criminal minds from childhood's hour

Efa was the daughter of a murderer. Her mom loved the wrong man, ruined a family, and ended up in prison. After she died, Efa met her father and three half-brothers, but they wanted nothing to do with her. Then Efa became a national sweetheart overnight. As the world fell for her, her childhood friend Declan took her hand.Let's build our own home.She turned to leave—but the men who once pushed her away suddenly wouldn't let her go.

Four years of marriage. One signature—his own—that set me free, though he never realized what he was signing. I was Sophia Moretti, the invisible wife of James Moretti, heir to the city’s most powerful mafia family. But when his childhood sweetheart, the dazzling and privileged Vicky, returned, I finally understood: I had always been temporary. So I played my final move. I slid the papers across his desk—divorce disguised as routine university forms. James signed without a second glance, his fountain pen scratching across the page as carelessly as he'd treated our vows, without noticing he was ending our marriage. But I walked away with more than my freedom. Beneath my coat, I carried his unborn heir—a secret that could destroy him when he finally realized what he'd lost. Now, the man who never noticed me is tearing the world apart trying to find me. From his penthouse to the underworld's gutters, he's turning over every stone. But I'm not some trembling prey waiting to be found. I rebuilt myself beyond his reach—where not even a Moretti can follow. This time, I won't be begging for his love. He'll be begging for mine.

Stella finds herself drawn to her enigmatic boss, Richard Collins, just as her childhood crush and estranged husband, Cooper, suddenly reappears. Torn between the irresistible allure of a dependable CEO and the ghost of a haunting old flame, what choice will she make?

Giorgo Romero, the Don of the Romero family, gets ambushed by a suicidal madman who has bombs strapped to him. When that happens, my husband, Fabio Lopez, and his troops have already gone to a fashion show with his childhood sweetheart, Reina Digiorno, so that they can protect her there. Instead of pressing the signal button on my ring, I launch myself at Giorgo despite being heavily pregnant. Just like that, I'm able to protect him from the explosion with my body. In my previous life, I had pressed the button. Fabio had ditched Reina in favor of hurrying back to the scene to save Giorgo's life. Because of his contribution, he gets elevated to the position of Underboss. But Reina got mad at Fabio for leaving her in advance, resulting in her crossing the highway out of pure spite. That was how she got hit by a car and died. While Fabio didn't say anything, he chose to send me to an underground auction house on the day I went into labor. "The Don had so many soldati protecting him! Why did you force me to come back in the first place? Isn't it because you just want the glory of being the Underboss's wife? "If it wasn't for you, Reina wouldn't have died! You must go through a thousand times the suffering she did!" I could only watch as the guests bid for my organs one by one. Not even my newborn's umbilical cord could be spared from the auction. In the end, I died from an infection that had occurred while my organs were being removed. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day Giorgo gets ambushed.

In her previous life, Laura Hampton mistook a cunning woman for her closest friend and gradually fell into the web of lies spun by Angela Harrison. Cast aside by her family, she met a tragic end beneath Angela's car.This time around, Laura knows the truth: her childhood savior was never Angela. Seeing through Angela’s façade, she decisively steers clear of her traps—and discovers that Eric Pearson has been quietly watching over her all along, in both lifetimes.Slowly, Laura exposes Angela's true face to her parents, ultimately driving her out of the Hampton family and ensuring she faces the consequences she deserves.

Before my boyfriend, August Cadwell, marked me, we went to register our mate bond at the Pack Affairs Department. Without a word of explanation, he unexpectedly had someone throw me out of the office. Then he walked in with his childhood sweetheart. He didn’t even blink when he saw me sitting there on the ground, shaking with disbelief. "Hailey's pup needs to be part of the Aurelis pack. The best and quickest method is for her to register a mate bond with a werewolf from the Aurelis pack. As soon as we sever the mate bond, I'll form a mate bond with you." Everyone assumed the lovesick version of me would wait just one more month for him. After all, I'd already waited seven long years. But that night, I did something unexpected too. I accepted my parents' arranged mate bond and quietly left for the Lymerian pack, disappearing from his life entirely. Three years later, I returned to my original pack to visit my family. My mate, Ryder Weyland, was now the lycan chairman. Because of an urgent council meeting, he arranged for someone to collect me from the airport. I never imagined that “someone” would be August. The moment he spotted me, his eyes immediately landed on the sparkling bracelet on my wrist. "Isn't this a knockoff of the bracelet Ryder Weyland, the lycan chairman, spent two million dollars on for his mate? Didn't expect you to turn this vain after just a few years. "You've caused enough chaos, haven't you? It's time to return. Hailey's pup is now of school age. You can take on the responsibility of pick-ups and drop-offs." I gently ran my fingers over the bracelet on my wrist. Little did he know that this was the cheapest one Ryder had ever given me.

Modern college student Clarissa Ingram transmigrates into a novel as the villainous ex-wife who is pregnant with male lead River Shelton's child. Unlike the original character who divorced and had an abortion, Clarissa changes course and uses gentle tactics to win back River's heart. When faced with River's childhood friend Paige Snyder, who covets him,Clarissa voluntarily moves to the countryside.There,she uses her golden finger—a department store system—to improve rural life and becomes the beloved darling of the Shelton family. After Paige's multiple failed schemes and eventual imprisonment for poisoning, Clarissa leads the villagers to prosperity, earning official recognition. She and River return to the capital ahead of schedule to live happily together.

Modern college student Clarissa Ingram transmigrates into a novel as the villainous ex-wife who is pregnant with male lead River Shelton's child. Unlike the original character who divorced and had an abortion, Clarissa changes course and uses gentle tactics to win back River's heart. When faced with River's childhood friend Paige Snyder, who covets him,Clarissa voluntarily moves to the countryside.There,she uses her golden finger—a department store system—to improve rural life and becomes the beloved darling of the Shelton family. After Paige's multiple failed schemes and eventual imprisonment for poisoning, Clarissa leads the villagers to prosperity, earning official recognition. She and River return to the capital ahead of schedule to live happily together.

In her previous life, Laura Hampton mistook a cunning woman for her closest friend and gradually fell into the web of lies spun by Angela Harrison. Cast aside by her family, she met a tragic end beneath Angela's car.This time around, Laura knows the truth: her childhood savior was never Angela. Seeing through Angela’s façade, she decisively steers clear of her traps—and discovers that Eric Pearson has been quietly watching over her all along, in both lifetimes.Slowly, Laura exposes Angela's true face to her parents, ultimately driving her out of the Hampton family and ensuring she faces the consequences she deserves.

Lyra Donovan, wealthy heiress and Aurenya Arts Academy graduate, joins her father's corporation at her parents' request. Orion Harding, her childhood companion whose family has long-standing ties with the Donovans, intends to marry her. After Luna engineers a car accident killing her own parents, she manipulates her way into being adopted by the wealthy Donovans. While working alongside Lyra and plagiarizing her artistic ideas, Luna secretly plots to eliminate Lyra and claim everything, including Orion. But fate intervenes with a second chance: Lyra is reborn.

Three years ago, Ryan, America's most promising astronaut trainee, gave up a historic promotion to live in anonymity as a devoted husband to Vanessa. Unbeknownst to him, Vanessa, blinded by materialism, secretly pined for her wealthy childhood friend, Jackson. Heartbroken, Ryan reclaimed his identity to join a perilous national space mission. Knowing he might not return, he anonymously donated a kidney to save Vanessa. Only after his disappearance did she realize her loss.Their final encounter was at a nationally televised awards ceremony... where Ryan stood honored, with an elegant and beautiful woman by his side……

After ten years of marriage, Mackenzie Dye pours her entire heart into her family. For her husband Clint Knowles and their young son Axton, she willingly strips away her former glory to become an unassuming housewife.Yet her daily sacrifices and compromises bring not her husband's tender care but his constant coldness. The son she raises with painstaking effort remains distant and indifferent toward her. This marriage she desperately tries to preserve resembles a fragile bubble—one gust of wind reveals countless cracks. Just as Mackenzie grits her teeth and summons her last reserves of strength to hold the family together, Clint's childhood sweetheart April Sampson returns to the country in high-profile fashion.

To prevent the merfolk from being slaughtered, I decided to go ashore and seduce my childhood friend Cyrus, who had become the Alpha King. He still loved me deeply, and we spent three passionate days and nights together in bed. Waking up from a haze of pleasure, I hadn't even had the chance to rejoice before a corrosive elixir was dunked over my head. Listening to my pained wails, Cyrus smirked. "So even an immortal mermaid can feel pain, too? "Well, this is just a taste of what's to come if you don't tell me where my parents are!" Yes, he was convinced that the merfolk were behind his parents' disappearance. From then on, I was forced to watch him flirt with his mistress, Emily; had to extract my mermaid pearl to help heal her body; was forced to dance barefoot to entertain Emily so that she could sleep… Cyrus hated every fiber of my being, yet always held me tenderly in his arms whenever I was on the brink of death, carefully feeding me medicine. Sometimes, he was cruel. "Do you think I'll go easy on you just because I love you? Quick, continue torturing her!" Sometimes, he was gentle. "Can't you be good and tell me where my parents are?" Silently, I endured his twisted love without a word. Soon, however, these days would come to an end, and I wouldn't have to keep that secret any longer. After all, a mermaid who did not return to the sea after three years on land… Would turn into seafoam. And now, there were only three days until my time was up.

To prevent the merfolk from being slaughtered, I decided to go ashore and seduce my childhood friend Cyrus, who had become the Alpha King. He still loved me deeply, and we spent three passionate days and nights together in bed. Waking up from a haze of pleasure, I hadn't even had the chance to rejoice before a corrosive elixir was dunked over my head. Listening to my pained wails, Cyrus smirked. "So even an immortal mermaid can feel pain, too? "Well, this is just a taste of what's to come if you don't tell me where my parents are!" Yes, he was convinced that the merfolk were behind his parents' disappearance. From then on, I was forced to watch him flirt with his mistress, Emily; had to extract my mermaid pearl to help heal her body; was forced to dance barefoot to entertain Emily so that she could sleep… Cyrus hated every fiber of my being, yet always held me tenderly in his arms whenever I was on the brink of death, carefully feeding me medicine. Sometimes, he was cruel. "Do you think I'll go easy on you just because I love you? Quick, continue torturing her!" Sometimes, he was gentle. "Can't you be good and tell me where my parents are?" Silently, I endured his twisted love without a word. Soon, however, these days would come to an end, and I wouldn't have to keep that secret any longer. After all, a mermaid who did not return to the sea after three years on land… Would turn into seafoam. And now, there were only three days until my time was up.

Chloe, a quiet, and reserved college student, has a werewolf bestie Amelia, and she had no plans to bring herself into Amelia's world, knowing all too well that werewolves and humans didn't mix, but that all changed when Amelia invited her to the Aberdeen ball, the biggest party of the year for the pack. How could she say no when Amelia gave her best pouty face and puppy dog eyes? Chloe agreed simply to help her friend feel at ease, but what she wasn't prepared for was meeting the Alpha. They are destined soulmate? No way! At this point, Chloe's childhood sweetheart who she once had a crush on reappears in her life, but now he has turned into a vampire to get revenge on the Aberdeen pack...

In a zombie-ravaged world, Lex activates a Love System. His mission is to pursue Yara, his beautiful former boss, who is now a zombie. Caught between zombies, conspiracies, and the tangled feelings of his childhood friend Wanda, Lex stumbles through chaos and life-or-death trials. As the true threat emerges, he uncovers a hidden truth that could save the world.

My fiance, Dante de Rossi, is the heir to a mafia family in Manhorne, and he loves me dearly. Yet, a month before our wedding, he says his family has arranged for him to have a baby with his childhood friend, Isobel de Luca. Despite my refusal to agree to it, he brings it up daily and tries to push me into it. Half a month before the wedding, I receive a pregnancy report. I find out that Isobel is over a month pregnant. I have yet to give Dante my permission. This is when I realize just how fragile our years-long relationship is. I cancel the wedding and destroy everything he has ever given me. On the day of the wedding, I set off for Etolia to further my medical career. I accept a role with an international medical organization, severing all ties with the mafia. From that moment onward, he and I no longer have anything to do with each other!

Luke Moore, a business prodigy, made a name for himself when he was 18 years old and returned to his country, founding Moor Corp at the age of 21. However, after being betrayed by his family, he conceals his identity and works as a food delivery rider. When he learns that his girlfriend has cheated on him, he finds himself being pursued. Fortunately, Lena King, someone he met during his childhood, rescues him. Because of the promise they made when they were young, she pressures him to marry her. With Lena's protection and companionship, Luke gradually leaves the past behind and embraces the future with her.