Jing Buhui

For six years, I was the obedient, pathetic girlfriend of Arron, the adopted heir to the terrifying Mayer empire. But on the night of a major party, he abandoned me for another woman, leaving me humiliated and alone in a hotel penthouse. While I was crying in the bathtub, a splitting headache suddenly unlocked a terrifying truth. I wasn't just a discarded girlfriend; I was living inside a scripted corporate thriller. I was the disposable side character destined to be crushed by the Mayer family, driven to despair, and drowned in the freezing Hudson River so Arron and his new love could have their happy ending. My destined ending was nothing but a joke to them. "When he gets bored and throws you out, you'll be worse than a stray dog." Arron's cruel warning echoed in my mind, but the phantom feeling of freezing water closing over my head completely burned away my pathetic love for him. Why did I have to die just to be a stepping stone for the man who threw me away like trash? I refused to be a tragic victim. Looking at the broken gold watch chain I had just ripped from the coat of Cassius Mayer—Arron's ruthless, untouchable billionaire father—a cold calculation took over. Since Arron wanted to ruin me, I was going to use the most feared man on Wall Street to tear their empire down from the inside.

My husband, Craig, got the promotion. After three long years stuck in a small town, we were finally going home to corporate headquarters. But when I went to file our joint relocation paperwork, the HR administrator gave me a pitying look. Craig, she explained, had already filed a single-person relocation, listing a different spouse: his high-school sweetheart, Chanel Murphy. A single, numb phone call to the county clerk's office revealed the devastating truth. I had signed my own divorce papers two months ago, tricked by Craig, who claimed they were investment documents. He had remarried the very next day. He used my talent as a top software architect to secure his promotion, all while orchestrating this cruel deception. I had sacrificed my own career opportunities for our future, a future he was already building with someone else. The pain was suffocating, but then rage burned through my grief. I picked up my phone, my fingers steady. I called Elek Preston, the VP of Engineering, the man who had offered me a lead role on a high-stakes project. "Is the offer still open?" I asked, my voice clear and hard.

I was pregnant, the creative force behind a culinary empire I was building with my husband, Donovan. My best friend, Jazmine, was our closest confidante, the one I' d held through detox. Then I found the hidden folder on his server. A revised partnership agreement transferred my entire life's work-my recipes, my concepts, all future profits-to Jazmine. My name was erased. But the betrayal was far more sinister. I found their emails and audio recordings. Jazmine was infertile, and I was their "incubator," a surrogate they planned to discard. They had a plan to declare me mentally unstable after the birth, take my baby, and even discussed arranging a "tragic accident" to get me out of the picture for good. My husband and my best friend didn't just want my career; they wanted my child and my life. So I gave them a death. I burned my old life to the ground and disappeared, faking my own funeral to save my baby.

The two pink lines on the pregnancy test felt like a dream. I sat on the bathtub' s edge, clutching the little plastic stick, my heart pounding with a strange, unsteady rhythm. Pregnant. After years of being told it might never happen, here it was. A wave of warm, fragile hope bloomed in my chest. A baby. Mine and Liam' s. But then my phone buzzed with a family group chat message: "Big news everyone. Sarah' s coming home." Sarah. My stepsister. Ethan' s biological sister. The one who had abandoned our family-and Liam-years ago without a word. The fragile warmth in my chest turned to ice. I crept downstairs, stopping just out of sight. Liam and Ethan were eager, buzzing with excitement, planning a welcome-home party for her. Then Ethan asked, "What about Chloe?" Liam sighed, a long, tired sound. "She' ll be fine. She' s always been… sensitive." Ethan' s voice, dismissive, felt like a physical blow. "Yeah, but Sarah is her stepsister. Chloe has always been a bit jealous of her, you know? She' s going to make it awkward." "We' ll just have to manage her," Liam replied, firm. "Sarah is the priority right now. She' s family, Ethan. The real family. Chloe will just have to understand." The real family. Their words echoed in the silent space where my heart used to be. I was nothing but a problem to be managed, an obstacle to their happiness. In that single, devastating moment, a decision formed in my mind, cold and clear as glass. I could not bring a child into this. I would not subject another human being to a life of being second-best, of being an afterthought. I buried the pregnancy test deep in the trash. Later, Liam smiled, oblivious. "It' ll be like old times. The family will finally be whole again." He didn' t see me. He never had. I was just a stand-in, a placeholder for the real thing. And now, the real thing was back. My decision solidified into a cold, hard resolve: I wasn' t just getting rid of the baby. I was getting rid of all of it. Him. Ethan. This house. This life that was never truly mine.

Tomorrow was supposed to be my divorce day, marking the end of a three-year contract marriage to Olivia Hayes, the woman I hopelessly loved. But tonight, walking into Liam Peterson' s lavish penthouse, I found myself facing the man who' d effortlessly stolen my life, and the woman I called my wife. I' d just signed away my rights to her, believing it was for her well-being, only to be told by Liam that my entire marriage was a sham, a mere placeholder until he returned. He bragged about how Olivia despised my touch, how every thoughtful gesture she made-from the white roses to redecorating my office-was secretly a homage to him. Each revelation was a calculated strike, exposing me as the ultimate fool. The world tilted as I stumbled out, the image of Olivia' s social media post-her hand intertwined with his, declaring "Finally back where I belong. #truelove #reunited"-searing into my soul. I was nothing to her, less than nothing. But later, when Olivia' s grandfather beat me savagely for defending her honor, and I saw her obliviously texting Liam outside, something inside me snapped. The pain, the humiliation, the years of one-sided devotion-it all coalesced into a cold, hard resolve. I would no longer be a ghost in my own life. I would leave, taking what was left of my shattered heart, and build a new life for myself, without Olivia Hayes. Then, she called, frantic that Liam was cold. She demanded I give him the cashmere coat I bought as a symbol of my own hard-won success. The old me would have handed it over, but that man was dead. I' d give her the coat, but it would be the very last thing I ever gave her.

My first life ended in betrayal, bleeding out on a warehouse floor. Molly Chavez, the woman I loved, stood over me. "Did you really think I loved you, Caleb?" Her words, a colder cut than the knife Andrew, my own cousin, had just pulled from my gut. He smirked, his arm around Molly. "The Fowler empire is mine now." They left me there, discarded, my last breath a burning legacy of their treachery. Then, I opened my eyes. I was back in my office, the sun streaming in, the date on my monitor the day my downfall began. The day I was supposed to hire Molly. When Marcus, my head of security, announced her arrival for an interview, I saw her, a picture of feigned grief and ambition. The same woman who would murder me. "Get her out," I commanded, my voice flat. Marcus froze. "She' s a liability. We owe her nothing." Molly' s face twisted from sorrow to rage. "You promised me!" "I' ve changed my mind." The compassionate Caleb Fowler was gone, replaced by a man forged in fire. This time, I wouldn' t be the fool. This time, I' d be holding the knife. When Andrew and Molly, now brazenly working together, tried to force their way into my family' s boardroom, setting a trap, I knew their game. They brought their muscle, their cunning. I brought Gabrielle, the quiet tech whiz they laughed at, who knew every secret passage. The old Caleb would have been outmaneuvered, killed. This Caleb knew the game, the players, and held a secret weapon: the Founder' s Ledger, my father' s hidden network, capable of freezing Andrew' s entire empire overnight. Andrew, desperate, challenged me one last time: winner take all, loser dies. He still didn' t understand who he was fighting. He didn't know I wasn't just playing for the company anymore. I was playing for a soul, and this time, it wouldn' t be mine.

The whiskey glasses clinked, and the air hung thick with cigar smoke at Ethan' s bachelor party. I was just bringing in another round, playing the supportive girlfriend I' d always been for the man I loved since high school. Then I heard my name. "Anya? She' s an artist. No family, no connections. Marrying her would be a liability for the firm." He laughed. "Besides, after all these years, who else would want her? She' s practically a charity case my family took in. She' s not going anywhere." The crystal tray in my hands shattered on the marble floor, but no one bothered to look up from their celebratory drinks and laughter. He even had the audacity to crawl into my bed that night, reeking of alcohol, whispering about keeping me as his "secret girl" after he married his fiancée. Marry his fiancée, Chloe, for a business merger to save his family. Then he actually asked me to be his mistress, offering me a life of comfort as if that erased the disrespect. "Ungrateful," he spat, calling me "an orphan with nothing" when I refused. My heart shattered, then hardened. How could I have been so blind, so stupid, to trade everything for someone who saw me as a pet, a liability, a charity case? The next day, as I stood by the bench where we' d carved our initials, I saw him and Chloe, his new initials gouged over mine. My love, my future, my very identity… all erased by him. But on that very day, receiving a call from a billionaire I' d once shown a small kindness to, I turned away from the Hamilton mansion for good. It was time to show them what this "charity case" could become.

I had waited three long years for Dr. Ethan Walker, my brilliant cardiac surgeon fiancé, to return from his selfless medical program in Appalachia. Our lavish engagement party was tomorrow; I dreamed of our beautiful future. Then, his voice cut through the quiet. Low and cold, he confessed his "Appalachian mission" was a lie-he was with Vanessa, and their nearly three-year-old daughter, Lily. He was marrying me solely for my family's connections and a guaranteed directorship. The man I loved and trusted had played me for a fool. When Vanessa later brazenly brought Lily to our home, the child wore my antique locket-my sacred vow to Ethan-around her neck. I watched them intimately, confirming my worst fears. The next morning, Vanessa brutally framed me for poisoning Lily. Ethan, without hesitation, abandoned me amidst screams as I fell and injured my back. The pain of his betrayal, the public humiliation, and his utter contempt for me were suffocating. How could the man I loved so deeply manipulate me, then cruelly cast me aside for a lie? Was our entire relationship a calculated pretense? Crumpled on the floor, my only thought was escape. I called my sister. "Is the offer from the Vance family still open?" I choked out, desperation hardening my voice. "The one for Julian Vance? The recluse? I will marry him."

My father, David Miller, lay dying in our small living room, his every breath a struggle. His final whispered wish was for my mother, Victoria Hayes, the cold CEO who had abandoned us years ago for Richard Davenport and a life of immense wealth. When I called, pleading with her to see him one last time, her response was chilling. Over the faint sounds of a lavish party for her stepson, Ryan Davenport, she declared herself too "busy" to attend a dying man's bedside. My father died heartbroken, feeling her absence till the very end. But her cruelty didn't stop there. Days after the funeral, "investigators"-clearly hired by her or Davenport-accused me of cheating on my SATs and then brutally assaulted me, shattering my knee. My own mother, Victoria Hayes, not only refused consent for my emergency surgery, dismissing my critical injuries as "fabricated," but chillingly denied my father's death. The final blow came when I found my father's urn, emptied and desecrated, among the trash. How could a woman, my own mother, be so utterly monstrous? This wasn't just abandonment; it was a calculated campaign of psychological and physical destruction, aimed at erasing every trace of my father and me. Why this depth of malice? Why now? Lying broken, clutching the torn pieces of my Stanford acceptance – the dream they tried to crush – I felt a cold resolve ignite. If they wanted a war, they' d get one. I' d use the truth, an American principle they scoffed at, to expose every lie. I opened my laptop, ready to dismantle her empire piece by piece.

Thanksgiving was usually a time for family, but for me, an architect, it meant bracing for impact as my mom, Emily, tried to appease her endlessly demanding relatives. Our "special" Thanksgiving Eve dinner, a lavish affair my mom booked to unite everyone, quickly became an ambush when my cousin Jessica, her husband Mark, and their entitled entourage crashed it, claiming their own reservation was magically "lost." The evening devolved into a nightmare: my asthmatic grandmother choked on cigar smoke, Mark tried to ply my six-year-old niece with bourbon, and their son bit me after I tried to reclaim money my mom gave them, pushing my dad to flip the entire dinner table. As wine and prime rib rained down, Mark, soaked in gravy, shamelessly tried to extort $28,000 from us for "emotional distress" and a "ruined" Disney trip, threatening to call the police on us, leaving me reeling from their audacious greed and victim-blaming. But they had no idea my mom, shedding years of guilt, was about to drop a different kind of hammer, and with my phone recording their entire shakedown, our counter-attack against years of exploitation had only just begun.

My life with Chloe, my college sweetheart and co-founder of our booming tech startup, was everything I’d ever wanted, especially since we were trying for a baby. Then, my urologist delivered a devastating blow: "Ethan, your sperm count is extremely low," only for Chloe to confess hours later, "I'm pregnant," and then, quietly, "It was Liam." I swallowed the betrayal, vowing to fix our broken marriage, but six months later, at the fertility clinic, I found her glowing and very pregnant, openly embracing Liam, claiming "responsibility" to him and the baby as I stood there numb. I tried to divorce her, sparking a public shaming where she declared me "broken," an anniversary dinner where her new lover faked injury, and then a violent attack where she kicked me, causing internal bleeding, before locking me in a dark, claustrophobic basement to die. Lying on the verge of death, bleeding out in the pitch black, I couldn't comprehend how the woman I loved could unleash such calculated cruelty, turning me from a loving husband into a discarded, dying inconvenience, just as the ultimate irony, my "infertility" diagnosis, seemed to seal my fate. But just as consciousness faded, a powerful childhood friend swooped in and saved me, and a miraculous truth emerged: my sperm count was, in fact, perfectly normal. Reborn from literal ashes, armed with this crushing revelation and a fierce new determination, I knew that when Chloe inevitably tried to sabotage my fresh start, she'd finally face the consequences for everything she'd taken from me, and what she'd truly lost.

Ethan Prescott, a billionaire haunted by a dark premonition, meticulously staged his own death. His lavish life—the Hamptons galas, the cold but perfect Izzy Rossi on his arm—was a facade he was ready to shatter, scheduled to end in a tragic "sailing accident." This wasn't madness; it was survival. Six months prior, a polo accident revealed a terrifying "script": Izzy, his contractual companion, would find happiness with Liam Vance, while he, Ethan, spiraled into a fiery, fatal car crash. To defy this cruel destiny, Ethan embraced the role of villain. He pushed Izzy away with calculated cruelty, even orchestrating encounters that forced her into Liam's arms. He watched, an agonizing observer, as his cold persona alienated her, convinced her freedom lay in his self-destruction. Why was he forced to sacrifice everything for her happiness? The injustice burned, even as he adhered to the horrifying prophecy. He was a puppet with unseen strings, his fate predetermined. He believed his faked death had finally freed him, rebuilding a quiet life as Miles Corbin. But five years later, Izzy Rossi walked into his bookstore. She knew. She had uncovered his elaborate lie, not to expose him, but to confess the love he’d forced himself to bury. Her shocking revelation: *she also felt the script’s control*. His rebellion had merely dragged them both into a larger, more perilous battle—a fight for love and freedom against the unseen Narrator controlling their lives.

They were both like black roses, blooming in the dark, and wafting a unique fragrance across anyone that crossed their paths. Bloodthirsty, ruthless, heartless. But she gradually lost herself, all because of the thing called love. She turned around, taking off her mask and shocking everyone present. "How can I let her die? I can't. That's how. And I want her to see how I devour this organization, step by step," she said, her face hard. Jealousy exploded in the underworld. And try as they might, no one could escape their fate, the trap that had been arranged for them.

To revenge herself on her unfaithful fiancé Kevin, Isidora hides her striking beauty behind a plain disguise, and targets his uncle — the most formidable man Kevin fears. After one reckless night, Isidora leaves cash as payment and says lightly, "You were good last night." She tries to leave quietly, but is pulled into his arms. "You think you can walk away after this?" he says, his tone low and possessive. Cedrick is a feared, untouchable titan on Wall Street — elegant, aloof, and completely uninterested in women. Not even the most beautiful socialites in the city can catch his eye. When gossip spreads that he was seen pressing a woman against a wall and kissing her fiercely, no one believes it. When the rumors name Isidora, the crowd scoffs. He rejects even the most beautiful women, so why would he notice a plain girl like her? All doubt disappears when they see the dignified Cedrick drop to one knee to help Isidora with her shoe, pleading softly for just one kiss. When Kevin finally sees Isidora's true beauty and begs for forgiveness. But Cedrick kicks him out at once, slams a marriage certificate on the table, and says sharply. “Call her Aunt.”

Being second best is practically in my DNA. My sister got the love, the attention, the spotlight. And now, even her damn fiancé. Technically, Rhys Granger was my fiancé now-billionaire, devastatingly hot, and a walking Wall Street wet dream. My parents shoved me into the engagement after Catherine disappeared, and honestly? I didn't mind. I'd crushed on Rhys for years. This was my chance, right? My turn to be the chosen one? Wrong. One night, he slapped me. Over a mug. A stupid, chipped, ugly mug my sister gave him years ago. That's when it hit me-he didn't love me. He didn't even see me. I was just a warm-bodied placeholder for the woman he actually wanted. And apparently, I wasn't even worth as much as a glorified coffee cup. So I slapped him right back, dumped his ass, and prepared for disaster-my parents losing their minds, Rhys throwing a billionaire tantrum, his terrifying family plotting my untimely demise. Obviously, I needed alcohol. A lot of alcohol. Enter him. Tall, dangerous, unfairly hot. The kind of man who makes you want to sin just by existing. I'd met him only once before, and that night, he just happened to be at the same bar as my drunk, self-pitying self. So I did the only logical thing: I dragged him into a hotel room and ripped off his clothes. It was reckless. It was stupid. It was completely ill-advised. But it was also: Best. Sex. Of. My. Life. And, as it turned out, the best decision I'd ever made. Because my one-night stand isn't just some random guy. He's richer than Rhys, more powerful than my entire family, and definitely more dangerous than I should be playing with. And now, he's not letting me go.

I was cheated on by my scumbag boyfriend. On the night I got blackout drunk, I married a stranger, and when I woke up, I only found a marriage certificate and a black card. He took care of my scumbag ex for me, gave me a canary diamond ring, but refused to show his face-he only called me baby on video calls. I ran to my best friend's house to hide, only to find that the billionaire next door, who made my heart skip a beat, had the exact same scent as him. My best friend cried and begged me: "He's Augustus, a tyrant who eats people alive!" But only I knew that the man who pressed me against the terrace railing, leaned down to kiss me, and whispered "I'll protect you" softly. Fifty thousand dollars to sneak photos of his private office? I'll go. Not for the money, but to ask him to his face- Gus, how many secrets are you hiding? And how long have you been craving me?

The rain in Detroit was slick with grime when my family finally came to fetch me. They didn't want a reunion; they wanted a sacrificial lamb to marry into the Kaufman empire to save their failing business. I thought I was just being sold off, but the limo ride ended under a dark overpass where six hired thugs were waiting with chains. My own sister had ordered them to "break my spirit" so I’d be a shaking, pathetic mess by the time I reached the altar. They called me "Detroit trash" and sprayed air freshener when I sat on their leather seats. My stepmother wanted a video of me begging for my life, and my father was ready to trade me like a used car to a man everyone called a "vegetable." They expected a submissive country girl, unaware that I was a high-level "cleaner" who could snap a radius bone before they could even scream. When I finally reached the Kaufman estate, I found my fiancé, Barron, slumped in a wheelchair, drooling and silent. But as soon as the doors closed, the "invalid" grabbed my wrist with a grip of iron and whispered a command that changed everything. I didn't understand why my own blood was so desperate to see me destroyed. What had I ever done to deserve a hit squad and a forced marriage to a man they thought was a corpse? But Barron isn't a vegetable, and I'm not a victim. We just touched down at the Moon family gala in a matte-black helicopter, and as the doors slide open, the "broken" bride is about to show them exactly what happens when you throw away the wrong daughter. "If we're going to crash a party," Barron whispered, his eyes burning with lethal clarity, "we should make an entrance."

She spent ten years chasing after the right brother, only to fall for the wrong one in one weekend. ~~~ Sloane Mercer has been hopelessly in love with her best friend, Finn Hartley, since college. For ten long years, she's stood by him, stitching him back together every time Delilah Crestfield-his toxic on-and-off girlfriend-shattered his heart. But when Delilah gets engaged to another man, Sloane thinks this might finally be her chance to have Finn for herself. She couldn't be more wrong. Heartbroken and desperate, Finn decides to crash Delilah's wedding and fight for her one last time. And he wants Sloane by his side. Reluctantly, Sloane follows him to Asheville, hoping that being close to Finn will somehow make him see her the way she's always seen him. Everything changes when she meets Knox Hartley, Finn's older brother-a man who couldn't be more different from Finn. He's dangerously magnetic. Knox sees right through Sloane and makes it his mission to pull her into his world. What starts as a game-a twisted bet between them-soon turns into something deeper. Sloane is trapped between two brothers: one who's always broken her heart and another who seems hell-bent on claiming it... no matter the cost. CONTENT WARNING: This story is strongly 18+. It delves into dark romance themes such as obsession and lust with morally complex characters. While this is a love story, reader discretion is advised.  

"Wasn't I good in bed? Didn't I spoil you enough? What the hell did those fuckers give you that I couldn't?" My husband, Dean, yells at me for the very first time, gripping my hand and when I look into his eyes, I see how much he's hurting, how much he believed all the lies, how much he's not willing to listen. "I'd never do that to you, Dean. I love you, please believe me," tears streamed down my face as I pleaded with him. "You're meant for the streets Bella, and that's where you'd always be," And just like that my once perfect marriage hits the rock edge in a twinkle of an eye. A stripper, an exotic dancer but none of that mattered to Dean, he promised to love me and he kept to his words, not until this day. And even worse, he used my past against me, something he swore never to do.. ***** Ethan Fernandez, is a notorious casanova and unlike his friend, he never commits to any woman until his path crosses with Ivy, the formidable lawyer and the last person that gives a fuck about men and their shenanigans. Now, the player becomes the played as his life takes an unexpected turn with the walking temptation that lurks in the form of Ivy Reynolds.

"Sign it. Save her, and I'll give you anything." For four years, I was Damian Wright's 'invisible wife'. While I played the pauper, he poured his soul into his dying first love. Desperate, he blindly signed a stack of papers to buy the 'Gifted Doctor's' time. He didn't read the fine print. Buried inside was our Divorce Decree. "Congratulations, Damian," I said, stripping off my surgical mask to reveal the wife he never truly knew. "You're free." The submissive Amelia is dead. The legendary 'Ghost Surgeon'? That's me. The blindfolded racing queen 'Raven'? Also me. The shadow behind the global intelligence network V-Null? Still me. I was ready to vanish, but Lucas Sullivan-the titan who makes the Wrights look like peasants-blocked my path. When Damian tried to reclaim me, Lucas didn't just stop him; he brought an empire to its knees. "They don't deserve to look at you," Lucas whispered, his touch a lethal mix of protection and obsession. "But if you crave the world, Amelia, I'll burn it down just to hear you say my name."

Twelve years of love, loyalty, and promises-shattered in one gunshot moment. Aria thought she knew what love meant: sacrifices, patience, blind faith in the man she'd called her fiancé for over a decade. But on Valentine's Day, with a gun pointed in their direction, Liam instinctively shielded his ex, Sophia-while Aria was left bleeding and invisible. "You almost died!" "And he didn't even look at me, Lili. He wrapped his arms around her like I was nothing." Torn between heartbreak and dignity, Aria makes a bold move-marrying Liam's wealthy rival, Aiden Carter, in an impulsive act of revenge. But Aiden is more than a rebound. He's powerful, possessive, and unexpectedly protective-and he plays for keeps. Now caught between a love that failed her, and a man who may demand more than she's ready to give. Aria's heart faces the ultimate reckoning. Will she finally become someone's first choice-or lose herself trying?

Camille Lewis was the forgotten daughter, the unloved wife, the woman discarded like yesterday's news. Betrayed by her husband, cast aside by her own family, and left for dead by the sister who stole everything, she vanished without a trace. But the weak, naive Camille died the night her car was forced off that bridge. A year later, she returns as Camille Kane, richer, colder, and more powerful than anyone could have imagined. Armed with wealth, intelligence, and a hunger for vengeance, she is no longer the woman they once trampled on. She is the storm that will tear their world apart. Her ex-husband begs for forgiveness. Her sister's perfect life crumbles. Her parents regret the daughter they cast aside. But Camille didn't come back for apologies, she came back to watch them burn. But as her enemies fall at her feet, one question remains: when the revenge is over, what's left? A mysterious trillionaire Alexander Pierce steps into her path, offering something she thought she lost forever, a future. But can a woman built on ashes learn to love again? She rose from the fire to destroy those who betrayed her. Now, she must decide if she'll rule alone... or let someone melt the ice in her heart.

She hides behind ugly suits and fake names. He's done trusting women. When they meet in a masked sex club, neither realizes they've been fighting each other across boardroom tables for eighteen months. At Taylor Industries, she's Joy Smith-the frumpy CFO who drowns her curves in shapeless polyester and wearing a wig. At home, she's the forgotten wife of a cheating lawyer who hasn't touched her in so long she's starting to wonder if she's broken. When she finds hot pink lace panties stuffed in her couch cushions...definitely not hers, it's not heartbreak she feels. It's freedom. Grayson Taylor doesn't do relationships anymore. Not after walking in on his actress fiancée with another woman. Now he channels everything into hostile takeovers and board meetings, especially the ones where his overcautious CFO fights him on every goddamn acquisition. Joy Smith is brilliant, infuriating, and funny when he pushes all her buttons. But Honey is tired of being invisible. Tired of never having felt real pleasure. So, when her best friend gives her the details of The Velvet Room-Manhattan's most exclusive masked club-she promises herself just one night. One night to find out if her husband's right, if she really is frigid, or if she's just never been touched by the right hands. She doesn't expect the masked stranger who claims her the second she walks in. Doesn't expect the chemistry that ignites between them, the way he makes her body sing, or the orgasms that leave her shaking. Doesn't expect him to hand her an email address with one command: "Only me. No one else touches you."