[Selected for the Wattys shortlist-2025] "𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍. 𝑵𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆. 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉." When Vanora Blackthorn is forced into a cold, calculated marriage to Alestor Drevenhart-the ruthless heir of a powerful dynasty-she thinks she's escaped one nightmare only to enter another. But beneath the icy vows and suffocating walls of the Drevenhart estate, something begins to shift. Secrets fester. Obsession brews. And love? Love was never part of the deal... until it becomes the deadliest one of all. Will she survive the cruel games of a family that never wanted her? Will he learn to love the woman he was never meant to care for? Or will their hearts shatter beneath the very vows that bound them?" "𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒐𝒔, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕."

Silent chains An Obedient Girl. A Dangerous Man. A Silence Too Loud to Ignore. Aarya has never spoken a word. A twenty one year old Born mute and forbidden by her cruel family to learn sign language, her life has always been quiet - not peaceful, but silenced. Hidden away in an attic, unloved and abused while her stepsister is pampered like royalty, Aarya's only survival tool is obedience. She never questions, never resists... until one night, fate places her in the wrong place at the worst time. She witnesses a brutal murder committed by the city's most feared mafia boss, Luca De Rossi - a twenty eight year old man known for leaving no witnesses alive. But when he finds her cowering in fear, trembling and tear-streaked, he spares her life. Barely. A story of forced proximity, power and vulnerability, slow-burning connection, and a girl who can't speak... but says everything without words. ---

She feared him more than anything-until he became the only place she felt safe. After escaping years of abuse, Lina found a fragile kind of peace scrubbing floors in a mercenary's mansion. Quiet, invisible, and broken, she kept her head down and her voice lower. Especially around him. Killian. He kills for a living. He is a powerful, cold-blooded mercenary, a wealthy man who built his empire off blood, fear. He owns a powerful private military company that operates in the shadows, answering only to the highest bidders. He commands killers, closes deals, and never makes mistakes. Until her. A glance. A flinch. A wound she tried to hide. And suddenly, he was watching her closely. Quietly. Like she was a puzzle he didn't mean to touch... but couldn't stop obsessing over. Killian: "You blush like that again, and I swear I'll pin you against this wall just to see how deep it goes." He didn't know how to be soft. She didn't know how to be wanted. But in a house full of violence, he saw her. And he started to change. And soon, she was everywhere in his mind.

Dove Genovese, daughter of the second in command of the Italian mafia boss, has one sole purpose in life. That's to never dishonor her mafioso father. Marry, bring peace, and money: those are his demands. Meeting those demands comes at a high price, though. She's betrothed to an abusive man from another notorious Italian family. He's the last person she wants to spend her life with, but there's no way out. Her life is in the gilded, golden cage with strict rules and even harsher punishments. Gedeon Sokoloff wants revenge. The vindictive Russian mob boss has made it his mission to avenge his mother's brutal murder. There's nothing he wouldn't do to assert his power. When one of Genovese's henchmen breaches his territory and slaughters one of his men, Gedeon brokers a deal: war or Dove's hand in marriage. Dove should hate and fear Gedeon, because of his feared reputation. Yet, the infuriating man that enjoys teasing her and making her feel things she never felt before offers her one way to earn her freedom. Win him in a game of chess. Will Dove get the freedom she had been longing? Or will she stay as Gedeon's caged little bird in his games? _____ WARNING: Story contains rape, self-harm, suicidal ideation, physical/sexual abuse, violence, mature themes, sexual content, strong language. Ranks: #1 in Violence #1 in Adult-Romance #10 in Mafia #95 in Romance out of 1.7 million

Ophelia-Daisy Moretti has spent her life locked in a golden cage-unloved, unseen, and forgotten by the family who should have protected her. Born into a world of crime but too soft for it, she survives through daydreams of a love that doesn't exist in her world. Until her father sells her to his enemy. Vincenzo Giovanni is the cold-hearted king of the Italian underworld. Feared, respected, untouchable. He doesn't do love, doesn't do mercy. But when a fragile, wide-eyed girl is delivered to his doorstep as part of a blood-soaked bargain, something begins to shift. She's not what he wanted. But he might be everything she needs. In a world where loyalty is deadly and love is weakness, their story will be written in stolen glances, shattered trust, and the kind of longing that could burn empires to the ground. This is not a love story. It's the war they never saw coming. She was sold to him like property. He never expected her to become his weakness.

Phoebe Marlowe has spent her life trying not to be noticed- soft, timid, gentle to the bone. But softness has no place in New York's criminal underworld. When her grieving father signs a fatal contract with the Valenti crime syndicate, Phoebe becomes the debt. At eighteen, she is handed over as the unwilling bride of Romeo Valenti- the cold, ruthless heir to an empire built on blood, fear, and obedience. Romeo doesn't want a wife. He wants nothing to do with the fragile girl who flinches when he enters a room. Yet the moment she steps into his world of marble floors and locked doors, Phoebe becomes a liability he can't ignore-and a weakness he never wanted. She breaks rules she doesn't understand. He punishes a girl who can barely lift her eyes. She cries through dinner etiquette lessons. He threatens to kill anyone who makes her cry again. And when she tries to run, he hunts her. But the deeper Phoebe sinks into the Valenti world, the more she sees its truest monster- Dorian Valenti, Romeo's father, a kingpin who uses people like weapons and cages girls like pets.

Mila: I thought I knew my family. But everything changed the moment they told me I was getting married, to a man I'd never met. Now I'm being pulled into a dangerous world I never asked to be part of, tied to a cold, distant Russian who makes it very clear he doesn't want me. He's cruel. He's unreadable. He looks at me like I'm a problem he didn't ask for. But the more I learn about this life, and about him, the harder it is to ignore the pull between us. I can't fall for him. I won't survive it if I do. Nikolai: I never wanted a wife. Least of all the wide-eyed Italian girl who's been dropped into my world like a lamb among wolves. She doesn't understand how things work here. She's soft. Too soft. And yet... there's something about her I can't seem to stay away from. She was never supposed to matter. But she's starting to. And that makes her dangerous. ♡ Arranged Marriage ♡ Dark Romance ♡ Mafia

After fleeing her abusive ex in the middle of the night, Chloe Dawson arrives in a small coastal town with nothing but a duffel bag, a crying six-month-old baby, and the last of her savings. She rents a tiny apartment where the walls are paper-thin. Next door lives Sergeant Mason Kane, disciplined, exhausted, emotionally closed off, and currently on leave between military assignments. After years in the army, silence is the only thing that helps him sleep. Then the baby starts crying every night. At first, Mason is irritated. Chloe is terrified of him. Every knock on the door reminds her of the man she escaped.

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 )

Chandini has always been the girl people overlook-gentle, traditional, and painfully submissive. Her kindness makes her easy to use, and years of being taken advantage and a hard life have taught her to stay quiet, keep her head down, and never ask for anything. She flinches at raised voices, apologizes even when she's not at fault, and moves through life as softly as possible to avoid being hurt again. When her father dies, she is bound by his final business agreement: marriage to Stefan Vitello. Stefan is everything Chandini was not. A powerful, dominating, self-made architect whose presence is enough to silence a room. He speaks little, commands effortlessly, and expects obedience without having to raise his voice. Around him, Chandini feels smaller than ever-terrified to disappoint, terrified to draw attention, terrified of him. She tends to his home with quiet devotion, follows his clipped instructions without hesitation, and avoids meeting his eyes. Stefan never explains himself, never softens, never reveals what he truly thinks of his fragile, trembling wife. But he watches. He notices every flinch, every whispered apology, every moment she tries to make herself invisible. Hi guys I'm currently working on this and will try to update as frequently as I can! Read to follow along with their story!