Gnome Table Runners

Amelia's leg tapped against the table as she asked, "What are your thoughts on love?" Her hands were clasped together on her lap, but her eyes sparkled with curiosity. Lucas met her gaze, a smirk playing on his lips. "Love is a waste of time," he replied. "It's a tool designed to weigh people down. Without it, we could achieve so much more." Amelia's eyes lit up with interest; he had just ticked almost all her boxes green. "I agree," she said, her smirk matching his. "Love is nothing but bullshit. We could save a lot of time by keeping our relationship minimal." With a proactive glint in her eye, she added, "What do you say? We should get married to fulfill our filial duties." _____________ Their marriage was a facade, a contract between two individuals who didn't believe in love but were forced to get married to fulfill their obligations. Everything was going as planned, until suddenly... "Have you eaten, dear?" "How is my baby?" "Is he doing well?" Lucas's words, once empty and mechanical, now held a tender tone. Amelia found him falling for her, and she seemed to be falling too. Why were they succumbing to the very thing they once scorned? Love, once a distant possibility, was now becoming an option. But would they choose it?

“I paid you! Why do you keep stalking me, then?” She burst out, while glancing at the door as if she was expecting someone to come in and save her. Not that she needed any saving though. I placed both hands on the table, and leaned down towards her. “We fucked.” My lips curled. Her face colored crimson. “It was a nightstand. Adults have one nightstands all the time. Moreover, I paid you-” “I’m not other people, Inez Raymond,” I said, cutting off her words. “Let’s make a deal.” Interest sparked within her eyes, yet she eyed me cautiously. “What deal?” “That you'll agree to be my wife for three months. If you don't fall in love with me during that period, I'll let you be.” She hesitated. “No sex?” I smirked. “I can't promise that. So, what do you say?” She took a deep breath. “Okay.” *** In her drunken and broken hearted haze, Inez Raymond has a one nightstand with a stranger. She pays him off the next morning, and part ways with him. But then, he starts stalking her. When he forces her into a deal with him, she agrees. What she doesn't know is that the stranger was connected with her in ways she could never imagine. Nor was she aware that she was the only heiress of the most powerful family in Europe, second only to the Celvins. While she's determined not to fall in love with him within three months, he's determined to make her fall in love with him, to find out who made her lose her memory years ago, while helping her get revenge on her ex-husband. Who will emerge champion, in their little game of chess?

The silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating. Kourtney paced in front of him, her heels clicking against the dusty floor of the abandoned villa. The contract lay untouched on the table, just inches from Travis’s restrained hands. Her plan had been reckless, but it was all she had left. “I didn’t want to do this,” she murmured, voice shaking. “But you gave me no choice.” Travis tilted his head. “You think tying me to a chair will change how I feel?” “No. But it changes what you’re allowed to do,” she said, forcing a smirk that didn’t reach her eyes. He didn’t flinch. “What happens after the wedding, Kourtney? When your father finds out? When Kim finds out?” She looked away. “Then it’ll be too late. I’ll have what’s mine.” “Money?” he asked. “Or revenge?” That struck something in her. Kourtney turned to him, face darkening. “You chose her. You loved her. But what about me, Travis? You never even gave me a chance.” “You think forcing me into marriage will give you love?” “No,” she whispered. “But it’ll give me power.” Travis met her eyes. No fear. Just sadness. “This isn’t you,” he said softly. “You don’t know me anymore,” she replied, backing away. “Sign the contract, Travis. Or I swear, I’ll make sure you never walk free again.” Travis looked down at the paper, then back at her. “You’ll lose yourself in this, Kourtney.” She swallowed hard. “Then maybe losing myself is the only way I survive.”

"Help me tighten this?" Her voice trembles as she turns her bare back to the doorway. Calloused fingers brush her spine – but it’s not her stepmother. It’s Asher Voss, SU’s star quarterback and her new stepbrother, smirking in the mirror， "Next time you mistake me for Mom..." His breath scorches her ear. "...I’ll leave a real mark." To survive the sweltering New York summer before college, Wendy Wu makes a deal with Asher: Act like strangers once school starts. He’ll remain the untouchable quarterback; she’ll be just another exchange student. No eye contact. No acknowledgement. Ever. But when her father’s long hauls and her stepmother’s busy schedule force Asher into babysitting duty, the lines blur: In the kitchen, he catches her weeping over a shelter documentary and lifts her against his sweat-drenched chest. Garage doors rattle open – his grip tightens: "Hold on. Unless you want them to see you like this." At a party, her friend spots a cherry hair tie on his wrist before he drags her into a dark hallway: "You didn’t want to see me?" His whiskey-laced kiss brands her lips. "Yet your eyes undressed me all night." In a restaurant, a rival girl glares through the window. He traps Wendy’s thigh under the table， "Call me ‘brother’ and I’ll save you."  Their secret collapses. Wendy ends it, and he freezes her out in public， "Do I know you?" Until a rain-lashed night when Ahser, drenched and desperate, pins her to the wall， "Don’t tell me you do not regret the breakup" His teeth find her collarbone. "I have to admit it-- I miss you." Can a love forged in stolen touches survive the spotlight? Or will their step-sibling bond shatter them both?

She was sent to kill. Instead, she might be the one destined to end it all. Lea, a top-tier assassin for the secretive High Table, has never missed a mark—until now. What was supposed to be a routine mission turns into a long-term “quest” in the quiet town of Mystique Gore, assisting a cold, commanding man in a mansion older than memory. Strange? Yes. Dangerous? Definitely. But what’s worse? The mission wasn’t for a target... it was for *her*. Marked by a power she doesn’t understand and haunted by dreams that aren’t hers, Lea finds herself entangled in a world she never believed existed—one ruled by vampires, witches, and werewolves hiding in plain sight. And at the center of it all is Ivan, the enigmatic master of the house who knows more than he says... and watches her like she’s already his. As her assassin instincts clash with ancient prophecies, forbidden truths, and a mark that binds her fate to something much bigger, Lea must uncover why the High Table sent her here—and why the supernatural world is afraid of *her*. They say she’s the beginning. They say she’s the end. They say she must die to keep the peace. But Lea doesn’t take orders. She gives them.

☆☆☆☆ "So, Tyson, do you just lurk around waiting to interrupt people or is that a special service you offer?" He leaned against the table, his gaze locking with mine. "I'd say it's a special service, but only for certain people. I wouldn't want you to think I'm not paying enough attention to you, love." "Is that so?" I raised an eyebrow, challenging him, "Because I was under the impression you enjoyed making my life difficult, not keeping an eye on it." He chuckled, crossing his arms. "Well, it seems like you could use the excitement." "Oh, trust me, my life's exciting enough without you stirring up trouble." I scoffed, but the corners of my mouth twitched upwards in a reluctant smile. "But, perhaps I'm the kind of trouble you need." ☆☆☆☆ Ashley, the daughter of a millionaire, moves to a new city and hopes for a fresh start. With her sharp wit, she often finds herself at the center of school drama, not by choice, but by circumstances. Intent on maintaining a low profile at her new campus, her plan quickly falls apart when she mistakenly parks her bike in a reserved spot. Tyson, the school's notorious bad boy, is not just a troublemaker, but he's the youngest gang leader to be a part of a powerful mafia, feared by many but understood by few. Despite his fearsome reputation in the streets while other leaders might see him as a mere boy, Tyson is fiercely loyal to his inner circle, showing a side of him that few ever see. What will happen when their paths cross? ☆☆☆☆ 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 #1 𝐨𝐟, 𝐇𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. "𝑫𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎." ☆☆☆☆

She thought she was invisible in the shadows of Las Vegas. She was wrong. Dr. Ava Thorne has spent two years hiding in the city's darkest corners, treating criminals and outcasts in her underground clinic. No questions asked. No names recorded. No past to haunt her. Until the night she saves the wrong man's life. Damian Volkov bleeds out on her operating table—heir to the most feared crime family in Vegas, and the man who's been watching her every move for nine years. With one touch of her surgeon's hands, she seals her fate. He's been hunting her since she was eighteen. Now he's finally found his prey. Dragged from her world of shadows into his penthouse prison, Ava discovers the terrifying truth: her kidnapping wasn't random. He knows exactly who she really is. Evelyn Reed, daughter of a murdered senator. The ghost he's been obsessed with since the night he saw her standing in the rain, beautiful and broken. But Damian isn't the only one who wants to claim her. His uncle sees her as a weapon to wield. His aunt views her as a threat to eliminate. And somewhere in the darkness, the people who killed her father are closing in to finish what they started. Caught between a monster who calls her his salvation and enemies who want her dead, Ava faces an impossible choice. She can fight the man who owns her body and soul, or she can embrace the darkness he's awakening inside her. Because in Damian's world, love isn't gentle. Love is possession. Love is war. And she's about to discover she was born to be his queen.

Elena had once believed that silence could mean safety. That a gentle hand and a warm cup of tea placed quietly on her desk every morning could be a form of love. Lucien was never cruel—not in the obvious ways. He remembered how she liked her eggs, noticed when she swapped her perfume, and sent flowers on days he knew she wouldn’t expect them. He raised her like one would raise a pet—softly, without question. And Elena, foolish in the way only the very lonely can be, mistook his quiet affection for devotion. She told herself he was reserved. Mysterious. That love didn’t always wear its heart on its sleeve. But when the old flame returned—the one who spoke his language without needing to try—Elena saw it. The difference. He looked at her like a man who had found his lost religion. And Elena? She had simply been convenient. No tears, no scene. Just papers on the breakfast table, beside the eggs he cooked perfectly. She didn’t accuse or beg. She only asked for freedom. He didn’t sign. He chuckled. A soft, dismissive sound. “A cat raised indoors doesn’t know how to survive on the street, Elena. You’ll come back." But she didn’t. She disappeared, like smoke—except she didn’t vanish, not really. She lived. She wore colour again. Laughed at bad jokes. Let strange men hand her coffee and ask for her number. Lucien? He watched. He watched her become someone without him. And it drove him mad. The night he cornered her outside the gallery, rain in his hair and desperation in his eyes, he looked like a man undone. "Elena," he breathed, "please. Look at me. Just once." She did. Calm as ever, and her love already gone.

Celeste Delgado is a woman who will do anything for money, para maipagamot ang Mama niya na may sakit sa puso. In desperation, she had to come to the bachelor party as stripper and sell herself for money. In exchange for 20 million, she spent a hot night with a stranger. After four years, she accidentally saw the one she was with that night. The man still remembers who she is, and what a warm night they shared. She immediately hid her daughter, but the DNA test cannot lie! Idris Gonzalo, is a heart surgeon, one of the youngest billionaire in Asia, and the heir of Gonzalo Empire. Anong gagawin niya kung malaman niyang may anak siya? What if their daughter wants a happy family but Idris canʼt be happy knowing that Celeste is a liar and the reason why his ex-fiancee left him? Kaya pa ba itong ayusin ng pag-ibig?

Brandon Athaya Putra, seorang CEO muda yang baru saja mengambil alih perusahaan besar rumah sakit milik keluarganya. Seumur hidupnya ia tumbuh dengan keluarga yang selalu mendukung segala keputusannya, sampai suatu hari sang Ibu memutuskan untuk mempertemukan putra sulungnya itu dengan putri pemilik perusahaan salah satu merek permen terbesar di Indonesia. Alih-alih fokus mengurusi kencan tersebut, Brandon malah tertarik pada seorang gadis muda bernama Anna Zaela Cantika yang sedang menjalankan magangnya sebagai dokter muda di rumah sakit milik keluarga Brandon sendiri. Di sisi lain, Anna sendiri, gadis yang terkenal dengan kepintarannya, sedang membutuhkan duit yang tidak sedikit untuk membayar biaya semester kuliah akhirnya. Kabar baiknya, sahabat yang ia miliki ternyata adalah gadis yang akan dijodohkan dengan Brandon, gadis tersebut kemudian menawarkan Anna untuk menggantikannya saat kencan nanti dengan menjadikan uang sebagai imbalannya, tanpa berfikir panjang Anna pun segera menerima tawaran tersebut. Apakah yang akan terjadi selanjutnya pada Brandon dan Anna?