twisted

"Stop." His voice is low and controlled and furious underneath both. "Whatever you're doing in there the books, the reading, the tucking in — stop." "They asked me to read to them," I say evenly. "I don't care what they asked." He takes a step toward me and I hold my ground, which seems to make it worse. "You've been here for just less than two weeks, and you're already in Dorian's room, touching his things, letting them climb all over you like you're" He stops, jaw tight. "You're not their mother. You're on a twelve-month contract." "I'm aware of what I am," I say. "Are you?" Something sharp enters his expression. "Because from where I'm standing it looks like a woman playing a very long game. Soften up the children, charm the staff, make yourself indispensable — and then what? You think I don't see it?" Something cold moves through my chest, but I keep my face neutral. "You think I'm doing this to get to you." "Aren't you?" He says it like it's obvious, like I'm naive for pretending otherwise, and the contempt in it is so clean and practiced that for one second I almost believe I deserve it. "You should wake up from that delusion. Whatever you think you're building here — it won't work, you will never have me." He moves before I register it, closing the distance between us in one smooth step, and then his hand is at my neck, warm and deliberate, his thumb pressing lightly against my pulse like he's checking whether I'm afraid, and the answer my body gives him is humiliating. His mouth drops to the curve of my neck and shoulder, not rough — slow, purposeful, his lips dragging against my skin like he has all the time in the world and knows exactly what he's doing with it, and I shudder despite everything I know about this man and this moment and exactly what he's trying to prove. "This," he murmurs against my skin, his voice low and terrible and close, "is all you'll ever get from me." ********* Sloane Carter had her work stolen, her body broken, and her heart shattered in pieces. Then a truck ran her off the road on a rainy night, and she woke up inside the worst romance novel she had ever read. Wrong century, wrong country. Wrong body. Twelve-month contract marriage to a man carved from ice, three feral six-year-olds, and a dead man's secret buried so deep the whole empire is rotting from the root. In the novel, the heroine smiles gently, loves quietly, and dies before anyone notices she was worth saving. Sloane has bruised ribs, a stolen career, years of swallowed rage and absolutely no intention of following the original script. The cold CEO didn't bargain for a woman who'd already survived the worst he could ever be. Neither did the man who put her in that car. He thought killing Sloane Carter would silence her. He had no idea it would set her free.

In all my life, I have been told who I am: a vampire, a noble, a daughter, and a woman. Each of these, I have taken as my own. My father, a great warrior of the Thornton duchy, taught me how to lead. My mother, the foundation beneath him, taught me how to endure. I was raised to be everything graceful, ruthless, unwavering. I was born for it. And yet, I fall short of something I cannot name. “I am the duchess,” I remind myself, as I sit beneath a sky heavy with stars each one watching, each one bearing witness to the life I have been given, a life that I did not choose. He chose me. The Duke of Thornton chose me as his wife. But in a court where power is shared, where new brides are brought in without warning, and where loyalty shifts as easily as breath, what does it mean to be chosen? Does he love me? Can I learn to love him? Or am I only another piece in a grand game, a game in which I have no hand? What happens when he stops choosing me, when I no longer become his duchess? How can a monster love another, when the other is made of many? In the end, I want to.

Isabella Martinez’s life shatters in one night. Dragged from her waitress job by loan sharks, she’s thrown onto an auction stage and sold like property to pay her father’s five-million-dollar gambling debt. Terrified and powerless, she watches as wealthy men bid on her future until HE walks in. Dante Moretti. The most dangerous man in New York. A billionaire mafia don who built a twelve-billion-dollar empire on blood and fear. When his cold grey eyes lock on hers, everything changes. He bids ten million dollars without hesitation, buying her in front of everyone. Bella expects horror. Expects to become his slave, his toy, his victim. Instead, she discovers something far more dangerous: Dante Moretti has a code. He protects women and children. He kills traitors without mercy but honors loyalty above all. And despite his brutality, despite the violence she witnesses, despite every reason she should run she’s falling for the devil who bought her. But loving a mafia king comes with deadly consequences. The Russian mob wants revenge. A traitor within Dante’s own family wants him dead. And Bella now seen as his greatest weakness becomes the target of every enemy he’s ever made. Forced to choose between the innocent girl she was and the warrior she needs to become, Bella must learn to fight, to kill, and to embrace the darkness. Because in Dante’s world, there are only two options: become the mafia queen who stands beside him… Or die. From sold at auction to ruling an empire. From victim to queen. From captive to the most dangerous woman in the underworld. This is the story of a girl who was bought for five million dollars and became worth five billion. Welcome to the mafia. Welcome to love. Welcome to war.

To claim her throne, Aurelia must win the heart of the man who should have been her husband before the equinox seals her fate. But this is not the Aurelia she knows and her sudden and strange behavior surprises everyone, especially Kael!

*Trigger warning - this novel contains explicit blood, gore, rape, R-18 scenes which might trigger you* Aurora Roosevelt Eighteen-year-old Aurora Roosevelt had a bright future ahead, fueled by big dreams and the unwavering support of her loving parents and younger brother. But in a single, heart-wrenching day, tragedy strikes-her parents are brutally killed, her brother is taken captive, and Aurora is violently torn apart, her life irreversibly altered. Now trapped in a world of blood, gore, and darkness, she finds herself ensnared by Braxton, a psychopath whose obsession with her knows no bounds. Orion Ashbourne Orion Ashbourne is the youngest, most successful businessman in his country, born into privilege and responsibility. Shielded from the world's darkest corners, he lives a life untouched by the violence and pain Aurora faces daily. One fateful encounter between Aurora and Orion pulls them into each other's worlds. As their lives intertwine, Aurora's past and Braxton's obsession threaten to tear them apart. Will Orion be able to pull Aurora from the darkness and show her a brighter future? Or will Braxton's relentless hold claim her soul forever? A deadly love triangle emerges where obsession, love, and survival collide. Aurora is caught between the blood-soaked world she's been forced into and the light she desperately craves in the form of Orion. Will she ever escape, or is she destined to remain trapped in Braxton's darkness? Hello lovelies, this is your author Kara. This book being my first one holds a very special place in my heart. Plus I am trying first person POV which is genuinelly very difficult so please be a little understanding of this new author. But I truly hope you will like it. Positive critics and encouragement are always welcomed. Let's unfold this saga together! Follow me on instagram for a visual treat of "The Devil's Reckoning : A Twilight Sage" at my IG handle @kara_gardner_ Book cover credits - Kara Gardner Instagram - @kara_gardner_

(A EARTH-23 Escapade straight from the Elder Age!) My name is Kali of the Bloombergs, well formerly of the Bloombergs. I have elected to participate in the current war between Androcien, Goddess of Knowledge and Erosa and Narvath, The Goddess of Love and War respectively. I hope to make a name for myself and prove that i can be a warrior. Just like my grandfather. ......... I really hope this isn't all a big mistake.

A modern royal setting, the male lead has a leg disability. Five years ago, their statuses were worlds apart. He was the Prince of a nation and she was a commoner; they were fated to end in divorce. When others mocked her for marrying a cripple, she would only give a faint smile. When they divorced, he gripped her chin and demanded, "Am I..." Five years later, they met again. The next day, he came with money to pester her relentlessly.

It's true love when a man who lacks nothing claims to love you. Ugly and poor men are not necessarily more dependable than the tall, rich and handsome ones. The wealthy magnate Wang is as righteous as he is wicked, yet fundamentally he’s extraordinarily arrogant. The grassroots girl, Yan Xixi, accidentally stumbles into his world, one wants to cheat money, the other wants to cheat people, a series of hilarious misunderstandings, simply hysterical. This novel won the first prize in Tencent's original creation competition, originally named "Inconvenient to Live" and is one of the key online works supported by the China Writers Association.

The first time Nan Wan saw this man, she knew he had a "sickness," and it was the terminal kind. Coincidentally, she did too. He needed a wife who could help stabilize his career, she needed a husband who could pull her out of hell. He had a criminal record, she had an ex-husband, just perfectly matched. ———— Originally, those disdainful looks gradually turned into envy. ———— One day, a piece of news spread about the beautiful woman of the past passing away, and all the evidence pointed to Mrs. Mu. Everyone speculated that this marriage would come to an end, and even Nan Wan thought so too. However, Mr. Mu said to her, “Wanwan, I need you.” So, the days in prison didn’t seem as unbearable as imagined.

New Territories Socialite She is the top socialite, she met him at eighteen, he was as dazzling as a diamond. Made for each other. But at that time, her eyes were on another person, "Mr. Feng, you're too big!" Eight years passed, time flies. When a series of business upheavals followed one after another, her socialite status was gone, her husband cheated and betrayed her, and in her downfall, she met him again. She woke up sore from a luxurious bed in the morning. He stood naked, wrapped in only a bath towel, leaned against the window, holding half a glass of red wine, and smiled, "I'm too big?" She: "..." Then many years later, she woke up from the bed of the wife-protecting fanatic. He smiled at her. She firmly said, "Mr. Feng, you're too old!" He: "..." ★ 1V1, clean mind and body, sweet doting story + heart-wrenching story. This is a story about ten years of unwavering love pursuit. Feel free to dive in, you won't regret it.

He was an extremely wealthy CEO. His hobbies were clinging to his wife and pampering her to the extreme. One day, the bodyguard reported, "Sir, Madam went to chase her ex-fiancé!" "Sir, Madam confessed her love for her ex-fiancé on a global livestream!" "Change the photos and names to mine!" "Sir, Madam went to the hospital to have an abortion!" The incredibly handsome and wealthy man couldn't contain his anger. "Bring Madam back to me, and take good care of her! No, stop! I'm going to get her myself!" After marriage, Su Fu glared at her possessive husband. "Let's divorce; this life is unbearable!" Shangguan Ling smirked. "So what if it's unbearable? Whoever leaves, loses! I'll give you the property, our child, and myself! Wherever you go, I'll go too!"

"Titus Zane, since you've done it, you have to bear the consequences!" At the engagement banquet of childhood sweethearts, Titus Zane is drunk. Sitting on the fourth-floor viewing platform, watching the man approaching step by step, she says, Nathan Moore, let's make a deal. If I jump from here and don't die, then let me go... Fine, his emotionless response was a single word, displaying his ruthlessness. Titus Zane smiled, the curve of her lips beautifully tragic and dazzling, slowly spreading her arms, her body leaning backward, leaving only an empty wine glass and a woman's shoe on the platform. Later, someone tells Titus Zane that the mother she trusted most was not her biological mother but a mistress who usurped the position, and the murderer of her biological mother... When the secret is revealed, Titus Zane discovers that her mother's kindness was merely a ploy to obtain her healthy heart... Note: The main characters in this story are emotionally and physically pure. It's a story of torment followed by love, feel free to dive in.

Trapped in the unspoken rules, eaten up by the devious boss, he can't stop, and is addicted to tangling with her. Between them, one swears never to yield, and the other insists on conquering. Asher Land swears, his biggest goal in this life is to transform Sophie Smith, the fierce little wild cat with sharp claws, into an obedient pet cat!

She is a lonely girl with both parents deceased and no one to rely on. He is the distinguished and prestigious President of the Saxon Clan, handsome like a deity. Because of a ridiculous childhood marriage, she married him. Before marriage, the two agreed on three rules: marry without love, affectionate in public, uninterfering in private. Yet unexpectedly, he sneaked into her room the next day. He shamelessly violated the agreement! She was angry, "Matthew Saxon, you are unreliable; I want a divorce!" He smirked, "Want a divorce? First, give me a little bun." Everyone knows the young master of the Saxon Family is nonchalant and heartless, but he pampers her to the extreme. "Young Master, Young Madam said the scenery at the university opposite is nice." "Buy it." "The view from the rooftop of the building next door is great." "Buy it." "The new director at Saxon Clan is also quite handsome." "...Fire him immediately!"

Somewhere between death and memory, she was remade. Pulled from the ashes of a failed expedition, a nameless girl wakes in a place called Solmere Bastion — an alchemical refuge built for the broken and forgotten. With no past but the relic she clutches, she is reborn as Ravine — a name given, not remembered. But the Dead Zone does not let go so easily. Whispers linger. Dreams unravel. The relic she carries is no ordinary pendant — it's a Matron’s Bloom; a sacred object passed only to those meant to carry on a bloodline... or a burden. As Ravine walks the rain-soaked halls of the Bastion, haunted by names that might have once been hers, she must uncover not just who she was — but who she is becoming. Because in this world, alchemy gives nothing for free. To live again is to owe something. And the Gate always comes to collect. Aporia is a slow-burn fantasy of identity, grief, and quiet magic — perfect for fans of lyrical prose, introspective journeys, and stories that linger long after the last page.

Everyone says he is an iceberg, but only Maya Spencer knows he is a volcano, and moreover, a volcano that is passionately unlimited for her, an indulgently pampering volcano.

"I won’t marry him," I spat, glaring at my parents. "I’d rather let this town burn." "You’ll do as you're told," my father barked. "This marriage is the only way to save us." I wanted to scream, to fight back — but I knew better. So, I swallowed my pride and let them drag me to Prince Darius. I expected arrogance. I expected cruelty. But nothing prepared me for him. Tall, sharp-featured, and infuriatingly handsome — yet his cold, impassive stare froze me in place. "You’re not my wife," he said, voice like ice. "You’re a debt to be paid. You'll follow my rules, and when I say jump, you'll ask how high. Understand?" My walls shot up immediately. Fine. If he wanted a war, I’d give him one. I refused to break. No matter how dangerously tempting he was.

Trapped in a loveless marriage to a ruthless Alpha, Livia’s life is nothing but silence, scars, and shattered hope. To her husband, she is a decoration—useful for reputation, disposable in private. When betrayal strikes from the one person she trusted, Livia is pushed to the edge of despair. Then she meets Aldus—the feared Lycan King of the Blood Moon Pack. Cold, powerful, and burdened by a past drenched in blood, Aldus has sworn never to love again. Yet in Livia’s broken gaze, he finds something he thought he had lost forever: home. As war brews between packs and secrets crawl out from the shadows, Livia must choose between the life that is slowly killing her and the love that could save her. In a world ruled by claws and crowns, can a wounded Luna and a cursed Lycan King defy fate—and find healing in each other’s embrace?

At nineteen, Emily was married off to a cold-hearted billionaire as collateral for her father while he works to pay the debt. The deal was simple: Five years as Tony Torredo’s wife… then her freedom. Now the five years is ended but Tony refuses to let her go. Emily’s life becomes even more complicated when her husband’s dangerously charming nephew arrives. Alex Torredo quickly sees the truth behind her perfect marriage, and unlike everyone else, he refuses to look away. What begins as stolen glances soon turns into a forbidden desire. As Emily fights for the freedom she was promised, with Alex as the only man willing to stand beside her, she realizes that escaping Tony Torredo may be far more dangerous than staying. Because men like Tony don’t like losing what belongs to them. And the Torredo family doesn’t forgive betrayal.

After a failed suicide attempt, a woman wakes up to find she is no longer alone in her body. Something ancient survived inside her. And it wants intimacy. Not love. Not possession. Intimacy.