W H I T E O U T ❅ The contract was simple: Two weeks. Two hundred grand. Don't fall in love. For 𝑱𝒐𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆, it's a desperate bid to survive her debt. For 𝑯𝒂𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒓, the cold heir to a billion-dollar empire, it's just business. Play the adoring girlfriend for his family's winter retreat, take the money, and leave. Then a blizzard hits. Stranded entirely alone in a remote mountain estate, the icy boundaries between them melt into a bruising, suffocating heat. But when the snow clears and the contract expires, Joelle quickly learns a terrifying truth: Hadrian Sinclair doesn't let go of what's his. The phone lines are cut. The snowplow is sabotaged. The doors are locked. The blizzard is over, but Joelle's nightmare is just beginning. Because the only thing more dangerous than a man with a frozen heart, is the monster that wakes up when it thaws. ❅ "The contract has expired, Hadrian. The roads are clear. Let me go." His pale eyes dropped to my lips, his thumb tracing the pulse racing at my throat. "What roads, Joelle? It's still snowing. We're snowed in. We'll be snowed in forever."

"You don't get to choose freedom after I've chosen you." Love was never part of the plan. Neither was consent. For Mikolaj Kuznetsov, control is currency. Power is inherited, enforced, and protected at all costs. What he takes, he keeps. What belongs to him does not leave. Malayia was never meant to be seen only contained. Taken from her life and locked inside an estate built on silence and money, she becomes a possession disguised as a privilege. Dressed, fed, watched. Paraded through luxury that feels more like a cage than comfort. Everyone assumes she'll break quietly. They're wrong. Malayia doesn't submit easily. She doesn't soften on command. Every smile is forced. Every moment of calm is borrowed. And the more Mikolaj tries to mold her into something obedient, the more she reminds him that obedience was never promised. What begins as control curdles into fixation. What should have stayed transactional becomes personal. Because Malayia is not fragile. She is not grateful. And she is not blind to the blood on his hands. In a world ruled by men who mistake ownership for devotion, the line between protection and possession blurs beyond recognition. And when power, violence, and desire collide, survival isn't about escape anymore. It's about who bends first. And who burns everything down trying not to. WARNING: This story contains dark themes, obsession, sexual tension, and explicit scenes. Reader discretion is advised.

Jolene Mila Talia Winston(24) is a woman you'll described as the sweetest woman you'll ever meet, she loves children so much that she became a teacher in one of Tokyo, Japan top private schools to teach English even though she was from Australia. Although she never had such thing as a lover but that didn't bring Jolene down as now she was teaching kids until she met Miako Nakamura a child with no parents but a uncle (Father's brother) who became a father figure for Miako and that's what led Jolene to her first love. Tadashi Nakamura(26) is a man born with a gold spoon in his mouth being the most richest man alive, he didn't had to worry about anything in life. Until his brother Toshiro died in a car crash, his parents didn't take responsibility of his niece that he now has to be a father figure now. As for his his brother's wife she left the minute she knew her husband died. Tadashi was now a the legal guardian although he was alone, no lover or partner where he could tell them how his day went and that's until he met Jolene his niece teacher.

Joelle Jordan is just trying to survive university and her life at home. Bryce Valentine is trying to survive everyone else. Projected first-round NFL draft pick. Campus celebrity. The most watched college athlete in the country. When the two strike a deal to trade study sessions for Bryce and personal training sessions for Joelle's little brother, everything seems simple enough. Then Bryce crosses the line. Now Joelle is trying to navigate a boy who is emotionally repressed, touch-starved, obsessively devoted, and surrounded by more pressure than any twenty-year-old should have to carry. Add the coaches, media attention, NIL deals, scouts, photo shoots, and Bryce's oppressive father. The pressure that comes with being attached to Bryce Valentine is something Joelle is not equipped for. Especially when she starts getting a little too comfortable with the fact that Bryce can't seem to leave her alone.

When a suburban Black girl meets a hard life Hispanic boy.

Aaliyah Johnson is in her final year at Magnolia State University, where she's balancing a scholarship, an art degree, and the pressure of not knowing what comes next. Elias Carter, the university's baseball captain, seems to have everything figured out, except his own heart. When mutual friends and a poetry club bring them together, sparks ignite in the most unexpected ways. She's brilliant and blunt; he's disciplined and mysterious. But between classes, practices, and the expectations of everyone around them, connection becomes the one thing they can't plan for. From strangers to friends to something far deeper, their story grows with every season, rooted beneath a magnolia tree that sees it all. Autumn brings sparks: "I'm curious about you, but I don't even know why yet." Winter, closeness: "You calm me when I didn't realise I needed calming." Spring, love: "I've known for a while... I just didn't want to ruin it." Summer, uncertainty: "Even if everything changes, you've changed me already." Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the images used both on the cover and throughout the story.