Tui Smile

The woman dreamed of sleeping on an incredibly soft and comfortable bed. Her skin was pampered by the smoothness of the vast expanse of fabric. Perhaps she was lying on a giant fluffy marshmallow. The pleasure made her smile, a wide grin that revealed her white teeth. Her hands moved around on the bed, enjoying the comfortable touch between her skin and the oh-so-soft fabric. When was the last time she enjoyed such a soft and comfortable bed? She wasn't sure. Maybe it was during her last business trip to London. Back then, Big Boss had rented a luxurious suite for her to stay in with his only child who couldn't be far from his daddy. The business trip felt more like taking care of a toddler. No, actually, she was taking care of two toddlers - Big Boss's favorite child and Big Boss himself, the big baby who was more troublesome than his little daughter, Nora. Hmn! The difference was that on this comfortable bed, she could get a good quality sleep. There were no interruptions from Big Boss's children, no annoying single daddy shouting.

When Zora was sick during the early days of her pregnancy, Ezrah was with his first love, Piper. When Zora got into an accident and called Ezrah, he said he was busy, when in actual fact, he was buying shoes for Piper. Zora lost her baby because of the accident, and throughout her stay at the hospital, Ezrah never showed up. She already knew that he didn’t love her, but that was the last straw for the camel’s back, and her fragile heart could not take it anymore. When Ezrah arrived home a few days after Zora was discharged from the hospital, he no longer met the woman who always greeted him with a smile and cared for him. Zora stood at the top of the stairs and yelled with a cold expression, “Good news, Ezrah! Our baby died in a car accident. There is nothing between us anymore, so let's get a divorce.” The man who claimed not to have any feelings for Zora, being cold and distant towards her, and having asked her for a divorce twice, instantly panicked.

On the day my sight returned, our family doctor, Anna Leone, stood right in front of me and mouthed to my husband, Don Marco Vitale, "Double the lubricant tonight. I promise it'll send you straight to heaven, my Don." Marco pressed a gentle kiss to my eyes. Then he turned away and replied with the same silent lip movements, "You little tease. That mouth of yours—and the one below—I'm crazy about them both." The two of them exchanged a knowing smile, convinced their secret was flawless. What they didn't know was that not only had my vision fully recovered—I was also fluent in lip-reading. My gaze drifted to the bottle of lubricant sitting brazenly in the wall cabinet. I said nothing. Instead, I quietly sent a single text message: [Papa, I've decided to come home.] In three days, I would vanish completely. All I would leave behind for them would be the hollowed-out fortune of billions—and that bottle of "lubricant" I had replaced with high-strength industrial superglue.

It's been ten years now and I've programmed my brain to forget her little did I know that I was deceiving myself. Things changed when I saw her. She looked different. She wasn't the same little girl I had fallen in love with. She was now a grown woman. She was gorgeous. I needed her beneath me just for one night. I'd get her out of my system and move on. That was probably a lie. Months later. Here I am drowning my sorrow in alcohol on my last night as a single man. I was getting married to a woman I never truly loved. Tara gave me a shy smile as she approached the aisle with her father. Kelsey looked away and ignored me. I was about to slide the ring on Tara's finger and her father's voice stopped me. "Stop." I turned around and faced him. Tara grabbed his hand angrily. "Dad what are you doing?!" Tara yelled furiously.

Elena wanted to cry her heart out to whoever would listen, but her heart was dry. She couldn't even find it in her to do anything other than smile, nod politely and recieve the insults and abuse dished out to her. Afterall, she believed that there was nothing she could do. She was above the age of mating and she was still unmated. Each blood moon came and went and the moon goddess in some sort of joke or irony refused to grant her a mate. It wasn't just her lack of a mate, she also couldn't wolf out. No matter how much she tried, it just didn't work. What came to every werewolf so easily ran away from her. Elena felt tired and defeated. Even if she wanted to fight her uncle how would she do it? Physically she was almost the weakest in the pack. Malnutrition had told on her leaving her with extremely pale skin and a skinny body. Sometimes to herself she wondered how she was still alive.

I hid behind a thick tree trunk and watched silently as a grizzly bear attacked my husband. In my previous life, I was a guide. I led my husband—an environmental photographer—and his female colleague into a nature reserve to film wildlife. While scouting the route, I discovered a nursing grizzly bear and immediately warned them not to take any photos and to retreat slowly. To my shock, they intentionally bumped into me, causing my right leg to be cut and bleed. The scent of blood enraged the bear, and it charged straight at me, sinking its massive jaws into my abdomen. After the bear left, my husband calmly stripped me of all my equipment. Then, wrapping his arms around his female colleague, he kissed her. He turned to me with a sinister smile creeping across his face. "Kate," he said, "I'll be honest. I never loved you. You're dying. Now, all your assets will be mine." I bled out and died. When I opened my eyes again, it was the morning of the day we entered the mountains.

After being fired for a small mistake, Sabrina’s luck changes when she becomes the secretary to a billionaire CEO…and discovers that Atlas Collins is the handsome stranger that tried to save her job. Though they’ve only met once, Atlas seems familiar to Sabrina, a feeling she can’t shake. Can Sabrina trust the man Atlas has become, or will the CEO’s secrets be too much to handle? Without warning, Atlas begins unbuttoning his shirt. I knew that Atlas had a gorgeous face and wonderful personality; now I’ve been blessed with seeing his sculpted body. Atlas clears his throat and I’m forced to tear my eyes away from him. When I see the flirty smile on his face, I realize he caught me staring. “I know you would love to stand here all day and look at my body,” he teases, moving towards the door, “But we have a lot of work to get through.” The CEO’s Secrets is created by Chloe Higgins, an EGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

"I was just trying to steal some bread when the bond hit. One second I'm a rogue surviving on scraps. The next, I'm fated mate to THREE Princes. Not one. Not two. All three heirs to the throne. Damon, the brutal Crown Prince who thinks I'm a trap. Kieran, the charming second son who wants to seduce me. Caius, the scarred eldest who says he'll destroy his brothers to win. They say I have to choose one within a year, or the bond kills us all. The one I pick becomes King. The other two lose everything. But here's the problem: I don't want any of them. I just want to survive in a palace full of she-wolves who'd kill me for breathing. In a court where every smile hides a knife. With a bond that gets stronger every day, making it impossible to think straight when they're near. And the worst part? The longer I'm here, the harder it gets to imagine choosing only one. Because what if I'm falling for all three?"

After my parents died, the family went bankrupt, leaving my brother and me with a large sum of debt. To pay it off, he became a haunted-house test sleeper, while I acted as a corpse on film sets. For five years, we worked tirelessly, not daring to rest a single day—and still, the debt wasn't cleared. By the end of the year, only 13 thousand dollars remained. Gritting my teeth, I signed up as a clinical trial volunteer. When it was over, I dragged 13 thousand dollars in cash, brimming with joy, to show my brother. But I found him frowning, on the phone. "Dad, Mom, Lily's doing well. Have fun abroad," he said. "She's stopped spending recklessly. The punishment ends next year." What? Our parents weren't dead? Our family wasn't bankrupt? The five years of hardship, every ounce of struggle—I'd endured it all as punishment for my love of spending. My smile froze on my face. My stomach churned violently. A mouthful of fresh blood spilled out.

I am soulless, cruel, and have no heart. I do not feel anything when I take their souls. They deserve it as their souls are impure. These dirty humans have souls whereas, I, do not. I cannot contain my jealousy towards them as they can die as they please whereas, I, cannot. I was once a mere mortal who loved a Goddess but I was betrayed and turned into something beautiful but hideous for eternity as my soul left me and lie asleep for eternity somewhere in the dark abyss. My beauty is lethal as I can deceive my prey. I have lived far more than any human can apprehend and I cannot remember how it feels to be a human and this little girl, an innocent beauty, a mere mortal, I should loathe, take her soul, and leave her dead cold. But why am I hesitating? Her innocent blue eyes and her bright smile is illuminating my darkness. I, Endymion, am a soulless immortal, must take her filthy soul with no hesitation and regret...