Stern Expression

I was the pack's chief healer and my mate was just an ordinary warrior. Everyone thought we were not a good match, but I didn't mind. I accepted his proposal without hesitation. But on my mating ceremony, my mate's ex-girlfriend Serena suddenly came in with a little boy. The little boy hugged Marcus' legs and called him daddy. I thought it was some kind of scam. But when Marcus saw the child's mother, his face went pale. Then he showed an expression I'd never seen before—pure adoration—as he scooped the boy into his arms. "Let's cancel our mating ceremony. I need to mark Serena first and raise the child with her. Don't worry. Even though I'm marking Serena, my heart belongs to you." He thought I loved him so much that I chose to be his second mate. He didn't expect that I would just calmly contact my childhood friend Alpha Dominic. "My mating ceremony is all set up, but I'm missing a male lead. Would you be willing to come mark me?"

On the seventh year since Winter Lidell's father was diagnosed with a deadly heart disease, he's finally eligible for a suitable heart meant for the transplant procedure. On the night before the surgery, Winter's husband of seven years, Liam Jager, requests that she give the heart to his mistress, Regina Baile. Liam still looks tall and handsome as ever, but the cold and aloof expression on his face is something that Winter has never seen before. "Winnie." His voice is emotionless. "Regina's condition is deteriorating rapidly." Winter feels her heart sinking the moment she hears her nickname being uttered coldly. She takes half a step backward instinctively, feeling a premonition looming over her. "She needs a heart transplant." Liam's gaze is fixed on Winnie, his tone carrying a hint of absolute decisiveness. "Right. Now." Every word feels like a blade made of ice cutting into Winnie's heart, where hope is starting to flare. Winnie's voice quivers violently, her words coming out fragmented and broken. "What… are you talking about, Liam? My dad… My dad has been waiting for this heart for seven years!"

Caleb Larson used to be the most insignificant member among my subordinates. That was, until he blocked a stab meant for me. That blade was 0.4 inches away from plunging right into his heart. After that, I insisted on marrying Caleb regardless of my family's objections. Since then, everyone thinks that I, the spoiled and wilful heiress to a gang, have gotten married out of love. Two years later, however, a woman seeks me out. "Are you Quinn Stewart?" she asks. She waves the gold bracelet that has the initials "CS" engraved on it. "Cal no longer loves you. He tells me that he feels nauseous whenever he sees your face. You'd better pack up and leave the Stewart family if you still have any sense left in you." I blow the steam away from my coffee cup. Not even the woman's pained screams are capable of making me frown in the slightest. But when Caleb personally rushes over and demands to know why I've chosen to beat Selene up to the point her face gets disfigured, my expression changes instantly. "Everything is over between us, Caleb!"

My dad’s crush came back, and my mom decided to fake her death. “Jane, I’m the main character of a tragic story. If I don’t fake my death now, I’ll end up miserable. “Go tell your dad that Quiana killed me.” In my past life, I had done exactly as she said. My dad had flown into a rage and destroyed the Sullivan family. After that, my mom returned to the land of the living. I thought our family would finally be whole again. Instead, she clung to Dad and cried. “I gave Jane my contact information. How could she say I was dead?” To punish me, my dad locked me in a cold storage room. My mom shot me a cold look. “That’s what you get for calling that woman pretty.” In the cold storage room, at −58°F, I froze to death. When I opened my eyes again, my mom had already faked her death and ran off with her devoted admirer. I looked at my dad and asked with an innocent expression, “Dad, what does eloping mean?”

I had been engaged to Atlas Payne, a powerful CEO, for five years. This was the 21st time he had canceled our wedding ceremony. The first time, his secretary, Jasmine Scott, sprained her ankle. He left me by the roadside and rushed to the hospital. The second time, Jasmine cried and made a scene on the eve of our wedding, so he left me alone on the red carpet. The Payne family was powerful, while I was merely the daughter of a housekeeper. Therefore, everyone advised me to just deal with his mood swings. Every time Atlas left me behind, he would solemnly apologize and promise me that the next wedding attempt would definitely go smoothly. I kept believing him. Even though I was not the family's legitimate mistress, I still handled all the family affairs for him. I waited and waited, but the wedding ceremony never came. All I received was news that Jasmine was pregnant. This time, I had no reason to convince myself to stay. "I will never let you leave my side. If you ever disappear, I’ll make sure to use my family's influence to find you." The sweet words he once said to me were now a cage that trapped me. On Christmas Day, I prepared to leave him for good. I started a fire at home. Even the most powerful family would not be able to find someone who was supposedly dead. Years later, I unexpectedly came across Atlas kneeling at my ‘grave’. He was always so stern, but now, he was crying and begging me to come home and see him again.

"You're one interesting girl my princess," he said. At the same time, his eyes peered into mine as his hands slipped into my dress tracing my legs up to my upper thigh. My bare back pressed against the wall feeling the touch of his palm on my skin which sent tingling shivers down my spine and for some reason, I felt a smile creep up on my lips. "And you aren't a Saint either". __ Jade Flores who works part-time at the infamous Red bar, had just graduated and is looking to make her life better. She's innocent, makes impulsive decision sometimes and just wishes to continue hiding from her wicked uncle. Saint Gennaro Guerra, the city's infamous Mafia lord. He's Stoic, stern, dominant and of course, handsome. No one who has ever crossed him made it out of the 'dead hole'. The two cross paths when one of Saint's men who betrayed him happens to be Jade's cousin, Marcel popularly known as 'Tequila'. Saint rescues her from his archenemy, Matrix who is also in search of Tequila. Saint then holds Jade as his property when he cannot find Tequila. Jade starts to fall hard for him and in as much as he pushes her away each time and keeps his walls high, she doesn't stop trying to break his walls. What happens when the city's infamous man keeps facing different situations with the girl who works at the infamous bar? Will they have themselves to fall back to? Will Saint reciprocate her feelings?

"I finally found you..." Jana's body vibrates to the sound of his deep shrill voice that sends shivers down her spine. "You are not my mate. I don't know you and I want absolutely nothing to do with you" she shuns him off with nothing but pure hatred and anger registered on her voice. "You say that now but you cannot control this attraction and this burning desire that is causing the wet sensation flooding through your panties at the moment. I have waited for over five hundred years for you, and I am never letting you go again" he vowed with a stern voice that told Jana that he meant every word he just said. *** Stefan Salvatore abdicates his position as the Alpha of his pack and the antediluvian vampire of his clan when he breaks a law to bring his dead lover back to life. His punishment is to roam the earth as a rogue stripped of both his alpha status. To the outside world, he is a billionaire and a strict businessman with a lot of wealth and fame to his name. To the Red moon pack, he is the great Lycan wolf with immense power. To the Ventrue vampire Clan, he is their king with power and great leadership. Years later, he crosses paths with Jana, the supposed reincarnation/lookalike of his dead lover who is a wolfless slave in the enemy's pack. She is fiesty, He is cold-hearted. She is stubborn, It attracts him. She is Persistent, He hates it. She is innocent, it excites him. Neither of them can deny the pull and attraction they experience when they're together. Two polar opposites, one fatal attraction. Does Jana really have no memory of her past or is she another reincarnation gone wrong?

Amanda's world fell apart with just one inquiry during the silence of betrayal. "Did you receive the letter that came in this morning at your office?" Dickson's charge seemed weighty and unassailable as it lingered in the air. A storm that threatened to drown the promises of a lifetime had arrived in the form of the terrible divorce letter. Amanda's heart stumbled beneath the weight of broken vows as Dickson's icy words reverberated. She begged, her voice sour, "You promised me..." Unshed tears clouded her vision, and disappointment loomed over her, threatening to crush her. Dickson, however, remained unaffected and branded their union a sham. Amanda's fate had been decided by Amelia's reappearance. Amanda began to doubt the genuineness of the years she had spent in a loveless marriage once the discovery came upon her like a cold wave. "You're getting a divorce because she came back? Are we nothing more than a joke to you?" His reply was more incisive and exposed a fact Amanda hadn't dared to confront. She served as a pawn or stand-in in a game of family dynasty. "You were not the spouse I desired... I won't make the same error now that she's back." Dickson's scathing remarks highlighted the hollowness of their relationship as well as the wounds caused by unmet expectations. When Amanda experienced heartbreak, she was given a stern choice: sign the paperwork or go with a price tag on her value. Amanda was left to sift through the ruins of a marriage that was founded on dishonesty and unspoken wishes because Dickson's mastery of cruel words had reached its zenith. As Amanda debated whether to let go or fight for the love she thought was once genuine, the sour taste of betrayal persisted.

"Isla," he called, his voice brutally stern, "you know it was a terrible mistake that shouldn't have happened in the first place. You're my best friend's daughter and he has entrusted you to my care for Pete's sake!" "Is that your excuse? But that doesn't mean we can't feel something for each other," I retorted, my voice rising. "You kissed me back, Robert. You didn't stop me; infact, you seemed to enjoy it!" Isla's dad had entrusted her to Robert Hardy, his best friend. His goal was for Isla to learn the core of handling business under the scrutiny and watchful eyes of a dear and very trusted old friend, who was to become Isla's mentor, and guardian, but Isla only saw this as an opportunity to finally be able to pursue the strikingly handsome man she has had a huge crush on ever since her young girly heart knew what it meant to feel. As she settles into Robert's world as his office assistant, sparks ignite dangerously between them as a forbidden steamy romance evolves. Their secret office affair faces a huge threat from Robert's manipulative and materialistic Ex, who also works as his manager. Amidst the uncertainty, Isla comes face-to-face with the heart wrenching secret of her very dear Robert. As she confronts this secret, her heart breaks into a million pieces on who Robert Hardy truly is. Isla also brutally finds out the most unbelievable truth about her always busy and hardworking parents. How does Isla handle the emptiness she feels, and the bile life threw directly at her face?

WARNING: MATURED CONTENT "Every time you flinch when I get close, it burns me up inside. I’ll prove to you that whatever monster I was before… I’m nothing but yours now." — At twenty-four, Hera was a licensed agriculturist serving her hometown. She walked through life alone, yet found anchor in her father—the provincial governor—even as she remained his secret child. Her world was stitched together by nothing more than trees, earth, and the creatures that roamed the land. Then came the murder that shattered her peaceful existence. She watched in horror as a masked figure committed a brutal killing just steps from her home. The assassin turned to silence her next, but Hera struck first: one desperate swing of her shovel to his skull left him bloodied and still, lost to unconsciousness. Convinced she would be thrown in prison for what she’d done, she called her father. It was in that moment she learned the truth—the man she’d felled was no ordinary stranger. He was a dangerous mafia member. She had fought the mafia. And worse: he would not wake anytime soon. He had slipped into a coma. To escape the wrath of those who would hunt for him, Hera followed her governor-father’s stern command: “Hide him. Keep him alive. Never ask why.” He became her darkest secret—but secrets do not stay hidden forever. A year later, the man opened his eyes with no trace of his past. Fearing he would kill her the moment his memories returned, Hera spun a perilous lie: “I am your wife.” As days bled into months, he craved the warmth of her touch, while she prayed his mind would never piece together what was lost.