He was a monster by design-until she made it a lie. Crowned heir to a merciless empire, Killian Vaelthorne is a man carved from ice. The world knows him as the Heartless One, a title earned not by cruelty, but by the chilling truth: he cannot love. No pulse of desire, no flicker of warmth. Only a void where a soul should burn. Then she arrives. A storm in human form, Elara laughs where others cower, her defiance a blade against his frozen throne. She shouldn't matter. She shouldn't make his blood sing. Yet with every clash of wills, the impossible happens: he feels. But in a world where love is weakness and his throne is built on blood, Killian must choose, shatter the curse of his hollow heart... or destroy the only woman who dared to melt it.
(Killian's POV)
The executioner's axe came down with a wet thunk.
I watched, elbow propped on the obsidian throne, as the traitor's head rolled across the blood-slicked marble. It came to rest at the foot of the dais, glassy eyes staring up at me in eternal accusation.
Next, I said.
The throne room held its breath.
My fingers drummed against the snarling wolf carved into the armrest. The sound echoed like a death knell through the silent hall. Even the ever-burning braziers seemed to dim as the guards dragged forward the second prisoner.
Prince Killian, please
I lifted a single finger. The plea died in his throat.
You plotted against the crown, I said, tilting my head. Did you truly believe I wouldn't notice?
The nobleman trembled, his fine silk robes soaked through with sweat. The stench of his fear mixed with the iron tang of fresh blood and the cloying perfume of the white roses lining the hall. My mother's touch. As if flowers could purify this place.
I rose from the throne. My shadow stretched long across the terrified faces of the court. The click of my boots against marble was the only sound in the cavernous hall.
When I stopped before the condemned man, he flinched as if I'd struck him.
Look at me.
When he didn't obey, Riven-my ever-loyal captain-grabbed a fistful of greying hair and wrenched his head up.
Do you know why they call me the Heartless One? I asked, crouching to his level. My dagger found its way into my hand, the blade catching the firelight. It's not because I enjoy this."**
The edge of my knife traced the pounding vein in his throat.
It's because I feel nothing at all.
The truth of it settled in my bones as I straightened. No racing pulse. No sick thrill. Just the same yawning void that had lived in my chest since the day I realized-
I was broken.
At sixteen, when other boys wrote poetry and chased skirts, I watched my first execution with dry eyes. At twenty, when my father shoved his latest mistress at me like some perverse gift, I sent her away untouched. Now, at twenty-five, the entire kingdom whispered that I was more demon than man.
They weren't wrong.
Hang the body from the western gate, I told Riven as I wiped my blade clean on the dead man's cloak. Let the crows have what's left.
As I turned to leave, the sea of courtiers parted like frightened sheep. Their fear was a living thing, pulsing in the air between us. Good. Fear kept them obedient. Fear kept me safe.
"I stood at the edge of my heart and watched him choose her. In the end, I was not the one he needed. I was simply the one he settled for." - Noelle ~~~~~~~ I thought I was the one he loved. But a few days before our wedding, I saw him in a way I never had before. His eyes softened as he spoke to her. His first love, and the very woman who had left him in pieces. Heartbreak was something I knew too well. And as I watched the love he still held for her in his eyes, I realized what I had to do. I couldn't marry a man who wasn't truly mine. With no means to cancel the wedding and lacking the courage to confront him, I made a desperate choice to leave. I painfully gave his first love my treasured engagement ring thinking it was for the best and the only way to free myself. But when he saw that ring on her finger, the fragile world I had tried to escape began to shatter. His obsession to find me and bring me back ignited a dangerous game of cat and mouse.
Rumors said that Lucas married an unattractive woman with no background. In the three years they were together, he remained cold and distant to Belinda, who endured in silence. Her love for him forced her to sacrifice her self-worth and her dreams. When Lucas' true love reappeared, Belinda realized that their marriage was a sham from the start, a ploy to save another woman's life. She signed the divorce papers and left. Three years later, Belinda returned as a surgical prodigy and a maestro of the piano. Lost in regret, Lucas chased her in the rain and held her tightly. "You are mine, Belinda."
To the public, she was the CEO's executive secretary. Behind closed doors, she was the wife he never officially acknowledged. Jenessa was elated when she learned that she was pregnant. But that joy was replaced with dread as her husband, Ryan, showered his affections on his first love. With a heavy heart, she chose to set him free and leave. When they met again, Ryan's attention was caught by Jenessa's protruding belly. "Whose child are you carrying?!" he demanded. But she only scoffed. "It's none of your business, my dear ex-husband!"
Betrayed by her mate and sister on the eve of her wedding, Makenna was handed to the ruthless Lycan Princes as a lover, her indifferent father ignoring her plight. Determined to escape and seek revenge, she captured the interest of the three Lycan princes, who desired her exclusively amid many admirers. This complicated her plans, trapping her and making her a rival to the future Lycan queen. Entwined in jealousy and vindictiveness, could Makenna achieve her vengeance in the intricate dance with the three princes?
"I heard you're going to marry Marcelo. Is this perhaps your revenge against me? It's very laughable, Renee. That man can barely function." Her foster family, her cheating ex, everyone thought Renee was going to live in pure hell after getting married to a disabled and cruel man. She didn't know if anything good would ever come out of it after all, she had always thought it would be hard for anyone to love her but this cruel man with dark secrets is never going to grant her a divorce because she makes him forget how to breathe.
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.