The World Is An Apple By Alberto Florentino

Seven years into our marriage, Zane Grimes and I remained childless. He once held me close, his voice tender and earnest. "Don't overthink it. I've never cared for children. You're all I want in this life." But on the day his company went public, as the ceremonial bell echoed through the hall, the doors burst open. My sister stormed in, cradling a wailing infant. "Zane, this is your son! How can you abandon us?" Zane's face paled as he turned to me, his eyes brimming with panic and a silent plea. Unbeknownst to him, I had long known about his betrayal and the child.

On the day I receive my Distinguished Service Medal, I also receive word that my grandma has passed away. My superior grants me special leave to return to my hometown to mourn her death, so I rush to my ancestral home at once. But when I reach the ancestral graveyard behind the hill, I witness something that makes my blood boil. The graves of my deceased family members have been razed to the ground. Even my parents' graves have been brutally dug up. Their urns are now placed under flower pots filled with blooming red roses. Grandma's coffin has been pried open as well.Her body now lies strewn on the ground and has started to rot. I also see Lucy Stewart, my autistic younger sister. Melissa Abbott, my wife's assistant, orders Lucy around like a maid, forcing her to move heavy construction materials around. Enraged, I grab Melissa by the throat and throw her to the ground. "How dare you destroy my family's ancestral cemetery and make my sister do hard labor! Do you want to end up buried here too?" Melissa coughs up blood before crawling back onto her feet, her expression vicious and scornful. "I'm simply carrying out Ms. Fuller's instructions. She says that your ancestral cemetery is located in a good spot. It's also the perfect size to be turned into a private horse ranch and a garden for her future husband. "Ms. Fuller calls the shots here in Joverton City. Who the hell do you think you are, huh?" Resisting the urge to put an end to her life, I call up Eva Fuller, my wife. "I heard you call the shots here in Joverton City. Well, I shall put that to the test today!"

When I have a pen in my hand and paper before me, I think I want to write something to cast every despair in my pathetic life away. I have a figure of a depressed guy whose fate is too much: saving the world. He is not stupid nor even smart, he is not ugly nor even good looking. He is just a nijikon (A person who loves an anime character more than the real one) like me. He once thought to give up on life, but an event changes his life. I'm sure you guys start guessing how the story goes, but too bad, this one is different than the others.

Benjamin Lockwood's life takes a U turn when, his estranged sister and her husband dies in an accident and, he receives the custody of his young niece. The baby being the heir to a fortune, becomes a target for her greedy paternal family. Benjamin has only one option. Get married and provide the baby with a secure family. Enter Isabella Carter. Cute bubbly and innocent. In a desperate situation, Benjamin claims her as his fiance and chaos ensues. Read ahead to know how their life unfolds.

Imagine having two men on your neck, both claiming to want you. Well... Welcome to Reene story then. Reene Clove was a totally normal twenty four year old until her life changed after an encounter with the two world's hottest guys. Yup. And the best (or worse as she'd put it) part was, they weren't just any men... One is an Alpha. The other a Mafia. Both the two most powerful men in the world. Yet she doesn't like either!!! None. In fact, she'd rather prefer to be away from the two hot, perfectly sculptured to perfection, almost irresistible dudes. Well, at least that was what she thought. Not until love invited itself to the story... WARNING!!! This book has some mention of illegal things and killings, so you should please watch out for those (but don't worry, I'll give a warning before writing those chapters). Dive into Reene's story and I hope you enjoy...

Betrayed, framed, and thrown into a dungeon, Meliora Ashwylde has spent her life being treated like a curse—by her mother, her stepsister, and even her own husband. But the night she’s sentenced to bleed for a crime she didn’t commit, something awakens inside her… something powerful. On the run and moments from death, Meliora is saved by the one man her enemies fear—the cold, mysterious Lycan King…to her he's impossible to trust. But as he protects her, trains her, and uncovers the truth she was never meant to know, Meliora discovers she isn’t weak. She isn’t wolfless. She is Nyxshade—daughter of night and shadow. And she’s done being their victim.

At the awards for the Global Jewelry Design Competition, my stepsister Sandra took the grand prize. She used the designs she stole from me. What she didn’t know was the show’s biggest sponsor: Jude Moretti. Godfather of the Moretti family. A bloodthirsty monster scarred in an explosion, a man they say can never have children. And the grand prize? Becoming the Godfather’s bride. That night, Moretti’s men, all in black, delivered a gold-trimmed marriage contract. They were here for the “genius designer.” My fiancé, Marco, panicked. He whisked Sandra off to Vegas to save her. They got married that night. With the deed done, Sandra strutted back in, wearing my silk robe. She flashed the ring on her finger and the hickies all over her neck. “Marco’s mine now,” she purred. “What are you going to do, Odessa? The Godfather’s only giving you a day. If you don’t marry him, the Family will have to appease him. That means sending you to the red-light district. Selling you to the kind of sicko who gets off on broken things.” She was wrong. I had another choice. I found my father and stepmother, both scrambling to deal with the contract. “I’ll do it,” I said. “I’ll marry the Godfather.”

The sole heiress of a wealthy family, Amanita Wallace, had seven prospective husbands, taken in from childhood to potentially wed her one day. All of them fulfilled her every wish, except Marcus Channing, who was cold and mean to her. Due to this, Amanita fell for him and even became his lapdog. Then, one day, she saw him pin his supposed sister against the wall and confess his feelings to her.

"I can't do this no more. I'm leaving you, Rupert Peter Myrie," Tasha said, her heart thudding in her chest. He turned, locking his eyes with hers, but she didn't flinch. Rupert snorted softly, his footsteps slow and deliberate as he approached, each breath husky, each movement heavy until he stood just an inch away. "Tee, you must be really angry for you to be calling me by my full name." "Stick to the point," she said, turning her face from his intimidating gaze. "I want to end things with you." Her voice trembled, but she forced the words out. He closed the space between them. "You want to end things with me?" His voice dropped. "Who teaching you this 'strong woman' crap?" He wrapped his arms around her, gently rocking her and pulling her to his chest. "The only way I'll ever let you leave me... is in a body bag." ****** After escaping a toxic relationship and years of being controlled, Tasha Mackenzie finds herself under the protection of Joseph Grind, America's most feared Mafia boss. He’s cold-blooded. Untouchable. And hiding a secret darker than his empire: he's also the Alpha of the Stinging Vipers werewolf pack. As Tasha is pulled into his dangerous world, she learns the man protecting her has a fiancée he claims is just a business deal. But how can she trust a man feared by an entire country, let alone love him? Can Tasha survive the war between her heart and his secrets... or will loving a monster destroy her for good?

“You can run. You can hide. But your scent will always call to me, and you will never escape.” Astrid is a weak omega shifter, born into the Stone Moon pack and resigned to a life of slavery. Though she’s given up hope, her wolf believes she’ll find a mate who will love her and save her from a life of misery and abuse. Meanwhile, Dominic Knight, the powerful alpha of the Blood Moon pack, is a nightmare to his rivals and seeks no mate. After suffering the loss of his previous mate, Isabella, he wants nothing more than to take revenge against his father. But his inner wolf has other plans. He demands a mate and threatens to overtake Dominic if he doesn’t get his way. For the safety of his pack, Dominic succumbs to the pressure and claims Astrid as his mate, but it is only to produce an heir and appease his wolf's desires, not out of love. Will Astrid be able to break through the walls around Dominic's heart and find happiness, or will she remain trapped in a loveless bond, used only to satisfy his wolf's needs?