Vance Hopper の小説・ストーリー

In the glittering, cutthroat world of the Lycan elite, power is bought with blood and secured with contracts. For Lyra, an eighteen-year-old "wolf-less" human from the slums, survival means blending into the background as a night-shift maid at Vance Global's high-rise headquarters. She has one goal: keep her head down, earn enough to buy her brother’s freedom, and hide the terrifying, ancient power sleeping in her veins. But her quiet life shatters when an assassination attempt targets the pack's ruthless billionaire CEO, Alpha Xavier Vance. To save her own skin, Lyra unleashes a burst of raw, untamable magic to shield him—exposing her deadly secret. Xavier is powerful, cursed, and desperate. To secure his position against a hostile board takeover, he needs a docile, human wife who won't trigger his unstable wolf. Seeing the perfect pawn, he forces Lyra into a thirty-day fake marriage contract. He offers her family absolute freedom; she offers him her compliance. The terms are clear: no feelings, no touch, separate rooms. But when the ink dries, and they are forced behind closed doors, the fated mate bond snaps alive with a terrifying, suffocating force. Xavier's feral wolf wants to possess her, but his cold, corporate mind refuses to bow. When the billionaire Alpha chooses his empire over the bond and issues a cruel rejection, Lyra doesn't cry. She takes his money, unlocks her true Alpha heritage, and prepares to tear his corporate kingdom down to the ground.

My mating ceremony with Alpha Kaelan Blackwood was supposed to happen today. He'd gone to claim the Luna's Crown for me—the final ritual before we would be bound forever. Instead, he walked into an ambush. He survived. Barely. But his wolf didn't survive. Whatever had come back from that attack wore Kaelan's face but doesn't know me. Doesn't recognize his fated mate. Instead, he looks at Seraphina like she's the one who matters. Dr. Theron Vance, our Pack Healer, gave me hope anyway. The pup I was carrying is Pureblood—a miracle, even between two Pureblood wolves. He said it might be enough to wake whatever wasleeping inside Kaelan. I was going to tell him tonight. Then I heard him talking to his Beta, Beckett. "You're really going through with this? Pretending your Wolf is gone just so a dying woman can play mother before she—" "Drop it. Elara's the only one I've ever loved." Kaelan's voice came low, steady. "This thing with Sera is just medical. A procedure. It means nothing. When it's over, Elara and I complete the mating ceremony. End of story." I didn't storm in. Didn't scream. Didn't cry. I just turned around and walked away. I don't want an Alpha's love if I'm never going to be his priority.

After deciding to leave Azurea and follow Clara Miller to Northwood City, I was cast out by my parents. "That girl is an orphan–what can she possibly give you? If you choose a life of hardship now, you’ll spend the rest of your life suffering! Once you walk out that door, don’t bother coming back!" I left anyway. For five years, I watched Clara rise step by step, becoming one of Northwood City’s most respected psychologists. Just as she had promised, she gave me a home. As the New Year approached, I planned to take her back to Azurea to reconcile with my parents. However, just before boarding the plane, she abandoned me again–this time for a depressed patient threatening to take his own life. She let go of my hand, her eyes full of pain. "Julian Vance… he’s just like I used to be–alone, with no one to rely on. If I don’t go, he’ll jump. I’m sorry. Just this once. I’ll catch the next flight and meet you there." Then she turned and ran toward the exit without hesitation. I stood there, staring at the two plane tickets in my hand. She had saved everyone who needed redemption. Everyone… except me. Slowly, I tore up her ticket. Then I walked alone toward the security gate and turned off my phone. What Clara did not know was this: Some journeys home, once missed, are gone forever.

Growing up in the elite circle, Mary Collins always thought her life was perfect. She gave her entire heart to Henry Davis, her childhood best friend and fiancé—the man she believed would always protect her. But right at the end of summer, just before college begins, Mary's world crumbles. Her father is framed in an embezzlement scandal and forced to go on the run. All of her family's assets are seized, stripping Mary of her heiress status and turning her into a girl who lost everything in the blink of an eye. Panicked and running out of tears, Mary goes to Henry on her first day of college, desperately hoping he will be her safe haven. Instead of a warm embrace, Mary is slapped with the most brutal betrayal. Right in front of a crowd, Henry tosses her aside just to show off his new girlfriend: Scarlett, the Queen Bee of Kingsley University. At Mary's absolute lowest point, a hand reaches out to her. It doesn't belong to a hero, but to her sworn enemy: Ryder Vance. Ryder is the embodiment of everything Mary hates. He is the arrogant, sharp-tongued, and impenetrable varsity hockey captain. Yet, the Ice King offers her a way out that is simply too tempting to refuse: Be my fake girlfriend, and we'll make that bastard fall on his knees and beg. A revenge pact. It sounds simple enough. But the charade quickly turns into something far more dangerous. Because Ryder Vance was never truly pretending. And from the very beginning... Mary was never just part of a deal.

​Freya gave Logan three years of love, only to be repaid with coldness and a sister’s betrayal. Abusive family and a neglected fiancé, Freya realized it was time to be free. But when she tried to break the engagement, Logan refused to let go of his favorite puppet. For him, she was only a doormat, too weak to leave. With a pain of betrayal, Freya unknowingly fell into a stranger's arms, not realizing who he was. Aleric Vance, the man of ice, the tycoon of the business world, was back to take over his pack. Aleric doesn’t do mercy— he only deals in power at a lethal price. Yet, he was dangerously amused by Freya’s boldness. The things were a mess— a fierce trap and a shaky chain. Freya never expected her escape to lead her into the jaws of a man far more lethal than her ex. But with him, she was a whole new fierce woman. She’s the one holding all the cards. ​“Freya, come back to me! You know you only love me!” Logan begged; his voice cracked. Before Freya could even reply, she was swept back into Aleric’s cold, powerful embrace. She shivered as the Man of Ice leaned in, his lips brushing her ear while his predatory gaze pinned Logan down. “Your ex is claiming your heart, sweetheart. Correct him now, or I'll keep you pinned beneath me, begging for the floor— but I won’t let you touch it until you’ve forgotten his name entirely.”

Three years into a cold, contract marriage, Evelyn Vance realizes her sacrifice was for nothing. Despite playing the part of the perfect, distant wife to the ruthless tycoon Rhysander Bert, her father secretly gambled away the bailout money Rhysander provided, destroying the very legacy Evelyn sold her freedom to save. The story flashes back to the day the deal was struck. Evelyn’s father had pathetically tried to force Rhysander into a marriage pact to save his failing shipping company, only to be met with cold mockery. Just as they were being ushered out, Evelyn stepped from the shadows and negotiated her own sale. Instead of a romance, she proposed a three-year "merger." She offered Rhysander a PR makeover and access to exclusive port permits in exchange for capital and protection for her family's business. Impressed by her calculated, business-like stoicism, Rhysander agreed, with the lethal warning that he would ruin her family if she ever embarrassed his name. Evelyn had sacrificed her freedom for help. Years later, she meets the woman who was Rhysander's first love and she knows that her time to leave has arrived. The first love tries to cause trouble, however, Evelyn is not one to take insults lying down. She immediately defends herself. Rhysander gets drugged and sleeps with Evelyn, then she leaves the next day. Seven years later, Evelyn comes back to the country with her children, who are also Rhysander's children and they bump into each other at the airport. Rhysander is shocked and surprised to see her at the airport.

On the night before the wedding, my fiancé’s female best friend, Marisol Vance, sent me a set of photos. In the photos, she wore the custom haute couture wedding gown I had commissioned, leaning into Lucian Drake’s arms, with a caption meant to provoke me: [Borrowing your groom and your dress for a moment—after all, Lucian said I look better in this than you do.] Soon after, my social feed was flooded with their so-called wedding photos. In the images, the two of them staged a mock kiss, the caption reading: [More than friends, not quite lovers. If we had been born ten years earlier, there would have been no place for anyone else.] I held up the photos and confronted Lucian, yet he played his game indifferently, then tossed his phone aside, his face full of impatience. “I told you, it was just for fun—a way to commemorate our youth. Can you stop acting like a shrew? She was just diagnosed with depression. What’s wrong with me comforting her?” Looking at his self-righteous expression, I smiled. “Fine. Since your bond is so unbreakable, I won’t play the villain.” That very night, I drafted a withdrawal agreement and halted the arrangements I had been making with a top-tier overseas medical team for his mother. “The wedding is off. Don’t expect me to keep patching up your bankrupt company, and don’t expect me to save your mother either. “Your youth is precious—I hope you can afford to pay the price to keep it so.”

Once I begged for your love while our son drew his last breath. Now watch me take back everything you hold dear. The first time, I died on a rain-slicked road with my four-year-old's name on my lips and my husband's rejection still burning in my chest. Silas Vance took three years from me. Three years of existing like furniture in his mansion while he draped Clara over his arm at every gala, every interview, every moment that mattered. When our son needed him, really needed him he let my calls go to voicemail. Thirteen times. I counted. Our son didn't make it through the night. Neither did I. Then I opened my eyes. Two years earlier. Divorce papers on the nightstand. My son's laugh echoing from down the hall. This time, I won't beg. Won't wait. Won't shrink myself small enough to fit in the shadows he assigned me. This time, I'll become someone he doesn't recognize. Someone who smiles at his enemies, steals his deals, and dismantles his empire while he's still searching for his meek little wife. When he finally figures it out—when he's pounding on my door, begging for answers, desperate for a second chance? I'll hand him those signed papers and remind him: Some deaths are just the beginning.

On the way home during the holidays, my fiance's sister-in-law, Pamela Kensington, brings out an electric pot that requires 2,000 watts in order to function so that she can cook some meatballs. "The sockets in the electric car are meant for us to use, no? If we can't have hot food during our trips, then what's the use of having an electric car in the first place?" My fiance, Mason Vance, who is driving, doesn't bother to stop Pamela. Instead, he helps her fill up the pot with water while smiling. In my previous life, I had strictly stopped them from cooking meatballs and told them that we didn't have enough power left in the electric car. If they were to cook the meatballs, the car would stop in the middle of the journey, and we wouldn't be able to make it home. Pamela, who tagged along for the ride, thought that I refused to let her son have a piping hot meal, so she began criticizing me. Mason, on the other hand, thought that I was being too much of a busybody. He slapped me in front of everyone before pushing me out of the car. I was frozen to the bone in the blizzard as I watched everyone else leave me behind happily. In the end, I died from hypothermia. When I woke up again, I realized I'd returned to the moment when Pamela is about to plug the electric pot into the socket. This time, I hand her a power strip. "Go ahead and use this power strip. It can channel more power for your meatballs to cook quickly."

He was supposed to be the biggest mistake of her life. Instead, he became the one thing she couldn't walk away from. Moving to New York was already ruining Lily Baker's life. Her mother is marrying a billionaire she'd known for less than a year, her dream college plans are falling apart, and her cheating ex keeps showing up where he doesn't belong. The last thing Lily needs is another problem. Then she accidentally hides in a locker with a stranger. A very rude stranger. A very arrogant stranger. A stranger who turns out to be Grayson Vance—the NHL's most feared hockey star and the son of her future stepfather. Now they're stuck under the same roof, sharing the same family dinners, and arguing every chance they get. Grayson wants their parents' relationship destroyed. Lily wants her old life back. So when one reckless lie convinces the public they're dating, they strike a deal. Fake relationship. Temporary arrangement. Zero feelings. It should have been simple. But pretending to be in love becomes a lot harder when every touch feels real, every kiss blurs the line between hatred and desire, and the man she's sworn to despise is the only one who sees the cracks beneath her perfect smile. With the media watching their every move, jealous exes refusing to stay in the past, and family secrets threatening to tear everything apart, Lily and Grayson are about to discover that some lies are far more dangerous than the truth. And falling for your future stepbrother? That might be the most dangerous mistake of all. ️️retract