1331 Book(s) Related to why does kakashi cover his face

Will a man learn to love me if I’m good to him long enough?

I tried for seven years to warm his heart.
I thought if I just held on a little longer, he’d finally see me.
Because I loved him so deeply.

But what did I get in return?
His endless tenderness for another woman.
I pretended I didn’t care, until pneumonia landed me in the hospital.

On the day I was discharged, I found him standing there with our daughter, his whole world focused on caring for that woman.
Even my daughter, whom I’d raised with everything I had, wished that woman was her mother.

In that moment, my heart died completely.

I left the divorce papers, gave up custody, and walked back into the chemical industry.
So what if seven years of marriage had worn me down?
I was still the top genius in my field.

But the divorce I’d wanted so badly never went through.
The man who once couldn’t have been colder to me now held on to me tighter than ever.
Our daughter refused to leave my side.

When he found my divorce papers,
the always cold and arrogant man pushed me against the wall and growled:

“Divorce? You’re mine. For life.”

<>



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. 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 contains morally complex and flawed characters, who often operate with hidden motives and questionable ethics. Themes explored include emotional manipulation, gaslighting, power imbalance, dual identities, and blurred lines between love, control, and obsession. Certain scenes may be intense or unsettling. Reader discretion is strongly advised.

Zoe Marshall thought her marriage was unbreakable. She built her life around Ethan Carter—powerful, brilliant, and untouchable. Until his betrayal shattered her so deeply that filing for divorce became her only way to breathe again. She thought leaving him would set her free. But freedom is never that simple when your ex-husband is a ruthless billionaire who turns regret into obsession.
Ethan is determined to win her back, to claim what he believes is still his—no matter what it takes. Just as Zoe begins to rediscover her strength, Mason King enters her life: dangerous, wealthy, and hiding secrets darker than midnight shadows. He offers her protection and a passion she never imagined. But his world is deadly, and his past is painted with blood.
When an enemy obsessed with Ethan threatens Zoe’s life to erase her forever, and Mason’s hidden demons resurface, she finds herself trapped between two powerful men fighting for her love... or her destruction. Who will truly protect her? Who will destroy her? Because when love becomes a battlefield, only the strongest hearts survive—and Zoe isn’t letting anyone else decide her fate.

Accepting her fate as a slave, Danica Grimsley, the low born Omega never thought that she had to share her love not with her mate Konrad Winston only but with his enemy as well, Cassius Winston, the king of Lycans. When secrets threatened to spoil her life, Danica needed to choose between revenge and fate. Worst of all, both Alphas wanted not just her body but her soul.

"Where is my son?"
My husband wouldn't look at me.
I had just come out of anesthesia. The bassinet next to my hospital bed was empty — except for a stack of cash, a christening card, and a ring pinned to the corner of the card.
The card had another woman's name in the godmother box.
That woman walked in behind my husband. She picked up the ring and slid it onto her own finger.
"He's safe, sweetheart. We've been talking about this for months."
My husband is Damiano Marchetti. He runs the family that runs this city. The woman wearing the ring is his father's young widow.
The baby on that card is my son.
For four years now I have been the woman this house pretends not to see. The wife told to use the servants' entrance. The mother of a boy who calls another woman Mommy.
Last night I asked my husband for a divorce.
He laughed in my face.
He has no idea how much that's going to cost him.

Blake's keeping me locked up in a villa outside the city, with a dozen bodyguards watching me around the clock. They won't let me step foot outside my room.

He once promised Vanessa, the woman he never got over, that he'd give her company shares and his estate. Now she's back after her divorce, pregnant, crying to Blake that I threatened her, told her to give up what he promised, and that I wanted to hurt her and her baby.

Blake believed her.

He's convinced I'm evil and gold-digging. He locked me up here while he stays at the hospital, never leaving Vanessa's side.

I'm going into sudden labor, crying and begging him to let me go to a hospital. I swear I never wanted those things, never hurt her.

Blake just sneers. "You're such a liar. I don't believe a single word from someone as vicious as you. After Vanessa delivers, I'll get you a doctor. Stop trying to fool me."

But when he finally sees my body, he completely falls apart.

I gave Arthur a thousand years. A thousand years to secure his throne as God-King.

And on the day of our engagement ceremony, he announced he was marrying someone else.

In my past life, I bled myself dry for him.

He told me Lilith needed Seraphim blood to live. I believed him. He bound me to the Divine Punishment Pillar and carved open my chest, one cut at a time.

He massacred my entire clan, calling it "treason."

I only learned the truth as I was dying. That pitiful "saint" was a demon from the Abyss all along.

Now that I'm reborn, watching him sit on that throne makes my skin crawl.

I destroy our engagement in front of everyone and take the entire Seraphim clan with me.

This time, I'm only here to watch him destroy himself.

Connor Mitchell and I are the golden couple of our industry. Everyone sees him as the devoted husband, always bringing me soup when I work late into the night.

On our fifth wedding anniversary, he gave me an expensive diamond necklace and posted something sweet on Instagram. The comments were all variations of the same thing: jealousy.

I used to believe it too.

Until I cut my trip to Europe short and got into that SUV. The passenger seat was set at the wrong angle, too far forward for my height. A contact lens case fell out of the sun visor, and neither of us wears contacts.

When I had my cousin pull the dashcam footage and saw him with his arm around some petite girl getting into the car, the truth hit me. My attentive husband, the one who called me every night I was away, had been using my connections and resources to play successful mentor to a twenty-two-year-old intern.

The irony is, he thinks he's gotten away with it. He has no idea I can see right through every move he makes.

Once rot sets into a perfect marriage, no amount of perfume can hide the stench.

At last season's Grand Olfactory Gala, Vivienne Harrow presented my formula before I could reach the stage.
I confronted her. She asked where my proof was.
I had nothing. The formula had never left my head — no notes, no records, nothing. I didn't know how she'd gotten it.
I died not knowing.
Then I opened my eyes, and she was already reaching for me.
"Not this time."
I stepped back.

Thinking she had finally broken free from her family’s violence, Ariana had no choice but to attend the party her father would throw to celebrate the man she had always hated.
The ruthless mafia lord Matteo Donatelli, whom her family had taken under their wing when she was a teenager.

Drunk and clouded Don Matteo Donatelli unknowingly made love to his adopted sister, she couldn't resist him for much longer and succumbed to his devious touch.

Moments later Ariana is Trying to hold back all the anger, emotions and tears when she sees the man who just stole her virginity, recklessly propose in front of the entire family to his outsider American girlfriend Becky Saunders.

So what about her?

What happens when the man she’s suddenly engaged to find out she is pregnant with his enemy’s bastard child?

But things turn surprising when Becky Sunders suddenly slumps on her wedding day!
Read on to find out!

Tally Barca is done with her "all-star asshole" ex and ready to rebuild. What she's not ready for is being the fated mate to two powerful shifter alphas—the dominant Theron and the gentle Connor. With a malicious ex and a jealous rival on her tail, Tally must unlock her own latent power to claim her place in the pack and in their hearts.

If you love steamy shifter romance, fated mates, and a heroine finding her strength, you need to read Tally's story from start to finish!.

For the full experience, read from beginning to end. I can't wait to hear your comment❤️🙏

He owns the school. I just survive in it.

Matt was supposed to be my safe place.
My best friend. My maybe-someday.
Until he chose her—the girl who’s bullied me for being poor, curvy, and unwanted since day one.

Now he’s dating her, and I’m left with nothing…
Except rage.
And a deal I never saw coming.

Lucien Knox Ravenscroft is danger in a tailored uniform—the son of a trillionaire, heir to Ravenscroft Academy, and the guy every girl wants. He also happens to be her ex.

And nobody dumps him.
Especially not for some millionaire’s son.

So when he offers me a deal—a fake relationship that puts us front and center—I say yes.
He wants revenge.
I want Matt to regret ever choosing her.

But then comes the bet.
If Matt notices me again, I win—and Lucien will help me ruin her.
If not… I’m his. For as long as he wants me.

Now the whole school is watching.
My father works for his powerful, monstrous dad.
My crackhead mother is a secret buried deep.
And Lucien?
He doesn’t believe in soft. He plays dirty.

And the more we fake it, the more real it feels.

This isn’t love.
This is war.

Fake Dating the Bad Boy for Revenge is a dark high school romance filled with betrayal, secrets, obsession, and a heroine who refuses to stay quiet.

No one fakes a relationship with Lucien Knox Ravenscroft… and survives it whole.

Everyone at Ravencrest High knows one rule: stay away from Ryder Aldrich Steinmann. He’s the school’s most feared bad boy—cold, reckless, and completely untouchable. So when a vicious rumor threatens to destroy Raisa Tyla Petrova’s reputation, the quiet honor student does the unthinkable—she asks him to be her fake boyfriend.

What starts as a simple deal quickly turns into the biggest scandal on campus. Stolen glances become lingering touches, and fake kisses begin to feel dangerously real. But Raisa doesn’t know the truth—Ryder never agreed to help her out of kindness. He agreed because he’s been secretly in love with her for years… and now that she’s finally his, even if it’s just pretend, he has no intention of letting her go.

When the truth finally comes out, everything they’ve built begins to crack. 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗥𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗮 𝗿𝘂𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘆 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀, 𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿?

She only agreed to one fake date to help her brother’s grumpy best friend.
She never meant to fall for the single-dad hockey star who swore he’d never love again.
Holly Winters runs Heartstrings Connections, the matchmaking agency that turns Evergreen Hollow into a year-round Christmas-card town.
Rowan Kane is the Evergreen Bears’ brooding captain who hasn’t celebrated a holiday since his wife walked out on Christmas Eve four years ago, leaving him and two-year-old Lily behind.
One lost bet.
One gala.
One tiny white lie that snowballs into town-wide rumors, forced proximity, midnight kisses under northern lights, and a little girl who starts calling Holly “my Holly.”
But when Rowan’s ex-wife suddenly reappears, carrying secrets that could destroy everything (bipolar disorder, a lost pregnancy, crushing debt, and a mysterious man who will sacrifice his entire life to protect them), the fake romance becomes the only real thing either of them has left.
In a winter that refuses to end, four broken people and one fierce little girl will discover that sometimes the greatest love stories aren’t the ones you plan;
they’re the ones that save you when you’re too terrified to save yourself.
Snowed-in nights.
Desperate proposals.
A stranger’s ultimate act of love.
And a sky that catches fire just to prove happy endings still exist.

"Relax, Ruby. No one is this tense around their fiancé."
I tried to do as he said and relax so I leaned further into him and pressed my back to his front which seemed to ignite a different reaction from him.
"Not that kind of relaxing. You're only going to get me hard." He hissed in my ear.
I smiled and decided to be naughty and play dumb.
He held my arm tightly, "Ruby, stop." He warned.
"I'm not doing anything, Oliver. I'm merely acting my role. Perfectly." I said innocently.
"You really want to play this game?" He replied.
"We're executing our role flawlessly. People are watching." I told him with a smile.
"Then they'd better gobble this one up."
In one swift move, he spun me around and smashed his lips to mine in the presence of everyone present at the party.
Ruby Carter turns down a proposal from hot billionaire Oliver Harrison and in a cruel twist of events, her boyfriend turns out to be a cheater who never loved her.
Heartbroken and sad, she goes on a drinking spree and ends up in bed with the man she turned down, Oliver.
An argument ensues between Ruby and her father regarding her stance on Oliver which unfortunately lands Ruby's father in a coma.The board members see this as a chance to usurp powers from the Carters’ hands and seize control of the company.
Ruby, alone and helpless, has no other option than to accept help from the only one offering to stand by her side, Oliver, in the form of a fake relationship.
Initially, things were going as planned but along the line, Ruby starts to see Oliver in a different light.
A series of ups and downs which were meant to tear them apart actually ended up bringing them closer and making things a little more clearer.
Maybe he isn't that bad after all?
Or maybe she has just been playing her role all too well…

“Theerapat” returned once again to the Khunlakorn Mansion at his sister’s request, as their father lay on his deathbed.

“Just seeing his face makes me sick of the smell of buffalo dung. Why hasn't he left our home yet?”

Those venomous words escaped Theerapat’s lips the moment his eyes met Thongdee, the longtime livestock caretaker of the family farm.

Theerapat despised Thongdee more than anyone, believing he was his mother’s secret lover, and the very reason their family had fallen apart.

But the more he hated him... the more their paths seemed to cross.

After his father’s death, the will revealed a shocking condition:
To inherit his share, Theerapat must spend three months working on the farm, and the person assigned to train him…?

None other than the man he loathed most in the world…
“Uncle Thongdee.”

Betrayed by my wife on the eve of the apocalypse, they stole the shelter keys and locked me in the heart of the zombie outbreak to die.
I felt no anger.
Three minutes to blast open the blast door, ten minutes to drain the billions from that despicable couple's overseas accounts,
and then I'd buy machine guns and artillery from the black market! The couple speeding down the highway had no idea that the "top-secret key" they were protecting was actually a bomb designed to detonate the defense system.
The real wasteland survival game had only just begun.

"Your boss has asked me to take whatever I want to clear his debts. So I've chosen. And he was glad to give you to me, among other things."
"Get dressed," he ordered. Only then did I find the courage to speak.
"I have nothing to do with this. I can't be involved. I'm not the one owing you money. Ludovic..."
"Ludovic is dead."
"And you'll be careful not to end up the same way, doll. Get dressed, or I will make you."
Talia has spent her entire life as an escort to survive. But everything changes when she is kidnapped for reasons she doesn't understand and brought face to face with Lorenzo, the feared Mafia Don and King of the underworld. Intrigued by her, he claims her as his prized possession. She plays along, knowing it's the only way to stay alive. But resisting her dangerous attraction to him is becoming impossible.
An offer comes that she can't refuse—she's asked to spy on Lorenzo and end his reign. Talia yearns for freedom, but the more time she spends with him, the more her heart falters.
When the moment arrives, will she have the strength to betray him? Or will deeper feelings get in the way? Will she become his lover, or the reason for his destruction?

If you had the chance to escape from your bullies and from your unholy home... Won't you grab it?
Avara is a victim of bullying and a toxic home. She goes through a lot, yet no one, not even her so-called parents, care about the pains she faces at school. One faithful day, she joins her mate on a school trip to the museum, to soak in the tales of supernatural beings that once roamed the land, only to get chased by her raging bully, Stella, who's desperate to make her pay for something she didn't do. To escape Stella's wrath, Avara hides in one of the museum's special room, only to be stunned by what she saw next. A large portrait of a beautiful queen/Luna was hanging on the wall. And the beauty? She looks so much like her! A janitor, who shows up, sees Avara and happily shares the tale behind the queen, revealing she's a Luna from a werewolf kingdom, said to be missing for over four hundred years. The werewolves searched for her but found nothing. So, they began a ceremony every hundred years to search for a new queen, inviting every maidens from far and wide to come. To the janitor, it's just a myth. But to Avara, this has to be real. Unable to bear her sorrowful life anymore, Avara does the most childish thing ever and sends a letter to the werewolves, clinging on to hope that she'll escape her problems soon. And as faith may have it, she gets a shocking response from the supposed none-existing kingdom, inviting her over.
Thrilled, she runs away from her toxic home, excited to start life far away. Only for her to realize that the response came from Stella, not from the werewolves! Scared, poor Avara flees into the woods, getting chased by her enemy. Just when she thought she's done for, she sees what looks like the shadow of three men up ahead, and she runs up to them for help. But as soon as she draws closer, a mysterious force pulls her into a magical entrance, tossing her right into the arms of these men. Stella was gone. Like she just disappeared out of existence, leaving Avara confused. She soon gets herself at the sound of the men's groans, but freezes at what she saw. Their eyes were glowing under the moonlights and their ears were long and furry. Even their manly figures looked nothing like a mere man's body!
That's when it hits her.
They're not humans.
They're werewolves!

"Violet Goldcrest," Daemon's voice was thunder, vibrating through the wet ground and into my bones. "You have failed as Luna."
I knelt in the mud, the agony of rejection tearing through me as I watched him walk away with pregnant Celeste.
"I, Daemon Blackwood," he intoned coldly, "reject you as my mate."
I had loved him for ten years—until he humiliated me in a public Rejection Ceremony, abandoned me for another woman, and waged war on my pack. My parents died protecting me. I died alone, broken by his betrayal.
Then I woke up... three years earlier.
This time, I'm done begging for his love.
"I'll make you a bet, Daemon," I say when he dismisses my offer to break our bond. "Soon, you won't just accept this rejection—you'll beg for it."
He stares at me with icy disdain. "I. Don't. Beg."
I sigh. As the one who's lived this before, I know what's coming. Daemon will meet his true mate, fall madly for her, and finally set me free. All I have to do is wait.
But then... things get weird.
The man who once spent months away from me now watches my every move. He interrogates me about other males. And when he does meet Celeste, he doesn't reject me like he's supposed to.
He rejects her instead.

SLAP
"You think I’ll let Cassian take the fall ?"

"He’s my son. You? You’re just a face I regret making"!!.

Lucien was born with a secret.
One even he didn’t understand.
One his father always knew — and hated him for.
While his twin, Cassian, lived a life of freedom, Lucien lived locked behind doors, punished for simply existing.

He wasn’t allowed outside.
He wasn’t allowed to live.
He was hidden. Forgotten. Broken.

Until one party changed everything.

A mafia princess was hurt.
Cassian was to blame.
But their father made sure Lucien paid the price.

That night, Lucien was handed over to Zayn Kingsley —
A billionaire mafia heir.
One of the Eight who rule the city from the shadows.
He has two wives. A daughter. And a dying father whispering:

“Give me a son. A true heir. Or lose everything.”

Zayn doesn’t believe in weakness.
He doesn’t believe in love.
And he definitely doesn’t believe in men like Lucien.

Zayn is cold. Ruthless. Homophobic.

But what Zayn doesn’t know…
Is that Lucien carries more than pain.
He carries a secret that defies biology, logic, and everything Zayn thought he knew:

🩸 Lucien can bear an heir.

And what started as punishment becomes obsession.
What started as hate begins to burn into something forbidden… and terrifying.

"Bella? You mean that wolfless piece of shit? I'm just fooling around with her. I don't need her. She's useless. She's poor. She feeds on me more than I ever feed on her and worst of it, she won't even spread her legs. What the fuck do I need from a trashy woman like her?"


Bella Montagu, adoptive daughter of Luna Cora and Alpha Grey has her heart shattered by her five years boyfriend on the day of graduation. Out of anger, she rejects him, together with her wolf and returns to the pack only for her father, Alpha Grey to cast her out and imprison her, saying he never liked her and she was of no use to him from the start. With the help of Luna Cora, the only woman who has ever loved her, she escapes only for fate to play a cruel thing in her face, in the name of Kai Marlakey, the alpha of the Ashwood pack.
With a broken heart and a man mourning the loss of his poor mate, would things ever work out between them? Would Bella be able to find her real identity? And what if she's not as cursed as she has always believed? What exactly does fate have in store for Bella and why does it keep tampering with her?
Find out in this sweet romance.

The letter arrived while I was fighting a burnt piece of toast.
There was no name on the envelope, but I knew where it came from—Star Ring Academy. A place I thought only existed in my mother's diary. A place that could teach me to control my magic. A place where I wouldn't have to keep pretending to be "normal."
What I didn't expect was that this place had its own marked person too.
Kain Ashworth. Every student and teacher avoided him. They said he was a curse. Dangerous. That everyone who got close would disappear.
So when he sat alone in the last row, I walked over and sat down next to him.
Everyone thought I'd lost my mind. But they didn't know that I understood loneliness—the kind where the whole world turns its back on you—better than anyone.
Then, out of nowhere, he recognized my last name. And he said to me: "You and I are the same kind of people."
I didn't quite understand. Was he saying he knew my secret?

Iris Quinn had a life worth having—until her father’s arrest stripped it all away.
The charges are a lie, orchestrated by the one family she’s always loathed: the Laurents. When Caesar Laurent offers a cold-blooded trade—her hand in marriage for her father's freedom, Iris realizes exactly who she’s dealing with.
The contract arrives before she's finished being angry. Two years minimum. No escape clause.
Caesar doesn't want her heart; he doesn't even pretend to. But he underestimated one thing: Iris Quinn has spent her life refusing to be controlled, and she isn't about to start now.
Caesar is used to winning. Iris is used to surviving. Neither expected the other to be quite this good at the game. She was supposed to be his prisoner—he wasn't supposed to lose sleep over her.

In the kingdom of Kingdom of Valedria, the greatest tragedy was the disappearance of a princess.
Eighteen years ago, the infant daughter of King Lucien Auremont and Queen Seraphina Auremont vanished during a bloody night of fire and betrayal. The kingdom mourned her death.
But the lost princess never died.
Raised under the name Eva Laurent by a humble bakery family near the royal capital, Eva grows up far from silk gowns and jeweled crowns, unaware that royal blood flows through her veins.
Until fate drags her into the palace she was born in.
Forced to work as a servant beneath glittering chandeliers and watchful nobles, Eva becomes entangled in dangerous royal secrets—and in the path of the one man she was never supposed to meet.
Prince Cassian Valmont.
The cold and devastatingly handsome prince of Kingdom of Asterra arrives in Valedria for one purpose:
To marry the kingdom’s beloved royal daughter, Lady Rosalie Valeir, and unite two powerful kingdoms.
But before Cassian ever saw the palace…
he met a mysterious girl in the forest.
Eva.
Now trapped inside the palace walls, Eva must hide her growing feelings for a prince destined to marry another woman, while whispers of a forgotten prophecy begin surfacing through the kingdom.
Because someone inside the palace knows exactly who she is.
And he has been waiting for her return.
Behind sacred prayers and holy robes, Lord Darius Valthor watches from the shadows—guarding ancient secrets stained with blood, obsession, and forbidden darkness.
The moment the truth about the lost princess is revealed…
crowns will fall,
kingdoms will burn,
and hearts will be destroyed.
For in Valedria, love may be the most dangerous secret of all.

Two months after Derek Prescott blindsided me with a breakup, I ran into him at the Alpha Xi annual formal at St. Jude University.
I'd been about to leave when Blair Covington—his new girlfriend and daughter of a Winthrop Holdings executive—waved me over with a smile that promised trouble.
The table was mid-round of Truth or Dare, everyone half-drunk and looking for blood.
Derek raised his champagne flute with theatrical flair, his arm draped around Blair—apparently his golden ticket to finally belonging.
"The smartest thing I ever did in my last relationship? Cutting loose the dead weight—some townie girl who was only dragging me down. Now I'm with someone who actually understands what it means to have standards."
Snickers rippled around the table. Every set of eyes swiveled toward me—the nobody ex-girlfriend with no family name to drop.
I didn't flinch. Just rattled the ice in my glass and gestured lazily for the game to continue.
When it was finally my turn, someone threw out a loaded question, voice dripping with fake sweetness: "So Cordelia, did you ever hide anything from your ex?"
"Actually, yes." I met Derek's eyes without blinking.
"Oh? What was it?"
"I hid where I really come from." My voice was flat, bored. "My family's old money. Serious old money."

When my roommate Sutton woke up from a wet dream, she was literally glowing. She claimed it was the most mind-blowing romantic experience of her life—the man’s silhouette, his scent, his body heat felt impossibly real.
Even crazier? When she checked her phone, there was a strange new number saved in her contacts. It belonged to the man from her dream.
While the rest of us shrieked about destiny, our moody roommate Jessamine just stared at the screen and dropped a chilling warning: "Things that come looking for you in dreams should stay buried."
We all wrote her off as a jealous freak.
That is, until I started noticing Sutton’s face growing more haggard by the day—and the fact that her "perfect boyfriend" refused to speak a single word to her.

Eighteen years ago, my mother traded her newborn for a gold-plated life, leaving me in a rust-stained trash can like a piece of discarded waste just to marry her rich boyfriend.

Now, she was back, weeping about "maternal regret" and "postpartum shadows”, saying she had regretted her decision every second of her life.

Overjoyed that my mother wanted me back, I packed my belongings and rushed to meet her.

However, the moment I stepped foot at her doorstep, I overheard her conversation with her darling daughter with her new husband.

“Of course, sweetheart! You will always be my one and only darling. I’m only adopting Vanessa back to wed her to Mr. Blackwood to save your Dad's bankrupt company.”

“You are not lying to me, Mom, are you?” Ramona, my step sister, tugged to my mother’s arms. “You won't share my love with sister Vanessa, will you?”

“Never.” My mother replied, her voice contained no warmth when mentioning me. “How can a village’s trash can compare to our princess?”

“If we wouldn't have to please that old hag of Blackwood company, we would never have brought your sister back.”

“An old master of Blackwood company and a village girl with no literacy, I think that's a match made in heaven.” Ramona smirked, followed by the sound of their laughter.

My legs at the doorstep froze, the momentary joy I felt shattered. The cold heart that had melted seeing my mother shed tears, became ice.

I watched the duo of mother and daughter, laughing and making fun of me, completely unaware that the company they were trying to please by offering me, was actually owned by me.

I was the CEO of Blackwood Groups.

On my twenty-fourth birthday, my grandfather dropped the bombshell: I was an orphan.
After learning about my biological family, I decided to do something nice. I bought a limited-edition sports car as a gift for the father I had never met.
But at the dealership, I was publicly humiliated by my brother's mistress.
To clear up the misunderstanding, I called my brother.
When he arrived, it was only to back her up.
"This birthmark is ugly; let me help you get rid of it."
My own brother used a cigar to burn off the birthmark behind my ear and had my suffering broadcast on the mall's LED screen.
"Listen, if anyone dares to treat this woman’s injuries, I’ll have their license revoked in this city for good!"
But he didn’t know that the grandfather who raised me was someone no one in this city could even dream of looking up to.
When my grandfather arrived with a top-notch medical team and armed mercenaries, sealing off the entire building, my arrogant brother finally realized his mistake.

Minerva “Mina” Hayes thought marrying Tristan Johnston meant forever—until the night their marriage was announced and he stood beside another woman, letting the world brand Mina as the shameless third party. Betrayed, pregnant, and abandoned, she vanished without a trace, vowing never to love him again.

Three years later, Mina returns—not as the broken woman he left behind, but as a powerful CEO with her own empire. Now, the billionaire who once destroyed her is desperate to have her back. But Mina has learned her lesson. This time, she refuses to be his hidden wife—she’ll be the woman who makes him regret everything.

Yet as buried truths begin to surface, the lines between betrayal and sacrifice start to blur… 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗿𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲, 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗴𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝗽 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁

Being a Cinderella, I was forced to marry a rich man who was crippled. But I was shocked when I met him. He made me realize that I deserved nothing but him. Now I don't care about his health situation. All I want is him by my side.
That's all, I felt when I fall in love with him slowly, desperately and hopelessly. Until on the honeymoon, I finally found out, my husband who loves me dearly , met his first love who supposed to be dead. Will he leave me for her?

Ronan Blackthorne gets the same coffee every morning. Black, no sugar. From the same girl who doesn't even know he's worth billions. Annabelle thinks he's just another suit with good tips and a nice smile. She has no clue he owns half of Manhattan.

Here's the thing though, Ronan's got a problem. His dead father just screwed him over big time. Turns out daddy had a secret daughter somewhere, and she owns 35% of everything Ronan thought was his. Now he's hunting this mystery girl down because his psychotic mother Victoria won't shut up about finding her and making the problem disappear.

The barista he's falling for is the girl he's looking for.

My three-year-old daughter hides behind the sofa whenever I try to hold her now.

“Mommy is scary,” she whispers, clutching her stuffed bear like a shield.

I thought it was just a toddler’s overactive imagination.

Until I checked the camera feed in my own bedroom.

I watched a woman who looked exactly like me step out of the shadows of our antique mirror, slip into my husband’s bed, and kiss him.

"We can only take one more person! Any heavier and we ALL go down!"

In the middle of a raging forest fire, my fiancé Carter Hayes was piloting a fuel-leaking helicopter, forced to choose between me and my cousin Lily Sterling.

He chose me.

Lily was left behind in the inferno. She burned.

I thought surviving made me lucky — until my parents slapped me across the face at my wedding. "Why wasn't it YOU who died?"

Turns out, I was never the one they wanted to save.

Carter married me, then spent five years making me wish I'd died in that fire instead. He and my parents worked together, systematically stripping away my dignity, my career, and every reason I had to keep living.

Three years into my depression, I jumped from the top floor of the Hayes estate.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself back before the fire — before the helicopter took off, before Carter made his choice.

This time, I spoke first. "Take Lily."

If they all wanted me dead, then I'd give them exactly what they wanted.

Betrayed to death by my own brother, I was reborn before the apocalypse descended.
He rushed to seize the god-tier [Copy] talent first, leaving the trash [Purification] talent for me.
He thought that with this talent, he'd have no worries and reign supreme in the apocalypse.
Meanwhile, I quietly closed the last door of my fortress.
He didn't know that his prized copying ability had a fatal flaw.

Mia has always had a sharp eye, It's what makes her a great photographer and what's been making her life hell for the past month as someone is following her. When she escapes her mafia ex and moves into a new apartment, she thinks she's finally safe. She thinks the man across the hall is the one good thing in her life right now.

But she's wrong. Dante Voss has been watching Mia since the night she pulled him out of a burning building without knowing who he was. A man like him doesn't believe in accidents but he believes in her. The stalker she's been afraid of is her neighbor. The neighbor she's falling for is the stalker. And the line between being protected and being owned has never been thinner.

Some men don't pursue you. They simply make sure there's nowhere else to go.

Kingsrow International College is not for all kids. It’s for top kids, super smart kids, and kids who work hard. Atlas Knox Wainwright is all three. He’s head of the Kingsrow Knights basketball team. He’s the best kid in the school. He’s the boy no one can touch. His life is neat, in his hands, and just how he likes it.

Then Aurelia Hattie Miller from Houston, Texas comes, and all things change.

She talks big. She’s not neat. She speaks her mind and does what she likes. She does not fit in a fancy school like this, and Atlas tells her so. But when her marks go bad and his plan gets too much, they have to hang out each day. She needs him to teach her. He needs her to keep him on track. Both are mad about it.

But when you hang a lot with someone, you get them. You know their true self. Aurelia sees the hard weight Atlas holds in quiet. Atlas sees she tries much, even when she looks chill. While they yell and do night school time, they quit saying “no” to how they feel.

Until the big game comes. Until Atlas picks the ball, not her. Until all breaks.

Now he must pick what counts top: the good life he made, or the girl who flipped it.

Lucia Romano vanished thirteen years ago. Kidnapped as a child, she disappeared before the marriage contract binding her to Alessandro De Luca could ever become real.

Alessandro De Luca swore he would never obey a marriage contract but fate had already chosen for him.

Now the ruthless heir of a powerful mafia empire, Alessandro has lived by one rule....he will marry only for love, or not at all. The missing girl from his past is nothing more than unfinished business he still intends to close. Then one night he rescues a broken woman from a trafficking ring. She calls herself Lia.

Haunted by trauma and stripped of her past, Lia remembers almost nothing about the life she once had. Alessandro, only meant to protect her… until protecting her becomes something far more dangerous.

Because the powerful mafia boss who refused an arranged marriage is now falling for a woman he believes is a stranger. But fate has its own cruel design. The girl Alessandro has spent thirteen years searching for…is the very woman he’s beginning to love.

Sebastion Drakos has been a selfish man all his life. For so long he put his needs above all those who he protects as the Alpha of The Redwood Pack. All for the love of an unworthy woman. Now with her gone, it leaves Sebastion to raise the son she gave him. For Jace, he will do anything.

Irina Belova is a slave. Vicktor is her master and a monster. Irina's daughter is her master's pawn. He uses her child to keep her in line. Vicktor is sending her on a mission. Irina is to spy on Sebastion, then trap him. Vicktor wants the mighty Alpha for his collection.

Fate may have plans for these two. They have children that they will do anything for. Each has a past they want to atone for. Can they survive the storm that is coming? Will Sebastion find his redemption? Will Irina find her freedom? Or will the forces working against all supernatural creatures keep them from achieving what they both want?

Mature Content Warning
18+ Readers
Drama Series

The cover of this book was made by fellow writer KeyKirita
The title of this book was the help of fellow writer Marii Solaria
Both writers have helped me greatly

Gathering Shadows Novels:
Book 1: Her Returned Mate
Book 2: His Redemption

He was powerful.
He was terrifying.
He was huge.
He had the whole world under his feet, the whole world within his grasp—but to him, she was his world, she meant everything.
He was feared by all, but it only mattered that she was scared of him.
He was worshipped by billions, yet he worshipped the very ground she walked on.
His calloused hands were capable of ripping people apart, yet they only held her with tenderness and possessiveness.
His claws ripped out throats, yet they only extended towards her to play with her curls.
"For there will be one born from chaos, forged from the ruins and the ashes of the ages. He will be the chosen one, the one to host the darkness. He will be engraved with the lines of the goddesses' touch and the fates will bow to him. But he will be the one to bring forth the carnage, that will end the world's that began under his feet. His light, her darkness. Every darkness needs a light but his will be lost in the times. Betrothed to the darkness, one with it. The cycle will go on till the darkness finds the light, to be one eclipse. For at the end, blood will flow."

Five years ago, during a passionate sexual encounter, Freya Myers stole sperm from a mysterious and dangerous man, intending to have a genetically superior child. That man was none other than Declan Castle, the ruthless, enigmatic CEO of the globally renowned Castle Group.

Five years later, Freya Myers returns to the city with a pair of exceptionally gifted twins, desperately trying to conceal their existence from the world. But when she interviews for an internship, she unexpectedly encounters Declan Castle—the very same man from years ago—as her interviewer. From then on, Declan Castle becomes a persistent, demonic force haunting her!

Five years ago, a single, desperate mistake changed Freya Myers's life forever. Intending to secure a future with the man of her dreams, she ended up in the wrong room, stealing the 'seed' of the wrong man. That man was Declan Castle—the cold, ruthless, and enigmatic CEO of the world-renowned Castle Group.

Now, Freya has returned to the city as a struggling single mother, hiding a pair of genius twins from the world. When she lands an internship at the Castle Group, she hopes to remain invisible. But fate has other plans. Declan Castle, a man who has remained mysteriously untouched by any woman since that fateful night, instantly senses something familiar about the new designer. He has spent years searching for the woman who 'ruined' him, and now that he has found her, he has no intention of letting her go.

Forced into a high-stakes marriage of convenience with the domineering CEO, Freya must navigate the treacherous waters of high society while desperately guarding her children's true identity. Between a scheming stepmother, jealous socialites, and a series of deadly secrets, the walls are closing in.

What started as a game of cat-and-mouse and a quest for revenge soon ignites into a passion that neither can control. In a world where power is everything and betrayal is a way of life, can Freya protect her heart and her children, or will the relentless Mr. Castle claim everything she’s been trying to hide?

I had escaped my arranged marriage after discovering my fiancé was cheating on me, and I had never imagined that I would end up pregnant from a one-night stand with a mysterious muscleman...

One cool night three months later...
I teased myself, my fingers soaked with excitement.
I was almost there - so close. A little more, a little harder...
Something made me open my eyes, some sixth sense that I was not alone. Just outside the door, a man's silhouette was visible.
I didn't shy away, nor did I cover myself, but stared into the man's amber eyes.
With a cry that was half pleasure, half humiliation, tears welled up in my eyes -
"Oh, God," I gasped, my body still convulsing in the aftershocks. "Oh, fuck. Who the hell are you?"

He walked closer to me, letting me see him clearly. How did my one-night stand get in my house?
"Come home with me, my pregnant runaway bride..."
What on earth is he talking about? My one-night stand is my cheating ex-fiancé?
Fuck! When his business rival Lucas launched a fierce pursuit of me, I found that he cheated on me again!
Let's see the billionaire's journey of chasing his wife.

A betrayed politician’s wife.
A rebel alpha with nothing to lose.
A town crawling with secrets.
And a war waiting to ignite between blood and fang.
Calla Hart thought the worst thing her husband could do was cheat.
She was wrong.
After catching Senator Blake Hart in bed with a vampire, and learning he’s part of the Crimson Order, a vampire mafia that wants her blood.
Calla runs. Not for love, but for survival.
Because what’s in her veins isn’t normal.
She hides in Ravenridge, a decaying supernatural border town where monsters walk like men and shadows bite back.
A place where the veil between worlds is wearing thin.
There, she crashes -literally-into Axel Cain, the 20-year-old Alpha of the Vanguard Pack, a feral biker gang that patrols Ravenridge like outlaw wolves. Axel doesn’t do politics. Doesn’t do mates.
And definitely doesn’t do soft, wealthy women from the city.
But something in Calla’s scent sets his wolf on fire.
And when he learns who she’s running from-and what she really is-he makes a choice that will cost him everything:
Keep her close. Claim her.
And start a war that could burn the veil between their worlds.
Extra Note for Readers
This is a slow-burn paranormal romance with steamy heat, deep emotions, and an age-gap dynamic.
She’s older, hunted, and secretly powerful.
He’s younger, dominant, and doesn’t play nice.
Together, they might save the town… or destroy it.

My Husband Cheated on Me with His Cousin, So I Married His Boss.

Kalyssa always believed her marriage could survive anything. She trusted James until he started slipping away. Late-night calls. Locked doors. Half-truths dressed up as excuses.
When she finally follows him, she discovers the kind of betrayal that breaks something inside you forever…her husband in the arms of his cousin, Melissa. What should have ended in tears turns into something far worse. In one night, Kalyssa loses her company, her home, and nearly her life.
But someone saves her. A man she doesn’t know, or couldn’t remember. He’s powerful. Controlled. Dangerous in ways that make her pulse quicken. And he isn’t a man who lets go of what he wants.
As Kalyssa rebuilds her life, her husband and his cousin suddenly want her back.
How was she going to get back what he stole from her? What would she do when the man who saved her proposes a contract marriage?

Isadora Bellini spent her entire life living in the shadow of her twin sister, Giulia—but nothing hurt more than the moment their childhood best friend and her fated mate, Capo Lorenzo, chose Giulia over her. Shattered and humiliated, Isadora disappeared from the Luna Nera Clan, carving out a quiet life among humans. Eight years later, she’s dragged back to the one place she promised never to return—for Giulia’s funeral. What begins as a painful farewell quickly spirals into a storm of secrets, guilt, and dangerously unresolved emotions.
Lorenzo isn’t the same confident Capo who once broke her heart—he’s grieving, broken, and searching for answers. But so is Isadora. As truths begin to unravel—about Giulia’s betrayal, Lorenzo’s rejection, and a past that refuses to stay buried—Isadora finds herself caught between the scars of yesterday and the pull of a bond she tried to erase.
In a world where fate is sealed by blood and moonlight, and love can be the sharpest weapon of all… will Isadora risk everything to uncover the truth, or let her pain write the ending for her?
When love feels like betrayal, how do you trust what your heart still wants?