Laughing Outside Crying Inside

At nine months pregnant, I was in the final stretch of my term, and my body heavy with a baby due any day. But my husband, Vito Falcone, underboss of the family, had locked me away. He held me in a sterile underground medical room and injected me with a labor suppressant. As I screamed in agony, he coldly told me to endure it. Because his brother's widow, Scarlett, was expected to go into labor at the exact same time. A blood oath he'd made with his late brother declared that the firstborn son would inherit the family's lucrative West Coast territory. "That inheritance belongs to Scarlett's child," he said. "With Daemon gone, she is utterly alone and destitute. You have my love, Alessia. All of it. I just need her to deliver safely. Then it's your turn." The drug was a constant, agonizing torment. I begged him to take me to a hospital. He grabbed me by the throat, forcing me to meet his icy gaze. "Stop the act! I know you're fine. You’re just trying to steal the inheritance." "To get ahead of Scarlett, you'll stop at nothing." My face was ashen. My body convulsed as I managed a desperate whisper. "The baby's coming. I don't care about the inheritance. I just love you, and I want our child to be born safely!" He sneered. "If you were really that innocent, if you had an ounce of love for me, you wouldn't have forced Scarlett to sign that prenup, waiving her child's inheritance rights." "Don't worry, I'll be back for you after she's given birth. you're carrying my own flesh and blood, after all." He kept a vigil outside Scarlett's delivery room all night. It was only after seeing the newborn in her arms that he remembered me. He finally sent his second in command, Marco, to release me. But when Marco finally called, his voice was shaking. "Boss... the missus and the baby... they're gone." In that moment, Vito Falcone shattered.

"Lonely cold nights without anyone by your side, watching your father die in front of your eyes, watching your Mum lay like a lifeless body has undoubtedly made me cold from inside out. And let me tell you, it's not pleasant. I can be a monster with bad people and an angel with good, but for these people, I'm willing to get to my lowest point where I'll make them cry tears of pain. From this cruel man, all I want to take away is his pride and crush it between my fingers, and that's my promise to you wang. I'll do it, just watch how I play with your daughter and mess with your head. I'm sure you'll die out of grief only by trying to save her."Just wait and watch how i break your daughter piece by piece. The game has begun...

Alexander Guerriero: Being in the mafia promises a certain type of lifestyle, certain expectations. Along with the respect, the money, the women, also comes the darker side with the danger, the violence, the blood. But above all else, there are the Rules. As the Boss, I need to ensure my empire in the crime underworld remains in order. If not, it shows weakness, tempting the vultures circle and take my empire from me. Because there is no mercy. Ever. So, when I discover one of my soldiers has done me dirty, stealing my goods, I need to make an example of him. No one breaks my Rules! Yet, what happens when it is me who begins to break the Rules? As the Boss, am I above them? Or will my empire come crumbling down because she walked into my life. Rain Coleman: As a romance writer, going to Italy should have been fun. It should have been inspiring for my next best seller! I wish I could say it is why I went to Italy. My brother had basically ghosted me, worried me, for the last five years. So, when I discovered he was there, I packed my bags and went out to find him. Yet, when I do, I discover he’s a member of the mafia, and I’m suddenly dragged into that dark world. Especially, when the Boss has sent for my brother. The Boss, whose molten, dark eyes stir something deep inside me that I can’t deny. And with his confusing demand to keep me around in exchange for my brother’s life, I find myself breaking my promise that I made three years ago to protect my heart.

Erik Smith is the Alpha of The Silver Growlers pack. He is 22 and still hasn't found his mate. He's the most powerful Alpha. His collection is the strongest. He's caring and friendly to his group and close friends, but he's ruthless to rogues and his enemies. Clara Lee is the daughter of the Alpha of the Hollow Angel Pack. Everyone loves her; She's like the princess of Hollow Angel Pack. She is now 18 and still hasn't found his mate, but that all changes when a group of rogues kills her pack, and she's the only one who survived, thanks to her parents and crew, who sacrificed their lives for her to live. When his brother heard this, he went to Hollow Angel Pack as soon as possible and saw his sister crying at the dead bodies of her parents. Clara moves to The Silver Pack with his brother and discovers that Alpha Erik is her mate.

"You still think you’re the main character in your own story, don’t you, Mercer? That’s cute. You were written out the moment you let me inside you. You don’t exist without me now. And you love it." Kade Mercer an unstoppable force on the ice, destined for the NHL. One reckless mistake, one desperate night, and it was all over. The trap was set long before he even stepped onto the ice. Nikolai Volkov, mafia kingpin and team owner, orchestrated it all—the seduction, the scandal, the blackmail. Now, Kade isn’t just owned. He’s trapped. He still plays. He still wins. But only when they let him. Throw a game. Obey. Or lose everything. But the real hell doesn’t come from Nikolai. It comes from his son, Rook Volkov. Golden boy of a rival team. Hockey’s rising star. Kade’s worst enemy. He’s spent years fighting Kade, hating him, wanting him. Now? He owns him. Rook doesn’t destroy Kade’s career—he controls it. His flights. His bank accounts. His entire life. And when Kade resists? Rook makes him pay. First, he makes him beg. Then, he makes him like it. Every punishment, every violation, every humiliating submission forces Kade deeper into the world Rook has carved out for him. A world where the line between rivalry and ownership has been erased. A world where Kade can fight all he wants—but he’ll never escape. Because Rook isn’t keeping him prisoner.

"I know,” I cried out. His back was faced towards me as I spoke. “I know how it feels like to love you.” Anger started boiling inside of me as I said, “It hurts to love someone like you.” ---- Samantha Parker is an ordinary female werewolf who wishes to have something good in her life after her parents’ death. That good thing turned out to be her worst nightmare as she found out that Ryder Jackson, her brother’s best friend, was her mate. Not only that but she finds out that there was someone, who was responsible for her parents' death, lurking in the shadows ready to take her away. She would encounter difficult situations which led her to think that her life was a lie and the truth needed to be unraveled.

To the outside world, Dulce Florencia was living her best life with a successful father and a beautiful and kind stepmother, but the truth couldn't be farther than that. Her stepmother's plot with her supposed best friend to drug her and hand her off to some lackeys is thwarted by Aspen Mckenny, CEO of one of the biggest companies in the state. One blissful night of passion with the CEO leaves Dulce with more baggage than she could carry, pregnancy. Now she's forced to make a decision to leave to protect her kids, while Aspen search for his mysterious lover. Five years later, Dulce is back with a successful fashion career and two kids, one with a striking resemblance to the CEO. Will he let it slide? And forgive her for stealing his seeds? Follow Dulce's journey of revenge and love.

As a reader, we can fall in love with a Fictional Character. The words that the author use to define the physical attribute makes us readers fall in love with that character. Same as Amira Madrigal, who's deeply in love with a fictional character named Zeke Alejandro from a book that she always read, the title "Unexpected Love Story". Zeke is a bad boy and an arrogant campus prince who's written to fell in love with Krisha Fajardo, the female lead character of the story. Unfortunately, Amira hasn't read the book completely because her professor caught her reading the book while his teaching. An unknown sender gives her a link to a site where she could continue to read the next part of the story. She doesn't know that this will be the way for her to enter another world. Another dimension. To meet her Love. Zeke Alejandro, the fictional character inside the book. Could she also be the main character of the story she accidentally went into? Or would be the antagonist to the main character that she always imagined to be her? How will the story run?? How will the story end??

Calvin and I had been married for seven years. While packing up some clothes, I found a cheap lighter in the pocket of his jacket. Everything he wore, from the inside out, had been carefully chosen by me to highlight his refined taste and status. However, in that girl’s Twitter photos, he looked like a college boy, dressed in cheap clothes and wearing a digital watch that cost only a few dollars while kissing her. Using a throwaway account, I casually liked the post and commented, "A perfect match." Then, I turned to Calvin and said, "How did I never realize you had such a thing for bargains?"

Destiny is something written in books, a fictitious fantasy. I’ve always believed that what we do today is one step towards our future. We make our own choice, and we decide on who we will be until I met him—Elijah Valentin. He made me question what I know and what I feel. Just his mere presence messed with my head in more ways than one. The push and pull of emotions, the exhilarating feeling every time we crossed paths, and the gut-wrenching agony in my chest when I saw him with someone else. For the first time in my life, I hoped that the fictitious fantasy was real, that he was my destiny. He stirred my life in beautiful chaos, knocked down the ten-foot wall I built around my heart with just the flick of his fingers. But he also showed me how painful it is to want something that I could never have—him. ~~ "You are bound to me, Rory,” he said, eyes glowing like the silver moon above us. His touch flickered fire under my skin, a frizzling electric shock that stirred the desire inside me. “You are my salvation, but I am the hellfire that will burn your life to ashes.” [Mature Content]