Silence Natasha Preston

as soon as I stepped out of the villa, it felt like I’d walked straight into a nightmare. Hector, the man I’d missed so much, was surrounded by soldiers, passionately kissing some woman I’d never seen before. The cheers and whistles around them felt like knives stabbing into my heart. I froze, my happiness turning into icy disappointment and rage. I forced myself to walk closer, even though every step felt like I was wading through quicksand. As more people noticed me, the noise died down, like someone had hit the mute button. Hector and his mystery woman were still in their own world until they finally sensed the eerie silence and pulled apart. When Hector’s eyes met mine, panic flashed across his face, but he quickly masked it. Holding the woman’s hand, he approached me. “Elena, this is Vanessa, she’s—” Before he could finish, Vanessa flashed a confident smile and offered her hand to me. “Hi, I’m Vanessa, Hector’s partner. We fell in love on the battlefield.”

I was auctioned like an object. Sold to the highest bidder. I thought the worst was behind me—until I met them. The infamous Alpha twins, Zarek and Zade. One was cold and ruthless. The other watched in silence, but his dark eyes burned just the same. “A human? This is going to be interesting.” Zarek’s mocking laugh rang out in the open space. “She’s not fit to be our mate.” Zade’s voice was calmer, but no less cruel. They didn’t want me, yet they refused to let me go. Trapped in their world, I became nothing more than their possession. Their personal maid. Their plaything. But I wasn’t weak. I had spent my entire life surviving, and I wouldn’t stop now. I would escape. Even if the price was my heart. But the deeper I fell into their dangerous world, the more secrets unraveled. The twin alphas weren’t just drawn to me by chance. There was something buried in our past—something that made them obsessed with keeping me. And when the truth finally comes to light… I may wish I had never been sold at all.

Jasmine Hayes swore she’d never go looking for the father who abandoned her. But when her mother’s life is seconds from slipping away, pride becomes a luxury she can’t afford. He agrees to pay for the surgery—on one condition. She must marry Alexander Phillips, the billionaire heir originally promised to her half-sister. Jasmine doesn’t know him. She doesn’t want him. But she signs away her future to save the only person who ever stayed. Alexander isn’t looking for a wife—he’s looking for a solution. His image is in ruins, his family is pressuring him, and marriage is the quickest way to silence the board. Jasmine is not the bride he expected, but she’s convenient… and temporary. The contract is clear: ✔ No love ✔ No sex ✔ No complications ✔ Ten million dollars after the quiet divorce But nothing about Alexander is safe. Nothing about Jasmine is simple. And nothing about this arrangement is going according to plan. She agreed to marry a stranger to keep her mother alive. He agreed to marry a nobody to keep his empire intact. Neither of them expected the real problem to be each other.

"Love me again; you are my mate," Raymond said, his voice desperate. "I will accept you with everything, Aurora. I am your second chance," another voice echoed from behind, pulling me in a different direction. I thought I knew pain. I thought I could survive anything. Being rejected by my fated mate shattered me, but what came after was worse. Alone and broken, I disappeared, leaving behind the ashes of who I used to be. For three years, I’ve lived in silence, rebuilding a life where no one knows the scars I hide or the strength I’ve found in my solitude. But fate isn’t done with me yet. He’s back. The man who ruined me, who threw me away when I needed him most—Alpha Raymond. Now he wants me again, and he’s not the only one. Another offers me what I thought was impossible—a second chance. But I’m not the same girl they remember. I’ve returned with the one thing that could shatter Raymond’s carefully built world

" sometimes the strongest hearts carry the heaviest scars." Two years after losing her parents, 21-year-old Jane is left raising her two little brothers on her own. Abandoned by her oldee sister and juggling two exhausting jobs, Jane barely has time to breathe_let alone chase her long-forgotten dream of studying law. Every day is a battle to survive: Working long hours, skipping meals, some strange dreams, and hiding her tears behind a fake smile. But even when she breaks down in the middle of the street or collapses from exhaustion, she always gets back up- for Elhoïme and Mathias, the only family she has left. Just when she thinks no one sees her pain, Brian, a kind coworker and a long time friend, start offering small gestures of help- cofee, silence, time, understanding. She pushes him away at first, afraid of needing anyone. But his quiet presence slowly starts to feel like hope. Can Jane allow herself to lean on someone else for once, without losing her strenght- or her heart?

"I, Raelin, . eject you, Lucan Trent, as my mate and future Alpha King." She thought that would be her freedom. Instead, it was her sentence to death. Aria was born an Omega- but not just any Omega. She's the unwanted daughter of a ruthless Alpha, abused for her silence and punished for her intuition. When she uncovers a dark betrayal that threatens her entire pack, her courage costs her everything: her name, her bloodline, her home. Banished and broken, she's chased through the woods like prey until fate hurls her into the arms of Kael Thorne, the fearsome Alpha of the Nightborne Pack. A warrior king with eyes like ash and a soul forged in fire. He should have torn her apart. Instead... he spares her. "Why didn't you run?" "Because you looked at me like I wasn't disposable." But Kael isn't just a protector. He's a man with secrets of his own, haunted by blood, prophecy, and the scars of his past. And Aria--trembling, defiant, irresistible-is the one thing that unravels his control. In a kingdom where Omegas are pawns, and Alpha bloodlines must remain untainted, their bond is more than forbidden--it's a threat to everything

In Black Salt, love is a sickness you can’t hide—a slow gnawing beneath the skin that leaves you hollowed, grayed, and eventually gone. No one stays long enough to see it through; they leave before the rot finishes its work. It’s what the town teaches you: when it starts, you run. You look away. You survive by pretending not to feel. But Atlas is tired of pretending. The halls of Black Salt High are full of kids pretending they don’t see each other’s bruised hearts, pretending their bones aren’t already whispering warnings. Still, he can’t forget the weight of a father who stayed—not out of love, but because he never felt it deep enough to decay. That truth lingers in Atlas like a second shadow. And then there’s Nova—the outsider with a storm in her bones. And Wren, all sharpness and fight. Milo, who cracks jokes to keep the silence at bay. Luce, who wears her thorns like jewelry. Together, they don’t know how to stop the rot. But they’re learning how to sit with it, how to name it, how to refuse the small, hollow deaths of pretending not to care. In a town where love is a death sentence, staying might be the bravest thing of all.

To save the three most important men in my life, I made a deal with the Moon Goddess. Trade my life for theirs. If I could make any one of them truly love me within five years, I'd get to live. But on the final day of the countdown, all three still had negative feelings toward me. According to the rules, I'd failed. My life was about to be erased. "Moon Goddess, could I send one last message? One final try?" Maybe out of pity, she granted me this last attempt. This message was my final shot. I hit the voice button in our group chat, fighting to keep my voice steady. "Could you guys love me just a little? I'm really going to die." After a moment of silence came their merciless laughter. "You'll do anything to compete with Lidia for attention, won't you?" "Cut the lies. This just makes us hate you more." "If you're so desperate to die, then just do it already." Mission failed. I gave them exactly what they wanted. But when I was about to die, they all freaked out.

What will you do if one day, you suddenly wake up with ears above your head and tails behind your back? What if you suddenly came back to how you were, 20 years ago, just with different eyes and hair color? Coming home from a late-night party, Tiffany George passed out as soon as she felt the softness and warmth of her comfy bed. She stinks of alcohol, explaining her carefree behavior, resulting into a deep sleep with her corporate attire on. On the next day, a phone call had woken her up. She massaged her aching temples and reached for her phone on the bedside table. She answered it without even bothering to look at the caller ID, her voice hoarse as she said hello. “Ms. George, what time do you think is it?” a cold voice floated over the phone, waking Tiffany out of her daze. She immediately hung-up the call and rose from the bed. But the moment she tried to reach the floor with her feet… she realized something amiss. She touched her face and felt her chest… A long silence ensued before her loud scream filled the entire room.

Somewhere between staying silent and screaming for help… she existed. Seventeen-year-old Maren has mastered the art of disappearing in plain sight. Haunted by past trauma, locked in a toxic relationship she can't escape, and drowning under the pressure of school and a world that never cared to understand her, she begins to wonder if life is even worth staying for. No one sees her pain—until he does. The new boy, Kade, has his own shadows. He’s blunt, observant, and completely unafraid to call her out—making him an instant enemy. But when he overhears a moment no one was meant to witness, he realizes the truth: the girl everyone overlooks is barely holding on. As Kade steps deeper into her shattered world, their connection becomes a lifeline. But secrets run deeper than he imagined, and when Maren goes missing, no one believes she’s worth finding—except him. Fighting time, silence, and the lies that built her cage, Kade refuses to give up. Because sometimes, saving someone means proving they were never invisible at all. A heartbreaking, haunting, and ultimately hopeful story about survival, truth, and what it really means to be seen.