"I loved you, but at the same time, I never really did." Ariana Sinclair gave Dominic Lancaster everything... her love, her trust, and the brilliant idea that built his billion-dollar empire. She stood by his side when they had nothing, only to be tossed aside when he had everything. The final betrayal? Catching him in his office with a hooker. When she demanded a divorce and her share of the company, he smirked and told her the truth: It was all in his name. She never really had anything. Now, Ariana is done playing nice. She wants revenge, even if it means destroying the man she once loved. But one reckless night derails everything. A one-night stand with a stranger. A pregnancy she never planned. And just when she thinks she can keep her secrets buried, Jaxon Reid walks into her life, determined to be part of his child's future. To make things worse, Dominic wants her back, convinced the baby is his. Now, Ariana is caught between two powerful men, a revenge plan spiralling out of control, and a future she never saw coming. Revenge was supposed to be simple. But when love, regret, and betrayal collide, nothing ever is.
Ariana's POV
"I can't believe we won the contract. Thank you so much for your unwavering support... we really appreciate it... yes, of course. We'll see you at the celebratory party." I drop the phone and spin around in the kitchen, barefoot.
We just got the biggest contract in the city and now, my husband and I are no more millionaires. We're freaking billionaires.
When the Mayor brought out the requirements for the contract, requesting an architectural design of the new bridge, I didn't think I could do it.
But honestly, research, coffee and sleepless nights did it for me. We beat every other design and got the contract, our biggest yet.
A party was scheduled to be held at the Hal in my husband's office, but I have never really fancied being in the spotlight, so I thought we could have a party of our own in his office and maybe something else too. I giggle at the thought.
I grab a bottle of wine from our small bar in the kitchen and a basket of snacks and biscuits and walk hurriedly to my car.
I slip on my heels by the door and I leave.
My music is on full blast as I drive up to my Husband's office, he would really love the surprise. It is his favourite wine, four cousins and, of course, my pastries that he loves.
The ride takes a while because of traffic and whatnot, but I finally arrive.
"Hello, Madam." Stacy, the receptionist, greets me with a smile when I walk in. I smile back at her and nod as I walk to the elevator with my gifts in hand.
My husband is the face of our company; I bring the ideas, and he presents them as his own. I create, and he uses his influence to promote.
We built the company that we have today.
I am giddy with happiness as I walk to his office with a skip in my step. I can hear the music from the hall downstairs. The staff and invited guests must be having a good time.
"Good evening, Madam." My husband's secretary, Freddie greets me with sweat trickling down his face.
"Good evening, Freddie. Why aren't you with the other staff?" I smile at him. "You can't be here working too? You need to loosen up and have fun. Come on, go downstairs."
"Um... mam... I can't do that... Sir said not to allow anyone in." He says, stammering and constantly touching his cufflinks.
"I'm not just anyone, though, and it's just me. He wouldn't mind." I search the basket and hand him a cookie before walking to the doors and pushing them open.
"Honey, I'm–"
"Oh yes, faster. I love it when you fuck me so rough," a high-pitched voice says.
I can't believe my eyes.
My husband, the man that I have loved with all my heart for so many years, was behind his desk with a lady who looked like she was still in college and her dress bunched up to her waist, and they were having sex?!
If he hears me come in, he doesn't acknowledge it. The girl makes eye contact with me and moans loudly and my husband slaps her ass in response.
He grunts and continues to have sex with her in front of me. He looks up at me, and my world freezes.
My husband... he is cheating on me. It all clicked; he hadn't called in days, he kept avoiding coming home, saying he was finishing up many meetings, we hadn't been intimate for three months, Freddie's behaviour...
I hear glass shatter to the ground but I don't need to look to know that it is the glass of his favourite wine that I brought to celebrate with him.
I turn on my heels and run out of the office.
"Madam." I hear Freddie's voice behind me but I ignore him. Tears are streaming down my cheeks and my vision is blurry. I enter the elevator and hurriedly push the button so Freddie can't get to me.
I don't need any half-assed apologies or explanations.
My husband is cheating on me.
That fact kept ringing over and over in my head and I couldn't wrap my head around it.
The elevator dings and tears are still falling down my eyes. I spot one of our international partners and I rush to clean my tears.
I hope I did not smudge my makeup.
The man spots me and walks up to me talking animatedly. He's from Italy and his interpretator interprets for him.
"What a lovely design. I take that your husband made it yes?"
The interpretator looks uneasy with my body language and probably how puffed up my eyes look but the Italian man doesn't notice.
My throat feels tight and I can't seem to say yes, that my husband made those designs like I was always proud to.
Do I need to tell him it was mine?
"I'm sorry I have to go." I gave them a half smile and walked away quickly.
If Stacey notices how I look, she doesn't comment or stop me.
I walk to my car and begin to cry once I'm inside. Dominic didn't do this to me...
No, no, no...
I start my car and drive out of the parking lot.
I need to go home.
The car ride is silent except for my sobs. The tears don't stop and they just keep coming, blurring my vision.
That is when I don't notice a truck coming from the other lane. The last thing I see is headlights flashing at me, and then my head hits the stirring wheel, and all I feel is pain before I black out.
-
"Can you hear me? How many fingers am I holding up?"
Huh? What's happening?
I slowly sit up, and I whine as I feel a sharp pain in the side of my head. I raise my hand to touch it and I'm met with a bandage.
"What happened to me," I whisper to no one but the man beside me must have heard.
"You were involved in an accident. You need an urgent check-up at the hospital. You need to come with me."
That explains the blood and the police car and shattered windows.
The man's face fully forms in my vision and I make out that he's a police officer. My clothes are soaked in blood and one of my heels is missing.
"Where is my car?" I ask, looking at him.
He stares at me wide-eyed and points to my car.
Good. It's still in good condition to drive home.
I wobble up and walk to my car when I feel a hand on my arm.
"Madam, you need to come with me to the hospital. You need treatment and stitches, the bandage wouldn't hold for long."
I turn to look him dead in the eyes. "Leave me alone" and I see him flinch.
I turn away from him and walk back to my car, starting it up and driving away from the scene to my earlier destination. My house.
I pull into the driveway and I'm surprised to see bags outside the door.
Whose bags are those?
I get out of the car, and upon close inspection, they're mine.
"Who fucked up your head?"
I turn to see my husband staring at me, and I'm shocked that the first image that crosses my mind is to strangle him till he is writhing beneath me, begging for his life.
I shake that thought away and try to be reasonable. He must have had a reason for abusing me like that. I mean cheating on me in his office and putting out my bags from our home?
"What are my bags doing out here, Dom?" I smile at him.
He first looks taken aback and frightened, probably by my smile but he covers it up with a poker face.
"Leave."
Two years, no love, no trust, just a contract. Claire Donovan was drowning her business failing, debt collectors closing in, and eviction looming. Desperate, she had two options: beg her powerful family for help or take a deal with a billionaire she barely knew. Gordon Blackwood remembered everything. Ten years ago, her father destroyed his future, ensuring he would never rise in the corporate world. But fate had other plans. Now, Gordon owns everything except the one thing he truly wants: revenge. A two year contract marriage seemed like the perfect trap. She gets financial freedom, he gets a flawless cover to silence rumors about his personal life. But what Claire doesn't know is that Gordon plans to make her life miserable. Cold. Ruthless. Unforgiving. Yet the woman he intended to break refuses to crumble. The more she fights back, the harder he falls. Hatred turns to obsession. Obsession turns to something else entirely. By the time Gordon realizes he's in love with the woman he set out to ruin, it's too late. Because Claire has discovered the truth. Now, the woman who once needed him is walking away, and for the first time in his life, Gordon is the one who stands to lose everything.
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?
Darya spent three years loving Micah, worshipping the ground he walked on. Until his neglect and his family's abuse finally woke her up to the ugly truth-he doesn't love her. Never did, never will. To her, he is a hero, her knight in shining armour. To him, she is an opportunist, a gold digger who schemed her way into his life. Darya accepts the harsh reality, gathers the shattered pieces of her dignity, divorces him, takes back her real name, reclaims her title as the country's youngest billionaire heiress. Their paths cross again at a party. Micah watches his ex-wife sing like an angel, tear up the dance floor, then thwart a lecher with a roundhouse kick. He realises, belatedly, that she's exactly the kind of woman he'd want to marry, if only he had taken the trouble to get to know her. Micah acts promptly to win her back, but discovers she's now surrounded by eligible bachelors: high-powered CEO, genius biochemist, award-winning singer, reformed playboy. Worse, she makes it pretty clear that she's done with him. Micah gears up for an uphill battle. He must prove to her he's still worthy of her love before she falls for someone else. And time is running out.
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."
Betrayed by her mate and sister on the eve of her wedding, Makenna was handed to the ruthless Lycan Princes as a lover, her indifferent father ignoring her plight. Determined to escape and seek revenge, she captured the interest of the three Lycan princes, who desired her exclusively amid many admirers. This complicated her plans, trapping her and making her a rival to the future Lycan queen. Entwined in jealousy and vindictiveness, could Makenna achieve her vengeance in the intricate dance with the three princes?
"There will be no falling in love, we will only act as a loving couple when we are in public, we will share a room to make it believable, but no intimacy, touching is off-limits. We'll only have sex once a month, and that's solely to produce an heir. You won't interfere in my business, and I won't interfere in yours. You will be my wife in every sense and you will not be involved with any other man," he said, arrogance seeping from every word. I watch his mouth move, I'm not ready to fall in love with any man, especially not one as arrogant and egoistic as him. I can handle acting as a loving couple, and as for intimacy once a month. I can agree to that just to satisfy my sexual cravings with no strings attached. "Where can I sign?" I asked since I had nothing to lose. *** Nadine's wedding dreams turned to nightmares when she caught her sister and fiancé cheating! With a secret recording, she's ready for revenge. But then mysterious billionaire Logan West offers a deal: A Contract Marriage to take down her ex's empire. But what Nadine doesn't know is her life is getting complicated as she takes her chance to get revenge or risks everything for a chance at love?"
Blinded in a crash, Cary was rejected by every socialite—except Evelina, who married him without hesitation. Three years later, he regained his sight and ended their marriage. "We’ve already lost so many years. I won’t let her waste another one on me." Evelina signed the divorce papers without a word. Everyone mocked her fall—until they discovered that the miracle doctor, jewelry mogul, stock genius, top hacker, and the President's true daughter… were all her. When Cary came crawling back, a ruthless tycoon had him kicked out. "She's my wife now. Get lost."