Vance Maximus の小説・ストーリー

“Run.” That’s the last thing Lena expects to hear from the man who’s been choking the life out of her. Commander Kai should hate her. Everyone in the clan does. But the moment the hidden mark on Lena’s wrist ignites, everything changes. The council calls her an Echo, a forbidden power that can feel other people’s emotions, steal memories, and uncover truths no one wants exposed. Before Lena can prove she’s innocent, someone frames her for murder. Now the clan wants her dead. Forced beyond the borders meant to kill her, Lena expects the wilds to finish the job. Instead, a dangerous exile named Vance saves her life and offers her a deal. Protection… in exchange for her power. But Lena isn’t the only predator drawn to the awakening Echo. Somewhere beyond the clan borders, Jax, the silver-haired predator has already begun watching her. But as Lena’s Echo awakens, something terrifying becomes clear. The clan didn’t ban Echo bearers because they were dangerous. They banned them because Echoes hear lies. Now three powerful men are drawn to the woman everyone else fears: The commander who should be hunting her. The exiled warrior who refuses to let her go. And the silver-haired predator who understands her power better than she does. But the real danger isn’t the men fighting over her. It’s the truth her power is about to reveal. Because once Lena starts hearing the secrets hidden in their hearts… no one will escape the echoes.

“It’s still her.” Three words. That was all it took for the carefully constructed world of my last five years to shatter into dust at my feet. Zane didn’t even have the decency to look away as he said it. For twenty years, I had been the third wheel. The reliable shadow to Jovienne’s brilliant sun. I had buried my own feelings for Zane so deep I almost forgot they existed, only daring to dig them up and confess them after Jovi had left the country and broken his heart. We built a life. A marriage. I truly believed, in my foolish, hopeful heart, that it was my happy ending. Now Jovienne was back, and the illusion was gone. The love of my life saw me only as a consolation prize. As my world collapses, the last person I expect comfort from is her husband—a man as cold and polished as he is powerful. Vance sees the same betrayal in my eyes that he sees in his wife's. Leaning in, his voice a dangerous whisper, he proposed the unthinkable: "They are living in the past. Let's be each other's revenge. What do you say, Nerissa?" I should avoid at all costs. It was a game that could burn our broken worlds to the ground. But as I looked into his eyes and saw the same raw, humiliating betrayal reflected back at me, the answer poised on my lips wasn't "no." It was a terrifying, thrilling question. “What,” I whispered, my voice steadier than I felt, “did you have in mind?”

Valerie Sterling has lived by a single rule since her childhood pack was slaughtered: never shift, never imprint, and never stay in one territory for more than a single moon cycle. Working as a rogue apothecary on the fringes of the supernatural underworld, she uses her rare knowledge of silver infused herbs to mask her scent from predators. But when a lethal, mysterious plague begins sweeping through the northern packs, Valerie is captured by elite scouts and dragged directly to the fortress of the most terrifying wolf alive Alpha Silas Vance of the Ironclaw Pack. Silas is a desperate ruler. His warriors are dying, his rivals are circling, and his own wolf is growing increasingly unstable without a fated mate to anchor him. When Valerie is brought before him in chains, Silas doesn’t just smell an untamed rogue; he recognizes the sudden, explosive spark of a fated match. But Valerie represents everything his traditionalist pack fears, and her blood carries secrets that could bring down his entire empire. To save his people from the plague and protect Valerie from the bloodthirsty Alpha Council, Silas forces her into a dangerous arrangement: act as his dedicated pack healer and pretend to be his submissive, betrothed mate. Trapped in a den of monsters, Valerie must play a deadly game of corporate and political survival, navigating vicious pack politics and her own treacherous, growing desire for the beast who holds her captive. As the real mastermind behind the plague steps into the light, Valerie and Silas must decide if they will destroy each other or let their forbidden bond burn the old world to ashes.

"I won’t accept a dirty, poverty-stricken stray as my mate. I reject this bond." Solange Park spent her life clawing out of the dirt. Born in a brothel and haunted by her mother’s debts, Alistair’s rejection nearly cost her life. After being hunted and nearly sold into slavery, she rebuilt herself using the very thing she always despised... her beauty. Alistair Vance thought rejecting his fated mate was mercy. He believed a poor, bastard girl would ruin everything he has built. He thought he was protecting his reputation; instead, he shattered his own soul. By the time he realized his mistake, it was too late. Now, six years later, she is back with a new name, a successful life, and a human protector she actually trusts. When fate forces them together, Alistair becomes dangerously obsessed, willing to do anything to win back the woman he’d carelessly discarded. Solange sees his desperation, laughs in his face, and offers him a deal. If he wants her, he will pay for every second. She becomes his sugar baby, taking his money and protection, but never his bond… the one thing he wants. Because this time, the Alpha is not the one in control. Alistair accepts the punishment, enduring every cruel rejection for a chance to keep her by his side in any capacity. But obsession is a dangerous game, especially when you are no longer the only man fighting for the girl's heart.

When my son suffered a heart attack in the middle of the night, I rushed him to the hospital where my wife worked. Instead of taking charge herself, she handed the operation to an intern. "New doctors need opportunities to learn. I'll be right there supervising. Nothing will happen." But before the surgery even began, a phone call pulled her away, leaving a trembling Marvin Vance alone in the operating room. My son never made it off the operating table. I collapsed in the hallway, sobbing in grief. Yet I overheard my wife gently comforting Marvin. "For your first surgery, you held on this long. You've done an amazing job, my little cinnamon roll." Awkwardly copying trendy slang younger people used online, she reassured him with endless patience. Then she turned to me with a cold expression and demanded that I sign a letter forgiving Marvin. "He has his whole future ahead of him. You can't destroy his life." I tore the document to pieces and threatened to call the police and expose what had happened. In response, she arranged for a medical donation and had my son's body dissected that very night. Driven insane by grief, I threw myself from a building while clutching my son's ashes. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day of my son's surgery. This time, I immediately contacted my parents and transferred him to another hospital. But that night, they still dissected a child.

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.”

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."

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.

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

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.