Stares Daggers

When I visit my girlfriend's house during the Christmas holidays, her cousin, Antonio Esposito, humiliates me in front of everyone because of a scar on the back of my hand. "This scar looks like a remnant of the crossfire with the mafia! Bianca, why did you think that bringing an ex-convict home was a good idea?" The entire Romano family stares at me in a mixture of horror and shock. My girlfriend, Bianco Romano, even shakes my hand off while staring at me in disgust. Not only does Antonio flip the table, but he also calls over a few hooligans in an attempt to take me to the local police station. "We must teach scumbags like him a lesson!" he declares. After that, Antonio and the hooligans strip off my jacket and strap me to the tree in the courtyard. They then attempt to force me to admit that I'm working for the mafia. I can only gnash my teeth together stubbornly, refusing to yield no matter what. What they don't know is that the scar is a medal from my time in a peacekeeping war as a soldier!

Seven years into my secret marriage to Leon Ferrante—Don of the Ferrante Family—and he still wouldn't make it public. Before the vows, I was his Consigliere. Every arms deal went through me. After? Just another housewife. Swapped my holster for an apron. Kitchen counter became my war zone. He didn't want kids. Said he had to take care of his autistic little brother. I got it. So I gave it all up—for his Family, for that kid. The Family blew up fast. The kid? Went from blank stares to sharp comebacks. Even started talking. But Leon still kept me in the dark. His mother wouldn't quit. "Give him a healthy heir. He'll settle down." I thought maybe she was right. I clung to him for a few nights. I got pregnant. Came home with the results, ready to tell him— Then I heard his "autistic" brother ask, clear as day: "Papa, are you gonna divorce Anna and marry someone else?"

I have two kidneys. I've given one of them to my wife, Teagan Holt. In just one year, Teagan and her childhood sweetheart, Morgan Backman, have gone through all 72 karmasutra positions in bed. They can't wait to experience them all over again. My other kidney is given to Morgan. They've used 365 condoms, and the water bill is more than five times its regular rate. Teagan can't even get out of bed every day from how sore she is. Two years later, when Morgan needs another kidney transplant in order to survive, Teagan steps into the manor on her own. She looks everywhere for me, only to see our nine-year-old son, Milo Shepherd, crouching at the doorway. "Milo, as long as you can convince your dad to donate his kidney to Mr. Backman, I'll allow you to come home with me." Milo just stares up at Teagan innocently. "But Mom, you have Dad's other kidney inside you."

Five years down the drain! Clair Green stares at the divorce papers in her hand. Never did she think she would be in this position. Then she thinks back over the last few months of her life with Mike—all the secret phone calls, the whispers in the dark and eventually the pictures that she was not supposed to see. At last, she could put a name to it all. Sienna Whitfield. In pain and ready to forget all of her trouble, she walks tall into the Banquet Hall. It is where the charity event will take place. Then she sees him - a man with so much authority, handsome and older—a man no one can miss. A man who walks like he owns the world, full of confidence. He walks up to her and talks to her, but when he introduces himself, she knows her desire for this man can never be fulfilled. The man who ignited the Flames of Desire in her is no one else but Damon Withfield. He is the uncle of her enemy. He is related to the woman who stole her husband. He is Sienna Whitfield's uncle!

The two childhood sweethearts swear that they'll marry no one but me, but they stand by as my dog of ten years gets killed in a car accident. I cradle the dog's mangled body, but no tears fall. Dante Battaglia stares at me in disgust and asks, "Why did you bring it home? Don't you know Anna's allergic to it?" Dario Battaglia immediately rushes over to snatch away the body in my arms. "This is a damned jinx. Get rid of it!" The Battaglia siblings and I are childhood friends. Dante became the Don, and Dario the Consigliere. I'm the precious princess in the two brothers' eyes, but everything changes with Anna's arrival. After burying the dog myself, I reply to the email inviting me to join an international classified project. The email reads, "Ms. Julia Costanza, we'd like to know if you're willing to participate in this institute's ten-year-long classified project. Upon joining, your personal information will be sealed for a decade, and you will be prohibited from contacting the outside world." I replied, "Yes, I agree."

The medicine in her hand is a gateway to death, but it may not be. Victoria knew the path she was about to take could lead to destruction, but the hope for a little happiness remained. In the darkness of the hospital room, before her sits a man she once knew-a man who has lost everything, who now stares at her with sharp, hateful eyes. Logan, the badly injured CEO of Dallas Corp, spends his days in a wheelchair, trapped in a deep grudge. Victoria knows this is the right moment. If she didn't act now, it would all be over. “I can take you to get everything back,” Victoria said, voice wrapped in hesitation yet full of determination. Stepping closer, her eyes met Logan's dark, piercing ones. “Everything they ever took away, including your own honor as CEO of Dallas Corp,” she added, looking at him deeply, like an unbreakable promise. “But... pay for my daughter's entire treatment. Even if necessary, find the best doctor in the country so he can work on her recovery.”

"Tell me, what is all this? Huh? Were you...involved in getting my dad killed?" I ask in a whisper, too afraid for her to confirm my supposed suspicion. She just stares at me blankly and then nods her head up and down. And that is the moment where I feel like my world has been destroyed. ..... Darin Santi, a soft-hearted son of a billionaire, has a crush on a girl whose name he doesn't know other than just D. Neither has he seen her face. He has become a fan of her since she has saved him from being beaten by his rival football team. But when he meets another girl, Arabella, his supposed fiance, he gradually falls for her not knowing its consequences. Dhanishta Baidwani, a girl who has come with a clear motive, and that is to protect her sister, finds herself falling for the enemy's kid. Will this love survive amidst all this chaos? Will he still love his Angel even after knowing that she is not at all angelic but rather sinful? **Cover photo is taken from the internet.**

Alicia Elrod, daughter of the Alpha of the Lightcrest Pack, has almost everything—prestige, beauty, and a loving mate. Her life takes a quick turn when someone robs the position she dreams of before her eyes, and her seemingly loving and kind mate suddenly rejects her. To top it off, a strange illness starts taking over her mind and body on the night of the full moon. As Alicia struggles to survive, a mysterious man appears in her life, serving as her only comfort. However, everything is merely a foretaste of the worst—meeting Alpha Alistair, the rumored tyrant who's hunting for a bride. "Marry me, Alicia." Alpa Alistair kisses the back of her hand. "I promise to treasure you for the rest of my life." "Why?" Alicia stares blankly at him. A hint of doubt spread across her face. Alpha Alistair cocks his head to the side as he leans closer to her ear. "Because you’re my mate. Why else?" Alicia scoffs. "I reject you, Alpha Alistair." "Well," he says, licking her earlobe before he continues. "I reject your rejection, mate."

I suddenly got a call from the police, telling me I was involved in an abandoned baby case. My best buddy was holding me up as we rushed to the scene when Shirley Dunn, the girl who had asked me for directions last week, suddenly pointed straight at me. "That's her. I saw her this morning, holding her stomach, going into the restroom! Now the baby's been born, and her belly's flat!" I was completely stunned. Before I could react, she shoved the newborn straight into my arms. "This is your own flesh and blood! How could you abandon him?" The officer's expression was equally severe. "Miss, I understand that becoming a mother at 20 can be scary, but abandoning a baby is a crime. If you didn't want to raise a child, you shouldn't have had one." More and more college students gathered around, their stares stabbing into me like needles. Cold sweat soaked my back. My best friend suddenly burst out laughing. "Congrats, man! You're a dad now!"

She was sent as a peace offering. She arrived as something they had no law for. When Ivy Voss is traded across Pack borders to seal her father's treaty, she expects politics, cold stares, and a year she can survive with her dignity intact. What she doesn't expect is Caelum Dusk, the Alpha's quiet, steady brother who looks at her like she's something worth keeping. Or Rook Vane, the enforcer who followed her from the Syndicate, who knows every dangerous thing about her, and whose orders she just discovered are not what she was told. One man offers her roots. The other offers her wings. The Pack's ancient laws have no word for a woman who wants to grow both. As the treaty fractures and an enemy neither side anticipated makes its move, Ivy must reckon with the wolf she never knew she was and the life she never knew she wanted. Love has territory too. And some borders, once crossed, cannot be uncrossed. In Ashveil, peace is never free. And neither is she.