The Outside

Beneath the cover of a decent society lurks a hidden world, a world of darkness ruled by blood, betrayal and greed. But in this dark Mafia world, years of war and turmoil have left many crime families in ruin and on the brink of extinction, and among them is the once mighty Lorenzo family. Born into this world of blood and power is the beautiful Isabella Lorenzo… born and raised from childhood to obey and serve, in a world where women were nothing but currency for power and alliance. When her aging father, Don Antonio Lorenzo begins to lose his grip on the remains of his once powerful empire, Isabella is forced to become a pawn in a last ditch alliance: a contract marriage to Luca Bastoni, the deadly and emotionless heir of the rival Moretti syndicate. To the outside world, their union is a merging of wealth and influence, but beneath it lies a fragile bundle of chaos waiting to erupt. Luca is every bit a mafia prince… ruthless and power hungry, while his wife Isabella is a beauty who buries her pain under loyalty to her father. However, there is an undeniable attraction between Luca and Isabella, but years of bad blood between both families make trust an impossible dream… they may share a bed, but not a soul. Unknown to Isabella, the Morettis have no intention of keeping their part of the bargain… Their marriage is only a cover for annihilation.

It has been fifty-five days since my fiancé cut me off. I called off the wedding I'd waited eight long years for. All while he was caring for his childhood sweetheart, who was battling depression and seeking peace at a remote retreat. He even had the historic chapel—a local landmark called the Aethelred Sanctuary—closed to the public for six months because of her. And me? I was left to face the swarming reporters, hounded from one place to the next until I had nowhere left to hide—all because he disappeared without a word. Out of options, I went to the retreat to find him. But he turned me away, saying I would disturb the quiet and sanctity of the place. In the bitter cold of deep winter, I collapsed outside the gates, barely holding on. When I woke, I saw him—Jonathan—planting an entire garden of roses on the grounds, every bloom a declaration of love. Six months later, he finally left and returned home with his childhood sweetheart. The roses they had planted now filled what was supposed to be our wedding venue, from floor to ceiling. I watched them, cold and unmoved. What he didn't know was this—I was already engaged to someone else.

" She is more than a family to me. I can't ignore her when she needs me!" He declares the same lines over and over. " And I only have you. What about me?" She asks, voice splitting between. " If you don't think that you can't take it normal matter easily, we should divorce!" ______ Emma Downey thought she had a perfect marriage life. Her husband, A brilliant, attractive and extraordinary Billionaire business showered with everything, Money, Jewelry and wealth. However, Emma knows his priority. His childhood best friend. A female childhood best friend who has been making her life hell. She wanted to stay as calm and positive as possible, until she realized that every single important event in her life, that best friend becomes the center of attention. Everything turns upside down and all loose breaks when she messed up with their third anniversary. After that day, her husband started changing, slowly and gradually, being rude, staying outside and no longer showering with love. One day he talked about the divorce what was never been in the diary to mention. However, instead of crying, she is determined to divorce. She will leave him with his best friend since she is the obstacle to their pure relationship.

Finally today his revenge was completed... Or so he thought... "We all thought that Jones & Jones company has gone bankrupt. Mr. Jones ran away and investors are outside in rage. It was the end for the company but a miracle saved them... yes the eldest daughter who left the country a long time ago is back. She has promised her investors that she will save the company and give them their money back." I saw that... NO... I spent my whole life for this revenge... That bastard took everything from me and my family. I want him to suffer the same... but this girl... she just came and saved everything. NO... I looked at her face intently... I never wanted to make this fight personal but now you have little girl... You want to save your daddy dearest's company... I won't let you... you need to be punished... little girl... "FIND ME EVERYTHING ABOUT HER" I screamed. No one will come between my revenge and me. She doesn't know he is burning in vengeance. He won't give up. He doesn't know she is extremely intelligent and a market genius. She won't give up.

To earn a place in the Nostra family, I forge a new identity. The night my lie unravels, Don Nostra looks at me as if I'm dirt at the bottom of his shoe. I press a razor blade to my wrist. "Kick me out of the family, and I'll die right here." "Fine. Since you want to be my wife that badly, I'll give you what you want," Lorenzo Nostra snickered. After that, he brings home woman after woman. He forces me to kneel outside his bedroom door, saying, "Watch and learn. This is how you please your Don." The stinging pain in my knees is nothing compared to the chill in my heart. When he is done, he towers above me. "All this for a title," he says with a sneer. "You really put up with anything." Enduring him becomes the only way I can survive this world. Then, one day, he walks in with a civilian girl named Maria Romano. "Go. Bring her the heirloom Madre left behind," he commanded. This time, I refuse. I turn and walk away, never once looking back. When Lorenzo uncovers the truth, he loses his mind and begs me to come back.

Marry me and give me an heir. Soren Lancaster said in a cold raspy voice. That's all he wants. A womb to bear his child — the only way he could keep his crown and remain the rightful head of the Lancaster empire. A deal sealed in misery. A marriage of convenience, stripped of love, a secret to the outside world, to Soren. Delilah Harper sold her body and soul in exchange for her mother's debt. A fatal mistake. One unforgettable night, a near death encounter and Soren left, leaving Delilah lovestruck. Delilah loved him quietly, believing she could earn his heart, make him see her the way she has always seen him. But to Soren, rules were sacred. Unbreakable. Only cold silence and a space Delilah mistook as a home. She was nothing but a rebound. A woman who couldn't give him the one thing he wanted the most. A baby. And still, he did not cast her aside. He kept her. Delilah held on to that tiny hope. But that hope dies off clean when Soren brings another woman home— pregnant. Not just any woman. Ashley Garcia. Her highschool bully, and the woman who left Soren at the alter. His first love.

Contracted to My Boss When poverty and her sister’s critical illness leave her with nowhere to turn, she reaches out to her boyfriend for help—only to face a devastating betrayal. Outside the hospital, he declares he’s leaving her for another woman, branding her a burden who offers him no benefits. Shattered, she flees and accidentally collides with the CEO of her company, who has overheard every word of her heartbreak. He presents a pragmatic solution: a contract marriage where he gets the wife he needs to navigate family expectations, and she gets the money to save her sister. Seeing no other option, she agrees, and they formalize their arrangement as a strictly business deal with no room for emotions. But as they share their lives under one roof, their professional boundaries begin to crumble. His tender gestures, protective instincts, and unexpected kisses leave her questioning if this is truly just a contract. For him, the thought of her walking away—wearied by the pressure from his family and doubts about their future—awakens feelings he never anticipated. What began as a transaction to solve their individual problems evolves into something far more complex, forcing both to confront whether their growing connection is real, or if they’re simply pretending to fill the voids in their lives.

Five years into my relationship with a Godfather-to-be, I realized Cicio Russo had fallen for someone else. And I decided that the choice should be his. I laid the options right in front of him: break up with me, or send that someone else far away overseas. Cicio Russo stood outside my windows all night, down there with the coldness of the night cutting through him and fogging his breath. By morning, Cicio told me that he'd decided. His choice was me. Or at least - that was what I was made to believe. Surprise came on the very day of our wedding, a strange little boy ran straight down the aisle that was supposed to be mine to walk. “Daddy,” he cried at Cicio and Cicio’s face of stony indifference, “What about me? You have left mommy already. Are you going to abandon me, too?” The ring slipped from Cicio’s hand and hit the carpet with a muted thud. He turned his back on me and walked away without even looking back. I pulled off the white veil. And I snatched the microphone from the host. “If you take one more step,” I screamed into the microphone, “if you leave, I will give all this up. And you, too. Do you hear me? I will give you up.” He froze. For only one second. Then he stepped away anyway.

On my fiftieth birthday, my grandson pouted when he saw the present I had given him and complained, “Grandma Cecil at the Emerald Manor has a cooler present for me. It was a Transformer toy that flies.” I was confused by this remark. Emerald Manor was one of the wedding gifts offered when I got married. My husband was not fond of this place because it was too far away from the city, so I have rarely been here as well, and it has been vacant ever since. As we stood outside the manor, I could hear the cheery voices coming from inside the house. My husband and my adopted son were inside celebrating the birthday of the owner of the manor. The Grandma Cecil my grandson referred to was the childhood sweetheart of my husband, Cecil Houston, who was married off far away a long time ago. She remained as beautiful as she once was and was snuggled in my husband’s arms, surrounded by my children. I have dedicated myself to the Blightwells for two decades. This entire time, Cade has taken my commitment as nothing but a joke. When I was reincarnated, I found myself on the wedding day. I listened to the clamoring noises and lifted the veil to see the commotion. It was time to start over.

When Adrian and I broke up, he knelt outside my door all night. When I finally agreed to get back together, he lit a bonfire in the main hall, invited the elders to witness it, and swore I would become his Luna. Then, right at the finish line of a racetrack, he hauled a trembling, sobbing blonde girl out of the “trophy,” draped his jacket over her shoulders, and turned gentle like he’d become a different man. He looked back at me and said, “Ann, don’t make a scene. She ended up like this because of us.” The next day, he said I should atone by pack law, kneel inside a vow circle drawn with salt and silver powder, and endure my wolf soul’s backlash under the moonlight. Later, he threw me into the basement she used to live in, forced me to survive the way she did, forced me to lower my head and apologize. What he didn’t know was that there was a little pup in my belly. And I wasn’t going to tell him. I’d wait until he was most off guard, slide the divorce papers in front of him, let him sign them with his own hand, then vanish cleanly and absolutely, with my child.