So Close Yet So Far

For five years, Marco Falcone was the perfect man. Or so I thought. The illusion shattered on the night of our engagement party, when his mistress crashed it, a five-year-old boy in tow. The boy ran straight to Marco, crying, "Daddy! Daddy, I finally found you!" It had to be some kind of sick joke. But then Marco turned to me, his voice stripped of all warmth. "This is my son, Leo. A… mistake Sofia and I made five years ago." "Leo is the Falcone heir. I have to legitimize them. That means I'll be engaged to Sofia first." "But Lydia, believe me, I still love you. We can have our engagement party in six months. You're going to be the Donna of the Falcone family. I expect you to be generous and understanding. This is non-negotiable." I laughed, a cold, sharp sound, and slid the engagement ring off my finger. My eyes scanned the room and locked on the man in the corner—Lorenzo Moretti, the most powerful Don in New York. He held another title, one only I knew: the man who’d been trying to make me his. "Don Moretti," I called out, my voice clear and steady. "I find myself in need of a new fiancé. Are you interested?"

"You slept here?" George asked. "Yes, I…um,” Irene gulped, licking her lips and making a quick calculation in her mind on what to say, “I um…I was feeling hot when reading, so I decided to take a shower and might have fallen asleep after it. You just woke me up, have-have you been standing here? Um what's up, are you ready for work?” She asked while getting up to put on her nightwear. George watched her then sighed, “Irene, can I ask you something?” His eyes was burning red, and he was bitterly angry which was showing on his face “Why did you do this to me, what have I done to deserve the betrayal from you, What haven’t I done for you, what else do you need from a man i’ve not given to, why didn’t you tell me you want to be a model, why do you chose to let me know this way, do you want a divorce?” Irene and George had met in school and fallen in love, then their relationship had led into a beautiful marriage where she had been most happy until she had miscarried two pregnancies. Down and broken, George had decided to make her better by hiring a cook who would bring all her online delicacies to their dining table for her. But who would have expected that her one night of mistake would not only change her but would fill her beautiful marriage with lies? How is she to avoid her sins despite knowing it was wrong and still craving for it? How would she face her darling husband and tell him her darkest secret? But even though the sin was addictive, she had no idea what other secrets lies between, waiting to shatter her heart.

“If I had to choose again, I’d still choose our story. I would still choose you.” These were one of lines he read as his tears came out without warning. As he traveled in the Philippines, he found himself on a tropical island in the province of Palawan, where a certain incident led him to a woman who has something from her past that connects them. Looks, money, fame? He thought he had it all. Until one day, he found himself right outside her house. Jace Park, one of the famous Kpop idols, is ready to risk everything just to win her woman back.

To everyone else, I'm the wife of Stefano Pace, the man who runs this city's underworld. To others, I am living the kind of luxury every woman in town envies. But what no one knows is that in three days, I'm leaving my husband for good. It started when I took Stefano's car to wash and spotted a black stocking that wasn't mine wedged in the passenger seat cushions. It was balled up and still reeked of sickly sweet perfume. The sight of it was like a knife to the heart. I knew that perfume. It is Isla Torelli's. She's Stefano's underboss, the only woman besides me who's ever taken the passenger seat. My hand trembled as I gripped the stocking, but I kept my cool. I thought back to our wedding seven years ago, when Stefano stood in front of the whole family and vowed, "If I ever betray you, then betray me a hundredfold!" He probably did not think those words would come true.

As the daughter of the Shadow Pack’s Beta, I was born with power, grace, and devotion. Justin, the future Alpha of the pack, was hailed as my fated mate from the moment our paths crossed. I once believed that we were meant to be. With the Moon Goddess bringing us together through a mate bond, even death could not tear us apart. Yet, the illusion was shattered three years ago. Justin pushed me away time and again in the name of repaying an obligation to Marissa, a rogue, for saving his life. Everything that should have been ours, he gave to her, be it our home, title, and our life plans together—all because she said she wasn’t happy. By the ninety-ninth time, the debt of gratitude was finally repaid. I stood at the mating ceremony venue in my gown, filled with anticipation that he would mark me. Alas, all my waiting ended with the news that he had given Marissa a top-tier moonstone, symbolizing eternal love. In that moment, all the pain I had held back came crashing down. My wolf howled in my mind with a voice so primal and sad. For once, I didn’t silence her. I believed it was time to make room for Justin and his lifesaver.

Asul and her mother became poor in just one snap. Her stepfather stripped off their wealth and even accused her mother of cheating. She knows from the start that the man and his son won't do them anything good. Too late for her mother to regret it. As her mother died of sickness, and her former stepbrother showing up in unexpected situation, she planned on getting her revenge. She will do everything to get even with him. Everything. And that includes seducing him until he give in.

"You're a dangerous woman, Elena," He reached, turning on the shower beside her head. "I think your demons are making you see things wrong, Mr. Rossi," she murmured through the water spilling down her head. He laughed, "They are right; you're my trigger," his nose buried into the crook of her neck, he muttered, sending shivers down her spine. "And too bad a lot of people cross you..." ***** Her life came crashing down when she signed a contract marriage with the calm President Nikolai Rossi, who only had eyes on one woman who wasn't her. To make matters worse, she couldn't help but fall in love with him and his son, knowing he'd never reciprocate. After a terrible divorce, three years later, Elena Vero is a mother of one. She now has to return to Italy for business, unfortunately falling into the waiting palms of her ex-husband, who surprisingly wants her back. But being his wife has never been a bed of roses and never will it be, especially when she finds out he isn't all that he seems.

While taking the high-speed train home, I came across a post online. “My brother-in-law is pushing thirty, but no wedding bells so far. Would it bother you if he came back to visit all the time?” The comments were all over the place. With the post blowing up, the poster started arguing with commenters. “It’s bad enough that he doesn’t start his own family, but he took one of my yogurts. I can’t stand him. “Geez. Does he know nothing about keeping boundaries? I’ve been dying to put him in his place. “I converted his room into my walk-in closet. Well, that should show him for staying here.” At that point, I stopped reading. Since I paid for the family home back then, one room would always be reserved for me. As I stepped off the train, my mother texted me. “I booked you a room at the hotel, Miles. “You might want to skip staying home this time.”

After being Nelson Jackson’s devoted simp for five years, Sarah Paterson became pregnant. Just as she was excitedly waiting for him to propose, Nelson had a change of heart when his high school sweetheart returned from studying abroad. Sarah didn't fight to keep the relationship. Instead, she went straight to the hospital, had an abortion, and immediately agreed to the arranged marriage her family had set up with a business partner's son. But Nelson came to regret his decision. He begged Sarah to keep his child, but she only gave him two words in response. "Too late."

One woman and three men battle it out for their futures. The alpha takes in a woman who helped him years before, the reason? He wants her to marry one of his sons and heirs. Whoever she marries will become the next alpha. But the woman holds secrets that no one knows, and the power at her fingertips overrules the alphas and his sons. Will the alpha get what he wants? Will his sons ruin their chances with her? Or will the wolf king be her mate? Follow Khanna on this journey of self-discovery and her fight for survival and love.