The Dead Are Asleep And Know Nothing

She trusted him with the end of the world. He left her for dead in it. When the zombie apocalypse hits, Maya Rodriguez already knows who she's going to survive with — and who she's going to survive for. What she doesn't know is that her boyfriend has other plans. Ones that don't include her. Abandoned, alone, and furious in a world that has just ended, Maya finds herself with an unlikely companion: LUS, a rogue AI life coach who is equal parts infuriating and inexplicably useful, and who may know more about how the outbreak started than he's letting on. Surviving the apocalypse turns out to be the easy part. Because the world Maya's navigating isn't just full of the undead. It's full of engineered soldiers — wolves in human skin, built by the same government programme that unleashed the virus. It's full of men who want to protect her, want to use her, want to earn her, and want to be forgiven by her. And it's full of one specific slow burn she has categorically refused to name. She's not the woman she was before the world ended. She's considerably more dangerous. ***A post-apocalyptic romance about survival, betrayal, rogue AI, and the specific problem of falling in love when everything is already on fire.

Everyone knew that the mafia family's second son, Luca Romano, loved Serena Vitale to his very bones. Five years ago, Serena climbed into bed with the Romano family's eldest son, Adriano Romano. Photos from that night spread everywhere, but Luca quietly suppressed them all. Four years ago, Serena gave birth to Adriano's child, but Luca raised the baby as his own. He could forgive Serena for anything she did, as long as she loved him. The underworld whispered that Serena stayed with Luca not out of love but to grab at the mafia's power and influence. Luca did not care. He poured every ounce of his strength into treating Serena and the child well, but it was not enough. Serena became Adriano's caged canary instead. The night they broke up, she threw his illegitimate birth in his face to humiliate him. Yet she willingly, even gladly, let herself be imprisoned by Adriano, enduring the wax and the whips. Everyone cursed Serena for being shameless and desperate, but she was the only one who knew the bitterness she endured.

My best friend and I grow up together, and we each have our childhood friends. When we're old enough, we marry our childhood friends. One is a doctor, and one is a firefighter. We even fall pregnant one after the other. During our pregnancies, we go out for a stroll. Suddenly, I'm rammed over, and I fall into the river. My best friend miscarries after trying to save me, and my child dies in my belly, too. I call my husband. However, he roars, "Cass is in danger; I have to save her first! Stop bothering me!" My best friend is also reprimanded by her husband. After giving birth to the dead fetuses, we both decide to get divorced. However, the two men weep and beg us not to leave.

I was eighteen when I got together with Sam Bennett. We were in love for two years—at least, that was what I thought—until I found out I was nothing more than a stand-in for someone else. After a huge fight, we broke up. Not long after, Paxton Gibson, the warm and caring senior who had always looked out for me, began pursuing me passionately. He was persistent, unwavering, and so sincere that I finally let down my guard and accepted him. Just when I thought I had finally found true happiness, I overheard a phone call between Paxton and Sam. “Don’t worry, Leah trusts me completely. Take good care of Georgina. The surgery will happen soon.” In the end, when I really did disappear, they changed their minds. “Leah, come home with me, please?” I smiled, at peace with myself. “But I haven’t had a home for a long time.”

All because of Leo Cullen’s words, I gave up a place at a top-tier university in Ceres and stayed behind to retake the entrance exams with him—three times. By the fourth year, a girl arrived at our cram school, and Leo forgot the promise we made. He started skipping class, picking fights, smoking—doing everything but studying. One day, I stood at the school gate, blocking his path with a textbook in hand as he tried to ditch class. He smirked, unimpressed, and blew a bubble with his gum, letting it stick to the ends of my hair. “Naomi…,” he began, “who still cares about studying these days?” So I stopped caring and avoided him entirely. When he fooled around in the classroom, I went to the library. When he played basketball, I sat in a quiet corner with my books. Even when I craved noodles from my favorite shop, I’d scan the room first to make sure he wasn’t there. “Are you avoiding me, Naomi?” he asked later, his face in a frown. I shook my head. “Why would you think that?”

When the earthquake hit, I found myself buried under the rubble, barely clinging to life. My wife, Meghan Hudson, charges into the collapsing office building without hesitation. However, the person she rescues is Gerald Parker, the new technical specialist at my company. Even as she hurries away with the rescue team, she doesn't spare me a single glance. Severely crushed and bleeding heavily, I'm rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. Yet, Meghan pours all her care and attention into Gerald, who barely has a scratch on him. In the end, I'm completely disheartened and pull out the divorce papers. Meghan goes berserk and tears them to shreds, thinking I'll give in like I always did. What she doesn't know is that this time, I'm truly exhausted.

“Get away from me,” I hissed, gripping the knife tighter. His gaze flicked down to the blade, then back to me, a slow, amused smile curving his lips. “A knife?” he said softly, tilting his head. “Are you perhaps flirting with me?” I gritted my teeth. The asshole was enjoying this — every fucking second of it. ⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘ When Leah got home early from work, she was hoping for one thing — to fix what was left of her relationship with Daniel. Instead, she walked in on him in the arms of another woman. Heartbroken and humiliated, she stormed out, blind with tears… and straight into the path of an oncoming car. But death wasn’t the end for Leah. No! Death was actually the beginning.

Heartbroken billionaire Austin Colby vowed never to fall in love again after betrayed by his fiancee and older brother but his fate becomes entwine with the daughter of his sister's killer and Austin is determined to protect her even at the expense of his own life.

"I kissed you because I wanted to, make no mistake about that. I have never regretted, in fact, it has given me some hope." he was more candid than she expected. The fact that he wanted to kiss her was beyond her. "Hope?" she echoed. Unable to fully comprehend where the conversation was heading. "I have an arrangement I would like to propose." he was blunt, his voice strong and serious. There was no longer any hint of the gentleman she witnessed the day before. "What kind of arrangement?" she found herself hanging on his every word, it was clear who controlled the state of the conversation. "A temporary one...between us." he waited for her reaction but Ivory herself was unsure of how to react or respond. She had never found herself in a situation such as this and she thought the likelihood of it actually happening was nil. "I want you, Ivory, in more ways than one. Last night proved that you may have the same desires." He crossed his arms over his chest and waited.

Everyone in the mercenary group knew just how deeply Liam Smith loved me and feared losing me. He even suppressed his dark desires to make sure I felt truly safe. No matter how dangerous the mission, he made sure to check in every single day. Worried for his safety, I hid my identity and secretly became his team’s hacker. However, after one mission, I overheard the others joking over the radio: "Chief was in such a rush to pick that lock and go after Wendy. What's so irresistible about her?" Through an unattended monitor, I caught Liam glancing at the camera with a teasing smile. "Didn't I tell you guys that she nearly wrung me dry the last time we did it?" It felt like I had fallen into an ice-cold abyss. My heart shattered, and I summoned the system. [I want to leave this world.] The cold, mechanical voice replied without delay: [Once you leave, all traces of the host in this world will be erased.] [Starting the countdown: Seven days left.]