Round Table Arena 소설 & 이야기

"Miss Alice Brown, I am the butler here for your service. Our sir wants to buy the baby in your belly.” Butler replied. "What?!" Does that mean the abortion didn't take place? Did they kidnap her from the operating table? Just to buy the baby? But why her? "You..." Alice was about to ask a question, but the man in front of her said calmly, as if he had expected her question, "Miss, you are pregnant with the master's child, and he needs a child, that's all I can tell you." *** Alice was forced to sign a surrogacy contract and eight months later gave birth to two healthy children. Fortunately, the man was unaware of her daughter's existence. It wasn't until five years later that fate brought them together again...

I am the lawfully wedded wife of Don Jones—the Donna of the Jones Family—and the founding CEO of his medical empire. I stood by Vincent's side as we built it up from a two-room surgical clinic into the crown jewel of European private healthcare. Then, in my eighth month of pregnancy, dying on the operating table, Vincent pulled every surgeon out of my maternity ward for the sake of his mistress. He killed our child with his own hands. He stripped me of the right to ever be a mother. He thought I was a homeless orphan with nowhere to go. He had no idea I was the sole blood heir of the Belmonte Family. After the divorce, I came home to command a global medical empire. He knelt and begged. I watched, cold-eyed, as he fell into hell.

I stepped closer. Close enough to smell his cologne—cedarwood, leather, and power. My hand moved. Smooth, practiced. The pistol slide from under the apron into my palm. I raised it fast. But before I could pull the trigger— BANG. Not my shot. A scream tore through the restaurant as another man launched himself toward Romano’s table, blade flashing. Another assassin. What the hell— Romano didn’t flinch. He shoved the table forward, knocking the attacker off balance. The blade scraped across wood, not skin. I ducked instinctively as the room erupted into chaos. Gunfire cracked. Glass exploded. People screamed and dove for cover. “Get him out—NOW!” one of the guards barked. I aimed for the second attacker. Didn’t even hesitate. One shot—head. Gone. The guard saw me. Confusion flashed in his eyes. Then rage. I ran. I weaved between overturned chairs, plates, and screaming bodies. The smell of blood was real now, thick in the air. One of the guards grabbed me. I slammed my elbow into his ribs, twisted, and brought the butt of my gun down on his skull. He dropped like a sack of bricks. Out. I had to get out. My boots pounded the floor as I tore through the narrow hallway. But then— “Elisa.” His voice stopped me cold. I turned. Antonio Romano stood in the middle of the carnage, suit untouched, blood spattered behind him like art. His eyes were on me. And he was smiling. It was darker. Slower. Like a hunter seeing something worth chasing. Somehow, he knew who I was. “Interesting,” he said softly, tilting his head. “They sent you.” I didn’t answer. I ran. But that voice followed me. He knew my name. And he let me go. This wasn’t over. It had just begun.

When we're playing cards during the holidays, my cousin, Owen Thompson, suddenly calls it boring and tells us that he wants to make a big gamble. Then, he tosses his BMW keys onto the table and asks if we're bold enough to follow up with our own bets. I know that Owen is just trying to flaunt the fact that he's bought himself a BMW. Everyone is stunned by his antics. They quickly say, "This is just a game. We're not going to bet anything else." After that, they start complimenting how amazing Owen is to be able to own a BMW at such a young age. I, on the other hand, hesitate to do so. After all, my trump cards are a set of Ks. Having gotten his ego boosted by the compliments, Owen is about to flush the deck when I put my car keys belonging to a cheaper, rundown car. Then, I mumble, "I'm going to follow up with a bet of my own." Everyone falls silent at my statement. They just stare at me in disbelief, whereas Owen widens his eyes out of shock. Almost immediately, things grow heated between us. The moment both of us place our car keys onto the betting table, our feeble relationship as cousins is quick to vanish. But I don't regret my decision. Owen is the one who has decided to bet his BMW, after all. Since he's capable of being this ruthless toward his own relatives, I might as well not give a damn about his feelings at all. Owen lets out a cold chuckle before saying, "How much do you have in that pocket of yours, huh? You really think you can scare me, chump? I have a BMW, for crying out loud! You should gather more money first before placing your bet! Don't go around scamming others with just a shitty car!"

Quinn Parker has a system: keep her grades up, keep her feelings private, and absolutely never act like the kind of girl who screams over a boy band, no matter how many NEON ATLAS songs she has memorized. So when the group’s lead singer, Jace Wilder, is chased through the arena hallway before a sold out show, Quinn reacts on pure instinct: she yanks him behind a giant fake pot plant, yells his name, and points the stampede of fans in the wrong direction. Jace disappears with security. Quinn goes back to her life. End of story. Except a week later, Quinn lands an after school cleaning job at a luxury rental and opens the door to find Jace Wilder alone, exhausted, and nothing like his shining, onstage self. He tries to flip the charm back on when he realizes she’s the girl who saved him, but Quinn doesn’t buy it. She makes him a coffee, tells him to sit down, and treats him like a normal person for the first time in a long time. Quinn isn’t falling for a fantasy. She doesn’t even know him. But the more time she spends in his offstage world, between rehearsals, rumours, and the pressure to always smile, the harder it becomes to ignore the quiet, real boy behind the spotlight… and the fact that he’s starting to look at her like she’s the only place he can breathe.

The ice doesn’t lie. Neither does the hunger. Isaac Corres is done being the quiet shadow behind a hockey superstar. When Derek Coleman dumped him in the middle of a championship run, he didn't just break Isaac’s heart—he ignited a war. Isaac isn't looking for a rebound; he’s looking for leverage. And he finds it in the most dangerous man on the ice: Santiago Vega. Santiago is the Warhawks’ Enforcer—a predator in pads, a wolf who doesn't play by the rules and certainly doesn't do "romance." He’s a wall of muscle, cold authority, and suppressed rage. When Isaac approaches him with a proposition for a fake, high-stakes rivalry to humiliate the man who betrayed them both, Santiago doesn’t refuse. He takes the bait with a growl. But the line between strategy and instinct is razor-thin. In the neon-soaked, frozen tunnels of the San Antonio Ice Arena, their deal turns into a scorched-earth affair. Every stare is a challenge; every touch is a claim. Santiago is used to controlling the fire in his blood, but Isaac’s defiance is the one thing he can’t break—or stop craving. As the series heats up and the physical toll of their "arrangement" turns into a primal, 18+ game of dominance and surrender, Isaac realizes the truth: Santiago Vega wasn't looking for a pawn. He was looking for a mate. The cameras are watching. The fans are screaming. And on the ice, where the air is thin and the secrets are lethal, Isaac is about to find out exactly what happens when an Alpha decides he’s done sharing. One goal. Two hearts on the chopping block. And a heat that’s about to shatter the ice.

ICE: The Alpha’s Unwanted OMEGA BOOK 3 "I told you to stay off my ice, Parker. The next time you cross the red line into my territory, I won't just break your skates. I'll break your wolf." Ethan Carter is the undisputed King of the Mysticfall winter league—a brutal, dominant Alpha who rules the arena and his pack with an iron fist. He needs a political alliance with the powerful Bennett family to secure his territory's hunting rights before the full moon freezes the valley solid. What he doesn't need is the intoxicating, infuriating presence of Collins Parker back in his den. Collins is a fierce, defiant omega from the northern hills who refuses to kneel to any captain. He thought his bond with Ethan was a sacred vow spoken to the moon. Instead, he got a one-way ticket to exile and a shattered heart when Ethan chose a blood-contract wedding with Chloe Bennett over their mate-bond. Driven away to the frozen border cabins of Skydrivee with two young pups and his pride torn to ribbons, Collins swears he is done chasing a ghost. He scrubs Ethan's scent from his furs, sharpens his steel blades, and prepares to run the winter wilderness alone. But a true Alpha’s mark can never be fully erased. "You sold your body to a rival house to save your franchise, Ethan. Don't look at my pups. Don't come near my bed. You chose your altar. Now sleep on it."

Let's get this over with." Those were the longest words I'd heard him say ever since his entrance to the room. His hoarse voice which held no sign of emotion rumbled like a distant thunder in the large sitting room that was now occupied by his mother, Jane Jordan - the heiress of Jordan Jewelleries, the dark haired judge who sat by an oak table that had been placed in the center of the room for this purpose, Mother, and I , the I-know-nothing-about-this bride dressed in a knee-length lavender gown and silver stiletto heels, nothing befitting for a bride on her big day.  ... "And do you, Ashley, take Alexander to be your lawfully wedded husband?" I sucked in a sharp breath as I closed my eyes. "I do." My fate has been sealed. Just like that, I'm married to a man I know nothing about.

At our college reunion, I let slip about the three great catches I was dating online. One ran a successful law firm, the other was a researcher at a leading institute, while another was an up-and-coming tech mogul on the Forbes list. My so-called best friend, Cassie Young, paused halfway through her plate of ribs. Giving me the side glance, she voiced her sarcasm. “I feel sorry for your future husband. Of all the women he could have, he had to marry someone with a rich history.” I took a sip of my juice and responded, “Honestly, I’m pretty stressed about the whole thing. They are all amazing. I can’t decide between them. Cassie, does anyone tickle your fancy? You can have one.” As her cutlery clattered on the table, Cassie widened her eyes. “A-Are you for real?”

"System, I request to leave the mission world." The summoned system quickly appeared. "Ms. Young, your request has been approved. You have half a month to say goodbye to your family in this world." With that said, the system disappeared again. Andrea Young paused for a long time at the mention of the word "Family" before slowly looking toward the family photo on the table beside her. In the photo, her husband and son were each lovingly kissing her cheeks. The happiness captured in that moment suddenly left her stunned. No one knew Andrea was on a mission. Ten years ago, the system brought her into this world to win the heart of Gabriel Fulton, the crown prince of Capital City. They went from attending school together to the wedding altar over the past decade. She not only completed her mission, but also fell in love with the target of her mission.