Rice By Manuel Arguilla

He is ruthless. Someone who looks at him with a bleak expression may become unnerved. You're dead if you make a mistake. That is how Cuhen Malcogn rules the world. Because of his personality, he is not the typical man that most women would like. Some people compare him to an eagle. He abuses and tramples on the helpless creatures below. But everything changed when he met Ella and cursed him to death.

"Mine." I heard as I felt two sharp fangs biting my neck. I didn't know that at that moment, I was CLAIMED by the ALPHA of DARKNESS. --- They called me cursed. They bullied me. Spat on me. Blamed me for every misfortune. Until one night, they killed my family and threw me into the cave that reeked of death. I thought I was alone. I thought I would die in the dark. But something was already there—watching, waiting, hungry. When my blood spilled, he came out of the shadows. His fangs sank deep into my neck, and with a voice that made my soul tremble, he whispered one word. “Mine.” Years later, I tried to escape my past. But at the university, three Alphas appeared. And the King of Alphas—the untouchable Campus King—looked at me with the same hunger. Because he was the monster in the darkness. And I was never meant to be free.

Michaela left Gael seven years ago without him knowing. Sa tingin ni Gael ay hindi sapat ang kanyang pagmamahal para manatili sa kanyang buhay si Michaela. He thought that Michaela left him in exchange of money. She disappeared in a blink of an eye, left Gael clueless, and never came back. Seven years later, their path crossed unexpectedly. Gael thought he was already done with her. Subalit, nagbago iyon nang malaman niya ang kasagutan sa mga katanungan na pilit niyang ibinaon sa limot seven years ago. Suddenly, he wants to win her back. Will it still be possible kung siya mismo ay ikakasal na sa ibang babae?

The rare combination of love of fire and ice, when two opposite poles collide, a hot sizzle arises “Do you think you can escape from this trap, my dear little love” He gripped her chin while pinning her body to the wall, “Please let me go” she pleaded him, He replied with a smirk on his face, “you turned me on, now you have to bear the consequences.” She gulped hard in fear, listening to his words, his blue eyes had more darkness than any black eyes she had ever seen. “You're perfect to be mine” his words echoed in the whole room, while his lips landed on her rose petals like lips, “you're meant to be mine always.” The man is none other than, Her enemy in society, Her professor at university, Her boss in the office, Finally, her husband in bed. He is the realistic meaning of dangerous. She is the realistic meaning of innocence with cunningness. He can make people shiver in hot summer. She can make people to sweat in peaks of winter He is her rain to cool her anger and ego, she is his fire to give warmth in his cold heart. Both love dominance, but she became his submissive mysteriously. She hated him, she hated his existence once, but now he is her everything. Currently, she has two missions to fulfill; Mission A : to escape from him. Mission B : to find him before he finds her, make him to fall in love, and make him to dote on her. Can these missions change her life, or her destiny remains the same? Additively Dark and Seductively Sexy. Dramatic and full of Suspense that will have you guessing at every turn, to know more, get ready for an exciting roller coaster ride.

Everyone in the Titanus region would have heard the older generation tell them this—during sky burials, the vultures wouldn't eat the corpses of people who'd committed heinous crimes. My husband is the sky burial practitioner who buries me. The vultures circle my corpse in the air above the burial site, but they don't prey on me. My husband frowns at the sight. "It looks like this person must have committed crimes when alive. They deserve this." Suddenly, I remembered him pointing at me, his eyes ablaze with flames of rage as he shouted, "Nancy wouldn't have lost her baby if not for you! Someone like you doesn't even deserve to get a sky burial!" It looks like his words are coming true. But later, he falls to his knees before my grave and weeps. He begs me to forgive him.

“What the fuck, Jace?!” One dinner. One secret. And suddenly, the boy I’ve loved for three years is staring at me like I’ve betrayed him. Because the man my mother is finally happy with–the man who treats her like she matters—just happens to be his father. Now Jace is furious. Obsessed. Unforgiving. He thinks I knew, that I kept this twisted truth hidden from him. I didn’t. But try telling that to the storm in his eyes, the rage in his voice, the way he corners me and demands answers like my heart isn’t already breaking. For my mom, I should let go. She deserves her fairytale, and if that means cutting Jace out of my life, then I’ll do it—even if it feels like tearing my chest open. But Jace? He refuses. “Walk away from me, Jae,” he swears, “and I’ll burn it all down. Your mom’s happiness. My dad’s engagement. Every ounce of peace you think you’ll have.” Because to Jace, I’m not just his girlfriend. I’m his obsession. His possession. His everything. And he’ll set the whole world on fire before he lets me go. … An obsessive boyfriend who would rather destroy everything than see the girl he loves as his stepsister. And a girl who wants nothing more than to protect her mother’s happiness, even if it costs her own. However, is the sacrifice worth it?

Min Yura had finally moved on from her past and wanted to do nothing with it. But it seems that he did not have the same thoughts.What if he wanted to chase after her?

Belle was eighteen. Bastian was twenty-eight—her brother’s best friend, the man she was never supposed to love. One violent night, his fists saved her. One stolen moment, his lips almost ruined her. Now, he’s trapped in an arranged engagement with a woman who owns his freedom— and Belle is the only thing he can’t stop wanting. Every glance burns. Every touch is forbidden. Every secret they share is a step closer to disaster. She should walk away. He should stay loyal. But when love feels like sin, how do you stop falling… for the one man you can never have?

📖 Full Synopsis (Professional, 30-Chapter Summary) In a realm where the abyss bleeds whispers into men’s hearts, Aria, a gifted warrior bound to light, finds herself tethered to Lucien, a man scarred by an ancient mark. Their alliance begins in unease but quickly deepens into fragile trust, even as shadows stir within him. As armies clash and kingdoms fracture, Rowan, the enigmatic elder, and Kael, a fierce commander, fight to keep their ranks united. Yet Lucien’s mark grows restless, seeding betrayal, suspicion, and fear. Aria stands at his side, convinced that his humanity can be preserved, while others believe the abyss has already claimed him. The march to war spirals. Battles scar the land, alliances fray, and Lucien’s struggle becomes the fulcrum of fate. In the Breaking Storm, shadow and flame engulf the battlefield. Lucien teeters on the edge of becoming a weapon of the abyss. Aria refuses to yield, her voice anchoring him even as his blade rises against her. Kael’s blood is spilled in defiance, Rowan binds the storm in desperate runes, and Aria steps into the abyss itself, whispering her vow. In the climax, Lucien shatters his own blade, breaking free from the darkness—but not without scars. The storm collapses, leaving silence in its wake. In the aftermath, enemies bury their dead side by side. Kael rebuilds broken ranks, Rowan warns that the abyss never releases its scars, and Aria tends to Lucien’s healing—both body and soul. Though the mark lingers faintly beneath his skin, her vow holds stronger: never again will the abyss take him. The book closes on dawn: the storm passed, the stars returned, and two hands held fast against the dark.

Blurb. Julliette Mercer swore she would never risk her career for a man. As the new sports therapist for the NHL’s most ruthless team, the Blackridge Wolves, she expects bruises, injuries, and egos the size of the rink. What she doesn’t expect is the way every star player looks at her—hungry, feral, as if she’s already theirs. The Wolves’ captain, Bryan Maddox, is ice and fire, dominance carved into muscle. His touch burns, his stare strips her bare, and his warning is clear: stay away, or you’ll regret it. But Bryan isn’t the only one circling. His teammates stalk her with the same dark intensity, each one determined to claim what instinct says belongs to them. They tell her it’s fate. She calls it madness. Yet every stolen glance, every forbidden touch, pulls her deeper into their world. A world of secrets, violence, and hunger that has nothing to do with the game. And when a rival Alpha decides to take her for himself, Julliette learns the truth: the Blackridge Wolves aren’t just men. They are predators. And the most dangerous thing she can do is love them back. Julliete is caught between ruin and ecstasy. To resist them is impossible. To surrender might cost her everything.