Painted Scars Neva Altaj

Josh Carter, a beguiling wealthy person known for his costly occasions and laid-back manner, is at crossroads. At the point when his dad dies suddenly, he is given a horrendous predicament framed in his dad's will: wed to acquire the Carter family riches, or watch everything deteriorate away. The Carter realm's past weighs intensely on Josh's shoulders, yet the idea of surrendering his unique lone fierce way of life feels like detainment. Josh makes a dangerous arrangement to get away from this unexpected circumstance. He moves toward Amy Wesley, the contemplative and bashful proprietor of a little bookstore in the downtown area, with a fascinating proposition: a contract marriage. Amy, who is lowered under water and fantasies about reestablishing her valued yet monetary striving bookstore, takes Josh's deal. They start their contract marriage, what starts as a ploy changes into considerably more. Josh's unbending facade starts to break, finding scars from a difficult past he's for quite some time tried to neglect. Amy, with secret stores of force, shrewdly directs Josh through the complexities of their bogus marriage. Their lives become weaved surprisingly, and the limits between what's valid and what's only for show get obscured. Amy finds a secret note tending to her, covered in the dusty profundities of the bookstore, similarly as they have faith in the possibility of certifiable love. The note implies a labrynth of foul play and covered thought processes that causes some qualms about Josh's real goals. Amy starts on an excursion to find the purpose for Josh's inspirations, driven by encoded hints from the note, and the plot takes an unexpected bearing. The novel closes with a strained excursion through the city's complex roads, leaving Amy's life in risk, and a dark message implying towards a perilous plot squeezing to swallow them both.

A young psychologist, Maria Reyes, fresh out of college, decides to take her first freelance case to build her résumé. Feeling bold and free on her graduation night, she let herself loose after getting charmed by an alluring mysterious man. One drink leads to another and another, and she finds herself drowning in passion in his bed. She reads him like a map and falls for his scars before she even asks for his name. But the morning brings the brutal truth, Darian Wolfe is her father's enemy, a ruthless businessman, an heir to the empire sworn to destroy her father's legacy. She vanishes before he wakes, unable to face what has been done. Weeks later after being able to set up her new office, the past begins to blur until her first patient walks through the door. It's him, Darian Wolfe. Her expression freezes when she sees him. He walks around her office uninvited. He takes a seat without a word. The silence between them is thick with everything unsaid. And then, he looks unblinking in her eyes. "I have a lot to... unpack, Dr Reyes," he says, with a dark smile. "Let's start with a woman I met two weeks ago at a bar," he says, pulling out a red panty from his pocket.

Scarlet's world came crashing down when the man she loved, tore her apart with his betrayal and cruelty. His lies are still fresh in my mind, a continual reminder of the evenings he sapped her abilities and gave them to his mistress, Beatrice. The agony of being abandoned and broken haunts her every step as she flees her pack, driven by a fervent desire to make him pay for his treachery. Roaming like a rogue, Scarlet saves a mysterious black wolf from a deadly wolfsbane dagger, she unwittingly rescues Alpha Amarok, the powerful and brooding lycan king. With a dark past and a heart of stone, Amarok doesn't believe in love - until Scarlet. Can Scarlet tame his fierce heart, and will Amarok's pack accept her as their new queen? With every breath, they're forced to confront the evil that has haunted them. Will their love be enough to heal the scars of their past, or will the shadows consume them whole?

“As they say, there's always a thin line between love and hate. “Ethan Frost,a 27-year -old billionaire and the powerful owner of Nexus Global International , One of New York City's largest companies . Ethan commands attention with his presence, sending chills down the spine of those nearby. Ethan frost-a name that commands power making him every woman’s dream yet everyone’s nightmare. Haunted by emotional and physical scars, he’s driven, ambitious, and emotionally guarded. Despite his good looks, he often uses others' weaknesses to his advantage. You could say he's a devil disguised in angel’s form. Juliana Adams, a 23-year-old orphan with brown skin and an average height of 5’5 . She is a ray of sunshine in a world that has never favored her. Julianna did multiple part time jobs to make ends meet. Guarded and resilient, she is unwilling to give love a second chance, determined to protect her heart from past hurt. But what happens when fire meets water ? After a series of heated encounters marked by mutual hatred, fate intervenes when Julianna secures a position at Nexus Global International.Their paths collide, forcing them to confront their animosity. Rumors about Ethan’s sexuality spread, threatening his public image and the company’s reputation. In a moment of desperation, Ethan presents Julianna with a proposal that intertwines their lives in unexpected ways. Bound by a deal they don't fully understand, their mutual hatred threatens to overshadow the fragile agreement that binds them. Will two wounded souls be the ruin of each other, or will they mend each other’s broken hearts? Get ready for a rollercoaster of emotions filled with twists as these two opposing worlds collide in a realm where desire is forbidden and love may be the ultimate downfall.

Cursed by the Elder Werewolves for his cruelty, Kaelan, a once-powerful Alpha, is stripped of both his ability to shift and his dominance over the pack. Now bound to walk in his human form, he is given one chance to redeem himself: finding true love. But Kaelan's hardened heart and years of tyranny make this task nearly impossible. When he stumbles into the life of Rhea, a fiercely independent woman with her own emotional scars, the two are forced to confront their pasts, their fears, and the possibility of love. With danger looming in the form of Zane, Kaelan's vengeful rival, can Kaelan break his curse and reclaim his destiny before it's too late? Or will his redemption remain forever out of reach?

Aurelia cross was never meant to fall for the one man that held her future in his hands, not when he was her professor at her law school, not when he was the boss and owner of the law firm she had just started to intern at, not when he was the Levi Vale, the infamous billionaire and prolific lawyer who hides too many scars behind his icy blue eyes and stony expression. Should the fact that her brother’s freedom hung loosely in the balance should she choose to give in to her forbidden desires stop her? Probably but what’s life with a little sin right? Levi Vale, the enigma of a lawyer and business mogul however has one too many skeletons in his cupboard, one of them- he is an unfeeling sociopath who is caught by surprise as he watches the talented and confident Aurelia in his class as she dominated every single time. Diagnosed by his therapist, he is declared to have a condition where he feels nothing but the brown skinned sharp mouthed lawyer in his class and office fills his heart and mind with something that feels a lot like……emotion.

In the coastal quiet of Baler, a studio is born—not of architecture, but of intention.* Founded by Yam, a poet whose words cradle pain gently, and Franc, an artist who paints tenderness into walls, the studio becomes a refuge for those learning to stay—with grief, love, longing, and themselves. As visitors arrive, they leave behind more than footprints: a sigh recorded in bamboo, a poem tucked into the “Found Letters” shelf, a mural painted in crooked lines. Through zines, tea, silence, and sketchbooks, the studio teaches softness as revolution. Ren creates the *Window of Soft Returns*, an installation of anonymous voice recordings—each whisper forming a community of echoes. Drew builds the *Staircase With No Wrong Turns*, inviting people to walk through emotions without shame. Franc offers brushstrokes as brave work, and Yam curates writing circles that map healing in half sentences. Together, they host festivals that feel like hugs, and they begin traveling their archive, letting softness cross oceans. Even those who once left—like Miguel—return, discovering that some doors never truly close. Others, like Tala, capture the studio’s sound and turn it into a podcast of breath and becoming. Over seventy chapters, the studio transforms into something larger than itself: a mural of memory, a sanctuary for second chances, a place where return is sacred and voice is proof of survival. In the final bloom, the studio stands not as a monument—but as a reminder: > *“Staying isn’t easy. > But chosen together, > it becomes home.”*

Do you love a biker forbidden romance story? Then check out Lilliana and Gerald's story! “You belong to me, Liana. Stop fighting this,” Gerald murmured against her ears, his dick hard as rock as he stared into her eyes. He knew he shouldn't be doing this, but he couldn't stop himself. “Your body craves mine as much as mine drags yours. Say the magic words,” Liliana panted. She was locked in his entrance and needy for his touch, but she couldn't let this happen. “i need you, make love to me!” She found herself saying before she could swallow her words. Gerald grinned before claiming her lips in a hot searing kiss. Liliana Humphrey had it all, a loving father, a loving mate, wealth, and she was next in line for the title of Alpha and the throne—but everything changed when her father died of a mysterious illness. His death brought about drastic change to her life. Her once loving step brother became ruthless and abusive, determined to steal her throne. Even her mate who claimed to love her rejected her and took someone else as his bride. Her stepbrother hires a deadly outlaw wolf pack—feared across the realm for taking out tyrants and rescuing the broken—to kill her so he can take the title of Alpha. She was supposed to die in the woods, but when the sexy, ruthless, and powerful Alpha recognizes her as his late best friend's child and second chance mate, he puts a stop to the mission.Gerald is a feared biker and wolf gang Alpha—dangerous, dominant, and her second chance mate. With enemies circling and old scars rising, she’ll have to choose: ⚠️ This is an Age Gap Forbidden Romance

"You're here to play nurse, not to pretend you care," he snapped, his cold gaze locking onto hers. "And you are here to waste your life because it's easier than fighting for it," she shot back, her voice shaking but defiant. He wheeled closer, his jaw clenched. "Don't think for a second that you can fix what is so broken." I'm not here to fix you," she whispered, her eyes unrelenting. "I'm here because I believe there's more to you than this bitterness. He was the untouchable golden boy of his family, a magnetic presence destined to inherit a sprawling empire. His charm, his power, and his perfection made him unstoppable until a car crash shattered his life and left him confined to a wheelchair. His once-loyal followers turned their backs, leaving him drowning in the bitterness of betrayal. She was living proof of her family-a forgotten daughter whose dreams of becoming a doctor kept her sane amidst years of neglect. All she wanted in life was freedom, but fate had other plans. Forced into a contract marriage with the epitome of misery, she found herself engulfed in a battle she never asked for. Their worlds collide in a storm of resentment and vulnerability. Underneath his bitterness, though, lies the ruins of a man who had everything to lose-and the dim hope of someone who could help him find it again. As she works her way through his fury, and he pushes against her kindness, a bond forms-a bond neither expected. But with jealous rivals scheming in the shadows and old wounds threatening to tear them apart, their fight for love becomes a war for survival. Can two broken souls find strength in each other, or will the scars of their pasts destroy them both?

In a world where power is currency and women are pawns, Ava Campelli has just been sold to the highest bidder through a wedding veil. Born into a legacy of blood and quiet obedience, Ava knew her fate was sealed long before she could dream of escape. When she’s forced to marry Nico Moretti, the cold, ruthless heir to a criminal empire, her life becomes a performance of silence and survival. From the outside, she’s a vision in white. On the inside, she’s breaking. Nico is everything she feared: calculated, controlling, and obsessed with ownership. What begins with a diamond ring and a kiss in front of hundreds quickly descends into possession, manipulation, and brutal expectations behind closed doors. His touch is demanding, his love conditional, and Ava is expected to be the perfect wife—seen, not heard. But behind the carefully painted smile and submissive posture, something dangerous is beginning to stir in Ava. Each cruel word, every forced touch, is a spark. And one day soon, she may burn the whole kingdom down. A story of power, pain, and the quiet beginnings of rebellion—Bound By Blood and Vows is a haunting tale of a girl who learns that surviving is only the beginning and if she can't win his heart, then she will steal it when she leaves.