Smile While Crying

While presiding over a transnational meeting, I received a distressing call from my daughter's kindergarten teacher. "Mrs. Payton, a kid drew a massive clown on Anna's face during nap time! No matter how much I try to wash it off, it won't come off!" I immediately rushed to the kindergarten. My daughter, Anna Payton, was sobbing at the door. Her usually fair and tender face was now red and swollen. The clown drawing on it was particularly eye-catching. The new teacher was so panicked that she was crying herself, her voice trembling. "The parent of the other child is in the office. They said they're willing to compensate any amount, but... But there's no way you can make their son apologize." My anger surged as I kicked open the office door. However, I instantly froze in place. In the office, my husband, Arlo Payton, who was supposed to be in Swizor for a year of intensive studies, was holding up the bully. The next second, the little boy in his arms pointed at Anna and laughed. "Look, Dad. Clownface is here!"

The night before our Mating Ceremony, my fated mate, Alpha Ryker of the Howling Moon Pack, ordered me to give him the Moon Soul Crystal—the very thing that protected my pack, the Willow Creek Pack. He said he needed it to power up the Howling Moon Pack's Blood Moon Altar. He also promised he'd keep me and my people safe. But he didn't know that we, the healers of the Willow Creek Pack, can only create one Moon Soul Crystal in our entire lives. Making one takes a crazy amount of moon energy. It's the treasure that keeps our pack alive. My mother, worried about me using up my moon energy while I was pregnant, gave up her own Moon Soul Crystal instead. But just three months after Ryker and I were mated, she got sick, fast. She was dying. I knelt in front of Ryker, crying, begging him for the Silverleaf Herb from the Howling Moon's forbidden grounds. It was the only thing that could save my mom. But he just looked at me, his eyes full of disappointment, and kicked me away. "I asked for the Moon Soul Crystal to test you," he snarled. "And just as I thought, you married me for our pack's treasures! Your mother's not sick. You're making it all up!" "You don't deserve to be the Luna of the Howling Moon Pack!" It wasn't until after my mother died, when he was arguing with me, trying to kick me out of the pack, that my mother's things fell and scattered everywhere. Her Soul Stone, the symbol of a wolf's spirit, shattered. That's when he finally realized he was wrong. He fell to his knees, begging me not to leave, crying for me to forgive him.

" Don't say anymore word than you already have, don't..." I stuck a finger out at him, sauntering away on my heels when a hand wrapped itself around my arm. Breathlessly he whispered, "You know that I do love you and...fine, what exactly was I supposed to do?" "Protect me and stand up for me. That is what you do for someone who you claim you love!" ************ Out to spite her ex-boyfriend after he had broken up with her on her birthday, Daphne slept with a stranger who turned out to be his uncle while trying to rebuff his words that she was unwanted by others. Was she ready for the wild chase that followed when he found out years later that she had been pregnant with his heirs and that she had been hiding the truth all this while? Faced with the ruthless CEO, known as the beast, who wasn't ready to back down, Daphne does everything possible to make sure her kids wouldn't be taken from her, but what happens when love gets in the mix of it all? Would she be able to conquer these weird feelings and give in her all amidst her scars? And with how deadly he turned out to be? And faced with her ex who still wants her back, what choice is she going to make?

"Zeke, was I just a substitute?" I asked, my voice trembling. "All these years, was I nothing but a replacement?" But then again, he remained silent. And I took that as a 'yes' to my questions. "It's over. The sooner you accept that, the better." Zeke's cold expression remained unchanged. - Discovering she was just a stand-in for her husband's ex, Vivienne Lancaster divorced billionaire Ezekiel Harrington. She signed the papers and walked out of his life, secretly pregnant with twins. Years later, when Ezekiel's company was on the brink of collapse, he needed the help of the elusive and influential mystery designer Viatrix. Little did he know, the designer he had been chasing was none other than Vivienne—his ex-wife. Vivienne had returned and she was ready to get revenge and reclaim her life, while Ezekiel had to face his past mistakes. Could he win back the woman he had taken for granted, or would he fail chasing the billionaire's substitute ex-wife?

My birthday present this year is a written contract titled 'Behavioral Reform Contract'. My fiance, who was the mafia head Matteo Giovanni, and my parents have already signed their names at the bottom. Together, they had me sent to the Behavioral Correction Center. … The windows are always shut, and the sunlight is filtered through the metal window bars. They drug, reprimand, and ostracize me to make me shove my feelings of aggrievement down. Even while I am being humiliated and punished, they teach me to force a smile and maintain a steady breath. It was all done in the name of "treating" me. A year passes, and I go from being a so-called "troublemaker" to their ideal version of me—quiet, elegant, and utterly perfect. Matteo beams at me and says, "You've finally become my perfect wife. We can finally marry." I match his smile, a gesture that they think means obedience from my part. However, it is not true. It is just me bidding my farewell before I leave for good. There's something I don't understand, however. They constantly found me lacking, so now that I am gone from their lives, why are they falling apart?

A debt. A contract. A marriage. A university! Ashley's father borrowed money from a wealthy billionaire to expand his business. Unfortunately, the expansion failed making the company and the family on the brink of bankruptcy to the extent of almost selling his last property which is their house to pay back the debts. But one fateful day, Mr. Walter came to the Black's family house and gave them an absurd offer which would help them pay their debt and get their company back on its feet. The offer was simple. Since Mr. Black was owing Mr. Walter about 10 million dollars, he offered to forget about the money and even help the company to get back on his feet if... Ashley gets married to his philanderous son, Michael, for a year! Read to follow up with the rollercoaster story of Michael and Ashley's one year contracted marriage while still in college, their heartbreak, their scandalous past and how they later fell madly in love with each other!

Having been drugged by her ambitious husband, Cynthia was made to spend the night with an unknown man in a hotel room, after which she was taken home early the next morning while still in her unconscious state. Little did they know that the particular man they had arranged to sleep with her was not the one who actually slept with her. How will everything play out? Why would her husband arrange a strange man to sleep with his own wife? Get into a thrilling romance journey filled with deceit, betrayal and a love that can ruin ones life forever, or maybe can become a blessing in disguise.

Regretting the person you once loved is the most tragic kind of love. The butterflies, the heartbeats, and the gazes are all for nothing if you had already lost without even gearing up for a fight. In this world where happy ever after ends with a seal, tragedy is just about to begin, in which crying is its real ending.

Following a challenging period of rejection and divorce during her early marriage, Hazel faced numerous obstacles while taking care of her younger twin siblings, Daisy and Zayn. However, her determination led her to secure her dream job, prompting her to relocate to a different city in search of a fresh start and the potential for lasting love. Yet, her plans were swiftly overturned when she discovered that her new boss happened to be her ex-husband. The man who had callously rejected her with no explanation was unbelievably the one who offered her a position, fully aware of her identity from the start. Necessity compelled her to accept the job; for it was his financial support that she depended on for survival. Now, she found herself tangled in a complicated web - contending with his new girlfriend, a coworker who harbored affection for her, and a ruthless rival of her ex-husband who would stop at nothing to lure her away. Harnessing resilience and fortitude, could she navigate these challenges without completely losing her sanity?

Amaia Roger was thought to have been killed at birth. Since the curse sign was found on the nape of her neck. Everyone thought the curse was out of moonlight park. The alpha who everyone knew was ruthless and wicked. Gave his Six years old son Zyair the fourth son he had and ordered him to kill every child born that night. Not a single child lived at moonlight park. Through the power he held at birth, his wife, the Luna of moonlight park dead while bearing him. Alpha Wren was scared of his own son. He wasn’t even fourteen yet. He was hated among his three brothers. Amaia was dropped in the deepest forest of of Novak, at that very night she was born. Roger, covered her in a small basket. And drew her name on her tiny hands. Crying as he left her alone. She was his daughter, their daughter. He didn’t want her to die. She lived in Novak, grew up all by herself, and she was called a witch by the people of moonlight park who heard about her movement in the Novak forest. Zyair took it upon himself to look to investigate, the case, he went up to Novak forest with his trusted friend. In the forest he saw her covered in a long gown with a hoodie. Her green eyes stare at him. And for a while they stare at themselves. Who was she? Is mate?