The Deep She

"What does she have that I don't possess?" Arla questioned sarcastically. "As far as I know, I'm better in bed than her. Do you want to find out?" "Don't test my patience," Liam warned, his voice firm and unyielding. Unfazed, Arla continued her seductive advances, pulling off the first layer of her nightwear as she walked towards him. "Don't you want me?" she asked, her voice dripping with temptation. "Say you want me." Liam, unable to resist her allure, pulled her onto the bed and laid on top of her. "Touch me," she purred "I'm all yours." Arla, the notoriously rebellious youngest daughter of the famous billionaire Williams, was born into a complex family dynamic. With four daughters from different mothers, the Williams household was no stranger to drama and tension. After causing yet another scandal, Arla's father had had enough and decided to marry her off to Liam, a ruthless mafia leader. Unbeknownst to Arla, Liam's world was filled with numerous mistresses, each vying for his attention and favor. However, Liam's heart truly belonged to only one woman: Vivian, his childhood love. Amidst the chaos and passion that swirled within the mansion, Arla found herself under the watchful eye of Liam's cunning and ruthless stepmother, who controlled and manipulated the mistresses with an iron fist. Unwilling to be tamed, Arla's arrival in the mansion would shake the foundations of Liam's dynasty. As she navigated the tangled web of secrets, deceit, and desire, Arla refused to bow to the will of those who sought to control her. With her fierce spirit and unyielding determination, she would leave an indelible mark on the hearts and lives of those who dared cross her path.

After I was reborn, I was the one who changed the name on my blood bond with Prince Mortlock. I wrote in “Isabella”—the other vampire he’d always cherished, always protected. When Isabella wanted the ruby necklace, the one that marked the Prince's Mate, I let her have it. The wedding dress Mortlock had prepared for me? I gave that to Isabella, too. I did it all because in my past life, I got my wish. I became Mortlock’s mate, but I lived every moment in Isabella’s shadow. In the end, during a battle with vampire hunters, Mortlock ran to a wounded Isabella first. I was the one left to take a silver stake through the heart. So this time, I decided to let them be. To stay far away from Mortlock. But this time, the cold, distant Prince wept and begged me to be his mate again.

He went blank in an instance. Seeing her walk towards his table makes him gone crazy. He wants to deny it but, he misses her. The exact same feeling he has for her six years ago. All kinds of emotions were crawling inside him, hatred, longing and fear, all mixed in one. She’s still the same exact person I used to know, the person I used to love. “Please be seated” she said, as she helps herself to sit. “… it’s been a while, how have you been A-chi?” she asks casually. “ Well as you can see, I’m all good until you come back… Tell me, kaya ka ba bumalik kasi wala ka na namang choice.” I can’t suppress sarcasm. “I may be that special to you, but I suggest you forget about the past, that would be better.” she said, as she sips from her glass. “Tell me, how am I suppose to forget when it was actually part of the reason why we were here, right now. Wow! I didn’t know you have the guts.” I said mockingly. “It was just a formality…” “O’o para sayo, kasi hindi ka nasaktan, hindi ka naiwan, hindi ikaw ang naka-miss limang taon sa buhay ng anak mo! And just so you know, I already have a fiancé.” I said in anger. “Do you love her?” I ask seriously. “Were you asking me that, because you were still confident na may feelings parin ako sayo?” I ask, because I found her unbelievable. “ If you were confident about yourself, you will give me an answer not a question. The fact that you ask me that, means you were shaken.” She said with a straight eye. “ You were still heartless!” I can not help to comment.

The wedding had barely started when the lights went out. Then came the moans—from the giant screen behind the altar. Hailey froze. Her skin went ghost-pale. Her whole body shook. A beat later, the doors slammed open. Leading the charge? Nolan. Cold eyes, sharp suit, and bodyguards in tow. He stormed the stage. The groom tried to stop him. Big mistake. Nolan's guys dropped him in seconds. Nolan grabbed a fistful of the groom's hair and yanked his head back. "Heh. I've slept with Hailey hundreds—maybe thousands—of times. Used condoms alone could fill your house. Wanna see the HD vids?" Hailey's eyes locked on Nolan, pure hate. She'd been his kept woman for eight years. He loathed her family. He loathed her. Swore she'd never know peace. Then she disappeared—and he lost his mind.

While attending a class reunion with my wife, we ran into her old flame—Caelum Zeth. After the gathering, Talia Grant cornered Caelum against a wall. When she found out he had fallen on hard times, she kissed him. "How much do you still owe? Be with me. I'll give you 100 thousand a month. Will that be enough?" I stood quietly at the corner of the street and snapped a photo of their heartfelt reunion before sending it to my lawyer. I also forwarded it to Talia, along with a message, "Since you two are so in love, go ahead and marry him."

Seren has never belonged to herself. Sold by her own father and brother to pay off a debt they could never afford, she is forced into a life she never chose, the wife of Rafael De Luna, the ruthless heir of the De Luna Syndicate. A man feared by everyone. A man who looks at her like she already belongs to him. Seren hates everything about him. His power. His cold voice. The way he reminds her every single day that she cannot escape him. Because in Rafael’s world, there are only two ways out of the marriage: Kill him or pay the debt with ten times the interest. Desperate to run from the life that suffocates her, Seren agrees to marry someone else, Nicolas, the only man who once promised to save her. But Rafael is not the kind of man anyone can escape from. Not when he has already decided that she is his. The more Seren tries to hate him, the more confused she becomes. Why is the man who terrifies her also the one who keeps saving her? Why does she feel safer in his arms than anywhere else in the world? And why does Rafael look at her like losing her would destroy him? In a world ruled by power, secrets, and dangerous love, Seren must decide whether to keep running… or face the truth she fears the most. Because the man she was forced to marry might also be the only one willing to burn the entire world just to keep her alive.

My wife, Lindsey Kelsey, suffers from an aversion to intimacy. For ten years of marriage, she pushed me away again and again. Then, on our anniversary, she abandoned me and, in front of the crowd, kissed another man with reckless passion before the two of them walked hand in hand into a luxury hotel. Afterward, Lindsey brazenly declared that a real man should be magnanimous, not petty. Magnanimous? Then I wish them both eternal bliss—may they be bound so tightly they can never break free from one another. Later, I handed Lindsey the divorce papers with a blank expression. I was determined to walk away from her. But Lindsey went mad when she realized she couldn't find me anymore.

One month before my wedding to my boyfriend, he announced he wanted to have a child with his "first love." I refused, but he brought it up every single day. Two weeks before the ceremony, I received a prenatal checkup report. That’s when I discovered his so-called "first love" was already nearly a month pregnant. It turned out he’d never intended to seek my consent at all. In that moment, years of affection evaporated like smoke. So, I canceled the wedding, destroyed every trace of our memories, and on what should have been our wedding day, I walked into a closed-off research lab. From then on, he meant nothing to me.

Ashton Fabregas is a certified playboy. Despite being a product of love, he never imagined or dreamed he would fall in love with a woman. He was contented with his life as a bachelor, with no one dictating or demanding anything from him since he hated being controlled. As a jerk, he always had a new flavor every day and night. But that night came... As he scanned his eyes around the bar, it landed on a woman who caught his attention. Man, she's sexy and gorgeous as hell! So, he quickly approached her and asked her to dance. And when he finally caught the woman's attention, he realized she was drunk as she expertly danced sexily with him in the middle of the dance floor. But what happened to him? Something's not right because he's going crazy thinking about that woman over and over again. It seems like the woman didn't just capture his attention, but also his heart, and hell, he can't allow that to happen just like that! He will also take the woman's heart and claim it. But how can he find her when he doesn't know who she is and where she is? Damn, Ashton Fabregas is very, very doomed as hell!

The moment I tasted blood in my mouth, I knew it wasn't mine. It was hers. Again. They said I was weak. An omega. A wife. A shadow. But I burned everything they gave me—and walked away. Now, years later, I am back. Not as his mate. Not as his Luna. But as someone stronger. Someone he can’t control. He looks at me with those green eyes like I’m still his. But he gave me away. To her. Sienna smiles like a queen. But behind those lips, I smell lies. And death. They want me close. They think I’ll break. But I didn’t rise from ashes to fall again. This time, I’m not running. I’m hunting. And they won’t see me coming.