

The night I died, my whole family was busy celebrating my twin sister Elena's eighteenth birthday. Everyone thought Elena was going to die the next day. We're elves. My father worked as a clan guardian, and after Mom gave birth to Elena and me as twins, she stopped working altogether. We should have been a happy family. But from the moment we were born, Elena and I were bound by a witch's curse. Because Elena came into the world one minute before me, she took the full weight of it onto herself. She was never supposed to live past eighteen. From the day we were born, Elena was the family's treasure. Mom and Dad treated me like I owed her something. New toys went to her first. New dresses were always her pick. Every night, Mom would sit in Elena's room for at least an hour before she'd turn off the light. I always fell asleep alone. One night I had a nightmare and ran barefoot to find Mom. She was holding Elena and didn't even look up. "Go back to bed. Stop making a fuss." I kept telling myself: she's dying, of course they're kind to her. But every time I let something go, that splinter in my chest pushed a little deeper. Then the day the curse was supposed to take effect finally came, and naturally, that was the day my stomach cramped so badly I could barely stand. Mom and Dad didn't hesitate. They shoved me into the cellar and locked it from outside. I crouched on the stone floor with the smell of mildew everywhere and knocked on the door over and over. "Mom... Dad... my stomach really hurts, I can't even stand up... let me out, please..." One sentence came back through the door. "Your sister is dying tonight! Can you just give us one day? One day!" "But... Mom... I'm scared..." Nobody answered after that. The cellar went quiet. My eyelids grew heavy. My last thought was: if I were the one dying of a curse, would they come hold me too.

"""The Don of the Falcieri family was assassinated by a rival family, leaving behind his widowed wife, Livia. His younger brother, my husband Caius, took his place as Don. With the title came a duty: to secure the Falcieri bloodline by putting a child in his brother's widow. """"Alessia's been barren for years. It falls to Livia to do what she couldn't. The Falcieri family cannot be without an heir."""" The Madre's voice dripped with scorn. Caius held me close, whispering promises. """"As soon as Livia is pregnant, I swear I'll never touch her again."""" """"Alessia, you're the only one I love."""" Three months, and he hasn't set foot in our bedroom. After he ignored me in front of everyone, choosing Livia time and time again, I finally left. I took what was mine and left one thing behind: a DNA test. It was my final gift to Caius."""

Elvira, an ordinary young woman, had secretly loved Alessio, heir to the Argento family, an old-line Las Vegas mafia clan, for five years. Urged by her best friend Bianca—Alessio’s adopted sister and an orphan of unknown origin—she married him in a whirlwind. It was only after three years of marriage that she discovered her husband truly loved his adopted sister Bianca, and that he had married a low-born girl like her merely as a cover for this shameful forbidden love. Heartbroken, Elvira quietly had Alessio sign the divorce papers with his own hands and left for Switzerland. A year later, she returned to Las Vegas as the chief jewelry appraiser of the Geneva International Auction House. The family heir who had once looked down on everyone had by then been expelled from the family and was fighting for survival in underground boxing rings. He approached her again and again, confessed his remorse, and even threw himself in front of an out-of-control car to protect her—but she never looked back.

Charlotte, noble and brilliant, seeks a husband to secure an heir for the family estate. She picks a seemingly honest man, helps him rise in his career—only to find he plans to take another wife on their wedding day. She calls off the engagement and chooses Timothy, a notorious playboy, instead. But beneath his reckless facade, Timothy hides many secrets.

Arthur Arcadia is the unwanted son of a mafia heir, surviving brutal school bullying and underground fights to pay for his dying mother's treatment. When the father who abandoned him suddenly returns, Arthur discovers the truth: he is only being used for a suicide mission—to infiltrate a deadly underground casino and steal a ledger capable of destroying the criminal empire. There, he meets Chloe Falcone, the godfather's equally unwanted daughter. Together, two family outcasts fight their way through drug lords, betrayal, and bloodshed. Once treated as disposable pawns, they become the greatest threat to both families—and Arthur rises from forgotten bastard to the man who owns the empire.

Once the world's deadliest assassin, Hope retires for her mother. Back home, she finds her mom, kidnapped for 15 years, is being bullied. Hope unleashes her power to destroy the abusers and reclaim all that was stolen from her mom, vowing to be her protector.

I went to exactly one party in my new, wealthy neighborhood. Then my neighbor Brenda sued me. In court, she held her bruised and battered daughter, Tiffany. She accused my son of rape. Mid-hearing, Tiffany tugged her collar down. Red marks circled her neck. "He tried to rip my pants off," she sobbed. "He tried to force himself on me. I fought back. So he beat me. He ruined my face!" Outside the courthouse, protesters held up signs, calling my son a piece of trash, a spoiled rich kid. Online, a photoshopped memorial of me went viral. The caption read: The unfit mother should die with her son. My company’s stock plummeted. But I just sat there. Stone-faced. I asked for my son, Cooper, to be brought in. The courtroom doors opened. Cooper walked in. Everyone froze.

In the Bellini Family, every Principessa received a gemstone at birth. On her eighteenth birthday, the Don set it into her induction crown, granting her the power and protection of the Bellini name. A week before my twin sister Bianca and I turned eighteen, my brother brought home our crowns. Bianca’s glittered with two diamonds. “Why does she have my diamond?” I asked. Marco shrugged. “Bianca wanted more sparkle.” Then he handed me an old crown from the family vault. It was tarnished and missing half its stones. Mother sighed. “It’s still a Bellini crown, Elena. Don’t ruin the induction over a piece of jewelry.” All my life, I had given up one thing after another for Bianca. I thought the induction would finally prove that I belonged to this family too. Instead, they erased me again. My phone vibrated with MIT’s final admission deadline. This time, I pressed ACCEPT. If the Bellinis had no place for me, I would stop sacrificing myself to to remain part of theirs.

My father was Enzo Moretti, the godfather of one of New York’s most powerful mafia families. And I was his princess—his most cherished treasure. He hid me from his world to protect me, but he didn’t want me left alone, so he arranged a marriage for me. The groom was Leon Scott—the son of New York’s richest man. Handsome, loaded, and a rising star in the business world. On paper, he was perfect. For our wedding, my father had a custom gown flown in from a designer in Milan. Today was my fitting appointment. When I walked into the bridal boutique, my heart stopped. Nicole Hill, Leon’s childhood sweetheart, was wearing my wedding dress. When she saw me, a smug little smile curled her lips. Then she grabbed a cheap white polyester bridesmaid’s dress from the table and shoved it into my arms. “Put this on,” she said, lifting her chin like she owned the place. “You can wear this for the ceremony.” I looked down at the flimsy fabric in my hands, then back up at her. My voice dropped low. “I’m the soon-to-be bride. And you’re telling me to wear this?” She let out a laugh, sharp and mean. “Just do what you’re told and don’t make this difficult. Leon already gave the word. I’m walking down the aisle in your place. And you? You just stand there like a good little bridesmaid and go through the motions.” For a few seconds, I couldn’t speak. Then I pulled out my phone and dialed Leon’s number. It rang twice before he picked up. “Leon, about Nicole taking my place at the altar. Don’t you think you owe me an explanation?”

Five years ago, after a night of drinking, Sylvia Snow accidentally stumbled into the wrong room and spent a passionate night with a man she didn't know—Eric Payne. That night led to the birth of their son, Noel Snow. When Noel turns four, he starts showing strange symptoms and is locked away, treated like a monster. Just when things seem hopeless, Eric shows up and saves Noel. Sylvia soon discovers that the man from that night isn't just any man—he’s a legendary werewolf, and the secret behind their son's condition is far more extraordinary than she ever imagined.