Grumpy Old Man Happy Birthday

For the hundredth time, my dad hints at us that he really wants to become a grandfather during New Year Eve's dinner. Lydia Cooper, my wife who has insisted on living a childless life for the past decade, just smiles before placing more food on his plate. After dinner, she ducks out to the balcony and murmurs into her phone, "Be good, now. Mommy will visit you a few days later." I can feel my blood running cold in my veins as I stand in the living room with a glass of water. As I approach Lydia, I do my best to keep my voice light and teasing. "I just heard you say the word 'mommy.' Do you have an illegitimate child out there somewhere?" Lydia rubs her nose, her tone now awkward. "You might be hearing things. It was just my friend's child…" My heart plunges into my stomach pit at her words. I've been in love with Lydia for ten years. It's only natural that I know how she acts whenever she's lying.

Aradia never imagined selling herself at the Blood Moon Market would bring anything but suffering. Desperate to save her blind sister Emma, she steps onto the auction block ready to sacrifice everything. The mysterious hooded Alpha Xior buys her for an impossible sum; she expects cruelty. Instead, he offers peace. For seventeen years, Xior has been haunted by his parents' murder that made him king at eight. Tormented by nightmares, he searched desperately for a cure. But holding Aradia close makes the nightmares vanish. For the first time since childhood, he sleeps. She becomes his salvation, secret weapon, and obsession. But the past is never buried. As Aradia settles into palace life, truths surface: Xior’s parents led the pack that slaughtered hers and destroyed her village. The Blood Moon Market exists because of his family’s laws. Her sister grows bitter, jealous, and ungrateful. The Moon Goddess’s priestess reveals Aradia as the last descendant of an ancient bloodline destined to balance wolves and humans. She is Xior’s true fated mate, but their bond threatens werewolf society. Rival alphas plot to steal her, his council demands a wolf mate, and a mysterious enemy resurfaces to destroy everything he built. Caught between love and vengeance, duty and desire, Aradia must decide: can she forgive the man whose family destroyed hers? Can she accept a bond making her the most powerful and vulnerable in the realm? When war arrives, will her love for Xior save them, or will the Blood Moon claim its due? In a world where wolves rule and humans suffer, one girl’s sacrifice might change everything. But some bonds are forged in blood, and some secrets are too dangerous to survive.

Anita Baker doesn't expect for the cold heart CEO, Liam Jackson to fall in love with her and choose her over her best friend. After her encounter with him in his office, she ran away, now she must face the consequences. Read more.

"You whore!" A masculine voice. "You philanderer!" A feminine voice. "I'll kill you in this house!" He bellowed as he charged straight to the woman and started beating her up. The little boy stood at the door and watched his parents go about their daily routine, tears spilled from his eyes. He stood in the shadows, just watching and crying. If he speaks out loud, they'll remember him and his father will beat him also. No one remembers him. Not unless they want to beat him too. Then he saw the blow, heard the awful sound. The blow that made a difference. The blow that made that day stand out from every other day. His mom stopped screaming, she laid there on the floor, staring into nothingness. Dead. "Gia." His dad paused mid-beating. No answer. "Gianna!" He patted her white arms turned red from being beaten. Terror filled the little boy's system, a sound escaped his mouth, drawing the man's attention. "Oops. I've forgotten about you." He said to the little boy. "Mom's dead..." The little boy said in a tiny voice. The man looked down at the lifeless white woman, "Seems like it." He looked at the boy with an eye filled with menace. "You'll pretend you didn't see a thing. You'll......" The siren rang outside. The police had arrived. A neighbour had alerted them when he heard the noise. He watched as the policemen pointed their guns at his father. He watched as they took his father away. He remained hidden, his blue eyes returning to the woman who laid on the floor, with eyes as blue as his. She was staring right at him. Finally, she sees him. Only in death, did she really see him. Something died in that little boy that day. Replaced with bitterness.

Lumaki sa hirap si Kendall na isang napakagandang babae at naging puhunan ito ng kanyang sakim na ama para siya ay pagkakitaan. Sa tulong ng boyfriend niyang si Scott na isang lawyer, buong tapang nilang ilalaban sa korte ang kalayaan ni Kendall mula sa conservatorship para matuldukan na ang paghihirap ni Kendall sa mahabang panahon.

Anne Jenner has the ability to read another person's emotional index, knowing if that person is happy, sad, or angry... But when Edward Mitchell was next to Anne Jenner, she saw his emotional index change. abnormal changes, even at all times average, even quite low. That means that he does not feel happy when the two are alone. Anne Jenner was recruited by Edward Mitchell to Soul Entertainment, starting his career as an actor. Anne Jenner and Edward Mitchell were in an ambiguous relationship. In Edward Mitchell's mouth, Anne Jenner was his "girlfriend", but she did not feel that way. Although she had doubts and disappointments in her heart, she still chose to trust him. Anne Jenner gradually discovered that Edward Mitchell did not really love her, he would not reply to her messages, nor would he notice her for a long time. Amelinda Ciara, Edward Mitchell's ex-lover returned home after receiving treatment, debuted again as an actress, starred in a movie with Anne Jenner, and intends to return to Edward Mitchell. Anne Jenner discovered that all the girls around Edward Mitchell, including her, have the same temperament as Amelinda Ciara. She was extremely angry, and questioned Edward Mitchell, but only received the answer that a generous amount of money was transferred to a bank account and an implicit ban on all showbiz activities. She left Edward Mitchell, but soon, Edward Mitchell regretted his decision. He finds a way to get her active again and pursues her again.

Laundrymaid, cook, janitress— name it all. These are among of the tasks YUMI has to do every day. In short, she's your generous all-around maid who works without getting paid. However, her monotonous life of being the modern Cinderella will soon end the moment she lays eyes on VINCENT, who is a rich, fair young boy who is offering her one huge offer no lady of her status would ever say no— to marry him. Everything is already supposed to be a happy ending for Yumi until her cruel stepmother-in-law, VICTORIA, steps in to ruin the dream-like fantasy she has ever dreamed of. Will her fairytale-like life with her prince charming end so soon? Or will she then begin to put her A-game on a battle against her stepmother-in-law for the sake of Vincent and the life she has longed for?

Content Warning: This book contains sexually explicit material and is intended for readers aged 18 and above. "I’m engaged to your sister. You can’t do this." His dark-green eyes bored into mine under the sheets, as he stroked my cheeks. "You’re not even into women, Liam. You know you’re not. You know you want this. You want me." And Liam couldn't deny it, He lived to burn for Jackson Maddox. ~ Liam Sinclair had always lived according to his father’s rules, polished, quiet, and hidden in the perfect image of a future CEO. Behind closed doors, he carried a secret that could destroy everything his father built. He was gay. But scandal had no place in the Sinclair legacy, and Liam made sure no one ever found out. That is, until the night everything changed. When his father arranges an engagement with Avery Maddox, a woman Liam barely knows, he unravels. A single night of rebellion leads him to a club, where a one-night stand with a seductive green-eyed stranger spirals into something far more complicated. The next morning, the stranger's identity is no longer a mystery. His name is Jackson Humin Maddox, the brother of his intending Fiancee. Now Liam is trapped between duty and desire, legacy and love. But Jackson doesn’t care about titles or contracts. Engaged or not, he wants Liam, and he is not letting go. This is a forbidden tango of chemistry, but Liam Sinclair has to choose, to either pretend his one time mistake was baseless, or to fall maddeningly in love with it.

The story revolves around a very beautiful girl who marries a biggest gangster of the city to save herself. The mafia leader is a cruel and cold-Hearted man. She tried her best to win his heart , but he did not change. After that she left everything and moved to another city to start a new life but also followed her.

One noble lie. Fifteen years of cold, calculated hate. One moonlit night that changes everything. Savannah Reed is a woman forged in ice. When Grayson Cole, her fated mate, vanished fifteen years ago, he didn't just leave her alone—he left her carrying a pup he’d never see. To survive the shame, Savannah buried her heart, married a man she despised, and let a singular obsession take root: Revenge. Now, the Alpha has returned. Grayson is back to claim his territory and raise the formidable Ridge Hall, but he isn’t the arrogant wolf Savannah remembers. He is a man of jagged edges and haunting silence, watching her from the shadows with a hunger that threatens to melt her icy resolve. Savannah is determined to break him. She wants to see him bleed for every night she spent alone, for the son they lost, and for the life he stole. But as she peels back the layers of his betrayal, she discovers a "noble lie" more devastating than the truth. In the heat of the forge and the darkness of the sacred grove, the line between hatred and desire thins. Grayson is a raging Alpha to the world, but for Savannah, he is a male on his knees, begging for a mercy she isn't sure she can give. He sacrificed everything to protect her once. Now, she’ll have to decide if she can forgive the male who destroyed her world—or if the fire between them will burn the entire pack to the ground.