2921 Book(s) Related to another word for said in a story

"I've seen the way you've been staring at me, doll and I know you want me "He said his voice so cold as always , sending shivers down my spine. His frosty gaze bore into mine, void of any warmth or emotion, as his hands traced a deliberate path from my chest down to my belly button, sending a shiver down my spine.

"You can't escape from me doll, so I'll advice you to be submissive. Besides..... You're mine now"He said his eyes digging deep into mine,so cold..... devoid of any emotion.

"You think I don't know you've been drooling over me??"He said and I gasped loudly immediately.

“I…I…I don’t know what you’re talking about, Master,” I stammered, attempting to project confidence. However, my trepidation seeped through, and he let out a hearty laugh that echoed in the cold air.

"You don't?....You know how much I hate lies doll"He said and chuckled loudly.

“It seems you’ve forgotten, sweetheart, that I can quite literally hear your thoughts,” he continued, and I instinctively bit my lip,avoidind his eyes....... He hates it when I look at him directly in the eyes.

"I can hear your heartbeat too Doll..... So loud and clear and guess what...... It's beating like a party drum."He said and pushed some strands of hair from my face.

“I... I’m truly sorry,” I managed to whisper, my voice trembling slightly. Lowering my head almost instinctively, I averted my eyes from his piercing stare, knowing that it was the safest course of action in this fraught moment.

"I hate that word 'sorry' and you know it"He said and I bit my lip immediately shivering.

"I crave you and I want you now"He said and smashed his lips on mine leaving me helpless.

Three years ago, I saved the life of Alessandro Gambino, New York's most powerful mafia boss.

He fell in love with me, a bartender.

His family was dead set against us, but his love won out. We got married.

After we married, he disappeared every month for "punishment day," claiming his family beat him with sixty-six lashes for breaking their rules by staying with me. Watching him suffer tore me apart.

Actully, I'm Sloane Lucchese, sole heir to the largest arms empire on the East Coast, hiding from a family war. I decided to reclaim my family name as soon as possible, so his family would finally accept me.

Finally, on our fifth wedding anniversary, I found out I was pregnant, and my father called to say they'd announce my return in two weeks.

I was going to tell Alessandro everything that night, both pieces of good news.

But that same day, I stumbled onto a secret—one that would destroy me completely.

Dive into In Love with the CEO, a thrilling romance where love conquers secrets and trials! Alex, a fierce, independent woman, is shaken when she uncovers a dossier exposing her past, testing her trust in Alexander, her protective, passionate CEO husband. Their fiery bond faces a stormy pregnancy, wild cravings (mustard on cookies, seriously?), and buried family wounds. Through hilarious spats, heart-wrenching reconciliations, and a dramatic delivery, Alex learns to forgive—her mother, her past, and herself. With young Julia, a pregnant sister-in-law, and mischievous twins, this vibrant saga celebrates resilience and love’s triumph. Weddings, births, tears, and laughter weave an addictive tale that pulls you in. From tender moments to steamy nights, this story is a must-read for fans of modern romance and intense family drama. Get swept away by a journey where love always wins—join Alex and Alexander’s unforgettable adventure!

With one week left until the wedding, Henry Jones asked me to reschedule the date—for one simple reason:
“On our wedding day, I’m taking Ann to the hospital for her prenatal checkup.”
Ann is the widow of his brother Ethan. She’s also my half-sister. In that private room, they laughed at me for being “almost thirty and desperate to get married.”
Ann put on an innocent face. “If Rory is really in such a rush… I can reschedule my appointment.”
I wanted to break up, and Henry frowned as he lectured me:
“As her future sister-in-law, why do you have to fight her over this one day?”
I asked him, “Do you even remember what Friday is?”
He coaxed me softly: “One day earlier or later—what’s the difference?” I nodded and said “Fine,” thinking I could still swallow it.
Until I pressed my fingerprint to enter his office and overheard Ann questioning him about inheritance, and Henry answered under his breath, “It won’t come to that—I won’t let Rory get pregnant with my child.”

Late! Late!! Late!!! Oh, God! Please help me. I don't want to be late, at least not for the first day of my college. I prayed to my dear God and walked so fast inside the college campus as thinking of how I am going to make an excuse.

Shit!! I should have woken up earlier rather than dreaming of my future with my two children. Really Sheila? You don't have a boyfriend even to think about your future, but here you were dreaming of having children, aren't you? Don't tell anyone about your silly dream, they will make fun of you.

Cursing my mind for what seemed to be thousand times, I sped up my walk.

“One million dollars!”. A deep voice bid making everywhere to go silent.


Just a day after Ashley turned eighteen, her parents sold her off to a gangster in order to pay their debt. The gangster decided to resell her in an audition where she was brought for a million dollars.

Ashley was brought by Xander Cage the don of the biggest mafia organization in the state. Xander needed a wife in order to present himself as a responsible man to him big time client.

Ashely found herself thrown into the ruthless world of the mafia where love is impossible. Will she be able to fit into the world or will she run done the hills. Find out more as you read.

Jessica Miller. Five years ago, Ethan Blackwood shattered my world.
He believed the lies, accused me of cheating, and watched me walk out of his life, pregnant with his child. The plane crash that followed made sure he thought I was gone forever.
Now I live under a new name, as Mia Stone, the perfect wife of Alex Stone heart. Together, we built a quiet existence, until fate brings Ethan back. He's richer, colder, and standing across from me at a business meeting.
He doesn't know that I'm the woman he buried.
He doesn't know the little girl calling someone else "Daddy" is his own.
The man who once ruined me is back…
And this time, he's not leaving without the truth.


Ethan Blackwood. Jessica Miller was everything I never knew I needed. And I destroyed her.
I let envy and doubt blind me. I believed the wrong person, pushed Jessica away, and the next time I tried to find her, she was gone. Dead.
For five years I lived with that guilt, building an empire, burying myself in work, trying to forget the woman I loved more than my own soul.
But she's alive. She's standing across from me with a new name, a new life, and the same eyes that once looked at me like I was her world.
She thinks she can keep her secrets. She thinks she can stay hidden.
But I've already lost her once, and I won't make that mistake again.
Even if it means tearing down the life she's built to claim what's mine.

Dedicated three years to marriage, I shed the aura of the genius venture queen, pouring all my connections and resources into helping Simon Coldridge, who had nothing, ascend to the position of CEO. I thought this was a testament to our love, until that stormy night when he hung up on my call for help, yet gently opened the car door and styled the hair of the poor student I had funded.
When I confronted him, he disdainfully said, “You’re Mrs. Coldridge. Don’t take her seriously.” He might have thought I would continue to tolerate it like before. When I threw my ten-carat wedding ring into the trash and withdrew funding from the project he valued most, he finally understood that the Aurora Montague who loved him to the point of losing herself was already dead.

Aaron Buckley the city's first trillionaire is met with the biggest devastation of his life losing the love of his life to mysterious death, and suffers years of loneliness, and the trauma of her death. He is compelled to hire a mother for his twin daughters Paige, and Piper. A contract bride, and a contract mother for his daughters.
No intimacy. No shared feelings. No sleeping in his bedroom. They are to act as the perfect couple in public and avoid each other in private and her job was to cater to the kids until the time elapses and she quietly leaves with the money never to be seen or heard from again.
What becomes of this strange situationship, and what happens when old debts emerge?

For three years, Christina hid her identity as a billionaire heiress, believing she had found true love. Instead, she discovered she was nothing but a cheap stand-in for her scumbag boyfriend's first love. Faced with his arrogance and cruel humiliation, she dumped him without a second thought. The time for playing poor was over!

Returning to elite high society, she reclaims her mega-fortune and accepts a marriage alliance with Gabriel—the most powerful, ruthless billionaire CEO in Aurora City. Known to the world as a cold-blooded tyrant, this untouchable man has only one exception: her. He spoils her beyond measure.

When Christina’s true identity is finally exposed, her pathetic ex is paralyzed with regret, dropping to his knees to beg for a second chance.

Nestled safely in her powerful fiancé’s embrace, Christina looks down at her ex with a cold smirk. "Sorry, but trash like you isn't even qualified to step foot through my family's gates!"

"Ivory's six months pregnant. She needs to get back more than you do."

When my husband Donovan said those words at a South African mining disaster site, I knew my marriage was over. Two helicopter seats, three British nationals. He chose to save his mistress instead of his pregnant wife.

"I'm pregnant too," I told him, my voice shaking.

"I know," he replied without emotion. "You're only three months along. You'll manage."

He knew. He knew I was carrying his child, and he was still choosing her over me. Over us.

"You'll manage. You're stronger than anyone," he told me as he left me in a war zone, helping his precious Ivory onto the helicopter like she might break.

Three months pregnant and abandoned, the stress nearly killed me. I had no choice but to terminate the pregnancy – the last tie connecting me to the man who betrayed me.

But I discovered something deeper than just adultery. Something that would destroy them both.

My world began to crumble the day my adopted sister, Opal, forced her way back into my life with a fatherless daughter in her arms.
My eldest son, Finn, was strapped to an operating table and used for live experiments until he was tortured to death. His remains were tossed into Death Valley.
For her, my husband struck me, costing me my second unborn child.
For her, my own brother locked me in a freezing dungeon. And my late father? He had been a slave to her charms long before he died.
While they threw a lavish birthday party for Opal’s daughter in the brightly lit banquet hall, I was pinned down by dungeon guards, my clothes being ripped off, inch by inch...

Kage enters the foster system in New York at the age of five. The reality of his life seems bleaker each day as his circumstances worsen, and he becomes closed-off, cold and distrusting of others. When he gets adopted at the age of sixteen, his belief in humanity has withered. Kage doesn't live, he exists, day by day. He has lost all hope, and he doesn't dare to dream of something better. Alexander Hawthorne gives him a new lease on life, a family and most importantly, hope. Kage has his own past trauma to deal with and he carries that burden with him when he gets drafted into the NHL. Hockey is his life, his passion and the only thing that is a constant form of happiness.
Follow Kage's journey as he tries to heal, falls in love and faces his inner turmoil.

I fled the hotel room in a panic, leaving only a cheap necklace behind. I had just spent the night with William Ford, the city’s most ruthless billionaire CEO.

My sister, the "real" daughter of my wealthy adoptive family, found the necklace. She stole my secret, claimed she was the woman from that night, and proudly paraded around as his new girlfriend.

She had already taken my parents and my fiancé. Now, she wanted to crush me at work, ordering me to step aside while she played the future Mrs. Ford.

"Don't even think about stealing him, Wendy. You're just a fake," she sneered.

She thought she had won. But she didn't know that William had already seen the unique birthmark on my shoulder.

Later that night, as my sister planned her grand engagement, the terrifying CEO pinned me against his office door. His cold eyes melted into fiery obsession as his husky voice brushed my ear.

"How much longer are you going to let her play my girlfriend, my little runaway?"

Evelyn had to marry the infamous Alpha Kane to save her mother‘s pack, but Kane let her go through half of their wedding alone, ridiculed by the entire pack. When Kane finally showed up with a fresh hickey on his neck, their eyes locked and realized they were fated mates.
Bound to him by an unwanted arranged marriage and the mate bond, Evelyn endured betrayal, pain, and the humiliation。
Then Evelyn saw the truth: she had to reject Kane.
What she never expected was that Kane would be the one who refused to let her go.

Harper never planned to sell her womb, not until her father’s debt left her with no other choice. When she applies to become a surrogate, she also never expects to be chosen by the city’s most ruthless and powerful Mafia King. Even more shocking? The man behind the contract is hauntingly familiar.
He is Cade Leone, the ex she had to dump and leave years ago.
After all these years, how will they face what remains of their love and pain?

When your bf cheated, you slept with his best friend for revenge.
It's an ONS. You never expect to run into him again.
Yet, he became your stepbrother.
"Hello Sister. Behavior yourself. Or your moan will be heard. "
He smirked and caged you against the wall, kissing your neck.
Door's open. Parents downstairs.

She thought she was escaping one cage. She walked straight into another.
Georgia Steele married a man she didn't love to save her family — traded her youth for a gilded prison in Pasadena and called it duty. Then Lord Carlisle Strathearn walked into her life and offered her everything she'd been denied: passion, freedom, the kind of love that made her forget her vows.
She left her husband for him. She left her family. She left everything.
It was only when the doors locked behind her that she realized Carlisle had been watching her long before that first night at the art gallery. That his desire wasn't for her — it was for her destruction. Her father's sins had cost him everything. And Georgia was going to pay the debt.
Now she's trapped beneath a Victorian manor in California, drugged, gaslit, and erased from the world — while Carlisle hosts dinner parties on the floor above her head.
She had two choices once. She has none now.
But the walls she's writing on are starting to whisper back.
Married for Money' Buried for Revenge is a dark psychological romance series about obsession, revenge, and what survives when everything else is taken away. For readers who like their villains brilliant, their heroines unbreakable, and their love stories soaked in shadows.

"Strip her naked and throw her in a dog cage."
When Vincent Sterling gave the order, Serena clutched her stomach in despair: "I'm carrying your baby!"
Vincent just lit a cigarette, watching coldly as the bodyguard’s boot slammed into her belly. "Get rid of it. I don't want anything filthy."
That night, to avenge his childhood sweetheart, Vincent personally killed his own flesh and blood, trampling his wife—whom he had loved for ten years—into the mud.
Later, the truth came to light.
The so-called "infidelity videos" are AI-generated, and the manipulative woman's pain is self-perpetuated.
Seeing the signed divorce agreement and the blood-stained ring, the arrogant Vincent went completely mad.
He knelt in the pouring rain for three days and nights, begging her to come back.
This time, Serena sat in her wheelchair, gazing down at him with an icy, detached gaze.
"Vincent, I don't hate you, but I hate you for being filthy."

My billionaire lover brought out a bespoke mermaid gown, declaring he would marry whoever could fit into it.
But in my past four lives, every woman who tried it on—whether an ambitious imposter or me, his true love—was brutally tortured and murdered by him.
In my fifth rebirth, the butler knocked on our door with a polite smile, "Mr. Voss says his true love is among you."
Since we four women would die no matter who wore it...
We exchanged a look in the dead silence, turned our heads in perfect unison, and locked our eyes onto the only man in the room.

Three years ago, I was the sole surviving legendary mage of Ash Valley. To fulfill my comrade's dying wish, I married into the Robert family, becoming a despised and bullied son-in-law . For three years, I endured torment and humiliation; my entire family treated me like trash . My wife handed me divorce papers , then accepted the marriage proposal of a nobleman. On my wedding day, I walked into the hall in old clothes, and everyone laughed, thinking I was crazy. Until I shattered all magic with a wave of my hand, my legendary presence overwhelming everyone present, the woman who had once despised me finally cried and asked me: Why did you lie to me?

My wife, the most ruthless godmother in New York's underworld, wants a divorce.
The reason? Her male subordinate's old wound has flared up, and he only has three months to live. She wants to accompany him on his final journey as his wife.
To make room for her new lover, she not only doesn't go home, but even allows him to frame me for a fabricated death sentence.
In the dimly lit underground interrogation room, the backlash from deviating from the proper procedures caused my organs to rapidly fail, and I developed a persistent high fever.
Through the iron bars, she looked at my disfigured body, not recognizing me, but coldly raising her gun and giving the order to execute me herself.
She proudly believed that by clearing the way, she could go back and have a grand wedding with the man who was feigning illness.
Until the last shot, when my breathing stopped completely, she saw the old scar on the back of my left hand—the scar from the severed finger I had left for her.
That once arrogant godmother instantly broke down in tears beside my corpse.

I was once the supreme ruler of the global underworld, stepping down from my throne just to cook hot meals for my daughter. Yet, my arrogant brother-in-law mistook my silence for weakness. He smashed my home, tried to hand my wife over to a Mafia Don for his own career, and even stole my Black-Gold Skull Coin as a tribute!
Fine. You want to play? I'll grant your wish.
With a single keystroke, I initiated the DEFCON-1 combat protocol. Instantly, one hundred thousand of the world’s most elite mercenaries went berserk, locking down the entirety of New York City!

When twenty-five-year-old Sonja steps into her regular BDSM club, she expects another night of disappointment or maybe a nice encounter with a nice Dom for a change. As the night went on it seems more like disappointment was facing her yet again, but then she meets John – a Dominant twice her age who she never seen at the club before. With his steady hand and rare ability, her plays with her and guides her into subspace for the first time since she joined the BDSM world. What begins as a single night of trust quickly deepens as John checks in on her every single day afterwards, proving that intensity his dominance comes with care and not just pain, like so many before him. After the first week she already knew he was different she just didn’t know how different he really was.

But by Friday, fate twists their lives together in ways neither of them expected: John is announced as the new CEO of Bradford Rynn Properties the company Sonja works at which means she will be working directly under him as she was the CEO’s personal assistant. Suddenly their secret dynamic collides with the working world. Can they balance the electrical pull of their Dom-sub relationship with the boundaries of the office? Will they want to? Will colleagues, family, friends or the weight of power destroys what they build? What happens when love and an unexpected pregnancy threaten to turn their carefully negotiated roles into something far more complicated?
A story of desire, trust, and impossible choices, this novel ask: how far will they go to protect both their careers and their hearts? Does John’s career even matter to him at the end?

On my due date, my mate Kael locked me in the Frost Vault.
House Veyron's Hatching Law was absolute: the first dragon egg to break shell inherits the entire Emberscale empire. My sister-in-law Celine and I were both due to deliver—our egg dates only one day apart. To ensure his brother Roman's posthumous egg hatched first, Kael made his choice.
"Roman and Celine's egg must break shell first. You owe them that!" He ignored my ruptured water, ignored the agony of the egg already pressing into my birth canal, and shoved me into that dungeon built from ancient ice-dragon bones.
Then they injected me with Frostbind Serum—an ice-magic drug that freezes the life-bond between a mother dragon and her egg. I curled up on the frozen floor carved with suppression runes, feeling my child's pulse fade beat by beat, and wept.
My baby, I'm so sorry... I can't even protect you...

"You will be married to the King of Grok on the fourth night, and that's final!"

I fell to my knees, the cold marble digging into my skin. I had studied for years in the flickering candlelight, memorizing every herb and poison to pass the healer's exam. I wanted freedom. I wanted to save my mother from the servant's quarters. I placed second. I thought I had won my life back.

But the King didn't give me a badge of honor. He gave me a death sentence.

"Raven Thorne shall be wed to the King of Grok," he announced, his voice echoing in the silent hall. Princess Ellie, the woman who had tormented me for years, slapped her hands over her mouth to hide her cruel laughter. She was supposed to marry the Beast. Now, I was the lamb being sent to the slaughter in her place.

They say King Liam drinks the blood of his enemies. They say he is more monster than man. And now, I have to walk into his bedroom, wearing the Princess's silk gown, and pray he doesn't tear me apart.

I looked at the King, tears streaming down my face. "I'll do it," I whispered, my voice trembling. "But my mother must be safe."

I sold my body and soul to a monster to save her. But when the carriage door opened and I finally looked into the Beast's golden eyes, I realized the terrifying truth...

He wasn't a stranger. He was the man I met in the woods.

Dema never expected her new job to end with a marriage proposal from her billionaire CEO.
But with the tabloids destroying his family's reputation, Rami needs a wife—fast.
One year, a quiet divorce, four million dollars. That's the deal.
Thrown into a world of luxury, scrutiny, and impossible expectations, Dema struggles to keep up while Rami treats their marriage like another business arrangement. Yet beneath his cold rules and perfect composure, something unspoken flickers between them.
Just when Dema begins to wonder if their pretend marriage is becoming something real, she overhears a late-night phone call that makes her blood run cold.
Because maybe she wasn't chosen.
Maybe she was used.
And maybe the deal was never the real trap.

My mother-in-law was a spoiled and soft woman.
Fifty years old and she couldn't book a rideshare. Couldn't pick up a package. When the breaker tripped, she cried into a video call to her husband and her son.
The whole family agreed on it. Her only skills were clinging and being adorable.
Then I bled at nine weeks and took myself to the ER.
The OB who picked up my chart was my husband's best female friend. Sable.
She saw me, photographed my chart into their med-school group chat, and hit record.
"Come look, everybody. Dog's wife. Pregnant five minutes and already bleeding from bed."
"Twenty-eight and she's already a geriatric pregnancy. You've got to pace yourself, honey."
The whole room laughed and looked at my stomach.
My face burned white. My nails went numb in my palm.
Thirty minutes later the door hit the wall.
My mother-in-law, the woman who covered her ears in her husband's arms over a tripped fuse, walked in on four-inch heels.
Behind her: hospital administration, the compliance office, and the sitting Chief of Obstetrics.
She pulled the chart out of my hand without lifting her eyes.
"Twenty-eight is advanced maternal age? Normal physiologic fluid, and you called it too much sex?"
"Dr. Smith, is your mouth that filthy because your brain's been marinating in locker-room jokes, or did your ethics get eaten by a dog?"

As the Mafia Princess of her familia, Eleanor is more than ready to secure her family’s future through her marriage with another Mafia don's son. But right before her engagement party, Eleanor catches her fiancé cheating and claiming she “lacks feminine charm.”
Heartbroken and furious, Eleanor ends up seeking comfort in the arms of the bodyguard who punches her fiance to the ground that night.
The next day, Eleanor is determined to break off the engagement and reclaim her life, but her powerful mafia father has other plans.
To keep Eleanor in line, her father assigns a bodyguard to shadow her every move.
A bodyguard who turns out to be the man she spent the reckless, unforgettable night with.
Now Eleanor is trapped between a fiancé she refuses to marry, a father she cannot escape, and her dangerous, mysterious and attractive bodyguard...

I wore a mask to my own wedding—not for romance, but for survival.
My grandfather's ultimatum was clear: marry his childhood friend's grandson, or watch my inheritance go to the step-sister whose mother murdered mine for my father's fortune.
So I became someone else.
Hidden behind carefully crafted features, I walked down the aisle to a man who couldn't even be bothered to show up.
For two years, we lived as strangers with rings on our fingers—him in his world, me in mine.
He never knew the truth: that the woman he ignored was the same one who'd helped him save the Wright Group, the same one he'd despised from the moment we met.
But I played my part perfectly.
And when the divorce papers were finally signed, I thought I was free.
I thought wrong.
Because the mask is coming off, and the CEO who once looked through me is about to discover exactly who he married—and lost.

Galadriel discovers that Alpha Lorcan has betrayed her and is having an affair with his sister-in-law, Marigold. Using a hidden computer, she finds explicit photos and videos of the two of them, and she publicly exposes them. Beta Aurelian provides her comfort, and she decides to perform the mate ceremony with Aurelian. Suddenly, Alpha Lorcan bursts in, demanding that Galadriel not bond with Beta Aurelian. As tensions rise, Aurelian reveals his true identity.

"You are like a father to me, I can't marry you."
"If you can't, then I guess you prefer to be an orphan if your mother dies."
Juliet Jones, was torned in between saving her mother's precious life, and getting into a contract marriage with her father's closest friend, George Watson.
And when she was left with no better choice, and the time is ticking faster on her mother, she got married to Mr George, to save her mother's life.
But unfortunately it was too late, and her mother died, after she had already signed a contract agreement with Mr George.

Catherina Hanshaw Dalton has spent six years believing she lived a fairytale, married to billionaire Xavier Dalton, cherished by him, and building a life rooted in devotion, even amid one heartbreak she cannot control: their inability to have a child. Though Xavier assures her she is enough, Catherine senses his quiet disappointment, a wound deepened by the venomous hostility of his mother, Lydia Dalton. Lydia never misses a chance to insult Catherine’s infertility, idolize Xavier’s sister Mia and her children, or imply Xavier married beneath his status. Catherine endures it all, clinging to the one constant comfort, Xavier always defends her. Or so she believes.
This Christmas, however, Catherine’s dread of another humiliating Dalton family gathering turns into confusion. Lydia is gracious….kind, even. The manor is full of relatives, business partners, and esteemed guests, including Hunter Powell, Xavier’s ruthless business rival. The brief moment when Cathy’s eyes meet Hunter unsettles her, but nothing prepares her for Lydia’s “special Christmas gift.”
During the toast, Lydia presents Caroline Turner…a beautiful young woman who is allegedly four months pregnant through surrogacy…with Xavier’s child.

A year after losing her father, Hailey moves with her mother, Camille, to the small town of Ashton Hollow, a place where everyone knows everyone, rumors travel faster than truth, and the boys’ basketball team is the closest thing the town has to royalty. Hailey isn’t running toward a new life. She’s running from an old one. But basketball, the one thing her father gave her, refuses to let her go, and neither does the past she thought she’d left behind.
Determined to disappear until graduation, Hailey joins the boys’ basketball team and finds herself facing Tristan Hale, her childhood bully and the town’s golden basketball star. Their rivalry is explosive, but beneath Tristan’s arrogance lies a boy haunted by a brutal past of his own. As competition turns into trust and trust into a dangerous romance, Hailey finally begins to feel at home.
Then a student is attacked, and all evidence points directly at Hailey.
Suspended, isolated, and fighting to clear her name, Hailey uncovers secrets surrounding her new family, Tristan’s past, and the charming stepfather her mother trusts. Someone has been manipulating events from the shadow, and Hailey may be the final obstacle standing between them and everything they want.
With her future, family, love, and basketball career at stake, Hailey must discover who is behind the lies before the next move costs her everything.

I bought a handsome, aloof incubus from a clearance sale online to be my live-in maid.
For a week, he was perfect. Then he started fainting, his skin burning with a fever no amount of rest could fix. Panicked that I’d somehow overworked my best employee, I called the 24/7 Aphrodisiac (companyI bought him from) helpline.

Ma’am, our incubus models have a demonic lineage and you have got a high-output model. They have near-infinite stamina. They don't get 'feverish' from vacuuming. But... why did you have him doing 'housework'?"
"Because the house was dirty?"
The agent suddenly chuckled. "Ah, I see. Everyone has their own fantasies and kinks. Roleplay is very popular. But tell me, according to the log, when was the last time Xanthos received physical intimacy?"
"Huh?"
"Physical intimacy," the agent repeated. "Love, spoiling, skin-to-skin contact. If a male incubus doesn't get intimacy, his internal energy stagnates. They fall sick. Male models are much higher maintenance than females; they need constant affection to stay healthy."
My blood ran cold. "Affection? I bought him to mop the floors!"
"Ma'am," the agent's voice dropped. "You are on Aphrodisiac. We are the world's leading provider of supernatural escorts. Did you... did you not read the site description?"

Turns out, I hadn’t bought a demonic domestic servant.
I’d accidentally purchased a high-maintenance supernatural escort.
And apparently, if I didn’t start showing my “maid” some affection soon, he would die and I would be jailed for abusing my maid.

"Abort it," my husband said, his voice completely dead.
This was the man who had just fought off the guards to save me. The man who swore to protect me. But after one single croak from that cursed one-eyed raven, he condemned our third child to death.
My in-laws held me down. My own parents watched in cold silence.
As the abortion poison tore through my body and my blood stained the carpet, they all let out a sigh of relief.
Why? Why was this entire family so obsessed with my womb? Why did everyone obey a bird over a doctor?
I thought I had married into a prestigious noble family. I thought I was just a victim of their twisted traditions.
Until midnight, when I dragged my broken body past the study and saw it through the cracked door:
Black candles. A bloody pentagram. And my mother-in-law kneeling before the portrait of a man.
I finally understood the terrifying truth...

I was their real daughter.

The lost princess they found, brought home, and promised to protect.

But every time she cried, I was the one punished.

Every time she bled, I was the one accused.

When she disappeared, they said it was my fault. They tore my memories apart to prove it.

Fine , only if they stand where I stood, feel what I felt, will they ever know my pain.

To give my daughter, Lily, a childhood connected to nature, I put on worn-out overalls and carved out a small vegetable patch at the edge of the estate.
That was until today, when a vicious dog lunged without warning, sinking its teeth into Lily's calf. Blood instantly stained the dirt.
I threw myself over my daughter like a madwoman to protect her, only to be viciously whipped across the face with a diamond-studded leash.
"Where did this lowly gardener come from! You hurt my dog—can your two worthless lives afford to pay for it?"
A young woman in a haute couture white dress, her pregnant belly protruding, sneered and waved her hand. "Where is security? Beat this crazy, pathetic woman and her little thief of a bastard to death, and throw them out of the estate!"
Holding my convulsing daughter, I said, "Beat us to death? Have you asked the master of the estate?"
The woman giggled coquettishly.
"My boyfriend is the master of this estate! With just one word from him, he could crush you like an ant!"
What a coincidence.
The "masters of the estate" she spoke of... I know them both.
One is my husband.
And the other... is my son.

I was cruising leisurely down a desert highway when three Harley motorcycles pulled up behind me, claiming one of their crew was injured.

I pulled over to help — and they stole my truck.

I called the police — and the cops arrested me as an accomplice.

irectly in front of me.
Only the night before, she’d been curled up in my arms, her warm fingertips brushing my collarbone, our bodies tangled in tender, loving intimacy.
Yet the toe tag fastened around her ankle was etched with cold, unflinching words: Su Wan, Female, 22. Cause of death: fatal fall from height. Time in morgue custody: 365 days.
She had been dead for an entire year.
Just what in the hell was the woman who’d gasped beneath me night after night, who’d lived beside me day in and day out for six whole months—the woman I’d called my girlfriend?

"Margaret has face blindness—she won't even recognize the groom. Tomorrow's ceremony? Just stick any random guy up there with her. Isabelle, I'll marry YOU in the rose garden. Our real wedding."

I stood outside my bedroom door the night before my wedding, listening to my fiancé Theodore plot with my adopted sister, my own parents nodding along.

They thought I was broken. A defective bride too blind to know she was being played.

They wanted a stand-in groom? Fine. I'd give them one.

So I gave them their fake wedding. With one little change.

The "random stand-in" they're expecting? He's Theodore's worst enemy. He's Sebastian Kingsley.

Oh, and according to the marriage certificate we signed three hours ago—he's also my husband.

Over the weekend, Alpha Kennard—my husband—and I were invited to attend a charity auction.
During the bidding, my husband's Beta, Joanna Morton, and I both set our sights on the same ruby necklace.
I was prepared to compete fairly, Until Alpha Kennard made the ceremonial bid for her.
"Queenie, you're nothing more than a dog I keep at home. What right do you have to compete with me?"
Just as everyone else withdrew from the bidding, I snapped my fingers at the auctioneer.
"Whatever Alpha Kennard offers—I'll outbid him by… one dollar."

"Run, mi amor, run, while I watch."
"I feel his eyes everywhere, always watching!"
Ever heard of a hunter becoming the hunted?
That is what happened to Victoria Alexander.
After years of getting betrayed by her husband and best friend, Victoria returns to the city, stronger and more determined to ruin his seemingly happy home.
But things turns out sour for her as her mission for revenge turns into a game in a serial murder case.
While hunting her ex-husband's happiness and an unknown serial killer, Victoria suddenly becomes the hunted.
The thrilling part is that she isn't hunted by just anyone but a powerful shadow, hidden in the dark, watching. Always watching with nothing but a single phrase that leaves chills in her.

When Alexander Carter, the ruthless and irresistibly charming CEO of one of the country’s largest corporations, walked into my office, I thought he was there to terminate my contract. After all, I had just lost everything in a project sabotaged by his company. But instead, he made me an offer that would change my life: marry him for one year.

Sounds crazy? Maybe. But with my younger sister depending on me and the bills piling up, refusing wasn’t an option. In return, he offered enough money to rebuild my career and a contract to lead a project I had always dreamed of.

There was just one rule: don’t fall in love.

Simple, right? Or so I thought. Until I realized that behind his cold demeanor and flawless suits was a man full of secrets. A man who started to unravel me with every touch, every whispered word, every lingering glance.

Now, as I fight to keep up the façade of the perfect wife and uncover the conspiracies within his world, one question remains: when all this ends, will I be able to walk away unscathed?

"Riccardo, please! I beg you!"
My water broke ten minutes ago. Warm liquid streamed down my legs and slowly froze into ice on the ground beneath me.
He stood on the other side of the bulletproof glass. In his eyes, there was not a trace left of the man I had once loved with all my heart.
In the Bellanona Mafia family, bloodline surpasses everything, and the hierarchy of age is an unyielding iron rule: the firstborn son shall inherit the entire underworld empire.
My sister-in-law Sofia and I were both pregnant, our due dates merely one day apart.
To make sure his elder brother’s child seized the succession right first, my husband coldly chose to sacrifice our own flesh and blood.
"My brother’s child must be born first." Riccardo’s voice came over the intercom, colder and more piercing than bitter winter wind. "This is what you owe them."
He had not only locked me inside this icy cellar. Just moments ago, his men pinned me down ruthlessly and injected a dose of medicine into my vein, solely to forcefully halt my labor.
Writhing in agony, I hugged my heavily pregnant belly tightly with both arms.
I could distinctly feel the little life inside me, once kicking and struggling relentlessly, growing fainter and fainter.
I’m sorry, my baby… Mommy is so sorry for you.

Forty-eight hours before my wedding, I was kidnapped and gang-raped, surviving by only a thread in the depths of despair.   When my mafia boss fiancé and my police detective best friend stood guard by my hospital bed with bloodshot eyes, I heard him suddenly switch to Navajo and ask her, "The death row inmates from the dark web—were they dealt with cleanly?"   My best friend chuckled, replying in the same language. "Don't worry. The guys who put their hands on Maya have been wiped out. Dead men tell no tales."   "Sacrificing Maya alone gave you the perfect excuse to wipe out the rival family and swallow the southern smuggling network, while earning me a high-level promotion. It was a damn good deal."   Amidst tearing, agonizing pain, it felt as if I had been plunged into an ice cliff.   They thought I could never understand this obscure tribal language, so they brazenly feasted on the spoils of victory built upon my very flesh and blood. But what they didn't know was that, to surprise my fiancé during our wedding vows... I had been secretly studying Navajo for an entire year.

Five years ago, I woke up after surgery with my mind completely blank. The doctor said I had been in a training accident, and I was lucky just to be alive. Due to my injuries, after being discharged from the military, I was assigned to the mess hall at Fort Kiernan. Every day, I stood behind the same serving window, dishing out the same beef and potato stew to the same group of new recruits. I thought my life would always be like this. Then one day, a female journalist from the detention cell was escorted over by military police to get her meal. She slid her tray toward me and spoke a word I had never heard before. The ladle slipped right out of my left hand. My right arm dropped to my side, and my fingers curled instinctively into the shape of a gun grip. Who on earth am I?

At the press conference celebrating his miraculous recovery, my husband announced—right in front of cameras—that he wanted a divorce.
He chose today. The day he finally woke up after three years in a coma. The day my younger sister returned to the country.
I walked away from everything and decided to return to the field that had once been mine.
But someone please tell me—why does my ex-husband keep showing up everywhere I go, like a ghost that refuses to let go?

All my life, my family said Lucia needed more because I was stronger.
My pony. My celebrations. My mother's time. Whenever my twin wanted something, I was expected to give it up.
Our Mafia Family induction was supposed to be different. We were both Don Romano's daughters. We were both supposed to receive a crown.
Instead, Lucia's custom crown held both our diamonds while mine sat tarnished and empty. At the formal family dinner, Father even moved my place card to the far end of the table because I hadn't dressed well enough—after sending me across Manhattan to collect Lucia's gown.
They thought I would step aside again.
Instead, I withdrew from the ceremony, packed one suitcase, and boarded a one-way flight.
When the entire Romano Family gathered beneath our crest, they found two crowns—but only one daughter willing to wear hers.

I was eagerly awaiting the birth of my child,
only to be told that the one who died wasn't my Alpha Zachary, but his twin brother Beta Ethan !
The family forced him to take care of both me and Sophia,
making me share everything with her.
Sophia slapped me, nearly killing the child in my womb!
Alpha Zachary bluntly said that he only loved Sophia,
marrying me only to fulfill his brother's legacy.
Now that the child was born, he felt no debt to me.
Those words sliced through my heart, destroying everything I held dear.
It hurt so much I could hardly breathe, but I will never endure this again!
This time, I will fight for myself and my child,
and make them pay the painful price for their betrayal!