Smile Like An Idiot

When my mother first told me about the arranged marriage, Noah Parker lowered his head and kissed me, pulling me closer as we became tangled together. After a haze of passion, he carried me into the bathroom. Warm water streamed over my skin, but his words sent a chill straight through me, as if I'd fallen into an icy pit. "Go home. And don't come looking for me here again." I thought he'd seen the text and was jealous, so I quickly clung to him and swore, "I won't marry anyone else—" His smile stayed, but the heat in his eyes cooled into something distant. "But I'm getting married." He brushed back my messy hair, ignoring how my body trembled under his touch. "My fiancée is gentle and kind—nothing like you. She’d never throw herself at her foster brother like that. We've already set a date. If you keep clinging to me like this, she'll be upset with me."

I hadn't seen my mafia husband, Luca Moretti, and our daughter Dora in three whole months. Why? Because his mother, Fiona, said Dora should stay with her "for a while." And Luca? He was "too busy with business," as always. So when Luca finally called and said he was going to pick me up for a family reunion at the villa, I was overjoyed. I thought maybe, just maybe, I'd finally get to hold my little girl again. I spent the whole damn day running around the city, buying her favorite dolls, snacks, a new pink dress, anything I thought would make her smile at me again. But when the car arrived, it wasn't what I imagined. Before I could even say Hi, Dora turned her head, took one look at me… and then wrapped her arms even tighter around Maria, the maid. She buried her face in Maria's neck like I wasn't even there. Like Maria was her mom. I tried to approach her, but Dora straight-up told me she didn't want to ride in the same car as me. And Maria, wearing that fake, polite smile, kept trying to gently talk me into giving Dora "a little more time." I looked over at Luca, hoping he'd step in. Instead, he just looked annoyed, like he couldn't be bothered to lift a finger to help fix things between me and our daughter. Clearly, they didn't want me there. So what was the point of trying to join the ride? I stepped back from the SUV. Then Luca just turned to me and said, "Just wait here. I won't be long." What he'll never understand is… I'm done waiting for him.

"They were entwined with each other, luxuriating in the throes of passion, the man's robust body..." I was hiding in my office, secretly penning the next development in my story, when a voice from behind me began to read my words aloud, one by one. It was the new intern, a young man. I trembled, pleading with him, "Please, don't tell anyone." He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, his hands bracing the edge of the desk, trapping me between his arms. "So, this is what you like?" His throat bobbed, and a smile played on his lips, "Then, why don't we... try it out, just the two of us...

My new dormmate thinks my boyfriend is a player and advises me to break up with him. After I politely reject her, she gets mad and complains about me online, saying I'm love-addled brain. Her video goes viral, and the online community calls me an ingrate who doesn't know what's good for me. When I see the smug smile on my dormmate's face, I slap her without even batting an eye. "Stop acting like you're a champion for feminism when all you can think of is making yourself seem better than other women!"

My marriage to Dante, the Moretti heir, was meant to be a union of power, an alliance of empires. But for me, it was also the real deal. Then his adopted sister, Clara, showed up at a party. She was wearing his custom leather jacket, straddling his prized Ducati, and she looked right at me with a smirk. "Dante says," she purred, "that I suit these precious things better than you do." My smile froze. Dante had her on a plane overseas so fast it was like she'd never existed. Five years later, the night before our wedding. I found him staring at the design for our wedding rings. He'd changed the engraving. The "Amor Aeternus"—Eternal Love—was gone. In its place: "Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa." My sin, my greatest sin. I took off my veil right then and there. "The wedding," I said, my voice like ice, "is off."

His jawline His smile His gaze His hair His heart and the way he cared for her His scent lingered in the room long after he was gone. Vida did not like Axel and there was nothing in this life that was ever going to change that until she started falling for him in a dangerous way. "I can't like him," she told herself multiple times. How could she like him? He was the complete opposite of her; he lit up a room and everyone loved him. She found herself falling for him more and more with each passing day. He was Axel Manchester's only hope; why did loving him feel so right and yet so wrong at the same time? She was Vida Van Allen and he had fallen head over heels in love with her. The thrilling story of Vida and Axel will keep you on your toes and push your emotions further than you can imagine. Read 21st Century Bride now to go on this journey of love with Axel and Vida.

Calista Arden has tried to seduce her husband, Theodore Montclair, for the 999th time, only to fail in consummating her marriage with him as always. Afterward, she calls her older brother, Elijah Arden. "I'm planning on getting a divorce, Elijah." Elijah remains silent for three whole seconds over the line. Finally, he speaks up in a deep, gravelly tone, "I already told you before that it's impossible for you to drill through Theodore's stone-cold heart no matter how hard you try." With reddened eyes, Calista can only chuckle quietly. "Yeah. I'm the overconfident fool here." "Come to Nordland," Elijah says lightly. "There are plenty of hunks here who are as good-looking as Theodore. Since that idiot doesn't know how to cherish my amazing and adorable sister, he can just spend the rest of his life as a devoted man of religion who has no family of his own."

When struggling Chloe Quinn agrees to fake engagement with the billionaire Jake Wolfe, she thinks she knows the rules, play the perfect fiancée, smile for press, and walk away with a pay check. But Jake isn’t just cold he is heart broken and behind Chloe’s smile is a secret of her own.

Bettina Alvarez is a loving wife, beautiful and independent. Ginawa niya ang lahat para matugunan ang pagiging mabuting Asawa. She loves her husband more than anything, siya ang buhay niya. But how can she stand in her feet when her ground is slowly shattering in pieces. Gumuho ang lahat ng pagmamahal na iyon nang malaman niyang may nauna sa sinasabi niyang sakanya lang. Ang pinakamasakit pa ay may labing isang taon itong anak na mas matanda pa sa relasyon nila. She thought it's okay, ayos lang at kaya naman niya iyong tanggapin. She just needs his explanation, saying that it was a mistake, na hindi sinasadya ng asawa niyang makabuntis noon. She can accept it. Pero tila nabasag na baso ang lahat ng malaman niyang peke lamang ang kasal nila. All that happened in their wedding ten years ago flashed in bettina's memory like a recorded film, his beautiful smile na lalong nagpapatibok sa puso niya. That beautiful smile, na ngayon ay hindi na siya sigurado kung para sakanya ngang talaga.

I receive a mysterious parcel on my fifth wedding anniversary. Inside the box are photos of my husband, Luke Madden, being intimate with his assistant. The photos go back a long time—they seem to start from over five years ago. The latest one was taken half a month ago. He, his assistant, and their daughter are playing by the seaside. They smile brightly in the photo and look like a happy family of three. I suppress my devastation and take medication to terminate my pregnancy. Then, I pull out my phone to text my mother. "I'll do as you say and get a divorce, Mom. I'll be back next month to take over the company."