Glass Hammer Bubbler

At the end of the year, I went to the spa and discovered a stranger had been using my VIP card. When I logged into my personal profile, the last three treatment records were not under my name. The preference section listed specific details about someone else. She was allergic to rose essential oil, preferred lavender, and her heating pad temperature could not exceed 108 degrees Fahrenheit. Her menstrual cycle fell around the 15th of each month, so no waist or abdomen treatments during that time. I stared at the screen, my palms turning cold. Only my husband, Zachary White, knew this password. At the time, he said he needed it to check the balance and renew my membership. I scrolled down and found a system note at the bottom: [Birthday treatment reserved for December 30, prepared according to Ms. Anderson's preferences.] Today was December 30. My phone vibrated. Zachary had sent a message: [Working late tonight. Won't be home.] Familiar laughter drifted from the hallway. Through the glass door, I watched Zachary walk into the adjacent room with his arm around a woman, the beautician hurrying forward to greet them. "Mr. White, we have Ms. Anderson's birthday treatment ready, just as you requested."

"Work Hard, Play Hard" Archie is never without a beautiful woman or a glass of good scotch in his hand, which drives his ultra-wealthy, conservative parents to distraction. To force him to take life more seriously, his father threatens to name his cousin the CEO of the company Archie helped build from the ground up if he doesn't marry a girl of their choosing. To appease his parents, Archie proposes to Leticia and gives her the family heirloom ring. Archie's best friend Josh thinks he's making a big mistake and invites him for a week's holiday in Ibiza, telling him it's a stag party. With his boyfriend Charlie, Josh aims to convince Archie to face his true self and his long-buried truth. Archie initially clashes with the outgoing, gregarious Charlie, but soon finds himself drawn to him as Charlie returns the attraction, pushing Archie to explore this connection even at the risk of losing Josh's friendship. But Archie's return to the real world makes him realize that his love for Charlie could cost him the CEO position and the love of his parents. Forced to choose between a chance at true love and familial loyalty, Archie makes the ultimate decision, but either one will destroy lives and hearts.

Caked in mud, her eyes bloodshot, my mother grabbed me by the shoulders. "Elliot, the company's collapsed. I… I killed a competitor. It was an accident. There's no way out now. You're the only one who can come with me." I believed her. I swallowed my fear and followed her into the mountains, deeper and deeper until there was nothing left of the world I knew. To keep her alive, I searched for food, forcing down insects, drinking whatever murky water I could find. When a pack of wolves began circling our shelter, my first instinct was to step in front of her. "Mom, I'll lead them away. You go." I glanced back at her one last time…and made my choice. I would give up my life for hers. However, when I leapt from the cliff and my body shattered against the rocks below… I still saw her. She was inside a descending helicopter, calm and composed, lifting a glass of champagne. Celebrating. That was when it finally clicked. The desperate escape that had driven me to sacrifice myself… was nothing more than a carefully staged show. She had been acting the entire time. I…was the only one who had actually died.

Rachel Larson was adamant about marrying me, and she spent ten years stealing my heart. On the night before our wedding, I overheard her conversation with her friend. "You're marrying Leonardo? What about your side piece?" A moment of silence later, Rachel answered, "That guy? He's just a cheap replacement. Leonardo's the real deal. Don't compare my side piece to him. If he stays put and keeps his mouth shut, I might let him stay around. Leonardo's a broad-minded man. He won't mind." The side piece did not stay put. In fact, he caused a scene at the wedding the next day. He shoved me off the stage, but the woman who was supposed to marry me darted over to his side instead. Why? He was holding a piece of broken glass against his throat. Gutturally, he roared, "Choose! Me or him?" Panicked, Rachel kicked me away despite my injuries, and she roared, "Get out of the way! I need to take him to the hospital! If anything happens to him, I'll kill you!" She didn't need to wait that long. My heart died right there and then. … That night, I bought a flight ticket that would take me abroad and left her.

The century-long war was over. My sister and I were the Alpha's daughters. The strongest pack in the North. We were forced into a marriage alliance with the Evernight vampire kingdom. A witch prophesied a powerful hybrid would be born to our family. A child destined to be king. Soon, my sister and I were both pregnant. I didn't care about giving birth to the prophesied ruler. I just wanted my child to be safe and healthy. But I never expected what happened. My sister, Liliana, gave birth to the hybrid king. Her mate, the first prince, Damien, was immediately named Crown Prince. And me? I gave birth to a monster. A beast born in its feral wolf form, all fangs and fury. I was branded unclean. My mate, the second prince Kael, was executed for my "sin." Burned to ash. Only in my last moments did I learn the truth. The monster my sister had swapped for mine? It was hers. It was all a scheme. A plot she and Damien hatched to hide a defect in his bloodline and steal the throne. When I opened my eyes again, I was back. Back before everything went to hell. And my sister was walking toward me, a smile on her face, a glass of juice in her hand…

He isn’t just twice my age, he’s also my best friend’s dad. And the man who appears in my steamy dreams every night and satisfies all my wild fantasies… The first time I saw Tony was on my 16th birthday, he was a tall glass of my favorite drink and the moment our eyes met, I was hooked. I wanted him. I yearned for him. But then, he was way out of my league. I was just a 16-year-old naive girl with no clue how to unravel the mystery around him. So I just stood there and watched another woman take him away from me. I thought I had lost him until three years later. I was standing in front of this huge house, and right in front of me was my mystery man. My fantasy s*x god who appears in my hot dreams every night is my best friend’s dad… I should have looked away immediately, I should have remembered the rules, the consequences, and the hurt. But how do you stop your heart from beating for the one it’s chosen? Everything changed with just one kiss. I crossed a line I shouldn’t have crossed, and I had to deal with a temptation too wild to resist.

One year had gone by since my husband got married to me. I went back to the company for a celebration party. I'd just taken my seat when a woman with a Cartier ring around her finger splashed a glass of red wine in my face. "That's the chairman's seat, you slut! Who are you? How dare you take his seat!" The guests surrounded me and grabbed my hands and feet. Someone even kicked me down to the ground. I held my fury back. "I'm the chairman's wife! Matthew Grayson is my husband!" The woman yanked my hair and sneered at me. "So, you're the bitch he's forced to marry. He's already generous enough, letting you marry him. You live on his money, and now you're trying to steal his place and be the boss. I know sluts like you know no shame! Guards, throw her out!" I laughed mirthlessly. The man who leeched off me thought he could call the shots now. Still, I kept my fury in check and called his number. "Hello, Matthew. Did you tell everyone I lived on your money and that you're the boss of the company?"

After waking up from a car accident, I become the perfect wife of Dr. Leonardo Rossi. In the next two years of being an amnesiac, I rely on Leonardo and love him with all my heart. But on the night of our wedding anniversary, I accidentally overhear his murmured conversation with a subordinate. "Take her out once she's done signing the asset transfer papers." At that moment, a searing hot memory comes barging into my mind. I remember a man placing a hand on my sweat-drenched lower back. As he pants, he murmurs into my ear, "My dearest Donna Vittoria Costa, remember that I'm the only one who can make you shiver like this." Finally, the fog that has been haunting my mind is lifted, allowing more memories to return. It turns out that the man who has held me by my waist is none other than Leonardo, who's currently passing a glass of water to me with a smile on his face. I swallow the pill that he has handed to me. But in reality, I hide the pill beneath my tongue and merely swallow the water. Dear doctor, when the prey remembers that it's supposed to be the predator, do you think your scalpel will still be capable of slitting my throat?

Could there be anything more painful than witnessing how your best friend and your boyfriend pleasure in each other's company? That's exactly what Summer Hilton experienced when, from a mission, she accidentally found herself against the glass wall of the unit occupied by her unfaithful boyfriend and her bestfriend Wilma. Summer was born with a golden spoon in her mouth and she is princess of the Hilton’s family. Admired and envied by everyone for possessing all the good qualities, including excessive self-confidence, but in a moment, all of that vanished due to the betrayal of two precious people in her life. Hans Zimmer, a successful Hollywood actor, became entangled in a complex situation. Admired by Summer, she took a bold step to get to know him and surprised everyone with a marriage contract. Three months later, as Hans prepared to marry Scarlett, he discovered he was already married into another woman, leading to Scarlett's decision to separate. Hanz searched for his wife named Summer but was dismayed to find in front of him the plus size fan he encountered before. “Love me in three months, and I will give you back your freedom." This was the condition set by his wife, who treated him colder than ice. What if Summer completely falls for her idol, who is now her husband? Will she still be able to give up the freedom he's asking for? Or will she let her heart suffer once again for the second time?"

Five years ago, Elara Thorne died in a wreckage of twisted metal and flames. Or so the world believed. In reality, she was running from the powerful Vance family who wanted her erased, and running from Julian Vance, the man who had shattered her heart before she could even tell him she was carrying his twins. Now, Elara is a shadow in the city, a mother living on the edge of survival. But the "Ice King" of New York has a long memory and even longer reach. When Julian catches a glimpse of a familiar face at an elite gala, his world of cold calculation turns into a furnace of obsession. He doesn't find a grieving ex-lover. He finds a woman who has become a lioness, and two children who are the perfect, sapphire-eyed images of himself. Julian doesn’t ask for forgiveness. He demands a debt. He drags Elara from the gutters of Brooklyn into the heights of his glass palace, forcing her into a Marriage of Convenience. He wants his heirs. He wants his revenge. And most of all, he wants to possess the woman who dared to make a fool of him. But Julian has forgotten one thing: a woman who has already survived death has nothing left to fear. As Elara steps back into the world of the elite, she isn't there to play the dutiful wife. She is a Trojan horse in a red silk dress, ready to dismantle the Vance empire from within.