"They say the rain follows me. That I was born cursed. Marked. Promised to a monster who lives in the shadows." When seventeen-year-old Elira is torn from her village during a storm, she's told she is the "Storm Bride"-a girl bound by blood to the feared Shadow Lord. Whispers say he's not human, that his castle breathes, and that every bride before her vanished without a trace. Now trapped in a dark fortress where the walls seem to whisper, and eyes watch her every move, Elira must uncover the truth about the curse tied to her bloodline and the mysterious man she is bound to marry. But the deeper she digs, the more twisted the truth becomes. Because the Shadow Lord isn't just hiding secrets... He's hiding her destiny. A slow-burn fantasy romance filled with ancient magic, dangerous court intrigue, and a girl who was never meant to be ordinary.
They say the rain follows me.
That wherever I go, the clouds gather-low and heavy, waiting. I used to think it was a coincidence. A cruel joke the sky played on me. But the night they came for me, I knew it was more than that.
It was fate.
The storm had started at dusk-sharp winds rattling the wooden shutters, thunder cracking like the gods were angry. I was curled beneath the table in my aunt's kitchen, barefoot, still in my nightdress, the hem soaked from where the water seeped in through the floor.
They didn't knock.
The door slammed open, and suddenly the room filled with masked guards in black cloaks, dripping with rain and silence. I tried to run, but my aunt just stood there, pale, shaking, whispering a prayer I'd never heard before. She didn't even try to stop them.
"The Storm Bride," one of them said, as if naming a ghost.
They bound my wrists, rough rope against skin already raw from days of cold. I screamed, kicked, begged-but the thunder swallowed my voice whole.
No one in the village helped me. Not one.
Because they believed the stories. That I was cursed. That I was marked. That the Shadow Lord would come for me when the rain returned and he had.
They dragged me through the mud, through puddles reflecting a sky split by lightning, and shoved me into a carriage as black as obsidian. The door slammed shut. The lock clicked.
And that's when I heard the voice-soft, from somewhere far away. Maybe in my head.
"He's waiting."
My breath caught. My fingers trembled against the wood.
The rain kept falling.
I didn't sleep.
The carriage rattled through the night, through what felt like endless woods. The only sounds were hooves hitting wet earth, the crack of distant thunder, and the constant, steady drip of water from the carriage roof onto the floorboards.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
It was cold. The kind that settles into your bones and doesn't leave, even when you stop shivering. My wrists ached where the rope had rubbed them raw. I pulled my knees to my chest, trying to be small, invisible.
But there was no one to hide from. Only the dark.
They said he lived beyond the edge of the world. That the Shadow Lord's fortress was built into the cliffs themselves, carved from black stone by gods who had long abandoned us. They said it breathed. That it watched.
And I believed them now.
By the time the carriage stopped, the rain had slowed to a mist, like the sky was whispering instead of screaming. One of the guards opened the door. He didn't speak, just reached in and yanked me to my feet.
What I saw outside made my breath stop.
The fortress was massive. A jagged silhouette against the pale gray sky, all towers and spires, its walls crawling with vines that looked like they'd bled in the rain. No flags. No warmth. Just black stone and silence.
They marched me across the bridge that led to the gate. Below it: nothing. A sheer drop into fog and darkness. My legs wanted to give out. My heart beat loud in my ears.
When the doors opened, I was swallowed whole.
Inside, it was colder. The halls stretched endlessly, lit by torches that cast shadows like moving arms. I tried to memorize the turns. I lost count after five.
Then we stopped.
A heavy door opened. A woman stood inside the room tall, silver-haired, eyes the color of frost. She looked at me like I was something she hadn't ordered.
"This is the girl?" she asked.
"She is the one the rain chose," the guard replied.
She exhaled, turned her back. "Bathe her. Dress her. The Lord sees no one in rags."
And just like that, I was no longer a person. Just a duty to be done.
But something told me this was just the beginning.
As the maids dragged me toward the bath chamber, I caught a glimpse of a painting on the wall, faded, and cracked. A woman in a black gown standing in the rain, a man behind her shrouded in smoke. Her face...
It looked exactly like mine.
Joanne Ogoin's life has never been easy. As the third daughter of a wealthy family, she's always felt like an outcast. Her chronic illness has made her parents all but dismiss her, favoring her healthier, more vibrant sisters instead. But when Joanne's family arranges her marriage to Marcus Thompson, the wealthy and ruthless CEO, she's horrified. Marcus is notorious for his brutal business tactics and acidic tongue, and Joanne knows she's in for a world of pain. What she doesn't expect, however, is the complex, vulnerable person beneath Marcus's harsh exterior. As they navigate their tumultuous relationship, Joanne begins to chip away at Marcus's defenses, revealing a deep well of emotion and longing. But as they struggle to overcome their pasts and the societal expectations that haunt them, Joanne and Marcus must confront the darkest corners of their own hearts. Will their love be enough to heal the wounds of their past, or will it succumb to the crushing weight of their families' ambitions?
After three years of loveless marriage, Kira was slapped with divorce papers. She has shown him her unrequited love throughout her entire marriage with him, but he decided to turn blind eyes all because of his lover. Distraught and heartbroken, Kira choose to sign the divorce papers with bitter heart. But then and there, she promised herself that when she's back, he will come crawling to her, but she will make him pay for hurting her. Join Kira as she transform to a wealthy heiress and soared as the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar empire, a remarkable healer and make her ex-husband pay!
Janet was adopted when she was a kid -- a dream come true for orphans. However, her life was anything but happy. Her adoptive mother taunted and bullied her all her life. Janet got the love and affection of a parent from the old maid who raised her. Unfortunately, the old woman fell ill, and Janet had to marry a worthless man in place of her parents' biological daughter to meet the maid's medical expenses. Could this be a Cinderella's tale? But the man was far from a prince, except for his handsome appearance. Ethan was the illegitimate son of a wealthy family who lived a reckless life and barely made ends meet. He got married to fulfill his mother's last wish. However, on his wedding night, he had an inkling that his wife was different from what he had heard about her. Fate had united the two people with deep secrets. Was Ethan truly the man we thought he was? Surprisingly, he bore an uncanny resemblance to the impenetrable wealthiest man in the city. Would he find out that Janet married him in place of her sister? Would their marriage be a romantic tale or an utter disaster? Read on to unravel Janet and Ethan's journey.
Sawyer, the world's top arms dealer, stunned everyone by falling for Maren—the worthless girl no one respected. People scoffed. Why chase a useless pretty face? But when powerful elites began gathering around her, jaws dropped. "She's not even married to him yet—already cashing in on his power?" they assumed. Curious eyes dug into Maren's past... only to find she was a scientific genius, a world-renowned medical expert, and heiress to a mafia empire. Later, Sawyer posted online. "My wife treats me like the enemy. Any advice?"
Chloe Miler, a naïve young woman, waits shyly to spend Valentine's Day with her boyfriend, but is betrayed on that day when she witnesses him entangled in bed with her own sister. Chloe's heart is broken when her heartfelt love for him is trampled on in an instant. *** Lionel Williams, the mysterious billionaire, the top of the pyramid, is handsome as hell. His eyes are set high, but he is drugged, has a one-night stand with a strange woman, and is humiliated by that unknowing woman with her money! His instincts tell him it's not that simple, and he's going to find her out!
Iris grew from an orphaned child to the adopted daughter of the Stewart family at age ten, finding warmth in her nominal uncle Vincent's kindness. Seven years later, she became his secret lover. When Vincent's engagement was announced, gossip spread about the notorious playboy CEO finally settling down. But only Iris knew the extent of his cold, two-faced nature. Iris fell for Vincent and, through tears, begged, "Marry me," only to be met with his frosty refusal. Defeated, she accepted a lawyer's proposal, sparking public excitement. Then, on her wedding day, Vincent pleaded desperately, "Don't marry him…"
Bailey seems to be never destined to fit in, a little geeky, but under it all, a hidden beauty that so many seem to miss, but still not what her pack Alpha is looking for in a fated mate... so he is determined to reject her and make her life hell. Bailey, knowing her life will likely never be the same focuses on what she can control, her future, and heads off to study; becoming a teacher. Asher is the Beta of Autumn Valley Pack, a neighbouring pack. A broken man having suffered the loss of his mate after a rogue attack, Asher is slowly crumbling. Falling to pieces. A shadow of his former self, and not a man that anyone wants to be around anymore... Until, Autumn Valley Pack require a new teacher, and Bailey finds herself there and pushed together with the Beta. Is there a connection building or is that in their imaginations? And what will happen when Bailey's mate comes back to claim what is his?