Hide Behind A Smile

I hid behind a thick tree trunk and watched silently as a grizzly bear attacked my husband. In my previous life, I was a guide. I led my husband—an environmental photographer—and his female colleague into a nature reserve to film wildlife. While scouting the route, I discovered a nursing grizzly bear and immediately warned them not to take any photos and to retreat slowly. To my shock, they intentionally bumped into me, causing my right leg to be cut and bleed. The scent of blood enraged the bear, and it charged straight at me, sinking its massive jaws into my abdomen. After the bear left, my husband calmly stripped me of all my equipment. Then, wrapping his arms around his female colleague, he kissed her. He turned to me with a sinister smile creeping across his face. "Kate," he said, "I'll be honest. I never loved you. You're dying. Now, all your assets will be mine." I bled out and died. When I opened my eyes again, it was the morning of the day we entered the mountains.

She made him powerful. He threw her away. Now it's payback time. Emelda Jones left behind her rich family and comfortable life to help the man she loved succeed. Allen Carter had nothing when they met, but Emelda believed in him. She worked hard behind the scenes while he got all the fame and glory. He kept promising they'd build something amazing together. But when Allen finally made it big, he did the worst thing possible—he dumped her for someone else and pretended like Emelda never helped him at all. "Don't you think that I'm totally out of your league now?" he said to her. Those harsh words didn't just break her heart. They woke up something fierce inside her. So Emelda went back to her wealthy family and agreed to marry someone who could give her back the power and status she'd given up. When she ran into Allen again, she wasn't the same woman who used to hide in his shadow. Now she had bodyguards, confidence, and serious money behind her. Allen couldn't believe his eyes. And when he had the nerve to call her a gold digger, Emelda hit him with the truth that would ruin him: "Gold digger? No, I am the gold maker!" Now Emelda has everything she needs—money, connections, and a burning need to get even. She's about to show Allen Carter exactly what happens when you mess with the wrong woman. Without her, he's nothing, and she's going to prove it. Ready to see Emelda get her revenge? Start reading now and watch her take down the man who thought he could use her and throw her away!

"One bride. One billionaire. One deadly secret." Chaewon Kim has never questioned the price of being the daughter of a powerful chaebol—but nothing can prevent her from being auctioned off in a marriage of convenience to Jian Lee, Seoul's most mysterious billionaire. Merciless, genius, and heartbreaking, Jian is the man her father has waged war with for years… and now, he's her husband. Imprisoned in a gilded cage of privilege and deception, Chaewon is compelled to play a game where every smile hides a threat, and every whispered promise might be a trap. But on her wedding night, when a strange black feather is discovered—a ominous reminder of her murdered mother's unsolved killing—Chaewon realizes she's trapped in a much more deadly game. Secrets, lies, and desire begin when friends collide in the darkness behind mansion walls. Under a dangerous game of treachery and unlawful desire, Chaewon is faced with a decision: will she sacrifice her heart to serve the truth no matter what—or will she simply become one more stunning slave crushed beneath the weight of power.

On the day my sight returned, our family doctor, Anna Leone, stood right in front of me and mouthed to my husband, Don Marco Vitale, "Double the lubricant tonight. I promise it'll send you straight to heaven, my Don." Marco pressed a gentle kiss to my eyes. Then he turned away and replied with the same silent lip movements, "You little tease. That mouth of yours—and the one below—I'm crazy about them both." The two of them exchanged a knowing smile, convinced their secret was flawless. What they didn't know was that not only had my vision fully recovered—I was also fluent in lip-reading. My gaze drifted to the bottle of lubricant sitting brazenly in the wall cabinet. I said nothing. Instead, I quietly sent a single text message: [Papa, I've decided to come home.] In three days, I would vanish completely. All I would leave behind for them would be the hollowed-out fortune of billions—and that bottle of "lubricant" I had replaced with high-strength industrial superglue.

On the fifth year after marrying Giovanni Santoro, the Don of the Santoro family, he decides to make a public appearance with his mistress, Valentina Conti. He no longer denies the truth behind the romantic scandals. Videos of them that have been taken in secret, as well as salacious gossip featuring the two, are spread like wildfire in New Albion. It's an act of declaring ownership over Giovanni that he himself has silently permitted. There are even busybodies who don't know their place and decide to prod me for answers with smiles on their faces. "Does this mean someone else is going to replace you as the Donna of the family?" That night, the underworld of New Albion secretly goes through a thorough purge. I file for a divorce with Giovanni immediately before marrying his biggest enemy, Franco Messina. After that, the Santoro family goes into bankruptcy. Their power and authority easily crumble into dust. Giovanni kneels before me. With tears running down his face, he begs me for forgiveness. I just smile while waving the divorce agreement in my hand. "Sorry, but we're already divorced."

“you…” he said, looking at me with wide eyes. I clutched my face, letting out a sigh as I wore a mask. “mate” he growled, making his way towards me. This was it, the moment I had always dreamed of, the moment I had always prayed for that he would see me as something more than an inconvenience. Then my mind snapped to the times were he told me that he hated me, were he said that he could not love me. Panic filled me as the images flooded my mind, the smile on his face as he approached me, made me even more nervous. ‘would he still have the same smile on his face if he knew that I was the one behind this mask?” he was at least seven feet away from me at this moment. “I would rather you never see me again reject me” I muttered, my eyes watering as I turned to leave. “HEY!!!” you could hear the panic in his voice as he called “stop!!!” he screamed, breaking into a run just as I done. Chaos broke out almost instantly, some people, wondering what the hell was going on, the others rushing to catch me just as Alpha Lucas had commanded. I increased my speed, running like my life depended on it, because at this moment, it did. * in love with Ethan since she knew how to breathe, she is scared out of her mind when she finds out that she is actually mated to him. scared of rejection she plans to leave. but all this comes crashing down she finds out more than she bargains for, as well as another mate, the Alpha of the most feared pack. would she be able to handle it? or is shit about to go down?

Quinn Parker has a system: keep her grades up, keep her feelings private, and absolutely never act like the kind of girl who screams over a boy band, no matter how many NEON ATLAS songs she has memorized. So when the group’s lead singer, Jace Wilder, is chased through the arena hallway before a sold out show, Quinn reacts on pure instinct: she yanks him behind a giant fake pot plant, yells his name, and points the stampede of fans in the wrong direction. Jace disappears with security. Quinn goes back to her life. End of story. Except a week later, Quinn lands an after school cleaning job at a luxury rental and opens the door to find Jace Wilder alone, exhausted, and nothing like his shining, onstage self. He tries to flip the charm back on when he realizes she’s the girl who saved him, but Quinn doesn’t buy it. She makes him a coffee, tells him to sit down, and treats him like a normal person for the first time in a long time. Quinn isn’t falling for a fantasy. She doesn’t even know him. But the more time she spends in his offstage world, between rehearsals, rumours, and the pressure to always smile, the harder it becomes to ignore the quiet, real boy behind the spotlight… and the fact that he’s starting to look at her like she’s the only place he can breathe.

I've been in a three-year relationship with Antonio Bianco, the successor of the Bianco family. Everyone knows very well how much he loves me. But everything has changed the moment Antonio's older brother passes away, leaving behind his newly-widowed wife, Rosetta Serra, who's also pregnant. Antonio heeds Augusto Bianco's last wish by taking great care of Rosetta. He even ditches me at the altar numerous times for her sake. On our 51st wedding, Antonio still ends up leaving with Rosetta, who keeps crying her heart out. I just gaze at the way Antonio scrambles to come up with a new excuse. I notice how skillfully the wedding planning company is cleaning up the wedding venue in advance. I also spot the flash of a provocative smile Rosetta has shown to me behind Antonio's back as she links arms with him. Suddenly, I feel like a total joke for being with such a man over the past three years. When the hotel manager gives me the bill, he asks casually, "When will the 52nd wedding be held, Ms. Marino? We can make the preparations in advance." "There's no need for a wedding anymore," I respond with a smile. "Even if a wedding is to be held, the groom won't be the same person anyway." After leaving the hotel, I dial the number of the person in charge of the International Medical Organization. "Hello, I'm Cecilia Marino. I'd like to accept your invitation to join your organization, and I can leave anytime soon."

Zaffira Allyson is a hard-working and committed student while being a responsible daughter. Due to unexpected circumstances, Zaffira found herself in a one night stand with Sean Mirzseil, the most heartless person she ever met for the sake of money. That one hot night brought Zaffira the fruit of a mistake that she will never regret and be ashamed of. Considering the distance between their statuses in life, Zaffira chose to hide her daughter from Sean. Until years passed, he came back and met Zaffira again as a boss and an employee. Will Zaffira let Sean know that he is the father of her child knowing that he is about to get married? Or she will hide the truth from him again?

In a world where werewolves hide among humans, 22-year-old Solange, the second daughter of a strong alpha, dresses as a boy to sneak into the all-boys Lupine Academy to study advanced medicine before the school changes forever. But everything changes when she gets three roommates who are her true destined mates: the brooding heir, the charming rogue, and the intellectual strategist. As secrets slip out and pack drama heats up, Solange fights to hide who she really is while the mate bond pulls them closer and real romance surfaces. Can she keep her cover and follow her heart? Or will love force her to choose one mate, or risk losing everything?