Haganezuka Face

Mom and I board a flight to Fangoria to visit Alicia Carter, my wife. She's a special forces soldier who's here on a peacekeeping mission in this foreign country. But the moment we walk out of the airport, we're ambushed by a group of kidnappers. One of them holds a gun to Mom's head and says, "If you don't give us the ransom in three days, we'll blow her head off!" In a panic, I make a video call to Alicia, my hands shaking as I beg her to help me. "Calm down, honey. I'll put in a request to lead a rescue mission. We'll save her within 24 hours!" But the next day, I keep failing to get in touch with Alicia. After I blow up her phone with multiple calls, one finally connects. Amid her rushed panting, she tells me, "Sorry, honey. I just got assigned to an urgent escort mission. You guys just hang in there. I've arranged for the local authorities to—" Her voice is abruptly cut off by a familiar male voice. "Alicia! Thank goodness you came over just to pick me up. I didn't have to spend 100 dollars on a cab after all! That cab driver didn't even have a license, and I can't believe he tried to ask for more money…" The three-day deadline passes, and the kidnappers keep their word, letting me hear the gunshot myself. As I clutch Mom's cold, dead body, Alicia calls me out of nowhere. "Hey, honey. I just completed the escort mission. How are things on your end? Have the kidnappers released her?" I look down at Mom. Her eyes will never open again. I gently wipe the blood off her face as I reply to Alicia in an eerily calm voice, "Yeah. They have."

The blindfold came off. I blinked. A chandelier. A fireplace. A mansion i had never seen. And a man i had known my whole life — standing with his back to me, a half-empty bottle on the table beside him. Caleb. "Please." My voice cracked. "I don't know what's happening. I think there's been a mistake—" He turned slowly. The grief on his face curdled into something else entirely. "You put her in that chair," he said. Low. Shaking. "You did that." "I didn't—" He crossed the room in four strides. His hand closed in my hair and drove me to my knees before i could breathe. "You're not going home," Caleb Wren said quietly. "Your sister's wedding is in four days. You look exactly like her." His eyes moved over me, cold and final. "You're going to take her place. Consider it what you owe."

As I was about to leave The Crimson Curtain, my brother Corvus's elite vampire club, a woman who claimed to be the manager stopped me. "Ma'am, you just helped yourself to a priceless vial of Elder's Blood. You have to pay." I looked at the unfamiliar face, sensing the weak blood of a lesser vampire. She must be a fledgling, I thought, new to the club and unaware of who I was. "Your boss approved it," I said flatly. "Take it up with him." But the woman just sneered at me. "Plenty of women try to get close to our boss. If every one of you took what you wanted, how would we stay in business?" She shoved a copy of the club rules at me. Anyone who takes Elder's Blood without permission pays with three times the amount in heart's blood. Or they don't leave. Vampire guards started to close in, some even drawing silver blades, ready to take me down. I laughed, a cold, sharp sound. I couldn't believe Corvus's club had such an insane rule. "I am the Lord of House Volkov. Corvus's own sister. If he needs compensation, he can come to me himself." But her mockery only sharpened. "You look like some low-born stray. Claiming ties to a noble house? Pathetic. Hand over the heart's blood. Now." My patience snapped. I sent a message to the family elders through our bloodline. "Tell Corvus to either make this woman disappear forever, or I'm taking back ownership of this club. All of it."

Princess Aurelia of Northlaye lives in constant fear of her father King Edric. His sudden demand of her betrothal to prince Mallon of Ailingdale against her will is nothing compared to the cold, hard and brutal way his constant treatment is of her and the people of his own kingdom. Aurelia secretly tries to help her people from starvation and neglect in hopes her father will never find out. With her late mother no longer around to guide her, Aurelia must fight against her fear with her true confidant, the house servant Maude. A new and unlikely friendship and romance has Aurelia clutching to the hope things can get better, that is until King Edric hits her with his most ruthless blow of all. Will Aurelia keep her courage through all she has to face? or will her stone cold father keep her down for good?

The Elf King Aelfred has been waiting for his mate for centuries, he has found her in the womb of Queen Stella Adalwülf, and he has swore to protect her with his life. After the great war, that destroyed the drakness and crowned Lycan King Romeo Adalwülf and Queen Stella as the king of all realms, King Aelfred was forced to wait. Wait for his mate to be born, wait for her to be of age. Despite having to follow certan rules, the mate bond was stonger than what he thought, and he manged to show his mate, Princess Sotrmee Adalwülf, how much he loved her. Stomree Adalwüulf the young princess, was strong, smeart and well prepared, but nothing could have had prepared her for what life had in store for her. The challenge to rule over a completely different realm, with different rules and traditions. The challenge to tame a king that was set on his way, even when they were not the best ones, and the challenge of being accepted by the people she will swear to protect. Despite her youth and beauty, she is what the Elven realm most desperatey needed. Would all the trails bring them together? Will the love of the king and queen will prevail against all the adversities they will face? or will her path through the Elven realm break her? Would they be able to Break that Storm?

It is payback time! Cynthia Laurent’s comeback is fueled by heartbreak… and a love that won’t let go. The day she was told she had six months to live, her husband’s betrayal cut deeper than any diagnosis. While grappling with a brain tumor, Cynthia overheard her stepsister’s cruel confession: “I’m pregnant.” One look at her husband’s face told her the truth — the affair was real, and the baby was his. Eight years of marriage, discarded like trash. Her pleas were met with her mother-in-law’s venom who saw her only as a nanny, a cook, a housekeeper, a cleaner – never a daughter-in-law and her eight-year-old son’s chilling wish for a “new mom.” Broken and abandoned, Cynthia vanished to Paris, ready to die. But fate had other plans. In Paris, three men of immense power burst into her life, claiming to be her brothers and vowed to protect her at all costs. Titans of industry, speed, and medicine, they rebuilt Cynthia from the ground up. Now, as the Michelin-starred queen of Maison Cynclair, Cynthia returns to the city that destroyed her. Her ex-husband falls to his knees. “We’re still married,” he pleads. Her son cries, “Mom, don’t you love me anymore?” The woman they once broke is gone. “Thank you for your betrayal,” she replied, calm and clear. “It made me a hundred-million-dollar woman.” A man’s love fades. An empire? Never.

“You are a virgin, Celine, so I am trying to make things right,” Nicholas said in a whisper and my face flushed with anger and shame. He caught on. He knew I was a virgin. Fuck! I laughed out and slapped his chest tightly. I needed to defend myself and try to appear like a whore. I can't give him the satisfaction of believing he is the one who deflowered me. “Wait, I thought you were drunk? I think you are being delusional here Nicholas. A virgin at this age?” I asked and tried to hide the nervousness in my voice. “Sorry to hurt your ego. I have been with many men before you. Don't think…” I began but Nicholas turned his back to me, ignoring me. ******* Life didn’t truly end when Celine discovered her husband never loved her. He stood by while his cousin tormented her simply because of her size, leaving Celine humiliated and broken. But fate gave her another chance. Celine got reborn three years earlier, on the very night she had a one-night stand with Nicholas. This lifetime, Celine vows not to repeat the same mistakes. This time, she refuses to marry Nicholas. But Nicholas isn’t the man she remembers. Determined and unyielding, he wants Celine and he’ll stop at nothing to prove that her size is the very last thing that could keep him away.

Elena Jones and I became orphans on the same day. Her parents are killed in a mass murder, and my father—the killer—is executed on the spot. For a month straight, Harborfield's most notorious playboy waits outside the courthouse, intent on keeping Elena. However, she throws his black card right back at him, like a headstrong heroine straight out of a movie. "The Mr. Carter I admire is refined and noble. How could he have a nephew like you? I'd rather starve than accept anything from a thug." He lets out a sharp, amused laugh and crooks a finger at me. "A death row convict's daughter and a thug make a fitting pair. I'll back you. Are you willing?" While clutching the ten-million-dollar IOU my father left behind, I nod without hesitation. Later, he orders me to get into his uncle Daniel Carter's bed. "With all that sin on your shoulders, you're an even better match for him. That way, Elena will finally give up on him for good."

My wife, Chelsea Sloane, has always been an avid user of computers when it comes to work. But one day, she suddenly falls in love with the idea of using pen and paper. In fact, she loves one particular black pen to the point that she refuses to let anyone touch it. Unable to endure her twisted obsession over that pen, I decide to bring up divorce before her on our wedding anniversary. Enraged, Chelsea points at me and yells, "Are you seriously getting a divorce over a pen?" I reply coolly, "Yup. It's precisely that."

On the day before New Year's Eve, I didn't shut the window all the way, and my little sister sneezed. My parents kicked me out and ordered me to collect firewood in the dark. Inside, the family crowded around her, laughing as they handed her presents. I didn't cry or make a scene. Instead, I slung the basket onto my back before heading into the mountains through the wind and snow. I didn't find any firewood. I found a man instead. His leg was wedged in a crack between rocks, bloody enough to scare me. When he saw me, he said in a hoarse voice, "Get me out of here, girl. I can give you whatever you want." I looked up at him, my eyes finally focusing. "Really? Then I want you to be my dad."