Locked Hearts

"If you refuse to apologize, stay here and reflect on your actions! Feel the pain Agnes went through!" Kenneth was the Alpha. His childhood friend was accidentally locked in a storage unit for three days. To punish me, he locked me in a faulty walk-in freezer. He left me with nothing but a piece of bread the size of my palm before locking the door and leaving. Unbeknownst to him, this walk-in freezer wasn't actually faulty. Not long after he left, the cooling system was suddenly activated. I screamed for help and desperately sought ways to survive. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I clawed at the door, nobody came to my rescue. A week later, he finally showed up outside the freezer. He was expecting an apology from me. But when he opened the freezer's door, all he found was my frozen corpse.

"Her crown was built on a lie. His love will help her burn it all down." At fifteen, Valencia De Von Cruz was the most feared girl in school— a shield of cruelty masking the trauma of her mother's unsolved murder. The only boy who wasn't afraid, Aaron Sinclair, left a rose for her on Valentine's Day. She never came. She vanished, leaving him with a broken heart. Six years later, Aaron is a business kingpin, and Valencia is the ruthless Queen of the underworld. When he’s attacked, she saves his life in a blur of violence, not recognizing the man she once inspired. To find her again, Aaron lies. He walks into her empire and hires her for the one thing she sells: protection. Valencia agrees, hiding her own truth: her crown is a cage. Her grandfather, who blames her for her mother's death, controls her with brutal trials. Aaron sees through her carefree facade. He witnesses her pain and wages a secret war against her grandfather, his love for her rekindled into a fierce, protective flame. As their guarded hearts collide, a shadow from the past emerges. A secret organization, *Phoenix*, is systematically destroying Aaron's empire and has its claws in the underworld’s very foundations. To survive, Valencia and Aaron must unravel a conspiracy that leads to a devastating truth: the mastermind behind her mother's murder has been hiding in plain sight all along. Now, Valencia must remember the tragedy she locked away. To claim her future with Aaron, she must first tear down the legacy built on her mother's blood. Even if it means becoming the monster they all fear. *A story of shattered pasts, fierce love, and brutal revenge, where the most dangerous weapon isn't a gun— it's the truth.*

"She's only eight years old, and she's already spreading rumors about her sister!" "She even stole our neighbor's emergency money!" "Worst of all, she conspired with human traffickers to sell her own brother!" In the underworld courtroom, Mom and Dad rushed to accuse me of my "crimes," talking over each other in a frenzy. They thought this was just a dream, and in the middle of it all, they did not forget to warn my sister and brother standing nearby. "You two better watch carefully. This is what happens to disobedient kids after they die!" I instantly understood. As the middle child, I had once again become the "example," the one sacrificed in their lesson. 'Mom... Dad... this isn't a dream. You locked me in the freezer, then took Grace and Tommy on vacation. I was locked in there for three days. I was so cold, my whole body frozen stiff...'

"I need you. Make love to me, please," her breathy whisper hung in the night air. His tender arms drew her closer, and his lips gently met hers. "Before this night is over, there wouldn't be part of your body that wouldn't know my touch." . . Cherry Silverbella Moores: She's the twin who doesn't give a damn. A fighter, troublemaker, and a chaotic soul. She strikes fear into the hearts of the poor people of Castle Lore. Cherry indulges in casual relationships but avoids meaningful connections like a plague. She likes to fuck but despises physical contact. She has locked away her emotions for over a decade, feeling nothing except anger and cold indifference. Ixora Crystabella Moores: She's the twin everyone adores, the nurturing mother hen. Always eager to lend a helping hand, she cleans up after her chaotic twin, managing her messes. According to the people of Castle Lore, Cherry is the 'whore,' while Ixora is the 'nun.' She is soft-spoken and shy, but when angered, she can be as volatile as her twin sister. Jake Brown: A former special agent turned medical doctor, mourning the loss of his beloved brother who died six months ago in a bomb explosion. A vital part of him has been torn away by his brother's death, and he struggles to keep himself from crumbling. Kind and gentle, he is loved by everyone due to his patience and compassion. However, he becomes a storm when provoked. Then, there's Jerald Brown: The brother everyone believed was dead but has been alive and in captivity, planning his escape for six months. He's grumpy, hates people, and prefers to keep to himself. Their lives are intertwined; two brothers who thought they had lost each other forever, and identical twins who are as different as day and night.

My husband’s childhood friend was trapped in an elevator for half an hour. In his anger, he stuffed me inside a luggage bag and locked me inside. “You’re paying double for all the suffering Grace went through.” My body was forced into a curled-up state. I had a hard time breathing. I cried as I apologized, but all I got was my husband’s cold reproach. “You’re going through the entirety of this punishment. Once you’ve learned your lesson, you’ll behave.” He then locked the luggage bag in the closet. I screamed in despair and struggled to break free. My blood seeped out of the bag and soaked the floor. Five days later, he felt sorry for me and decided to end the punishment. “Let this punishment be a warning for you. This time, I’ll let you go.” Little did he know that my body was already rotting inside the luggage bag.

Billionaires who just want to live the Blue Collar life and meet their perfect match… Can they allow their hearts to be soften and find love - or will danger get in the way?

Three days before my wedding, my younger sister staged a scene—one where I supposedly abandoned her in the mountains. She claimed I locked her in a cabin, left her to be nearly assaulted, and that she barely escaped with her life. Furious, my fiancé dragged me up the mountain and locked me in that same cabin. He said, "Wendy, a woman as vicious as you won't learn her lesson without punishment. I already told you I'd marry you. Why go after Chloe? Since you're so desperate to climb your way up, you can stay here until the wedding day." I begged him, over and over, but my scorched throat could only force out hoarse, grating sounds. Three days later, Mickey O'Brien stood at the altar in his suit, waiting for me. What he got instead was my remains.

We finally separate, we are just fooling around thinking we had parted, yet our hearts dwells where we cowardly believed we had left.

I was framed by my boyfriend's childhood sweetheart and spent five years in prison. While I was locked away, he moved her into my home, seized my property, and built a perfect life, thriving off everything I worked for. However, I would take back everything that they stole from me.

Maximus is the true monster of your nightmares. His beast has to be kept locked away or it will cause destruction in there path. He is the monster that disappears right before your very eyes and you will never see him coming. But what about the girl who sees it all. Will she be enough to conquer a monster or will she put herself in danger by trying?