Hometown Smile

Gabriella Calos has spent years guiding others through death, while quietly drowning in her own guilt. After losing the man she loved in a hospital bed she couldn’t save, she turned to pills for silence and vanished from everything she once was. Now back in her hometown, ready to leave nursing behind, she’s pulled into an emergency that changes everything—and into the path of Isaac Langton. Billionaire. Media mogul. Owner of half the city’s news stations and newspapers. He’s powerful, untouchable, and recovering from wounds no headline ever printed. When Isaac offers Gabriella a position as his private nurse at his secluded estate, she steps into a world far colder than the hospital—one filled with secrets, an unsettling wife, and a daughter who sees too much. As Gabriella and Isaac grow closer, so do the ghosts of their pasts—and the tension between them begins to burn.

"There's a way you can return the favour, Woods." "Huh?" I blinked confusedly. Hope blossomed in my chest as I flickered my eyes between the identical twin Alphas. "Really?" "Yes." Rowan smirked but there was a glint in his eyes that made me nervous. He glanced at his brother who gave him a nod. "You have to be our omega." *** Life so far for Erin Woods sucked. At the mere age of eighteen, she was outcast by her pack members, her family humiliated and shamed. Her father's publishing company became on the verge of going bankrupt, and her mother stopped talking to her, and her sister hates her. Now five years later, the situation only worsened. The Armani Clan twins-Rowan and Reed, are back in their hometown following their father's sudden demise. Having no choice but to assume the role of Pack Alphas, they are in dire need of finding a suitable Luna. And who's a better choice than an omega in desperate need of money? ***

During a holiday, I returned to my hometown to visit my family. My family’s private jet was under maintenance. The newly hired housekeeper mistakenly booked an economy-class ticket. While I was boarding, I ran into my first love, Brooke Smith, and her new boyfriend, Simon Xanders. They mocked me for flying in economy class. They laughed at me for being a country bumpkin heading to Nework. I ignored them. Then, I accidentally discovered the pilot, Lucas Wallace’s secret. His wife had been cheating on him. It turned out he had been raising another man’s child for over a decade. He wanted to take the entire plane down with him. I knew how to fly a plane. I urged everyone to subdue the pilot and let me make an emergency landing. Yet they mocked and humiliated me relentlessly. Then, the plane plunged sharply toward the ground. Only then did they finally panic.

I was a wedding planner, and I personally designed my husband's wedding to his mistress. I had been with Victor for five years. Three of those years were swallowed by the pandemic. The remaining two were spent married, pregnant, and raising a child. The wedding I had always dreamed of existed only as "next time" whenever it came out of his mouth, until the day I received a new wedding planning request. The client was a young woman, her eyes curved with laughter, her smile bright and full of hope. "This is the venue my boyfriend chose himself," she said softly. "He insisted the wedding had to be held here." I took the file from her, and my gaze stopped on the venue name. The church in Clairmont. The very church I had mentioned to my husband countless times, the place I had dreamed of more than anything else. I was just about to smile and marvel at how someone in this world shared my taste so perfectly when the groom's name leapt into view. Victor Langford. My fingers froze on the page. Across from me, the girl was still wrapped in her happiness. She added gently, "We've only been together for two months, but he said he wants to give me the best wedding possible." I curved my lips into a smile and fixed my eyes on that familiar face—the man I had lived with for five years. After all this time, the day I planned Victor's wedding had finally arrived. Too bad the bride wasn't me.

When Brigitta discovered her husband's appalling betrayal involving her stepsister and best friend, her world crumbled. Her subsequent divorce led her to a local bar, where a chance encounter with a charismatic stranger resulted in a passionate night. Five years later, she found herself back in her hometown, with five beautiful children and an ailing grandmother in desperate need of medical care. In the face of these dire circumstances, Brigitta made the drastic decision to impersonate her stepsister and enter into a marriage with Ragnar Marshall, the seemingly ill and vegetative son of the notorious Wigglesworth family. Her surprise was palpable when Ragnar was revealed as the continent's wealthiest CEO, a man whose features mirrored her children's. Yet, disturbing rumors about Ragnar compelled her to shield her children from him. How long could she keep them hidden, especially when the children were so determined to make Ragnar Marshall their daddy?

Evangeline has it all, the looks, the money, the men. She was unstoppable and took anything and everything she wanted with a smile on her face. The men adore her and the women yearned her friendship in secret even the most jealous of hearts. But will everything change at the appearance of a poor, part-timer, nerdy man?

On my boyfriend, Draco Leroyce's birthday, I take him to a newly-opened fancy restaurant of my own for his birthday meal. Thinking that we'll be having a birthday cake for dessert later, Draco and I decide to order a set meal that includes a pizza and a plate of pasta. With a smile, I hand the menu over to the waitress. She plasters a fake smile on her face as she grabs the menu. But she secretly calls us "broke ass bastards" in Virellian. I draw my brows into a deep frown instantly. "What did you just say?" The waitress is momentarily stunned. Then, she shoots me another fake smile. "I said I'll prepare your food right away." I just sneer back at the waitress before responding to her in fluent Virellian, "You were calling us broke ass bastards."

Laura and Caleb were best friends when they were little, even if they didn't belong to the same pack. Inseparable. Always together. That changed during their teenage years. The two grew apart: Caleb grew popular, and Laura became a loner. Her early adolescent years were spent hoping Caleb would return to her, but Caleb's family moved away from their hometown without a word. Seven years later, Laura escapes from her arranged marriage, and the person she calls when she is drunk and crying is Caleb. Big mistake. Instead of rekindling what they once had, Caleb decides to kidnap Laura and make her his luna—without her permission! But Caleb is wrong if he thinks Laura will be an easy conquest. She is too proud to fall for the charming face belonging to alpha Caleb! And if she marries him, it sure doesn't mean she loves him... Right?

Blurb: Disparate Utopia is an alternate universe where mythological creatures exist. It is peaceful, back then, until false information spreads like a wild fire and that's how the war started. The peace that their Ancestors buiilt was destroyed by mysterious man. The belittling of each race started. They began to chop their head off and cast spell to vanish someone's soul away from the existence. Nieves, she's an elf and one of the royalties' daughters. Her heart filled with kindness and generosity. Her presence is longing for peace, that's why she ran away from her cruel hometown and ended up being cursed as dsrk elf, but people perceived her as a witch. Nieves' dream is to create kingdom where everyone can live, despite having different races. Where everyone live without even having a thought of being attacked. Will she lends her soul for the world to commit peacefulness for everyone? Or will lend her soul to savor for her own peace?

Falling for her stepbrother was pure madness, and Simone knew it... Having him reciprocate is dream material though. A tender look here, a smile there, and she could delude herself into thinking he cared as well. But what if she's not so delusional after all? What next?