Everything was going well in Summer's life. She was going to marry the man she loved with all her heart. Suddenly, on her wedding day, she notices a shift in his demeanor. Instead of gazing at her lovingly, he glares at her like an angry lion, ready to pounce. Try all she might, she can't win his love. He makes use of every opportunity to hurt her. He holds her responsible for his true love's death. He also accuses her of cheating. With such a miserable husband, how can Summer ever lead a good life? In spite of it all, she secretly hopes her perseverance will pay off and the beast will turn into a prince.
One meter, two meters...
Summer Lin held her breath and tightly grasped the rope she made out of bed sheets. She tossed it outside and let out a sigh of relief when she saw that it finally reached the ground. She turned around and pulled the other end of the cloth to check if it was bound to the foot of the bed tightly.
Suddenly, she heard door of her deluxe hotel suite open. She gritted her teeth, grabbed the cloth, and jumped out of the window. A scream came from above. "Miss Lin... where are you?"
She was so anxious that her hands slipped and loosened her grip on the cloth. With a silent scream, she heavily landed on the ground. The spring rain drenched her hair. When she tried to stand up, she felt a sharp pain on her ankle that caused her burst into tears.
From behind her, she heard steady footsteps emerge from the quiet lane. The rain drops pouring on her head suddenly stopped. She didn't dare to look up as she could feel a familiar pressure surrounding her.
"Good," the man said in a cold voice. "Are you playing hard to get? I have to commend your performance." A sinister smile appeared at the corners of his grinning lips. "If you fall and lose your baby, then everyone will be happy, my dear wife."
Summer Lin couldn't move. The man leisurely held the black umbrella while she was sitting helplessly on the ground like a drowned rat. He looked down at her, unwilling to help her up, even if she was about to become his wife.
The phone in his hand rang. "Don't worry. She is just playing games with you. She's in the alley. Yes, she's right next to the trash can. Please come quickly and pick the bride up. Well, this place terribly suits her," he said mockingly.
He didn't bother to look at her anymore. Instead of helping her, he drew back the umbrella, turned around, and left.
As he retreated, she gazed at his broad back and the black suit he wore. He did not look like the bridegroom who was about to get married today. He seemed more like Satan, who was about to take his revenge.
The church bell rang. Summer Lin stood alone at the entrance and held the bouquet of flowers in her hands. She was wearing a luxurious wedding dress, and the lace was studded with splints. It was said that her dress was an exclusive design of the famous French designer, Display.
However, she Lin didn't feel happy at all. Even if she wore an empress's dress, in Nick An's eyes, she was still the same wretched woman sitting beside the trash can with her hair dripping.
She trembled nervously as the church doors opened in front of her. The guests directed their eyes at her. She heard the sound of whispers circulating in the hall. How could a bride marry into one of the city's richest families without bridesmaids, ring bearers, or the company of her father?
The people around her gave her scrutinizing stares. With her back straight, she elegantly and proudly walked up the red carpet. The person at the other end stared at her silently. She was going to marry Nick An, the man she had loved for more than ten years. Her heart ached in pain and she felt her belly slightly moving even though it was perfectly covered by her wedding dress.
She walked towards her future husband's side. He gently turned around and didn't bother to hold her hand. The priest looked awkwardly at the engaged couple who were looking away from each other. He rushed through the ceremony and finally asked, "Miss Summer Lin, do you take Nick An to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
Summer Lin fell silent. The corners of Nick An's mouth slightly lifted. He whispered in her ear, "How could you be unwilling to marry me? Why don't you tell the priest you killed my fiancee to marry me?"
In everyone else's eyes, they were just whispering like a loving couple. It was only the priest who witnessed the coldness in his eyes. It was enough to send chills down his spine.
Summer Lin's eyes began to fill with tears, but she tried her best to hold back from crying. She told herself that crying wouldn't work for him, but he accused her of killing his fiancee. How could she stay out of it?
"I didn't!" she said in a low voice. "The judge already proved my innocence. I really didn't kill anyone."
He looked down at her and his cold smile pierced her heart like a knife. "The law can't punish you, so I will punish you myself. You must pay for your crime!"
As they continued to whisper with one another, the guests started to get suspicious because the bride didn't respond to the question. The priest cleared his throat and asked again, "Miss Summer Lin, do you-"
"She does!" Nick An interrupted him. "I do, too."
The priest swallowed and said with difficulty, "Okay, God bless you. Now you can exchange the rings."
Nick picked up the diamond ring that was laying on top of the flowers and placed it on the bride's finger without sparing her a glance. The ring was so small that it got stuck on her knuckle. He pressed it down mercilessly with contempt. She bit back a cry of anguish. She was in so much pain that she almost burst into tears.
"Now you may kiss the bride..."
"Wait!" The closed doors of the church suddenly flung open with great force. All the suspicious guests turned their heads around. The bride was already acting weird today. The guests wondered whether a young man would burst into the hall to snatch the bride.
Instead, they found a middle-aged man staring at the couple with a smiling face.
Summer Lin trembled and was about to fall down from losing her balance. When the middle-aged man saw her pale face, he laughed out instead. "Nick, did you forget to invite me on such a big day?"
"Mr. Lin, please have a seat," replied Nick An in a calm voice.
"Take a seat?" The man raised his eyebrows at Nick. "I'm the bride's father. Shouldn't I be standing next to my daughter?"
When he said this, even the bridegroom's family seemed to be restless. Summer Lin's lips trembled, but she couldn't say a word. When she was about to finally lose her balance, the man next to her reached out his hand to firmly support her.
"That won't be necessary, Mr. Lin. The ritual is done. Everyone, please go to the banquet hall and enjoy yourselves."
Nick An took charge of everything. The guests had to leave despite their curiosity. The family of the bridegroom approached them. The middle-aged man lit up a cigar as if nothing had happened. "What a pity, Nick. If you had told me earlier that you were going to marry her, I would have given you some advice. Our two families have been friends for generations. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
It was a late hour when a stranger held her by her throat and forcibly occupied her. Some moments later, she woke up in a cold sweat and realized it had all been just a bad dream. The dream also brought with it, a dramatic series of events: her fiance left her, her father remarried, and most strangely, she found her clothes in the clutches of a little girl calling her mommy. Her father: the same man from her nightmare.
The day Raina gave birth should have been the happiest of her life. Instead, it became her worst nightmare. Moments after delivering their twins, Alexander shattered her heart-divorcing her and forcing her to sign away custody of their son, Liam. With nothing but betrayal and heartbreak to her name, Raina disappeared, raising their daughter, Ava, on her own.Years later, fate comes knocking when Liam falls gravely ill. Desperate to save his son, Alexander is forced to seek out the one person he once cast aside. Alexander finds himself face to face with the woman he underestimated, pleading for a second chance-not just for himself, but for their son. But Raina is no longer the same broken woman who once loved him.No longer the woman he left behind. She has carved out a new life-one built on strength, wealth, and a long-buried legacy she expected to uncover.Raina has spent years learning to live without him.The question is... Will she risk reopening old wounds to save the son she never got to love? or has Alexander lost her forever?
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 stormed into our kingdom to buy my sister, I intervened to protect her. I made them take me too. The plan was to escape with my sister whenever we found a chance. How was I to know our prison would be the most fortified place in their kingdom? I was supposed to be on the sidelines. The one they had no real use for. The one they never meant to buy. But then, the most important person in their savage land-their ruthless beast king-took 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! . From the author of the international bestselling book: "The Alpha King's Hated Slave."
Bailey seems to be never destined to fit in, a little geeky, but under it all, a hidden beauty that so many seem to miss, but still not what her pack Alpha is looking for in a fated mate... so he is determined to reject her and make her life hell. Bailey, knowing her life will likely never be the same focuses on what she can control, her future, and heads off to study; becoming a teacher. Asher is the Beta of Autumn Valley Pack, a neighbouring pack. A broken man having suffered the loss of his mate after a rogue attack, Asher is slowly crumbling. Falling to pieces. A shadow of his former self, and not a man that anyone wants to be around anymore... Until, Autumn Valley Pack require a new teacher, and Bailey finds herself there and pushed together with the Beta. Is there a connection building or is that in their imaginations? And what will happen when Bailey's mate comes back to claim what is his?
Julia and Evan were the perfect couple-or so she thought. But everything changed when Evan abruptly ended their relationship, leaving her heartbroken and unable to tell him she was carrying his child. Years later, Julia has built a life for herself and her son, Andy, while Evan has risen to unimaginable wealth and success. Their paths cross again at a chance meeting, but Julia soon discovers Evan has moved on with someone else. Julia is done with the pain. She's fought battles alone, raising a son who deserves the truth about his father, even if Evan doesn't deserve her forgiveness. When Julia told Evan years ago she had something to say, he didn't listen. Now, it's time for him to listen. But is it too late to reclaim what he lost? "We should break up," he'd said, the words cutting through her like glass. The pregnancy test in her pocket stayed hidden, just like the child they would never share. Now, it's Evan's turn to hear the truth-and to face his deepest regret.
The whispers said that out of bitter jealousy, Hadley shoved Eric's beloved down the stairs, robbing the unborn child of life. To avenge, Eric forced Hadley abroad and completely cut her off. Years later, she reemerged, and they felt like strangers. When they met again, she was the nightclub's star, with men ready to pay fortunes just to glimpse her elusive performance. Unable to contain himself, Eric blocked her path, asking, "Is this truly how you earn a living now? Why not come back to me?" Hadley's lips curved faintly. "If you’re eager to see me, you’d better join the queue, darling."
"Never let anyone treat you like shit!" I learned that the hard way. For three years, I lived with my in-laws. They didn't treat me as their son-in-law but as a slave. I put up with everything because of my wife, Yolanda Lambert. She was the light of my life. Unfortunately, my whole world came crashing down the day I caught my wife cheating on me. I have never been so heartbroken. To have my revenge, I revealed my true identity. I was none other than Liam Hoffman—the heir of a family with trillions of dollars in assets! The Lamberts were utterly shocked after the big reveal. They realized what fools they had been for treating me like trash. My wife even knelt down and begged for my forgiveness. What do you think I did? Did I take her back or made her suffer? Find out!