138 Book(s) Related to hayley leblanc

Harlem Rahim. A girl from the hood. From Brownsville, Brooklyn.

Born of an Israelite father and an afro american mother. Quite a juvenile delinquent and not ashamed to be.

If you grew up the way I did, you'd probably be one too. Just turned eighteen years old. Poor but not stupid.

I'm gonna go all the way to get out of this mess.

To get 'us' outta this. Even discover a world out of the hood life.

But never forget where I come from. Where I belong.

"I would give up Heaven again in a heartbeat of it means you get to live."

Samarra Hayden has spent her whole life running from things no one will explain.

New towns. New names. New rules she’s expected to follow without question.

Mill Hollow was supposed to be just another stop.

It isn’t.

The shadows close in, her identity is challenged and when the broody bad boy in her new school takes an interest in her, her whole world changes.

Caught between a fierce eternal love and a burning desire to belong, Sam must chose if she will succumb to the powers growing inside her, or cling to the angel that has kept her safe, hidden, alive.

Lucas Hale has a lacrosse scholarship, a spotless record and a future mapped out to the last detail. Then his grades start dying one class at a time and he has no idea why.

Madeline Reyes has the same problem. Except hers isn't an accident. Someone has been messing with her scores and she wants to know who.

They meet in the principal's office after breaking into it for completely different reasons. The cameras caught them. Now they're each other's punishment.

Tutoring sessions were not supposed to feel like this.

Now Madeline Reyes realises their is more to the eyes than the perfect score and the cock character that Lucas carries around him like a sheild

"In the toxic halls of Eastview High, Aria Bellwyn has mastered the art of being invisible. But when she's forced to tutor golden boy Knox Hale, she's thrust into a world of danger and desire. As they navigate the treacherous social hierarchy, Aria becomes the target of Knox's manipulative ex, Blaire, and the ruthless queen bee, Sarah. But Knox's secrets run deeper he's trapped in a deadly debt to a local crime lord, and Aria's the only one who can help him take down the corrupt empire controlling the school. As they risk everything to expose the truth, can they survive the betrayal lurking in every corner and find love in the process?

Dive into this heart-pumping, high-stakes romance where the line between invisible and irresistible is about to get blurred."

Once upon a time, there were two kingdoms once at peace. The kingdom of Salem and the kingdom of Mombana.

Until the day, the king of Mombana passed away and a new monarch took over, Prince Cone.

Prince Cone, has always been hungry for more power and more and more.

After his coronation, he attacked Salem.

The attack was so unexpected, Salem never prepared for it. They were caught off guard. The king and Queen was killed, the prince was taken into slavery.

The people of Salem that survived the war was enslaved, their land taken from them. Their women were made sex slaves.

They lost everything, including their land.

Evil befall the land of Salem in form of Prince Cone, and the prince of Salem in his slavery was filled with so much rage.

The prince of Salem, Prince Lucien swore revenge.


Ten years later, thirty-years old Lucien and his people raided a coup and escaped slavery.

It took them five years before they ambushed and attacked Mombana. They killed Prince Cone and reclaimed everything.

As they screamed out their victory, Lucien's eyes found and pinned the proud princess of Mombana. Princess Danika. The daughter of Prince Cone.

As Lucien stared at her with the coldest eyes ever, he felt victory for the first time.

He reached close to the Princess and with a swift movement, he collared her neck.

Then, he tilted her chin up, staring into the bluest eyes and the most beautiful face ever created, he gave her a cold smile.

"You are my acquisition. My slave. My sex slave. My property. I will pay you in spades, everything you and your father ever did to me and my people." He stated curtly.

Pure hatred, coldness and victory was the only emotion on his face.

They don’t know I’m a girl.

They all look at me and see a boy. A prince.

Their kind purchase humans like me for their lustful desires.

And, when they storm into our kingdom to buy my sister, I intervene to protect her. I make them take me too.

The plan is to escape with my sister whenever we find a chance.

How am I to know our prison will be the most fortified place in their kingdom?

I’m supposed to stay on the sidelines. The one they have no real use for. The one they never mean to buy.

But then, the most important person in their savage land—their ruthless beast king—takes an interest in the “pretty little prince.”

How do we survive in this brutal kingdom, where everyone hates our kind and shows us no mercy?

And how does someone, with a secret like mine, become a lust slave?

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This is a dark romance—dark, mature content. Highly rated 18+.

Expect triggers, expect hardcore.

If you're a seasoned reader of this genre, looking for something different, prepared to go in blindly not knowing what to expect at every turn, but eager to know more anyway, then dive in!

"Do you know what smells better than fear?" His voice was a replica of the male. Deep, dark, and dangerous.

"What...?" She squeaked, terrified. He was standing so close to her...

"Lùst. Desire." He spat the words like they tasted bad, his eyes cold, his face inscrutable. "The scent of your wetness is driving me insane. I can practically taste your hunger for my cóck."

Then, he shocked them both—hell, even the poor equipment in her bathroom.

With a savage growl, his head lowered completely and his mouth crashed down to hers.
..
.
.************

There are rumors...
Whispers around in secret.
Murmurs in pitch darkness. Of the most powerful 'man' in Naturiah.

The most fearsome creature. The fiercest predator Naturiah ever has. A man who is the 'impossible'.

Rumors has it that his powers and strength not only surpass that of all 'men' but there's are nothing compared to his.

He is their Alpha.
Most species has an Alpha, but this 'man' is the Alpha of all Alphas. The ultimate Alpha.
The Alpha King.
They think him god.
He is respected like one.
He is feared like one.
They call him god.

Because, he is a crossbreed between the two most powerful creatures.
He has the strength of a mountain lion and the power of a werewolf.
He can take the form of a mountain lion or a werewolf. Or a man.
Why?
Because, he is a werewolf AND a mountain lion.

His name is Wolfariane Daminor Throne.
The Alpha King of Naturiah.
.

When Lust Meets Fate, The 7 Deadly Sins Await. Join the journey of seven couples as they overcome envy, gluttony, greed, lust, sloth, pride and wrath to find their happily ever after. From teachers to rock stars, from homemakers to millionaires, everyone sins as they strive for happiness.
7 Deadly Sins Series is created by Haley Rhoades, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

Divorcing my striper husband is a love story that unfolds the two birds who have been enjoying their lives until Ava gets hired at her former college colleague who owns the company and this made Herman jealous and they kept on having fights from time to time.
Ava one day saw Herman entering a restaurant while holding a waist of one girl and she started suspecting that her husband was cheating on her…her boss Liam knew some secret about Herman but he didn't disclose it to her but rather advised her to pay attention to her husband’s words and actions if she wanted to find out the truth.
Ava turned into a stalker and one day followed him up to a nightclub but she couldn't believe her eyes because her husband was striping with many girls around him…Ava filed for a divorce because she couldn't stay in marriage with such a man and surprisingly everyone around her knew about it except her…Will Ava's boss Liam take his shot with Ava after divorcing Herman?? Will Herman change his character and get a decent job in order to win Ava back?? Well all that will be unleashed in this beautiful journey of Divorcing my striper husband.

Married besties. A rocky road to parenthood. Is their tight-knit group headed for a passionate collision?

Taylor Taft is ready to make big changes. After breaking free from an abusive relationship, the twenty-something has finally sworn off bad boys. So the selfless party girl leaps at the chance to do some good when her best friends beg her to act as their surrogate.

Fully committed to her beloved pals, Taylor stubbornly tackles all the medical, financial, and personal hurdles head-on. But with tempting fantasies swirling about the father of the child she’s carrying, she wonders if she’s made a terrible mistake.

Will this baby destroy their inseparable bond or become their lifelong forever?

Contains: explicit sex scenes, memories of abuse and assault
Suggested Age 18+

Third Wheel is created by Haley Rhoades, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

The best day of Marcia's life was the day her husband had thrown her dying body into the cold North Dakota night. When a handsome stranger found her and nursed her back to health she found the one thing she had always wanted, but never had, a family. Together they ran the Quiet Moon Wolf Sanctuary and for once Marica felt safe and happy.

The delicate balance that Marcia had found in her life came crumbling down in a single night. Her best friend and savior was dead, her home burned to the ground, werewolves were real, and apparently, one was her soul mate.

When he went to collect the body of his older brother the last thing Marcus thought he would find was his mate. Even stranger was the fact that she seemed to be human but there was something else about her. Marcus had never considered that his mate would be a human but he would not question the Moon Goddess's judgment.

He was determined to help her accept him and his world but what would happen when long-lost secrets became revealed? Would he still accept her when he found out who and what she really is? Could they protect each other and their pack when those that were hunting her found them?

Gabriella must do the one thing engrained in her DNA, Trust an alpha. Gabriella family was curse as she puts it. She cannot be commanded by any Alpha and for that she cannot belong to any pack. From an early age her father and 6 older brothers taught her how to fight. She’s excelled at multiple forms of martial arts and finally of age was allowed a position as turning 18 she is made the lead female warrior trainer at the Academy. The Academy was the starting ground for all Alphas, known Lunas’, and many lead warriors to various packs. Her older brother Antony ask that she take over his classes for a few weeks to months so that he can travel the packs to find his mate. Uninterested and not caring about finding her own mate, she excitedly agrees unknowingly she would be challenged beyond compare. Meeting Alpha Samuel was a complete surprise. When he marks her without permission her wolf in unveiled only to explain that her mission is a long one. She must bring together the paranormal community and create harmony amongst the Vampires, Witches, Wolfs, Demons and Faye realms. To do so her and her family and friends must band together to create the Royal Counsel to over see all paranormal laws. When many of the packs refuse to submit to any leader, especially one that is a woman, the Royal counsel must rise up to fight the upcoming battle to bring harmony once and for all.

From the dark imagination of Harley Steele, a chilling story unfolds—a frightful tale of twisted horrors.

Hey, my name's Alice, and my boyfriend's name is... Yeah, no, we're not doing that song and dance. Naw. Once upon a time, I was just another girl hoping for a simple life after high school. Now, I'm ensnared in the grotesque reality of Naughty Nectar Farms (NNF), not a farm but a prison where shadows don’t just whisper—they scream with the horrors of the night.

My stepfather, blinded by greed, sold my freedom and my innocence to this nightmare. Here, I am nothing more than livestock, subjected to the twisted whims of those who see women as commodities to be bred, milked, and broken. But while they may have trapped my body, they can't imprison my will.

Each day, I hear the hushed, sinister talks of breeding and milking disguised as agricultural innovation. I see the cruel fate of my fellow captives, poked, prodded, and dehumanized. Yet in this lab of horrors, where humanity is stripped away, I hold onto one truth—they think I am weak, demure, broken. They are mistaken.

I am guilty of many things, but submission is not one of them. Here in the depths of despair, my fury simmers. I am plotting, waiting. For though they have taken much, my resolve grows with each passing day. I will lead us out of this darkness, or die trying. This is no ordinary farm, and I am no ordinary woman.

Strap in for "Galactic Survival Games: Hucow U-Verse," where every week is a ruthless fight for survival on a cosmic scale. Our hucow heroine isn't just another contestant; she's bait in the galaxy's most vicious reality show, thrown into savage new worlds each week from dinosaur-ridden wastelands to treacherous alien oceans. Here, survival isn't guaranteed—it's stolen, fought for, and drenched in the blood and sweat of its contenders.

Amid the chaos, she finds a recurring connection with a man doomed to forget her as his memories are scrubbed clean after each harrowing ordeal by their sinister alien overlords, the Grays. Their twisted game is designed to entertain a galaxy that thirsts for desperation, despair, and an all-you-can-consume buffet of carnal pleasures.

But the game's endgame erupts when the Forgotten—a rogue faction her love interest belongs to—storms the stage in Week 52. As his memories flood back, revealing the bonds they forged in the crucible of alien landscapes, she faces the ultimate choice: remain in the relentless glare of the galaxy’s cruel spotlight or vanish with the Forgotten.

This series is not for the faint-hearted. It's raw, it’s gritty, and it slaps you with the harsh reality of love and memory in a universe that prizes spectacle overall. Readers can tune into "Galactic Survival Games" on Novel Snack and ride the razor's edge of passion and danger. Will she fade into obscurity, or rise as a legend among the stars? The cosmos is brutal, and so is this story. Witness it.

"Stay with me, Luna. Please. I can't lose you both."
Her eyes were on mine and I could see the resolution and gratefulness in her eyes despite the pain.
"You never deserved us. We were too good for you. If I had another chance," she whispered slowly pausing to breathe, "I would never stay with you. I would save my son from your indifference. I would spare us both the pain of loving someone who never loved us back."
"I did love you," I insisted, tears rolling down my face. "I do love Ollie. Please, Luna."
"Next time," she promised, a smile on her lips and tears running down freely her side of her eyes, "we'll be free."


Luna has tried her best to make her forced marriage to Xen work for the sake of their child. But with Riley and Sophia- Xen's ex-girlfriend and her son in the picture. She fights a losing battle.
Ollie, Xen's son, is neglected by his father for a very long time, and he is also suffering from a mysterious sickness that's draining his life force.
When his last wish to have his dad come to his 5th birthday party is dashed by his failure to show up, Ollie dies in an accident after seeing his father celebrate Riley's birthday with Sophia, and it's displayed on the big advertising boards that fill the city.
Ollie dies, and Luna follows after, unable to bear the grief, dying in her mate's hands, cursing him and begging for a second chance to save her son.
Luna gets the opportunity and is woken up in the past, exactly one year to the day, Sophia and Riley show up.
But this time around, Luna is willing to get rid of everyone and anyone, even her mate, if he steps in her way to save her son.

When omega Lake Sanders' father disappears, leaving behind crushing debts and a five-year-old brother to protect, Lake thinks he's reached rock bottom. But when he attempts to end both their suffering in the cold ocean depths, he's pulled from the water by the most feared alpha in the city—Damien Ramon, the Alpha King himself.

At twenty-two, Ramon rules his territory with an iron fist, and Lake's father has just made him the most dangerous offer of all: his omega son as collateral for a two-million-dollar debt. Now Lake faces an impossible choice—become Ramon's personal assistant and work off the debt over decades, submit to being sold to other alphas, or accept the most terrifying option of all: become the Alpha King's mate.

But in Ramon's world of power and politics, claiming an omega is easier than keeping him. With rival packs circling, family members scheming, and a dangerous arranged marriage threatening everything, Lake must navigate a web of deadly enemies who see him as nothing more than a gold-digging whore trying to trap their king.

As Lake slowly discovers there's more to the ruthless Alpha King than meets the eye—especially when it comes to protecting Ollie—the line between captor and protector begins to blur. But in a world where omegas are property and alphas take what they want, can love ever truly exist? Or will the very forces that brought them together tear them apart forever?

Blurb
Celeste was married to a Mafia Don, by the name Xenois Kingston on a contract marriage, that would last 6 years.
The deal was that Celeste would give him children during that period and after the end of the 6 year contract, he would offer her $100,000,000,000, divorce her and keep the children as his.
Celeste, an orphan, abandoned by the orphanage she grew up in at the age of 18 had nothing to lose and agreed to the deal.
6 years later, Celeste is now 24 years and mother to triplets boys; Lake, Troy and Soren. The contract is coming to an end this month and rumors has it that Xenois true love Claudia Hale is returning back to the city after 6 years of absence.

Xenois handed her the divorce papers that morning only for him to get into a car accident on the way to the hospital and suffers from amnesia.

To Xenois, he's in love with his wife and kids and a very attentive father and husband and is surprised to find out that Celeste planned on divorcing him. He is determined to make his wife fall for him and be a better father to their children. Things seem like a fairytale for Celeste who is desperate to hold on to this illusion after she had fallen for her husband in their third year of their marriage and stayed with an unrequited love. She knows what she's doing is cruel but she wants to enjoy it while it lasts.

But Claudia Hale won't rest until she gets rid of the obstacle named Celeste and marries her heartthrob Xenois.

Will Xenois recover his memory and better yet, once he does, does Celeste still stand a chance at winning the heart of her husband or would she be accused of having a hand in his amnesia.

Luna has tried her best to make her forced marriage to Xen work for the sake of their child. But with Riley and Sophia- Xen's ex-girlfriend and her son in the picture. She fights a losing battle.
Ollie, Xen's son is neglected by his father for a very long time and he is also suffering from a mysterious sickness that's draining his life force.
When his last wish to have his dad come to his 5th birthday party is dashed by his failure to show up, Ollie dies in an accident after seeing his father celebrate Riley's birthday with Sophia and it's displayed on the big advertising boards that fill the city.
Ollie dies and Luna follows after, unable to bear the grief, dying in her mate's hands cursing him and begging for a second chance to save her son.
Luna gets the opportunity and is woken up in the past, exactly one year to the day Sophia and Riley show up.
But this time around, Luna is willing to get rid of everyone and anyone even her mate if he steps in her way to save her son.

She married him out of desperation, becoming the perfect docile wife while he treated her like dirt beneath his shoes. But everything shattered the night she overheard him mocking her with his friends-and discovered the necklace she'd cherished, her only link to the boy who once saved her life, didn't even belong to him.
It was all a lie.

No longer the doormat he married, she discards her fake identity and reclaims her birthright as the hidden heiress of Salvadore City. Now she's on a mission: find the necklace's true owner among his circle of friends, no matter how many hearts she has to break along the way.

But her husband isn't ready to let go. Convinced she's playing games to make him jealous, he's blindsided when divorce papers land in his hands. By the time he realizes the woman he dismissed was never who he thought she was, she's already moved on-living her truth, chasing her destiny, and leaving him choking on regret.

Some cages, once opened, can never be closed again.

Cold Rejection
A forbidden love. A deadly past. A future neither of them saw coming.

When Kristine Delvin meets Dominic Gareth at her Pack's bonfire night, she's drawn to his dark charm and dangerous aura. Despite their ten-year age gap and his mysterious nature, she can't resist falling for him. When fate reveals they’re true mates, it feels like destiny—until secrets begin to unravel.

Dominic isn’t who he says he is. He’s a rogue Alpha sent to spy on her Pack—the same Pack that hunts rogues like him. Torn between his mission and his love for Kristine, Dominic dreams of abandoning it all for her. But when a devastating truth comes to light—that Kristine is the daughter of the man who killed his parents, and the same man Dominic murdered in revenge—he makes the only choice he can: fake a rejection and disappear.

Heartbroken and alone, Kristine discovers she's pregnant with Dominic's child. Refusing to erase their bond, she raises the child with the help of her best friend, Noah. Years later, fate cruelly intervenes again when Kristine and Noah are captured by Dominic’s rogue Pack. Old wounds reopen, buried feelings resurface, and truths that were meant to stay hidden force them to confront everything they once ran from.

With love rekindled and lives on the line, Dominic must risk everything—including his own life—to protect the woman he never stopped loving and the family he never knew he had. But in a world ruled by blood laws and betrayal, will their second chance be enough?

In the ashes of a fallen empire, fire is forbidden and those born with it are hunted.

For twenty-one-year-old Kaelin Dravyr, survival means hiding her emberfire beneath scars and silence. Once a smuggler of dragon relics, now a fugitive, she’s spent her life outrunning the Crown that burned her kind to extinction. But when a duel in the undercity ignites the flame within her for all to see, Kaelin’s secret shatters and the realm’s deadliest heir takes notice.

Prince Ardyn Varell, the empire’s young regent, offers Kaelin a single, ruthless choice: execution, or service. Sent to infiltrate a rebel faction rumored to protect the last living dragon, Kaelin accepts but the deeper she goes, the more she learns that the true monster might sit upon the throne.

As whispers of prophecy stir and a dragon’s heartbeat echoes in her chest, Kaelin’s fire awakens an ancient bond that could either save the world or burn it down.

Torn between a rebellion’s trust, a prince’s obsession, and the inferno rising within, Kaelin must decide what kind of flame she’ll become: weapon, savior, or sovereign.

“Dangerously Sweet” features Annie Caldwell, a curvy, blonde baker from Texas, living in Atlanta, and her man, Mason Blacksteele; a billionaire gym owner with family issues.

Having just survived a mugging that left her shook, Annie is looking for a personal trainer to teach her self-defense.
Former playboy, Mason, isn't looking to settle down; he just wants to focus on building his business and his bod, but his controlling mother has a steel grip on his finances. Before she relents to turn his business over to him at last, she requires him to find a wife.
Enter Annie, looking for a custom training program.
The two quickly strike up a deal; Mason will personally coach her for free if she pretends to be his serious girlfriend for a weekend at the Hamptons with his family.

At first glance, these two people couldn’t be more different, but they have more in common than they think. They are both passionate, hardworking business owners, neither one looking for love, yet they both possess something that the other needs.

What happens when a demon yells right in front of a Church?

Unfortunately for the demon, Pastor Norman knows how to take him out.

If he can just find him!

While the Pastor and Jessica's grandmother are working out the problems, Jessica is having to deal with keeping her GPA up all while learning about her past and the family abilities.

Oh, and dealing with an imp for a familiar.

Being a teenage witch isn’t all as it’s cracked up to be… unless Jessica can learn what she needs which creates a problem.

Without her mom's permission, Jessica won't learn a thing.

She stole from the wrong billionaire. Now she's his most valuable prize.

Half-fae thief Vesper thought she'd pulled off the heist of a lifetime—until she discovered her mark was a dragon in disguise. Draken, the ruthless CEO who rules Las Vegas with an iron fist and a hoard of gold, doesn't forgive. He doesn't forget. And he never lets go of what's his.

One stolen memento. One impossible connection. One soul-bond that neither of them wanted.

Now she's caught between vampire syndicates, dragon-hunters, and a possessive billionaire who claims her as his fated mate. But none of them saw it coming: her half-fae bloodline wasn't a weakness—it was the perfect vessel for primordial dragon magic, a power no mortal was ever meant to wield.

Now she can see through any lie, bend probability at the casino tables, and challenge the immortal elite who've ruled Vegas for centuries. In a city where money is god and magic is currency, Vesper must master these stolen abilities before her enemies weaponize her gifts—or before Draken's obsession consumes them both.

"Nancy has returned. I'll have my secretary prepare the divorce settlement."

Andrew Lopez, the superstar and my secret contract husband of three years, buttoned his shirt coldly. For three years, I was his perfect, obedient wife in the shadows. I fulfilled his every need and never caused a single scandal. But the moment his first love returned, I became entirely disposable.

"Very well, I will sign it," I smiled, understanding my place.

I packed my bags and prepared to step aside. But the script didn't go as he planned. When his "innocent" first love tried to bully and humiliate me, I refused to be a pushover, tearing off her fake mask. And when my handsome former classmate showed up to protect me, Andrew completely lost his mind.

He pinned me against the wall, his eyes burning with intense jealousy. "You're still my wife! Stay away from him."

I let out a cold laugh. "We're getting divorced, remember? You chose your true love. Now, watch me shine and live my best life without you."

Is a stay-at-home wife just a maid in her marriage?

I say: Absolutely not.

I worked late just to buy my daughter a birthday cake.
But when I got home, I accidentally heard her on the phone with another woman.

She was ashamed of me, called me a maid, and begged that woman to act as her family member at the parent-teacher conference.

Later I found out my husband had been with that woman all along.
Hidden inside my daughter’s watch was a small group chat with just the three of them.

My own daughter said she hated me and planned to drive me away.
And my husband let it all happen.

My heart was completely broken.
On my birthday, I signed the divorce papers and left home quietly.

After leaving, I discovered a much bigger world and achieved my dreams.

But their lives fell completely apart.

"You're being married to a prince," he said, cold and measured. "You claim you can't contribute to this pack as a warrior? Fine. Then this is your chance at redemption."
"Honor?" I spat the word like poison. "You and the king are exactly the same—both fine sacrificing me for your precious legacy."
"Enough." His voice dropped, dangerous and quiet. "Do you want to spend decades unable to shift? Watching everyone you trained with surpass you? Is that the life you want? Really?"
The denial stuck in my throat. We both knew the answer.
"So leave." Softer now. "You're my most stubborn daughter, Elara. This choice is brutal. Unfair. But at least it's a chance to prove you're still the warrior you claim to be."
He paused at the door. "Some wolves come late," he said quietly. "The ones you have to fight for — they're often more beautiful than anyone ever imagined."
Then he was gone.

She trained like a warrior. Fought like a warrior. Thought like one, planned like one, bled like one — just like the legendary parents whose name she was supposed to carry on.
She just never turned into one.
Every wolf shifts. Elara didn't. One failure erased everything else — no command, no place on the battlefield. Just a wedding dress and a one-way trip to vampire territory.
The last bride sent to secure this same alliance took her own life. Elara is the one they scrambled to send in her place — before the ink on the treaty could even dry.
She tells herself she just has to survive where her predecessor couldn't.
She has no idea what's actually waiting for her in that castle — and by the time she finds out, it's already too late to run.

Everyone thinks I'm the wild child of the family, the one who won't fall in line.

Blake's the young king of the business world—rational, cold, always in those perfectly cut suits.

But every night, he's got me pinned underneath him, breathing my name.

He said I was his, but never let me see daylight. Until she came back—my father's mistress's daughter, in her white dress, smiling like an angel.

On my birthday, he went to pick her up from the airport. When the chandelier crashed down, he carried her to the hospital and left me bleeding on the floor. When she smashed my mother's heirloom, he made me apologize on my knees. He said she was fragile, needed care; said I was strong enough to understand.

Then I heard them on my bed, her moaning his name.

So I left. Married a man who truly loved me. And he went insane.

He kidnapped me, forced a wedding, announced to the world I was his wife.

But this time, I just smiled and shook my head.

"Let go. It's too late."

I used to be the Blackwells' best killer. For him, I walked away from that life and became his wife. I even gave him a daughter.

I thought it was redemption. Turns out, it was the start of something worse.

Three years ago, during that shootout at the docks, his first love showed up with his bastard son. When the rival family put guns to both kids' heads, he didn't hesitate. He chose to save her son.

My daughter burned in the explosion.

That was the day the man I loved for ten years died. What's left is just my sworn enemy.

At the Met Gala, I heard my husband tell his friends in French that I'm "boring." That his 22-year-old girlfriend is "so much more exciting in bed."

He laughed when they asked if I knew. "Elle ne comprend même pas 'bonjour'." (She doesn't even understand 'bonjour'.)

What Marcus doesn't know: I spent two years at the Sorbonne.

Je comprends tout, Marcus. I understand everything.

The diamond necklace he gave me after my miscarriage suddenly feels too tight. I smile at him across the champagne and candlelight.

He has no idea what's coming.

Everyone says he loved me more than anything. So I chose to answer that love with death.

Forbes cover stories, tearful speeches at charity galas, shutting down Fifth Avenue every Valentine's Day just to watch fireworks with me. They said he ruled a business empire but would kneel in front of the entire world and call me his reason to live.

I used to believe it.

Until I discovered my perfect husband had built another home with another woman. A warm one, filled with laughter and his child.

So I chose to disappear the night the storm swallowed everything.

They say he spent three days on his knees at the cliff's edge, screaming my name into the black ocean. The man worth billions couldn't even find his wife's body.

When the rescue team recovered that burned-out car, he finally opened the safe I'd left for him. Inside was a positive pregnancy test and a divorce agreement that would never be signed.

By then, nothing mattered anymore.

At the bar, I watched Ethan get publicly dumped and made a crazy proposal fueled by liquid courage—a three-month fake dating contract.

I thought this was my only chance after twenty years of secret crushing. Until his ex showed me the text: "With Mia? Pretty convenient. She's been following me around since we were kids."

So I was just a tool.

The day we broke up, he shouted with red eyes: "I've been crazy about you for twenty years!" I thought he was acting, until his mom handed me a worn journal—

That careless comment I made at thirteen, "I'm never marrying Ethan," he'd remembered for twenty whole years.

Every page of that diary was filled with my name...

Every time my husband wants to make me give in, he slaps divorce papers on the table. Every time my parents want me to cave, they threaten to disown me.

What they want is simple: give everything to my twin sister.

I used to fight back. I cried. I demanded to know why it always had to be me.

But when the doctor slides the test results across his desk and tells me in that pitying voice, "Stage four brain cancer. You have a month, maybe less," something in me just... stops caring.

I'm dying anyway. They can do whatever the hell they want.

Three years after returning to the Duke's estate, I finally admit the truth: the phoenix I poured my heart into raising doesn't love me. He only spreads his brilliant tail feathers for the replacement.

I was six when traffickers took me, stuck in the slums for twenty years. A year after losing me, the Duke and Duchess adopted an infant from the church.

That girl became the new daughter, enjoying everything that should have been mine.

When they found me at twenty-six, my parents looked at me with guilt, yes, but mostly like I was a stranger. They loved the daughter they raised more.

I don't blame them.

Twenty years in the slums taught me: don't count on anyone's love. Only power and gold won't betray you.

So when he refused me for the third time, I went to the black market auction and bought a battered wolf slave.

The phoenix finally panicked, feathers flaring, voice shaking:

"Master, you promised you'd only keep one magical beast..."

Ethan and I grew up together. We were supposed to exchange rings at the altar, make our vows. But on our wedding day, he left me standing there to go save his so-called suicidal ex. Almost killed my parents from the shame.

Four years later, I'm back in Portland with my husband. The city isn't that big, and of course fate decides to throw him in my path again.

He has the nerve to ask me to be his mistress.

I hold up my left hand, the ring catching the light. "Are you blind?"

The day I get diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, I can finally stop selling plasma.

For five years, I thought I was paying for the fire that killed my parents and son, left my brother disabled. Selling plasma, joining drug trials, doing the worst jobs imaginable, all to pay back a debt that wasn't even real.

The doctor says I have a few weeks left. I clutch the diagnosis report and head home to tell them.

The moment I push open the door, I see my parents in the kitchen, the ones who supposedly died in the fire. My brother, who was supposed to be in a wheelchair, stands there raising a glass, laughing with my husband.

My brother shrugs like it's nothing. "The broken leg was fake the whole time. You were the only one hurt in the fire. We just wanted to teach you a lesson, make you appreciate things."

"We were going to tell you eventually." My husband pats my shoulder. "Go apologize to Vanessa. Stop giving her a hard time."

"All the money you gave us went to Vanessa," Dad says. "That's what you get for throwing your bio-daughter status in her face."

I touch the diagnosis in my pocket. Everything was a lie. The only truth is that I'm dying.

The first thing I do with my second chance is sell off my perfect fiancé for ten million dollars.

The first time around, I became someone else for Julian Whitmore.

He likes nude-toned dresses. Hates when I wear anything with color. He won't let me have more than one glass of champagne in public. Won't let me laugh too loud. Won't let me initiate anything in bed.

His voice is always so calm, like he's correcting a disobedient pet.

I spend three years turning myself into what he wants: docile, proper, flawless. Until depression drags me under. Until that night I lay in the bathtub and watched the water turn red.

When I die, he's still downstairs in his study, editing my speech for tomorrow's charity gala.

When I open my eyes again, I'm sitting in the Winters' living room with that unsigned arrangement in front of me.

This time? Fuck perfect.

But when he lifts that veil at the wedding and realizes the bride isn't me, this man who's spent his whole life in control completely loses it.

It's supposed to be our last class trip before graduation. The bus loses control on a mountain road and goes over the edge.

I think we're all going to die.

When I open my eyes again, I'm sitting in a classroom that looks like it's been rotting for decades.

A system alert blares through my skull:

【Welcome to Ravenwood High. Unnameable creatures roam the campus. Survive 7 days. Uncover the truth behind the campus Boss's death. Every player who dies adds $800,000 to the prize pool. Make it out, and the money is yours.】

Everyone loses it. Screaming, crying, total chaos. The first thing Brett does is shove me toward the door to check the hallway. Because of course he does. I'm the class punching bag. The girl nobody would miss.

Everyone assumes I'll be the first to die.

What nobody sees is the smile pulling at the corner of my mouth as I stand at that door, staring at whatever is writhing in the shadows of the hallway.

The night the team wins again, the roar inside the arena could raise the roof.

On the ice, the captain has his arm around the new cheer captain, spinning her under the lights. His skates cut clean lines across the ice. Teammates whistle and shout, someone yells "ask her out!", someone else films on their phone. Everyone waits for me to show up and make a scene. Cry, stumble onto the ice, drop to my knees and beg him to come back. Pathetic, like every time before.

But no one knows I'm in the back of the locker room right now, pressed against a cold metal locker.

The quiet backup player has his hand on the back of my neck, his voice barely steady. "You sure about this?"

I push up on my toes and kiss him first.

Three months ago, I was kidnapped. When Alexander rescued me, I woke up in a hospital bed with my clothes disheveled and bruises covering my body. What happened during those hours? I don't remember any of it.

A week ago, I found out I was pregnant. He held me as I shook and told me that it wasn't my fault. That he failed to protect me. Even if the baby wasn't his, he'd raise it. He'd still give me the perfect wedding.

But the guilt ate me alive until depression took hold.

Every night, sleep stays out of reach. Nightmares find me the moment I close my eyes. I've tried to end it. Three times now. Each time, someone found me just in time.

After the third failed attempt, I make tea and head toward his study to apologize. Voices drift through the door before I reach it.

"Are you out of your mind? Evelyn's your fiancée!" His friend sounds disbelieving. "You actually hired someone to kidnap her? Made her think she was assaulted? Just so Lily could take her place? Do you know how messed up that is? What that does to someone?"

Alexander's voice comes out calm. "Lily got sick because of me. Her dying wish is to marry me once before she goes. If I didn't push Evelyn out of the picture, her father would never let Lily take her place."

All those nights. All those nightmares. All those times I scrubbed my hands raw until they bled. It was all a lie. A setup.

For another woman.

I pull out my phone and call my father.

"Dad. I'll agree to the arrangement."

I'm two months pregnant with Tristan's baby when Brielle, the woman he'd do anything for, shoves me down the stairs.

She calls it an accident. I lose the baby.

I beg my husband to do something about it. Instead, he shields her and turns it around on me.

"Brielle saved my life in that fire. The whole Merrick family owes her. So drop it."

That debt. Always that debt.

Three years. No matter how many times Brielle humiliates me, degrades me, Tristan only ever has one answer: "I owe her my life."

But the truth about that fire? I'm the only one in the world who knows it.

I tried to tell him once. He laughed in my face. "Adeline, you're so desperate for attention you'd make up something like that?"

So I shut my mouth. Buried the truth. Buried whatever was left of my heart along with it.

The man I trusted with my life just handed my child to the woman who killed them, and called it loyalty.

I'm done.

I pull up the number I blocked three years ago and hit call.

"Dad. I'll take over the company. I'll go through with the engagement to Everett. But I have one condition. I want Tristan and Brielle ruined beyond recovery. Nothing and no one left."

Three years ago, I took a bullet for Damon Kingsley. It came within half an inch of my heart.

He looked me in the eyes, his own red, and swore he'd love me for the rest of his life. So I married into this century-old Italian-American Mafia dynasty.

But on our wedding night, the moment he touched me, he convulsed, coughed up blood, and collapsed.

The second time, an old condition flared up and kept him flat on his back for a month.

The third time, he nearly bled out.

Every time after that, the same thing.

The whole family called me a curse. Marked. Bad luck. The kind of woman who brings death to whoever gets close.

The Godmother gave me an ultimatum: get pregnant within a month, or sign the divorce papers and be shipped off to Chicago to marry the devil himself.

I was carrying a fertility tonic to his study, ready to beg him one more time, when I heard voices through the door.

"Mr. Kingsley, please, you gotta stop. Every time you don't wanna go near her, you shoot yourself up with that stuff. You're gonna kill yourself."

Damon was quiet for a long moment. Then, calm and flat: "Aurora is the only woman I love. I'd take the pain any day over touching her."

All this time, while the whole family called me a curse, the one who actually put it on me was the man I almost died for.

Damon Kingsley. After today, we're done. In this life or the next, don't ever cross my path again.

Being born a Moretti daughter means one thing: the family owns you.

In my past life, Vivian thought she had what it took. She promised Dad she could handle it, swore up and down she'd make him proud. Six months later, she'd burned through three generations of work and left us with nothing but an empty shell. Our enemies found her eventually. Broke both her legs.

And me? I married Marco Rossi.

Everyone envied me for marrying into one of the most powerful families in the city. What they didn't know was that I was his prisoner. He used me, turned my family's connections into stepping stones for himself, spent my money on his mistresses, used my body as a bargaining chip at his deals.

In the end, Vivian killed me. Jealous of my "perfect life," she dragged herself over on those broken legs and put a bullet in me.

When I open my eyes again, I'm sitting in Dad's study.

The door slams open. Vivian bursts in, cutting me off before I can speak. "Dad! I'm marrying Marco Rossi! Give the family to Sienna!"

I look at her and smile.

This time, I'm going to survive. And I'm going to do a hell of a lot better than just survive.

In my past life, we were camping in the wilderness area of a state park when my best friend handed out "lucky charms" to the whole group. Charms she'd secretly packed full of wildlife attractant.

A wild boar knocked me to the ground outside the cabin door. Its tusks tore into my stomach. I pounded on the wood with both fists, screaming. "Help! Open the door!"

Inside were my boyfriend of two years and the best friend I'd been quietly supporting for just as long. Autumn Warren.

"I'm so sorry, Brynn." Autumn's voice broke into sobs, but her weight stayed pressed hard against the door. "There are boars everywhere. We open that door, we're all dead."

"Just hold on! I'm calling 911!" Wyatt Fletcher's voice rang out with the kind of conviction that cost him absolutely nothing.

I paid for that trip. I'd fallen behind because I'd stopped to pull Autumn along.

And they stood on the other side of that door, my blood soaking into the dirt, and locked me out.

I open my eyes. I'm back. It's the day we left.

I spent seven years being Preston Maddox's personal errand girl.

Did his homework, took his father's belt for him, cut off every friend I had because he said he didn't like me talking to other guys.

I told myself that if I was good enough, patient enough, he'd eventually see me.

Then came the school's centennial gala. In front of everyone, he locked me, a girl with severe aquaphobia, inside a water tank filled to the brim with ice-cold water, so Vanessa Sinclair could have a pretty backdrop for her ballet number.

The audience roared. He watched Vanessa take her bow with this soft, adoring smile on his face. The only time he glanced at me was when he noticed I'd made a mess, and all he did was wrinkle his nose.

The water rose over my head, and something in me finally understood.

To Preston Maddox, I wasn't even worth as much as a dog.

If a dog was drowning, its owner would at least care.

Me? I just disgusted him.

For the top university in the North American wolf packs, transfer students aren't exactly breaking news. But this one sets the entire forum on fire.

It starts with a photo. A girl standing next to a tall, imposing man. Both faces are deliberately blurred, but that build, that presence... every wolf in North America recognizes it. The Alpha King. The caption reads: "Dad why'd you send me this 😭 I'm not ready to go public yet."

Minutes later, the post vanishes. But screenshots flood the forum.

"Moon Goddess above! Is that really the Alpha King?"

"The girl in the photo... could she be the royal princess no one's ever seen?"

The comments explode. Compliments flood in. Even my aloof boyfriend joins in.

Something feels off. I type out a comment: "The Alpha King keeps a low profile. His daughter should do the same. Posting photos like this... doesn't seem right."

Less than a minute later, the replies come.

"Who do you think you are to question her?"

"Can't stand seeing someone else do well, huh?"

My boyfriend chimes in too: "Quit it. You're embarrassing yourself."

I pick up my phone and dial a number. "Dad, since when do you have another daughter?"

Beau and I have been together for three years. I paid for the entire yacht charter out of my own pocket, and he shows up with his childhood best friend Sadie in tow, then goes around telling everyone it was his idea, his grand gesture.

Out on the water, Sadie spots a small octopus drifting near the surface and decides she has to have it. The thing pulses with glowing blue rings.

I'm a certified expert diver. I know exactly what it is the second I see it. I try to stop her.

She bursts into tears and tells Beau I'm going after her.

So Beau, ever the hero where Sadie's concerned, jumps in himself and fishes the thing out.

Sadie plays with it. It bites her. She's on the deck before she even knows what hit her.

Beau grabs me, screaming at me to suck out the venom. I refuse. He calls me a cold, heartless bitch, and in the chaos, shoves me overboard into shark-infested water.

I die out there. Nothing left of me.

They use my phone to fake a suicide note. Depression, they say. Jumped on her own. Then they take my company, my assets, everything.

They post online hinting I tried to push Sadie in and slipped.

My parents, worn down by the online harassment and the grief of losing me, both die of heart attacks.

Then I open my eyes. And I'm back. The morning of the trip.

The moment I gave up wasn't when I found out my husband was cheating. It was when I heard my ten-year-old daughter laugh into the phone and say, "Mom's so clueless. She has no idea about Dad and Summer."

Ten years ago, I was a top biomedical researcher, making six figures. I gave it all up for his promotion and our newborn daughter. Ten years later, the perfect marriage I traded my career and youth for turned out to be nothing but an elaborate lie.

He called me his safe haven, then got in our bed with his mistress and discussed how to keep me in the dark.

This time, I'm not going to cry or make a scene. I'm going to quietly gather my evidence and call the lab director I've turned down seven times.

It's fall break, and Mom and my sister Della Sinclair are visiting me at St. Julian's Academy.

The South Campus Arctic Biome is a landmark the Sinclair family funded years ago. It's filled with the rare arctic flowers Mom and Della have always loved. Every single time they visit, they have to go in.

That's when Kiley Croft, the girl Fletcher Waverly grew up with, pulls what she calls "a little prank." While no one's paying attention, she locks the door from the outside panel and pushes the temperature controls to maximum.

The people inside are trapped. They burn to death.

Kiley runs to Fletcher in tears, and instead of calling 911, he pulls her close and tells her:

"Hey. It's okay. It was an accident. This isn't on you."

He doesn't call me until the fire trucks show up.

"Blythe, the biome caught fire. Your mom and your sister are trapped inside."

I spin around.

Della is right next to me, sniffling and complaining about her cold. Mom is passing her tissues.

They're both completely fine.

Then who the hell is in there?