Lingering Antonym

“Five million dollars may have bought my chains, but it didn’t buy my loyalty — and it definitely didn’t buy my heart. I never dreamed my life would come down to a transaction of hundred million dollars. But my father’s betrayal puts me at the mercy of Adrian Costa, the ruthless Sicilian, head of Cosa Nostra whose name makes the mafia world quake with fear. Including me. He bought me in an auction and then made me his wife. Saying no to him is not an option. He is dark and dangerous. I have done underhanded work against him using my hacker identity, CIPHER. I have to escape his gilded cage before he finds out my alt identity. Each of our battles ignites a deadly game of power and lust. As secrets unravel and Adrian’s enemies close in, I find myself faced with the ultimate dilemma: Will I fight for my freedom, or will the king I hate become the one man I cannot live without? ***** “You think you can outrun me, Elena? You're wearing my ring on your finger.” I don’t flinch, meeting his gaze with defiance. “So what? I don’t belong to you.” He leans in, his lips brushing against my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. “You don’t, yet. But I can make you. Do you want that?" I swallow hard, my pulse racing. “Don’t flatter yourself.” Adrian chuckles darkly, his hand lingering on my waist. “Trust me, I’m not the one who needs to be flattered.” ***** # Dark Mafia Romance #18+ #Hacker Female Lead and Italian Mafia Lord # Touch her you die #Marriage contract # He falls first #Fast Paced #Strong FL and ML #A Not so cute Pet (Oh he is cute. Don't go by his looks) #HEA

"You've come to kill me detective?",He whispered against her skin as he gently grasped her arm and turned her to him. Jude swallowed a gulp and looked up at him. His eyes were a cobalt shade of blue behind the mask, daring,cold and... terrifying. "And you've come to me to be killed?", She replied in a hushed tone, gathering a lot of nerve and taking a step closer to him. His eyes roamed over her, lingering on the curves of her body, the dress, before returning to her eyes. She didn't want to admit it to herself that she had developed a thing,some sort of feeling besides hate for him. The Maestro. The most dangerous man in New Haven. She had made it a habit, risking her life for a flicker of hope, clarity and some sort of peace. The memory of being against a wall,with the edge of his dagger at her throat and his body pressed against hers still lingered. He was devastating and she couldn't get him out of her head. She needed answers; to have some knowledge of what happened. Did he know? If she tried hard enough, could she get him right where she want and extract the information she needed? Or was she was just trying to fill the gaping hole in her heart? You're going to get yourself killed; the Lieutenant had said to her over and over. But it was a risk she was willing to take. Perhaps this was just another cruel twist the universe had in store for her. Jude thought she had gotten used to it but that was her just lying to herself. The universe wasn't cruel,it was brutal. And it was yet to show Jude what it had installed just for her.

Maya Rami is a survivor. As single mother in Dubai, she has worked relentlessly to provide the best for her daughter. But when she loses her job at an elite private school due to a scandal she had no part in, her life is thrown into turmoil. In an attempt at stability, she takes on the position of tutoring billionaire Adam Saif's son. Maya expectes that Sami will be just like any other pampered kid, yet he isn't. He's genius, withdrawn, and completely silent. Nobody, not even his powerful father has any idea how to reach him. Then there's Adam himself. Ice-cold, ruthless, and inscrutable, his entire life revolves around control. But behind the hardened facade, Maya senses something else, a man shaped by secrets, not authority. What starts out as a simple assignment soon turns a lot more complicated. The more time Maya spends in Adam's world, the more she sees the cracks in his armor. The late-night conversations turn into lingering looks. The chemistry between them is undeniable, yet Adam has made one thing very clear, he doesn't believe in love. Just as Maya begins to penetrate his defenses, his past comes back to haunt him. The enemies that encircle him close in, targeting everything, including Sami. Now Maya has to make an impossible choice: walk away before she's pulled into the storm or stay with the one man she never imagined she'd fall in love with.

"What are you doing?" Alpha Albrecht's voice was low, almost a growl. "I… I'm doing what you want," I replied, my voice trembling. "I'm not resisting." He stepped closer, his eyes narrowing. "Why the sudden change, Catriona? You've never been this… obedient." I met his gaze, my heart throbbing aggressively. His eyes scanned my body, lingering on the bruises and marks. His hand reached out, fingers brushing against a particularly dark bruise on my arm. I flinched but held my ground. "You're different," he muttered, more to himself than to me. "Yes, Alpha," I whispered, lowering my gaze. He tilted my chin up, forcing me to look at him. He studied me for a long moment, his expression stern. Finally, he nodded. "Get dressed!" "Huh?" I blinked, surprised by his command. If I remember correctly, he actually forced his way into me on this day. What has changed in 2012? ---------------- Catriona Barclay thought her life was over in Berlin when the ruthless Alpha Albrecht Conrad of the Shadow Pack killed her in 2021. Betrayed by those she trusted most, including her secret lover Finlay, and her best friend Greta, her world ended in tragedy. But, a mysterious force pulls her back in time to 2012, where she awakens nine years younger and armed with a chance to rewrite her fate. Determined to avenge her family's massacre and avoid her doomed future, Catriona devises a cunning plan against everyone who wronged her in the future. In the process, she uncovers truths about her family's true murderers and her rare special ability. She also discovered that Alpha Albrecht, the man she had hated her whole life and swore to bring down, is her fated mate chosen by the moon Goddess. Will she follow her quest for vengeance, or embrace a future she never imagined?

After Hours A Small-Town Forbidden Romance Alli never meant to fall for him. Eighteen, freshly graduated, and slinging drinks at the town’s no-frills dive bar, she was just looking for a paycheck and a way out of her quiet life. But then Johnny started showing up—twenty-five, devastatingly handsome, and haunted by more than just his late-night whiskey. Everyone knows Johnny. The town's favorite bad decision. A brooding mechanic with blue eyes that burn and a reputation tangled up with Layla, the town’s resident scandal—and someone else's wife. But when Alli catches Johnny’s gaze from across the bar, something ignites. Something forbidden. Something explosive. What starts as subtle glances and lingering stares turns into late-night texts, a kiss that ruins them both, and a fire that neither of them can put out. Just when Alli begins to believe there might be more between them, Layla drops a bomb: she’s pregnant. Now, Alli must face the truth—was she just a distraction? Or is Johnny just as trapped in his past as she fears? In a town where everyone talks and secrets are currency, love after hours might be the most dangerous thing of all.

Just before our Luna Ceremony, my mate, Alpha Killian, rejected me—moments after we'd mated. "The pack needs a gentle Omega for a Luna, Mia. Not a Beta with blood on her hands like you." His face was a cold mask, his Alpha command washing over me, snuffing out the lingering scent of our passion. I swallowed the pain in my heart and watched him slam the door. A moment later, a notification hit the pack network. I was stripped of my position as Lead Beta. In my place, Killian appointed Mia as the new Head Warrior. The empire I'd spent eight years helping Killian build was gifted to her on a silver platter. With my heart shattered, I walked away. It wasn't until I became Luna to Alpha Damien of a rival pack that Killian started showing up at my new border, crying and begging me to come back.

"What would you do if you were given a second chance—not just at life, but at revenge?" When Paula Whitney watched her husband, Orlando Gilbert, introduce another woman as his lover in front of their entire family, her world crumbled. To make matters worse, Jeany Rosalia—the other woman—not only flaunted their affair but also brought along a child she claimed was Orlando’s. Humiliated and crushed under the weight of her family’s scorn, Paula did the only thing she could think of: she ran. But fate wasn’t kind. A tragic accident robbed her of everything—including her own body. Yet destiny had other plans. Paula awoke to find herself in the body of Vanessa Khiel, an up-and-coming singer on the brink of fame. Disoriented and reeling from the shock, she heard one final plea from the dying soul within—Vanessa's voice whispered through her fading strength: "Protect my little brother. And in return, I’ll help you get the revenge you deserve." Now, Paula lives as Vanessa. With Vanessa’s beauty, charisma, and growing influence in the entertainment world, Paula begins to orchestrate her revenge—determined to destroy Jeany and Orlando for the pain they caused. But just as her plan takes shape, Paula uncovers a secret behind Orlando’s betrayal… a truth that shakes the foundation of her hatred. And she begins to wonder: Is revenge ever enough… or does an old love still deserve a second chance? “You remind me of someone,” Orlando murmured, his eyes lingering on Vanessa with a longing that felt almost too familiar. “Who?” Vanessa replied with a faint smile, carefully hiding the irony behind her words. “Paula,” he whispered. “She was my wife.” Or will she drag Orlando down with her… into the depths of ruin?

The Heart Beneath the Thorn — A Modern Beauty and the Beast Retelling 💔 In a glittering city of fortunes and façades, The Heart Beneath the Thorn reimagines Beauty and the Beast through the broken glass of betrayal, redemption, and forbidden love. Emilia Grace, a fierce yet quietly bruised soul, is just trying to survive. Between juggling hospital shifts, family debts, and the ghosts of her past, she’s never had the luxury of dreaming. But fate has a cruel sense of humor when she’s assigned to care for Max Carter—the cold-hearted billionaire who once made her school years a waking nightmare. Max was the golden boy with the cruel smirk—the privileged heir with everything, except peace. Years later, a tragic accident leaves him scarred, not just physically but emotionally. Isolated and emotionally exiled, Max is now a man haunted by his past choices and a legacy wrapped in barbed wire. When Emilia walks back into his life, she's no longer the girl he mocked—she's the woman who might just be his undoing. Forced into each other’s orbit, what begins as a war of words slowly melts into lingering stares, late-night confessions, and an unraveling of everything they thought they knew. Max, the beast of her memories, begins to reveal the tender man beneath the mask—a man who collects poetry he never shares, who builds gardens no one sees, and who might have always loved the girl he couldn’t protect. But trust doesn’t bloom easily in thorn-covered soil. And when old enemies, buried secrets, and a scandalous inheritance come to light, Emilia must decide: can she love the man who once broke her, now that he’s the only one trying to piece her back together? A tale of enemies-to-lovers, second chances.

Celeste Winters once had a name that echoed across territories, the daughter of the WinterMoon Alpha—fierce, loyal, and born of a legacy older than the crown that now rules the city. But all of that shattered the moment the man she trusted with her soul chose another without a word of goodbye. Cast aside without explanation, stripped of identity and purpose, Celeste ran. She abandoned her title, her pack, even her wolf… burying it all beneath perfume and silence. Now, in the heart of a city that doesn’t know her, she works late-night shifts at a diner and hides her scars behind forced smiles and lingering shadows. Every day she survives, but she does not live. Until the night everything begins to unravel. A rogue attack. A moment of instinct. A power she shouldn’t still have. And a single word whispered by the Alpha King himself as their eyes lock across the chaos: Mate. Celeste never wanted to love again. Never wanted to be claimed, or seen, or remembered. But he remembers her—her scent, her laugh, the steel behind her soft-spoken words. And worse, his wolf wants her. Craves her. But Celeste’s past isn’t just filled with heartbreak. It’s filled with secrets—deadly ones. The rogues aren’t just after her for revenge; they’re looking to return her to a father who will burn down every pack to get her back. A father who once ruled all, and never forgave betrayal. As the line between predator and protector begins to blur, Celeste must face the truth she’s tried to forget: she was never meant to disappear. And the more she lets herself feel again, the more dangerous her world becomes. The past is waking. The wolves are circling. And fate has never played fair.

Annie always believed that finding her mate would bring her happiness. But fate had other plans. The night she was supposed to be claimed by her destined mate, he rejected her—for her own sister. The betrayal shattered her, leaving her wolf weakened and her spirit broken. With no strength left to fight, Annie was cast aside, forced to leave behind everything she once knew. Alone and struggling without her wolf, Annie has no choice but to seek help from a neighboring pack—one that has always been at odds with her own. There, she meets Riley, the powerful and enigmatic Alpha, who takes an unexpected interest in her. From the moment he lays eyes on Annie, he feels an undeniable pull toward her, a connection so strong it shakes him to his core. But Annie has lost all faith in mates and love. Every kind word, every lingering touch, and every stolen glance from Riley makes her heart ache with memories of the past. She refuses to be seen as a tool or a prize ever again. Riley, however, sees beyond her pain. He doesn’t just want her because of the bond—they haven’t even confirmed it yet. He wants her for who she is, for the fire she tries so hard to hide. He wants to show her that not all mates bring pain, that love doesn’t have to be a weakness.