What Lurks Beneath Book

I was raised to be invisible. In the kingdom of Avelaine, a maid’s life is meant to pass quietly—unnoticed and unchanged. I knew my place in the halls of Hawthorne Palace, until Prince Roman Davenport looked at me as though I was something more than a shadow. He belonged to the crown. I belonged to silence. What grew between us was never spoken aloud. It lived in careful glances, restrained words, and moments stolen where no one was meant to see. Loving him was dangerous—not because of scandal, but because it asked for something I was never meant to have. In a world ruled by duty and inheritance, some desires are not forbidden by law… but by reality itself.

Enter Lukas Apostol - A disgruntled veteran of the Moro rebellion and a war hero of the Battle of Camp Abubakar in the mid-2000's, now a member of the secretive infamous paranormal combat unit, the 666th Infantry "Tagapuksa" Battalion.When a new threat emerged and endangered the archipelago, Lukas found himself in a two-way battle both against the supernatural and his own inner demons caused by the previous wars he fought in. Realizing the nature of the threat, he steeled himself in his resolve to continue fighting on.Will he able to save his nation or will his own demons kill him first?

"Menikahlah denganku karena aku sangat memerlukan rahimmu untuk mengandung anakku. Aku akan memberikanmu apa saja." (Alfred Simon Clark). Tentu saja, wanita bernama Amanda Jean Heather menolaknya, terlebih lagi ia telah memiliki seorang kekasih yang sangat ia cintai. Tentu saja mereka juga saling mencintai satu sama lain. Apalagi, di rumah itu ia hanya murni untuk bekerja sebagai seorang pengasuh anak, tidak lebih. Namun, beberapa waktu setelahnya, kekasih Amanda berselingkuh dan tentu saja ia mengetahuinya, pria itu berhasil membuat Amanda sakit hati dan marah. Dengan semua tekat bulatnya, ia pun akhirnya menyetujui tawaran yang diberikan oleh majikannya itu. Sebuah pernikahan yang jelas-jelas hanya memerlukan rahimnya saja. Impian Alfred dan juga mendiang Ibunya pun akhirnya terwujud, ia memiliki seorang anak laki-laki dari Amanda, tapi Amanda tak meminta balasan apa pun atas semua jasanya itu. Setelah mendapatkan apa yang di inginkan oleh Alfred, bagaimana dengan hubungan di antara Amanda dan juga Alfred selanjutnya? Akankah mereka tetap bercerai sesuai dengan kontrak yang telah di buat oleh Alfred sebelumnya?

Eva and Samuel meet through Eva's best friend, you could say it was love at first sight. As time goes by, things begin to get complicated in this love affair. Will they be able to overcome the problems that arise along the way?

In the opulent halls of the Stanley manor, Judy Kent, the daughter of the family chauffeur, grew up alongside Chris Stanley. Their childhood bond blossomed quietly, a tender friendship that seemed unshakable. But Chris' traumatic kidnapping left him with deep psychological scars, manifesting in a peculiar fixation directed solely at Judy. Tragedy struck when Chris' father died in a car accident. With Judy’s father on leave that day and a substitute driver behind the wheel, Chris' grief turned into misplaced hatred toward Judy’s family. Their once-close bond shattered. Consumed by bitterness, Chris withdrew from her and inflicted emotional torment, even coercing her into signing a contract that bound her to him. Yet beneath the layers of anger, Chris' love for Judy never truly faded—it was merely buried under his rage. When the truth of the accident finally surfaced, the weight of Chris' actions drove Judy to walk away, unable to reconcile with the pain of her past. Only then did Chris realize the depth of his mistakes. Overwhelmed by guilt, he vowed to make amends, embarking on a desperate pursuit to win back her love and trust. But can Judy’s fractured heart mend? Will their shared history and enduring connection be enough to overcome the barriers between them? Or has too much been lost in the wake of betrayal for love to flourish again in the manor’s shadowed corridors?

“I will repeat myself that I, Alpha Oswald, make you, Carly Hayes, my concubine because you are my mate!” **** Over the years, Carly Hayes had been striving rather hard just to find a mate among the group of wolves flocking sheepishly around her, each with an enticing proposal. But true happiness eluded her: to have clocked 25 without being mated was indeed a quagmire— her quagmire. Even though her impeccable beauty had managed to compel men into any nightclub or social event she attended. She felt an emptiness in her for her mate, her wolf was getting restless and that made her more determined to find her mate. Along the story, her efforts drove her down to the eclipse pack house where she bowed before the ruthless Alpha Oswald, the cruelest of all alphas, for allegedly being accused of seducing a mated wolf. Alpha Oswald was a man of his word, a man who doesn't leave any stones untouched in getting whatever he wanted, the man any lady in the werewolf world would die for. He was rather shocked as his wolf called out ‘mate’ at just a gaze upon her stunning beauty. Alpha Oswald felt his guards unlocked as feelings grew in him for the unmated wolf before him, he made her his concubine whom he loved with all his heart but was not yet ready to confess his love before her. Their relationship sailed through as it kept blossoming as Nikita, the Luna of the eclipse pack stood as an obstacle to their love. Will Alpha Oswald later confess his love before her? If yes, how would Carly react to this? What will become of Nikita when she finds out about their love? What prevents Alpha Oswald from seeing his mate for many years? Find out in the book.

[RATED 19+ CONTENT AHEAD] "This is the last time, Thea." He thrust himself entirely into me, and I whimpered. "Yes, Daddy." That was the lie we told ourselves. *** He was my father's best friend. The man I called "Uncle Stellan." Now, my father is gone, and Stellan Vaughn is my new guardian. My new boss. He’s cold, ruthless, and the most powerful man in New York. He’s supposed to protect me, to guide me. But at my father's funeral, when his dark eyes met mine, what I saw wasn't comfort. It was a hunger that lit a matching fire in me. That's when I realized, there was no going back for this man and me, nor were we prepared to experience both of our lives getting f**ked over. He thinks I’m an innocent, grieving girl. He doesn't know I'm just as broken as he is. He doesn't know I want his control to shatter. He's the one man I can never have. The one man who could destroy my future. And the only one I'm willing to sin for.

Although born into opulence, Hermione Watson Pierce has always felt like a mere pawn in her parents' ruthless game of power. Her voice has been silenced since childhood, her autonomy suffocated by the weight of expectation. Behind the facade of luxury, Hermione has discovered a devastating truth: her life is not her own. As a result, she has learned to suppress her emotions, earning her the reputation as the icy queen of the corporate world. However, when her parents demand she undertake a task that will irreparably alter her future, Hermione decides to seize control of her destiny. That's when Aiden Mendes enters the picture – a charismatic playboy with a reputation for recklessness. But beneath his carefree exterior lies a complex web of scars, forged in the fire of his dysfunctional family. Aiden's coping mechanism is to indulge in the excesses of life, using his charm and good looks to keep people at arm's length. Yet, when he's threatened with disinheritance unless he marries the enigmatic Hermione, Aiden reluctantly agrees. For him, it's a mere contract marriage, a means to an end. But when they meet for the first time, Aiden is blindsided by an unexpected attraction. It's love at first sight, but his notorious reputation precedes him, and Hermione's disdain is palpable. As their contract marriage turns into a battle of wills, Aiden must thaw Hermione's icy heart and prove that there's more to him than meets the eye. But can he convince her to look beyond his reputation and take a chance on love?

Two mafia families. One bloody feud. And a love that was never supposed to exist. Valenti Moretti is known as Ghost—a shadow in the underworld, a man feared for his precision and ruthlessness. But beneath the cold exterior lies a burning obsession he can't escape: Lorenzo De Luca, the golden prince of their rival family. Lorenzo's every smile, every calculated move with his perfect fiancée, is a reminder of what Ghost can never have—or forget. Their story began years ago, with a kiss neither of them were supposed to remember. Now, Ghost has a plan to make Lorenzo face the truth they both buried: a staged kidnapping, a forced reunion, and a chance to rewrite their fate. But Ghost goes a step further, paying the kidnappers to make them sleep together. But love born in the dark doesn’t thrive without consequences. As secrets unravel and both families spiral into chaos, Ghost and Lorenzo find themselves drawn together by the very forces tearing them apart. Loyalties will shatter. Blood will spill. And when the truth about their past comes to light, they’ll have to decide whether their connection is worth destroying everything—or if it was doomed from the start. In this deadly game of power, hate, and obsession, how far will you go to claim the one thing you can’t have?

At a dinner party, my genius painter of a husband, Henry Shepherd, used his hands, hands insured for millions, to shell crabs for his young assistant, Tamara Lee. This was all to coax her into eating a few bites when she claimed she had no appetite. Meanwhile, I drank myself into a bloody mess, trying to secure investments for him. When I asked him to hand me some antacids, he refused without even looking up. “These hands are for painting. Use your own.” For ten years, he couldn’t even be bothered to change the way he treated me. That night, as I sobered up in the cold wind, I asked my lawyer to draft a divorce agreement. "Henry, in this vast, chaotic world, our paths end here," I said inwardly