Step2 Naturally Playful Sand Table

In a high school world where popularity reigns, Ava Martinez prefers the quiet corners of the library to the chaos of the halls. After her mother's engagement to Mark, she's forced to navigate life with her charming yet unpredictable stepsibling, Ethan Davis. When a science project pairs them together, their playful banter ignites a connection neither expected. As Ethan helps Ava transform into the girl she thinks she wants to be, they both confront jealousy, self-discovery, and the complexities of their feelings. But when a betrayal threatens to unravel everything, Ava must decide what truly matters. In this heartwarming tale of friendship, identity, and the struggle for acceptance, Ava learns that the journey to find oneself is often the most rewarding adventure of all. Will she choose the spotlight or embrace her true self—and the unexpected love waiting right beside her?

“Here. Sign this and you can start immediately. If you have anything important at home, bring it here....I’ll provide you with everything. "Clothes, food, whatever you need,” he said, the smirk returning to his face. She reached for the file hesitantly, her eyes narrowing slightly. Something felt…off. Too quick. Too intense. Just as she was about to flip through the pages, her phone rang. Tring… Tring… She glanced at Liam. He nodded. “It’s okay.” She quickly signed the last page without reading. Inside, her instincts itched. Something didn’t sit right. But she brushed the feeling off. Maybe he was just one of those flirty, arrogant bosses. “You signed without reading it,” he said in a whisper only she could hear. “Bold.” “I trust Liam,” she replied. Vincenzo smiled, not the kind that made people feel safe. She handed the file back and turned to leave. Vincenzo stood silently, watching her go. The way her hair swayed. The curve of her waist. That innocent look in her eyes. As she disappeared around the corner, he exhaled sharply. “Such a girl,” he muttered under his breath. “I never expected someone like her in my life, that face, those lips. Those curves.” He laughed, low and full of wicked pleasure. “Oh, Vincenzo De Luca. You are one lucky bastard.” He reached for the contract she had just signed and tapped his fingers on the table, a smirk growing on his face. “Welcome to my kingdom, once again” he said. “You just sold yourself to the devil.” He ran a finger slowly across her photo again, his smirk spreading. “Such a fucking beauty,” he muttered under his breath. “And she walked right into my trap"

After failing the mission, the System gave me one final chance, and to succeed, I had to give birth to a child. The System promised that if the baby were born safely, it would reveal the truth to my target and give me one last glimmer of hope. However, six months into my pregnancy, just when things seemed stable, I was dragged onto an operating table in the middle of the night by my husband and family. My husband stopped the anesthesiologist from giving me any pain relief. “Let her feel the pain,” he said coldly. “We need to keep the kidneys as fresh as possible.” My parents instructed the doctor to draw my blood. “She’s the same blood type as our precious girl. Let’s take some for backup.” Even my childhood friend, the boy who had always been by my side, was the one to slice open my abdomen.  They wanted my kidneys to save my sister, who was dying from kidney failure. No one believed I was pregnant. No matter how much I begged, they went ahead with the operation, tearing me open. The baby couldn’t survive, and I died on that operating table. However, as my soul began to fade away, something strange happened. Those who had murdered me—my husband, my parents, my so-called friend—they all lost their minds.

“Just give in, Catalina,” Theodore urged. No way was I going to. After the worst night of my life, the last thing I planned to do was accept his ridiculous proposal. I mean, who coaches a grown man on how to win his fiancée? “I’ll help you find your son,” he added as I walked away. I froze, his car stopping alongside me. “You need my help as much as I need yours. Don’t be stubborn.” Frustration burned through me. “Why would you want me? Didn’t you see what happened with my family? I’m the villain here!” Theodore stepped out, closing the distance. When his fingers brushed mine, I sucked in a sharp breath. He grinned. “Well, in my story, everyone gets a second chance.” His thumb traced my knuckles, eyes playful but intent. “Even the villain.” ------------------------------------------------------- Catalina Rodriguez has always been the black sheep of the wealthy Rodriguez family. Having lost her mother before she opened her eyes to the world, Catalina did her best to survive even if it meant making a deal with her cunning stepmother. But all that changed when she fell into a trap and almost got thrown from the house. Then she meets Theodore Knight, a very sexy man with blue eyes who needs her help. After saving Catalina from her father's wrath, Theodore is drawn to her wit, charm, and fierce intelligence, which leads him to offer her a proposal; help him win back his ex-girlfriend from his uncle, and in return, he would help her find the son she lost years ago. But one drunken night leads to an even bigger mess: they wake up married. Will Catalina and Theodore really be able to pull through a year pretending to be in love with no strings attached?

Amelia's leg tapped against the table as she asked, "What are your thoughts on love?" Her hands were clasped together on her lap, but her eyes sparkled with curiosity. Lucas met her gaze, a smirk playing on his lips. "Love is a waste of time," he replied. "It's a tool designed to weigh people down. Without it, we could achieve so much more." Amelia's eyes lit up with interest; he had just ticked almost all her boxes green. "I agree," she said, her smirk matching his. "Love is nothing but bullshit. We could save a lot of time by keeping our relationship minimal." With a proactive glint in her eye, she added, "What do you say? We should get married to fulfill our filial duties." _____________ Their marriage was a facade, a contract between two individuals who didn't believe in love but were forced to get married to fulfill their obligations. Everything was going as planned, until suddenly... "Have you eaten, dear?" "How is my baby?" "Is he doing well?" Lucas's words, once empty and mechanical, now held a tender tone. Amelia found him falling for her, and she seemed to be falling too. Why were they succumbing to the very thing they once scorned? Love, once a distant possibility, was now becoming an option. But would they choose it?

“Is trusting you a sin?” Hannah asked. “It wouldn't have been a sin if you were nothing but sand under my feet. You’ve always had it all—the grades, the charm, the spotlight. Teachers adored you. Boys wanted you. Even James, the only one I ever looked at like that, fell for you despite your boring look.” Her best friend’s laugh was dry. Cruel. Hannah’s heart squeezed, her breath catching in her throat. “You think you’ve won?” she said, voice shaking. “Because you slept with my husband and fed him lies?” “I don’t think, Hannah. I won.” “You didn’t win. You settled. You crawled into my leftovers and tried to wear my skin like it would turn you into something better—but it didn’t.” --- On her first wedding anniversary, Hannah Reyes was drugged—by her husband and her best friend. The betrayal shattered her world, and cost her the one thing she was holding onto: her unborn child. The next day, still lying in a hospital bed, her husband handed her divorce papers... then ordered her thrown out. Lost, bleeding, and alone, she was hit by a car. But fate wasn’t done with her yet. The driver? Matthew DeLacruz—her husband’s former friend, now bitter enemy, and a man he once scammed. And Matthew made her an offer she couldn’t ignore: "Be my vice president, and I’ll help you destroy him." What began as revenge turned into something else, something thrilling, empowering, and dangerously beautiful. And just when she thought she had nothing left to lose, Matthew made her a different offer: Marriage. Now Hannah must ask herself: Can she truly trust again? Or will this new beginning become just another ending?

“I paid you! Why do you keep stalking me, then?” She burst out, while glancing at the door as if she was expecting someone to come in and save her. Not that she needed any saving though. I placed both hands on the table, and leaned down towards her. “We fucked.” My lips curled. Her face colored crimson. “It was a nightstand. Adults have one nightstands all the time. Moreover, I paid you-” “I’m not other people, Inez Raymond,” I said, cutting off her words. “Let’s make a deal.” Interest sparked within her eyes, yet she eyed me cautiously. “What deal?” “That you'll agree to be my wife for three months. If you don't fall in love with me during that period, I'll let you be.” She hesitated. “No sex?” I smirked. “I can't promise that. So, what do you say?” She took a deep breath. “Okay.” *** In her drunken and broken hearted haze, Inez Raymond has a one nightstand with a stranger. She pays him off the next morning, and part ways with him. But then, he starts stalking her. When he forces her into a deal with him, she agrees. What she doesn't know is that the stranger was connected with her in ways she could never imagine. Nor was she aware that she was the only heiress of the most powerful family in Europe, second only to the Celvins. While she's determined not to fall in love with him within three months, he's determined to make her fall in love with him, to find out who made her lose her memory years ago, while helping her get revenge on her ex-husband. Who will emerge champion, in their little game of chess?

When all the inhabitants of this big city where everyone falls into the dark world of the fog of passion, in a city where everyone was involved in conspiracy schemes, the search for love and manipulation through the authorities who are involved in power games , control and seduction, in which they were being bought and manipulated, giving their greatest gifts of love, hate and envy, in those who are in search of their greatest desires and desires, those who seek the mystery of the intensity of true love. Come to my side, embark on a world of pleasures of the hidden darkness of desires, in the darkness of the heart moved by your greatest pleasures, on your journeys in your world of desires in which you are increasingly involved in the darkness of your greatest sins, in a world tales that show reality and seduction, between tales of pleasure, pain, love and romances between businessmen Even with an ending to move forward, even remembering forever, when that's what you needed, and what everyone needed was high expectations, in your favor, even thinking about it, when it was easy to show how different everything can be. Even now, in his relationship, with everyone in his life, new friendships, lovers, with the best way of being himself, but manipulating everyone around him, being that basically, supporting and changing everything the world and his city do. involved himself in big parties, events and countless trips, in addition to festivals and holidays, he controls everyone's lives. Today nothing has changed, that feeling he had when he couldn't do anything, it took years for him to be certain that he could never again be accused of arriving too late, that his relatives should have died naturally, but it wasn't a peaceful death.

The silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating. Kourtney paced in front of him, her heels clicking against the dusty floor of the abandoned villa. The contract lay untouched on the table, just inches from Travis’s restrained hands. Her plan had been reckless, but it was all she had left. “I didn’t want to do this,” she murmured, voice shaking. “But you gave me no choice.” Travis tilted his head. “You think tying me to a chair will change how I feel?” “No. But it changes what you’re allowed to do,” she said, forcing a smirk that didn’t reach her eyes. He didn’t flinch. “What happens after the wedding, Kourtney? When your father finds out? When Kim finds out?” She looked away. “Then it’ll be too late. I’ll have what’s mine.” “Money?” he asked. “Or revenge?” That struck something in her. Kourtney turned to him, face darkening. “You chose her. You loved her. But what about me, Travis? You never even gave me a chance.” “You think forcing me into marriage will give you love?” “No,” she whispered. “But it’ll give me power.” Travis met her eyes. No fear. Just sadness. “This isn’t you,” he said softly. “You don’t know me anymore,” she replied, backing away. “Sign the contract, Travis. Or I swear, I’ll make sure you never walk free again.” Travis looked down at the paper, then back at her. “You’ll lose yourself in this, Kourtney.” She swallowed hard. “Then maybe losing myself is the only way I survive.”

"It started as a prank. So...how did I end up on my knees for my neighbor in his office?" Zoe Justice (20) is finally free—no dorm rules, no nosy RAs, no lukewarm cafeteria mac and cheese. With her grandparents’ inheritance and a playlist full of bangers, she’s ready to celebrate her first night as a bona fide homeowner. New digs, new vibes, and definitely a party worthy of the milestone. She expected a few noise complaints and maybe a fussy neighbor or two. But she didn’t expect the cops to roll up before 9 p.m. and shut down the whole thing like it was some kind of crime scene. Apparently, someone across the street didn’t appreciate her welcome-home energy. And when Zoe spotted him—the smug, too-serious man on the porch, standing there like he owned the cul-de-sac—she knew exactly where the betrayal came from. So naturally, she let her middle fingers and death glare do the talking. Veterinarian or not, Mr. Peace-and-Quiet was officially on her list. And she? She wasn’t going down without a little payback. But what happens when the prank war turns into a love affair neither of them saw coming?