Smug Expression

“Take it off,” he said, his expression cold and dark. “Eh—what do you mean?” I stammered, shocked by his words. “Oh, little one,” he smirked. “Didn’t anyone tell you? You’re here to warm my bed.” Avery Maddox thought she was being offered a job—until she realized she’d been sold to a billionaire. Not just any man, but Luca Stone: arrogant, powerful, and dangerously irresistible. She tries to run. She tries to fight. But what happens when Luca refuses to take no for an answer—and love begins to blur the lines between power and surrender?

When vampires attack the border, my mate's childhood female friend and I both end up trapped in the camp. My mate, Damon Aldridge, shifts into his wolf form and rescues her without a second thought, leaving me alone to face the flames and vampire assault. The next day, I submit a request to the council of elders to sever our mate bond. Damon shows up with a stormy expression, demanding, "You have a priestess bloodline. You can heal yourself. Lydia's more fragile, so I rescued her first. Are you seriously jealous over this?" I meet his eyes calmly. "Yes, but none of that matters anymore."

Xena Quinn posted in the homeowners' group: “Anyone interested in adopting a puppy? $200 each.” I took her at her word and rushed over to adopt one. When she opened the door and saw me, her expression immediately soured, clearly disgusted. “What? A woman?” She quickly raised the price to $2,000 per puppy, and I was so pissed off I just turned around and walked out. The next day, my boyfriend, Hugo Xavier, bought the dog for the original $200 price. Before I could even process what had happened, the doorbell rang. There she was, standing at the door in a revealing nightgown. “Hugo, are you home? I came to check on the puppy.”

Devya, a cheerful and childish woman, meets an Axen, a CEO who is a lonely Werewolf who can't express feelings like ordinary people, he's a Werewolf without an expression on his face. "Go." Axen orders in his stern voice made me frown in annoyance. “After you stole my first kiss, you asked me to leave?!! Bastard!!” I ruffled the bed, I threw all the pillows on the floor in a rage. "Asshole!!!!” I saw him come back closer to me, he again locked me under his body, he touched my neck with his cold fingers. I'm in an awkward situation and it makes my heart beat fast.

My husband, a regiment commander, once promised me he'd only accompany his depressed first love ninety-nine times. But when I finally reached that ninety-ninth tally, I saw the two of them locked in a tight embrace. After that, I stopped crying and begging him not to go to her. I only asked him for a safety locket—a small blessing for our soon-to-be-born child. At the mention of the baby, his expression softened. "When I get back," he said gently, "I'll go with you to the hospital for the checkup." I nodded obediently. I didn't tell him that ten days earlier, I had already filed for divorce. Now, our divorce was final.

Valentine's Day. I was stuck on ER duty at Brighton City Hospital. Theodore Madoff, who was supposed to be working late, strolled in carrying his student—Cecilia Kuntzer. She had red marks everywhere and that smug little smirk. "Relax, Mrs. Madoff. Just stomach pain. Lucky me, Prof. Madoff rushed me here." Theo pushed me to treat her. Turns out? She was pregnant. From rough intercourse. And the dad? Theo. My husband. The same guy who'd sworn off kids with me for ten years. Felt like a punch to the gut. But I still saved her baby. Next day, she uploaded a video—ID in hand, cheesy PowerPoint, accusing me of malpractice. Claimed I killed her kid. Then Theo asked for a divorce. Priscilla—his mom—stormed the hospital, shrieking about her dead grandbaby. She brought a mob. All these "righteous" strangers who stabbed me to death. Right there in the ER. I died with my eyes wide open. Then—bam—I woke up. Valentine's Day. Again.

On the day of my wedding gown fitting, a stranger burst into the VIP suite and stabbed me with a knife. “You think you deserve a dress this expensive after stealing someone else’s man?” She tore at the delicate fabric of my skirt. Then, with a twisted smile, she hurled a bottle of acid at me. The blade was buried in my lower abdomen. The pain drove me to my knees. She grabbed my hair and yanked my head up. “Gerald’s my husband! What are you? You’re nothing but a mistress who can’t even be seen with him in public!” Blood dripped down my fingers. That was when it finally sank in. The man I had been with for seven years had been keeping another woman by his side. “What’re you staring at? Even if I kill you, with my husband’s influence, no one will dare touch me!” Staring at her smug face, I pulled out my phone with hands slicked in blood and called my brother. “Matt…” My voice was unnervingly calm. “Come pick me up at the bridal shop. And please inform the Hoover family that the engagement is off.”

She stole my wedding. I stole her future. On the morning of my wedding, I caught my fiancé Kellan tangled in the sheets with my stepsister. The betrayal should have shattered me. Instead, it lit a fire in my veins. So I did what any woman scorned would do. I pointed to the most dangerous man in the room—Drexon Moreaux, Kellan’s ruthless billionaire uncle—and declared, “Him. I’ll marry him instead.” Drexon could have laughed in my face. The Moreaux empire’s heir apparent, a man forged in boardroom battles and whispered about in elite circles, had no reason to entertain my reckless demand. But he said, “I do.” Now, my stepsister’s smug smile is crumbling. My ex-fiancé is forced to call me Auntie. And Drexon? He watches me with dark, calculating eyes, as if I’m a puzzle he’s determined to solve. This marriage was supposed to be my revenge. But with every lingering touch and midnight confession, Drexon is turning it into something far more dangerous—something that feels like love. Too bad the Moreaux family doesn’t believe in happy endings…

Joseph Larkin, my husband, who has been missing for seven years, suddenly comes back. Not only does he bring another woman back, but he is also asking me for a divorce. Joseph says, "Mabel risked her life to save me. That's why I have to marry her to repay her. If you know what's good for you, you'll tell everyone we're already divorced." Looking at his haughty expression, I calmly say, "But I've already married someone else." Joseph laughs disdainfully. "Who are you trying to fool? Everyone knows you only have eyes for me."

Tamine Jordan has three rules for surviving Blackridge Academy: 1. Keep her head down. 2. Avoid the Thorpe brothers at all costs. 3. Never, ever, let her heart get involved again. But rules have a way of shattering, especially when your cheating ex and his infuriatingly charming half-brother are determined to make your life impossible. Atlas Thorpe, the boy who broke her heart, is cruel, smug, and still playing games that leave her humiliated in front of half the school. Evans Thorpe, the hockey team’s golden boy, should be easier to ignore… except one reckless night left her tangled in his memory and in his sights. Now Evans has maneuvered his way into her Literature class, and thanks to the world’s most sadistic teacher, Tamine is stuck tutoring him. Being near him is dangerous; not just because of his relentless teasing and disarming smile, but because she can’t stop remembering the way he once touched her. And when two brothers are locked in a rivalry where the prize is her, it’s only a matter of time before someone gets burned. The real question is, will Tamine survive the game, or end up playing it too?