Hand Holding Sword

"Master, do you miss this apprentice?" Lips painted in bright red ticked up in a sharp smile. Her eyes were a pool of dark red, like a swirl of the finest wine. One jaded hand in his throat, nails slightly digging in the skin there, the other was on his cheek carefully caressing. The clashing of both gestures were confusing, but Rion's mind only provided one instinctual response; to run away as far as possible. ----- Rion Ren, one of the strongest sword masters in the world, had to make a difficult decision to hand over his apprentice, Ruby, to the Demon Master when Ruby's real identity as a descendant of Demon Sovereign was revealed. Three years later, Ruby who had successfully taken the reign of the Demon Realm, came back to take revenge on her master that had betrayed and abandoned her in the hand of cruel demons. Rion swore on his life as a sword master, he only wanted to protect those who were precious to him, but how did it manage to turn the whole world into chaos? How would Rion face his own apprentice in a battle between life and death?!

Anna Vendal, in a bid to prove that she isn’t a total failure in life, agrees to her father’s plan to marry her off to Christopher Hanson, the rich CEO whom everyone knows has lost his mind. Anna’s journey to redemption soon spirals out of what she’d prepared for when she gets to see the vulnerable side of Christopher who is plagued by many losses. Several events lead to her developing a bond with Christopher as she tries to fix what is left, emotionally, of this man who makes her feel better than she is. However, the business games from both families soon catch up and Anna realizes that she can’t keep her budding love for Christopher and her loyalty to her family. Things take a uglier turn as more and more secrets erupt from both ends of the family, threatening to turn Anna’s and Christopher’s love into bubbling hate. Now, she has to risk her life and dig deeper into the secrets or risk losing everything, including Christopher.

After I resign from a private company and move to work at an overseas company, my salary has increased by leaps and bounds. My wife, Vivian Spencer, who's always been smart about money, suggests that I turn in all of my salary. At the same time, she will decrease my allowance. Her reasoning is that she needs to use my salary on our family's daily expenses, so she can't spare me a single cent. As I watch Vivian record all the expenses dutifully, I can't resist asking, "What about your salary, then?" Vivian replies in a matter-of-fact tone, "I'm saving it up for our retirement pension." I don't bother responding afterward. Since then, I start spending every single cent of my salary, as per Vivian's suggestion. When Vivian notices the stream of packages being delivered to our home, she finally can't take it anymore. Upon hearing her question, I tell her happily, "You were the one who said that my salary is meant for our family's expenses!" Vivian exclaims in shock, "What sort of family do you think we are? As if we can afford to spend this much money every month!" What a joke. It turns out that Vivian knows that a regular family's expenses can't possibly drain every single cent of my salary in one go.

Devan Williams, the richest man in the country, gets shot by an assailant when he's giving a speech. He's quickly sent to the hospital I work at to undergo a heart transplant surgery. But my girlfriend, Katie Wilder, insists that her childhood friend, Luke Rivera, has to become Devan's primary doctor. She even takes off Devan's oxygen mask just to coerce me into handing the position over. "Ashton Howard, if you don't get out of here once I count to three, you'll be facing imprisonment due to medicinal malpractice!" As I look at Devan, whose face has gone horribly crimson due to asphyxiation, all I feel is a strong sense of ridicule. So, I call the hospital's security guards on Katie and Luke with the intention to have them dragged out. But the security captain, Jason Wilder, is actually Katie's younger brother who relied on her just to get his hands on this job. He has me pinned on the floor instead. "From the way I see it, you're the criminal who wants Devan dead! Be honest with me; did you sneak into this hospital just so you can kill him behind everyone's backs?" I can't help but struggle against Jason. But that's when Luke tramples all over my fingers, causing them to fracture. At that moment, the vitals monitor begins beeping shrilly. I lift my head to glare at the culprits. "All of you can never escape your fate!"

"Stop... Don't! I'm already at my limit!" I'm on my knees on the floor, tears streaming down my face, while a shirtless man stands in front of me with a leather whip in his hand. His voice stays gentle, but his movements never slow. "Babe, we're only halfway there." After I come back from the dead, I spend 80 million dollars hiring the most expensive male model in all of Navarro to spend the night with me. With that kind of money on the table, the service absolutely lives up to its price. He pulls out every trick I've never tried in my life. The next morning, I'm sitting astride him, using him as my morning workout, when suddenly there's one more person in the room. My husband, the Don of a mafia family, Leone Vieri.

After I switched from a private company to a foreign enterprise, my salary rose accordingly. My husband, who was always frugal, suggested that I hand over my entire salary to him. He claimed it would be used for daily household expenses. Watching him calculate the numbers, I asked, “What about your salary?” He said casually, “I’m saving it for our retirement.” I said nothing and followed his instructions. I spent my entire salary within a month. My husband finally felt uneasy when he saw how many packages kept showing up at our home. Seeing his doubts, I happily said, “You’re the one who said to use my whole salary for household expenses.” He exclaimed, “What are we, the Rockefellers?! How can one month cost this much?” That was funny. It turned out that he knew that a normal family’s expenses would never take my entire salary.

Eliza's whole life is turned upside down when she crashes and rolls her car. A mysteriously beautiful man walks into the wreckage and saves her, but as she gets a better look at her hero, she knows he is more than just a human. Now it seems as though she is connected to this sexy demon and their fates are tangled together somehow, but humans don't bond to demons, do they? In search of answers, they adventure out together on a journey to find someone who may know and to escape the demons that are following them, threatening to get to Eliza before Ash can keep her from all the dangers that lurk in the shadows. Will Eliza be safe with Ash or is this love too dangerous even for a demon.

When his village was attacked and burned down, five-year-old Xiu Zhangjian chose to escape. Living in disguise for many years, he always prepared himself for revenge. One day, the sect headquarters where he lived was attacked. He made a different decision: instead of running away, he approached the enemy by choosing to become a slave in the palace prison. All the prisoners and guards knew him as a weak and stupid slave. However, at night, he secretly showed his true abilities. Until the time came, Xiu Zhangjian reclaimed the Sacred Dragon Sword. With the sacred ancestral sword in his hands, he fulfilled his duty as the heir, eradicating the evil of the black sect alliance. "I swear, they will beg for death!"

At my own engagement ceremony, the spot reserved for the future Luna was claimed by another she-wolf. And my Alpha mate Xavier didn't stop her. He told me to hand over my gown and my ring, too. "Claire, you know Yvette's family can't afford this kind of thing. Be generous. Give them to her. It's not like you can't spare one dress." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Fine. She took my place, now she wants my dress. Why don't I just give her the Luna title while I'm at it? Make it easier for you two to sneak around." His face went dark. "Claire. Watch your mouth." "If the dress and the ring aren't ready for her tomorrow, I'm calling off the alliance. Your choice." He stormed off with Yvette on his arm. The second they were out of earshot, I opened a mind-link to my father. "Dad. Cancel the alliance. And pull every investment you have in Xavier's pack while you're at it." He wants to be Alpha? He'd better hope I agree.

There's this thing that my mom keeps repeating to me. "I love my children equally. I will always treat you and Brielle the same." It's true that I get everything my sister, Brielle Montgomery, has since we were children. If Brielle has a new backpack, I do too. If Brielle goes for piano lessons, I'll be given the opportunity to attend the same lessons. When I go home for the holidays, my mom digs out two beautiful shopping bags sporting luxury brand logos. With a smile on her face, she hands them to us. "I specifically went to the store to buy you nice coats. Both of you get a coat each. I'll have you know that coats with wool linings are worth thousands of dollars. I don't even have the heart to wear one of these coats. I only bought these coats for you two." As I gaze at the expensive-looking coat, I feel warmth surging into my heart. But when I try on the coat, I feel a weird, scratchy sensation coming from my armpits. After flipping the coat inside out, I notice a few strands of long, dry hair tightly entangled among the seams. I even smell a faint trace of mold mixed with a strong hint of rot that can't be covered up by the cheap fragrance on the coat.