Past Tense Smile

My birthday present this year is a written contract titled 'Behavioral Reform Contract'. My fiance, who was the mafia head Matteo Giovanni, and my parents have already signed their names at the bottom. Together, they had me sent to the Behavioral Correction Center. … The windows are always shut, and the sunlight is filtered through the metal window bars. They drug, reprimand, and ostracize me to make me shove my feelings of aggrievement down. Even while I am being humiliated and punished, they teach me to force a smile and maintain a steady breath. It was all done in the name of "treating" me. A year passes, and I go from being a so-called "troublemaker" to their ideal version of me—quiet, elegant, and utterly perfect. Matteo beams at me and says, "You've finally become my perfect wife. We can finally marry." I match his smile, a gesture that they think means obedience from my part. However, it is not true. It is just me bidding my farewell before I leave for good. There's something I don't understand, however. They constantly found me lacking, so now that I am gone from their lives, why are they falling apart?

In my first life, I was a fool. I was the perfect wife to a man who never looked at me, the loyal daughter to parents who sold me out, and the kind sister to a sibling who stole my future. I lived for them, suffered for them, and eventually, I died because of them, sent to my grave with a smile while they told me to be grateful. But death didn’t take. I woke up back in the past, right before they ruined me.. This time, the perfect person they used to walk all over is gone.. I’m done being nice. I’m here for one thing: to watch them lose everything.. My first move? Ending the marriage to the man who treated me like a ghost. I placed the divorce papers in front of Elias, expecting him to sign them with his usual cold indifference. After all, he’d spent years refusing my touch. Instead, the man who once despised me pinned me to the desk, his eyes burning with a dark, terrifying hunger I’d never seen before. He didn’t sign the papers. He ripped them to shreds with his bare hands. “You spent years begging for my love,” Elias growled, his grip bruising my waist. “Now that I’ve finally decided to give it to you, you think I’m going to let you leave? Over my dead body.”

Caleb Smith's best friend, Kevin Baker, calls me in a panic and tells me that Caleb has been in a terrible racing accident. Without a second thought, I rush to the hospital and donate two pints of blood to save him. As I walk past a hospital room, I freeze. There's Caleb—standing perfectly healthy beside a hospital bed. Kevin throws his head back and howls with laughter. "It's April Fools' Day. We actually managed to trick Winnie Jewel into donating two pints of blood. Too bad that it's useless, though. We might as well feed it to the stray dogs." Vivian Jewel, lying in a hospital bed, looks up at Caleb. "Caleb, don't you think that's a bit much?" A fond smile curves Caleb's lips as he replies, "I can't help it. Where does Winnie get the nerve to take your place? She should have stayed in the orphanage, but since she forced her way back into the Jewel family, she can't blame us for taking your side." Kevin jumps in eagerly. "This year marks the eighth year since she returned to the Jewel family, and the eighth year we've been pranking her." Their undisguised mockery spills out of the room. I pull out my phone and contact my aunt, Gianna Jewel. "Aunt Gianna, I’ve decided. Let's leave the country."

I witnessed my life from above to the ground, as my head sink at the bathtub floor...a hand reach out to me. "Come with me, I will help you get your place in the society again." I didn't know that was a trap, a smile meant to deceive me. It is too late when I found out the manipulation, I already fall in love with the man who betrayed me.

All Rina has ever wanted to do was do her research and live a peaceful life, switching places and pretending to be her twin sister wasn't on her agenda. It was just for two days, smile, be pretty and deceive her sister's mate and his family. It wasn't supposed to be hard. But the deception is suddenly becoming serious and Rina must decide what she wants to do with her life.

Ava thought that everyone in the world was just like another. Only caring about their interests. But when she was about to die alone on the streets, the man sitting in front of her had appeared like a guardian angel. His gentleness and concern had made her death not so painful and her life not so pathetic. Through him, she had felt that world could be a beautiful place. And now that she had been given another chance at life, the first thing she did was to find him. She looked at the man that she only knew of his name said through gritted teeth, “Sir, I know that we barely know each other, but as fate has it, I have to marry you!” Leo looked at the little woman sitting opposite him and smiled, “Well, if you were a man, I would say that you definitely have some extra balls. But since you are such a beautiful lady, I would just have to reluctantly agree.” Ava blushed when she heard the man. She never knew that she would one day ask a man to marry her. She said with the sweetest smile,“But before that, I have some personal business to take care of. I hope you don’t mind that I am almost a divorcee.” “Your past has nothing to do with me. Once you become mine, there will be no room for regret even if you want to.”

*FATED TO MY FATHER'S BETA* BLURB He was like a second father when she was small. But she always felt that dark... connection when she was with him. And one time, when she had almost reached the age of 18, he avoided her... He no longer looked at her... She tried to get his attention, but it didn't work... Even got herself in trouble just to be noticed by him. And then on her 18th birthday, she was waiting for her wolf to come out so it could reveal her mate. And then she finds out it was her father's Beta, the one man she had always fantasized about. He watched her with an unreadable gaze, his jaw tense, his eyes held every emotion, like he was about to grab her and slam his lips on her. But he stood there glued, though there was some kind of recognition — like he knew this would happen. He refused to reject her. He refused to come close to her. He refused to let any other man set their eyes on her. Because she was his. He didn’t want to mark her... and he didn’t want to accept the bond. But the bond was beyond anything he imagined. Until her father, his Alpha, told him to guard his daughter while he went far away from the pack.

He was her only escape… or so she thought. [{EXCERPT}] "MARRY ME!" Alana shouted just as he reached the door. Roman stopped mid-step. Slowly, he turned, amusement flickering in his cold eyes before a low, cruel laugh slipped past his lips. “Seems you’ve finally lost all sense,” he said when the laughter faded. He stepped closer, his towering frame swallowing the space between them as she tilted her head to meet his gaze. “What makes you think you can make such a bold request, Alana?” he murmured, his cold fingers brushing against her lips. A shiver ran through her, stealing her voice for a moment. Then she straightened, her fists tightening at her sides. “Because I’ll be the best wife you could possibly ask for,” she said, forcing confidence into her tone as a small smile curved her lips. Roman tilted his head, a dark smirk forming. “Is that so?” he whispered, his hand slipping beneath her dress as she gasped. –––– After escaping the suffocating grip of her abusive family, Alana believes she’s finally free. But freedom comes at a price. Roman Ashford is everything she should avoid. A cunning billionaire. New York’s most eligible bachelor. A man whose name alone unsettles the entire business world. One unexpected encounter pulls her into his orbit, binding her to him in a dangerous arrangement as his fake girlfriend for thirty-one days. But just as she begins to find her footing, her past comes back to choke her. To secure the inheritance her late father left behind before her mother claims it, Alana must find a husband. With time running out, she makes a reckless decision and turns to the one man she should never trust, making a deal that could ruin her utterly.

"Sign this agreement," she commanded, her tone steady yet laced with danger. He seized her wrist, pulling her close, his gaze sharp and furious. "Do you even realize who you're dealing with?" he hissed. "Cross me, and you'll regret it." She tilted her head, a daring smile on her lips. "Then let me fall… into the chaos of your heart." "Heart?" His smile was icy, merciless. "No, Valentine… this will haunt you forever. You'll long for escape, but I won’t grant it." Valentine Spade rules her world like a queen of the shadows, and right now, she wants only one thing: Luther Steph, also known as Rayde Mendel. Why did she drag him into a marriage neither of them chose? Is it love, obsession, or vengeance? He seeks retribution. She demands his devotion. In a world where trust can kill and desire can ignite wars, their bond could either shatter everything or awaken a power darker than either of them imagined. Two unstoppable forces. One binding agreement. A story of passion, power, and peril. Dive into the dark, irresistible saga of the Wolf King and his Mafia Queen.

I took time off work and flew out to be my best friend's maid of honor. The moment my plane landed, she picked me up and took me straight to the hotel. Not long after we got to the room, she handed me a shopping bag. Inside was the newest phone on the market, a bottle of luxury perfume, and a check for ten thousand dollars. She said with a bright, excited smile, "It's your bridesmaid gift. Even if I'm getting married, you're still the most important person in my life." My eyes filled with tears right there. The next morning, I woke up before sunrise. I put on my bridesmaid dress and went to find her. She was sitting in front of the vanity mirror. Stylists were moving around her, busy with her hair and makeup. When she saw me, she turned with a huge smile and waved me over, her face glowing with excitement. But the moment I stepped closer, her expression changed. It was like she had just seen something disgusting. "Get out." Her voice was low, but the disgust in it was clear. "Disappear from my sight. Right now." I froze where I stood.