Stoic Expression

I arranged a lavish dinner cruise in Alpha Lucien Grimfang's honor. However, I mistakenly wore the ceremonial gown that had once belonged to his late Luna, Sylvia Wilder. In front of all the guests, his ten-year-old son, Rhett Grimfang, suddenly rammed me into the champagne tower. The shattered crystal glasses left deep cuts across my skin. "Don't think that you can replace my mother just because you're wearing her sacred gown! You're nothing but a dog—obedient and always at my father's beck and call! Don't you dare dream of claiming a Luna's honor!" His cold, scornful expression mirrored Lucien's perfectly. "I can make you leave anytime I want!" I forced myself to look up at the pup I had raised. "Don't trouble yourself. Tomorrow, I'll submit my resignation to the Elder Council and leave for good."

The richest man in Hovendale, Stanley Hawk, had been in a vegetative state for three years. His wife, Wendy Crone, took care of him during that time. After he awakened, Wendy caught him cheating through a message on his phone. It turned out his first love had returned to the country. His friends, who once looked down on her, were now poking fun at her. “The swan has returned; it’s time to kick that ugly duckling to the curb.” It was then that Wendy realized Stanley never loved her. She was nothing but a joke to him. One night, Stanley received the divorce papers from Wendy. Her reason for wanting to get a divorce was due to his failing potency. Stanley went to confront her with a gloomy expression on his face, only to find that she had transformed into a gorgeous doctor in a long dress that glistened under the dazzling lights. Seeing him approach, Wendy smiled gracefully and asked, “Stanley, are you here for an andrology consultation?”

When the world ends, Lilly James awakens. After a cataclysmic event fractures Earth and shatters the veil between realms, Lilly a seemingly ordinary woman who discovers she is the last tether holding the balance between divine order and infernal chaos. Hunted by celestial beings and demonic lords alike, Lilly is thrust into a war that has raged for eons in secret and now exposed and burning across the remains of the world. Caught in the eye of this divine storm are four men, two gods and two demons, sworn enemies from rival factions, each drawn to Lilly for reasons that go beyond destiny.     •    Kael, a fallen war god with a rage that could burn empires, hides a tortured honor behind his blade.     •    Theron, a stoic god of time and decay, holds the secrets to the apocalypse—and to Lilly’s past.     •    Riven, a charming demon prince of desire, masks deadly ambition with silken words and stolen touches.     •    Draven, a shadow-born demon of vengeance, silent and cold…except when he’s near her. Each of them needs her. Each of them wants her. But their desires might tear her and the world apart. As ancient prophecies unravel and her own powers begin to awaken, Lilly must navigate a brutal new reality where love could be her salvation or the catalyst for humanity’s final ruin. The gods demand devotion. The demons crave possession. But Lilly? She was never meant to bow. She was meant to rise.

Yaroslav “Viktorovich” Demidov: 25, of Russian descent, the second heir of the Demidov Family. Stoic, disciplined-well too much, perfectionist, hot headed and uptight. Hides vulnerability within that hard exterior of his. The only one in his family who has no magic because of an incident that happened when he was 4 years of age. Soul-bonded to Lian and actually holds the rarest and most powerful but dangerous power of all. Lian MAteo Alonzo-Kensington: 20, Filipino-British American, from the nurturing but competitive Kensington Family. Confident, expressive, sometimes impulsive kind of vulgar but well disciplined not in an uptight way. Has magical abilities, the rare dual type ability holders, ice and wind. His warmth clashes with Yaroslav and is soul-bonded with him therefore can also wield the other rarest and most powerful magic. Can two opposing hearts on ice bound by a soul-bond survive the weight of legacy, pressures of the competition and the dangerous pull of love and desire, when the bond that they believed to be a curse demands that one must lose his life for the other to live? For even every clash of skates, every stolen glances across the rink, every searing touch and mind-numbing kiss when they met in secret seems to burn the ice ablaze as the hatred blurs into hunger that draws them closer to a collision that could destroy or bind them for eternity. “Fuck Kensington, then I’ll risk everything, suffer everything….for one thing that matters…..You.” -Yaroslav Demidov

Can you ever understand the feeling of having sex with your husband as he keeps calling out another woman's name? Yes, that was my life as the wife of the ruthless, stoic CEO. With my sister, his childhood sweetheart on the run with her boyfriend and his need for a Mrs Levine and an heir, I was picked in the stead of my sister to temporarily fill up the space. “ You're not pregnant yet?!” He banged his hand against the bedside table in anger. “; I guess we just have to keep trying then,” he smirked. I was always afraid of that statement, he indirectly meant sleeping with me every single day but no one dared to say otherwise even if I would fall sick after. What's weird about the heart is how it falls in love with the weirdest persons. I loved Asphalt even though he didn't love me and I believed I could make him love me but that dream came crashing down when Janet returned. As I pushed my babies into the world, I wondered if  Asphalt would love me once he sees our kids but with his plans of taking my kids and reuniting with my sister, I wasn't going to wait until I was kicked out. Taking my babies in my arms, I ran away from the hospital as the rain went pit-pat concealing the tears and I for the first time resented Asphalt.

As my blade pierces the base of his neck, the silver sizzles against his skin. His cold blue eyes open wide. The grim reality of his situation sets in. He gulps hard and shakes his head in fear. "I repent." He squeaks like the coward he is. "Forgive my crimes. Let me face the Council." "You'll find no mercy here, Sin." Blood gushes down his bare chest freely. "You will be judged by the Goddess." His expression quickly changes to one of anger, exposing his ruse. "I see you in the Palace of the Goddess, I will kill you again." I growl. "And if she casts me out, I will meet you on the edge of the River Styx and kill you in Purgatory over and over until the Ferryman come to collect us. And if Hades allows, I will continue to kill you in the Underworld until the end of time." "I underestimated you." He chokes. "Everyone does." I whisper as I lay my full weight against the pommel.

"Zeke, was I just a substitute?" I asked, my voice trembling. "All these years, was I nothing but a replacement?" But then again, he remained silent. And I took that as a 'yes' to my questions. "It's over. The sooner you accept that, the better." Zeke's cold expression remained unchanged. - Discovering she was just a stand-in for her husband's ex, Vivienne Lancaster divorced billionaire Ezekiel Harrington. She signed the papers and walked out of his life, secretly pregnant with twins. Years later, when Ezekiel's company was on the brink of collapse, he needed the help of the elusive and influential mystery designer Viatrix. Little did he know, the designer he had been chasing was none other than Vivienne—his ex-wife. Vivienne had returned and she was ready to get revenge and reclaim her life, while Ezekiel had to face his past mistakes. Could he win back the woman he had taken for granted, or would he fail chasing the billionaire's substitute ex-wife?

My roommate sets me up. She deliberately forces me into a death-trap survival game. As I shut my eyes and wait for death to take me, I realize that the game's bosses can read my mind. "Look at the blood spurting from this baby doll's neck. It's like a fountain of pee." The baby doll is baffled. It's about to launch its ultimate move, but it falters. "Man, look at how this guy is still sweeping the streets when he's so old. Does he not have a pension?" The old man is about to swallow me whole, but he suddenly gets a heart attack. An ambulance takes him away. "Oh, so this is the amusement park's owner. Oh, dear god, he's handsome, albeit a little skinny. I can send him flying with a kick!" The handsome owner's expression darkens. He instantly takes off his shirt to reveal his washboard abs. "Do you still think I'm skinny?"

On the night of my fifth wedding anniversary with Sebastian Gray, he lit up the entire city with fireworks for me. All our friends kept saying what a wonderful man he was—so loving, so romantic. The kind of husband every woman dreams of. At the grand finale, the fireworks burst into words that lit up the night sky: Happy Birthday, Jen. Jennifer Kingsley was Sebastian's first love, his ideal woman, the one who had always lingered in his heart. Sebastian looked at me, his expression almost sheepish. "Ah, it's Jen's birthday too. They must have mixed up the fireworks." That night, Jennifer posted on her social media: "Men are boys till the day they die, always fumbling their way through romance." She added a picture of the fireworks, along with a photo of her and Sebastian standing close under the dazzling display. I liked her post and left a comment: "From school to altar—what a touching love story. When's the wedding?"

"Nadine..." he grabbed my wrist before I could even think of entering my restaurant. His touch created nothing but disgust in me. I turned glaring at him with an unreasonable expression "Stay out of my life, Adrian." But his next words got me scoffing and cussing him under my breath. "You don’t get to decide that for me... Because I’m not leaving, Nadine. I'm not leaving you nor our baby. Not this time." ** Nadine Harper thought her love story with billionaire Adrian Blackwell was over. She’s built a quiet life far from his powerful world, determined to leave the past behind. But when Adrian unexpectedly reappears, the walls she’s built start to crumble. He’s not just here to dredge up old feelings—he’s about to uncover the secret she’s kept hidden for years. Can they face the truth without losing everything? Or will the past destroy their chance at a future?