"Do you think you can escape me, Lola?" His voice was ice, his dark eyes burning with a promise. I am Lord Sir Lekzy, the man everyone fears, the ruler of a criminal empire that stretches across nations. Mercy isn't a luxury I afford, and weakness has no place in my world. But years ago, she shattered my control-Lola Salami, the one woman bold enough to defy me. She was a pawn in a cruel game, her life bought and paid for by her parents' debt. Yet, beneath her defiance, she awakened something in me I couldn't name. I let her walk away once, but she took more than her freedom-she took my heart. Now, fate has brought her back. But she's not the woman I remember. Lola is a force of nature, a king ruling her empire with fire and fury. And when I look into her eyes, I see secrets-ones that could destroy me. Her sons stand beside her, their hatred for me burning like wildfire. But there's something else I see, something familiar, something mine. As the truth unravels, one question remains: will love be my salvation-or my ultimate downfall? And when she whispers my name with trembling lips, I know one thing: this time, neither of us will escape unscathed.
"Tell me, Lola, what is it that you value most in this world?" The voice was smooth, dripping with false sincerity.
I looked up from my desk, my gaze unwavering. Lord Sir Lekzy stood in my office, towering above me with his perfectly tailored suit, his slicked-back hair glinting in the soft light. His presence always had a way of sending a chill through the room, but today, it felt different-unsettling. A storm brewed beneath the surface, one that I knew all too well.
"Power," I replied, my voice a quiet steel. "It's why we're here, isn't it?"
Lekzy's lips curled into a smile, but there was no warmth in it. "Power is fleeting, my dear. What lasts is loyalty. Trust."
I raised an eyebrow, sensing where this conversation was heading. "And you believe you have my trust?"
"I had hoped so." His eyes gleamed as he stepped closer. "But I've come to realize that loyalty... loyalty is earned, not given."
Before I could respond, the door slammed open behind me. Jaden and Jayce entered, their usual confidence shifting to unease as they assessed the tension in the room.
"Is there a problem?" Jaden asked, his tone edged with suspicion.
I held up a hand, signaling for them to stay back. "Not yet, but it seems we're about to find out."
Lekzy's smile faltered, a flicker of something darker crossing his face. He turned slowly to face the two men who had walked in. "Ah, the famous sons. I've heard much about you both."
Jayce's eyes narrowed, a protective instinct flickering behind his usually calm exterior. "What's going on here, Lekzy?" he asked, his voice low but firm.
Lekzy leaned back, clearly enjoying the moment. "You see, boys, your mother and I were supposed to come to an agreement today. A business deal, as it were. But after much reflection, I've decided to... alter the terms."
I stood, my hands steady on the edge of my desk. "Alter the terms? I don't think I understand."
"Let me make it clear for you, Lola," Lekzy said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "The deal is off. And as for our alliance... it never really existed."
I felt a cold rush of realization, my body tensing. "You're betraying me."
"You're sharper than you look," he chuckled, his words a dagger hidden behind a velvet glove. "You see, I've been courting your empire, Lola, not to join it, but to take it."
A pulse of fury surged through me, but I remained still. I had built my empire from nothing, and this man-this pompous fool-thought he could take it so easily?
"Do you really think I'll let you destroy everything I've worked for?" I asked, my voice icy.
Jaden stepped forward, his fists clenched at his sides. "You can't do this," he growled. "You think you can just walk in here and take what's ours?"
Jayce's expression remained calm, but I could see the storm brewing behind his eyes. He was the strategist, the calm to Jaden's fire, but even he knew when it was time to act.
Lekzy's smirk widened, and for a moment, I saw the arrogance of a man who believed himself untouchable. "I think you'll find I already have, my dear. You're too late."
The room seemed to shift, a tension filling the air that could snap at any moment. I glanced at my sons, who were both poised to make a move. The love we shared-our bond-was the only thing that kept me steady in this storm.
"You won't get away with this," I said, my voice firm despite the chaos swirling inside me.
But Lekzy wasn't finished. He raised his hand, signaling someone outside. The door opened once more, but this time, it wasn't just anyone who entered.
A figure cloaked in shadow stepped into the light, and my heart skipped a beat. He was the one person I had never expected to see here, the one person who had been presumed lost to the world.
"Mother," the figure said, his voice smooth and haunting, familiar and chilling all at once.
I froze. "Elias?"
He stood there, his eyes locked on mine, a ghost from my past come to haunt me. Elias, the son I had thought I'd lost forever, the child I had been forced to abandon years ago for the sake of my empire.
"How... how is this possible?" I whispered, the shock making my heart race.
Lekzy chuckled darkly, his eyes flicking to Elias. "Oh, Lola, you've always been so careful, so precise in your moves. But you never counted on him, did you?"
Elias's smile didn't reach his eyes. "You abandoned me for your empire, Mother. And now, it's time for you to pay the price."
My breath caught in my throat. This was the betrayal of all betrayals-my own son, standing in the very room where I had built everything I held dear, aligning himself with the man I had trusted.
Jaden's voice was a low growl. "You're working with him? You've sided with Lekzy?"
Elias's gaze flicked to Jaden, and a cold, calculating expression crossed his face. "You've always been the favored one, haven't you, Jaden? Always the one who could do no wrong. But you'll learn, just as Mother and I learned, that loyalty is only as strong as the person who holds it."
I couldn't breathe. Betrayal, lies, secrets-everything I had worked for seemed to be crumbling before my eyes. Elias, the child I had loved and lost, was now standing against me, and the man who had promised to support me had turned into a snake.
"Elias, you-" I began, but my words caught in my throat as the full weight of the situation hit me.
"I've seen the world, Mother. I've seen what loyalty really means. And I've learned how to survive without it," Elias said, his voice colder than I had ever heard.
A wave of panic surged through me, but I fought it down, drawing on the years of strength I had built. "You're a fool, Elias. You think you can tear everything down with this-this man? You think Lekzy will protect you when it's all over?"
He laughed, a hollow, bitter sound. "I'm not doing this for protection. I'm doing it for the power you stole from me. For the empire that should have been mine."
In that moment, I realized something that made my blood run cold. This wasn't just about business. This wasn't just about the empire. Elias wasn't here to help Lekzy take control-he was here to take it for himself.
The game had changed. And I had no idea what my next move should be.
But before I could make a decision, a gunshot rang out, echoing through the room.
Everything went silent.
I turned toward the sound, my heart pounding in my chest. Something had gone terribly wrong, and I wasn't sure if any of us would make it out alive.
The last thing I heard was Elias's chilling words before the room erupted into chaos: "This is just the beginning."
"You sold yourself to me for one night, Lola. But I'm not done with you." Mayor Kings Castillo, the cold, commanding CEO of Kings Corporation, lives by one rule: control is everything. Yet, the moment I stepped into his world-a desperate woman auctioning her dignity for survival-control was the first thing I lost. That night wasn't supposed to change anything, but it changed everything. Months later, I became his secretary, only to discover I was carrying his child. His wife, Mallia, was the epitome of elegance and power, and her proposition was as cruel as it was tempting: live in their mansion, bear the child, and walk away. But Mayor wasn't a man who followed the rules-not even his own. His lingering touch, the way he looked at me when Mallia wasn't watching... It was dangerous. And when his kisses began to feel like promises, I knew I was falling for a man I could never have. Then the night came when everything fell apart. Betrayed, hunted, and torn from the only love I'd ever known, I vanished-leaving behind the child we both fought for. Now, twenty-six years later, our paths cross again. He doesn't recognize me at first, but when he does, his eyes burn with a single question: "Why did you leave me?"
Lindsey's fiancé was the devil's first son. Not only did he lie to her but he also slept with her stepmother, conspired to take away her family fortune, and then set her up to have sex with a total stranger. To get her lick back, Lindsey decided to find a man to disrupt her engagement party and humiliate the cheating bastard. Never did she imagine that she would bump into a strikingly handsome stranger who was all that she was currently looking for. At the engagement party, he boldly declared that she was his woman. Lindsey thought he was just a broke man who wanted to leech off her. But once they began their fake relationship, she realized that good luck kept coming her way. She thought they would part ways after the engagement party, but this man kept to her side. "We gotta stick together, Lindsey. Remember, I'm now your fiancé. " "Domenic, you're with me because of my money, aren't you?" Lindsey asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Domenic was taken aback by that accusation. How could he, the heir of the Walsh family and CEO of Vitality Group, be with her for money? He controlled more than half of the city's economy. Money wasn't a problem for him! The two got closer and closer. One day, Lindsey finally realized that Domenic was actually the stranger she had slept with months ago. Would this realization change things between them? For the better or worse?
It was supposed to be a marriage of convenience, but Carrie made the mistake of falling in love with Kristopher. When the time came that she needed him the most, her husband was in the company of another woman. Enough was enough. Carrie chose to divorce Kristopher and move on with her life. Only when she left did Kristopher realize how important she was to him. In the face of his ex-wife’s countless admirers, Kristopher offered her 20 million dollars and proposed a new deal. “Let’s get married again.”
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.
There was only one man in Raegan's heart, and it was Mitchel. In the second year of her marriage to him, she got pregnant. Raegan's joy knew no bounds. But before she could break the news to her husband, he served her divorce papers because he wanted to marry his first love. After an accident, Raegan lay in the pool of her own blood and called out to Mitchel for help. Unfortunately, he left with his first love in his arms. Raegan escaped death by the whiskers. Afterward, she decided to get her life back on track. Her name was everywhere years later. Mitchel became very uncomfortable. For some reason, he began to miss her. His heart ached when he saw her all smiles with another man. He crashed her wedding and fell to his knees while she was at the altar. With bloodshot eyes, he queried, "I thought you said your love for me is unbreakable? How come you are getting married to someone else? Come back to me!"
Rosalynn's marriage to Brian wasn't what she envisioned it to be. Her husband, Brian, barely came home. He avoided her like a plague. Worse still, he was always in the news for dating numerous celebrities. Rosalynn persevered until she couldn't take it anymore. She upped and left after filing for a divorce. Everything changed days later. Brian took interest in a designer that worked for his company anonymously. From her profile, he could tell that she was brilliant and dazzling. He pulled the stops to find out her true identity. Little did he know that he was going to receive the greatest shocker of his life. Brian bit his finger with regret when he recalled his past actions and the woman he foolishly let go.
In the previous life, Maggie Johnson was so cowardly, gullible and stupid that she was coaxed by her fiance and stepsister and then broke her legs and lost everything including her fortune, love and even life. However, she was so lucky that she was reborn in the year before everything happened. Since her life restarted, how could she repeat a previous tragedy? Therefore, in this life, she took the opportunity to improve herself and take revenge on the ones who had ever insulted her. Facing the people who had humiliated her previously, she became smart and experienced to break their frames and tricks that had caused her to hurt in the previous life. Finally, no one could stop her pace to amaze the world any more.