Smile Inside Crying Outside

Nikkie needs to earn at least 70,000 dollars for her mother's medical expenses. She can't get that much money from her part-time job. What kind of job could she get as a high school graduate to earn that much money? As she was crying about her poverty in a corner of the hospital lobby, a couple in their mid-thirties, dressed in fancy clothes, suddenly approached her. "Sorry, we accidentally heard about your predicament. Would you like to help us, and get 70,000 dollars in return?" the woman asked kindly. "What do I have to do? I'll do anything!" said Nikkie excitedly. "Be a surrogate mother for us."

Matthew Guerrero is the youngest son of a Mafia boss. He is a hot-headed man who always lets his fists act before his brain. But on the day he almost died at the hands of a treacherous client of his family, a man saved him—and that man was none other than Kaizer, someone who drifts from job to job. Their paths cross again when Kaizer becomes a bodyguard for the Guerrero family. Even though Kaizer once saved Matthew’s life, the two of them still constantly clash, both inside and outside the Guerrero mansion. Yet as time goes by, they slowly come to understand each other, and no one can separate these two men—through hardship and joy, they are always together. They get kidnapped together, shot together, end up in the hospital together, and even suffer food poisoning together from the street food they ate. After everything painful they have gone through, they are always side by side. Until little by little, what they feel for each other begins to change. Matthew thinks at first that it is just because Kaizer is his friend, but he realizes that what he feels for the man who is always with him is something far deeper. It is not easy for them to confess their feelings to each other before finally becoming a couple and doing the things only couples do. But behind those happy moments, Kaizer is hiding a secret—one that will shatter Matthew’s heart and world. A secret he has kept hidden for so long, one that will eventually explode and damage their love: a love born from trust and true affection… and lies.

"Help, please don't forget." Long ago, in the times of kings and queens. There was a school built inside a king's castle. It was made to educate the most intelligent children of the whole land. A girl named Kathleen gets an invitation to this school. This school was very secretive, with many rules. But the one main rule, not ever to be broken, never to disturb the King. Levi, King of the northern lands, lives a very lonely life. With only his brother to speak to. He has one massive secret-keeping him from the outside world. In order to maintain the high ranking of his kingdom and to cure this lonely feeling he can't help, he builds a school right in his large castle. With his own wing, just for himself. When Kathleen gets invited it was mainly for her musical talent. Being amazing at the Chello. But being that curious person she is she seeks into the King's wing. Knocking his large bedroom door. When the King opens she's presented with the most beautiful man she's ever come across. Then spending every night together after that. Being enchanted by each other. But with her grades dropping she's starts getting swamped with work. They start drifting apart. One year before her graduation she starts getting dreams about her time with the King. She starts investigating, uncovering memories, confronting the King about them. Will she be able to handle her school work, fall in love with the King once more. Will Kathleen be able to handle discovering all these secrets of the king, herself, and the kingdom or will it be too much? Will she leave it all behind? *Clean* ---------------------------

This book is authored by Dripping Creativity. “Stay away, stay away from me, stay away,” she shouted, over and over. She kept shouting even though it seemed she had run out of things to throw. Zane was more than a little interested in knowing exactly what was going on. But he couldn’t focus with the woman making a ruckus. “Will you shut the fuck up!” he roared at her. She fell silent and he saw tears start to fill her eyes, her lips trembled. Oh fuck, he thought. Like most men, a crying woman scared him shitless. He would rather have a gunfight with a hundred of his worst enemies than have to deal with one crying woman. “And your name is?” he asked. “Ava,” she told him in a thin voice. “Ava Cobler?” he wanted to know. Her name had never sounded so beautiful before, it surprised her. She almost forgot to nod. “My name is Zane Velky,” he introduced himself, holding out a hand. Ava’s eyes grew bigger as he heard the name. Oh no, not that, anything but that, she thought. “You have heard of me,” he smiled, he sounded satisfied. Ava nodded. Everyone who lived in the city knew the name Velky, it was the largest mafia group in the state with its centre in the city. And Zane Velky was the head of the family, the don, the big boss, the huge honcho, the Al Capone of the modern world. Ava felt her panicked brain spin out of control. Trigger warnings: Talk about SA Body image issues Light BDSM Descriptive descriptions of assaults Self harm Harsh language

“Do you know why he married you?” Her smile was cruel, her blind eyes staring straight through me. “Because you’re wearing my eyes and he promised to protect them.” My breath caught, but she wasn’t done. She leaned closer, as she whispered in my ears “Face it, Olivia. You’re nothing but my replacement.” Leonard always seemed like the perfect husband, until she woke from her five-year coma and shattered my world with the truth. He married me for my eyes. Eyes that once belonged to her. I should have known his overprotectiveness wasn’t love, it was guilt. And now, with a life growing inside me, I realized I wasn’t just a substitute wife. I was a placeholder in a story that was never mine to begin with. Shattered and pregnant, I disappeared, leaving behind the man who never truly saw me and a secret he never knew existed. Years later, I return. No longer his fragile, obedient wife, but a woman with a new name, a hidden son, and a plan to ruin the billionaire who broke me. But in a game where love and vengeance collide, the most dangerous twist isn’t my fury it’s the fire that never died between us. He made me a substitute. Now, I’ll make him suffer.

There's this thing that my mom keeps repeating to me. "I love my children equally. I will always treat you and Brielle the same." It's true that I get everything my sister, Brielle Montgomery, has since we were children. If Brielle has a new backpack, I do too. If Brielle goes for piano lessons, I'll be given the opportunity to attend the same lessons. When I go home for the holidays, my mom digs out two beautiful shopping bags sporting luxury brand logos. With a smile on her face, she hands them to us. "I specifically went to the store to buy you nice coats. Both of you get a coat each. I'll have you know that coats with wool linings are worth thousands of dollars. I don't even have the heart to wear one of these coats. I only bought these coats for you two." As I gaze at the expensive-looking coat, I feel warmth surging into my heart. But when I try on the coat, I feel a weird, scratchy sensation coming from my armpits. After flipping the coat inside out, I notice a few strands of long, dry hair tightly entangled among the seams. I even smell a faint trace of mold mixed with a strong hint of rot that can't be covered up by the cheap fragrance on the coat.

Mature, gorgeous, and morally grey men. Book 1 &2 : THE EXTERMINATOR’S WIFE My father tricked and forced me to marry a man even he didn’t know. My husband is brutal, dangerous, unstable, and lethal. I can’t escape him, trust me, I tried. An attack is brewing. He is fighting a war that has the cartel coming for us. He is willing to die for freedom and soon hate turns to love. I can’t bare losing him but fate has other plans. Do I stick around for the man I love and fall with him? Or do I protect the secret I carry with me? Book 3: The most evil and vile cartel boss is bored. He has a plan to salvage that; find an innocent wife, trick her to believe he is good then show his true colors on their wedding night. He wants to break her to pieces and when she has nothing to live for, get her pregnant and trap her in her hell. Slade’s plan goes to hell as soon as he is introduced to his innocent soon to be wife. Why is he suddenly so protective? Why can’t he stand other men around her? Why does he want to see the world burn to ashes just to see her smile? Trigger warnings inside, please read them!

How do you defend yourself in the eyes of those people around you?If you do not know your true identity? Does there judgment to you will be validated or not. If you're Elle? How can you go outside the box of betrayal and love?

I never thought I'd end up severely injured and lose my baby on my wedding day. That day, I walked toward my husband full of excitement, only to watch him rush right past me and straight into the arms of his secretary. Confused, I turned around and saw someone in a wedding dress lying on the ground, blood pooling beneath her. It was his secretary, Quinn Fable. Steve York, my soon-to-be husband, panicked and scooped her up, but Quinn stared at me with tearful eyes, crying, “Summer, I ate the candy you gave me… Why would you want to hurt my baby? Please, Steve, save our child… please…” Steve was beside himself with rage. Without a second thought, he kicked me hard in the stomach. I collapsed into the champagne tower, shards of glass embedding into my skin. Blood poured from between my legs. Yet, they still clung to each other, crying bitterly as if I didn't exist. When the ambulance arrived, they didn't even hesitate to push me aside to save her first. “Forget about her!” Steve shouted. “Save Quinn! She's lost so much blood. She must be in terrible pain! As for Summer, that vicious witch… she deserves to die!” Due to the delay, I suffered a ruptured uterus and missed the window for proper treatment. And as if that wasn't enough, Steve personally announced that our marriage was null and void. He marched straight to the clerk's office with Quinn and made it official. On my ICU bed, I received a text from him. “Pack your things and get out. Quinn wants you out of her sight.”

I put my t-shirt down, my hands shaking. I try to ignore them and stare at my reflection in the mirror. My hair color is dark brown and a vague hint of golden. My dad used to say that my eyes are ocean blue. A guy in my history cl once said that I had perfect s. Another guy said that I had a great body. They wanted to date me. And I dated few of them. I brush my fingers in my forehead. Then my dark, thick eyelashes. The side of my nose. My s. I run my hand at my neck, then across my collarbone. Am I beautiful? Honestly, I don't know. Maybe I'm not. "You were wrong, Angelina Valentine." A voice inside my head suddenly whispers. "Calm down, Angel," another voice whispers. It's the voice I loved. His voice is fading away. My hands start shake again, my breath rapidly quickening. I am losing control. I have to do something. "Goddammit!" I punch the mirror with my fist. It shatters into thousand pieces. My reflection has shattered into thousand pieces, too. The mirror now looks to me like an art. And my bloody knuckles. "I am sorry, Edwin. I can't promise you anymore, because you left me." I bite my to stop myself from crying. I won't cry. What's the point of crying? My sixth sense is suddenly alert. Somebody is watching me. I spin around. A guy is standing in front of the door, leaning against it. He wears a tight blue shirt, the sleeves folded. His black hair is ruffled and his hands are folded across his chest. The probable most amazing thing about him is his eyes. They are dark green. They are dangerous, beautiful and incredibly unreadable. And they are watching me.