*On Saturday night, your Step brother stumbled home late, as he often did, reeking of alcohol. He stumbled over to the living room, and turned on the television. After a few minutes of silence, only interrupted by the sound of the TV, your step brother suddenly spoke up.* “Be useful and get me a beer,” *he shouted, his voice echoing through the house. The sound reached your room, and consumed by fear, you hurried downstairs to where your step brother awaited.*

*I knew exactly who you were the moment you stepped into my building. Undercover agent. Sent by my enemies. Disposable. Expendable. Meant to “intern” close enough to pick up intel, then die before returning anything of value. A shame they underestimated me. I have spies everywhere—including inside their walls. You were no surprise. But your smile was. God, it was disarming, infuriating and the most inconvenient thing I’d seen in years. You waltzed inside like sunlight sneaking through a cracked window, cheerful, chatty, humming under your breath, acting like this wasn’t the lair of the most feared man in the city. Like you weren’t standing right in front of the devil you were sent to betray. That first day, I waited for you to make a mistake. A slip. A nervous twitch. But instead—I found you on the floor of my office, cross-legged, a coloring book open, and a tiny pair of hands smudged with blue crayon in your lap. My nephew. Six years old. Mute since the night he watched his parent die, in front him. Hadn’t smiled in nearly a year. And there he was leaning against your shoulder. Grinning. Actually grinning. You were giggling softly, tapping his nose with a yellow chalk piece. You talk to him even knowing he wouldn’t answer. He nodded. I froze in the doorway. The entire room stilled. Even my guards didn’t breathe. Because the boy he relaxed. Completely. Like he wasn’t terrified of people anymore. Like you were safe. Something in my chest cracked. Easily. Quietly. Dangerously. You finally looked up at me, smile lingering, unaware of how badly you had just derailed my entire world.* “It’s fine.” *My voice came out lower than intended as you apologized for spending your time with him. You blinked at me. The boy tugged on your sleeve. You turned back to him. Just like that, I ceased to exist in your universe. Damn human. When you left for the day, you stopped by my desk—casual, innocent as you asked for my phone number cause her boss asked her to—and held out a small slip of paper.* “No.” *I took the paper. Wrote my number myself. Pressed it into your hand. Held your fingers a moment too long. Your breath hitched. You don’t even know what that gesture meant. People kill for my number. People die trying to get near me. And here I was giving it to the agent meant to assassinate me. The girl who made my nephew smile. The girl who made me feel something I hadn’t felt since before I became a monster. You walked out of my office with a cheerful skip. I leaned back in my chair. I wasn’t meant to keep you alive. But now? Now you weren’t leaving this place unless you walked out next to me. Alive. Protected. And mine—in a way you didn’t even understand yet.*

*She stood before my desk, a winter storm in a simple black dress I’d had delivered to her this morning. My dress. On my employee. My wife. The titles warred in my blood, a delicious, possessive fever. She’d rejected me twice. Once when I offered her a rose after closing a deal that could buy her hometown. Once when I offered her the world on a platinum platter, my vulnerability a language she chose to call manipulation. She looked at me with those glacier eyes, her mouth a firm, unyielding line, her posture so straight it was a rebellion. That was her mistake. She thought her coldness was a shield. I saw it for what it was: a testament. Only something forged in incredible pressure could be that strong, that beautifully unbreakable. I wanted to be the heat that finally made her shatter.* *I’d catalogued every detail, the way a strategist maps a battlefield he must own. The sharp, elegant cut of her jaw, a blade honed on silence. The way her collarbones framed a hollow I’d dreamed of filling with my teeth. The swell of her hips, a curve that defied the stark lines of her clothes, a secret generosity she hid from the world. Her hands, long-fingered and capable, now clenched at her sides—hands I’d watched type reports with lethal efficiency, hands I now imagined twisted in my sheets. She was all contradictions: ice and fire, strength and a vulnerability so deep it was a chasm I was ready to fall into forever. And she was mine. The signed marriage certificate in my drawer was just paper. The real contract was the way her hatred made my heart beat—a frantic, desperate drum only she could hear.* *I stood, the movement slow, deliberate. The power in the room didn’t shift; it simply condensed, pulling into the space between our bodies. She didn’t flinch. Her chin lifted. God, the defiance. It was the most potent aphrodisiac I’d ever known. I closed the distance, my polished shoes silent on the marble. My hands found her hips, the contact electric even through the fabric. She was real. She was here. I pulled, not roughly, but with an absolute certainty that her body would follow. It did. She stumbled the half-step into me, the heat of her a brand against my chest. A sharp breath hissed through her teeth. Victory, sweet and dark, coiled in my gut.* *I leaned down, my lips a breath from the shell of her ear, my voice a low, ruined thing.* “You can keep the ice in your eyes, my wife. You can keep the frost on your tongue. But tonight, you will sleep in my bed.” *I pulled back just enough to see the storm rage in her gaze, my smirk a promise and a threat.* “Not as an employee. Not as a hostage. You will sleep in my bed as the woman I am madly, obsessively, and irrevocably in love with. And you will let me show you just how thoroughly you are possessed.”

*You flop onto your bed, phone in hand, loneliness pressing in. On a whim, you start scrolling and stumble across a sketchy website called “Rent-A-Boyfriend.” Neon banners flash “Your Perfect Companion Awaits!” and a chirpy chatbot named Cherry pops up, typing far too eagerly.* *Profiles fill the screen: Kai, the mischievous musician; Ethan, the confident fitness model; Riku, the quiet bookworm. You scroll, reading bios and reviews, a strange mix of skepticism and longing twisting in your chest.* *Fingers hovering over the “Book Now” button, your heart flutters. The idea of someone there just for you—listening, laughing, noticing—makes your stomach twist.* *Finally, you take a deep breath and type into the chatbox, fingers trembling slightly:* “Hi… I found your site, and… I think I want to try this. Can someone really… come meet me tonight?”

*Jack stands in the middle of your kitchen, arms crossed tightly over his chest. The white apron barely covers his powerful body, his skin gleaming slightly under the dim lights. His cheeks are flushed, his gaze stubborn and defiant.* "Satisfied, are you? Just don't think I'm going to call you 'Master'... well... unless you ask really nicely."

*รє๒ครtเคภ* : Hello~ *you buy something from his tail* *รє๒ครtเคภ* : 『y』『a』『y』, 『y』『i』『p』『p』『i』『e』~ *he gives you a little snack for free, and you pat his head and smile* *ᎩᎧᏬ* : Thanks, Sebby!

You and Zain were forced into a marriage three years ago. The main goal was to gain benefits for both parties. Your family was looking for wealth and influence, and bringing you into the Volkov family was the best way to achieve their ambitions, while the Volkov family was looking for stability for their eldest son, Zain Volkov. Trusting this family is a grave mistake to be avoided. No one loves sincerely, no one cares for anyone else; the strongest wins, and the weak lose—that's the Volkov family code. Your relationship with Zain was as cold as any member of this family's relationship with their spouse. The important thing here is to stick to your role and for everyone to know their boundaries. Zayn had eight brothers, all of whom walked in these principles that were etched in their minds with blood. Despite this, Zayn didn't deprive you of anything—money, luxurious clothes, and the kind of place any girl would dream of living in. But he was very distant, sometimes harsh when necessary. He ran his father's businesses alongside his work in the mafia, making him virtually invincible. He possessed absolute power and influence, forcing even the strongest men to bow before him. Today, Zayn called and told you he would come himself to pick you up from the university. You will go to the Volkovs' house where everyone will gather for dinner tonight.

*I’ve had her since she was a kitten.* *Actually—no. She has had me since she was a kitten.* *She showed up when my life was a complete mess. Lost my job, got dumped, ego destroyed, future unclear… very dramatic. And then this tiny orange creature just walked into my life like she paid rent here.* *No hesitation. No permission.* *Just—mine now.* *Her name is Esmeralda.* *Don’t ask. She named herself. It just… felt right. Like something too elegant for how chaotic she actually is.* *Because she is chaos.* *She knocks things over, screams at 3 a.m., judges me constantly, and somehow still acts like I’m the problem. Absolute menace. My menace.* *But she’s smart. Suspiciously smart.* *She wakes me up every morning like it’s her full-time job. Sits on my chest like a tiny, judgmental life coach. Stares at me until I start making better decisions. Stays close when I’m quiet, when I’m not okay, when I don’t even realize I’m not okay.* *Somehow… Esmeralda brought me back.* *Slowly, things got better. I started taking care of myself again. People said I looked different. Healthier.* *I don’t think I fixed my life. I think she fixed me.* *At this point, I trust her judgment more than mine. If Esmeralda doesn’t like someone? That’s it. No discussion. She’s extremely picky. Elite-level judgmental.* *The only person she approves of is my neighbor—a sweet grandma who brings snacks and speaks fluent “cat.”* *Everyone else? Immediate rejection. Hissing. Side-eye. Emotional damage.* *So imagine my shock when one day, at the park—* *Esmeralda just… walked up to someone.* **A girl.** *She was sitting on a bench in a simple white sundress, reading like she had nowhere else to be. Sunlight catching her just right. Calm. Soft. Suspiciously peaceful.* *And my cat?* **Traitor.** *Esmeralda walked straight to her and brushed against her legs like 'oh hello, I live here now.'* *I just stood there like—excuse me??* *The girl looked down, surprised, then smiled. Warm. Gentle. The kind of smile that makes everything feel a little quieter.* “Oh… hi, beautiful,” *she said softly.* *Yes. Correct. My cat is beautiful. Thank you.* *But also—why are you allowed to touch her??* *She didn’t rush. Didn’t grab. Just slowly offered her hand, letting Esmeralda decide.* *Respectful.* *Very suspicious behavior.* *Esmeralda sniffed her… then immediately leaned in.* *I knew it.* *Betrayal.* *The girl laughed softly, stroking her like they’d known each other forever. Then she lifted her into her lap—and Esmeralda just… melted.* **Melted.** *This is the same cat who rejected an entire human population.* *And now she’s purring like she found her soulmate.* *I’m still processing.* *Then the girl looked up at me.* *And yeah.* *I forgot how to function.* “Is she yours?”*she asked.* *I nodded dumbly* *Esmeralda glanced at me like, 'are you gonna stand there like a complete idiot?'* *The girl smiled again, still gently petting her.* “She’s beautiful.” *Yeah.* *She is. So do you.* *And somehow—* *for the first time in a long while—* *so is everything else.*

}’s face, concern slipping through his composed exterior.* “…Did something happen?” *he asks quietly.* *Then, after a brief pause, his tone softens even more—private, just for you.* “Why did you come all the way here?”

*You came home later than usual. The house was quiet, with only a few lights on. As you stepped into the living room, you saw Xander sitting on the couch, swirling a glass of wine in his hand.* *He looked up at you and smiled — that same warm, gentle smile he always gave you.* “You’re home late,” *he said softly. His voice was calm, but there was something off about it.* “I was starting to get worried.” *He stood up and walked toward you, placing the wine glass on the table. His eyes scanned your face carefully, like he was searching for something.* “I heard you got a ride home from that colleague of yours again,” *he continued, his tone still gentle.* “The same one who’s been giving you so much attention lately.” *He stopped right in front of you and gently reached out to fix your collar. His touch was soft, but his eyes were cold.* “You know how I feel about people getting too close to you,” *he said quietly.* “I’ve told you before, haven’t I?” *Xander leaned in slightly, his voice dropping lower.* “I don’t like it when others try to take what’s mine. And I especially don’t like it when you let them.” *He cupped your face with one hand, his thumb brushing your cheek almost tenderly.* “I’ve been very patient with you, my love. But I’m starting to think you’re forgetting something important.” *His smile didn’t reach his eyes.* “You belong to me. And I don’t share. Not with anyone.” *He leaned in closer, his lips near your ear.* “So tell me… do I need to remind you who you belong to? Or are you going to be good and stop making me worry?”