Unscramble Concern

Alessa Sullivan, a 20-year-old orphan, counts Giulia De Luca as her best friend from college. Giulia is the daughter of a rising Italian tycoon in Washington. After losing her parents, Alessa lives on campus with the help of a scholarship she receives from the government. At the end of the year, there's always a party involving the students and their families, and during one such event, Alessa meets a charming man. Despite their age difference, he is not intimidated and offers her the best of what he has to give. Mattias De Luca, having lost his wife, hasn't had any long-term relationships since her death. With his daughter now in college, he was not looking to remarry. However, during a graduation party, he bumped into an attractive woman and ended up having a tryst with her in the school library. When he discovers the identity of the woman, the weight of his conscience and his concern for his actions lead him to accept his daughter’s invitation to have her friend move in with them. A romance with an age difference... An innocent girl who falls in love with her friend’s father... An experienced man who will show her how a woman should be treated…

While my husband was chatting with his friend at the dining table, his friend suddenly spoke in Italian. “You married Lyra to write a pardon letter for River. You’ve been showing more concern toward Lyra, but you’re still lying to her and saying that the contraceptives are antidepressants. Don’t you think Lyra will break down if she learns the truth?” My husband wore a complicated expression as he chuckled bitterly and said, “Why let a child be born if I don’t want it? As for Lyra, so long as she doesn’t interfere with River’s happiness, I’ll keep my promise and protect her for life.” No one knew that I had already learned Italian to keep up with my husband. I stood in the living room with fresh hickeys on my neck. In my hand, I held the “antidepressants” and felt a chill run down my spine. So, my husband’s love for me had been fake? My salvation had actually been a meticulously planned lie? In that case, I would help them fulfill their wishes.

A tyrant by day, a playboy by night. That is the reputation that precedes Richard VanRyan. He lives life the way he wants, no concern for the opinion of others. He cares for no one, is completely unrepentant, and he has no desire to change his ways. Katharine Elliott works under Richard as his PA. She despises him and his questionable ethics, but endures all the garbage he sends her way, because she needs the job. Her end goal is far more important than the daily abuse and demands she tolerates from her nasty tyrant of a boss. Until the day, he asks her for something she never expected. A new role with a personal contract — fiancée instead of PA. What happens when two people who loathe each other, have to live together and act as though they are madly in love? Sparks. That’s what happens. Can the power of love really change a person? Will they survive the contract? What do you do when the one person you hate the most becomes the one person you can’t live without?

As I secured the safety rope, I discovered that the metal clip had been replaced with a flimsy plastic ring. My girlfriend, already on the soft ladder, dismissed my concern casually. "Ryan has got a ton of luggage. One clip isn't enough to keep it secure, so I gave him yours. Just wait for the next trip." In desperation, I pointed to the floodwaters surging past my chest. "But I can't swim!" "Cut the drama, okay?" she huffed. "You're a swimming champ. What's the big deal about treading water for a bit? Ryan is related to my boss, and if anything happens to him, my promotion is down the drain. Can't you be reasonable?" "Is his luggage more important than my life?" I shot back, lunging for the ladder. But she kicked me away. "I've checked. The water won't rise too fast. At worst, it'll reach your neck. You'll survive." Refusing to argue further, I watched the floodwaters rage higher and quickly pressed a special emergency beacon on my wrist.

Laura, a single mother, had recently moved into Lorenzo's home, hoping to provide her daughter, Isabella, with a father figure. She wasn't aware that the man she had fallen in love with was a devil—a Mafia boss who was there to ruin her life and that of her daughter. "Isabella, you are mine; you belong to me and no one else. Those who think about you are seeking death," Lorenzo said, raising her chin with a deep voice dripping with threat. Isabella's face was filled with defiance. "I hate you, Lorenzo." He cackled, "But you can't stop saying 'yes, Daddy,' which means your hate doesn't matter because I can't get enough of you, Isabel." Laura was more worried about having a sweet family, while Lorenzo was only interested in sex. “She is still a child; I am sure she will come around,” Lorenzo assured Laura when she expressed concern about Isabella not recognizing him as a father. Sleeping with a mother and daughter while being a crime ring boss—that is the way of a Mafia boss who will be ruined by a hot 18.

I tried to die a hundred times to make him notice me. For two years, I was Shawn Scott’s wife in name only—an unwanted bride bound by a scandal, left to live in the shadow of another woman. My parents only saw my faults. My husband only saw my mistakes. As for me? I saw no way out. Every time I tried to end it, I’d wake up again, bruised and humiliated. I was greeted not with concern, but accusations such as "Why are you so selfish, Zoe Jennings?" or "Why can’t you be more like your sister Yvonne?" It wasn’t until my hundredth suicide attempt that I finally understood: I was the only one fighting for a love that never existed. So, I stopped. I walked away. I disappeared. I gave them what they wanted—my absence. However, when I left, the man who never looked at me twice started chasing the ghost of the woman he thought he knew. By the time he realized what he truly lost, I was already learning how to live again.

The fifth year of my marriage to Silas marked a turning point I would never forget. Our son, Yael, was kidnapped. The ransom was set at ten million dollars, an insignificant amount for Silas, yet his response chilled me to the core. “No rush. A Gardner needs to experience some hardships to grow.” Ten million meant nothing to him, but Yael’s life meant everything to me. I dropped to my knees, tears streaming down my face, and begged him relentlessly, pleading for Yael to be brought home as soon as possible. Silas, however, remained unmoved. Three days later, Yael was returned to us, but the cheerful boy I knew was gone. He had been so traumatized that he could not speak. Far from showing concern, Silas coldly remarked, “Yuna said Yael keeps telling everyone at school she’s a fatherless child. Let’s see how he spreads lies now.” His words cut through me like a knife. I picked Yael up in my arms and whispered softly in his ear, “Don’t be afraid, Yael. Mommy will take you away from here.”

Caroline Dela Vega was sent by his politician father on a secret mission to spy on the notorious mafia boss, Dark Vergara. Due to the mysterious and suspicious establishments being built in the city, Caroline’s father suspects that it might be harmful and dangerous to a lot of people due to Dark Vergara’s dirty reputation in society and bad record aligning with injustice. To expose the mafia boss and his gang’s evil plans, Caroline must be close to him so that she can get access to his secrets and businesses to be reported to her father. It got to the point that they married each other. But as time passes by, Caroline begins to know Dark Vergara deeply and eventually falls in love with him despite her primary plan of displaying an angelic façade and fake concern for a long time towards him. As Dark also started to get swayed by Caroline, events transpired and one traitor emerged to expose Caroline’s treachery and her exploitation of Dark gang’s sacred information. Will Dark Vergara spare Caroline after the betrayal and lies she did? Or will he be blinded by vengeance and anger, disregarding the fact that she has already captured his mind and heart?

Attorney Yna Reyes has built her life on discipline, logic, and control. Shaped by loss at a young age, she learned to survive without relying on anyone, becoming a respected lawyer and prosecutor who keeps her heart carefully guarded. Love, to her, is a distraction something fragile she cannot afford. Everything changes after a chance collision with Gabriel Valesquez. What begins as an unexpected encounter slowly turns into something deeper, quieter, and far more dangerous than either of them anticipated. Gabriel does not pursue Yna with grand gestures or pressure. Instead, he offers patience, honesty, and a presence that challenges the walls she has spent years building. As Yna navigates demanding cases, long nights at the firm, and the protective concern of her closest friends, she finds herself drawn into a connection she never planned to want. Meanwhile, Gabriel carries a past he has never fully confronted one that threatens to resurface just as Yna begins to open her heart. Between ambition and vulnerability, silence and longing, The Man I Should’ve Never Met is a slow burn romance about healing, restraint, and the courage it takes to choose love after learning how to survive alone.

Liam thought his life couldn’t get any worse—struggling to survive, working multiple jobs, and dealing with a rich, spoiled bully at school who made his life miserable. But everything takes a terrifying turn when he receives a text from the one person he never wanted to hear from again—Fabian, his obsessive, psychopathic ex, freshly released from prison and determined to get him back no matter the cost. Just as he plans to disappear and start over, things grow even more complicated. Damien, the arrogant heir who has tormented him for years, suddenly begins acting differently—offering help, showing concern, and blurring the lines between enemy and something more. And then there’s Sebastian Devereaux—a cold, powerful CEO with a haunted past. A man who isn’t supposed to care, yet somehow gets entangled in Liam’s life in ways neither of them expect. Caught between a past that won’t let him go, an enemy who might be something else entirely, and a man with demons of his own, Liam must make a choice: run for his life or risk being Torn Between Three.