5 Book(s) Related to judged synonym

"I'd much rather have my head between my girlfriends legs than yours."

Life is never kind to the broken.

Then again, aren't we all broken?

I've faced the sexists, the egotistics, the rapists, the catalysts; everyone is an asshole in their own right. Sadly, I'm maxing out on how much more hardship I can take.

Griffin Riley used to be my enemy and the cause of my many headaches but now he seems to be my pain medication that takes the aches away. But nothing good can last forever.

Maybe we'll be the exception. A girl can hope.

But between the stress, high stakes, jealousy, fights, trials, the media, school, life changing scares, and most importantly; Lacrosse, our relationship will be put through the ringer.

I just hope we aren't smushed to death.

For six years, I sold my body to underground clinics as a human lab rat to cure my son's heart failure and pay off my husband's debts.

Today, my biological brother kicked away the medicine I bought with half my life.

"Lucas was never sick. We faked the medical records to teach you a lesson for upsetting Virginia."

My husband coldly chimed in:

"I never went bankrupt either."

Even the son I bled to birth stabbed my arm, screaming, "A bloody monster like you doesn't deserve to be my mom!"

I finally realized my entire life was a meticulously crafted scam.

With my organs rapidly failing and only ten days left to live, I stepped onto the edge of the balcony.

"You're right," I smiled at my husband and brother, watching the color completely drain from their faces. "Six years of my life isn't enough to apologize to her."

"So I'll pay you with my corpse."

In the sixth year of my life as a Scale-Stripper, I finally gathered the hundredth vial of Dragon Breath Essence.

I knelt before the altar, cradling the crystal bottle in both hands. The golden light swirling within it cast a warm glow across my scarred knuckles. Six years — six years of wandering the most dangerous battlefields of the Five Clans and the plague-ridden wastelands, using dragon breath to heal the wounded. For every person I saved, I had peeled away a living scale from my own flesh, baring the raw, bleeding meat beneath.

Seven scales left on my back.

Only seven.

But as long as it saved my brother Lucien, it was worth it.

Six years ago, during the Dragon Slaughter War, our parents had been assassinated by humans. An ancient curse had struck Lucien; his scales were crumbling away, day by day. He told me that only a hundred vials of Dragon Breath Essence could break the curse.

I held the crystal bottle out to him, my voice trembling with barely contained emotion. "Lucien, a hundred vials. We finally have enough."

Lucien took the bottle and glanced at it.

Then he tossed it off the altar without a second thought.

I went rigid.

Lucien stood at the top of the altar.

"I was never cursed," he said.

My hands were still cupped in the shape of holding the bottle, all ten fingers suspended in midair.

"Our parents never died, either."

"The Dragon Slaughter War six years ago, I planned it. The only one left crippled, with broken wings, was you."

I should have known that working for the cruel, frigid billionaire Damian Blackwood would be a nightmare. When I saw the cold gaze in his sharp gray eyes and the way he treated me like I were nothing, I should have turned to go.

However, I was unable to. This employment was necessary for me.

Aria, his daughter, is eight years old and struggling due to her father's inability to show her affection. Somehow, she picks me up when she needs someone.

Damian observes her laughing, the warmth in her eyes, and myself for the first time in years. Even if his words hurt me and his presence suffocates me, there is something broken behind his merciless façade that draws me in despite my better judgment.

Then I discover the reality.

His spouse didn't just pass away. She was killed. And the guy who did it? He's closer than I thought he would be.

Damian is not a trusting person. I've now given him every reason to think that I was sent to ruin him.

Because of the person he has been pursuing? He used to be the guy I cherished.

The monster I believed I had fled is again returning to haunt me.

His touch was both reverent and possessive as he moved slowly and deliberately down my arm. Joe said, "You're trembling," his breath warm against my ear.
I looked into his eyes and swallowed, my pulse twitching. "Not because of fear."
He pulled me in closer as his fingers grew tighter around my wrist. "Then why?"
"Because I forget everything else when you touch me," I muttered.
The outside world vanished for a minute. There was no empire, treachery, or power struggles—it was just us. The unadulterated, uncommunicated passion that had always blazed between us.
Then he spoke, something he had never dared to say: "Elena, I never feared losing my empire. I feared that I might lose you."
And in that moment, I understood that our affection was never about obsession.


Elena was merely an assistant in Jeo Donald's vast empire. When he offered to erase her debts in exchange for her loyalty, she fell for him—dangerous and complete. Their forbidden relationship remained hidden, but when his enemies overthrew him, they accused her of betrayal. They didn't know the truth: Jeo would return not only for his kingdom but for Elena, even if it meant revealing the dark secret that could destroy them both.