the collectors baldacci

Charlotte Harris thought it was hard to make it through military training because she was the only female wolf in her unit. She was wrong. On New Year's Eve, she stands at the Royal Winter Ball and watches General Marcus Steele, the man she's been seeing behind her back for months, tell the senator's daughter that he is going to marry her. When Charlotte confronts him, he rejects her openly in front of the entire military elite, calling her "a distraction I've already forgotten." The crowd laughs. The whispers start. Charlotte wants to hide. Then the doors burst open, and quiet falls like snow. Alpha King Daemon Blackwood walks into the hall, his dark eyes scanning the crowd until they land on her. In three strides, he's in front of Charlotte, and in a voice that makes the chandeliers shake, he declares: "This woman is my mate. Anyone who disrespects her disrespects me." Charlotte is shocked. She's never even met the King before tonight. Why would he take her? Why has he been watching her? And why does the General look frightened instead of just angry? As Charlotte is pulled into the dangerous world of the Royal Court, she learns nothing is what it seems. The General wasn't just using her for fun; he was using her as bait. Enemy spies have been hunting her for months because of something she knows, something she saw but didn't realize was important. And the King? He's been protecting her from the shadows, bound by ancient laws that prevented him from revealing himself until the exact right time. Now Charlotte must figure out who to trust, what secrets she's carrying, and whether the King's claim is real security or just another man using her as a pawn. Because the enemies hunting her won't stop, the conspiracy goes higher than anyone thought, and the truth about her own identity might be the most dangerous secret of all. This New Year's Eve, Charlotte will learn she's not the weak omega everyone thought she was. And the King isn't the cold, ruthless boss everyone fears. Together, they might just survive the night.

Like any other planet with a sentient population, Earth went through the process of developing technology, conducting wars, and making loads of money off of people's existential crises. Earth was as typical a planet as any other, until the Library of the Multiverse opened its doors and spewed out its books containing the stories and adventures of heroes and villains from across the multiverse. Now, human beings have the chance to change their destiny by synchronizing with Multi Vs, the magic books that can give a person the power to exceed the normal and become the King or Queen of the Universe!

Celine, a cheerful and kind-hearted woman with luscious long hair, works at a prestigious luxury watch company. One day, she encounters Lenin, a handsome and enigmatic entrepreneur who also happens to own a watch company. Lenin possesses an intense and mysterious gaze, and although he lacks personal connections, he maintains a close relationship with his parents. During her college years, Celine had two friends, one male and one female, and a close childhood friend named Antonia. As Celine continues working at the company, she notices Lenin entering the office. Immediately captivated by his presence, Celine's fascination is met with Lenin piercing gaze, in which Lenin briefly focuses on Celine hands. Unbeknownst to her, Lenin has an unusual inclination towards collecting human hands, using them to adorn his exquisite luxury timepieces. As Celine becomes increasingly drawn to Lenin and his peculiar ways, an intricate and captivating love story unfolds. Will Celine discover Lenin's dark secret? Can their love transcend the boundaries of his obsession? "Hand Collectors" portrays a gripping tale of love, mystery, and the complexities of human connection.

This is a short story about a 41-year-old Marisol who died eating instant noodle at midnight. Alone. Skipping dinner to save money. And somehow, she didn't realize it was just the beginning of the worst week of her afterlife. She's stuck in the afterlife's broken bureaucracy with one impossible deal: collect three lost souls... or lose her second chance at life forever.

This is the story of Shi-heum and Yoon-sung, who found themselves living together due to circumstances beyond their control.

In a world still healing from the Transparency Revolution that exposed global corruption, violence begins rising again across Mumbai—quietly, strangely, without warning. Ordinary people display inhuman reflexes, unpredictable instincts, and terrifying bursts of clarity in fights. Officials blame stress. The media blames unrest. No one knows the truth. Arjun is the kind of boy who should never be caught in this chaos—quiet, overlooked, bullied, living each day in survival mode. He’s not fast, not skilled, and not brave. Yet whenever danger closes in, something inside him reacts before he can think. A glance he shouldn't notice. A footstep he shouldn't hear. A punch he shouldn't avoid. Everyone around him is changing in violent, unpredictable ways. But Arjun… stays calm. When he survives an attack that should have killed him, he begins to notice the truth: the world is shifting, people are breaking, and whatever is happening to them… isn't happening to him. As more strange incidents spread across the city, Arjun finds himself caught between students who fight like cornered animals, strangers whose instincts feel manufactured, and forces far bigger than any schoolyard conflict. He isn’t trying to become a hero. He isn’t trying to understand the world. He just wants to stay alive. But survival comes with a cost—because once the wrong people notice someone who doesn’t break, they don’t let go. And Arjun is about to find out that the most dangerous thing in this changing world… is a mind that refuses to fall apart.

Bria Stephens was an artist once. She painted cities at dusk in colors no one else could see — until someone she trusted told her she wasn't good enough. She never picked up a brush again. Now she's a senior editor at Caelum Press, one of the most prestigious publishing houses in the country. Her colleagues call her the Ice Queen of the slush pile. Authors fear her rejections. No one knows she still sees the world like a canvas — she just stopped letting anyone see her. Ryan Malcolm wasn't always Ryan Malcolm. He was born Dante Wards, in a neighborhood that tried to bury him. He failed. He lost everything. So he left, changed his name, and rebuilt himself from nothing. Now he's the cold, elusive CEO of Caelum Press — the company he built with his own hands. The only people who know the man beneath the armor are the younger sibling he raised alone, and the anonymous scholarship he funds for kids from his old streets. When an anonymous manuscript lands on Bria's desk — a story about a young artist who stopped painting, written with details no stranger should know — her carefully constructed walls begin to crack. Someone inside Caelum Press knows her secret. Someone is watching. At the same time, an inquiry into the Dante Wards Scholarship threatens to expose the past Ryan has spent years burying. Forced together by the threats circling them both, Bria and Ryan discover what they've been hiding from the world — and from themselves. Two people who built the same walls. Two people who recognize the armor because they wear the same kind. The world has already written Bria as the villainess. Ryan has been written as a ghost. But the story isn't over yet — and some stories can be rewritten. The Color of Cold is a slow-burn contemporary romance about art, survival, and what happens when two people who forgot how to feel finally let someone in.

Good news: You've awakened. Bad news: You're the villainess. Renee Jennings accidentally obtains a system, allowing her to break free from the plot's control by completing missions. Renee Jennings: "Wait a minute, what's with all the animal dictionaries as a reward?" System: [They can give you an affinity with animals.] Renee Jennings: "Why?" System: [Because a villainess has no affinity with people.] Renee Jennings: "…" This joke is not that funny... * After unlocking animal languages, Renee Jennings embarks on a path of no return— Leading dogs to save a blind woman being stalked by a pervert. Reporting an evil old man who murdered his wife and hid her body, thanks to rats. Helping a kitten catch the murderer who killed its owner and buried the body. Finding tens of millions in stolen goods based on intel from birds. * While others are petting cats, Renee Jennings is riding a tiger. While others are falling in love, Renee Jennings is solving crimes. While others are getting married, Renee Jennings is rescuing endangered animals. While others are having kids, Renee Jennings is serving her country.

After being found and brought back by her wealthy family, Arabella Donovan has an unexpected awakening and discovers that the world she lives in is a mishmash of popular story tropes. Her eldest brother is the tragic guy in a melodramatic, angsty novel; Her second brother is the cannon fodder in an showbiz power-fantasy novel; Her third brother is the scapegoat who ends up with a criminal record in a doting teen romance; Her fourth sister is the vicious villainess in a 'real vs. fake heiress' story; And even her parents are just antagonistic background characters in some sweet, middle-aged romance. Arabella Donovan: This family is a complete collection of misfortunes. The word 'tragic' doesn't even begin to cover it. Her family, after hearing all of her inner thoughts: "..."

On the verge of death from illness, Yu Zhizhi transmigrates to the Beast World Planet, becoming the lowest-ranking plaything for slaughter. Her destiny was supposed to be a direct slaughter by powerful figures gone Berserk in their beast forms. Fortunately, she awakened the Childbirth System, and the style of the story suddenly changed— The maddened and fallen monster (Wolf): "I'll give you a choice, love me, or be bitten to death by me?" The evil Duke (Snake): "Beautiful maiden, please fall into the abyss of desire with me." The tyrannical Imperial Marshal (Shark): "I command you, you are only permitted to love me!" The wildly arrogant Crown Prince (Tiger): "I will kill all the males who covet you!!" (The list of Beast Husbands is expanding—) As the lowest-ranking female, Yu Zhizhi is doted on wildly by the powerful figures, undergoing Evolution all the way to the top-tier Rare grade and becoming the most noble existence in the Beast World Empire!