Guilt-tripping

Ethan Carter, the school’s notorious flirt, is used to getting any girl he wants. When a new literature teacher, the stunning and mysterious Ms. Vivian Hayes, arrives, she instantly becomes the fantasy of every male student. Confident in his charm, Ethan makes a reckless bet with his friends—to seduce the alluring teacher and secretly record their night together. But what starts as a game turns into something unexpected. That night, as Ethan watches Vivian under the soft glow of moonlight, he feels something foreign yet undeniable—love. For the first time in his life, he wants more than just a conquest. He wants her heart. His world shatters when Vivian discovers the existence of the video. Devastated and betrayed, she vanishes from the city without a trace. Ethan, consumed by guilt, desperately seeks redemption, but by the time he tracks her down, it’s too late—she is married to a wealthy man handpicked by her family. Trapped in a loveless marriage, Vivian forces herself to move on, yet deep inside, she knows the truth. The boy she tried to forget had already stolen her heart before she even realized it. Now bound by duty and haunted by love, she faces a cruel twist of fate—choosing between the life she’s obligated to live and the love she was never meant to have. Can Ethan win back the only woman he ever loved, or will fate forever keep them apart?

Anais Vale vanished three years ago, breaking the terms of a legally binding marriage contract with billionaire CEO Cassian Vale. To the world, their short-lived marriage was a mystery. To Anais, it was survival. But when a mysterious legal summons pulls her out of hiding, she’s forced to return—not as a woman in love, but as a wife under obligation. Cassian, ruthless and unreadable, never divorced her. Their original contract still holds, and now he wants her back—if only to fulfill the remaining years and protect his corporate empire from a hostile takeover. Emotion is not part of the deal. But the contract hides more than just legal conditions. It conceals a past filled with betrayal, a family legacy steeped in secrets, and a shared history neither of them fully understands. Anais returns as a woman determined to endure it quietly. But things change quickly: she discovers Cassian’s health is failing, that someone wants her dead, and that her own tragic past may be connected to his family’s crimes. As the truth unravels, Anais is forced to confront who Cassian really is—and who she must become if she wants to survive in his world. Along the way, both begin to transform. Anais, once passive and self-effacing, begins to find her voice and strength. Cassian, seemingly heartless and stoic, is forced to feel and face the consequences of his past. Their story is a collision of control and vulnerability, love and guilt, power and protection. What begins as a contract slowly becomes a reckoning—and a second chance neither of them expected. But second chances come at a cost. And not every ending is fair.

Eirlys Lythorne had known nothing but rejection and survival. Haunted by her dilemma, which was understood as a curse by everyone, even her mate, Ryker and bound by a past she cannot escape from, she isolated herself from everything. But when fate forces them together once more, old wounds resurface. But as tensions rose within the pack, and with the threat of an enemy, both outside and within, Ryker must confront his guilt and Eirlys must find the strength to trust again. With the fate of their world on the line, can they heal the scars of the past before it's too late? Or will rejection and revenge tear them apart forever?

Eris never wanted trouble. As someone cast out of her pack and forced to live as a doctor, she saves lives—not ruins them. But when she stumbles upon her cold, enigmatic roommate, Dante, murdering someone in the dead of night, she knows she’s next. In a desperate bid to survive, she pushes him off a cliff. She should have walked away. Instead, guilt drags her back. She saves him, hides the truth, and when he wakes up months later with no memory, she tells the biggest lie of her life, “I’m your wife.” Now, Dante looks at her with devotion, hunger, and complete obsession. The man who once terrified her is utterly hers. But the past never stays buried, and when Dante remembers, he won’t just want answers, He’ll want revenge.

**Evelyn Karamazov** I’ve spent all twenty-three years of my life immersed in the world of the mafia, groomed to rule with an iron fist. But power in our world doesn’t come without a price, and that price is marriage—a union built on strategy rather than so-called love. It’s the last thing I want, but in this life, sacrifices are the currency we trade in. And if I have to choose, I’ll sacrifice to the devil I know rather than the angel I don’t. But make no mistake, a sacrifice is still a sacrifice, and it demands its due. **Killian Bandini** Sixteen years—that’s how long I’ve waited to exact my revenge. Sixteen years to drown in nightmares, consumed by guilt and the unyielding desire to set things right. My father is dead, and now the Bandini empire is mine. The time has come to collect what is owed, and God help those who wronged me, because they will pay with blood. ★ What happens when the most lethal, most infuriating man to ever walk the earth crashes your wedding, puts a bullet in your would-be husband’s head, and holds everyone at gunpoint just to ensure you marry him instead? Killian Bandini doesn’t ask; he takes. But if he thinks I’m some meek bride to be bartered and controlled, he’s dead wrong. I may have to marry him, but I sure as hell won’t make it easy. He’s come for blood and power, but he doesn’t know that I’m not just a pawn—I’m a queen, and this game has only just begun.

Amelia Miller thought she'd endured the worst life had to offer. Rejected by her mate, betrayed by her own blood, and cast out from her pack, she had nothing but the scars. When Alpha Kaelan of the Shadow Moon Pack comes to her rescue, Amelia dares to dream of a new beginning. But the shadows of her past are unwilling to set her free. Amelia has survived her life fighting her half-sister Caroline's cruelty and the rejection of Jackson, her first mate. Marked as an outcast in her own pack, Amelia is alone, desperate for a place that would be home. Being forcibly made to leave the Silver Fang Pack when Jackson chooses Caroline as his mate and Luna, Amelia's heart was shattered. Attacked by the hired rogues of Caroline and Jackson, Amelia is saved by Kaelan, powerful Alpha of Shadow Moon Pack. Being around him opens up an attraction, finding fragile peace-a chance to rebuild her life. News of her survival merely serves to enrage Caroline and Jackson, who devise another scheme in pursuit of tearing Amelia's life apart in her newfound sanctuary. In a turn of events, Caroline and Jackson have Lila, Kaelan's sister, murdered and frame Amelia for the crime. Overwhelmed with his grief, Kaelan asks if Amelia really is innocent, and when she pleads that she is, he doubts her. Devastated over his mistrust, Amelia decides to leave the Shadow Moon Pack, preferring self-exile to more heartbreak. It's only after she's gone that Kaelan discovers the truth about Lila's death. Devastated and wracked with guilt, Kaelan pursues Amelia relentlessly, but Caroline and Jackson finally realize their scheme has been beaten and vow to find Amelia before kaelan does and once and for all destroy her happiness.

Elysia had loved Orion for ten years, watching from the shadows as he chased after someone else. Their contract marriage was supposed to be temporary—a favor for family, a mask for the public—but a year of shared mornings, quiet dinners, and unspoken tenderness made her believe maybe, just maybe, he had chosen her. Then the woman he never stopped loving came back. And in less than 24 hours, he handed Elysia the divorce papers. No warning. No hesitation. She didn’t beg. She signed and walked out of the home she helped build—quietly carrying the child he never asked for. But secrets don’t stay buried. When Orion finds out she’s pregnant, his world doesn’t crack—it detonates. The woman he thought he could cast aside… is the one now slipping through his fingers. “You erased me like I never existed.” her voice was calm, eyes distant. It broke him. “Because I thought you’d always be there.” She sighed. "I havr someone who looks at me and really sees me now. You can leave." Now, it’s not just about love—it’s about guilt, consequences, and Orion chasing trying to win Elysia back after she finally stopped waiting. Will she forgive him or move on with her new lover?

Amara Kol endured three years of Kalus Mike's compliant, subservient wife, enduring his chilly disdain silently while reserving his affection for herself. But when he serves her with a divorce notice, eager to wed his long-time sweetheart Lydia Osita, Amara is confronted with harsh reality: the union, to him, had been three years and a mistake that could not be erased. Heartbroken and spurned, Amara vanishes into thin air, leaving only tears-soaked divorce papers behind. What Kalus fails to know, however, is that Amara Kol was never the woman he thought she was. She is actually Dera Denz, only child and heiress of the powerful Denz clan—a woman infinitely wealthier and more powerful than he could ever imagine. By the time Dera re-emerges as the gorgeous, hot, and untouchable CEO of Zz Group, she is no longer the modest wife who pleaded with him to love her. She is a queen on her own terms, determined to get everything that had been lost—her dignity as well. Now Kalus is haunted by guilt, unable to shake the memory of the woman he spurned. But Dera is gone—and doesn't want to come back. As he watches her climb to the top, with a clique of powerful acquaintances surrounding her—including Frank Denz, ominously guarding over her—Kalus learns too late: The woman he had cast aside is the one he can't do without. But Dera isn't that woman who asked him to stay once before. It is his turn now. Will Kalus reclaim the love he never cherished, or will Dera depart leaving him where he so rightly belongs, in the past?

Isabella Moretti was born into power, wealth, and expectation. As the precious heiress of an empire, her life has never been her own. So when her family demands she marry cold, commanding billionaire Sebastian Blackwell to seal a lucrative alliance, she obeys—because that’s what a Moretti does. But on the night of the wedding, behind the locked doors of their lavish suite, Sebastian is not what she expected. His touch is possessive, his gaze unreadable—but beneath the ice, there’s heat. He makes her feel something she shouldn’t. And when their bodies collide, it isn’t duty—it’s desire and longing. Still, her heart doesn’t belong to him yet. It belongs to Luca Rossi—the boy her family cast out, the man she was forbidden to love. Wracked with guilt and confusion, Isabella flees before dawn, still in her wedding dress, and finds her way back to Luca. Their reunion is messy, breathless, and full of longing. One night. One mistake. One more secret. Days later, Isabella’s world tilts again: she’s pregnant. And she has no idea whose child it is. Now, torn between a man she never meant to want and fall in love with and the man she never stopped loving, Isabella must navigate a storm of lies, legacy, and longing. Sebastian won’t let her go. Luca won’t give her up. And the child growing inside her may belong to either. One heiress. Two nights. One impossible choice.

After discovering her boyfriend in bed with her male best friend, Kaia Wallis spirals into heartbreak, only to find unexpected comfort in the arms of her late father's enigmatic friend, billionaire Xander Kendricks. What begins as a one-night escape turns into a calculated fake relationship to protect Xander’s reputation and keep Kaia safe from her past. But the line between pretend and passion quickly blurs. As Kaia and Xander struggle with desire, secrets, and guilt, betrayal creeps in from all sides. A deranged ex, a jealous fling, and a scandal hungry media threaten to destroy everything, especially when Kaia’s young daughter is abducted in a terrifying twist that exposes a deeper conspiracy. With time running out, Kaia must confront the haunting truth: the real enemy may not be a stranger at all. And when the final mask is ripped away, what she uncovers shatters everything she thought she knew about loyalty, love, and the man she trusted most.