how many times the heart beats in a day

The night before high school graduation, Ethan Luciano pulled me into his bedroom. His hands were rough, his touch demanding, yet my heart overflowed with a decade's worth of unspoken longing. I'd loved Ethan for ten years, and finally, it seemed my silent wishes had come true. Afterwards, as we lay tangled in his sheets, he whispered that he'd marry me after graduation. Once he took over the Luciano family's empire from his father, he'd make me the most cherished woman in the family. I believed him. The next morning, I sat curled up against his bare chest as he casually told my foster brother, Lucas, about us. My cheeks were flushed, and my heart raced, still clinging to the sweetness of the night before. However, then their conversation shifted into Italian. Lucas smirked, leaning back against the doorframe. "Not bad, Young Boss. Your first time, and the school's 'it girl' just threw herself at you. So, how's my little sister taste?" Ethan gave a lazy chuckle. "Looks like an angel, but a freak in the sheets. Who would’ve thought?" The room erupted in low, conspiratorial laughter. Lucas raised a brow. "So, should I call her my little sister or my future sister-in-law?" Ethan’s tone darkened, his arm tightening around my waist for a moment. Then he let out a sigh. "She’s nothing. Just practice," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "I’m trying to hook up with the cheer captain, Sylvia Dawson, but I don’t want her thinking I’m clueless in bed. Cynthia Saville’s just a warm-up." He paused. "But don’t tell Sylvia. I don’t need her getting all emotional." They didn't know that I’d spent months secretly learning Italian, preparing for the life I thought I’d share with Ethan. I didn't say a word. Later that day, I quietly withdrew my early decision application to Caltech and applied to MIT instead.

Dean Brady is the disgraced young heir of Clearview Antiques antique house, scraping along the bottom, until a piece of ancestral jade awakens inside him and grants him the Divine Appraisal Eye, the ability to see the true nature and worth of anything. Armed with this sight, he begins hunting treasure at flea markets and street stalls, striking finds that make him impossible to ignore. Rayne Drake, heiress of Shedo City's prestigious auction house Winter Pavilion, spots him and brings him in as chief appraiser. Wealth and reputation accumulate quickly, drawing the envy and scheming of rival house Cloudmist Gallery and its cunning beauty Bayleigh Barrett.Meanwhile, Winter Pavilion's chief auctioneer Iliana Roman and head of security Lexie Drake find themselves increasingly captivated, not by the eye, but by the man behind it.

When my mind-link request had been ignored by my parents for the twentieth time, I went to the Werewolf Council, clutching the report on silver dust corrosion in my hand. “Hello. I’d like to renounce my pack identity—effective immediately.” Ten minutes later, my parents burst in, dragging my adoptive younger sister, Elsa, with them, panic written all over their faces. The door burst open with a bang, and my Beta father charged in like a storm. His fangs bared, claws twitching. “You’re nothing but a spoiled brat craving attention! Stop this pathetic act. You’re an embarrassment to a Beta’s name!” My mother, a forensic specialist for the pack, immediately snatched the report from my hand. After a brief glance, she let out a cold sneer. “You faked this report just to get our attention? You’ve been a liar since you were a pup.” Elsa clung to both of them, tears in her eyes as she sobbed, “I’m sorry, Jenifer. It’s my fault for holding the shifting ritual. But please... don’t lie to our parents just to make them feel guilty!” Blood was still pouring from my nose, but I wiped it away calmly and stood tall before the werewolf councilors once more. “I haven’t had a real family for a long time. Please—remove all my personal records from the pack. I just don’t want my funeral—scheduled for three days from now—to be delayed.”

Shawn Quinn, the CEO of the Quinn Group, had searched across the country but had failed to find the woman with a peach blossom-shaped birthmark on her waist. This unique mark signified that the woman was the only pure Yin body in existence. Shawn had been born with a pure Yang body and had to marry that woman to dissolve the Yang poison within him. If he didn't do this, he would soon die.

Sandra Lovell, a corporate slave obsessed with the maiden game, wakes up as Lilith, the villainess who abused four devil butlers and met a deadly end. Holding a whip over the beaten Lyle, she faces Karlos and Mordred’s burning hatred. A system warns: win over your butlers to lower their corruption levels—or die. With Jormund on the brink, the first death plot has begun.

Amelia thought she’d keep her biggest secret to herself forever, but she didn’t expect her ex-fiancé Nathan to become the world’s greatest lawyer and come back for her. Amelia knows exactly what Nathan wants, but she can’t give it to him… she only wants him to achieve his dreams while carrying her heart in his chest.

When my mind-link request had been ignored by my parents for the twentieth time, I went to the Werewolf Council, clutching the report on silver dust corrosion in my hand. “Hello. I’d like to renounce my pack identity—effective immediately.” Ten minutes later, my parents burst in, dragging my adoptive younger sister, Elsa, with them, panic written all over their faces. The door burst open with a bang, and my Beta father charged in like a storm. His fangs bared, claws twitching. “You’re nothing but a spoiled brat craving attention! Stop this pathetic act. You’re an embarrassment to a Beta’s name!” My mother, a forensic specialist for the pack, immediately snatched the report from my hand. After a brief glance, she let out a cold sneer. “You faked this report just to get our attention? You’ve been a liar since you were a pup.” Elsa clung to both of them, tears in her eyes as she sobbed, “I’m sorry, Jenifer. It’s my fault for holding the shifting ritual. But please... don’t lie to our parents just to make them feel guilty!” Blood was still pouring from my nose, but I wiped it away calmly and stood tall before the werewolf councilors once more. “I haven’t had a real family for a long time. Please—remove all my personal records from the pack. I just don’t want my funeral—scheduled for three days from now—to be delayed.”

Emily Silva and Julian Ford sign their divorce papers and somehow end up in ancient famine-era by nightfall, suddenly parents to two children they've never met. Stranded and responsible, they discover they're bound to a system that lets them sell antiques for coins to buy food as a lifeline in a starving village. With no way home and survival demanding cooperation,they shelve the divorce. What starts as pragmatic partnership slowly becomes something neither of them planned: a real marriage, a real family, and a life they didn't know they wanted until they were living it.

In this end-world where everyone worships heroes and shuns the beasts, I was thrown out of the shelter like a piece of trash for not being a hero, only to unexpectedly gain the power to decide whether the beasts live or die. So I opened a supply station outside the walls, and by selling the crystal cores found inside the beasts, I mastered the apocalypse and climbed to the peak of life. So what if they're heroes? Even S ranks work for me now!

I always thought I had the perfect marriage until the day I saw my husband with another woman. Picking myself up, I am going to make him pay for the hurt he inflicted on me.

Sandra Lovell, a corporate slave obsessed with the maiden game, wakes up as Lilith, the villainess who abused four devil butlers and met a deadly end. Holding a whip over the beaten Lyle, she faces Karlos and Mordred’s burning hatred. A system warns: win over your butlers to lower their corruption levels—or die. With Jormund on the brink, the first death plot has begun.

On her birthday, she ends up sleeping with a man, thinking of him as a surprise gift. Little does she know, she is unknowingly entangling herself with a big shot...

Emily Silva and Julian Ford sign their divorce papers and somehow end up in ancient famine-era by nightfall, suddenly parents to two children they've never met. Stranded and responsible, they discover they're bound to a system that lets them sell antiques for coins to buy food as a lifeline in a starving village. With no way home and survival demanding cooperation,they shelve the divorce. What starts as pragmatic partnership slowly becomes something neither of them planned: a real marriage, a real family, and a life they didn't know they wanted until they were living it.

For three years, Ariana Chambers nursed CEO Elias Hawkins through a coma. After he awoke, their life grew tender, and on his birthday, she planned to reveal her secrets: she was both the legendary Dr. Genius and his childhood savior. But when her sister Veronica—his first love—called, he chose her instead. Heartbroken, Ariana decided to divorce and concealed her identity. Her departure shattered Elias, but as he fights to win her back, he uncovers the stunning truth: the wife he took for granted is the very doctor he's been begging to save Veronica, and the childhood savior whose heart he broke twice.

Kiara, a weak Omega with night blindness and no wolf is dumped by her pack, and so decides to promote herself to a stronger wolf with Alpha King Alejandro’s training, and meanwhile, they step into an adventurous relationship journey.

Bella Miller, a broke college girl, never expected one night with the cursed Lycan King to leave her pregnant. Worse, she's a human. Humans die carrying a werewolf heir, yet saving her means he must give up his own life.

Maria drives her daughter to celebrate the birthday of Logan, her husband. When a crash traps them, Logan—a skilled doctor—rushes to save his ex-lover's son, unknowingly leaving his own child to die.Heartbroken and disappointed, Maria decides to divorce. Before Natalie's funeral begins, will Logan uncover the truth and make amends?

Three years ago, Dylan Smith, heir to the Cloudrise Group, hid his true identity and chose a life of quiet obscurity at Wendy Lewis's side. In secret, he even used Cloudrise's name to rescue the Lewis family from collapse. His devotion was repaid with betrayal: his fiancée Wendy and her family turned on him, while Frank Lee's schemes left him humiliated and disgraced.No longer willing to stay silent, Dylan returned wielding the full power of both Cloudrise Group and Wilson Group. Calm yet relentless, he exposed Frank's lies and dismantled the Lewis family's deceptions piece by piece.At his side stood Rachel Wilson, the Wilson heiress who grew from a silent protector into his strongest ally. Together, they faced public humiliation, deadly traps, and ruthless battles for power. In this world of shifting loyalties,love and betrayal collide with revenge and redemption.Some rise to reclaim their throne, while others are left to drown in regret and loneliness.