Unscramble Afraid

To save his mother’s life as she lay critically ill in the operating room, Dante had no choice. The hospital bills kept piling up. Every door he knocked on for help closed, one by one. Until an offer came—dirty, dangerous, and binding. To become a mafia boss’s kept man. Leonard Virelli was not just a wealthy man. He was the shadow ruler of the city—ambitious, manipulative, and accustomed to getting whatever he wanted. Including Dante. Dante knew this was not simply a “relationship.” It was an unspoken contract of ownership. Of a body paid for. Of a life slowly brought under control. He had never imagined himself stepping into a world like that. But for the cost of the surgery, for the only family he had left, Dante was willing to swallow his pride. What he did not expect was how dangerous Leonard truly was. The man did not only want Dante’s presence at his side—he wanted obedience. Loyalty. Perhaps even… his heart. Behind the expensive suits and cold smiles, Leonard harbored an unhealthy obsession. He was not used to being rejected. Not used to losing. And the more Dante tried to keep his emotional distance, the tighter Leonard’s grip became. Trapped between guilt, desperation, and feelings that began to grow without permission, Dante found himself asking a question he was afraid to answer: Did he sell himself to save his mother? Or had he unknowingly surrendered himself to a man who would never let him go? In the mafia world filled with blood and betrayal, love is not tenderness. Love is possession. And Dante has just signed a contract with the most dangerous man in the city.

"Sherman...Sherman Colton," I managed to mutter, my voice quivering from a combination of exhaustion and worry. The name surfaced from the depths of my consciousness, unexpected yet purposeful. As I felt my awareness fade, a lingering feeling of unease settled within me. I didn't just say that name in response to a question; it was more like a desperate plea, a fragment of worry for the man whose image and reputation I was afraid I had ruined in the chaotic events that had taken place. As I surrendered to the embrace of unconsciousness, a deep uncertainty gripped my soul, unsure if I would ever wake up to the light of another day. I whispered, "Mr.Colton, I didn't break your trust." ........................................................................... Within the luxurious Elite Oaks Resort, Zara Tahel, the unassuming housekeeper, found herself thrust into a passionate whirlwind of destiny. Her heartache led her to cancel her wedding when she uncovered her lover's affair with his superior. Little did she know, her life was about to take a captivating turn. In her bridal gown's elegance, Zara collided with Sherman Colton, the charismatic CEO of the resort. Their encounter was electric, sparking a photograph that set the world buzzing with intrigue. But their chemistry was undeniable, a passionate connection that smoldered. Sherman offered an arrangement, one fraught with desire and hidden longing. As their worlds intertwined, the question hung in the air: Was their deal just a façade to protect his reputation, or had a deep, secret attraction ignited since that unforgettable moment? Amidst moonlit nights and stolen moments at Elite Oaks Resort, Zara and Sherman embarked on a passionate journey, testing the limits of love and desire. Their hearts danced to a melody of fervent ardor, setting their worlds ablaze with irresistible chemistry.

The first day I return to the country, my future mother-in-law, Sophia Damer, smacks a check against my face and says, "Here's five million dollars. Leave my son alone. The Simpsons cannot accept a gold-digging nobody like you!" Before I can even explain myself, the young woman in a white dress hiding behind her says, "Please don't do this, Sophia. If this young lady treats Jay well enough, I don't mind caring for him with her, too." I chuckle. So, Sophia and Crystal Richmond, my half-sister, think that I'm the evil mistress who tried stealing her man away from her, when Jayson Simpson was my boyfriend the entire time. And yet, Crystal still thinks that she's the legitimate one instead. However, seeing that Crystal still doesn't know who I really am, I pick up the check without even looking at it and stuff it into her V-neck dress. "Nice acting. Here's your reward." Then, I take out a black card and fling it onto the table. "Here's ten million dollars, lady. Tell your son to stay away from me and stop bothering me. I find him disgusting! "Oh, and by the way," I say, pointing at Crystal, who is still being shielded behind Sophia's body. "Might I remind you that this young woman you're protecting is just the bastard kid my dad brought home last year. "If you're thinking of using her to get close to the Richmonds, I'm afraid that you're barking up the wrong tree!"

"Are you still afraid of me Medusa?" His deep voice send shivers down my spine like always. He's too close for me to ignore. Why is he doing this? He's not supposed to act this way. What the hell? Better to be straight forward Med! I gulped down the lump formed in my throat and spoke with my stern voice trying to be confident. "Yes, I'm scared of you, more than you can even imagine." All my confidence faded away within an instant as his soft chuckle replaced the silence. Jerking me forward into his arms he leaned forward to whisper into my ear. "I will kiss you, hug you and bang you so hard that you will only remember my name to sa-, moan. You will see me around a lot baby, get ready your therapy session to get rid off your fear starts now." He whispered in his deep husky voice and winked before leaving me alone dumbfounded. Is this how your death flirts with you to Fuck your life!? There's only one thing running through my mind. Lifting my head up in a swift motion and glaring at the sky, I yelled with all my strength. "FUC* YOU AUTHOR!" ~~~~~~~~~ What if you wished for transmigating into a Novel just for fun, and it turns out to be true. You transimigated but as a Villaness who died in the end. A death which is lonely, despicable and pathetic. Join the journey of Kiara who Mistakenly transmigates into a Novel. Will she succeed in surviving or will she die as per her fate in the book. This story is a pure fiction and is based on my own imagination.

By the third year of my marriage to Daniel Hawthorne, the war had already taken more than it ever returned, and this time it took his younger brother, Thomas Hawthorne. My sister-in-law, Eleanor, collapsed, and in the weeks that followed she tried to follow her husband into death— once with sleeping pills, once by the river beyond the officers’ quarters— only to be dragged back both times, each time clinging to me afterward as though I were the last thing keeping her grounded. I stayed with her, wiped her tears, and whispered that Thomas would want her to live, until the day she received the test results confirming she was three months pregnant, and the grief of losing her husband was slowly softened by the arrival of new life. I smiled too, believing grief had finally loosened its grip. That night, holding my own pregnancy test in my hand and thinking it was finally time to tell Daniel, I passed the study and heard his friend say quietly, “She’s carrying your child. You convinced the doctors to adjust the timeline so everyone would believe the baby belonged to your brother. Aren’t you afraid Margaret will find out?” Daniel didn’t hesitate. “She won’t,” he said calmly. “She loves me. She wouldn’t leave. I won’t let her know.” I didn’t step inside. I didn’t confront him. Instead, I opened the letter I had received weeks earlier— an official deployment order from the international medical corps, assigning me to a frontline war zone— and tapped Accept.

There were only two types of people in our town. "The Guerras and us, the "Caolins". My father classified them as our neighbors like that. "The Guerras were either too stupid or too smart to leave." While we wondered how to escape. There was no doubt about which of the two could rule the town. My father obeyed one of the Guerras men, but I never had the courage to ask him why he did it. My father was a doctor and he knows many things or hides something terrible from me. I know that he hides many secrets from me and has protected me in every way from knowing the truth, but I will grow up and with his help I will either not know everything, or my name will not be Delmon Salvadore. My father tells me every day that danger is on my side and that I have to protect myself so that I never become someone I don't want to be. If it has to do with my life or my origins, I will know, but one thing I know is that there are dark mysteries that torment me and this always happens on the full moon. I am afraid of what could really be, I believe that many things are involving my mother, the one who mysteriously disappeared, leaving me alone with my father. If there is something that I do not know, it is about to be revealed because my dreams reveal it to me and I believe that it is my future in a few years. If this is true, I will be a terrible person that I do not really know. However, now I am ready to face everything that comes and one of the things is to avenge my father's death.

Selina, a young single mother struggling to rebuild her life, carries the weight of abandonment, financial hardship, and society’s harsh judgment. One stormy night, broken from betrayal and despair, she crosses paths with Darius King, a wealthy and powerful businessman mourning the death of his beloved wife during childbirth. In a moment of vulnerability, their worlds collide, leading to a one-night encounter neither of them expects to matter until Selina discovers she is pregnant again. Determined to stand on her own, Selina applies for a job at King International, desperate for stability. Instead of sympathy, she is met with prejudice from Juliana, the company’s sharp-tongued HR officer. But fate intervenes when Darius himself walks in and recognizes Selina as the woman from that night. Shocked to learn about the child she carries, he is torn between anger, guilt, and an overwhelming sense of responsibility. As workplace tension blends with undeniable attraction, secrets unravel. Darius confronts his pain and the possibility of loving again, while Selina faces jealousy from those who wish to see her fail. When Juliana and others try to push her out of King International, Selina’s resilience is tested, but Darius finds himself standing by her side. Together, they must confront their scars: a man afraid to love after loss, and a woman terrified of being used and abandoned again. Their journey weaves through heartbreak, second chances, and the search for healing proving that love, in its purest form, costs nothing but the courage to accept it. In the end, Selina and Darius embrace not only each other but also a new future one where love is not bound by wealth, grief, or the mistakes of the past, but strengthened by forgiveness and hope.

“Come on, Juliet… it’s time to write a new story.” After years trapped in an abusive marriage, Juliet Pierce finally runs. Alone, with two children and a suitcase full of trauma, she leaves behind the luxury — and George Monroe, the man she once loved — in search of a new beginning. The destination? Manhattan. The plan? Just survive. But everything changes on her first night working as a waitress at Paradise, an exclusive BDSM club where pleasure meets power. Afraid of being recognized, she wears a mask — a shield she desperately needs. And that’s where she crosses paths with Noah Blake: billionaire CEO, relentless Dominant, and co-owner of the club. He sees her. He wants her. He has no idea who she really is… yet. Days later, Juliet applies for a position as Noah’s assistant. This time, she’s not wearing a mask — and he starts putting the pieces together. Juliet wants distance. Noah wants to tame her. “I do love a challenge,” he says. Juliet is everything he never expected: funny, bold, intense — fragile on the outside, but with eyes that reveal how untamed she truly is. He wants her on her knees. She wants to prove she can love without losing herself. What begins as a dangerous arrangement becomes a quiet war between fear and desire, past and redemption. But Juliet’s past is closer than she thinks. And when it resurfaces to haunt her, she’ll have to choose: surrender… or fight for herself — and maybe, for the love of a man who swore he would never love. “It was in that moment I realized I was about to discover: Whether this would be a nightmare… or the best experience of my life.”

The carnivorous ways of the Aswang leave little room for love - much less a forbidden one between a queen and human girl. Little did Aswang Queen Catarina know, soon, her life would be changed by a plucky American biologist. A blue eyed, blonde adventurer, Rose Smith from California, who would make Catarina question all she knew, and want to make a human Her Aswang Woman King. ___ Catarina Rosales Marquez, 26, is the Aswang Queen of the Domminga Mountains, but she abhors eating humans. She has genetically engineered the fruits of her goddess Ikapati to produce human proteins in order to bring peace to Mindanao - but the Aswang do not trust this revolutionary, peaceful Queen - and are wary of the American biologist she has taken under her wing. Rose Smith is a German-American biologist doing her dissertation on the elusive, endangered Phillippines Eagle. Having studied the Tarsier in her undergraduate semester abroad in Manila, she fell in love with chicken adobo, pandesal - and Filipina women. Eager to be the first American biologist to do a longitudinal study of the Phillipines Eagle, she sets out into the Domminga Mountains on a bus with a one-way ticket - not afraid of the local's warnings of the rabid Iktapati Aswang Clan that eats humans, and roving bands of Tikbalang werehorses that stampede trespassers to death. When Catarina and Rose collide, it is oil and flame. Catarina, expected to marry a King, finds herself questioning the very cosmos of relationships - can she take a Queen, and a feisty American grad student at that? And can Rose come to terms with the elusive, seductive courts of the Vampiric Aswang? When the Iktapati clan rebels, the Tikbalang war, and the wind spirits coquette, Rose and Catarina must team up to save the humans of Mindanao - and the Phillipines eagle!

After the real son, Asher Vale, was brought back, everything in our house became tied to drawing lots. The chef of the day, who would have to cook a particular person's preferred dishes, had to be decided by drawing lots. Even our parents' kisses and hugs were chosen the same way. I always drew the short stick. The long stick, by default, belonged to Asher. He never had to do anything to receive our parents' love. Whenever I felt it was unfair and wanted to cry, Mom would scold me sharply, "I bought the lot-drawing box because I was afraid you'd feel hurt. I wanted to be fair to both of you. If you want something, decide it yourselves. Your father and I won't interfere. If you can't draw the long stick, you can only blame your bad luck." So I began practicing every day, shaking the box diligently, over and over, in hopes that one day, it would help me earn my parents' love. Unfortunately, for ten years, I never once drew the long stick. Until my birthday. Asher wanted to go to the amusement park, and Mom once again told us to decide by drawing lots. I secretly glued the two short sticks together and handed them to Mom, hoping to keep her with me. She slapped me hard across the face, screaming that I was cheating and disobedient. Then she stormed out of the house with Asher. When I fell to the ground, the short stick stabbed deep into my neck. 'I'm sorry, Mom. Next time, I'll work harder. Next time, I'll definitely draw the long stick.'