Looking Up Through Eyelashes

My girlfriend and I were reborn, returning to the cramped basement apartment we rented right after graduation. We silently walked out the door together, neither of us mentioning staying together. She went abroad with her childhood sweetheart to further her studies while I stayed behind, grinding away at my company. Seven years later, she became a rising young designer with a bright future and a happy family. I was still grinding away at the same company. When we met again, she clung to her childhood sweetheart's arm, looking down at my slightly disheveled state with a mocking smile. "Long time no see. How did you end up looking like a beggar?" I ignored her. However, later, when the powerful, world-renowned CEO of a top design firm clung to my arm, acting sweetly, her face twisted with panic. "Alex Prescott! How can you be so close with another woman?!"

(Previously called His Own Undoing) "You really think I'm playing around?" He grounds out me through gritted teeth and he takes a step closer and I begin to move back. "I gave you a strict instruction and you disobeyed, you chose to rebel." There is about one zillion comeback running through my head, but my brain only focuses on the man whose green eyes has somehow turn into black because he's mad at me. "Do you know what happens to rebellious people?" I keep moving back until my back hit the wall and I hiss out in frustration. I swallow hard and try not to look at him, pissing him off would be a good thing when we aren't the only ones in the whole house. "Do you?!" He demands with a roar. "No, I don't. Tell me." I say, hiding the trembling of my voice as I look up at him. He takes a firm step close to stand intimately close to me, his height making me feel like a little child. "They get punished." And for the first time in the last five to six-minute, I see his green eyes instead of black ones looking into mine with lust and my brain go blank for a second and I have to shake it to restart it. Even I can't deny the intense feeling I have been having, I don't want to be in denial any more. I do want to be close to him and as much as it scares me, it draws me in to know more. "Then punish me." ***** The arrangement was, I get to meet her, propose to her, we get married as that would create a stronger bond between the two business associates, bringing us together as a family. Falling in love with her personal assistant was never part of the arrangement.

“Camille, I’ll love you forever!” Jameson let out a low, agonized growl. Just as he was about to climax, his phone suddenly began to buzz. He ignored it, of course. Now was hardly the time. However, his phone lit up again. The moment he saw the text on the screen, his body froze. Camille heard him answer the call. “Hello?” In the deep silence of the night, the voice on the phone cut through the stillness, clear and unmistakable. “Jameson, did you know that Sylvia—” Jameson switched languages and cut in with a sharp command, “Keep it down. It's not a good time.” The other person switched languages too, though he was still loud. “The hospital results came in. Sylvia is in the final stages of cancer. She only has a month left! Her last wish is to become your wife. Can you grant her that before she passes?” Jameson’s expression changed immediately. “What?! Wait for me!” He ended the call and turned to Camille. “Camille, something urgent came up. I need to step out for a bit. Be good and stay home. I’ll be back after you’ve had some sleep.” Before she could respond, he rose to wash up, changed his clothes, and left without looking back. Moments later, her phone buzzed. Sylvia: [Camille, you lost. I told you—Jameson has always been mine.] Right above it was a message from three days ago: [If I tell him I have cancer, do you think Jameson will leave you and come to me? I bet he will.] Camille’s gaze slowly shifted from her phone screen to the open bedroom door. What Jameson did not know was that she had already picked up a new language. She understood every word of that call. After a long moment, a faint, bitter smile appeared on her face. “Yeah, I lost...”

The strangest thing Lily Johnson encountered on social media was an ad asking for people to apply to be Roman Dalmain's wife. Kim Wilson was an underpaid model who knew the man behind the application review and had bribed him into ensuring she would be selected as Roman's wife. What happens when Mark accidentally sends an email to Lily? Two women showing up on the same day to be Roman's wife, will he fall in love with the boring looking, middle school math teacher or the model with a perfect face?

"There should be rules if we are even going to do this," he said without looking at me. "I have always lived by the rules." He slid a file towards me. "This is the contract. The rules are stated there." I opened the file and glanced through it. "You can take it home and study them; give me feedback tomorrow evening. But I will read out the rules for you now because they start now, and in case your brain can't comprehend them, then I can explain." Anger seethed through me, and I almost threw the file back at him, but when I thought about the money involved and how it would benefit little Sophie, I bit my lower lip to push back the anger. He continued. "Rule number one; don't you fall in love with me." His eyes flipped up to me. "Crystal clear," I said. "That would never happen." Ellen never had fun in college. One night she decided to have fun with her friends and slept with a handsome stranger who disappeared before she woke up. A month later, she found out she was pregnant and searched everywhere for him, but to no avail. Five years later, she moved to a new city and met the same man she never thought she would ever see again. He didn't remember anything about her, and he was now a cold, arrogant man who needed a wife, and she needed money. They agreed to contract marriage with strict rules, one of them being never to fall in love with each other. They were sure they wouldn't break the rule, but as sparks grew between them and became too much, they found themselves trying hard to keep to the rules. Who will break rule number one between them?

Kiana James’s world shatters when she is forced to break the heart of the man she loves-her childhood sweetheart, Calvin. To save her father’s failing business, she agrees to an arranged marriage with the powerful Alexandria Cartwright. Cold, commanding, and devastatingly handsome, Alexandria is a man used to getting what he wants as he is known for his cold demeanor and ruthless deals. To Kiana, it may seem that their marriage is just another contract-a necessary alliance for her father’s business. But as she steps into his world of wealth and intrigue, she finds herself drawn to the man beneath the icy exterior. Passion ignites, blurring the lines between duty and desire, yet shadows from the past threaten to tear them apart. Torn between a love she lost and a fate she never expected, Kiana must decide: fight for the life she once wanted, or surrender to the man who might just be her destiny.

****PLEASE Read Book 1 The Silver Dragon to understand the background of this story. You won't find this interesting or understand what's going on if you don't******** Here you will find books 2 and 3 of the Silver Dragon Series. Book 2 Family Secrets Book 3 Revenge Our story continues following the journey of Davina Ortiz, now Brooks, and Derek Brooks. Malayah has been kidnapped. Enzo is controlling her with the help of the rogues and the necklace. Malayah struggles to fight back as he continues to use her to kill everyone he captures. It’s a race against time as Derek and Davina are recruiting as many allies as possible to save their daughter, including a sister she didn’t know she had. Davina learns deeper secrets regarding her family as she prepares to go head to head with the master mind behind it all to get her daughter back. Can Malayah be saved before it’s too late? Will Davina be to handle the revealed secrets of how her parents died and who killed them? Keep an eye out for books 4-6 of the Silver Dragon Series!

Claire Hopkins never thought that she would be sucked into a game and suddenly was in the arms of Adonis, the most beautiful god in the mythology. It all started when Claire was trapped in an old uninhabited house that night. Claire hid in the old house because of being chased by a group of drunken men. Accidentally, she found a video game hidden among the bookshelves. The game called The Myth, is a game about legend in mythology. Claire was amazed that the game has a feature of face and body recognition, that the character of the game indeed looks like her in real life. Enjoying the first levels of the game, Claire suddenly was sucked into the game, right on top of Adonis' bed, where there’s the most handsome man lying next to her. Unable to fight back, Claire was forced to give up. After all that happened, Claire found out that Adonis was actually a player named Leon Maxwell who was trapped in the game for years. He was waiting for another player to enter, in order to complete that current level entitled The Adonis' Love. Before they could think clearly, Claire and Leon had already entered the next level. Will Claire's hatred for Leon turn into love? Will they be able to work together to find a way out with only three lives each? Follow me on Instagram: @cindychen06

Serena Alcaraz lives a life of survival working as a waitress, struggling to pay bills, and taking care of her sick mother. She has no time for love, especially not for arrogant, rich men who think the world revolves around them. Enter Damian Cruz, the cold and ruthless billionaire feared in the business world. To stop his family from pressuring him into marriage, he needs a woman who won’t fall for him, someone he can control. When his path crosses with Serena, he sees the perfect candidate. Damian offers her a deal, pretend to be his girlfriend, live in his luxurious world, and in return, he’ll give her enough money to save her mother. Serena knows it’s dangerous to get involved with a man like him, but desperation leaves her no choice. What begins as a cold arrangement slowly turns into something neither of them expected. The poor waitress who wanted nothing from him suddenly becomes the only woman Damian can’t let go of. But in a world full of power, lies, and family expectations, will their fake relationship survive when real feelings start to blur the line between love and the deal?

Dawn, a human girl who lived with her family in an underground bunker for most of her life finds herself getting thrown into a tight web after the night her little brother goes missing on a full moon night. She is helped by a vampire who happens to be her mate but doesn’t hear from him ever since. However, her life takes a mysterious turn when she finds out that she is mated not just to Zade, the vampire but to two other people, a ruthless werewolf Alpha, Xavier and his best friend, Ryan. Burdened with this, she’s made to make a decision, to choose whomever she wants to be with. Zade, the vampire was sweet to her but vampires were known for their slyness, they were trouble and she knows that. Moreover, she wasn’t ready to become a night creeper like them. The werewolves on the other hand are more like humans… her kind. She finds them more predictable and easier to cope with but that doesn’t mean she could cope with Alpha Xavier, the one who had sworn to make her life a living hell. She’s torn between making this decision and in the end, she chooses to be with all! Delve into this fascinating story that revolves around these people who are of different kinds but are forced to be together by a force greater than all. Love. Is Alpha Xavier who Dawn thinks he is? Was she even who she thought she was? And most of all, what dark secrets from their past binds them all? Read to find out!