Unscramble Softly

Nine years into my "non-cohabiting partnership" with Simon, his father passed away. The first condition in his will was simple: Simon and Ella had to conceive a child. On the day the child turned one month old, Simon would inherit his father's fortune. Simon told me this himself—the night I walked in on them tangled in our bed. Afterward, as he took a slow drag from his cigarette, he murmured, "Lily, just wait a little longer. Once I get the inheritance, I'll marry you." But he went back on his word. From then on, every time Simon planned to meet Ella at our house, he would hang a string of bells on the door. Since his father's passing, those bells had chimed ninety-nine times. After the ninety-ninth, the news arrived—Ella was pregnant, and their engagement party was set. My daughter saw the invitation, hesitated, then softly asked, "Mom, is Daddy's name on this?" I forced a smile and gently smoothed her messy hair into a neat ponytail. "Daddy is marrying the one he loves," I said. "And I'm taking you home." Simon never understood—I never cared about that marriage certificate.

Cesare Xandri, the rising gangster of the Nalitan mafia, unexpectedly lost a bet at an elite private casino in Ithel, the kind that smells like cigar smoke and blood money. The penalty was simple, he had to call his hard-to-tame pet. The phone was on speaker. The men circled him, whistling and hooting, waiting to be entertained. He asked what I was up to in a relaxed and amused tone. I replied softly, insinuating he was sinful, hiding my defiance behind innocence and fake devotion. When I finished my insult, the room fell silent, then burst into loud and uncontrollable laughter. The call ended. Less than thirty minutes later, the mansion gates were smashed open. He stormed in smelling of gunpowder, a Beretta still in his hand. He pushed me against the wall furiously beneath the Virgin Mary statue. I leaned into him without hesitation, fingers brushing the heated gun, and I met his gaze without fear. I chose virtue and rejected him in my past life, in return I was thrown into the open sea to die. I intended to be his temptation when I got a second chance at life, I wanted to be a beautiful sin that ends his story under the Cecilian sun.

"Mom, Dad, I’ve decided to come home for the blind dates you mentioned. I’ll be back by the end of the month." In the early spring, with the lingering chill of winter in the air, Valerie Stonecutter pushed open the door while speaking softly into the phone. Her gentle voice drifted through the rain like a thread weaving through the mist. Pulling her collar tighter against the cold, she heard her parents breathe a sigh of relief on the other end. "Val," her father began, his voice heavy with age. “Your mom and I haven’t been in good health these past few years. So now that you’ve made up your mind, that’s good. When you’re back, I’ll have your Aunt Laura arrange a few suitable candidates for you to meet." Hearing that her parents were already making arrangements for her future, Valerie’s gaze flickered, her emotions momentarily unsettled. After a few more words of small talk, she ended the call. She glanced around her home with a heavy heart, her thoughts tangled in a quiet storm. Then she retreated to her bedroom and began to pack.

I find out I'm about two months pregnant before my wedding. Luke Logan drunkenly caresses my belly and half-jokes, "I'm not ready to be a father, Summer. Can we not keep the baby?" My heart is calm. I say softly, "Sure." In my past life, I insisted on keeping the child. Meanwhile, Riley Richards had an accidental miscarriage, making it difficult for her to conceive again. Luke held a grudge against me for that and treated me coldly after we married. As for the son that I put one foot in the coffin to bring into this world, he, too, cried and fussed. He wanted Riley to be his mother. Later, I got into an accident and suffered from significant blood loss. However, Luke and our son merely hurried past me to be with Riley as she went into labor. I slowly bled to death on the floor above, while Luke and our son celebrated the birth of Riley's child on the floor below. Now that I've been reborn, I won't lose sight of myself and take the wrong path again. I call Eric Nottingham. "I'll join the expedition team to Glacia."

"Lisa?" I croaked, barely able to form words, my voice hoarse and weak. My heart had leapt at the sight of her, a moment of hope flickering through the haze of fear. "What's going on? Why... why are you here?" But the look in her eyes, the cold amusement that twisted her lips into a smirk, had stopped me short. It wasn’t concern. “Why am I here?” she had repeated, laughing softly, as if the very question was absurd. “Oh, Anna, sweet, naive Anna. You still don’t get it, do you?” I had stared, my mind unable to keep up, still too clouded with hunger and exhaustion. “What... what are you talking about?” And then, her voice had changed, hardened. “I’m the reason for all of this. The reason your father’s company collapsed, the reason your family is dead, the reason Josh betrayed you. Me.” After discovering that her best friend, Lisa, isn't the person she thought she was and is the reason for most of the disasters in her life, Anna dies, only to wake up five years in the past. With a second chance, Anna is determined to protect her loved ones and take revenge for the pain Lisa caused.

"What do I do, huh?" he nips softly on the skin of my neck as he thrusts in and out of me gently, holding onto me as though I was the most delicate thing in the world. "Tell me how to make it right, baby." He mumbled into my neck, his strokes growing deeper. My eyes met his vulnerable grey ones, and as I looked into the eyes of the man who broke me, I couldn't hold his gaze much longer because of how they seemingly appealed to me and made me waver. Pressing a kiss to his jaw, I whispered, suppressing a moan. "Bandages don't x bullet holes. You cannot x what you have already broken, Sean Wellington, because it's unxable." •••• Sekani Salvador never knew what it felt like to be truly loved, and even when she loved, it had to be a man she wasn't supposed to fall for, Sean Wellington, who happened to be the boyfriend of her twin sister, Simone Salvador, who loathed everything she stood for. Sekani could have sworn that she could never have him but all it took for fate to spin the bottle was one night of vodka and mistakes that she couldn't take back.

“Say my name, baby. Tell me who this pus sy belongs to.” “Damian…” she moaned softly as I curled my fingers, hitting her just right. “Louder.” “DAMIAN!” Inside the bathroom, Henry let out a wrecked sob, as if her screaming my name had just carved his heart out all over again. Perfect. I pulled my fingers out, brought them to my mouth, and licked them clean while she watched over her shoulder, her eyes glazed. Then I dropped to my knees like a man ready to worship his god. Because yes, I would worship this pus sy like it was my god. **** After sacrificing her legs and her freedom to save a stranger, Cindy Hart becomes the crippled wife of a man who only loved her out of guilt. When he brings his ex into their home and throws Cindy aside, she decides she is done being the victim. With her billionaire identity hidden and her brother’s dangerously hot best friend pretending to be her lover, Cindy begins her revenge. But when the lines between fake and real blur with the playboy she once rejected, Cindy finds herself fighting not just for power but for a love she never saw coming.

“I will let you see your family, but you can't leave this palace, Selene. This is home, and I will refine you into a strong she-wolf." “I never want that. You already have Luna by your side; the strongest she-wolf in the Eldoria. You might be wrong; I'm not your mate." Selene interjected as she gently rubbed her palms together. Rayne chuckled softly at the woman's words, and this sounded like music to Selene's ears. The devil was undeniably handsome but cruel in her eyes. “The maids will attend to you; make yourself comfortable. I will come to you tomorrow to officially welcome you as my concubine." He said, rising from the bed, as he watched her shake her head in denial. “I don't want to live here." She rasped. “You are tied to me, Selene. To me and no one else," He declared as he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. *** When Selene went to the celebration, she didn't know that would be the last time she would see her family. She was claimed and rejected by the Alpha king but with one condition. She won't be able to gain his heart and will have to become a breeder. What will happen when the Alpha king suddenly discovers she is his true fated mate but she escapes from the palace?

" EVEN IF YOU ARE MARRIED TO ANOTHER MAN. EVEN IF YOU GAVE BIRTH TO ANOTHER MAN'S CHILD. I DON'T CARE. EVEN ANYTHING COMES IN BETWEEN OUR LIFE AND DISTURBS US. I DON'T CARE. I WILL JUST DESTROY IT WHOEVER MAY BE IT. THOSE WHO DESTROY OUR HAPPINESS WILL MEET THE HELL. YOU ARE MEANT TO BE MINE, BABY GIRL. AND I MEANT TO BE YOURS." he roars as he looks at his baby girl whose hands were handcuffed. " L-leave me. I j-just don't know who are you." the woman sobs. "DON'T KNOW WHO AM I. YOU FORGOT OUR TWO YEARS OF LOVE. YOU MADE ME SEARCH FOR YOU FOR FOUR YEARS LIKE A PSYCHO. YOU STILL DON'T KNOW WHO AM I " he roars as he pushes everything to the ground. He stops and looks at his baby girl who got scared by his action. He relaxes and bends down and caresses her. " HEREAFTER WE CAN LIVE OUR LIFE TOGETHER. I KILLED EVERYONE WHO PLANNED TO DESTROY OUR HAPPINESS. IT'S JUST YOU AND ME" He speaks as softly as he can. But she avoids him and his touch. Before he loses his temper. He heads out of the room.

Eight years ago, a night of drunken recklessness left me carrying Grayson Ulrich's child. But from that moment on, he began to hate both me and our daughter. He never allowed her to call him "Dad." He wouldn't let me step into his study, either. Because inside that study, every inch of space was filled with traces of another woman—Sandra Wright, the ex-fiancée who had once left him for freedom and happiness, who had gone abroad to marry a rich man. She was the one Grayson could never forget. The one he still loved. On our eighth anniversary, Sandra returned. That night, Grayson got drunk for the first time in years. He held our daughter in his arms and wept until his eyes were red. My daughter looked at me, bewildered. "Mom, why is Uncle crying?" I held back my tears and told her softly, "Because he is very happy. The person he loves has finally come back." Then I said, "So, Mommy's taking you away—so we won't disturb him and the woman he loves, okay?"