Scarlet Frozen

**"This isn’t just any party, it’s your wedding."** The words hit me like a truck as I stood frozen in disbelief. **"To Angelo Rizzo."** My stepbrother’s voice was cold, detached. My heart pounded in my chest. **"You’re joking, right?"** But one look at his face told me he wasn’t. **"You’re the payment for my debt to the Cosa Nostra."** His betrayal was a knife twisting in my gut. --- Attending a party with my stepbrother, I was prepared for an ordinary night. Instead, I was thrown into a nightmare. Without warning, I found myself standing beside Angelo Rizzo—a man as feared as he is cold—as his bride. My stepbrother owed the Cosa Nostra money, and I was his only way out. With no escape and no choice, I now wear a wedding ring tied to a man I fear. Three hours later, my world has turned upside down. There’s no running from Angelo, no hiding from the life ahead. My only hope? To survive being married to the infamous Angelo Rizzo.

“Touch her again,” he said coldly, “and I’ll break your hand.” The man who had ignored me for three years suddenly snapped, “Who do you think you are to interfere with my fiancée?” I stood frozen as the two most powerful men in the room faced off because of me. —— Arranged to marry Louis Valmont, I endured years of indifference, humiliation, and a mistress who never stopped reminding me I was unwanted. When I finally stopped begging for his attention, I sought help from a man powerful enough to protect me. That man… was the mistress’ father. What began as cooperation turned into desire. What should have been forbidden became inevitable. And when my ex finally realized he was losing me, it was already too late. But when jealousy drives him to force a marriage registration, a truth detonates the room. I was already married. So how did the mistress’s father become my husband? And what happens when my ex discovers he was never who he thought he was to begin with?

*His eyes scanned my bruised face, searching for answers. A careful, gentle hand caressed my cheek, intensifying the turmoil in his gaze. "He did this to you." It wasn't a question; it was a statement. But I couldn't find my voice, trapped in frozen silence. Fear gnawed at my skin as I stood amidst cold-blooded killers, surrounded by chaos and lifeless bodies. And as he held the gun, I knew more bodies would soon drop.* *** To everyone else, she was a nobody. A vessel for their perverse desires, a desperate pawn willing to fulfill their every whim. A nearsighted girl, finding solace only within the pages of her books, a portal to escape reality. But what they failed to grasp was that behind those innocent blue eyes lurked a devil, dependent on her happiness, hiding in the shadows and watching over her. And that devil was prepared to sacrifice everything for her. The scariest part? She had no clue. *"Why do you act like you're in love with me?" "Jesus, Lily," he growled, "I TATTOOED YOUR NAME ON MY FUCKING CHEST!"*

In my last life, my sister Serena Vega ran to Monaco the night before her wedding, and my family shoved me into her dress before dawn. Damian Lucchese, the young Godfather of New York, had been waiting at the altar for her. The moment he lifted my veil and saw me instead, the warmth in his eyes went cold. For five years, I was his hidden wife. The underworld knew he was married, but no one knew to whom. My parents blamed me for stealing Serena’s place and still failing to keep his heart. Then Serena came home. That Christmas, Damian took her and my parents to his mountain estate. When a blizzard hit, his men rushed everyone onto the helicopter. No one remembered me. I died in that frozen house, three months pregnant with Damian’s child. When I opened my eyes again, Serena had just returned to New York. This time, I would not beg for love. Only when I truly walked away, none of them had the right to regret it.

To save my unconscious Alpha fiancé, I got trapped in a glacial crevasse on the frozen mountain. I tried to reach him through our bond ninety-nine times, but he blocked me out completely. When he finally found me seven days later, his first words were an accusation. "Elara damaged her eyes trying to save me, and you just had to cause trouble right now!" "You're a trained mountain warrior. How could you get trapped in a small crevasse for seven days?" "I've had enough of your games. Let's break off our engagement." He thought I would cry and argue like before. But I just nodded. "Okay." He didn't know I hit my head when I fell trying to save him. In seven days, I would completely forget him. But when I finally left him completely as he'd promised, he went crazy, searching the world and begging me back.

My little sister Willa? Always played the noble princess—even during the freaking apocalypse. She was pregnant and still trying to look like some graceful queen. I told her to end it. Safer that way. She slapped me. "Shut up. How can you be so heartless?" Meanwhile, I skipped meals so she and her rescue-pet gang could eat. When I collapsed from hunger, she snorted. "Drama queen. Think of it as a free weight-loss plan." I dragged her to the base, the safe zone, and nearly died doing it. She snatched the last of my rations. "The baby and I are good. Give the rest away." I died from my injuries—frozen, starving, forgotten. Willa? She got crowned a saint. Even landed the baby daddy—the Deputy Governor—and kicked off her perfect little fairytale. Then I woke up. Back to the moment she asked me to swear I'd protect her and the baby. This time, I laughed in her face. "Die for all I care."

In the sixth year of being with Alpha James, I accidentally overheard a conversation between him and his Beta. “So, Isabelle is still upset? “That Omega has a bad temper. You probably won’t calm her down anytime soon.” James let out a scoff. “No matter how bad her temper is, can it compare to Clary back then? “Back then, she was fierce and impossible to deal with. Now? She’s so in love with me she’d do anything.” The Beta laughed in agreement. “Exactly. Who would’ve thought the proud and untouchable Clary would become this obedient and gentle? Honestly, she’s nowhere near as interesting as that Omega, Isabelle.” I stood frozen outside the door. I was Clary, the once proud and untouchable, now quiet and well-behaved she-wolf Alpha James was talking about. My wolf let out a pained whimper in my mind. I had come to tell him that I was pregnant with his pup. However, there was no need now. Since he wanted excitement, I would take our pup and disappear from his world forever.

Sophie became limp after an accident while saving an old grandma. Her parents, who resented her, laughed and said, "No one will marry a limping girl. Marry an old man and bring us the dowry money!" She thought her life was useless now. Until, the grandma's handsome grandson appeared with a shocking marriage proposal: "Marry me and I'll help you with your leg surgery!" She was stunned. "But I'm just a poor girl with a limp leg…why would you marry me?” His lips curled up into a smirk. "At least, I'll have a silly girl as my wife." Blinded by desperation and hope, Sophie agreed. Only later did she discover her new husband's true identity. Dominic William, London's most elusive billionaire, notorious for his icy heart and disdain for women. As Sophie navigates Dominic's world, she uncovers the secrets behind his frozen facade. But will their unconventional love overcome the darkness of his past and her own insecurities? Or will his secrets tear them apart?

Layla Hayes is used to surviving. Raised by adoptive parents who treated her like a burden, she learned to keep her head down, keep quiet, and dream of escape. When her long-term boyfriend cheats and leaves her with nothing, one wild night in a bar is supposed to be her only rebellion — a kiss of freedom before going back to hell.But the stranger she gives herself to isn’t just anyone. He’s Colden Frost. Elusive tech billionaire. Ruthless CEO. The media calls him the Ice King for a reason.So when he offers a flash contract marriage—cold, clinical, and signed in ink—Layla says yes. She wants out of her old life, and she doesn’t care if her new husband has a frozen heart.Only he’s not the monster the tabloids claim. He’s just… never home. Never warm. Never hers.But slowly, walls begin to thaw. And Layla realizes the man she married may be the one thing she never thought she'd find:Safety.

In the dead of this frozen apocalypse, the shelter's fusion core was on the verge of overload. I grabbed my repair kit and sprinted for the basement, only to have the guard captain's girlfriend, Miranda Dunn, step right into my path. "Everyone, come look! Zach’s about to dump poison into the vents. He's gonna kill us all!" Her voice cut through the air as she shrieked. "I didn’t approve a private room for him two days ago, and now, he wants us all dead!" The guards didn't bother asking questions. They slammed me hard against the freezing metal door. "Zach, are you going to kill us all over a room? We're taking you in for interrogation!" I stared at the control panel, its readings spiking into the red, and shouted, "If the core blows up, none of us will make it out alive!" But they were too busy trying to impress Miranda and brushed off my warning, thinking I had lost it. Nineteen minutes remained before the core exploded.