Pulitzer Prize Finalists 소설 & 이야기

My roommate had a peculiar knack for pestering everyone into liking her posts on social media, all so she could collect enough likes to claim some prize or another. It was her way of life—nagging, nudging, and guilting us into clicking that little thumbs-up. One time, the campus beauty queen liked my roommate's ad for a facial mask. Not long after, she was in a horrific car accident. The vehicle caught fire, and her face suffered severe burns, leaving her disfigured beyond recognition. Meanwhile, my roommate seemed to undergo a miraculous transformation, her complexion turning porcelain fair and flawless as though she'd been kissed by the heavens. Then there was the academic prodigy, a shoe-in for graduate school, who liked her tutoring service post. Shortly after, he was exposed for academic fraud, and his once-brilliant reputation was reduced to ashes. Strangely enough, my roommate's research paper suddenly won an award, catapulting her to fame and fortune. And me? I fell into her trap too. I liked her rental agency ad, and before I knew it, my world crumbled. A scandal erupted, revealing that I was the result of a mix-up at birth. It turned out she was the long-lost child of wealth and privilege—a hidden gem cast into the rough, now reclaimed by her rightful family. As for me, I was packed off to the countryside village she had escaped from and forced into a brutal marriage with an old man. My life became a living hell, and eventually, I died there, broken and forgotten. But fate wasn't done with me yet. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day my roommate begged me to like her post in exchange for yet another prize.

“Spread your legs for me, little one. I want to see if you taste as perfect as you look.” “I’m yours. Mark me, ruin me… just don’t leave me.” *** Safira was a glitch in the bloodline—a wolfless mistake born into a world of predators. After being rejected by her mate, she decided to live for herself for just one night. One night at a bar. One dare to kiss a stranger. One night of worship that left her body shattered and her soul branded by a man with the most gorgeous, winter-blue eyes who called her Mate. But the sun rose, and the stranger vanished. Twelve months later, Safira is forced into a spectacular nightmare. Her stepmother has finally snagged the ultimate prize: marriage to the Alpha King, the cold-blooded "Devil's Son" who executes with a single glance. Safira is prepared to hide in the shadows of the castle, but when she finally meets the Alpha King, her heart shatters. The man who spread her legs and devoured her like a hungry beast is the same man about to marry her stepmother. He is the Alpha King. He is her new stepfather. But when duty mixes with a dark obsession, the lines between family and pleasure bleed. In a castle built on secrets and betrayal, Safira must decide: will she play the role of the dutiful daughter, or will she burn the kingdom down to reclaim the King who ruined her and called her his? *** “Forget that night, Safira. You are my daughter now.” She leaned in, resting her head on his chest while her hand drifted down to the hard, demanding bulge in his pants. “Then why is your heart racing, Daddy?” The Obsessed Series Book One: Daddy’s Obsession Book Two: Alpha’s Obsession

Dr. Sabrina Kane built a medical empire with her brilliance. By thirty-two, she was the youngest recipient of the Helix Vanguard Prize and the scientific force behind Kane Biomedical’s most revolutionary breakthroughs. She healed the impossible. She rewrote genetic fate. The world admired her. Her husband took the credit. Adrian Kane was the face of the empire Sabrina’s mind created—until admiration turned into rivalry and ambition turned into betrayal. When divorce papers arrive without warning, Sabrina loses more than a marriage. She loses her position, her reputation, and the life she thought she understood. But the real devastation begins in the maternity ward. Behind closed doors, a decision is made—one that protects a CEO, shields a scandal, and rewrites a birth record before sunrise. When Sabrina wakes from delivery, something feels wrong. The answers she’s given don’t quite fit. The child in her arms needs her desperately… yet whispers of doubt begin to circle. By the time the truth claws its way to the surface, Sabrina is branded unstable, arrested, and pushed out of the very institute she built. Then Victor Laurent enters the picture. A Powerful and an untouched billionaire investor with his own ghosts and a child whose life hangs by a thread. He needs the best doctor in the world. He needs Sabrina. Working under his roof, fighting to save a dying child, Sabrina begins to sense that fate has woven their lives together long before they ever met. As corporate secrets unravel and paternity questions threaten to destroy empires, one truth becomes clear: Someone stole more than her marriage. They stole her future. And this time, Dr. Sabrina Kane is not going to lose.⸻

"I spent two years becoming his perfect shadow. Now, I'm going to watch him kneel, beg, and realize too late that the wife he threw away was the greatest mistake of his life." Leila Stonne was the invisible wife. Quiet. Loyal. Submissive. She survived her forced marriage to corporate tyrant Karl Hawthorne by clinging to a desperate hope: If I become extraordinary enough, he will finally love me. By day, she stayed hidden. By night, she poured her architectural genius into a masterpiece design meant to finally make him proud of her. But on their second anniversary, the illusion shatters. Karl walks into her studio, ignores the cold dinner she prepared, and drops divorce papers over her life’s work. He is marrying Natalia Scott, a glittering, hyper-wealthy celebrity heiress. Discarded and humiliated, Leila signs the papers and disappears. She walks away with zero dollars, completely stripping his billionaire surname from her identity. But she carries a secret that will bring his empire to its knees: She is pregnant with his child. Months later, the world changes overnight. Leila wins a prestigious global architecture prize, claiming a five-hundred-million-dollar award. The quiet woman Karl threw away as "obsolete" is suddenly a global phenomenon. And the first person to claim her is Karl's dangerous older brother, George Hawthorne. George saw the queen Karl was too blind to value. Now, Karl realizes his fatal mistake. He wants his wife back. He wants his child back. He wants another chance. But by the time he finally learns to kneel… Leila no longer remembers how to forgive.

For generations, the women of House Silvermoon have carried a unique blessing. Our blood ensures high fertility. More importantly, it purifies the lineage of those we bind with. Because of this, the moment a daughter of our house comes of age, she becomes the most coveted prize in the realm. In my past life, my older sister, Clara, looked down on the brutal, cold-blooded dragon shifters. Her heart was set on the elegant Elven Prince. She fully believed she would rule the Nightwood at his side. She got her wish. And I was readily married off to the Dragon Prince, Kail, in her stead. No one expected that within a year, I would give birth to a pure-blood dragon—the first sole heir the Dragon Clan had seen in centuries. Overjoyed, Kail crowned me his only Queen the day he ascended the throne. Under his rule, the dragons conquered the continent. My position was secured, and I enjoyed endless wealth and absolute power. Meanwhile, Clara discovered the grim reality of the elven court. The prince was a notorious womanizer. Clara was merely an insignificant consort, drowning in tears while she watched the entire realm bow at my feet. Jealousy ate her alive. During a family gala, she lured me to the edge of a cliff and pushed me into the abyss. But when I opened my eyes again... the dragon bridal envoy was already at our gates. And Clara, without a single moment of hesitation, accepted the proposal. I knew instantly—she had been reborn, too. What she doesn't know, however, is that becoming the Dragon Prince’s bride is the easy part. Winning his heart? Surviving long enough to bear his child? That is next to impossible.

King Lucien Draven rules the United Packs with cold iron strength. He has crushed every rebellion and refused every mating alliance. Lycan law demands a king produce heirs with a royal female or face challenge to his throne. Male omegas are disposable tributes, never equals. Then Caelan Ashford arrives as tribute from a fading noble pack. The quiet, scarred omega expects death in the royal palace. Instead, his scent ignites the ancient mate bond the instant their eyes meet. The pull is raw, immediate, and utterly forbidden. Lucien fights the bond with ruthless control. He confines Caelan to the lower halls, assigns him to brutal training, and buries desire beneath duty. But every stolen glance and accidental brush erodes his restraint. The bond grows stronger, darker, impossible to ignore. Caelan hides a deadly secret: royal blood from the dynasty Lucien’s ancestors destroyed. His silver collar dulls his true scent, yet it cannot hide him from the king or from Prince Rowan Draven, Lucien’s charismatic and dangerous younger brother. Rowan sees Caelan as both prize and weapon. He offers protection and power in exchange for loyalty, circling like a predator while court intrigue thickens with assassination plots and rising rebellion. Torn between throne and heart, Lucien must decide how much he will risk for his forbidden mate. Caelan, trapped between two lethal alphas, navigates betrayal, awakening power, and a bond that could destroy the kingdom or remake it. In a slow-burning dance of denial and surrender, where every touch courts war and every refusal cuts deeper, one forbidden connection threatens an empire and two wounded souls who were never meant to find each other.

"They say the rich live beyond consequence. That no one bleeds behind a billion-dollar smile. They've clearly never met Rico Zane." Aria Lane didn't mean to sleep with a total stranger. Especially not the battered, bleeding man she pulled in off the sidewalk outside of an elite Manhattan nightclub. He had haunted eyes and a tempest brewing behind them. They had one night of weakness. One unforgettable mistake. And by morning, he'd vanished. Months later, she's now pregnant and swimming in secrets, Aria's life takes another sharp turn when stumbles into the father of her child again. This time, he's not bleeding in the shadows, he's standing in light and power. Rico Zane is not just anyone. He's the cold, brilliant CEO of Zane Industries. A billionaire who built a dynasty from the ruins of treachery and smashes anyone who gets in his path. And Aria? She's unfortunately the daughter of the one man who tried to ruin his family. To make matters more complicated, Rico's brother, who was presumed dead for years, returns to take the company and exact revenge on a past Aria is tied to by blood. While corporate wars rage and enemies loom in designer suits, Aria is swept up in a war of secrets, seduction, and strategy. She's both a pawn and a prize in a game of power where love is a liability… and trust a slow poison. Now forced into Rico's dangerous world for the sake of her unborn child, Aria must make a decision: does she stay with the man who sees her as both his weakness and his salvation? Or does she become the woman capable of rewriting her fate one secret at a time?

I am Elias Vance, and my life is a well-oiled lie. I don’t build empires; I dismantle them. For years, I’ve served the shadowy organization known only as The Syndicate, trained to be their most effective weapon—a corporate ghost who infiltrates, exploits, and destroys. My latest target is Thorne Corp, a multi-billion-dollar tech conglomerate, and the man at its helm: Julian Thorne. Julian is everything I despise on principle: cold, impossibly wealthy, and guarded by a fortress of privilege. He is also the key to The Syndicate’s grand prize, and my mission is simple: get close, expose his vulnerabilities, and trigger a catastrophic failure that leaves Thorne Corp in ashes. The plan was airtight until I saw the cracks in his perfect facade. The closer I get, the more I realize the aloof CEO is carrying a burden heavier than his fortune—a legacy steeped in secrets and a profound, aching loneliness that mirrors my own. Every late night in his office, every accidental touch, every shared secret drags me deeper into the man I’m supposed to hate. The line between my duty and my desire doesn't just blur; it dissolves entirely. Now, The Syndicate is closing in, demanding the destruction I promised. I have access codes, damning information, and a clear shot to finish the mission. But completing it means condemning Julian and myself to a future where trust is impossible. To save him, I have to betray my masters. To save myself, I have to risk everything I know. In this game of corporate war, I am the obsidian proxy, caught between two powerful forces, and my only way out is a choice that will either end a dynasty or cost me my life.

My father was a senior HR executive. He used KPIs to define my life. "Rank top ten in your grade, and I'll give you a B, with a bonus of 250 dollars. "Place in a state-level competition, and you'll get an A, with a bonus of 500. "If your SAT score hits Ivy-level, I'll give you an S+ and a 5,000-dollar year-end bonus." I studied as if my life depended on it, and in the end, I got the acceptance letter. My father slapped a contract down in front of me instead. "Congratulations on onboarding into the next phase. Starting today, your allowance will be structured as base salary plus performance plus attendance bonus. "Base pay is 250 dollars a month, enough to keep you from starving. "To prepare you for a high-pressure work environment, I’ll conduct random inspections. Fail, and your pay gets docked." When I ran a 104°F fever, he cut my attendance bonus, saying my physical resilience didn't meet standards. When I forgot to submit a weekly report because I was buried in schoolwork, he froze all my money. To stay alive, I went behind his back and sold blood at the hospital. At the end of the semester, I held my transcript and scholarship certificate, thinking I had finally earned the highest rating. But my father looked at me without a trace of warmth. "Your S+ bonus has been reallocated. The company decided to invest it in your brother, Harry. He has more potential." I looked at the 100-dollar "consolation prize" he handed me and laughed. So in his company, I didn't even qualify as an "outstanding employee."

This is a Dark BDSM Werewolf Hockey Romance. It contains themes of dub-con, heavy power exchange, and primal play. You’ve been warned: once the Alpha claims his prize, there is no skating away. "You're trembling, Prince," Kai murmured, his voice a low, vibrating growl that settled deep in my marrow. He caught my chin, forcing me to meet a gaze that burned with a predatory green fire. "Is it the cold? Or are you finally realizing that no matter how fast you skate, you can’t outrun the leash I’ve had on you since the day our parents merged the packs?" I hissed, baring my fangs, but my knees were already betraying me. "I’ll burn this whole estate to the ground before I bow to you, Kai." He leaned in, the scent of rain and cedar suffocating my senses as he nipped the sensitive skin of my throat, right where my pulse was frantic. "Then burn it, Cain. We’ll fuck in the ashes. But when the smoke clears, you’ll still be on your knees, begging for my mark. Now... spread those legs for your Alpha." THE SUMMARY For five years, Cain Hayes and Kai Mercer have lived under the same roof at the Mercer Estate, locked in a cold war of unspoken desires and jagged hatred. To the public, they are the stars of the Northbridge hockey team—rivals on the ice, brothers by law. But behind closed doors, the dynamic is far more dangerous. When a leaked video of their private "sessions" threatens to shatter the hierarchy of the Silver-Oak Pack, the fragile peace between them vaporizes. Cain tries to escape Kai’s suffocating dominance by seeking solace in the arms of a human teammate, only to find that an Alpha’s obsession