Quietly Hostile

A Deal made in Business. A Marriage destroyed by Betrayal. A woman reborn for Revenge. Olivia Monroe Castillo married billionaire Ethan Henderson for one reason: a business deal that would benefit them both. No love. No promises. Just power. But while Ethan climbed the corporate ladder and smiled for the cameras, Olivia was forgotten ignored, unloved, and quietly suffering behind closed doors. When she finally walked away, no one noticed. Not even him. Six years later, she’s back. Only now, she’s not the naive woman he once overlooked. She’s rich, powerful, and dangerous in heels. And she wants what’s hers. The world believes Ethan is married to someone else Jessica, the woman who stole Olivia’s name, image, and title. But the law still knows the truth: Olivia is the real wife. She doesn’t want love. She wants justice. And she’s about to use the very contract Ethan once used to control her to ruin him. But what Ethan doesn’t know? She left with a broken heart and a deeper secret he was too blind to see. Now, she’s not just taking her place back. She’s taking everything and Olivia is about to show them all you never betray the first wife.

I used to think my husband was the angel who saved me from the depths of hell. Five years ago, I would have died for my ex-fiance, Marco Lombardi, but his carelessness caused Mom's kidneys to fail. He ignored 99 of my calls, and with an empty bank account, I couldn't even afford the surgery to donate my kidney to her. Only later did I discover that during that time, he was having romantic getaways with my stepsister, Penny Rossi. When I hit rock bottom, mafia Don Leon Costa showed up. He got me the best doctors, handled everything when Mom died, and even proposed to me when I was a complete mess. In our five years of marriage, he has spoiled me rotten. I've almost forgotten how much Marco and Penny hurt me. Then, today, I overhear his phone call with Penny. "Leon, thank you for giving my sister's kidney to my mother back then." My beloved husband just brushes it off. "Don't worry about it. I'll look after your sister. She won't ever know." He laughs quietly, and his voice is full of warmth. "You know I hate seeing you cry."

In the opulent halls of the Stanley manor, Judy Kent, the daughter of the family chauffeur, grew up alongside Chris Stanley. Their childhood bond blossomed quietly, a tender friendship that seemed unshakable. But Chris' traumatic kidnapping left him with deep psychological scars, manifesting in a peculiar fixation directed solely at Judy. Tragedy struck when Chris' father died in a car accident. With Judy’s father on leave that day and a substitute driver behind the wheel, Chris' grief turned into misplaced hatred toward Judy’s family. Their once-close bond shattered. Consumed by bitterness, Chris withdrew from her and inflicted emotional torment, even coercing her into signing a contract that bound her to him. Yet beneath the layers of anger, Chris' love for Judy never truly faded—it was merely buried under his rage. When the truth of the accident finally surfaced, the weight of Chris' actions drove Judy to walk away, unable to reconcile with the pain of her past. Only then did Chris realize the depth of his mistakes. Overwhelmed by guilt, he vowed to make amends, embarking on a desperate pursuit to win back her love and trust. But can Judy’s fractured heart mend? Will their shared history and enduring connection be enough to overcome the barriers between them? Or has too much been lost in the wake of betrayal for love to flourish again in the manor’s shadowed corridors?

After coming back to life, I seek out a witch to erase the fated bond between me and Adrian Westwood. Then, using a magic potion that can transfer fated bonds, I plan to give it to his adopted sister, Hazel Quinn. From that moment on, Adrian will believe she is his one true mate. Before the marking ceremony, I quietly changed the bride's name on the invitations and gave Hazel the exquisite gown I had spent nearly six months having custom-made. After the ceremony, Adrian and Hazel left for the Southlands together. Adrian uses his authority as Alpha to let Hazel take the university spot that was meant for me. He even writes her a letter of recommendation to Eldren University so she can explore the human world. Meanwhile, I walk away and begin my studies at Harvard University, one of the top universities in the world. In my previous life, Adrian and I spent 20 years together. But in the end, he knelt at my feet in front of our descendants, begging me to sever the mate bond so he could be buried next to Hazel after he died. In this life, I decide not to sacrifice my future for anyone else. This time, I'm pursuing my own dreams at the top university, determined to make myself proud and never look back.

Clarity was better. “I'll be gone in the morning.” I said quietly. It was sometime between two and three am. We both sat, lost in our own thoughts, my body shamelessly yearning for his comfort, when I'd just broken his heart. I kept sobbing quietly cause there was no stopping the tears that stemmed from a place of pain and guilt. Three times, three solid times, I stopped myself from lurching at his feet. I wanted to be held by him, but even though the distance between us, physically, was so small, we were more than miles apart emotionally. What terrified me more than the look on his face was what was going through his mind. Emma has caught the attention of the playboy in school, who happened to be the sexiest bully, and her Stepbrother.... They battle webs of secrets and lies, from friends and family, and finally, their own ego and desires. Chase wants to be Emma's last 'Goodnight' and her first 'Good morning', so does Kevin. Can he battle the insane attraction she has for Kevin, whom she had unfinished business with? Will Chase throw in the towel and let the rich tech guy swoon his girl? Will Emma ever forgive Chase's betrayal and indifference? Are their issues even solvable? Find out in the fast paced Falling For My Stepbrother 1

For the eighteenth time, Samson brought home his new lover and enjoyed their intimacy right in front of me. Knowing he was doing this to get back at me, I just quietly picked up their scattered clothes. Five years ago, Samson was nearly killed in a kidnapping. Ignoring all his desperate pleas, I broke up with him and left the country. Five years later, he became the CEO of a major corporation and used his wealth to keep me at his side as his personal assistant. Every so often, he would bring home a different woman and flaunt their affection in front of me just to humiliate me. Samson never knew that I had saved him from those kidnappers five years ago—and that I was the one who couldn't let go of him. Things went on this way until he brought Judy back. My cousin, someone I had financially supported for years. When Judy proudly stroked her belly and told me she was pregnant with Samson’s baby, I just congratulated her calmly. Then, I turned and made a phone call. “Hello, about that Medical Support Project we discussed? I’ve decided—I’m ready to join.”

My mate is Ryder Blackwood, Alpha of the pack. As the approaching bonding ceremony, he tells me that his "savior", Isabelle Morrison, is dying. She took a silver dagger meant for him three years ago. Now she is terminal, and her days are numbered. Her last wish, he says, is to leave behind a pup bearing the strongest Alpha blood. I tremble. "What about me? I'm your only mate." His voice is cold, emptied of feeling. "Don't worry. I'll always be your mate." Two days later, I receive the pregnancy test results. Isabelle is five weeks along. Turns out there was never a choice. All I get is a belated notice. What he doesn't know is that I'm the one who took the silver dagger meant for him three years ago. The healer tells me I have, at most, a month to live. I neither weep nor protest. I cancel the bonding ceremony I've dreamed of and quietly book a flight out. It leaves on the very day of the ceremony. Ryder stands at the venue of the canceled ceremony when my message reaches him. It's my unwavering rejection of him as my mate. That's when he finally breaks. For the first time, the Alpha who controls everything tastes a fear that tears the soul. He searches for me frantically, only to find every trace of me erased from his world.

My twin sister, Ruby Stone, and I split up after our parents' divorce. She stays with Mom, while I went with Dad. Since the divorce, he's sunk into a deep depression, gambling away every penny we have. We move into a dark, damp apartment, and life becomes an endless struggle. Every day, I go to school and quietly work a part-time job to keep us afloat. Then, out of nowhere, Ruby—whom I haven't heard from in forever—sends me a link to a live stream. "Check this out, Aria. There's a surprise waiting for you." I click it, and my jaw drops. I'm the one topping the trending live streams. The screen splits in two. On one side, I sit in my dingy apartment, hunched over homework under the dim light. On the other side, Mom and Dad cuddle with Ruby on the fancy couch of their sprawling villa. The comments came pouring in. "Let's see what happens when twins are raised on opposite sides of fortune all the way to 18." "Aria still doesn't know, right? Her parents never divorced. They're loaded and perfectly happy. Ruby's life has been like a dream too." "Poor Aria. She's always starving and never has anything decent to wear. Isn't that basically abuse?" "She's the more sensible one, so her parents decided to raise her poorly."

After fleeing an abusive ex, Holland Williams starts over at Smith Automotive and is warned to avoid its young owner, Remy Smith. One touch ignites impossible “sparks”; Remy, Alpha of the Sage Moon pack, recognizes her as his mate, but Holland rejects the werewolf truth—until her ex, Robbie, tracks her down and Remy is forced to shift to protect her. While Holland slowly trusts Remy and the pack (with Gamma Todd quietly building her safety net), Robbie sobers up, learns the town’s secret, and undergoes a brutal, forbidden ritual to become a “defective” wolf. Remy courts Holland carefully; she moves into the pack house just as Angel—Remy’s elegant ex—returns claiming to be his true mate. A staged misunderstanding drives Holland away, and Robbie kidnaps her. Angel manipulates Remy into thinking Holland ran; days later, shame and a witch’s locator spell (Mallory) send him on the hunt. In an abandoned house, Holland survives Robbie by stabbing him with dull silver; Remy arrives, kills Robbie, and must turn Holland to save her life. Against all expectations, she doesn’t become defective; healers can’t explain it. Remy marks her; they complete the mating ceremony and marry. Soon after, Holland is pregnant with their first pup. In the epilogue, Angel—revealed as the architect of the kidnapping—flees to raise an army of defective rogue wolves, vowing to destroy Sage Moon if she can’t claim it.

The day I go into labor, my husband's student, Yasmin Holden, storms off in a rage. She climbs the mountains alone while heavily pregnant. For the next three days and nights, my husband disappears to look for her. Meanwhile, I suffer a difficult labor and hemorrhage badly. I'm rushed into the ICU. When I finally wake up, the doctor hands my husband a critical condition notice. He hands me divorce papers. "Yasmin is my most promising student. I can't let her do anything foolish. You're about to be a mother, so you need to be strong!" In my last life, I refused to sign. As soon as I left the maternity ward, I reported their affair to the university. Yasmin lost her graduate school recommendation and was torn apart by public scandal. In front of me, she slit her own throat. By the time my husband arrived, Yasmin was already gone—along with the baby. He quietly handled her funeral and said nothing. Then, he returned to me as if nothing had happened. I thought that meant I was finally going to have a happy ending. But one day, he drove our car off a cliff with me and our daughter inside. That day was Yasmin's death anniversary. When I open my eyes again, I'm back on the day I give birth.