Talking To Strangers

Mia D’Lorne thought heartbreak would kill her but getting hit by a car did the job faster. One second she’s running from the sound of her boyfriend and sister fornicating, the next she’s standing in front of an abandoned bus station in what looks like purgatory. The bus that picks her up looks like a prop in a horror movie and she’s introduced to the world of the Soul Recycle Program. To exist, she has to compete in a twisted afterlife show where the dead fight their way through nightmare worlds for the amusement of unknown and unseen spectators. The rules are simple. Survive or disappear for good. Mia is joined by two strangers who are just as broken as she is. Axel Rivers, who has been dead for almost a century, and Bree DeBois, a control freak paramedic with more guilt than she can carry. Together they try to survive the challenges of the game. As the trio do their best to keep from being erased, they begin to realize the Game is more personal than they imagined.

"Let go of your inhibitions. Push your boundaries. Explore your limitations. Take my hand, say yes, and be mine forever!" My name is Annalise Walsh, I live in Los Angeles and I’m working as an advertising executive (an AE) for “S&W Advertising”, a small but fierce agency. My goal right now is to put my hands on a very important account. I’m talking about “HL Sportswear” a new branch of “Hamilton Inc.”, a company that belongs to the sexiest man alive, Lance Hamilton. My name is Lance Hamilton and I’m the youngest CEO in the States. I’m heir to billions and a billionaire in my own right. I’m quite ambitious and I’m constantly trying to expand my business towards new horizons. “HL Sportswear” needs to be presented to the world and for that, I need the best AE in the city: the intelligent and gorgeous Annalise Walsh. Working for Lance isn't going to be easy for Annalise, but is going to be extremely interesting. That's for sure!

I dislike vampires because they killed my parents. I called them with different kinds of names… monster, scoundrel, devil and creatures that deserved to be in hell. Nevertheless, I didn’t foresaw myself falling for a vampire- a creature’s ancestor who was the reason behind my loved one’s death. "Listen to me, woman," he muttered in terror. "You should stand now and clean my room to pay for your debt and as a sign of respect to your master. Now that you're in my possession, all you need to do is follow what I say, never oppose me, and refrain from digging or talking back until I say so. Did your tiny, little brain get it?" I told myself I’d kill him, but those dreams I awaited to execute began slipping off my mind as the anger I had to their origin turned to a poisonous love which shouldn’t have existed. All of these started the moment he uttered the words, “Mine…”

Mary can see beings from the other side where most people don't. Her ability causes her to have a hard time growing up. She always thought that it was a gift to see the paranormal entities around us. But it turns out to be a curse since she can't live a normal life. Her only mistake is that she started talking to that spirit and even gave him a name. She called the ghost, Angel. The reason for that name is because he always keeps her safe. He always makes sure that there will be nobody who can hurt her. Until she saw his real face… Then, she will meet another interesting man, Gregory, who happens to be a vampire. He will save her from the hands of the angel of death who is pretending to be her friend. Gregory has to save her from Angel because she will make a perfect wife for a lonely vampire. Will Mary agree to the vampire's marriage proposal? Or will she choose to go back to the land of the living?

My fiancé dumped me the moment he found out about my rare blood type. "That condition of yours? Yeah, it'd just drain my wallet." I was spiraling when Vincent showed up—like some knight in shining armor, pulling me out of the wreckage. He didn't care about my blood type. We barely dated before he proposed, and for a while, married life felt perfect. Until a year later, when I overheard him talking to a doctor. "Vincent, you already took 400 milliliters of Sophia's blood last month, and now you want another 200? Are you insane? Even if you love Emma, you can't just drain an innocent woman dry for her!" "A little more won't kill her. Stop overreacting." My head spun. My whole body went cold. That's when it hit me—our perfect marriage had been a lie from the start.

Luca Marino's world collapses when he realizes he's been unknowingly laundering money for the Russian mafia. After talking to the FBI, he's kidnapped and sold at an underground auction to the highest bidder. Dante Vitale never planned to buy anyone. But when the defiant accountant refuses to break despite his terror, Dante can't stop himself from claiming him. As Luca investigates betrayal within Dante's crime family, enemies close in from all sides. The Bratva wants him dead. A detective wants him to testify. And Dante's own family sees him as a dangerous weakness. Trapped between the man who bought him and the freedom he lost, Luca faces an impossible truth: he's falling for his captor. But he doesn't know if what he feels is real or just a way to survive. Can love built on such a dark beginning ever become something genuine? Or will the way they started destroy them both?

Samantha grew up in a very liberated type of family, so for her, kissing random people is not a big deal. One night, upon going to a bar, her friends dared her to kiss a random stranger, and ask for its name. Since Sam doesn't want to be teased as a weak person, she said yes. But inside her, she's nervously shaking. She never dared to kiss someone before. She's open-minded, but she wants to treasure her first kiss. But that night was different. She cannot refuse. So, she did what she had to do. She kissed the first guy to walk in front of her and her friends, but she didn't imagine that the kiss would last longer as she expected because the stranger kissed back and even held her nape to deepen the kiss which shook her mind to the core. But...what made her head turmoil even more is the fact that instead of pushing the man away, she finds her arms wrapped on the strangers' neck and answers every kiss that the stranger gives.

I used to be the most promising composer of my generation. But while I was working on my latest piece, my husband Charles Lambert's childhood friend destroyed everything I had. She slashed my face, stole my compositions, and set fire to my house—leaving me to burn alive alongside the kitten I'd just adopted. Then, as if my death were just a spark for her success, she posted my compositions online, claiming I'd plagiarized her. And people believed her. Everyone did. Strangers on the internet sneered and spat my name, and my own husband, Charles, chose to believe her over me. Even the International Musical Society rescinded my award and handed it to her without a second thought. My students, who once followed me loyally, were now fawning over her. I became the laughingstock of the entire internet—mocked, discredited, erased. It wasn't until a week later, when someone stumbled upon the charred remains of my lakeside studio, that they found what was left of me.

I’m Sadie Summer. Once I was an orphan, still treated like a servant by the family who adopted me—until fate threw me into a contract marriage with my cold, powerful billionaire boss. I stood by him when everyone else walked away. I saw the man beneath the armor, and for a moment... I believed he saw me too. But then came the accident. It turned us into strangers again. Still, I stayed—through the silence, the ache of being forgotten. Now he’s healed--almost whole. He still wants out. He wants a divorce. Worse, the people who wronged me are whispering lies, poisoning what little he remembers of us. Maybe we were never meant to be. But I’ve been alone before. I know how to survive. Only this time, I’m not walking away with my head down. Let him regret what he let go. Because I may have loved him once... But I won’t beg him twice.

My wedding to Don Lorenzo Corsica was always 'almost.' Five years engaged. Thirty-two weddings. Every single one crashed and burned. Then came number thirty-three. Halfway through, the chapel wall caved in. I landed in the ICU. Skull fracture. Major concussion. A dozen critical alerts. Two months stuck between life and death. Then I clawed my way back. On discharge day, I caught him talking to his right-hand guy. "Don, if you're really into that scholarship girl, just dump Ms. Mortoro," the guy said. "Corsicas can kill gossip. No need for staged accidents... She nearly died." Lorenzo went quiet. Then finally, "I owed her parents. They died for me. Marrying her was the only way to repay that. But I love Sofia. She's the one I want." I looked down at my stitched-up body and cried without a sound. So it wasn't fate that wrecked me. It was him. If he couldn't choose, I'd do it for him.