Subtle Pride Wallpaper

Laila Jones has spent eight years building a quiet, beautiful life for herself and her daughter, Malaya. After her high school boyfriend caved to his racist grandfather and chose football and family approval over her and their unborn baby, Laila left Ohio, moved south, and raised Malaya on her own. Now Malaya is eight, there’s a daddy–daughter dance coming up, and her one Christmas wish is simple—and heartbreaking: she wants to meet her dad. Going home for the holidays was hard enough. Running into Jordan Hall, now the golden-boy quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals, is worse. He’s famous, gorgeous, and acting like he has the right to look at her with regret. Laila is ready to avoid him, yell at him, or both. What she doesn’t know is that after his grandfather’s death, Jordan discovered every letter she ever sent—proof that she kept their baby, begged him to come, and raised their daughter without him. The truth wrecks him, and this Christmas, he’s determined to fight for the family he should have had all along. But Laila isn’t interested in being anyone’s redemption arc. Especially not while his nasty fiancée is calling her a liar to the press and the internet is tearing her apart. As secrets unravel and emotions explode in front of cameras, Laila and Jordan have to decide what matters more: anger, pride, and old wounds…or the little girl who still believes Christmas wishes can come true.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Amara asked, her voice shaking. "I've never done anything to you." Where power, passion, and painful memories collide, Amara Denz never imagined the same man who made her life a living hell at Lyons College would be her ruthless, charismatic boss. Now CEO of a thriving tech empire, CEO Leo reigns with cool efficiency—but beneath his shining exterior blazes an undeniable, forbidden desire for the very woman he once tormented. Amara Denz is desperate. Desperate to find employment to pay for the mounting bills, desperate to bury the pain of her abused past, and desperate to preserve her shattered pride in a company where every glance from Leo sends unspoken tension her way. Torn between old wounds and an incendiary attraction that she cannot deny or manage, Amara must navigate a landscape of office politics and personal demons. “Work hard, be loyal, and maybe you’ll earn my respect,” Leo declares with a provocative smile during their first meeting. But as the day unfolds, every accidental brush, every lingering look, transforms the mundane into a battlefield of raw emotion and sensual challenge. Set against the high-stakes halls of Baze, this scorching dual-perspective story of redemption and revenge tracks two individuals whose entwined destinies compel them to confront a past defined by brutality—and a present filled with desire. Can Leo demonstrate that he's reformed, or will the wounds of their past continue to keep them apart? And will Amara's need to transcend her past enable her to gamble everything on a second chance at love?

“You're nothing different from a rotten corpse if you don't have anything to prove." Origin Laurier is a young girl who was once an ally of an underground criminal organization called the Westside Dragons. She is hailed as the mafia’s killing machine, the Scarlet Beast, who only knew how to live as a tool for the mafia boss. Because of her deadly talisman ability, she never fails all of her missions. But the tables started to turn when she suddenly lost her ability and was kicked out of the mafia believing that she is not useful anymore. Origin is left homeless and scattered as she wonders how to regain her power and approval of the mafia boss she admires the most. On her path back to power, she stumbled upon a good-looking, yet emotionless guy who knew everything about her past, and stepped on her pride as a legendary assassin. He is W, the Student Council President of Greendale University, a school founded to protect the new generation of talisman users from being hunted down by scientists and evil organizations. W offered to help get Origin’s abilities back in exchange for forging an alliance with the Student Council who turns out to be members of a military agency called FEAR, Westside Dragon’s sworn enemy, secretly protecting and recruiting talisman users to Greendale. Upon joining the Student Council affairs, Origin will learn that there is more to humanity than she thinks. As her fate interconnects with the Student Council President who has a hobby of stalking her, how can she handle this new everyday life and her future that is uncertain of her relationship with the Mafia she grew up into?

Matt & Nicole have been married for 7 years, but during that time they have not had a child. It's not without reason that it all happened. They both knew that Nicole was infertile and the doctor had sentenced her to not being able to get pregnant. They love each other, of course, but love alone will never be enough, as an Alpha, pride comes first. Even though he never said it, deep down in Matt's heart he really wanted a child, who could later become his successor. But everything changed when Kate came into their lives, Kate worked as a maid in the big mansion. Not only Kate but there are two other maids working there, Mona and Raya. They are all Omegas, but the condition for being able to work there is that they do not work to serve the Alpha, but to accompany and fulfill the needs of Luna, Nicole. As time went on, Kate and Nicole became the closest, they spent more time together and made their two friends Mona and Raya a little jealous of that closeness. Until one day, Nicole deliberately brought Matt and Kate together somewhere. To both of them' surprise, Matt had seen Kate before but for Kate this was her first time seeing the Alpha. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss something very important, about children. Nicole wanted to rent Kate's womb so they could have children, the selfish attitude shown by Nicole was of course opposed by the Alpha, Matt. But Nicole was willing to pay, and give anything to Kate in exchange, Kate, who was silent at that time, finally agreed. She wanted to be pregnant with their child on one condition, they had to pay for her mother's cancer treatment and it was an easy request for Nicole.

Labeled a "Dormant Omen" and sold into a Mate-Contract to the lethal Alpha of the Montgomery Pack, Avery has spent years as a shadow in Hudson Montgomery’s glittering, cruel world. She was the mute trophy, the wife who couldn't shift, the girl who loved a man who only saw her as a political necessity. But when Hudson’s favored mistress returns and the pack turns its teeth toward her, Avery realizes that staying in the Silver Ridge will cost her more than just her pride—it will cost her the secret life growing inside her. One final signature. One last look. One clean break. "You want your freedom, Avery?" Hudson’s voice was a low, terrifying vibration against her skin, his hand bruising the small of her back. "Sign the scroll. Walk out of my den. But remember—once the bond is severed, I stop being your protector. I become your hunter." Avery’s fingers flashed in the flickering torchlight, her eyes burning with a defiance he’d never seen. I would rather be hunted in the wild than forgotten in your bed. The pain is a jagged blade. The divorce is a death sentence. But the hunger... the hunger is a fever. As the Silver Ridge teeters on the brink of war, Hudson realizes too late that the quiet girl he discarded wasn't a sheep—she was the moon that held his tides in check. Now, he’ll tear the world apart to reclaim her, but Avery is no longer playing by his rules.

"He vowed never to love her. Now he’ll stop at nothing to reclaim her.” When ruthless billionaire Adrian Blackwood and a sharp witted journalist Elena Carter find themselves entangled in each other's arms, they had an intoxicating one night stand that leads to a scandal that threatens to tear their world down. Their solution was straightforward: a marriage of convenience. No love. No strings attached. Nothing but cold, calculated damage control. Elena is faced with emotional neglect in a marriage that seems to slowly tear her apart. When framed for betrayal, Elena was sent packing and unknowingly to her she was pregnant. A secret she had kept hidden from Adrian. Four years later, fate draws them back into each other's lives. Adrian, colder and more commanding than ever before, discovers the truth: Elena is more than just a ghost from his past. She’s a mother. His child's mother. And the child she’s fiercely protecting bears his storm-gray eyes. Now, the CEO who once said love was a weakness is tearing the world apart to reclaim what is his. But Elena is no longer the woman he abandoned. Rising from the ashes of their failed marriage, she has created a life—and a legacy—that refuses to submit to his demands. But as explosive secrets resurface and old enemies emerge, Adrian and Elena are forced to play a deadly game in which the stakes are higher than pride or passion. Someone wants Elena destroyed. Someone wants Adrian broken. And their daughter's life is on the line.

A brat woman met her first love again for almost 10 years just because they are getting married for unknown reason. Hillary hated him always and she will always do. Hillary's ego strample because of his father's decision. Parang isinaalang-alang niya ang pride niya at nawalan siya ng respeto ng gumawa ng desisyon ang ama niya na ipakasal siya sa isang kilalang lalaki. And, as expected. She really knows that man. She very well known that man. That man is giving her a creeps in her whole body. Hindi niya alam kung nandidiri ba siya o ginagawa niya lang itong dahilan para hindi mapansin na iba talaga ang ipinapahiwatig ng nararamdaman niya. Samantalang ang lalaking pinakasalan niya naman ay sobrang nakakairita. Walang araw na hindi niya nararamdaman ang pagkulo ng dugo niya. Walang araw na hindi nagbabangayan at nagbabardagulan ang dalawang 'yan. Halos araw araw silang nagsisigawan na parang mga sirang plaka dahil sa paulit-ulit na mga sinasabi nila. Minsan napapaisip ako, hindi ba sila napapagod? Nakakapagod kaya makipagsigawan sa isang taong makitid ang utak. Well, hindi pa naman bukas ang puso at isipan nilang dalawa para magmahalan, kaya hangga't hindi pa dumadating ang araw na 'yon. They were just enjoying being a mortal enemies.

"My boyfriend? Huh. He is the heir of HongYoonChoi organisation. HongYoonChoi is one of the richest organisation in the world. And my boyfriend is their heir." If only Celine can turn back time, she would never lie about a man who doesn't exist in her current life. Celine Kim is a jobless 25 year-old single lady. She believed that there will be a bright future ahead of her as long as her father's last will shall remain unfulfilled. "Find HongYoonChoi organization's heirs and tell them my name," her dying father told her before she left his daughter alone. She heard that HongYoonChoi has influential and rich members that passed through generations. However, Celine was afraid to meet the dangerous secret group known for being ruthless killers. One day, Celine attended her highschool friend's wedding. At the reception hall where she met her old highschool classmates who belittled her ever since then, she was so eager to regain her pride and thus she lied about her current relationship with a young rich man whom she never met - HongYoonChoi's heir. Little did she know, the supposedly fake boyfriend was also at the party! This is the start of the struggle in Celine's peaceful life: when she's going to meddle inside the dark organization and when she falls in love with the hideous monster among the three heirs, Joshua, Jeonghan and Seungcheol. "My life has no door, you can never escape," Joshua whispered on the prisoner's ear. In HongYoonChoi, there are no doors. And Celine can't escape from them anymore.

That night, Liam served me my usual evening tea. I trusted him completely—he was my mate, after all, and a respected healer of Thornpack. I shouldn't have. When I woke up the next morning, my head was spinning. The special safe where I kept the morphing inhibitor—the one I'd spent my entire savings to import from Europe for our daughter Isla—was empty. Racing to the healing center, I found Liam celebrating. He was handing out moon-blessed wine, beaming with pride as Natalie's daughter Anna showed off her perfect transformation. My inhibitor had been used on his first love's pup instead of our own daughter. The shock triggered something in my brain. When I collapsed, they diagnosed me with the rare tumor that plagued our kind. Without inhibitors, I couldn't stop Isla's transformation that came early, her six year old body couldn't handle the massive wolf form and the force ripped through her young body. And I, for one, don't even have enough money to keep her in a treatment center. She died in my arms three days later, her little claws drawing blood as the pain overwhelmed her. Until her last breath, she kept asking why Papa hadn't come. Now, in my cold, empty home, with the white porcelain urn containing her ashes on the table, I touch her and decide to sever our partnership.

"You really should run away from me, Aunty," he kissed her cheek- so soft, he melted. "But I'll find you. No matter where you go, even death can't hide you from me," he mumbled one of his most sacred vows into her cheek. His words resonated deep in her consciousness. If he said that to her ears everyday, she would wake up one day feeling like she belonged to him. Squeezing her hands, she cursed the obvious blush on her face and cursed herself too for being sick in the head. How could something so scary make her heart beat so fast? *** Anastasia Robie has been accused of killing her Alpha. Put behind bars by her Pack, she faces trial at the hands of the new Alpha who turns out to be her mate. One rejection later after nights of passionate sex and his wife is asking for her head. She manages to escape only to be chased by the top assassins in the world. As fate would have it, Leroy Adams has found his mate and no hands must touch her. He must have her to himself but first, give her the revenge she seeks. Her immunity is assured when he's the Boss of the same association sent to kill her. A dangerous game of hide and seek, a broken beta scarred to love again and a sweet Lycan who would stop the world for his mate. What could possibly go wrong? or who... would dare touch his pride and Joy?