Rice Ball Fruits Basket

Elara Robertson is caught in a dangerous game after her father gives her away–as payment for his debt. She finds herself tangled up with Marco De Luca, a cold-hearted mafia boss. Just when everything seems dark, she finds a bit of light in Léo, the Chief chef who seems to understand her. But everything changes on one crazy night, forcing Elara into a marriage with Marco that feels loveless and suffocating. She’s left feeling trapped and tormented. Now, Elara faces a tough choice: will she find the strength to break free and reclaim her happiness, or will she become just another victim of Marco De Luca?

​The Price of Peace is the final showdown and book three for the No Regrets crew, where the masks come off and the bills finally come due. Shane O’Brien is done playing house. He’s been living his life like a "glorified roommate" with his wife, Isla, ever since she broke their vows with her best friend's husband, but now the cold war is turning hot. While Shane finds a temporary sanctuary with Maya Cruz, Isla is weaponizing their children trying to save a marriage that might already be lost, but will she realize this too late, or burn the whole house down. Speaking of Maya, she has a few secrets of her own, one that involves Mayor Rogers and a scandal that could level the city. ​In the courtroom, Crandon Morgan is fighting to keep his name clean after a very public mental meltdown. He’s looking for a comeback, but he finds a distraction in Tempest Summers, a new law junior associate with a haunted past and a hunger for a kind of justice the law books don’t cover. ​Meanwhile, Kole Michaels is trapped in a different kind of nightmare. A past mistake named Akeisha is using a legal loophole to pin a child named Urmagisty on him. With his relationship with a different Keisha on the line and his daughter Mabel watching, Kole has to prove he’s being set up before the lie becomes his life. ​In this game, peace isn't free, you have to pay for it in blood, truth, or with everything you own.

On our tenth anniversary, Evan Rodger and I decided to tattoo each other's names on our chests. After the tattoo session, I woke up with my head still feeling groggy. To my dismay, I found the words "Old Crone" tattooed in a bold font across my chest. Upon noticing the way my expression dropped, Isabel Hawthorn, who was the tattooist, snickered, "You’ve been dating Evan for a decade, but he still hasn’t registered your marriage together. What does that make you if not an old crone?" I smashed the mirror on the spot, which spewed broken shards in her direction. Evan practically threw himself in her direction and pulled her into his arms to protect her. He snapped at me with a ferocious scowl, "She’s just a young, naive girl who was trying to make a joke. Why are you picking on her?" I stared intently at the parted collar of his shirt. What was supposed to be my name tattooed on his chest had been replaced with "Isabel Hawthorn, My Only Love". Isabel wrapped her arms around Evan. She expertly played the victim and appealed dearly to him, "Evan said he liked my name last time, so I was only trying to make a joke. You wouldn’t be upset at me, would you, Claire?"

He’s the cold hearted captain who can’t afford to be gay. He’s the Italian heir who can’t afford to be found out. When a viral video of a "physical altercation" threatens a $500 million merger, their families demand damage control—a forced partnership to save the wedding and the brand. Six months of lies. One secret affair that could destroy both legacies.

While inspecting the hotel owned by my family, I start to feel hungry after ordering some food at the hotel restaurant. Before the food is served, I munch on a small piece of bread roll for the time being. Suddenly, the lobby manager comes up to me and hands me a piece of paper. "Hello, sir. We do not allow outside food here. It has been 8 minutes and 30 seconds since you entered our restaurant. The total cost of your meal is 1,500 dollars. You'll be fined 1.28 million dollars." I am briefly stunned as I look at the piece of paper detailing the amount I should pay. Then, I take a picture of the piece of paper and send it to the group chat that has all the members of the board of directors. I tag my elder sister in the next message I send. "I've received a fine at the hotel owned by my family. Is this how you've increased the hotel's revenue?"

Our Pack followed an ancient law: if a she-wolf wasn't bonded by the age of 23, the Pack had the right to assign her a mate, regardless of her will. Felix is my childhood sweetheart and fated mate, the Alpha of the Moonclaw Pack. But he postponed our bonding ceremony and is holding a mating ceremony with an Omega first, all because of that law. Felix pitied Omega, Valentina, who was already 22, afraid she would be matched with a bad mate. But he seemed to forget that after waiting for him for 5 years, I would turn 23 next month. My mother and I begged him to reconsider our mating ceremony only to be met with Felix's dilemma attitude: "You've waited this many years, what's a little longer?" "Besides me, who else would choose Valentina? Clara, you still have parents, but Valentina is poor, she only has me." "Please wait, after the mate bond ceremony with Valentina, I'll break it and then bond with you." Later, in order to prevent me from bonding with a slave, my mother hurriedly chose a mate for me. Coincidentally, my mate bond ceremony and Felix and Valentina's mate bond ceremony were on the same day. On the day I was being taken off in a luxury car, I passed by Felix handing him ceremonial flowers. When he saw me, he suddenly shifted into a wolf and blocked the car insane. Even after being hit and vomiting blood, he stared intensely at me and asked why I was wearing a wedding dress…

My brother calls me his princess and transfers money to me as allowance; his wife-to-be misunderstands and thinks I'm his secret lover. She crashes my new apartment, which I've lovingly decorated, with a group of friends and family. "I can't believe you're someone's secret lover when you're so young! I'll teach you a lesson on your parents' behalf! I'm going to spread your illicit relationship online so your teachers and classmates will all know how shameless you are!" They trash my new apartment and rip my clothes off. Then, they make sure to get my student ID in the scene as they record me getting bullied. My brother rushes over, his eyes red and bloodshot. "Have you guys lost your mind? How dare you bully my sister!"

Jerome has spent his entire life being told what an Omega should be, submissive, weak, and destined to serve Alphas. But Jerome refuses to accept that fate. Determined to prove that Omegas can be just as capable and intelligent as anyone else, he makes a dangerous decision: he falsifies his identity and applies to an Alphas only academy. To the shock of even himself, Jerome is accepted. Keeping his secret becomes his greatest challenge. He lies to his mother, telling her he has been admitted into an ordinary college, and secretly moves into the academy where the most powerful young Alphas in the country are trained. Every day is a gamble. One mistake, one slip of his scent suppressants, and his deception could be exposed. At first, Jerome manages to survive through sheer determination. He studies harder than everyone else, learns to mimic Alpha behavior, and pushes his body beyond its limits to keep up with the brutal expectations of the academy. Slowly, he begins to believe he might actually succeed. But things don’t always work as we plan right? Everything begins to unravel when Ajay, an S-Class Alpha known for his dominance and sharp instincts, notices something strange about Jerome. Ajay sees through Jerome’s carefully constructed facade and uncovers the truth: Jerome is not an Alpha at all he is an Omega hiding in the heart of an Alpha institute. Instead of exposing him, Ajay makes a cruel bargain. If Jerome wants to remain in the academy and keep his dream alive, he must obey Ajay’s commands and belong to him alone. Trapped between humiliation and the destruction of everything he has fought for, Jerome has no choice but to accept. Will his secret stay safe? OR Is this the beginning of Jerome’s downfall?

For five years, I thought our marriage was solid. Then, my husband, Lionel Franco’s first love, Sandra Howard, posted a photo of a property deed on her social media. The caption read: [Thank you, Lionel, for transferring the house to me.] I stared in disbelief and left a single comment: [WTF?] Lionel called within minutes. “She’s a struggling single mother. Transferring the house to her makes it easier for her son to get into school. It doesn’t affect where we live,” he snapped. “How can you be so lacking in compassion?” In the background, I heard her muffled sobs. Half an hour later, she tagged me in another post.  This time, she flaunted her Mercedes worth over a million dollars, with the caption: [Paid in full. As the saying goes, ‘Where a man spends his money, that's where his heart is’.] I knew he bought it to soothe her temper. But this time, I had enough. I decided to divorce him.

My husband and I go on a road trip back to my hometown before Christmas. I want to ride shotgun, but he chases me to the backseat so his female colleague can sit in front. He says, "Isabel gets carsick easily. You are my wife, so you should be more considerate of her." He seems to have forgotten that I'm pregnant—my morning sickness is at its peak. Halfway through the journey, he and Isabel Slater start smoking. They make me throw up. The smell disgusts them, and my husband wants to teach me a lesson. He and Isabel leave me at the rest stop. Unbeknownst to them, my family is already waiting there. This time, I'm going back with them and getting an abortion and divorce. Later, my husband is filled with regret when he learns the child is gone.