Neal Stephenson Snow Crash

With a bag of vegetables gifted by the previous tenant in hand, I was on my way to collect rent from the third household when I unexpectedly ran into someone at the entrance of the community. The man frowned, his eyes fixed on the vegetables I carried, as though he couldn't fathom how I had ended up like this after leaving him. Following his gaze, I instinctively shifted the vegetables behind my back. My eyes dropped to the muddy water on the pavement, and I never would have imagined bumping into my ex-boyfriend—the one who had grown up with a silver spoon—in this aging neighborhood. He noticed my movement, and for a moment, something flickered in his expression: a mix of pity and recognition. "Since you've already learned your lesson," he said, "come back with me." At his words, I instinctively stepped back half a pace. "Who said I'm going back with you?" My rejection seemed to sting, darkening his face. "I know you're still blaming me for giving Rachel a child," he muttered, "but it's been three years. Isn't it time to stop? As long as you come back, we can be the same as before." Three years, huh? How quickly time had passed. Thinking of my little girl at home, still babbling her first words, I couldn't help but smile and shake my head. "Let's leave it at that. Go home and live your life with Rachel. My daughter's waiting for me to go back and make her food."

My parents made Dana and me settle it with rock-paper-scissors. Loser had to marry the Baillieu heir—the so-called "freak." I won. Then flipped the script. "Cool. I'll take Blake. Dana can have the empire." Last time? I was dumb in love with Michael—Dad's adopted golden boy. Chose the company, stayed behind, and handed Dana off to Blake Baillieu. Big mistake. Six months in, Dana was gone—wrecked by that marriage. Right before she croaked, she texted Michael blaming me. Said I lost the game and ditched the deal, dumping Blake on her. Michael? Snapped. Dude went full psycho. Turns out, he and Dana had been sneaking around for years. He dragged me behind the Baillieu estate and forced a dozen intellectually disabled men to assault me. "If it weren't for your cruelty, Dana would still be alive! You'll pay for everything she suffered!" I was over eight months pregnant—almost due. Begged him to stop. Begged for my baby's life. He didn't care. Kept ordering them to take turns. Even when my water broke, he just watched. Both my baby and I died that night. Now? I'm back. And this time, I rewrote the story. Step one: marry Blake.

She thought she had everything. A fated mate. A future. A home. Until it all came crashing down. He came back with another woman. A baby in her belly. And just like that, Elara was nothing. Framed for a crime she didn't commit, the only end for her was death. But fate isn’t done with her yet. A stranger steps out of the shadows. Not just any man—the Lycan King. Feared. Hated. Untouchable. Part demon. Part vampire. Part wolf. He doesn't save her, he claims her. Offers her a deal she can’t afford to refuse: Be his Luna for one year. She should’ve said no. But he’s cold fire and temptation wrapped in darkness. And when he touches her, it’s not just her body that trembles—it’s her soul. Now, she’s trapped between two monsters: The mate who wants her back… And the king who never plans to let her go. 🔥 Sneak Peek – Elara’s POV: “Tell me to stop,” he growled, his breath hot against my lips. “One-word, little wolf, and I’ll Walk away.” My heart pounded so hard I thought it might crack my ribs. I should say it. I should. But then he touched me—just a whisper of skin against skin—and the air vanished from my lungs. My mind screamed this is a mistake. But my body… my body had already decided. I leaned in, drawn to him like gravity itself had shifted. “I hate you,” I breathed, and it came out too soft, too broken. He gave me a look that made my knees weak. Dangerous. Hungry. “Then hate me,” he murmured, brushing his lips over mine, “while I make you forget every reason you ever did.”

He’s the Alpha King — ruthless, dangerous, and deadly. She’s the last of a cursed bloodline — destined to destroy the paranormal world. Once every century, the Shadow Bride is reborn, destined to kill her fated mate and bring ruin to the supernatural realm. The only way to stop her is by killing her before the curse develops. King Kaelion captures her, determined to stop the curse, but when her scent reaches him, his wolf whispers one word: Mate; everything takes another shift. She hides her identity as the Shadow bride, and he can't resist falling for her. Every brush of skin, every stolen touch, ignites a fire they can’t control. To want each other is forbidden. To act on it could mean death. Yet their bodies betray them, drawn together by something older than fate. Every heartbeat, every whispered word pulls them closer — until desire becomes a weapon as lethal as the curse that hunts her. He wants to claim her. She wants to resist. But can either survive the forbidden attraction burning between them?

Elena Harper thought she had her future mapped out: college, a dance scholarship, and marriage to her perfect fiancé, Damien Caldwell, heir to the powerful Silver Ridge pack.But the night of their engagement party, she discovered the truth: Damien had never loved her. His real mate was her best friend Lisa, and together they planned to destroy her, and the unborn pup she carried.Betrayed, framed, and left broken after a deliberate crash stole her child and nearly her life, Elena hit rock bottom… until Victor Black stepped out of the shadows.Alpha of the feared Blackthorn pack. Lone wolf. Fated mate.Victor offered her protection, healing, and the one thing Damien never gave her: a love that would burn the world down to keep her safe. As Elena awakens to her dormant wolf and the ancient power coursing through her veins, she transforms from victim to Luna, from shattered girl to the moon-blessed queen who will lead Blackthorn into war.Because revenge isn’t just coming for Silver Ridge.It’s coming on four paws, with silver scars and golden eyes, and it has teeth.A dark, steamy, revenge-fueled werewolf romance of betrayal, rebirth, and a bond so deep it rewrites fate itself.

Five years after moving abroad, I return to the country for the first time at the invitation of a business partner. My partner sends a reliable assistant to meet me at the company entrance. I never expect to see my ex, Roy Henderson, who disappeared without a trace five years ago. Back then, a car accident lands me in the hospital. I need his signature, but he is nowhere to be found. Later, I find out he has gone to celebrate his lover's birthday. Everyone assumes I will forgive him like I always do. After all, I have forgiven him countless times before. As soon as I get out of the hospital, I leave the country and disappear from his life completely. Roy frowns as I walk into the company. "You actually tracked me down?" He lets out a sigh. "Forget it. Since you've found me anyway, Ava just had a baby and is still in postpartum recovery. Go take care of her."

My name is Hazel Falken, and I am the only daughter of the Base Commander during the apocalypse. Even though it is the apocalypse, I am still spoiled left and right by my family and raised to be their little princess at home. My dad, Ernest Falken, is worried that I will marry into a family that will mistreat me. So, he decides to choose four husband candidates and bring them up in our own home for me to pick from when I'm older. In my past life, I chose Curtis Granger, whom I have liked for a long while, when Dad asked me to pick my husband. However, not long after our marriage, Curtis volunteers himself as a guard to be stationed outside the base perimeter. He never returns home after that, and I am left living as a widow in the safety of the base's inner district. 30 years later, when my hair has turned fully white, I decide that I can't wait for him anymore and go out to find him. I then realize that he has formed another family outside the base without my knowing. It then dawns on me that Curtis never liked me. He had also only married me because he wanted to repay Dad for bringing him up. Not long after that, a wave of zombies attacks us. Curtis pushes me down and shields me under his body. "Hazel, I know that I never should've lied to you. I'll give up my life to repay the kindness that Commander Falken has shown to me. "But if there is a next life, I hope that you won't pick me again." When I open my eyes again, I find out that I have travelled back in time to the day when Dad asks me to pick my husband. "Hazel, these four people are my right-hand men. Whom would you like to pick as your husband?"

I was performing the hundredth "restoration" surgery on my mafia husband's latest mistress when I finally decided to leave him. For five years, I, Isabella Rossi, have lived a double life: the respected wife of a powerful Don, and the personal physician tasked with "purifying" the women he discards. Vincent's twisted religious conviction is his law: only a wife untouched by any other man can bear his legitimate heir. I was that pure wife, yet he treated me as his most unclean possession. My love for him died a slow death. A thousand empty nights. It was killed by the cold steel of my own operating table. By the sounds of other women boasting about his touch. The five-year prenuptial agreement that bound me to this hell was set to expire at midnight. I had already called my grandfather, the only man Vincent truly fears. My escape was hours away. By the time he realized his mistake, it was too late.

"You like that?" he whispered, taking my earlobe in his mouth, and my lips parted. My breath came in short bursts, and everything blurred at the feel of his tongue on my index and middle fingers. He began sucking on them while his left hand slipped under my shirt, and a loud moan escaped me. My back arched of its own accord as his fingers began to rub circles around my rock-hard nipples, teasing them and another puddle moistened the already damp surface as my legs took on a life of their own and spread wider. ……. Scarlett Ford was a young woman from a humble background who found herself in the midst of luxury when she was taken in by the wealthy and powerful Sterling family. As she became more entrenched in their glamorous lifestyle, she fell in love with Reed, the eldest son of the family. However, Scarlett's mother, who was a chief maid in the Sterling household, warned her against pursuing the relationship, knowing that the matriarch, Colette de Beauvoir, would never approve of a romance between her son and a maid's daughter. Colette was a powerful woman who firmly believed in the social hierarchy that separated the wealthy from the poor. Despite her mother's warnings, Scarlett was determined to be with Reed and was blind to Colette's prejudices. As Reed took over his father's position as head of the family, the stakes became even higher. Would Scarlett be able to change Colette's narrow-minded views, or would everything fall apart?

For five years, Annabelle Boroughs toiled day and night to be the perfect, loyal wife to Travis, her first love, whom she met in a club and had a one-night stand with. However, her world came crashing down when Travis abruptly divorced her to reunite with his ex-lover, Samantha, the same woman who had cheated on him years ago. The same woman who had led him with her cruel words to the bar where they met. But little did Travis know that Annabel wasn't just any regular divorcee; she was the daughter of a wealthy and powerful businessman, a secret she had nurtured for years, one that would make him regret his decision. With her newfound influence and wealth, Annabel is determined to make Travis pay for his betrayal. But at what cost? What happens when she finds out she has his seed growing inside of her?