"What's your answer?" he asked making her froze. "Do I still have to answer that?" she whispered for she knows him too well but this man in front of her always making her heart stop. "You're mine and exclusively mine."
"What's your answer?" he asked making her froze. "Do I still have to answer that?" she whispered for she knows him too well but this man in front of her always making her heart stop. "You're mine and exclusively mine."
"This looks like an intervention, " Aiden Hermanes said drily. He wasn't smiling and neither was anybody else. His mother had asked him to come by the family home for a private talk but instead, he found himself confronted by Ashford, the Hermanes Corporation CFO or the chief financial officer, the family lawyer, and his two brothers, Ace and Axel.
Aiden wasn't the type of person to back down something all these people knew very well.
The atmosphere was tense. In looks, he was very alike his two brothers. All three were dominant in skin tone, hair, and eye color, but tall, angular, and Greek god in their build. All three were strikingly impossibly good looking by any standards and a picture of the three brothers together at a function or a nightspot was pure gold to the local celebrity media.
At just twenty-nine years of age, Aiden was the eldest of the three.
"As nobody here seems to want to speak, let me begin, " he said. "What exactly is this all about?"
An uncomfortable silence reigned for five long seconds.
"Aiden, " his mother said in a frail voice.
"We all appreciate that what you are doing is good. Good for the world, good for the individual charities involved and in many ways good for the Hermanes Corporation as well."
"I agree. So why are we here?" CFO Ashford interjected.
"You've given away nearly 10% of Hermanes in the last six months alone Aiden. This can't go on."
"The current net worth of the Hermanes family remains at over 75 billion dollars, " he replied with a cold economy of expression.
"There's plenty more we can give away before anyone has to cut back on the champagne."
Ace, the middle brother of the Hermanes family and its technical genius, weighed in.
"I think we're all aware of the numbers here Aiden, so that's not the issue and neither is the champagne, but if you continue to donate like this then there won't be anything left to give. If we want to maintain the philanthropic tradition of our family then it needs to be done at a sustainable rate."
"I understand that Ace, and you don't need to worry. I know exactly what I'm doing, " his face betrayed no emotion but his steely gaze spoke volumes. It was a gaze that inspired loyalty in some, fear in others, but obedience in everyone.
Nearly everyone.
Today he was speaking to his inner circle his fierce independence of spirit and natural leadership was matched by almost everyone he could see. It was the reason his mother had invited them; not only was he looking at the entire board of directors of the Hermanes corporation but if anyone in his world was able to stand up to him, then they were sitting right in front of him.
Axel, the youngest of the three brothers, spoke up. If the impulsiveness of youth had long ago left the two older brothers, Axel still held an edge of fieriness that his mother and older brothers hoped would soon soften with age.
"We all get it Aiden, we all miss dad--"
"You? Miss dad?" Aiden said accusingly. Axel hesitated, looking briefly away from his older brother before continuing.
"We all respect the tradition of giving, but this is just crazy. Give it all away and then what happens? We're just as poor as the people we're trying to help. That's no good for anybody."
"Every donation is tax-deductible. Charity is good for business, " Aiden said, refusing to give an inch.
"Don't patronize us Aid, " Ace said. "We all know that, but 10% of Hermanes in just six months? It's financial suicide. Speculation in the media that something is wrong at the heart of Hermanes Inc. is rife and sooner or later it's going to affect business."
Aiden held up his hands and the group went silent, waiting for him to speak as he looked at each of them in the eye, slowly, one by one.
"I'm acting CEO of Hermanes Corporation, " he said. "Now unless there's something else to discuss, I have somewhere I need to be."
He stood up to go.
"Sit down Aid, " Ace said. The tension in the air was near unbearable. The Hermanes family was not accustomed to internal strife in business matters since the passing of Mr. Hermanes senior. Normally they spoke as one voice, guided by Aiden's acknowledged razor-sharp business sense.
That guidance had been accepted without resentment or question until his seemingly endless spree of philanthropy threatened to bankrupt the corporation.
Aiden gave Ace a long cold look before he sat down. Like all of them, he was used to giving orders, not taking them.
"This better be good." he with quiet intensity.
Their mother spoke quickly, hoping to defuse the situation.
"It is good Aiden. Good for everyone. We have come together today simply to discuss how much money Hermanes Inc. should give away in philanthropic contributions in any given financial quarter, that's all."
"I've already decided how much that should be, " Aiden said.
"Aiden Hermanes does not equal Hermanes Inc, " Axel said with evident irritation, "no matter what you think."
Aiden looked at him, his expression giving nothing away.
"Of course I don't think that, but this specific decision is mine and mine alone, just as our father said it should be and as the board, including everyone here, agreed upon. Now if you'll excuse me--"
"If you won't discuss this with us then we will have no choice but to ask you to stand down as CEO." Ace said. Aiden was motionless for a moment. The two brothers had fought many times as children but never as grown men. They had always been equally matched and neither feared the other.
The room held its breath as Aiden looked to Emerson, the family lawyer. He didn't need to say a word to the tough old legal shark.
"It can be done."
Aiden looked around the room again. If Emerson said it was true then it was true. No one in the world knew the Hermanes family legal affairs like Emerson. He had been defending the family's interests since the brothers were in diapers.
Aiden took a long deep breath and then looked at Ace.
"Give me a proposal and I'll think it over. Now if you all will please excuse me--"
"There's one more thing." Ace said.
Aiden waited, his face still betraying no emotion but his family knew him well he was surely enraged at this challenge to his authority.
"Well?" he said.
As confident and strong-willed as Ace was, the words stuck in his throat. It fell to their mother and her 49% interest in the Hermanes Corporation as a whole, to save the moment. Her voice was frail but her power in the corporation was formidable.
"We'd like you to consider getting some help son." She said softly.
"I already have all the help I need. My team is excellent, the best in the world."
"That's not the kind of help we mean."
Even the human barracuda Emerson held his breath in anticipation.
"Exactly what kind of help are you talking about mother?"
She reached into a small pocket in her pleated skirt and put a card on the table.
"This person comes highly recommended."
Aiden Hermanes read the details from where he sat. He didn't deign to pick the card up. It was the name and contact details of a psychological counselor in the States.
He looked back into the eyes of his family and then to Emerson who returned his gaze with all the steel he could muster. The lawyer was capable of staring down a high court judge without flinching an eyebrow but his heart skipped a beat as he nodded his head to assure Aiden Hermanes of the binding nature of what his family was 'suggesting' to him.
Aiden stared defiantly around the room again. The board of directors held its breath.
Is it a sin to love? If secret love is a sin I am willing to accept whatever is at stake. I'm Marina, who will pretend to be the wife of my twin's fiancé.
Victoria, the woman seeking freedom. He grew up in a world of lies and greed when the day came when his parents sold him. William, a man with a word. He was a powerful figure in the Mafia world. A cold-hearted man not until he met her. Will Victoria compromise with William?
The prince who is killed and vows to live again and find the man who killed him and carry it with his heart and mind to the woman he married and promised at the same time to leave the search for his wife. Hades vows to love her until his death and give her a ring on their wedding day, without his knowledge the ring that he gave comes from the deities who had a plan what will go in his life. But as he again regain his life he will discover the untold story that he does not know form the moment of his wedding, a secret that his opponent interfere. Hades had the power that the deities had given him and he had to find the woman in the picture he was carrying. His situation was difficult at first because he could not remember where he had come from but he gradually remembered it when he saw her with the help of a ring she was wearing. Every whisper in Lissana's ring made Hades instantly hear and feel it. He entered the life of the Ysares who were already in debt and their company was slowly losing their way. He helped them get up by marrying Lissana's mother Elena. Hades knew all that was going to happen before it happened, so it was easy for him to marry Elena because he knew it would die sooner and Lissana would be left in his care according to his plans. Despite seeing the woman he was looking for, he also saw the man who killed her knowing that it was the man his wife was pregnant with. The man of his opponent and his wife got betrayed him without his knowledge and still, he doesn't know. But he also didn't know that the woman he had found Lissana was not his wife, it was his maid, his trusted maid that has a secret love in him. Even though he is living in immortal life, he had now a limit that he and the deities agreed. As time went on, his time was short and the reaper was following his name. Will he be able to follow what the deity left behind when he needs to get the ring in Lissana's hand before the man who killed him can take it?
Lyric had spent her life being hated. Bullied for her scarred face and hated by everyone-including her own mate-she was always told she was ugly. Her mate only kept her around to gain territory, and the moment he got what he wanted, he rejected her, leaving her broken and alone. Then, she met him. The first man to call her beautiful. The first man to show her what it felt like to be loved. It was only one night, but it changed everything. For Lyric, he was a saint, a savior. For him, she was the only woman that had ever made him cum in bed-a problem he had been battling for years. Lyric thought her life would finally be different, but like everyone else in her life, he lied. And when she found out who he really was, she realized he wasn't just dangerous-he was the kind of man you don't escape from. Lyric wanted to run. She wanted freedom. But she desired to navigate her way and take back her respect, to rise above the ashes. Eventually, she was forced into a dark world she didn't wish to get involved with.
Kaelyn devoted three years tending to her husband after a terrible accident. But once he was fully recovered, he cast her aside and brought his first love back from abroad. Devastated, Kaelyn decided on a divorce as people mocked her for being discarded. She went on to reinvent herself, becoming a highly sought-after doctor, a champion racer, and an internationally renowned architectural designer. Even then, the traitors sneered in disdain, believing Kaelyn would never find someone. But then the ex-husband’s uncle, a powerful warlord, returned with his army to ask for Kaelyn’s hand in marriage.
The night I discovered my husband's whore was carrying his heir, I smiled for the cameras-and plotted his ruin. Scarlett was born a queen-heir to a powerful legacy, Luna of the Dark Moon Pack by blood and by sacrifice. She gave everything to Alexander: her love, her loyalty, her life. In return, he paraded his mistress before their pack... and dared to call it duty. But Scarlett won't be another broken woman weeping in the shadows. She'll wear her crown of thorns with pride, tear down every lie built around her, and when she strikes, it will be glorious. The Alpha forgot that the woman he betrayed is far more dangerous than the girl who once loved him.
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."
Madisyn was stunned to discover that she was not her parents' biological child. Due to the real daughter's scheming, she was kicked out and became a laughingstock. Thought to be born to peasants, Madisyn was shocked to find that her real father was the richest man in the city, and her brothers were renowned figures in their respective fields. They showered her with love, only to learn that Madisyn had a thriving business of her own. "Stop pestering me!" said her ex-boyfriend. "My heart only belongs to Jenna." "How dare you think that my woman has feelings for you?" claimed a mysterious bigwig.
Trigger/Content Warning: This story contains mature themes and explicit content intended for adult audiences(18+). Reader discretion is advised. It includes elements such as BDSM dynamics, explicit sexual content, toxic family relationships, occasional violence and strong language. This is not a fluffy romance. It is intense, raw and messy, and explores the darker side of desire. ***** "Take off your dress, Meadow." "Why?" "Because your ex is watching," he said, leaning back into his seat. "And I want him to see what he lost." ••••*••••*••••* Meadow Russell was supposed to get married to the love of her life in Vegas. Instead, she walked in on her twin sister riding her fiance. One drink at the bar turned to ten. One drunken mistake turned into reality. And one stranger's offer turned into a contract that she signed with shaking hands and a diamond ring. Alaric Ashford is the devil in a tailored Tom Ford suit. Billionaire CEO, brutal, possessive. A man born into an empire of blood and steel. He also suffers from a neurological condition-he can't feel. Not objects, not pain, not even human touch. Until Meadow touches him, and he feels everything. And now he owns her. On paper and in his bed. She wants him to ruin her. Take what no one else could have. He wants control, obedience... revenge. But what starts as a transaction slowly turns into something Meadow never saw coming. Obsession, secrets that were never meant to surface, and a pain from the past that threatens to break everything. Alaric doesn't share what's his. Not his company. Not his wife. And definitely not his vengeance.
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