Mise À Niveau

"Mom, Dad, I’ve decided to come home for the blind dates you mentioned. I’ll be back by the end of the month." In the early spring, with the lingering chill of winter in the air, Valerie Stonecutter pushed open the door while speaking softly into the phone. Her gentle voice drifted through the rain like a thread weaving through the mist. Pulling her collar tighter against the cold, she heard her parents breathe a sigh of relief on the other end. "Val," her father began, his voice heavy with age. “Your mom and I haven’t been in good health these past few years. So now that you’ve made up your mind, that’s good. When you’re back, I’ll have your Aunt Laura arrange a few suitable candidates for you to meet." Hearing that her parents were already making arrangements for her future, Valerie’s gaze flickered, her emotions momentarily unsettled. After a few more words of small talk, she ended the call. She glanced around her home with a heavy heart, her thoughts tangled in a quiet storm. Then she retreated to her bedroom and began to pack.

When Damian Bernardi, heir to one of America’s most ruthless crime families, is forced into an arranged marriage with Sophia Morelli, he believes his greatest problem is escaping a wedding he never wanted. Sophia is ambitious and dangerous, willing to weaponize anything, including her twin sister Sareena, the prodigy who fled the family years ago, to secure her place at Damian’s side. What begins as a broken engagement spirals into a war of reputations, betrayals, and blackmail. Sareena’s return drags her back into a world of secrets she swore to leave behind, and Damian is pulled into a love that could ruin them both. In the Mafia, nothing stays hidden forever. Every lie demands proof, every betrayal demands blood, and every truth comes with a cost.

Kaden Zacarias and I have been together for a decade. He gives me all his love throughout that time. But one day, I see the news of him marrying Gwendolyn Crawford as part of a marriage alliance. He tells his friends, "I'm only fooling around with Ella—does she think I'll actually marry her? It's not like my parents will ever agree to it. I can just keep her around as a mistress after getting married. Remember to keep your mouths shut about this." Our decade-long love goes up in flames, but I don't question him. Instead, I call my father with a withered heart and say, "I'll go through with the marriage alliance. I'll leave the country."

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! WARNING: MATURED CONTENT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! (Miguel La Russo story) At a young age, Gail fell in love with Miguel. She believes that their passionate, wild, and strong feelings for each other will lead them to eternal happiness… But what if she is wrong? Magagawa pa kayang maniwala ng puso ni Gail sa ikalawang pagkakataon sa lalaking unang sumira at nagwasak sa lahat ng mayro'n sila noon? O sa ikalawang pagkakataon ay sisirain ni Miguel ang kanyang mga pangako at iiwan ang puso ni Gail na sugatan? TRAPPED SERIES#5. Trapped Series Titles ⬇️ 1.Trapped with him (Alaric) COMPLETED 2.The lonely billionaire and his maid. (Damon) COMPLETED 3. His intention (Zandro) COMPLETED 4.Trapped in his wrath (Red) COMPLETED 5.Broken hearts and promises (Miguel)ONGOING 6. The hidden wife tears (Nickolas) SOON 7. The billionaire's trick (Liam) SOON 8.His dangerous trap. (Tres) SOON 9.Forbidden desire (Jack) SOON 10.The billionaire's secret love (Wendell) SOON Genre: ROMANCE/DARK ROMANCE/STEAMY READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!

When assertive and alpha heiress Clara Ardiente is forced to marry a dominant and cold businessman Damon Barreto, she'll have the almost but quite life. Hindi niya pa nakikilala ang businessman na magsasalba sa kanila. With their empire falling, she is desperate enough to marry that man just to save their name and wealth. Ayaw niyang mawala ang lifestyle na nakasanayan niya. Damon is a ruthless businessman and he doesn't want to have a nosy wife. Everything should be part of agreement and contract. But beneath that contract, there's an unspoken affection he can't recognize... and secrets. Hindi naman totoong pusong bato si Damon. Ang totoo ay nang makita niya si Clara ay nagandahan siya sa dalaga. Talagang pasok sa kanyang tipo kaya niya inalukan ng partnership ang pamilya Ardiente. It was easy for him to get what he wanted. Damon and his ways. Well, not for Clara. Nang makilala niya ang kanyang mapapangasawa, nagdadalawang isip siya kung talagang worth it nga ba ang pakikipagkasundo niya para lang isalba ang kanyang karangyaan. To be the wife of a ruthless business and arrogant tycoon? Medyo dehado ata siya. Pero wala na siyang takas. Lalo na noong ibinigay ni Damon lahat ng gusto ng kanyang mismong pamilya. Lalo na't may kontrata. "Go... run away. But you'll never escape me," bulong ni Damon sa kanya. "Leaving me, abandoning that contract won't save you. Kahit saan ka magpunta, you will always be Mrs. Barreto. My last name will mark you wherever you go." Gusto niyang alisin sa utak niya 'yon at magtrabaho nalang para isalba ang pangalan niya, but it was too late. Hindi na siya makakatakas pa... so she needs to live with only rule; no attachments. No falling in love. Just a contract and promises. Or that was she thought so.

I worked for a restaurant, and our boss loved making empty promises about giving us restaurant shares. The boss said we would start with zero shares, but we could earn 0.01% for every two hours of overtime, covering someone else’s work or saving the restaurant 1,000 bucks. I suggested she write this down in an official document and have someone track it properly. She just smiled and told everyone to work harder. She never actually put it in writing. The experienced staff did not believe her, but one prep cook took it seriously. At the end of the year, he went to the boss to claim his shares. The boss said, “Sorry, the head chef told me there’s no official document, so it doesn’t count. You can’t claim any shares.” The prep cook worked hard all year and got nothing for it, so he took his anger out on me. The day before I was going home for the New Year, he killed me with a knife. “If you hadn’t said it doesn’t count without an official document, this whole restaurant would’ve been mine!” I lay in a pool of blood. When I opened my eyes, I was back to the day the boss first made those empty promises.

Barrett, alone and hurt. Everything she has worked hard always ended up in vain. The day she has ever awaited would be the biggest tragedy of her life. As she traveled alone in the mountains, the fangs that almost bit her bare neck didn’t bother her. And finally, as she fell on the high cliff where only the hard waves hit the spike stones, her body was wrapped in cold scales that embodied death. The moment she met him, everything rings danger in her head ,"You smelled great and desirable, won’t you be my mate? “ this handsome gentleman grins and confidently grabs her wrist in order to capture and make no escape. As she stared deep into his eyes “Don’t stare too much, I might hold on to you for the rest of your life.” he inches closer and the deep golden emerald eyes that mesmerize her more as if enslaving her very own soul.

Seven years into their marriage, Bella got hit with a truth—Steven had a kid. A six-year-old. She crouched behind the preschool slide, barely breathing, as Steven bent down to scoop the boy up. "Daddy, you haven't come to see me in forever." "Be good, Ollie. Work's been crazy. Listen to your mom, alright?" Bella froze. Same face. Same eyes. It was obvious. Everything about them screamed it—The man who swore he'd love her forever had been cheating on her this whole time. Steven and Bella weren't just a couple. They were childhood sweethearts. She once took a knife for him. Nearly died. Lost their baby. Lost the chance to ever have one again. Steven had held her hand back then, eyes red, saying, "I don't care if we never have kids. As long as I have you, that's enough." She still heard the shake in his voice. Now? Every promise. Every memory. All of it—gone.

A world where magic exists and they call them promises. A girl named Eileen will enter this strange school that will lead her to something she didn’t expect to know. Entering this world will make her life turn upside down. Figuring things out with her own and having people that have magics with them that will help to know why she’s there in the first place. Looking for answers and solving the mystery of this world. She enters the school and meets a girl named Tracey where she finds out about magic but strangely she encounters an incident. An incident that will make everything difficult for her because things are getting started. Encounters someone,an evil person, that wants power and starts to make troubles that are dangerous for them. As the protagonists join forces to stop her but conflicts occur as they go deeper about the secrets of the school.

I used to be that girl in the mafia—envied, untouchable. Orlando Leone, the big bad Don everyone feared, had eyes only for me. I took a bullet for him. After that? People whispered I couldn't have kids. He tried to shut them up by knocking me up—ninety-nine tries. Try number ten? His shiny new secretary texted, all confused over a decimal. He bailed on me. By thirty, she crashed his sports car while shopping. Claimed she couldn't park. I was left freezing in a bathtub. He said he loved me, but when it counted, he always picked the girl who played dumb and helpless. That's when it hit me—his love was never really mine. And by the time I disappeared for real, he lost his mind looking. Too bad. Me and that promise? Already buried at sea.