He didn't break her all at once. He taught her how to shatter herself. To everyone watching, she has the life girls dream of : money, beauty, a powerful husband, and a marriage wrapped in perfection. But behind their locked doors, perfection is the punishment she can never escape. He tells her who to be. He tells her how to walk, how to breathe, how to think. Every mistake is a lesson. Every bruise is a reminder. Every betrayal is somehow her fault. And she believes him. Because after years of being molded, corrected, and rewritten, she no longer remembers who she was before he decided to "fix" her. She only knows the rules he carved into her bones. Don't speak too loudly. Don't ask questions. Don't look at him when he's angry. Don't look away when he wants your attention. And above all Don't ever forget that love is earned, not given. Her sister whispers that she's losing herself. Her friends say they're worried. Her subconscious screams that something is wrong. But she silences all of them. Because she is so close so close to becoming the perfect wife, he swears she could be if she tries a little harder. And if she can be perfect... Maybe he'll finally love her. Or maybe perfection is the very thing that will destroy her. *This story depicts domestic and emotional abuse. These scenes are fictional and not meant to glorify or romanticize abuse. If you are in a harmful or unsafe situation, please reach out for help: 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) thehotline.org You deserve safety.

Aurora Saints has learned how to disappear in plain sight. At twenty-seven, she is a nurse who works double shifts, a daughter holding together a fragile home, a sister who never lets herself need first. Quiet. Careful. Good. The kind of woman the world leans on without ever stopping to ask what it costs her. Matteo De Luca is a man the world listens to. A brilliant lawyer from one of the most influential families in the city, he commands rooms without raising his voice and carries his power like a second skin. Wealth, legacy, whispers of darker ties-none of it has ever shaken him. Control is his language. Restraint is his choice. They meet where power is not supposed to matter-hospital corridors, late nights, stolen glances that linger too long. Matteo sees her immediately. Aurora feels it-and resists. He does not chase. He does not corner. He waits. Because he knows that when she finally steps forward, it won't be because he took something from her... It will be because she chose him. And when a man like Matteo De Luca is chosen, he does not give pieces of himself. He gives everything. Slow-burn tension. Quiet dominance. Possession without control. A love story where restraint is the most dangerous thing of all.

❝𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐦𝐞.❞ A hundred concubines lived in Emperor Sylvos' inner court - the heart of his thorned fortress. With a cruel ranking system, only favored concubines had the honor of meeting with His Majesty. And only the woman able to bear him a child could become empress. Raine Stjorme had climbed the ranks to the top. And after praying each night, she was finally with child. Yet all this was rewarded with the cruelest of fates. Murdered by the man she loved, Raine cursed Emperor Sylvos with her dying breath. She cursed his whole court as they snickered at her final moments. And her curse had taken root. Now, Raine awakens three years before her destined death, on the fateful day she first encounters the emperor. Armed with this second chance, she vows to make him fall - and to bring his empire down with him. But when faced with the tyrant who claimed her heart, could she still follow through? ✦✦✦ 𝙏𝙍𝙊𝙋𝙀𝙎 𝙄𝙉𝘾𝙇𝙐𝘿𝙀𝘿: -𝙀𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨 -𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 -𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙭𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙮 -𝘼𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙜𝙚 -𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 -𝙑𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡 -𝘽𝙖𝙙𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙁𝙈𝘾 -𝙈𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨

Everyone expected the quiet princess to die. The tyrant king had buried wives before, and the fragile girl forced to marry him was supposed to become just another forgotten tragedy. But the soft-spoken queen does something no one expected. She survives. While the court fears the monster on the throne, she remains beside him calm, gentle, and far stronger than anyone realizes. At first, the king tells himself she is simply useful. Her mind is sharp. Her kindness dangerous in a palace built on cruelty. And kings protect what is useful. But the longer she stands beside him, the more the kingdom begins to notice something unsettling. The tyrant who trusted no one now watches her like she is the most valuable thing in his world. His words remain cold. His temper still deadly. But everyone can see the truth the king refuses to admit. The monster on the throne has fallen in love. And the quiet queen who was supposed to die has learned something even more dangerous The only way anyone could ever hurt her... Is by surviving the king who would burn kingdoms to the ground to protect what belongs to him. (Book 1 )

I promised to take care of him until he didn't need me anymore. I made a mistake. I was twenty-two. Just a broke artist with a pair of scissors and a flashlight, hired to be his nanny. I did my best. I built him a sky out of cardboard boxes. I held his hand when the thunder was too loud. I taught him that he didn't have to be alone in the dark. But children grow up. And Silas Vane grew up... different. As the years passed, I started noticing things I couldn't explain. My dates getting cancelled. My debts mysteriously paid off. The feeling of eyes watching me while I slept. I thought I was raising a lonely boy. I didn't realize I was becoming the center of a dangerous obsession. Now, he is a man. A genius who controls everything around him. And he has finally solved the only equation that matters: How to keep me forever.

"People aren't scary. They're just repetitive." I see the loops. I read the secrets. I play the game better than anyone because I have no heart in it. My mission was simple: Find his weakness. Break him. I walked into his life to ruin him. I didn't plan on him ruining me first.

I just wanted Riven to look at me. Not as the loud, annoying friend who writes his papers, but as a girl worth chasing. Then I met him. He traded my fishnets for silk ribbons. He replaced my loud laughter with polite silence. He told me that to catch a boy, I had to become a prize-something fragile, expensive, and out of reach. It's working. Riven is finally looking. But the more I become perfect, the more I realize... I'm not doing this for Riven anymore. They say be careful what you wish for. I wished to be wanted. Now, I'm never being let go.

I love pink. He loves red. I crave strawberry milk. He craves... an HEIR?! I am just a normal college student. I like coding (badly), cute ribbons, and justice. My biggest problem was supposed to be passing Theology class. But I don't know how I ended up with a heavy diamond ring on my finger. One moment I was trying to hack a bad guy's phone, and the next, I was signing a contract with the Devil himself. Now, I live in his fortress. He treats me like a princess, but he looks at the world like he wants to burn it down. And the worst part? He keeps talking about his "Legacy." He wants a baby. RIGHT. NOW. Excuse me, Sir? I have midterms next week! Does the baby come before or after my exam?! Is it Stockholm Syndrome if the villain is your husband? Asking for a friend.

( VILLAINESS #1 ) Feared in boardrooms and hated in silence, 26-year-old CEO Evelyn Vireaux built an empire with an iron will and a cruel tongue. But no amount of power or wealth could stop the truth-she was dying. Terminal illness claimed her body, but not her soul. When Evelyn opens her eyes again, it's not in a hospital bed-but in a different world, inside the body of Selene Astera, the frail and neglected daughter of Duke Astera. Mocked by servants, scorned by her siblings, and invisible to society, Selene was as powerless as Evelyn had once been ruthless. Now reborn in a world of nobility and magic, the soul of a cold-blooded CEO simmers beneath Selene's soft smile. They wanted a weak girl to ignore. They'll get a villainess they'll never forget.

Sez, who was the princess in the Imperial House of Rowayne of the Den Helder Empire, was killed by her brother, Rayton, who caused the coup. Rayton was discriminated against in the empire for the prophecy that the monster whose hair is black as night and eyes as red as blood will end the whole world, and he had the same appearance as the monster of the prophecy. Though her head was cut by his sword and lost the chance to escape the empire, somehow she was magically sent back to the past. When she had a second chance to change her fate, she decided to become friendly with Rayton to survive. ⓒ Baek Yideum, Stella& / BIFROST 2024