Tender Smile

Books one and two of The Lost Mafia Queen Series Indigo was the girl who learned to hide her pain behind a forced fake smile and a bubbly personality. She was a girl longing to know where she came from. Growing up in the foster care system was her own personal form of hell, that is until she went to collage and meet a man she thought would be her forever only he turned out to be just as twisted and cruel as the hand she had been felt growing up. With nothing left but the shell of a girl she longed to be, She ran. She ran from pain. She ran from fear. She ran unexpectedly into their arms. just as she starts to find her way in their world of darkness, truths are revealed and revenge has never been sweeter.

“You should hate me,” He said softly, his cold gaze searching her warm eyes. She just looked up at him, a tired smile on her face. “I'm done. I don't have the strength to hate anyone anymore.” “Then you'll learn,” He murmured. “I'm not the kind of man you survive loving.” ****** Yara is born without a wolfㅡ an outcast to her own pack. Betrayed by her own family, she is banished and falls into the arms of the one man she's never supposed to meet. The lycan king. The one who everyone fears. She's his second chance. He's her last. But fate has a cruel way of playing and the stakes begin to get higher. Will they prevail? Or will the truth tear them apart before they can?

After five years of marriage, my husband, Abel Brooks goes on a business trip that lasts half a year. When he returns, he brings his first love, Cora Garrett, back. She's already three months pregnant. Abel says that life is tough for her and wants her to move in with us temporarily. I object, and he tells me to know my place. His tone is scornful—it seems he's forgotten that the villa we live in was one of my wedding gifts. He and his family have leeched off me all this while. This time, I'm going to stop providing for them. I smile and call my assistant. "Draft a divorce agreement for me now. To think a live-in son-in-law would have the nerve to bring his mistress home like this."

Because to fulfill her mother's will, Maddy Howard was forced to marry the leading man in the financial world - Lukas Jacobs. Behind the dream that makes the world jealous is pain and humiliation that never ends. He deeply loves another girl that he can't have, but he monopolizes her overpoweringly. As soon as any other man approached her, jealousy and anger in him began to rise. She left heartbroken, seven years later returned to the country, next to her was another smart and intelligent child that made everyone who met him love him. He blocked the way: "Kid, I'm your father!" She helplessly hugged her son's head: "He isn't!" He flashed an evil smile: “He is my son! And you're mine!"

My three-year-old son looked nothing like my husband. Suspicious, my father-in-law secretly took my son for a paternity test. The results showed that there was no biological relationship between them. Furious and humiliated, my father-in-law erupted in anger, hurling insults at me and even threatening to kill us. My husband, just as enraged, slapped me hard across the face. "You shameless wrench! You've made me raise another man's child for three years!" As I stared at their accusing faces, I calmly produced another report—the paternity test between my husband and his father. It confirmed they weren't biologically related either. Their expressions froze in shock. With a faint smile, I said, "Looks like we don't know for sure who isn't part of this family, do we?"

I sold my soul to the devil for revenge. Now, I'm carrying his heir. For years, I watched from the shadows as Damien Sterling—the billionaire who crushed my father's company and drove him to his grave —built his empire on our ruins. I was just his quiet, invisible secretary then. Now, I'm a woman transformed, with a new face, a new name, and a single, burning purpose: to make him fall in love with me and then shatter his world. The plan was perfect. Our "accidental" meeting, the whirlwind romance, the night of passion I orchestrated to seal his obsession. It worked too well. The cold, untouchable Damien Sterling looked at me like I was his redemption, and he asked me to be his wife. I said yes. But I have two secrets. One: I am pregnant with his child. Two: On our wedding day, I will publicly reveal his crimes and leave him in ruins. But every tender touch, every whispered confession of his love, feels like a brand on my soul. The monster I vowed to destroy is becoming the man I dream of. And now, the revenge I craved feels like a prison, and my heart is the traitor I never saw coming. How can I destroy the man who holds my future in his hands? And what will he do when he discovers the vengeful bride carrying his secret heir ?

Amelia's leg tapped against the table as she asked, "What are your thoughts on love?" Her hands were clasped together on her lap, but her eyes sparkled with curiosity. Lucas met her gaze, a smirk playing on his lips. "Love is a waste of time," he replied. "It's a tool designed to weigh people down. Without it, we could achieve so much more." Amelia's eyes lit up with interest; he had just ticked almost all her boxes green. "I agree," she said, her smirk matching his. "Love is nothing but bullshit. We could save a lot of time by keeping our relationship minimal." With a proactive glint in her eye, she added, "What do you say? We should get married to fulfill our filial duties." _____________ Their marriage was a facade, a contract between two individuals who didn't believe in love but were forced to get married to fulfill their obligations. Everything was going as planned, until suddenly... "Have you eaten, dear?" "How is my baby?" "Is he doing well?" Lucas's words, once empty and mechanical, now held a tender tone. Amelia found him falling for her, and she seemed to be falling too. Why were they succumbing to the very thing they once scorned? Love, once a distant possibility, was now becoming an option. But would they choose it?

My name is Elle. I am a beta female, but I live like an omega. Sometimes I don't even know what's better for me. I hoped that when I turned 18 my life would change. But everything got worse. At the age of 18, every werewolf knows his wolf. My wolf did not appear. In the last year I was simply wolfless. My mate rejected me and he is my the biggest nightmare. But it is said that hope dies last, so until the last moment of my life I will believe that something good is prepared for me in this world as well. Like I said, I'm Elle Parker. In the eyes of some, the most insignificant omega. But is that really the case? QUICK PREVIEW I would like to believe that this is possible. Moon Goddess ... can I get my rejection back? Please... I take a deep breath, look up to the sky and hopefully say: "I alpha Brandon Taylor take back my rejection and accept you Elle Parker as my mate, as my luna, as anythig you want to be in my life. I TAKE IT BACK!" Then I fall to my knees crying. I feel a huge pain in my chest that seems to suffocate me, I lie down on the ground and close my eyes feeling how I slowly start to faint but not before hearing just like in a dream a warm and tender voice. "I, Moon Goddess, accept your request!"

“Let me be your real wife for just one month, Daven.” It was a simple request—one that sounded like the last plea of a heartbroken woman. But to Althea Grayson, it was her pride. The price she asked for the love she had given, yet never once received in return. She had known from the start: their marriage was never about love. Daven Callister had married her out of duty, pressured by his grandmother. There were no tender embraces, no loving glances—only cold silence and an empty house that never felt like home. Still, Althea held on. She tried to be a good wife, clinging to the hope that one day, Daven’s heart might soften. But her hope was shattered by betrayal—Daven wanted to marry someone else. The woman he truly loved. With or without Althea’s consent. And his entire family stood behind his decision. Heartbroken and disillusioned, Althea made one final request: one month of being loved like a real wife. One month... before she walked away forever. Daven thought it was a desperate move—pathetic, even. But that single month changed everything. The way Althea smiled, the way she loved so fully. Even the way she left—left something behind that lingered in Daven’s heart. And now, Daven was lost. When the love he had never once recognized finally revealed itself... was it already too late? Or should he fight against everything—just for one more chance?

Two souls, forged in suffering, would collide in a dance of darkness and desire, testing the limits of love and redemption. Their paths meet when Asher's sister becomes the target of a predator, and Kaidën sees an opportunity for justice. As they navigate their dark worlds, they must confront the demons that haunt them. Will Asher's desire for protection and Kaidën's quest for vengeance spark a twisted romance, or will their shattered reflections destroy them? *** “You killed my mother.” Asher's voice trembled with fury. Kaidën's smile was cold, almost mirthful. “Who gave your sister to her husband who sold her to pay off his debts.” “I watched you murder her in cold blood!” Asher’s fists clenched around the gun he held pointed at the killer, memories of that night flooding back. Kaidën leaned closer, a sinister smile creeping onto his face. "I remember begging you to look away. But you didn’t. Did you enjoy it, Asher? Watching the woman who shattered your world writhe in agony? Or would you prefer to keep that little secret buried deep? Ah, but don’t answer that. Come, help me gather the pieces of your father's remains. It’s time to tidy up this little mess." Asher’s eyes widened in horror, realization crashing over him like a wave. All this time, he had been unaware that he was not only a witness to his father’s murder, but had watched it unfold until the very end, just like he had done that night when he watched his mother’s murder. Nodding, he picked up the severed hand of his father—the same hand that had beaten and broken him until his skin grew numb to pain. ‘Oh, sweet Emily, if only you could see our father now. How the mighty have fallen.’