Unscramble Warmth

Given a new chance at life, upon learning of my husband's supposed death, the first thing I did was to register him as dead. In my previous life, after my husband, Jonah Lloyd, learned that his elder brother, Noah, had died in an accident, he resolved to assume his brother's identity and provide for his widowed sister-in-law. All because the young widow from the city couldn't withstand the gossip of the village. As for me, coming from humble origins, even without my husband, I could survive on my own. When I heard the news, I truly believed that my husband had died in an accident. I was determined to raise our daughter with all my heart. That year, during a blizzard, while his family huddled together and celebrated in the warmth, I was out there fighting over the money after selling my body. I bled out and died in the harsh, cold night. My daughter, Tina, left waiting for me to bring back good, starved to death in the bitter winter. Only after death did I learn that my husband hadn't died. He had spent his entire life in his brother's name, protecting the widow, living to see his children and grandchildren grow old around him. And now, reopening my eyes, I had returned to the very day my husband died in an accident.

On our seventh wedding anniversary, I was straddling my Mafia husband, Lucian, kissing him deeply. My fingers fumbled in the pocket of my expensive silk dress, searching for the pregnancy test I'd hidden there. I wanted to save the news of my unexpected pregnancy for the end of the evening. Lucian's right-hand man, Marco, asked with a suggestive smile in Italian: "Don, your new little canary, Sophia. How does she taste?" Lucian's mocking laughter vibrated through my chest, sending a chill down my spine. He replied, also in Italian: "Like an unripe peach. Fresh and tender." His hand was still caressing my waist, but his gaze was distant. "Just keep this between us. If my Donna finds out, I'm a dead man." His men chuckled knowingly, raising their glasses and swearing their silence. The warmth in my blood turned to ice, inch by inch. The one thing they didn’t know was that my grandmother was from Sicily, so I understood every word. I forced myself to remain calm, keeping the perfect smile of a Donna fixed in place, but the hand holding my champagne flute trembled. Instead of making a scene, I opened my phone, found the invitation I had received a few days ago for a private international medical research project, and tapped "Accept." In three days, I would disappear from Lucian's world completely.

On our third wedding anniversary, I waited for Xander Christian for five hours at his favorite restaurant. Once again, he has disappeared. In the end, I found out where he went on the social media of his childhood sweetheart, Josie Law. He took her to Antartrica. [I just said I was in a bad mood, so he ditched the whole world just to cheer me up. Turns out, he cheers me up much more than the penguins.] In the photos, it was all icy and frosty, but he held her gently in his arms. I had never seen such blazing warmth in his eyes. Not once was it ever directed at me. At that moment, I was just tired. I was too tired to question. I was too tired to fight. I was too tired to cry. I simply liked the post and sent him a short message, [Let's get a divorce.] A long time later, he finally replied with a voice message, his tone was full of careless amusement, "Sure. I'll sign the papers when I'm back. We'll see who ends up begging me not to leave." Those who were loved and favored were often fearless. He didn't believe my words at all. Yet, Xander— No one was truly indispensable. People would only stay because they were in love. From this moment on, I no longer loved you.

SECOND CHANCES AT SUNRISE Years ago, Yara and Jamal were young, in love, and certain about forever—until life pulled them apart. Their relationship didn’t end in chaos, but in painful silence. Jamal, determined to build an empire, chose ambition when fear whispered that love would slow him down. Yara, brilliant and proud, walked away without demanding the closure her heart quietly begged for. Now, Jamal Adeyemi is a confident and charismatic CEO—one who commands industries, decisions, and attention. Success follows him everywhere, yet something essential has always felt missing. Yara, now a celebrated designer, has built her own creative world with warmth, resilience, and independence. Her heart didn’t turn cold—it simply learned caution. Fate reunites them over cinnamon-flushed coffee in Lagos. The spark remains, but neither believes that old love guarantees a new beginning. This time, Jamal does not rush or assume. He shows up—with patience, sincerity, steady action, and emotional wisdom he once lacked. Lunch dates lead to long conversations, honest moments, and a healing coastal getaway where past wounds finally find voice. But second chances demand more than nostalgia—they require trust rebuilt, fears confronted, and love proven through presence and honesty. In rediscovering each other, Jamal and Yara learn that the safest kind of forever isn’t loud—it arrives like sunrise: Soft. Steady. Certain. Earned.

Rhea was nothing—an orphaned omega, forgotten in the shadows of Crescent Shadow Pack. She was bullied, ignored, and born into a world that never wanted her. Her only warmth came from Lyra, the Beta’s radiant daughter—a girl Rhea worshipped like the sun, the one blessed by the Moon Goddess herself. Rhea lived for Lyra’s light. Until the Goddess turned her gaze. On her twentieth birthday, Rhea is thrust into the center of a destiny she never asked for—fated mate to the Alpha’s triplet sons. Three brothers, one throne, and a bond that will crown her as Luna. But only one mate can ascend. And the others? They may destroy her before they let her choose. Cassian, the wild heir who once loved Lyra and now hates Rhea for taking her place. Lucian, the perfect firstborn with ambition in his eyes and loyalty that cuts like a blade. Dorian, the soft-spoken charmer with a secret fire and a desperate hunger to matter. As power swells and envy brews, Rhea must rise from the ashes of who she was. The Moon has chosen her, but the pack? They will not kneel easily. Especially not when her bond pushes Lyra—the sun she once lived for—into shadow. Will Lyra accept becoming the shadow or will she come back for the light that was hers? In a world ruled by legacy and ambition, Rhea must decide if she is a girl surviving fate—or a Luna shaping it.

“Madeline, can we sit and talk in a civil manner?” He asked me in a distant tone. Those green eyes which used to harbour warmth for me, now seemed empty. I felt like I was talking to a complete stranger. “I have seen and heard enough, Logan. You asked me to keep our marriage a secret because you wanted us to focus on our studies and career. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to wait for you in a hope that one day, my sacrifice will be rewarded and you’ll come back to me? And you paid me like this?” I accused him while tears flew uncontrollably from my eyes. “What nonsense! My husband would never marry someone like you.” Kate taunted me. “Madeline, we were never married officially. I had to agree to my grandfather’s last wish because I couldn’t refuse him. I always loved you as my best friend but there were never romantic feelings attached. I thought you were smart enough to understand when I broke all contacts with you. Kate is my wife. The sooner you accept, the lesser you’ll feel bad.” He said without any remorse. He crushed my heart under the brutal ridicule of his heartlessness.

After two months of surviving on her own, Kieran returns to Concord, stepping straight back into the suffocating warmth of family love she isn’t sure she’s ready for. Fresh from a funeral and carrying wounds no one fully understands, she’s greeted by watchful grandparents, anxious relatives, and questions about a future that no longer feels like hers to decide. Concord is familiar, comforting even, but it’s also filled with memories she hasn’t healed from. Chief among them is Lucas, the boy who was once her best friend and then, without warning, walked away. No explanation. No goodbye. Just silence that hurt deeper than any fight ever could. His absence lingers, heavy with unanswered questions and unspoken feelings Kieran has never allowed herself to name. Seeking space, Kieran escapes to her favorite spot by the lake, hoping for peace. Instead, fate intervenes. The unmistakable growl of a motorcycle announces Lucas’s return, changed, bigger, sharper, and undeniably no longer the boy she remembers. One glance is enough to shatter the fragile calm she’s built. The past isn’t buried. It’s right next door. As summer begins, Kieran is forced to confront unresolved hurt, broken trust, and the dangerous pull of someone who once knew her better than anyone else. Some friendships don’t end cleanly...and some feelings refuse to stay buried.

The air in the penthouse was thick with unspoken words and the lingering heat of a shared victory. He stood before her, the ice in his gaze finally melted, revealing a raw vulnerability that stole the breath from her lungs. “This wasn’t part of the contract,” he murmured, his voice a rough caress as his thumb traced the line of her jaw. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic bird against the gilded cage of their agreement. “I know.” His fingers tangled in the hair at the nape of her neck, tilting her face up to his. The world narrowed to the space between them, to the shocking warmth of his skin against hers. “Then tell me to stop, Ivy. Give me the rules. Give me the clause.” She should. Every instinct for self-preservation screamed at her to rebuild the walls, to remember he was her enemy, her jailer, her temporary husband. But as she looked into the stormy grey depths of his eyes, she saw not the ruthless CEO, but the man who had just looked at her daughter as if she were the most precious thing in the world. So, she didn’t speak. Instead, she rose onto her toes, closing the distance, her lips a breath away from his in a silent, devastating answer. The first kiss was not a conquest, but a surrender. It was not about revenge or contracts. It was a question, and in the shuddering breath he released against her mouth, she found her answer. The cold, platinum wedding band finally felt warm against her skin.

Yaroslav “Viktorovich” Demidov: 25, of Russian descent, the second heir of the Demidov Family. Stoic, disciplined-well too much, perfectionist, hot headed and uptight. Hides vulnerability within that hard exterior of his. The only one in his family who has no magic because of an incident that happened when he was 4 years of age. Soul-bonded to Lian and actually holds the rarest and most powerful but dangerous power of all. Lian MAteo Alonzo-Kensington: 20, Filipino-British American, from the nurturing but competitive Kensington Family. Confident, expressive, sometimes impulsive kind of vulgar but well disciplined not in an uptight way. Has magical abilities, the rare dual type ability holders, ice and wind. His warmth clashes with Yaroslav and is soul-bonded with him therefore can also wield the other rarest and most powerful magic. Can two opposing hearts on ice bound by a soul-bond survive the weight of legacy, pressures of the competition and the dangerous pull of love and desire, when the bond that they believed to be a curse demands that one must lose his life for the other to live? For even every clash of skates, every stolen glances across the rink, every searing touch and mind-numbing kiss when they met in secret seems to burn the ice ablaze as the hatred blurs into hunger that draws them closer to a collision that could destroy or bind them for eternity. “Fuck Kensington, then I’ll risk everything, suffer everything….for one thing that matters…..You.” -Yaroslav Demidov

She was a powerhouse—brilliant, driven, and unstoppable—until the day her world shattered in the delivery room. Told her baby had died at birth, she buried her grief beneath ambition and success, building an empire while silently mourning the child she never got to hold. What she never knew was the truth: her husband had betrayed her in the cruelest way imaginable, fleeing with his mistress and the newborn daughter he claimed was lost. Years later, a business expansion leads her to a quiet, close-knit town far from her high-rise life. There, among tree-lined streets and familiar faces, she meets a commanding, magnetic man whose strength matches her own—but whose integrity and warmth begin to crack the walls around her heart. As their connection deepens, unsettling coincidences surface, pulling her toward a past she was never meant to uncover. The revelation is devastating and undeniable: her daughter is alive, growing up in this very town, raised by the husband who abandoned her and the woman who stole her life. Forced to confront betrayal, buried grief, and a motherhood stolen from her, she must decide how far she’s willing to go for the truth—and for her child. In a town where secrets never stay hidden, she faces a choice between vengeance and forgiveness, between the life she built and the love she never knew she could still claim. This is a story of resilience, second chances, and discovering that sometimes, what was lost can still be found.