Twelve Tone Scale

We're celebrating my son, Baby Selwyn, turning a month old. I'm walking past the pool with him in my arms when someone shoves me from behind. Colin Selwyn jumps into the pool like a madman. He saves us and immediately rushes us to the hospital. Baby Selwyn makes it out alive because of the timely rescue. When I open my eyes again, Baby Selwyn and Colin aren't by my side. I sit up while coughing and remove the needle inserted into my hand. I leave the hospital room and head for the pediatric department, wanting to see Baby Selwyn. However, as I walk past the emergency room, I hear Colin talking to a doctor. "We managed to save the child from drowning, Mr. Selwyn. Why has he now died of asphyxiation?" "I smothered him. Per the plan, he was never supposed to make it out alive!" "But why? He's your son!" "I promised Sandy that I would make our child the Selwyn family's sole heir. Lucille should never have given birth to Baby Selwyn." Colin's tone is gentle and calm, yet his words are cold and cruel. I've always thought I had a loving marriage, but it's just a joke! I've already lost my beloved son, and my heartless husband is the one behind his death. I don't want him anymore!

So this is how the mate bond feels. A rush of energy, a pull like gravity tightening around us, and an almost maddening awareness of the other person. I wasn’t about to let it sway me though. Sure, the man in front of me is ridiculously perfect, but I wasn’t some love-struck fool who’d drop everything at the first spark of fate. I had a life, plans, and a fiancé waiting for me upstairs. I raised an eyebrow, forcing myself to stay calm even as my heart raced. “Take a number and get in line, sweetheart,” I said coolly, flashing the engagement ring on my finger in front of his gray eyes. “I’m otherwise occupied right now.” …Five years later, when I pushed the door open, my mate remained motionless on a leather couch, his piercing gaze boring into me with a cold detachment that sent shivers down my spine. He leaned back, the casualness of the gesture at odds with the intensity in his eyes. His arms rested lazily on the backrest, but there was nothing relaxed about him. His body was coiled tight, like a predator ready to pounce, and the air between us crackled with tension. “Is my number finally up?” he asks, his tone laced with bitter amusement. “My dear mate.” The words sting, but I can’t deny the truth in them. He is my last chance.

After my husband got into a car accident, he started acting strange and unpredictable. I went to countless doctors, and every one of them told me the same thing—he couldn't be provoked, and I had to go along with whatever he wanted. When he said he didn't want me in the master bedroom, I moved my things into the guest room next door. When he said his childhood sweetheart had cancer and he wanted to spend her last days with her, I even brought her into our home. One night, when I went downstairs to get some medicine for my stomach, I heard Harvey's voice, his tone oh so tender. "Katie, you have to live on. If you don't, I'll die too." Katie's breathy, trembling voice followed. "Are you sure Jenna's willing to donate her bone marrow to me?" "Of course. Even if she had to die for me, she'd do it willingly." I froze in place. Tears streamed down my face. That's right. Five years ago, I had donated one of my kidneys to him. Back then, I loved him so much that I really would have died for him. But now, all I wanted was to leave.

"Did you ever, even once, imagine yourself loving me?" Sarah posed a hopeful question to Philip. "Don’t make me laugh, Sarah. Everything between us has been purely about pleasure and business.” Sarah had harbored feelings for Philip ever since she first saw him in a sports magazine. When his fiancée abandoned him at the altar to elope with another man, Sarah selflessly offered herself as a replacement bride to spare his embarrassment. After enduring three years of a loveless and toxic marriage, Sarah finally summoned the courage to divorce Philip, who was still pining for his former fiancée. She vowed to herself that she would find another man who would love, trust, and worship her like a queen. This is what she sought if she were to marry a second time. A year later, their paths crossed again. Philip confronted Sarah in a ladies’ restroom, demanding, “Do not let other men touch you!” Sarah remained indifferent; her demeanor noticeably changed. “And what if I do?” she retorted. Philip’s tone grew menacing, “You won’t like what I’d do.” Unfazed, Sarah shot back, “Mr. Cornell, I’ve never liked what you’ve done, even in the past. There’s nothing new about that, and please stop whining like a baby,” before turning and walking away, disdainfully leaving him behind.

One year. That’s all I have to survive. I went from dancing naked in the neon-soaked stage of the Velvet Eclipse club to the cold, marble halls of the Hart empire with nothing but a promise I made to a dying man. I thought Richard Hart was my savior, but his final gift turned out to be a death sentence: live in a penthouse with his four sons—the most powerful, dangerous, and devastatingly handsome men in the city—for twelve months, or lose everything. The catch? They hate me. They see me as a charity case, a gold-digger. There’s Lucien, the Ice King who wants to crush me under his corporate heel. Damon, the inked-up mafia boss, who plays with guns and my sanity. Kai, the tech genius whose stormy blue eyes track my every mistake like a virus. And Theo, the golden boy whose charming smile hides a heart of pure stone. They’ve made it clear: they don’t want a roommate. They want to break me until I beg to leave. But they don’t know where I come from. They don't know what I've survived, Jace, my ex boyfriend who is currently hunting me from the shadows, ready to drag me back to the life I barely escaped. I’m trapped between four sharks who want to devour me and a monster who wants to own me. But as the walls of the penthouse start closing in, the hatred is starting to feel a lot like hunger. The lines are blurring, and I’m beginning to realize that the only thing more dangerous than the Hart brothers hating me... is them wanting me. I was sent here to tame them. But in this den of lions, I might be the one who ends up devoured.

“What did I promise would happen if you threw another punch, Artemis?” Professor Lucian's silky tone hardened into a dark fascinating baritone. “Let me see…” Artemis licked his lips with a menacing smile, his cold dark eyes piercing through the professor's oceanic ones. “You said you'll bring me to my knees but something tells me I'll do more than just begging.” The air in the room shifted as the older man took a step closer. “Hit me, Artemis,” Lucian took another step closer. “Every second you hesitate, your punishment doubles.” Artemis lips curled in a smirk as he stepped closer. He raised his hand slowly to the professor's lips but the older man caught it before it could make contact. An amused chuckle rumbled in his chest. “Twenty seconds gone, Professor. You better punish me hard,” he smirked. ******* Artemis McAlester was feared for two reasons. His ability to break anything and his power to own everything. Kingston College was his playground until a red-haired professor with oceanic blue eyes and a dangerous intolerance for spoiled bullies. Not only did Lucian defy every rule he set, but he was also the one thing Artemis couldn’t own. And that defiance? It was the sexiest thing of all. Except Lucian wasn't someone he could break. To own the blue-eyed professor, Artemis would have to do the unthinkable. Submit. Break. Let himself be owned. As long as the only thing between them was desire and pure unadulterated hate.

Luna synopsis “You're just a spoilt brat, aren't you?” he growled. “Guilty as charged,” I shot back. “I should treat you like one then,” he drawled, tone charged in a way that melted my blood into liquid fire. “I should bend you over this desk and give you a spanking you would never forget.” And before I could stop myself, the damning words were out of my mouth. “And would I call you Daddy while you do it?” It's the merging of two great packs through marriage, an alliance that would strengthen their military force and give them the advantage to defeat the evil rogues terrorizing them. 19-year-old Francesca Reginald however is furious that her Alpha mother, the head of their pack, agreed to marry 32-year-old Alpha Ian, even though she understands the reasoning behind it. Things escalate when on the eve of their wedding, Francesca comes to know that Ian was her destined mate. She now has to live with the pain of being his step-daughter when all she wants is to be his Luna. Three months after the wedding, Francesca's mother is brutally murdered by the rogues, and her secret power is awakened. She gets a vision that would change everything. Chaos descends and war between the rogues and the pack is declared. Francesca can't trust Ian with her vision because of the devastating results it could have. On his side, Ian is desperate to keep her safe. But what Francesca needs more than protection is his love. Will she succeed in getting it?

On the day the real heiress was welcomed home, my fiancé was already sleeping with her. Staring at the blue pills and torn lingerie scattered on the floor, I told them to get the hell out of my wedding house. But a second later, my father stormed in and slapped me hard across the face. "Who are you to tell her to leave? Bella is our real daughter!" "Elena, you’re just an outsider we took in by mistake. You’re the one who needs to get out." Marco wrapped his arm around Bella, his tone impatient: "Elena, I’m the heir to the Moretti family. I can’t marry a mongrel with impure blood like you. If you don't want to bring shame to the family, be smart and go tell the Don the wedding is off tomorrow." Bella gave a coy smile and tossed a stack of cash at my feet like she was giving alms: "Sister, I know Marco and I hurt you, but we’re true love." "Take this as your severance package. Take the money and get lost." I suppressed my rage and stepped forward to throw these disgusting people out, but Marco shoved me violently. "I told you, I’m not marrying you! Keep pestering us, and don't blame me for getting rough!" My stomach slammed against the table. I laughed out of pure anger. Who said I wanted to marry him? The one I’m going to marry is his father—the Don of the Moretti family, Lorenzo.

She was light; they were darkness. She is innocent; they were cunning. She was optimistic; they were pessimistic. She was not what they wanted as their mate and yet they craved her. They hated her for what she was and yet they wanted all of her for themselves. They tormented her to break her and yet they felt like dying when they saw her in pain. They were trapped with her in a twisted game of fate. Will they be able to win this game, or will the cruelty of the world pull them apart? This was not just about winning the game. This was about their fate entangled with her. Fate was always cruel to her and yet she faced every hurdle with a new determination and smile. Will she be able to smile with the same determination when the secrets of their lives start revealing themselves to her? ----------------------------------------------------------- "Don't be afraid. It will be over soon. I am here with you..... always," he whispered comforting words in her ear while holding her wounded body tightly in his embrace. "You are an illusion, Gabriel. You will be gone once I open my eyes." She murmured weakly, her eyelids heavy. "No, my love.. I am not an illusion, and I will prove that to you," he replied in a determined tone before pulling her body up into his embrace and running towards his car, determined to save her and show her that this world is not just all about hate and bitterness. This world is also filled with love. He regretted coming late to save her. She did nothing wrong. Yet she is the only one who paid the price for others' faults. Life was never fair to her, but Gabriel was now determined to make everything right for her.

She gave up, she gave in. She forgot that she was on an airplane that was now accelerating for take-off. She was far more interested in her own personal take-off – one that Hunter was controlling with hard, deep thrusts inside her as his thumb gently stroked her clit. She opened her mouth against his throat, her breath coming out in pants now. As she approached climax, Sully gripped her chin between his fingers, forced her face up to his. Her release was muffled against his mouth and he swallowed her gasps and tiny whimpers; when she relaxed and sighed, he held her close, absorbing the aftershocks into his own body. Cordelia floated next to him, dizzy and breathless. **** Twelve years ago, Hunter Sullivan lost everything that mattered. Since then, his life has been built on distance, discipline, and emotional lockdown. Love was a luxury he failed to protect, and one he doesn’t deserve again. Or so he believes. Until Cordelia Patton walks into his life and dismantles his defenses with a single smile. Cordelia is already carrying too much: a sick child, a demanding job, and a future balanced on a knife’s edge. Her toughest assignment comes when she and Hunter are sent undercover as a married couple to take down a child-kidnapping ring. Pretending to be close to a man who refuses to want her may be the hardest role she’s ever played. Cut off from backup and relying only on each other, lines blur and emotions ignite. But when the case explodes and a criminal escapes, the danger turns personal... and Hunter is forced to face his greatest fear: losing the woman he never meant to love.