

After our eighty-eighth canceled wedding, I called my business partner. "I'm taking the Haviana market project." There was a beat of stunned silence. "Seriously? That's ten years overseas. You just got married—well, weren't you? Does your husband even know? What about your parents? You always said staying close to them was everything." I glanced around the empty church and let out a sharp laugh. "There was no wedding. No husband. And my parents? They've got Cindy. That's all they need." Another pause. "Alright. Pack your bags. You leave tomorrow." After the call, I ran a hand down my wedding dress. One last tear slipped out, quiet and pointless. Cindy had another "episode" today. Claimed she'd off herself. Andrew canceled—again. I'd looked at him, drained. "It's the eighty-eighth time." He dropped his head, guilt all over him. "Just a little more time, Viv. She's been off since the accident. I'm scared she'll actually do it. I swear, I'll talk to her. For real this time. Then we'll get married. Promise." My parents didn't hesitate. "Vivian, let Andrew go. If Cindy hadn't gotten kidnapped trying to save you, she wouldn't have these breakdowns. Are you really putting a wedding over your sister's life?" "How could you be so selfish?" I'd heard it all before. Used to fight it. Not this time. If neither my fiancé nor my parents wanted me around, then fine. I'd leave.

After our eighty-eighth canceled wedding, I called my business partner. "I'm taking the Haviana market project." There was a beat of stunned silence. "Seriously? That's ten years overseas. You just got married—well, weren't you? Does your husband even know? What about your parents? You always said staying close to them was everything." I glanced around the empty church and let out a sharp laugh. "There was no wedding. No husband. And my parents? They've got Cindy. That's all they need." Another pause. "Alright. Pack your bags. You leave tomorrow." After the call, I ran a hand down my wedding dress. One last tear slipped out, quiet and pointless. Cindy had another "episode" today. Claimed she'd off herself. Andrew canceled—again. I'd looked at him, drained. "It's the eighty-eighth time." He dropped his head, guilt all over him. "Just a little more time, Viv. She's been off since the accident. I'm scared she'll actually do it. I swear, I'll talk to her. For real this time. Then we'll get married. Promise." My parents didn't hesitate. "Vivian, let Andrew go. If Cindy hadn't gotten kidnapped trying to save you, she wouldn't have these breakdowns. Are you really putting a wedding over your sister's life?" "How could you be so selfish?" I'd heard it all before. Used to fight it. Not this time. If neither my fiancé nor my parents wanted me around, then fine. I'd leave.

Aurelius spent a thousand solitary years on an immortal assembly line, rolling pills in paradise. A cosmic traffic incident cuts that career short and drops him into the body of James Cross, a mistreated eldest son, pressured into a humble marriage, and apparently everyone's punching bag. What Aurelius finds instead is a wife and mother-in-law who offer nothing but patience and gentle care. For someone who has never once been loved, it undoes him completely. He can't repay them with money or status. So he does the only thing he knows how—he decides to take the whole family to immortality with him.

Buried under debts she never owed, Aria is rescued by a mysterious mafia boss and taken to his mansion. Convinced she's become his next victim, she's stunned when he's offering her a job as his maid instead. But Logan has other plans. ""The best things take time."" After all, the kingpin's bed is where she belongs.

Bestselling author Edith has harbored a secret crush on firefighter Nolan for a decade. The two entered into a marriage of convenience to resolve family debts. A café explosion left Edith heartbroken; during the crisis, Nolan saved Nancy—a manipulative woman—but ignored Edith, treating her merely as a wife in name only. After Nancy falsely claimed to be pregnant with Nolan’s child, Edith decided to file for divorce. Nolan pleaded with her to keep up the charade of a loving couple for the sake of his ailing father. Nancy seized the opportunity to stir up trouble, while a colleague of Nolan’s began pursuing Edith, provoking Nolan’s intense jealousy. Nancy staged a miscarriage to frame Edith, but surveillance footage ultimately exposed all her lies. Nolan discovered the love Edith had hidden for years through her novels and began clumsily trying to win her back. Finally, after risking his life to save Edith from a fire and severing ties with Nancy, Nolan devoted himself to healing Edith’s emotional wounds, transforming their pragmatic contract marriage into a genuine, deeply loving union.

When my appendix bursts, my parents, my brother, and even my fiancé are all too busy celebrating my sister's birthday. I'm outside the operating room, frantically calling every family member I can think of to sign the consent form, but every call is either ignored or hung up on. After hanging up on me, my fiancé, Joel Graham, texts back."Sophie, stop being dramatic. It's Yvette's 18th birthday today. Whatever it is can wait until after the party." I quietly set my phone down and sign the consent form myself. It's the ninety-ninth time they've chosen Yvette Norton, my sister, over me. This time, I choose not to care. I'll stop letting their favoritism hurt me. Instead, I'll do everything they ask of me without complaint. They'll all think I've finally learned to be obedient, and they'll never realize that I'm preparing to leave them for good.

At a remote psychiatric hospital, the most dangerous patient, Chaim Potter, passes his 144th evaluation and is released. What no one knows is that he’s never recovered—he still sees visions of his murdered fiancee, Keira Kennedy, sometimes as an angel, sometimes as a demon, urging him to take revenge. Four years ago, on the day he’d planned to propose,Keira was brutally assaulted and killed. He arrived just in time to see four perpetrators laughing as they walked away. Now free, with his loyal butler Devon Walsh having prepared everything, Chaim targets the wedding of Walter Hart and Zoie Mckay. He brutally attacks Felix Lindsey, one of the groomsmen and perpetrators, and has him dropped onto the wedding venue as his body rains down with funeral money printed with details of Keira’s death. Walter, Zoie, and bridesmaid Anna Pearson immediately realize: a calculated revenge has begun.

Mia, a 20-year-old junior at NYU, is tricked by her ex-boyfriend Trent onto a luxury yacht under the excuse of a ""party surprise."" In truth, he plans to sell her virginity at an underground auction to pay off his massive gambling debts. Mia’s roommate and best friend Sienna is Trent’s secret lover and accomplice. Meanwhile, Cassian, a cold-blooded 30-year-old cleaner for the mob, is on a mission near the yacht and on the run from hitmen. He runs into Mia by chance on the deck. The two start off hostile and distrustful of each other, yet are forced to work together. Cassian grows attached to Mia after she tends to his wound, while Mia develops tangled feelings for this dangerous stranger. When Mia is locked inside a glass display case at the auction, put up for bidding, Cassian storms the venue. He shoots the buyer, intimidates everyone present, and forcibly takes Mia away. Trent’s knees are shattered on the spot, and he drops to his knees begging for mercy. Cassian escapes with Mia on a speedboat. Out on the sea, he declares possessively, “You belong to me.” Mia wavers between fighting back, resisting, and physical surrender. The story ends with Mia curled up in the corner of the speedboat, wrapped only in Cassian’s shirt. It hints that their escape has only just begun — the danger is far from over.