Cradled in Ice
By @john1208
The rain at her father's funeral did not bother Tova Neri; the mountain of illicit debt he left behind did. A brilliantly lazy restorer of antique clockwork who prefers napping to working, Tova sees only one exhausting way out: offering her womb to Henrik Vaner. The frigid CEO of a maritime shipping empire needs an heir to secure his family trust, and a transactional surrogacy seems perfectly devoid of emotion. But as Tova moves into his sprawling, silent manor, the icy arrangement melts. Henrik's cold demeanor shatters under a fierce biological imperative. Soon, he is obsessively monitoring her sleep cycles, wrapping her in blankets, and, during one midnight craving, carrying her to the kitchen to quietly bake pastries together in the dark. Yet a melancholic shadow hangs over their domestic cocoon. Dr. Kaspar Olin has secretly altered their medical bindings, and Henrik's head housekeeper is playing both sides of a corporate war. As Tova's pregnancy advances, fragmented memories begin to resurface. Why does Henrik's estate feel so familiar? And what will he do when they both realize Tova's forgotten past self orchestrated this entire "accidental" surrogacy from the start?
3
The Mirehollow Arrangement
By @john1208
Kezia Corbel stands over her beloved mentor's fresh grave, her dream of attending the elite Hargrove Medical College shattered by lack of funds. Enter Vossik Rhent, the glacial CEO of a medical tech dynasty, who makes a stunning offer: full tuition in exchange for her acting as his surrogate. Guided by a psychic’s bizarre prophecy that only Kezia’s specific biology can carry his cursed bloodline to term, Vossik moves her and her three-legged rescue dog, Chert, into his brutalist, high-security mansion. What begins as a cold, clinical transaction shifts drastically as forced proximity and the biological imperative take hold. Vossik’s icy demeanor shatters into a suffocating, obsessive need to protect her - from ruthlessly vetting her med-school study schedules to grimacing his way through her late-night pickle-and-peanut-butter cravings so she won't eat alone. But as Bramwell Croy, a ruthless rival CEO, plots to kidnap the unborn heir, Kezia realizes her life is in grave danger. As she digs deeper, she uncovers a terrifying truth: the mysterious disease that killed her mentor and the curse plaguing Vossik's bloodline are the exact same conspiracy. Can she expose the truth before Croy steals her child?
1
The Midnight Heir
By @john1208
Danica Morvath’s pride is as fragile and sharp as the centuries-old glass her family creates. To save the ancestral Morvath Atelier from being sold to developers, she strikes a desperate midnight deal with Julian Kestner, the city’s coldest industrial magnate. The terms slide across the marble table: live in his secluded penthouse, carry his heir, and leave the moment the child is born. But the sprawling fortress soon feels like a velvet trap. Forced into agonizing proximity, Julian’s icy demeanor violently shifts. Soon, he is ripping the steel shutters off a closed bakery at 3 AM just to satisfy her craving for cherry pastries, treating her diet and sleep as matters of national security. Danica tries to protect her heart from the bittersweet, unspoken tension between them, convinced she is nothing but a temporary incubator. But she completely misunderstood the rules of her own contract. Julian doesn't just want a child - he needs her. As an obsessed ex-boyfriend returns to stalk her, Julian's protective instincts reach terrifying heights. If her temporary contract was a lie, what is Julian's true endgame?
1