Real Deal
/1/127579/coverbig.jpg?v=2ea34f2e2c2f3053a637d5acfe2fbf25)
His Unwanted Wife, The Hidden Genius
I flew back to New York on my twenty-fifth birthday, carrying vintage gold cufflinks I spent weeks finding for my billionaire husband, Declan. But when I walked into our townhouse, I found him throwing a massive victory party with Sloane, a glamorous socialite, standing by his side as the proud hostess. "Don't cause a scene. Go upstairs." Declan coldly dismissed me in front of his guests. Even Poppy, the rookie player whose shattered ankle I had painstakingly rebuilt, rolled her eyes and ignored me to suck up to Sloane. Hiding in the shadows, I heard the maids gossiping that everyone thought Sloane was the future Mrs. Hartford. To make matters worse, I discovered Sloane had stolen my anonymous, groundbreaking medical algorithm and was planning to present it as her own. First my husband, then the girl I mentored like family, and now the scientific foundation I had built with my own hands. Declan even texted me to cancel our birthday breakfast without a single apology, treating me like an annoying afterthought. My tears vanished, replaced by a freezing clarity. I signed the divorce papers, leaving them on his desk with zero demands for his money. Then I packed my bags, booked a one-way ticket to Boston, and prepared to destroy them on the global stage.
Chapter 1
Aurelia Vance POV:
I had been married to Declan Hartford for three years.
Today was my twenty-fifth birthday, and I had flown back from Boston in secret, hoping for one quiet evening with my husband.
I'd spent a week carefully picking out a pair of gold cufflinks as a gift for my husband.
But the laughter spilling from the front door told me I was already too late: the woman who had taken my place at his side was already inside.
The heavy oak door swung open before I reached the porch. Three young players from the New York Titans, Declan's NHL franchise, stumbled out with crystal tumblers of scotch, laughing loudly. They barely glanced at me as they passed.
I stepped into the grand foyer. The heat hit me instantly,expensive champagne, roasted tenderloin, cigar smoke.
Dozens of people filled the double parlor: executives, scouts, wives in designer dresses.
In the center stood Declan, tall and broad in a bespoke charcoal suit. Beside him, laughing into his ear, was Sloane Whitfield, her backless silver dress catching the chandelier light. Her hand rested on his forearm like she belonged there.
Before I could take another breath, a blur of blonde hair darted past my elbow.
"Sloane!" Poppy Delacroix cried, throwing her arms around Sloane's slender waist. "You were completely right about the catering! This is literally the best victory party the team has ever had!"
Poppy is fourteen, a junior elite forward prospect.
I scouted her two years ago from a crumbling youth league, back when she was at her lowest.
Her parents had once shown me great kindness, and I knew they had already passed away, leaving her all alone in the world.
Declan and I adopted her together.
I rebuilt her shattered ankle with a custom rehabilitation plan.
I had always loved and cared for her as both a mother and a sister.
Now, she did not even glance in my direction.
Declan turned his head, his gaze sweeping over the crowd until his eyes locked onto mine. The easy grin on his sharp jaw vanished instantly. His brows drew together in a hard, irritated line.
He excused himself from Sloane, cutting through the throng of players with long, impatient strides.
"Aurelia," Declan said, stopping two feet in front of me. His voice carried zero warmth. "What are you doing here?"
My throat felt like sandpaper.
"I took the four o'clock flight from Boston," I whispered, clutching the strap of my bag until my knuckles turned white. "It is my birthday, Declan. I thought we could—"
"We are celebrating the division win," he cut in, his tone sharp enough to draw blood. "The board is here. The sponsors are here. Sloane spent four consecutive days coordinating this event so the organization could project stability."
He did not look at me. His gaze slid past my shoulder to the bar, like I was a waitress who had wandered into the wrong room.
"Don't cause a scene," he added quietly. "Go upstairs."
A soft, mocking murmur rippled through a cluster of players' wives standing near the grand staircase. Two women with platinum blowouts exchanged knowing glances over their flutes of Dom Pérignon.
"I didn't know," I said, my voice barely audible over the swelling music. "I am sorry."
I turned toward the staircase, my legs trembling beneath my wool trousers.
Near the landing, Poppy was adjusting her designer jacket in the hallway mirror.
"Poppy," I said softly, pausing beside her. "How is your ankle feeling after Thursday's third period? Did you complete the isometric sequence I sent?"
Poppy rolled her eyes, sighing loudly as she pulled out her phone.
"Aurelia, please, not right now," she muttered without looking at me. "Sloane is introducing me to a marketing director from one of our partners. I don't have time for your spreadsheets."
The dismissive edge in her voice hit me harder than Declan's coldness. I had stayed up until three in the morning reviewing her biomechanical scans while she was recovering from surgery, and now I was just an annoyance in the way of her social ascent.
I walked up the rest of the stairs and entered the primary suite—the massive, sterile bedroom allocated to me under our prenuptial agreement.
I sat on the edge of the mattress and pulled out the velvet box. The gold cufflinks gleamed under the bedside lamp, cold and useless.
Downstairs, cheers erupted. The sound vibrated through the floorboards.
I walked to the French doors overlooking the rear garden. Down on the illuminated patio, Sloane was directing two servers by an ice sculpture. Declan stood beside her, his head bent down as he listened to her speak, his hand casually brushing the small of her back.
They looked like the couple the city expected them to be.
My phone buzzed in my coat pocket. I pulled it out, hoping against hope.
It was an email notification.
"Happy Birthday, Aurelia. Remember that true science requires patience and solitude. You are meant for greater arenas than New York boardrooms. -Dr. Edmund Sterling."
My mentor at Harvard was the only person in the world who had remembered.
I typed a brief "Thank you, Professor" and shut off the screen.
Hours passed. The bass eventually quieted, replaced by the occasional clatter of glassware and slamming car doors. My throat burned with thirst.
At two in the morning, I padded downstairs in my stocking feet to fetch a glass of water from the butler's pantry.
As I rounded the corner near the service hallway, the voices of two newly hired catering maids stopped me dead in my tracks.
"Miss Whitfield is stunning," the first girl whispered, scraping dessert plates into a bin. "Mr. Hartford's girlfriend carries herself like royalty."
"A girlfriend?" the other asked, pausing. "But isn't Mr. Hartford rumored to be married? Is it inappropriate to be this close with Whitfield?"
"Married?Where did that come from? Even if there was one, they must have split long ago. I've worked three events here this month, and Miss Whitfield is the only woman hosting by his side. Everyone knows she's the future Mrs. Hartford."
I shrank back into the cold shadow of the archway, my blood turning to ice.
In the home where I held a legal marriage certificate, my presence had already been wiped clean.
/0/21518/coverbig.jpg?v=5bfde78527391af1463b4cabd2a432c6)
Real Deal
Real Deal Ares Collin He's an architect who lives his life to the fullest. Money, fame, women.. everything he wants he always gets it. You can consider him as a lucky guy who always has everything in life but not true love. He tries to find true love but he gives that up since he's tired of finding
/0/68782/coverbig.jpg?v=9619ed22e2745d2638f3bb51cfba2045)
Deal Or No Deal!
[Dark romance! Erotica! R18!] "What did I say, Andromeda?" "A MacKnight does not deserve anything good." She responded. "And..." I pushed her, and she took in a deep breath and added, "A MacKnight does not deserve mercy." "And..." I pushed further, enjoying this rare moment of seeing Andromeda Ma
/0/33094/coverbig.jpg?v=a6beeadbff8533eb782298b6f66a67d2)
A Deal Is A Deal.
Amaya didn't expect her life to drastically change, she had moved to the US to work and support her family. She thought she was coming to work as a house maid not knowing she is going to be surrogate for a billionaire who has decided not to marry but want to be a father.
/0/39068/coverbig.jpg?v=cb583d4ea76ac2162246e8a2e17746e7)
Real Identities
"Well, that's where I want to go" she yelled. "Camila!" Her dad called in a warning tone and she sighed. Camila, a teenage girl is excited to join the prestigious institution owned by the Governor but schooling became unbearable as Chloe, the Governor's niece is hellbent on bullying her. She kept ge
/0/4292/coverbig.jpg?v=bc1d97fe30ba079c0135e4d1734f1f26)
Real Folks
Adeline Dutton Train Whitney was an American poet and prolific writer who published more than 20 books for girls. Her books expressed a traditional view of women's roles and were popular throughout her life.
/0/71500/coverbig.jpg?v=f7760b193126c15b01909383c73fff86)
SINFUL DEAL
In the glittering world of the elite, where power and prestige reign supreme, Elena Rivers finds herself thrust into a high-stakes game of love and ambition. A talented interior designer, Elena's world is turned upside down when she enters a marriage of convenience with the enigmatic billionaire Dam
/0/20413/coverbig.jpg?v=d9fab52bc3658a2d41a262981853eb6b)
The Daddy Deal
Crystal is sick of her job as a stripper when a regular client, Jamie makes her the offer of a lifetime. He wants her to be his little miss. He offers her a nice salary and a place to stay. All she has to do is follow his rules. Jamie's rules are hard to follow, but she cannot help falling in love w
/1/108648/coverbig.jpg?v=dc22868b86d64947dfbb0844c141da91)
The Billionaire's Deadly Deal
I sat in a private hospital suite that cost more than a luxury car, watching the green line on my daughter's heart monitor struggle to climb. Everything shattered when a hospital administrator accidentally dropped a folder, revealing a document with my husband's unmistakable signature. Darius Brand
/0/30689/coverbig.jpg?v=6cebb2cf60d032a9fbf13b99f8040818)
Deal with the devil
After Alicia's engagement was called off by her fiance, the world took a turn for her as she was too shocked to digest the news. Strangely, she found herself in a majestic room, another different world where everything seems so strange to her. What would become of her when she mistakes her saviour a
/0/40599/coverbig.jpg?v=03395c32a790108e519600a3694c433e)
Silver Moon - The deal
A deserter converts almost all humanity into creatures, alive in a world plunged into darkness, every spring a person from the village in Mojstrana - Slovenia was sacrificed and sent to Sangria. A place where the lycanthropes settled with their cruel leader and tyrant named Alpha and surrounded by s
/0/85459/coverbig.jpg?v=f599428e6328fc50b40de7bbea13e37c)
Fake Divorce, Real Betrayal
"Let' s get a divorce, Ava." My husband, Mark, said the words so calmly, pushing the papers across our dining room table, the morning light making the black letters sharp. He quickly added, "It' s a fake divorce. It' s for Clara. Lily needs to get into the school district here, and she can' t un
/0/85760/coverbig.jpg?v=7c9f3d3fc8bdfc4c021383f12ceba8e3)
Contract Wife, Real Love
The video was only fifteen seconds long: a male burlesque dancer, all glitter and bravado, tearing off his pants. My finger slipped, and the screen flashed: Video sent to Liam. Panic seized me, cold and immediate. Liam, my workaholic, rarely-home, contract husband, recipient of my perfectly-crafte
/0/27865/coverbig.jpg?v=ce42acc4051e9e2fb9cec0ddfa943047)
He Who Became Real
He's arrogant, rude, and a womanizer. But yeah, freakishly handsome and hot. How did I even meet a fictional character like him? And the worst thing that happened...was he became real.
/0/74488/coverbig.jpg?v=ea0ff497c49f12705ee30f25a5628156)
His Real Bride
"I'm the bride, Elena. You're nothing but a mistake." Ivy's words cut deep but fate has other plans. Elena, the quiet twin, has always been ignored. Her sister Ivy is beautiful, bold, and cruel. But on their wedding day, something goes wrong. The carriages get switched. Now Elena is marrying
/0/7923/coverbig.jpg?v=6c4f6e3433a3d5c49224328a1ffca013)
/0/78698/coverbig.jpg?v=21639a20486a639e1ca59c427d87fc8c)
FAKE MATE, REAL BOND
Blurb. Gina, an omega, was born with the cruelest fate, a mate bond with Alpha Brandon, the future leader of her pack. But instead of claiming her, Brandon hides their bond to maintain his status and parades another she wolf as his chosen mate. To him, Gina is a secret someone to use and discard. B
/0/1771/coverbig.jpg?v=20171116205734)
The Real Captain Kidd
It is to be feared that honest and well-meaning men have not infrequently incurred the odium of posterity, not so much by reason of any enormities of which they have themselves been guilty, as because it has been their misfortune to be set to impossible tasks by employers or comrades, to whom they h
/0/11539/coverbig.jpg?v=7480f90ff536891c0dd3eb34f2b89464)
The Real Hard Sell
Naturally human work was more creative, more inspiring, more important than robot drudgery. Naturally it was the most important task in all the world ... or was it?
/0/85107/coverbig.jpg?v=d65e5b2d5f2fe3f5613006caeecf3742)
Fake Amnesia, Real Betrayal
The call came at 7:05 PM on our tenth wedding anniversary. My husband, David, was in an accident. At the hospital, he was awake, but a young woman, his assistant Chloe, was holding his hand, acting like his wife. When I walked in, he looked at me, a blank stranger' s stare, then asked, "Who are y
/0/85358/coverbig.jpg?v=db104ec036db4ad8e84235acc5d88ebd)
AI Love, Real Betrayal
The final code for "True Love AI" glowed on my office monitor, a perfect symbol for my perfect life: successful tech CEO, marrying the woman I' ve loved for five years in seven days. Then Olivia called, her voice flat, devoid of warmth. "Ethan, can you come home? We need to talk." When I arrived,
