When His Perfect Mask Shattered, I Awoke

Antonella Cross has secrets many of them, To everyone she's the perfect wife and socialite what they don't know is what happens behind closed doors. Antonella Cross has many secrets too many for her to keep count of. What happens when they slowly start falling apart and she's not only fighting for her life but her marriage?

Azalea decides to go to the bar and forget all her problems for one night. She ends up having a one night stand with a stranger and months later, she finds out she is pregnant. Her whole life crumbles because she has nothing to her name, and definitely no intention of looking for the father of her baby.  Ace Black, a billionaire who happens to be sterile, has been searching for Azalea after the one night stand. He is shock when he finds out she's pregnant with his child even though his doctor tells him it's impossible. What will Azalea do when she finds out Ace decides to fight for custody of the baby? Will she put up a fight or just back down and let him willingly take her baby? When the unexpected starts to happen between the both of them, will she be able to keep fighting?

Carol Rivers was used to playing with fire, and she lived her life by her own rules—until she fell for the wrong man. Antonio Conte was an older man who seemed to have it all, and Carol couldn’t resist his charm. But their fiery romance is cut short when she catches him cheating. His betrayal shattered her, and she drowned her sorrows with alcohol, only to end up in the bed of a dashing stranger after a heated one-night stand. Carol had yet to come to terms with her break up with Antonio when he appeared again, but this time he claimed her by force, kidnapping her and holding her against her will. Her rejection had set him off, and she realized he wasn’t a normal man, but a ruthless mafia lord. Now forced to become his sex slave, Carol is robbed of her freedom. But what happens when she meets the stranger from her one-night stand, and he turns out to be the son of the man she despises the most? Caught between father and son, Carol becomes a pawn in an explosive game of lust and power. Will she break free from the chains of her fate? Or will she burn it in the crossfire?

When my stepsister, Kate Lawrence, is poisoned at the full moon ceremony, my father, Jack Blackwood, condemns me at once, convinced that I am the one behind it. He clamps silver chains around me and drags me into the manor's dark underground cell. His eyes burn hatefully as he snarls, "You wretch! How could I have a daughter like you? Rot in here!" I drop to my knees on the cold floor and try to explain, but the sentence he throws over his shoulder as he turns away snuffs out the last of my hope. "Even if she dies in there, no one shall go in! Whoever lets her out will die with her!" The cell severs the mind-link completely, so no one hears me screaming. Seven days later, he finally remembers me, not knowing that I'd already died on the fourth day when the silver burned through to the bone.

“I, Leila the wolfless, reject you, Alpha Tatum as my mate and I denounce you as my Alpha! You are free to be with her.” “Leila….I just thought—” “Don’t! Where were you when I got the news of our child? With her! Where were you when I was kidnapped? With her! And today? You took her to the hospital, leaving me to bleed out on the street, and now you ask me, why didn’t I tell you that when you left today, you were taking the life of our child?” All the years of sour jealousy, bitterness, pain and vain waiting burst out of Leila. In front of her is her Alpha, her husband, her first and only love, her saviour...and also the man who pushed her into hell with his own hands.

The day Calista Everhart gets divorced, her divorce papers end up splashed online, becoming hot news in seconds. The reason for divorce was highlighted in red: "Husband impotent, leading to an inability to fulfill wife's essential needs." That very night, her husband, Lucian Northwood, apprehends her in the stairwell. He voice was low as he told her, "Let me prove that I'm not at all impotent …"

After confirming I was pregnant, I suddenly heard my husband’s inner voice. “This idiot is still gloating over her pregnancy. She doesn’t even know we switched out her IVF embryo. She’s nothing more than a surrogate for Elle. If Elle weren’t worried about how childbirth might endanger her life, I would’ve kicked this worthless woman out already. Just looking at her makes me sick. “Once she delivers the baby, I’ll make sure she never gets up from the operating table. Then I’ll finally marry Elle, my one true love.” My entire body went rigid. I clenched the IVF test report in my hands and looked straight at my husband. He gazed back at me with gentle eyes. “I’ll take care of you and the baby for the next few months, honey.” However, right then, his inner voice struck again. “I’ll lock that woman in a cage like a dog. I’d like to see her escape!” Shock and heartbreak crashed over me all at once because the Elle he spoke of was none other than my sister.

Do I need to cut off someone’s limbs, little flame?” he growled into my ear. I tilted my head instinctively “He’s nothing you need to worry about,” I whispered. “I’m not worried, baby. I’m annoyed.” His growled. But I barely processed his words. “You called me baby,” I said, stunned. “And?” “I didn’t think wolves used such... terms of endearment.” He chuckled darkly. “We use whatever we want, ‘baby.’ Those words aren’t reserved for other species.” He kissed the side of my neck, slow and possessive. My lips parted in shock and hunger. Hunger for him. For more of his words that seemed to touch not just my heart, but the deepest, most vulnerable parts of me. “You’re in an awfully good mood,” I whispered, biting my lip to stop a moan. “I deserve it. I’ve been in a terrible mood since I left you in that hallway three nights ago. I can’t wait to be done with this damn party so I can kiss you properly.” His voice was thick with want. I felt weightless and boneless. Every nerve in my body tuned to him. He was too much. “Are you finally free?” I asked, my voice shaky from how turned on I was. “I’m not, little flame,” he said, biting my ear and licking the same spot after. “But for tonight? You have me all to yourself.” “Sounds exciting,” I breathed. “It is. Are you wet yet?” he whispered, voice like molten sin. “I am. Very.” “Good,” he murmured. “Stay like that all night. It will get worse but you’ll think of me while we mingle. And then, when this party is over, when you can’t take the ache anymore, I’ll let you come.”

The doctor told me I had 72 hours left, unless I got access to the newest experimental treatment. However, there was only one slot available, and my husband Bowen Liddell gave it to my sister Yvonne Lawson instead. "Her kidney failure is more critical," he said. I nodded and swallowed the white pills that would only speed up my death. In the time I had left, I got a lot done. The lawyer's hand trembled as he passed me the documents. "Are you sure you want to transfer the two billion dollars in shares?" I replied, "Yes. Give them to Yvonne." My daughter, Candice Liddell, was giggling in Yvonne's arms. "Mommy Yvonne bought me a new dress!" I said, "It looks beautiful. Make sure you always listen to Mommy Yvonne, okay?" The art gallery I built from the ground up now had Yvonne's name on the sign. "You're too kind, Kathy," she said, crying. I told her, "You'll run it even better than I ever did." I even signed all my parents' trust fund away. That was when Bowen finally gave me his first genuine smile in years. "Kathleen, you've changed. You're not so aggressive anymore... You're beautiful like this." Indeed. This dying version of me finally became the 'perfect Kathleen Sullivan' in their eyes—obedient, generous, and no longer argumentative. The 72-hour countdown had already begun, and I couldn't help but wonder what they would remember when my heart stopped for good. The good wife who 'finally learned to let go', or the woman who completed her revenge by dying?

<> - Vanessa thought rock bottom was signing divorce papers with Derek Holland, a man with the emotional depth of a teaspoon. Turns out, rock bottom had a basement, and Ryker Holland was waiting for her down there with a smirk and a plan. Ryker, Derek's older half-brother (aka the family's dirty little secret), shows up offering Vanessa a deal: help her make her ex-husband, Derek Holland, jealous enough to come crawling back. In exchange, he secures his position as CEO. But Ryker isn't doing this out of kindness for he is petty and cruel. He would do anything to trample all over Derek, and now he has the perfect weapon. Vanessa, freshly dumped and just desperate enough to play along. And if she happens to enjoy making her ex suffer too? Well, that's just a bonus. As Vanessa sinks deeper into Ryker's twisted world of fake romance, secrecy and family dysfunction, things start getting real. Because fake love? It's a lot easier to control than real feelings. And Ryker has no idea what to do when the game stops being a game. Is Vanessa walking into a trap or building one of her own? Either way, the Holland brothers are going down. One's going to break, and the other's going to enjoy every second of it. _Disclaimer: This story features morally complex, flawed characters with twisted motives. It includes themes of manipulation, deception, and emotional cruelty. Reader discretion is advised.