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Emma thought she had escaped the city that broke her, but when her family's business teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, she is pulled back into the orbit of the one person she vowed never to see again. Zane Mendoza. Now the heir to a billion-dollar fintech empire and the boss of a secret mafia dynasty where Emma's parents work as underdogs, Zane holds all the cards. For years, he had been searching for Emma, who had disappeared without a trace after their divorce. When Zane discovers that Emma is the daughter of the family who now owes him everything, he makes a ruthless proposition. An arranged marriage. In exchange, he will wipe away her family's crushing debts. Desperate to save her parents, Emma agrees to Zane's conditions but negotiates a deal of her own. Their marriage will last one year, and if she is not happy in the marriage, she will leave. Zane agrees, but with a twist. If she falls for him again before the year is up, she will remain his forever. But Zane doesn't just want Emma as his wife. He wants her in every way. His obsession with her runs deeper than she realizes, and he is ready to eliminate anyone just to have her forever. With a jealous best friend that wants to take everything she loves, an ex boyfriend who wants her back, betrayal lurking at every corner, a secret daughter that Zane doesn't know is his, and a love that refuses to die, Emma must navigate this web of lies and emotions. Can she resist Zane's magnetic pull, or will she be caught up in his game for good?
Emma
"Do you, Emma Ramirez, take Zane Mendoza as your lawfully wedded husband?"
As the words sliced through the stillness of the chapel, my lips parted, but no sound came. I stood there, frozen, feeling the weight of my wedding dress suffocating me as my heart beat wildly in my chest.
How the hell had I ended up here again?
My gaze drifted to the man standing before me, tall and commanding in his custom black suit. Zane Mendoza. The man who once held my heart in the palm of his hand only to crush it five years ago. His dark, cold eyes bored into mine. He looked as infuriatingly handsome as ever with a sharp jawline, perfectly tousled dark wilt cut hair, and lips that had once whispered promises I was naive enough to believe.
I couldn't decide what was worse -the fact that I was marrying the same man who had handed me a divorce paper five years ago or the fact that he knew exactly how trapped I felt and seemed to be enjoying it.
Back to the first time I had stood across from Zane like this.
I had been nineteen then and blinded by dumb love. Zane had been the bad boy, the reckless charmer who had swept me off my feet with his crooked smile and devil-may-care attitude. I had gone against my parents' advice and eloped with him and gotten married in a cheap chapel on the outskirts of town.
But the honeymoon phase hadn't lasted long. Two months later, the cracks had started to show. I had caught him sneaking off in the middle of the night, his phone buzzing incessantly with messages from women whose names I didn't know but whose intentions were painfully clear. A couple of times, I had stalked him, only to see him walking into hotel rooms with different women.
The final blow had come when one day, he had slid the divorce papers across the table, his expression so indifferent as if he was handing me a grocery list.
"I made a mistake." He had said. "I'm not cut out for marriage or commitment, Emma. I'm not ready for this. I'm tired of hurting you. I want to give you back your freedom."
Heartbroken and hurt, I had packed my things that same night and walked out of his house without a word. What he didn't know, what he still didn't know, was that I had been pregnant.
My parents had taken me back, but their forgiveness came with conditions. No one could know the truth. When my daughter was born, they insisted the world believe she was adopted. With no choice of my own, I had gone along with it. Then they had shipped me off to Boston, to start over.
And I had. Until now.
When my parents had called me a month ago, I had thought it was just another check-in. Instead, they asked me to return to the city and when I did, they dropped the bombshell. Their business was bankrupt and their debts was spiraling out of control. The only solution was an arranged marriage with Zane Mendoza, the man who now owned their debts -and, apparently, me.
I hadn't known until then just how far Zane's reach extended. That the man I had married as a reckless nineteen-year-old wasn't just a playboy but the heir to a secret mafia dynasty. Now, he was the mafia don himself, a man whose power and influence were as terrifying as they were undeniable.
And I had walked right into his trap for the second time.
I had tried to argue with my parents, to disagree with them and make them see reasons why this marriage could not hold. But they were adamant and wouldn't listen to me.
"You will marry Zane Mendoza, and that is final!" My father had yelled at me, his eyes wide and terrifying. And my mother had supported him.
"We have done so much for you even when you almost ruined your life and tried to bring shame to this family. And yet, this is how you pay us back? By going against our commands? How can you be so ungrateful!"
And then, my father had added. "If you go against us, then we will have no choice but to disown you. You are not worthy of being called our daughter!"
"Emma Ramirez." The priest's voice pulled me back to the present moment as he repeated himself again. "Do you take Zane Mendoza as your lawfully wedded husband?"
Zane's eyes didn't waver from mine. If anything, they seemed to darken, daring me to say no, daring me to defy him in front of everyone.
I wanted to. God, I wanted to scream that this wasn't fair, that he didn't get to walk back into my life and take everything from me again. But my parents' angry and desperate faces flashed in my mind and my chest tightened.
For them, I had to. At least, to pay them back for all that they had done for me.
I swallowed hard, my throat dry and my heart heavy. I could feel the entire room holding its breath.
Zane smirked now, just enough to make my blood boil.
I hated him. I hated his arrogance, his audacity, his ability to make me feel like I was still that naive nineteen-year-old who had thought love could conquer anything.
But I hated myself more for still feeling the tiniest flicker of something when I looked at him. And what I hated the most was that I had no other choice.
"Yes." My voice seemed to break the tension in the room and I could see the smiles of relief on my parents face from where they were seated.
"Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife."
As the priest's words rolled out of his tongue, I kept my eyes locked with Zane, wondering if I had just made the biggest mistake of my life.
Elena has always been an outcast. Born with a hole in her heart, blamed for her mother's death during childbirth, rejected by her father, and treated as a servant in her own home, she grew up lonely and unloved. With a weak heart that leaves her fragile, she had never felt like she belonged. Until the night everything changed. At the Full Moon Festival, everyone is shocked when the mate bond ties the smoking hot and ruthless immortal Lycan King; Lycan Nikolai, to Elena. For centuries, Nikolai has searched for his destined Luna-a reincarnation of the powerful woman he once loved but lost tragically. Realizing that Elena is weak and sick, he rejects her without a second thought. Elena's stepsister, Sophie, gladly takes her place as Nikolai's Luna, unaware that fate has other plans. A tragic accident that plunges Sophia into a state of coma forces Elena into the role she never wanted. She becomes a substitute bride to a king who sees her as worthless and a total waste of time. Thrown into a ruthless world of elite wolves, betrayal, and secrets, Elena is determined to survive. As she uncovers her own hidden strength, she begins to form an undeniable bond with Nikolai. But Sophie won't let go so easily, and the shadows of Nikolai's past threaten to destroy everything. Secrets unravel, prophecies are revealed, and enemies rise from the shadows. Will Nikolai see past her weakness to the powerful woman she truly is, or will the ghosts of their pasts and present temptations destroy them both?
On the day that Sienna gives birth to their daughter, her loving husband vanishes without a trace. Heartbroken and betrayed, she rebuilds her life, channeling her pain into a successful career as a TV presenter, but the scars of his abandonment never fully heals. Eight years later, Sienna is transferred to another city after a scandal threatens her career. At a corporate event, she is stunned to see Roman again. This time, as the powerful CEO of a multi-billion dollars company. But he doesn't recognize her and to make matters worse, he is married to her identical twin sister. Hurt and determined not to fall for his charms again, Sienna tries her best to forget about the past and move on. But as new secrets unfold, Roman constantly showing up in her life and seducing her with every chance he gets, and her twin sister breathing down Sienna's neck, it is not as easy as she thought it would be.
After two years of marriage, Sadie was finally pregnant. Filled with hope and joy, she was blindsided when Noah asked for a divorce. During a failed attempt on her life, Sadie found herself lying in a pool of blood, desperately calling Noah to ask him to save her and the baby. But her calls went unanswered. Shattered by his betrayal, she left the country. Time passed, and Sadie was about to be wed for a second time. Noah appeared in a frenzy and fell to his knees. "How dare you marry someone else after bearing my child?"
Sawyer, the world's top arms dealer, stunned everyone by falling for Maren—the worthless girl no one respected. People scoffed. Why chase a useless pretty face? But when powerful elites began gathering around her, jaws dropped. "She's not even married to him yet—already cashing in on his power?" they assumed. Curious eyes dug into Maren's past... only to find she was a scientific genius, a world-renowned medical expert, and heiress to a mafia empire. Later, Sawyer posted online. "My wife treats me like the enemy. Any advice?"
"Please trust me, I didn't do anything." "I don't believe you. I am rejecting you as my Queen and giving you the punishment of death." Alina was living outside her pack for five years. Her parents didn't try to contact her and always ignored her. Her best friend convinced her to go back to their pack and she agreed. But she had never imagined what was waiting there for her. She never thought she would meet her mate and had to face betrayal from everywhere. She had to pay for the crime which she never committed. Aaron Robertson is the king of Lycans. He is a very dominant and powerful King who not only rules Lycans but also rules other ranks of werewolves. Everyone is afraid of Lycans and he is the king of them. But who knew that he would get a mate who was just a simple Omega with no powers and strengths? He called her weak all the time but little did he know that his weak Omega would give him the biggest betrayal of his life for which he had to give her the sentence of death.
My marriage to Mathias was supposed to make me the happiest woman in the world. Although I knew he didn't love me, I thought he would fall for me once I showered him with all the love I had to give. Five years passed and Mathias still didn't give a damn about me. Instead, he met his true love and cut all ties with me because of her. He showed her off; something he never did for me. His abandonment pushed me into depression. I was broken in every sense of the word. Even on my deathbed, my so-called husband didn't come to say goodbye to me. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself reborn. I was still Mathias's wife and it was two months before he met his true love. In this life, I refused to be hurt by him again. After talking some sense into my head, I asked him for a divorce in other to escape being heartbroken like I was previously. Mathias tore up the divorce papers time and time again while also shutting me down. "Rylie, stop all this nonsense! Playing hard to get doesn't work anymore!" To show him that I was dead serious, I went ahead to file for divorce. Only then did he panic. He abandoned the "woman of his dreams" and came to my side. "Please give me a second chance, Rylie. I promise to do right by you. You'll be the only woman in my heart from now on. Don't leave me, okay?" A war broke out in my mind after this apology. On one hand, I didn't want to be hurt again. And on the other, I didn't want to let go of the man I loved so dearly. What should I do?!
After hiding her true identity throughout her three-year marriage to Colton, Allison had committed wholeheartedly, only to find herself neglected and pushed toward divorce. Disheartened, she set out to rediscover her true self-a talented perfumer, the mastermind of a famous intelligence agency, and the heir to a secret hacker network. Realizing his mistakes, Colton expressed his regret. "I know I messed up. Please, give me another chance." Yet, Kellan, a once-disabled tycoon, stood up from his wheelchair, took Allison's hand, and scoffed dismissively, "You think she'll take you back? Dream on."
To the public, she was the CEO's executive secretary. Behind closed doors, she was the wife he never officially acknowledged. Jenessa was elated when she learned that she was pregnant. But that joy was replaced with dread as her husband, Ryan, showered his affections on his first love. With a heavy heart, she chose to set him free and leave. When they met again, Ryan's attention was caught by Jenessa's protruding belly. "Whose child are you carrying?!" he demanded. But she only scoffed. "It's none of your business, my dear ex-husband!"