Velvet Seasons

On the first day of every month, my mom will give me my allowance based on the number of times I had checked in with her last month. "You'll receive 20 dollars for greeting your parents once in the morning and once in the evening. But last month, you only hit ten days' worth of quota, so you can only receive 200 dollars. This also means your 300-dollar punctuality fee will be deducted as well. "After adding on 150 dollars for your basic necessities, you shall receive only 350 dollars for this month's allowance. Remember to write a reflection report on your lack of punctuality later. I'll only transfer you the money if your report is acceptable." I become so overwhelmed by anxiety that my voice starts trembling. "I was busy with my finals last month, Mom! I had to line up outside the library at 5:00 am every day just so I could secure myself a seat! That's why I couldn't call you in time!" In a choked-up tone, I plead to my mom, "I need 600 dollars for the train ticket all the way home during the holidays! 350 dollars really isn't enough for me! Mom, can you please—" But my mom cuts me off firmly, "The allowance system is something that I've specifically designed for you so that I can help you get rid of the bad habit of wanting to receive everything without putting in hard work! Why can't you just understand that I'm doing this for your own good?" After that, she ends the call mercilessly. Just as I'm filled with despair and helplessness, a blond appears before my eyes. He's willing to buy my train ticket for me, but in return, I need to leave with him.

I create a fake account, add Lucas Bennett's lover, and then help her with advice and strategy. "A little drama keeps the spark alive. If you don't stir things up now and then, how else will he remember to pay attention to you?" So on my birthday, he spends an hour in the bathroom coaxing her to eat. On our fifth anniversary, Lucas sneaks off to a hotel and spends an hour tangled up with her. Lucas spends less time with me, but their relationship grows stronger. On the night of the company banquet, when Lucas is entertaining important clients, I tell her, "Lucas' girlfriend will be there too. If you don't ruin this contract, they'll be tied together forever." That evening, she picks up a glass of red wine and dumps it over my head. Lucas, who's been fawning over my dad, completely lost his composure.

During our New Year’s Eve dinner, I told my family that my company was not giving out year-end bonuses. The table went silent. Even the TV host counting down to midnight suddenly sounded grating. My husband and daughter slammed the table in frustration. “No year-end bonus?! How are we supposed to pay the mortgage and the car loan? I didn’t marry you so you could live off me!” “Other moms either buy designer bags or send money. You’re the most useless one. You can’t even bring home a $100,000 bonus.” My in-laws sat there with dark looks on their faces and said nothing. I looked at their self-righteous faces and felt a lump in my throat. All these years, every expense in this family was paid with the money I earned from late nights, overtime, and project commissions. But all they could see was the $100,000 bonus I did not bring home. “If you can’t make any money, then get out!” My husband grabbed my arm and pushed me toward the door. My daughter was not satisfied and kicked me on the lower back. I did not turn around. I took out my phone and booked the presidential suite at a downtown five-star hotel. My bank account had just received a $1 million dividend payout. It was true that I did not get a year-end bonus. But I got promoted to management. From this day onward, I would receive $1 million in dividends every year.

Ten years after graduation, I funded a scholarship for underprivileged students at my alma mater. During the ceremony's interview segment, one of the scholarship recipients suddenly grabbed the microphone. "That night at the karaoke bar, you forced yourself on me! Aren't you going to take responsibility?" Her words cut through the room, and every student and faculty member turned to look at me. In an instant, I was branded a rapist. The company's stock fell immediately in response. Amid the chaos, I simply stared at the girl in front of me. Had students really become so ruthless just to get what they wanted? Only a few days ago, I had helped her fend off a gang of troublemakers, so how could she turn around and spread lies about me then? Besides, I was a woman. What could I possibly have done to her?

On the tenth day of my postpartum recovery, my husband, Deputy Commander Harvey Wyatt, uploads a photo of me breastfeeding my newborn in a disheveled state to the department's group chat. Obviously, that photo was taken without my knowledge. "See? After having a kid, she's as loose as a sack. It makes me sick just looking at her. I much prefer my side piece, who's nice and tight." A few female colleagues send sweating emojis to the group. The majority of the chat, however, consists of the male colleagues' perverse silence. While I continue to burp my baby with one hand, my tears land on the screen. In order to give birth to this baby, my pelvic bone was sawn in half, which causes me so much pain that I can't even walk properly. But all I get in return is my own husband body-shaming me in front of hundreds of people. I don't bother arguing with Harvey at all. Half an hour later, I drag my broken body all the way to the commander's office with a divorce agreement as well as the chat history over the past ten days, which has been printed out, in my hands.

La nuit de sa première transformation, Lyra découvre que son âme sœur n’est autre que l’Alpha de sa meute. Mais au lieu de l’accepter, il la rejette devant tous, humiliant son cœur et brisant son destin. Blessée, Lyra fuit… jusqu’à tomber dans les bras de l’Alpha ennemi. Protecteur, dangereux, il clame qu’elle est sienne. Entre haine, passion interdite et guerre entre meutes, Lyra devra choisir : pardonner celui qui l’a rejetée, ou embrasser le loup qui pourrait détruire sa meute.

TRIGGER WARNING!!! This is rated 18+. Alpha Parthe is as dark as described. If you are not into dark romance, please, in the name of everything holy... ***Excerpt*** "My breath just made you quiver," He leaned closer so that I could almost taste his breath, "...Then imagine what my tongue would do." "I warned you not to play with fire if you are afraid of flames," He added, his voice hoarse with need. My plump lips parted in response, "I am not afraid to burn for what I love." I had just stirred something in him that had lay dormant all his life. "Then so be it... Princess." *** She was an angel craving chaos. He was a demon craving peace. She knew he was hell, yet she chose to burn with him. It takes a special kind of woman to handle his darkness and tame his demons. Alpha Parthe comes from a bloodline of cursed Alphas, endlessly consumed by the need to track and kill, constantly plagued by the scent of blood. The more they kill, the more they want to kill. It only gets worse on every full moon. No one mated to an Alpha from the Wild Wolf pack ever lived more than two years. And every Alpha from that lineage dies at thirty-three due to the curse. Parthe vowed never to have a mate or a son. But these vows crumble when he meets a girl he considers 'little and insignificant.' The fate of Luxuria, who was set to marry the love of her life, Kahel, takes a drastic turn when she finds out she was mated to this cursed Alpha, whom she dreaded with her life. What happens when his curse gradually seeps into Luxuria, the woman who was meant to be his remedy?

Eden thought she had finally found love. She couldn’t have been more wrong. Orphaned and alone, Jace was the only man she had as a family in the whole world, but he despised her with every breath in him. She was nothing but a burden to him. Jace was set to marry the love of his life, Sky, who claimed she was pregnant for him, as he handed his pregnant wife, Eden, divorce papers. In the process of his maltreatment, Eden lost her pregnancy. Not that her husband gave a damn about it. Devastated, Eden decided to pick up the pieces of her life with the help of Jace's best friend, Kyrell, who stood by her through her heartbreak. Kyrell, who had always been in love with Eden, decided to make a move on her now that she was officially single, damning every consequence that comes with loving his best friend's ex-wife. What happens when Eden finally begins to fall for her ex-husband's best friend, Kyrell, just at the same time her ex-husband comes running back to her for forgiveness? Kyrell was ready to burn the world to finally be with the woman he loved more than life. But that would be over Jace's dead body. And one thing is certain... Kyrell and Jace can’t both have her.

Noah Hayes was supposed to be starting over. A full scholarship and a future built on talent, not survival. As one of the university’s rising ice hockey stars, everything in his life should finally be falling into place, instead, it starts falling apart on day one when Chase Voss notices him. Beautiful. Cruel. Dangerous in a way that doesn’t need to be hidden. But Noah had bigger problems than a campus king’s grudge. Drowning in debt and desperation, Noah takes a job he knows will cost him, but the man he stole from isn’t just powerful, he’s dangerous. Adrian Voss. Now Noah belongs to him, trapped in a world he never wanted. By day, he’s the university’s ice hockey star, by night, he moves product for a man who owns his life. What started as hatred between Chase and Noah turns into obsession. What should be a rivalry turns into something neither of them can control. Chase falls hard and reckless, but Noah knows better than to trust something that feels like a weakness. And if Chase Voss wants him, then Noah will use him. Play him. Survive him. But the deeper they get, the harder it becomes to tell what’s real and what’s manipulation. And in a world built on power and blood, love is the most dangerous mistake of all, because loving the wrong person could destroy everything, but walking away might be even worse.

"I'm not the jealous type. But what's mine is mine. I could kill for what's mine. No one has the right to kiss you, touch you, or care for you. That's what I was born to do." His words echoed in the depths of my soul. "I'm leaving, and you can't stop me!" I tried to put up a fight, but it was all futile against his dominating form. "The only way you can leave me is through death. And even after you die, even the devil will make sure you serve me in hell because I am his master," A sinister smile spread across his face. That was the moment I knew I was doomed. *** Lance and Viella have been married for four years without conception. Enduring the persistent nagging from Lance's mother was becoming hell on earth for Viella, and the only way she could live a happy life was to get pregnant by any means possible to produce an heir for the Rollins family. The perfect plan was set in motion, and Viella brought in a surrogate to bear a child for them while she pretended to be pregnant. This was the biggest secret they were to guard with their lives. But what happens when this secret not only spills but Viella loses her husband to the surrogate? What happens when Viella finally finds a man who is ready to burn the world for her, only to be haunted by the demons of her past? Let's find out in this toe-curling romance story of love, betrayal, and lust.