Smug Expression

[WARNING: Mature Content] "Aren't you a feisty little forte," His rough voice almost made her jump in fright. Her tied wrist ached with the knowledge he was clutching tight to it. He leaned close to her with his lips over her ear and whispered. "No one escapes from me, troublemaker, not even the dead." ____________ Ivanna, a petite princess ran from home after being told to replace her elder sister by marrying a man old enough to be her grandpa. That wasn't the perfect prince-charming marriage she had thought of when she was little. Her parents didn't heed her pleas when she said no. So, she had only one way; To escape. And she fled. But what will she do when she accidentally falls into the hands of the nastiest man she'd ever met? A man whose expression didn't change as he killed his third-in-command for knocking over his stuff. Will her arranged marriage still take place, or will the devil force her into marriage to keep her as his pet? __________ "I am not so bad, Princess," That was the only thing he said before breaking the neck of a man that had earlier gazed seductively at her. "Except when they want my stuff."

On the day Andrew Selwyn is elected as the pack's Beta, we promise to have our bonding ceremony a month later. Seven days away from the ceremony, he suddenly decides to pursue his first love, Lucy Grimm. He wants to make up for the time they had lost apart. If he gets back together with Lucy, he hopes I will give them my blessing. If he can't win her over, he'd let go of his obsession and return to complete the ceremony. He'd spend the rest of his life loving and protecting me. Gazing at his sincere expression, I smile and say, "Alright. As long as it makes you happy, I won't stop you." The moment he turns and leaves, I can no longer hold back my tears. All along, Andrew's heart belonged to someone else. Later, I contact my best friend, Selena Jones, through the mind link. "My bonding ceremony has been canceled," I say flatly, my voice thick with helplessness. "Didn't you want me to lead the research team at your institute out of town? I'll do it. When do we leave?"

"How about meeting again so we can continue from were we left." Raphael asked in his husky voice, his hand still squeezing my breast. He was really good at it. "You were good but not good enough for another night baby boy." I winked, leaving him with a shocked expression on his face.

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!"

"Is that tattoo real?" she asked, her voice trembling. Edgar looked at her, confused. "Yes,I got it on a trip to Hawaii, years ago. Why do you ask?" Elma's heart raced as she realized the truth. "You're him," she whispered. "You're the man who raped me." Edgar's expression changed, going from confusion to realization. "Elma, I swear, I had no idea. I would never hurt you. I love you." But Elma couldn't listen. She screamed at him, tears streaming down her face. "How could you do this to me? How could you marry me and not tell me who you really are?" A wild encounter leads to a devastating turn of events. Haunted by his past mistake, Gael Edgar enters into a contract marriage with the lady he unconsciously abused in order to save his company and family fortune. As they navigate their contracted union, secrets and past traumas come to light, leading to a dramatic confrontation of truth and the possibility of destruction, forgiveness and love. With Justice in Elma's hand, will she forgive him or will she destroy him? Find out in "The Contracted Bride."

"If you need anything financially speaking, use this," he held out a black card towards me, "I hope I don't have any problems with you." I stared at the handsome man with the cold expression in front of me, took the card in my fingers and watched him go. Although we were married on paper, our lives would remain separate, each navigating our own turbulent waters. -- When Morgana's father discovers that he has cancer, she tries to find the money to pay for the treatment, agreeing to marry the grandson of a very wealthy family, Ryan Burke, in exchange for the treatment. Their marriage tends to be only nominal, as the boy already has a girlfriend, Elena Kyle. For Morgana, none of this was important, she just wanted to save her father's life. Three years after this contract, her father dies and she returns to the fictional city of Rookgaard to end this nominal marriage, even though she fell in love with Ryan during the wedding. Morgana reluctantly signs the contract, even though she likes Ryan, who doesn't understand his wife's attitude. The other day, thinking she was free of the marriage, she decides to go out with some friends from work to celebrate the divorce, giving herself the opportunity to get to know doctor Elliot Sharon better. What she didn't expect was to run into Ryan, giving him a reason not to sign the papers. Morgana remains married to Ryan, even though he still brings Elena into their lives, until a mysterious car accident happens. Putting her life on the line and changing things.

In the empty villa, Celia Quinn sat motionless on the sofa. It wasn't until much later that the villa's front door swung open, and Lucas Shaw stepped inside. His gaze paused briefly on her, then his expression turned cold. "Yvonne is running a fever today. Why did you keep calling me?"

Everyone knew Peter was crazy about me. But five years into our marriage, he knocked up his mentor's daughter. Crying, Cindy grabbed his hand. "I won't let Yuna know." Peter just stared her down. "You'd better not. I'm only helping you because I owe your dad. Don't get any bright ideas." She had the baby on my birthday. Peter looked at the kid like he was already in love. Then Cindy, all smug, texted me: [Ms. Zander, don't you think my baby deserves a dad with a real title?] I signed the divorce papers and caught a flight to Hampsburg.

Chuck Bassett, heir to an Urbington East fortune in Nuvark City, has dated 42 girlfriends—all foreign, all in white dresses, every single one with a mole at the corner of her eyebrow. People joke about his obsession, saying he'll never get over his first love, Lylith Fowler. Then, Lorrie Scarrow shows up. She's sharp, short-haired, hates dresses, and her eyes are clear and bright. She's nothing like the women he's dated before. Chuck buys her a private island. When she mentions how much she loves the stars, he fills the sky above their estate with millions of drones, crafting a shimmering galaxy just for her. He even gets her initial tattooed beneath his collarbone. Everyone is amazed. Chuck has finally moved on from the past. Even Lorrie starts to believe it. Until she spots him in the red-light district, shelling out a fortune to book a hostess for a whole month. The woman has short hair and a button-down shirt. She looks just like Lorrie. Chuck's friends are floored. "Have you lost your mind? Lylith changed her look, and now you're after someone who looks even more like her? Remember how she dumped you for that wealthy foreign businessman when she thought you were broke? "She only came crawling back after she found out you're the heir to one of the Four Great Families. You've always said there's nothing you hate more than women like that!" Chuck knocks back the shot. "I hate her, and I love her. She pulled me out of a fire ten years ago. No one else can ever replace her in my heart." "And what about Lorrie? You proposed to her! She gave up a career at one of the world's top design firms for you. Aren't you worried she'll walk away when she finds out?" Chuck leans back on the couch, his expression cold. "I won't marry a traitor. Lorrie's pure, innocent—the closest thing to how Lylith used to be. So I'll still marry her. She loves me too much to walk away." Unseen in the shadows, Lorrie stands frozen, her heart plummeting. Turns out, she's just another her.

I watched in both awe and horror as streaks of lighting escaped my fingers and brightened up the room. It was so beautiful but also slightly terrifying.  I had no idea how I was doing this or if it was even me. Do I have...powers? The word tasted bitter in my mouth and I quickly swallowed it back. No one must know about this. The people here are anything but nice.  The lighting died down and I sighed. I balanced my weight on a stool at the center of the room. I barely had time to relax before a deep voice resounded,  "What did you just do?"  I stiffened at the sound of the voice. I didn't need to turn around before I knew who it was. That voice had chased me up from bed at night.  I turned slowly to face the person. Alpha Perrin stepped into the light, an indecipherable expression on his face.  "You're...the cure." He said, ever so slightly. . . . As the least favorite child of her parents, Quinn was forced to marry a crippled Alpha to settle the war between the two packs, in place of her older sister. She has no idea how her life would soon change.  Despite his disability, Alpha Perrin is well known for his ruthlessness and unforgiving attitude.  Things took a different turn when Alpha Perrin found out that Quinn could cure him of his ailment. He decided to strike a deal with her. As time went by, the two of them started developing feelings for each other, and then disaster struck.  How would the two of them navigate their way through this hardship? Would this tear them apart for good or will they find their way back to each other?