Smile Like An Idiot

I stood in the shadows, the scent of pine and frost heavy in the air, watching my mate, Ethan, smile—truly smile—for the first time in years. But not at me. At her. My cousin, Isla. His first love. She sat beside him, warm and glowing, with our pups, Lucas and Mia, curled up against her like she was their real mother. They were laughing, sharing bites of ice-cream cake, the kind Lucas once said made his stomach hurt. I was never meant to be here. I wasn't his choice. He didn't fall in love with me—he was assigned to me. To him, our bond was never about love. It was a political arrangement—an alliance between two packs: his power, my father’s ambition. A tie forged not by hearts, but by bloodlines and borders. He never touched me unless required. He never looked at me like I was his Luna. In that moment, as their laughter echoed under the full moon, I felt the mate bond falter—thin, fading, like breath in winter. And I knew. I had played my part long enough. So I turned away. It was time to severe the bond that was never truly mine. But when he sensed I was really leaving, when the tether between us began to snap, he broke. Dropped to his knees, clutching the pups like lifelines, his voice raw. "Please," he whispered, "don't leave me." Even the pups cried, reaching for me with shaking hands. "Mom, we’re sorry… We didn't mean it. Please don't go."

I met him in a place no sane woman should ever be in Blackgate Prison. As a prison therapist, I was trained to see danger. Every part of me screamed to stay away, but I couldn’t. He was a legend behind bars, Nikolai Sokolov, ruthless, untouchable, the leader of one of Russia’s most feared Mafia syndicates. Darkness clung to him like a second skin. The dim light carved his face into something sharp and dangerous. He looked at me, cold and unreadable, and held me in place with his gaze. “Who are you?” His voice was rough, heavy with threats and scars I couldn’t see. I forced a smile, trying to keep my voice steady. And yet… a part of me felt at home in this danger, a shadow inside I had never admitted, one that hummed quietly at his presence. It was darkness like his, though he couldn’t know it. “I’m Dr. Korovin. I’m here to evaluate you.” The chains rattled as he shifted, a predator testing the limits of his cage. His lips curved, not into a smile, but into a warning. “My name is Nikolai,” he said slowly, deliberately, heavy with threat. “Remember it, Doctor.” I should have been scared. I should have run. But something inside me stirred, something dark, like him, and I didn’t yet understand it.

Albert Roosevelt was the crush I was never meant to have. Like an idiot, I believed loving someone meant giving them everything, even if they didn't care about you. So, I trailed after him like a desperate puppy, bending over backward to meet his every whim. When he couldn't afford tuition, I begged Dad to fund him, sending him to the best schools. When his worn-out clothes made him a laughingstock, I pitied him and showered him with designer labels. And what did he do? He used what I gave him to chase after a gold-digging campus belle. To keep up appearances, he blew through money like it grew on trees. He even spread rumors that he was the real heir to the Roosevelts. To him, I was just an ATM. "Your family's loaded. It's not like you'll miss a few hundred grand. If you're gonna be stingy, maybe you should stop following me around," he said when his wallet ran dry. And like a fool, I believed that if I kept paying, someday, he'd love me back. After graduation, I funded his startup. The second it took off, he married the campus belle. He had the nerve to claim he earned everything through nothing but hard work. So, I crashed his wedding, and he buried a knife in my chest. "Only when you're dead, Eve Roosevelt. Only then will my pathetic past stay buried." When I opened my eyes again, I was face-to-face with a scowling Albert. "You can't scrape together a few hundred thousand dollars? It's Bianca's birthday. Are you trying to humiliate me?" I looked around the room and rolled my eyes. "Sure, I'll pay. But first? Kneel. You look pretty enough. Consider it charity, peasant."

When I opened my eyes, I found myself supposedly transmigrated to some ancient era. Every morning, before light touched the sky, someone would yank me out of bed to haul trash, chop wood, and do whatever filthiest job needed doing. Somehow, I'd become the lowest-ranked servant in the entire estate. The estate lord's son would climb onto my back and ride me around the courtyard like some pet he was proud to show off. Anyone in the household could hit me, kick me, or shove me aside, and not a single soul would speak up. Five years passed like that, so awful that I almost lost my mind, as if I were living in hell. Then one day, a group of servants cornered me. They didn't bother hiding their intention. The moment I saw their faces, I knew I was in trouble. Fists flew, boots landed, and everything blurred. Just before I passed out, I heard them whispering, "We're going to kill him if we keep this up." "Come on. This place only looks like some old noble estate. It's not an actual one. If he dies here, we're the ones who'll get dragged to court!" "Relax. Ms. Shaw will handle it. The idiot pissed off her childhood sweetheart. Getting tricked into this place is exactly what he deserves." Fear swallowed everything, and the world went dark. When I woke again, the lady of the house had conveniently "returned from visiting her family." The lord threw a grand celebration with tables full of food, wine flowing, and musicians playing like nothing had happened. I carried dishes into the banquet hall and lifted my head. Her face was the same as my wife's, Melissa Shaw. I set the final dish down, stepped closer, and in a voice only she could hear, asked, "Ma'am… are you enjoying your little game?"

25 years ago, because of desperate, her father left her in the forest. 25 years later, a billionaire offers her 10 billion dollars just for the role of 'bad wife' for 5 years. Between life and dignity, she chooses life. Her life completely turns upside down after she married into a billionaire heir. Bit by bit she knows who is her real family is.A king that keeps her heart go crazy while her knight keep protects and loves her wholeheartedly, she stuck between these two people. Sometimes, love can make people be such an idiot and blind, sometimes love also can change a person. Between love and be loved is two different things for her.

“Fine,” I heard myself say, the word tasting like rust. “You want an open marriage? We’ll do open.” A slow smile curved his mouth—victory, not warmth. “Good girl. Then I suppose you won’t mind if I reintroduce Kisha.” The camera panned. There she was, curled on what I now realized was our hotel suite couch, her legs tucked under a cashmere throw that used to be mine. She waved, manicured nails glinting, belly softly rounded under a silk camisole. My world tilted. I forced a smile that felt like glass. “So she’s your girlfriend?” Daniel’s hand settled possessively on that gentle swell. “Not just my girlfriend,” he said, eyes locked on mine. “The mother of my unborn child.” Jayla Carmichael smiles for the cameras as the perfect senator's wife while her world burns. But queens don't kneel. They conquer. Fueled by whiskey and wrath, Jayla ensnares Warren Christopher, a brooding billionaire CEO, after saving his empire in a bar-side twist of fate. Love was the first lie. Revenge is the foreplay, and the truth? it's coming for them all...naked, ruthless and dripping in karma. Will Jayla's vengeance destroy her soul or will warrens fire forge something eternal?. This book isn't just romance, it's war with benefits.

Following the gruesome murder of his parents by his ex, Robinson as since made himself stoic, shutting off everyone from his life, except for Mariam. After an unsuccessful search for funding for her orphanage, Madeline finds herself standing in the doorway of the man who almost hit her days back, about to begin work as a nanny. There is no denying that Robinson is an arrogant idiot — even Madeline who sees good in people thinks so. Yet, beneath that cloak of arrogance and nonchalance for others is a man still carrying pains from years back. After realising she has fallen for him,, Madeline will begin trying to bring Robinson back to his former self, while Robinson will try getting back into his shell. Will Madeline succeed? Or will Robinson remain his arrogant self?

Born into an extremely influential family in the Far West of the United States, Janis Walter, of course had every right to throw her weight around in every way she could. She possessed characteristics most people believed was supposed to be for the male gender, and unfit for a feminine goddess like her. But you know what? They were wrong. Janis considered them all wrong and they dared not challenge her. On the opposite side was Jax Storms. Not wealthy, not poor...Just in between. Sure, like every western man, he was masculine, but what happens when he comes in contact with Janis who was overbearingly domineering? And in the most unlucky way too. They had a one night stand! ~. .~ Janis gasped in shock when she saw Jax, after haven not seen him since that night. Memories from that night immediately hit her and her cheeks flushed red immediately. He didn't look like he did the last time she had seen him; he looked very different, and more sophisticated. To her surprise, he turned out to be the CEO of the corporation that was closely in competition with hers. "Hello." Janis spoke and his eyes narrowed immediately, before giving her a fake smile that didn't even reach his eyes. "How are..." "I didn't come here for a reunion." Jax cut her off. He didn't like how she smiled at him, he believed it was fake and she was just like her younger sister, who looked down on people who had no status attached to their name. "Then what did you come here for?" She asked, unable to believe that the CEO standing in front of her had been the Uber guy who got her pregnant. "I want custody of my child." He deadpanned and the smile drained from her face.

When Ivy Yarley learned that Jason Hough had been in an accident due to speeding and lost a massive amount of blood, she rushed to the hospital without hesitation and donated a full liter of blood for him. His friends all urged her to go home and get some rest. Reluctantly, she agreed, but the moment she reached the exit, worry hung heavily in her heart, so she turned back. That was when she saw the nurse dumping all five full bags of blood that had just been drawn from her into the trash can. Before she could even process what was happening, a burst of laughter erupted from a nearby room. "Hahaha! That idiot Ivy Yarley fell for it again!"

"Let's live in together ..." She said those words solemnly in her flat facial expression like reading a formal report. “WHATTT???” The young man blinked his eyes in disbelief several times at the woman in front of him as if she has gone insane. But the firm look on her eyes showed him that she was serious with what she just said before. “I like this apartment. You also like it, right?” “Let’s live in together so we can share the rental fee. After 1 year, we can decide whether we want to extend here or not?” The woman glanced at him once again. Requesting for an answer from his mouth. "How?" The young man turned his head away. He seems irk with this weird request but in other hand, he should admit that everything that she said was makes sense too. Especially for sharing the rental fee. It’s a win - win solution! He’s totally broke! And he is in an urge for finding a new place to stay now! "OK. Deal… ” The two of them shook hands as an agreement. "But I also have a request." The young man said those words while his hand still holding her hand warmly. He stared at her and forming a smile on his face seductively. Arissa frowned and raised her eyebrows confusedly. "What is it?" "You can't fall in love with me ..." She sneered out and a mocking smile curved on her face shortly. "No worries. I'm an asexual after all…. ”