Subtle Pride Wallpaper

For Euphoria Ghale Hudgens, living with the ruthless billionaire who’s unexpectedly her ex is torture. They were married but it feels like it’s a sin to have sex with her husband, for they both knew they were only together due to an agreement, and she’s fully aware he felt hatred towards her family. She’s already immune to betrayals and lies, being battered and neglected, but will she settle with that kind of life forever? Will she accept being downgraded and caged due to his pride? What happens if she runs away together with the aces she’s been hiding all along? The aces that could turn her husband’s life to its greatest downfall?

While my sister was protecting me from the vampires hunting us, a blade coated with poison slit her throat. I hid in the bushes and watched the whole thing in silence. I even took the antidote from Sophia. Because of that, the poison had spread through her entire body. With her self-healing ability suppressed, she was going to die in agony. My parents found me and begged me, disregarding their dignity as leaders of the pack. "Anna! Please! Give the antidote back to Sophia!" "She needs the antidote to flush out the poison and live!" Even with my parents begging and swallowing their pride, I just held onto the antidote in my pocket tighter. "I didn't see any antidote."

Kael Vance arrives at the academy with one goal: survive long enough to uncover the truth behind his family’s mysterious downfall. Cold, calculating, and fiercely independent, Kael trusts no one. In a place where alliances shift like shadows and betrayal lurks behind every smile, he quickly earns a reputation as someone not to be underestimated. But his carefully built walls begin to crack the moment he crosses paths with Lucien Draven. Lucien is everything Kael despises—privileged, powerful, and dangerously perceptive. As the heir to the influential Draven bloodline, Lucien moves through the academy with quiet authority and lethal precision. He sees through Kael’s defenses almost instantly, sparking a rivalry that quickly turns into something far more complicated. Their clashes are intense, both on and off the training grounds, each encounter laced with tension, pride, and an undeniable pull neither of them is willing to acknowledge. As deadly trials push students beyond their limits, Kael and Lucien are forced into close proximity, their survival depending on cooperation rather than conflict. Secrets begin to unravel—about the academy, their families, and hidden force manipulating events from the shadows. Kael discovers that his past is deeply intertwined with the Draven legacy, and Lucien is not as untouchable as he seems. What begins as hatred slowly transforms into a fragile, dangerous bond—one built on shared pain, unspoken truths, and forbidden desire. But in a world where emotions are exploited as weapons, loving the wrong person could be ultimate weakness. As tensions rise and loyalties are tested, Kael and Lucien must decide whether to cling to their pride or trust each other enough to survive darkness closing in around them. Because at Draven Academy, the sharpest blades aren’t always made of steel-and the deepest wounds are carved by those you dare to love.

“Do you mean you are a virgin?” “Yes,” “Yes what?” “I.am.a.virgin.” I said holding a tendril of my hair shyly. “One week.” “For?” “I give you one week to come to terms with all these. After one week, I won’t be able to keep my hands off you, dear wife.” *** Trapped in a royal betrothal, Zara hates Zack. Zack loathes Zara. Thus, they won't consummate the marriage or follow any sort of tradition. To punish them, the Queen sends them on a journey to Island Formentera. However, a shipwreck leaves them stranded— stuck with each other. Will they go home and face the enemies of the royal household together? Or be swallowed by each other's pride?

Michael Dalton, a billionaire with companies worldwide, turned cold-hearted after a past incident. Handsome and arrogant, he disbelieves in love, despises women, and rarely smiles. Enter Alicia Swiz, a spirited beauty who thrives on mischief. Living with her friend Felicia in a small London apartment, Alicia's world collides with Michael's during an unexpected encounter. Their fateful meeting leads to a clash, with Alicia berating Michael for his lack of apology. To her dismay, she discovers he is her new boss at the interview. As they navigate their strained relationship, will Alicia swallow her pride to keep her job? And can Michael overcome his aversion to love as he finds himself falling for his assistant who despises him?

After attempting to defend himself against his abusive father in an expressway, they crashed into a truck, leaving his father dead and Mason, the sole survivor of the accident. Half dead and losing consciousness, Mason met Racheal on the road who assumed he crashed the car on purpose to kill his father. She decided to leave him on the lone road to die but Mason begged her on his knees to let him live and that he would do anything to serve her. Little did he know that as he made this promise, he signed an agreement to throw his pride away and the honor he had left as a man, to be subservient to Racheal and her family and to be treated with the same courtesy as a dog.

When love is repaid with humiliation, pain turns into strength. Aruna came carrying medicine and a slice of birthday cake for the man she loved—Revan. But when she arrived at his house, what she found was not the warm smile she had longed for, but a sight that shattered her heart: Revan kneeling down, proposing to another woman in front of everyone. The medicine she had bought with her hard-earned money was thrown away. The cake she had made with love was crushed underfoot without mercy. And Aruna… was left behind without an explanation—only pain and a pride torn to pieces. On her way home, an accident took not only her strength but also the life of the unborn child she carried within her.

When she left the cold, controlling man she loved five years ago, Isabella left behind more than just a shattered marriage. Now that she has returned to the city as a prosperous businesswoman, she has a little son who is actually the CEO's heir. Alexander, the strong CEO she previously married, promises to discover her secrets when he learns of her return. However, what he discovers shocks him: a woman who is no longer weak and submissive, and a child who bears his blood. Isabella and Alexander are drawn back into a perilous game of love, power, and retaliation as adversaries circle and secrets come to light. Will pride ruin their second opportunity, or can they confront the truth?

On the night of New Year's Eve, I wake up in a hospital ward with an IV drip connected to the back of my hand. A nurse passes me the hospital bill. "It's 300 dollars in total, including the emergency treatment fee and the cost for a bottle of glucose drips." When I turn on my phone, I feel my heart sinking. I only have 29.01 dollars left in my bank account. The wallpaper of my phone is a countdown of my family contract's app. Today is the date when I have to renew my family contract for the year. In order to accumulate enough money to go home, I've been working as a staff member in concert venues. Earlier, I had collapsed backstage, so I was quickly sent to the hospital. The dial tone keeps beeping for a long time. Finally, my mom answers my call in what seems to be a noisy background. "Mom, I'm at the hospital right now. I need 300 dollars to pay the hospital bill." "You're at the hospital?" Mom's voice turns shrill immediately. "Why did you visit the hospital during the holidays? You really are a jinx!" "I fainted earlier. I was working at a concert venue—" "What? So, you refused to do chores at home during the holidays! Instead, you decide to work at a concert venue?" Mom interrupts immediately. "I don't have 300 dollars on me! You'd better come up with a way to pay that bill of yours!" "Mom…" My hand tightens around my phone. "Today is the last day of my family contract's renewal period. I'll renew the contract once I pay the bill." "Renew the contract, huh?" Mom just sneers at me. "That's a part of your duties! How dare you use it against me! Helena Lambert, if you don't renew the contract today, you can forget about calling me 'Mom'!" After that, she ends the call. I can only grip my phone to the point that my fingers turn white. After that, I tap on a social media app in hopes that I can borrow money from my friends, only to see the latest post on the social media feed. My younger sister, Hannah Lambert, has posted a photo collage there. "I'm here with my parents to watch my favorite singer's concert! Snagging tickets to the first-row seats is definitely worth it!" The background of those photos is the same concert venue where I work part-time at. It's the most expensive venue in town. Apparently, tickets cost 2,900 dollars each.

On the day my marriage ended, the entire Vale family was celebrating my husband’s mistress for carrying the “heir” I had failed to give them. For five years, they called me barren. For five years, I protected Damian Vale’s pride while his mother humiliated me piece by piece. For five years, I played the perfect Luna while they prepared to replace me. So I smiled, opened the family group chat, and sent the one document that shattered everything. Damian Vale. Male. Congenital azoospermia. Permanent infertility. The room went silent. Then I looked at the people who had fed on my humiliation and said, “I was never the one who failed this family.”