn’t know was that two weeks earlier, I had already received an invitation from Professor Evans at the world’s top international medical research institute. So this time, I left first. And I was never coming back.

"What are you waiting for Louisa? What part of this do you not understand? What makes you think in that fucked up brain of yours that I'll ever accept you back? You are a slut! You betrayed me and now, you can get the fuck out of my life. Jenna and I"— he entwined their fingers together—" are a thing now." "She's lying to you! She's manipulating you with her looks Alex! She's framing us, trying to ruin our lives!" I sobbed. "Sign the divorce papers now!" he thrusted the divorce papers at me but I bluntly backed away in pain. **" Louisa's perfect world crumbled when her husband, Alex, presented her with divorce papers. The blow was crippling, coming at the very moment she had discovered she was pregnant – a miracle after three years of struggling with infertility. The most crushing blow came when she realized that her husband has been sleeping with her best friend to hurt her. Louisa was forcibly evicted from her home in the rain, jeered and mocked. She's an orphan and has no one to turn to. Surprisingly after an accident, she met a stranger who revealed a shocking truth: she was the heiress to a vast fortune, left behind by her deceased parents. Louisa moves on with her life and three years. She rose to prominence in the business world, forging a lucrative empire and raising her twins. She's cold as ice. Then Alexander reappeared, remorseful and contrite. He badly wants to make things right and do whatever it takes to win her back.. Will she want him back into the lives of her kids?? Or will she give her heart to someone new.. Alexander's rival and former best friend.

I came home from abroad to save my nephew's company from going bust, and also to attend his wedding with his sweetheart. But just as the banquet was about to start, a barrage of comments suddenly popped up before my eyes: [Thank goodness the sweetheart is clever and came up with the idea of framing the substitute for poisoning! The male lead will definitely be over with the substitute after this!] [Exactly! So what if the substitute has stayed by his side for ten years? The male lead still loves his sweetheart the most!] Elaine Geston, decked out in a luxury wedding gown, strutted up to me with her nose in the air, looking smug. "So you're the woman Nolan has cherished for ten years? I hate to break it to you, but you're just a substitute for me! You should get lost if you know what's good for you!" I glanced down at my phone, checking the stock prices, not in the mood to deal with her. She suddenly looked shocked. She picked up one of the two glasses of wine prepared for the newlyweds, sniffed it, then pointed a finger at me and yelled, "What a vile woman! You actually poisoned the wine! Just because Nolan loves me, you want to kill us both!" Hearing this, the security guards instantly surrounded me, looking hostile. I was totally baffled. I pointed at my nephew, who was chatting with guests outside the venue, and said, "What substitute? Ask your husband if he dares to treat his own aunt as a substitute. Does he want his whole family to beat him up? Does he want his company to go bankrupt?" The comments went wild. [Oh crap, she's not a substitute but his aunt? The sweetheart's messed up big time!]

Adrian woke to warmth, too much warmth. His heart nearly stopped when he realized his head was resting against Kaelen’s chest, their legs tangled beneath the sheets. Panic surged. He shoved himself upright, only to freeze when he saw it, thin, glowing red threads coiling around his wrist, binding him to Kaelen. His blood ran cold. “What the hell…?” Adrian whispered, staring at the unmistakable bond mark. Kaelen stirred, blinking awake. For a moment, confusion flickered in his eyes, then shock. He tugged the sheet up to cover himself, gaze darting between Adrian and the red mark linking them. “What did you do? Adrian hissed, his voice breaking. You’re my sister’s fiancé! You’re supposed to be her mate, not...” He trembled as he scrambled for his clothes. Kaelen sat up, still staring at the line as though it mocked him. “I… I don’t know. But this—this isn’t a mistake. Adrian, you’re my mate.” “No!. Adrian’s hands shook as he pulled his shirt over his head. Whatever happened last night...forget it. This is wrong. You hear me? It never happened. Don’t you dare breathe a word of this to anyone.” Kaelen’s voice softened, almost pleading. “Adrian…” But Adrian couldn’t bear to listen. His chest ached as he turned away, slamming the door behind him, leaving Kaelen staring at the red bond that refused to fade. Two souls tied together by fate. One forbidden connection that could destroy them both.

What could possibly go wrong when Maria is assigned as the personal doctor to the heir of a billionaire clan who just woke up from thirteen months in a coma? Probably unintended sparks and complicated intimacies. The saying that 'opposites attract' can't be more true between these two contradicting beings. *** He frowned down at her, moving towards the bed again, and sealed her lips with a palm. "Stop smiling like that," he said, in a deep rumble, brown eyes darkening with a different emotion she couldn't put into words. Her brows creased slightly before pulling his hand away and then chuckled lightly at his strange set of words. "Why? Is it not funny?" She asked with amusement, looking back at him with her grin getting wider. A groan softly broke through his lips, and his frame lowering towards her brought her chortle to an abrupt end, making her freeze in place when his face was a mere inch from hers. Her breath hitched for a second as she gazed into those dark eyes that could melt her in just one look, the softest of whispers breaking free from him, his fingers gently tracing over her jaw. "Because if you continue..." he paused, taking his time to finish his thought as his thumb ran up along her cheek. "... I am going to kiss you." Her eyelids stretched open at his words, gasping silently, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. "Mr. Stanley..." And before she could complete words she wasn't even sure of saying next, he captured her mouth with a passionate kiss that stole her breath away, all sound from her vanishing in that instant. ***

While inspecting my family's cold-storage operations, my husband, Hayden Gibson, and the poor college student I had sponsored, Olivia Hall, suddenly disappeared. As I passed by a research supply container, lines of floating text suddenly appeared in my vision. [That was close! They almost got caught by the heiress! Good thing Hayden reacted fast and pulled the innocent young woman into the cargo container.] [But this supply container is about to get locked and loaded onto a ship and sent to the Southfrost Reach research station. Are those two trying to turn themselves into ice sculptures?"] I just stood there. Hayden, my husband, who had married into my family, was cheating right under my nose? I was about to pull open the container door when Hayden's personal assistant, Robin, stepped in front of me with a smile. "The seal around the door was just waxed, and it hasn't dried yet. You might get your hands dirty." The bullet comments appeared again. [That scared me to death! This assistant is pretty smart. Once Hayden gets out, the assistant definitely deserves a new car.] [As expected of the Chosen One. He can always escape danger! I can't wait to watch his sweet romance with the sweet, innocent young woman.] I stared at the floating text and laughed coldly. "These are critical supplies for the research team. Seal the container now so that nothing goes wrong. Get the welder and weld the door shut." The assistant froze, and the bullet comments momentarily stopped. [Holy moly! She's so ruthless! The two people inside are completely naked right now!] [Help! If the container door gets welded shut, Hayden and the female lead will spend a month at sea and really freeze into ice sculptures!]

As I grit my teeth and buy the last box of discounted shrimp, a young woman dressed head to toe in designer brands is picking out imported seafood beside me. She glances at me and casually drops a king crab into my cart. "It's the holidays. Treat yourself better," she says with a carefree smile. "I'll pay for everything you buy today." I am shocked when I see the five-figure price tag. I quickly try to decline her by waving my hands frantically. She pulls out a black card and shrugs. "It's fine. My sugar daddy gives me more money than I can spend. If I don't use it, he'll get mad." I force a laugh. "Sounds like he's really generous to you." "He's alright, I guess. I can't spend money as fast as he earns it," she says nonchalantly. After a slight pause, she goes on, "Speaking of which, his girlfriend is pretty dumb. She works nonstop for years just to help him pay off a debt that doesn't even exist. When I say I want him to cook on New Year's Eve, he immediately ditches his girlfriend to come be with me." I freeze for a moment. My boyfriend, Eric Sterling, is in debt. Just as I am thinking it can't be that much of a coincidence, my phone buzzes with a message from Eric. He texts, "Anne, the company assigned me to an extra shift tonight. I get triple the pay. Buy yourself something nice to eat. I'll be home tomorrow."

"I spent three years being his 'used rag.' Now, I’m the one cleaning up his empire, starting with the trash." For three years, Shay Falcone lived for her husband, Massimo. She worked twelve-hour shifts behind the scenes, skipping meals and sleep to ensure his company became a billion-dollar legend. She was his ghostwriter, his secret strategist, and his most loyal soldier. She thought her reward would be the child growing inside her. But on the night of the Billionaire Launch, Massimo didn't give her a thank you. He gave her a death sentence. "You're a used rag, Shay," he sneered in front of the world's cameras. "A servant I don't need to pay. Meet my real wife, Elena." One shove from his bodyguards sent Shay spiraling into a stone fountain. As Massimo walked away to celebrate his wealth, Shay lay in a pool of blood, feeling the heartbeat of her child stop forever. Two years later, the rag is gone. The Ice Queen has arrived. When Massimo’s empire begins to crumble, he begs for a meeting with the untouchable Alessia Valois. He expects a savior; instead, he finds the wife he killed. "Shay?" Massimo gasps, reaching for her. "I... I’ve realized my mistake. Please, I still love you." Alessia doesn't even look up from her glass of vintage scotch. She steps over his hand as if he were a stain on the carpet. "I’m sorry, Mr. Falcone," she purrs, her voice cold enough to freeze his soul. "The woman who loved you died in a fountain. I’m just here to collect the debt."