She was never meant to wear his crown. Yet the empire burned for her name. Maria Erina Gates lives a life built on secrets-student by day, fighter by night, mother always. She only wants to protect her son from the violence that raised her. But when the serpent queen rises to drag her past into the open, and the King of the underworld claims her as his own, Erina finds herself at the center of a war she never asked for. Bloodlines clash, betrayals strike deep, and love turns as dangerous as any blade. To some, she is street-born trash. To others, she is a weapon. To one man, she is both ruin and salvation. Now Erina must decide: remain the girl who ran, or rise as the queen who will set the empire ablaze. Restarting this story since.. Why not? -Yan Drafted: September 2013 Finished: September 21, 2025 -- Moonverse Series #1: Crowned in Ashes

What if saving someone meant losing yourself? Would you carry the weight-or let them crumble? Adra Torres had it all: fame, music, a voice that could silence a crowd. Until an accident stole it. To keep Sudden Music alive, Xiarya, a girl with a haunting resemblance-steps into his world, wearing his mask, holding the spotlight that was never hers. But fate doesn't ask permission. It weaves love and lies, cousins long lost, families reunited, and hearts torn between duty and desire. From secret stand-ins to jealous rivals, from arranged marriages to vows whispered under shrine bells-every choice tilts the balance. Because when fate takes charge, no one walks away unchanged. A story of music, masks, and the kind of love that endures across years, scars, and the weight of destiny.

She was never meant to be his bride. Yet fate exchanged her heart for his fury. When Elara Cross is forced to marry Adrian Vale, the man once promised to her late sister, she becomes nothing more than an exchange bride-a substitute pawn in a business deal sealed with tragedy. To Adrian, she is a ghost wearing the face of the woman he loved. To her family, she is disposable, an illegitimate daughter raised in cruelty and handed over like property. But Elara's quiet endurance unsettles Adrian more than defiance ever could. Behind her hollow eyes and malnourished frame lies a survivor who has known only pain, and Adrian's vow to make her life hell begins to fracture under the weight of her scars. As the secrets of their pasts unravel-and as the ghost of Adrian's lost love lingers between them-hatred twists into obsession, cruelty into protection, and an unwanted marriage into something neither of them expected: a story written not by fate, but by choice.