Secrets
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THREE-YEARS CONTRACT MARRIAGE WITH THE HOT BILLIONAIRE
"Sign the contract, or lose everything." I stared at the papers that would seal my fate-a three-year marriage to Julian Blackwood, the ruthless billionaire they call the Ice King. My family didn't ask. They demanded. My father's company was drowning, my stepsister's engagement had exploded, and I was the replacement bride they could sacrifice. Just another transaction. Julian made it clear on our wedding day: "Don't expect affection. Don't expect companionship. Certainly don't expect love." He refused to kiss me at the altar. He gave me a bedroom down the hall and told me to stay out of his way. I was Mrs. Blackwood in name only-a contract, a convenience, a means to an end. I accepted it. I had survived twelve years of abuse in my own home. I could survive three years of indifference in his. But then Nate, Julian's best friend, showed me kindness, and suddenly my cold husband became possessive. When my sister attacked me, he became protective. Now the man who promised me nothing is fighting his own father to keep me. The marriage that was supposed to be fake is becoming terrifyingly real and the secrets about my mother's death are threatening to destroy everything. They said Julian Blackwood destroys everything he touches. What they didn't tell me... is that sometimes destruction is exactly what you need to be reborn. With a pregnancy involved, how was I going to end this three-year marriage peacefully?
Chapter 1 The Invisible Daughter
Lena.
I refilled the champagne glasses carefully, weaving through clusters of glittering guests who looked through me rather than at me. The black dress I wore, the same one I'd worn to every family event for the past three years had a small tear at the hem that no one had noticed. No one ever noticed.
"More champagne here," a woman in diamonds called out, snapping her fingers without bothering to look at my face.
I moved to her, my footsteps silent on the marble floor of the Carter mansion's ballroom. Cassie's engagement party was in full swing, two hundred guests celebrating my stepsister's upcoming marriage to Liam Whitley, heir to a pharmaceutical fortune. A string quartet played in the corner. The air smelled of expensive perfume and imported flowers.
I belonged to none of it.
But in exactly seven days, none of this would matter anymore.
Seven days until I had enough money saved. Seven days until my interview at the marketing firm in Boston. Seven days until I could disappear from this house and never look back.
I touched the envelope hidden in my bra-my mother's death certificate, the one document I would need to access the small trust fund she had left me. The lawyer's appointment was scheduled for Monday morning. After three years of hiding money in my mattress, working secret jobs Bridget didn't know about, I finally had enough for a security deposit and first month's rent on a tiny studio apartment five hours away.
Freedom was seven days away.
"The hors d'oeuvres are running low on the west table." Bridget's sharp voice cut through my thoughts. My stepmother appeared at my elbow, her perfectly painted lips pressed into a thin line. "Were you planning to let our guests starve?"
"I'll refill them now," I said quietly.
"You should have done it ten minutes ago." Her manicured nails dug into my arm. "Must I do everything myself? Go. And try not to look so pathetic. You're embarrassing us."
Just seven more days, I reminded myself. Seven more days of this, then I'd never have to hear her voice again.
I hurried toward the kitchen, my cheeks burning. Behind me, I heard Bridget's laugh as she greeted another guest. The transformation was instant, like flipping a switch.
In the kitchen, I loaded canapés onto a silver tray, my hands moving automatically. The catering staff gave me sympathetic looks but said nothing. They knew better than to interfere in family matters.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I checked it quickly, it as a text from Landon, my manager at the coffee shop where I worked early mornings before anyone in this house woke up.
"Your last paycheck is ready. $340. That puts you at your goal, right?"
My heart soared. I didn't need to wait seven more days. I had enough now. I could leave tomorrow if I wanted to.
I typed back quickly: "Yes. Thank you for everything."
"Good luck in Boston. You deserve better than this."
I deleted the conversation and pocketed my phone, my hands shaking with suppressed excitement. Tomorrow. I could leave tomorrow, right after the lawyer's appointment. I had already packed a small bag and hidden it in the garden shed. I had bus tickets purchased under a fake name. I had...
"Lena!" Cassie's voice shattered my planning. "Come here for a second."
I returned to the ballroom, a tray balanced in my hands. Cassie stood at the center of a group of her friends, her engagement ring catching the light with every dramatic gesture. She looked beautiful in her rose-gold gown, her blonde hair swept into an elegant updo, her laugh was musical and confident.
Everything I wasn't. Everything I had stopped trying to be.
"I just wanted to introduce you to everyone," Cassie said sweetly as I approached. "This is my stepsister, Lena. She's been so helpful tonight, playing servant." She leaned closer, as if sharing a secret. "She really commits to the role, doesn't she?"
Her friends tittered. I stood frozen, the familiar burn of humiliation spreading through my chest.
Tomorrow, I reminded myself. Just get through tonight.
"Actually, I think she enjoys it," one of them said. "Some people just know their place."
Cassie reached for a glass of wine from a passing waiter. She turned back to me, smiling. "Oh, how clumsy of me!"
The red wine hit my dress in a splash of burgundy, soaking through the fabric. The wine was cold against my skin, and for a moment, I felt the envelope in my bra getting damp. Panic shot through me, if the death certificate was ruined, I would have to order another one, which would take weeks.
I set down the tray with shaking hands and hurried toward the bathroom, Cassie's laughter following me down the hall. In the bathroom, I carefully extracted the envelope. The certificate was fine, protected by the envelope's thick paper. Relief flooded through me.
I looked at my reflection: wine-stained, exhausted, invisible. Tomorrow, this version of Lena Carter would cease to exist.
I slipped out the side door into the garden, needing air, needing to see the one place in this house that still felt like home. My mother had planted these roses herself, back when she was alive, back when this house held warmth and laughter. I had hidden my escape bag behind the largest rose bush, wrapped in plastic.
I knelt beside it now, checking to make sure it was still there. Everything was intact-clothes, documents, the small amount of jewelry my mother had left me that Bridget didn't know about.
"I'm leaving tomorrow, Mom," I whispered to the roses. "I'm finally getting out."
A crash from inside the house shattered the moment. Then shouting, loud enough to carry through the walls.
My escape would have to wait a few more hours. I stood, brushing dirt from my ruined dress, and returned to find chaos.
A crash from inside the house shattered the quiet. Then shouting, loud enough to carry through the walls. I stood, brushing dirt from my ruined dress.
When I returned to the ballroom, it was chaotic. Cassie stood in the center of the room, her face blotchy with tears, while Liam Whitley faced her with crossed arms.
"I'm done," he said loud enough for everyone to hear. "I can't marry someone so spoiled, so entitled. My family won't allow it anyway, your father's company is hemorrhaging money. This engagement is over."
He pulled the ring from his pocket...Cassie must have thrown it at him and set it on a nearby table. Then he walked out.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Cassie's scream pierced the air. She grabbed the nearest vase and hurled it at the wall, where it shattered into a thousand pieces. "How dare he! How dare he embarrass me like this!"
Guests began making hurried exits, murmuring apologies and excuses. Within minutes, the ballroom had emptied except for family and staff.
Bridget's hand connected with my cheek before I saw it coming. The slap echoed through the nearly empty room.
"This is your fault," she hissed. "Looking like trash in front of our guests, bringing bad luck to this family. You've embarrassed us for the last time."
I pressed my hand to my stinging cheek but said nothing. My father stood in the corner, avoiding my eyes.
"Get out of my sight," Bridget said. "And clean up this mess before you go to bed."
I spent the next two hours picking up broken glass and discarded napkins while the caterers packed up around me. My father and Bridget had disappeared into his study. I could hear their voices, through the heavy door.
By the time I finished cleaning, it was past midnight. I was heading toward the stairs when my father's voice stopped me cold.
"The company is failing. We'll be bankrupt within six months."
I froze outside his study door, my heart pounding.
"Then we need the Blackwood deal," Bridget said. "It's our only option."
"Julian Blackwood wants a marriage alliance. His father insisted on it."
"Then we give them a bride."
No. No, no, no.
"Cassie's engagement just ended publicly," my father said. "The Blackwoods won't want damaged goods."
"They've never met Cassie in person. They've only seen photos. We'll give them Lena instead."
The trash bag slipped from my hands.
"Lena?" My father sounded uncertain.
"She's useless here anyway. At least this way she'll finally contribute something to this family."
I pressed myself against the wall, my carefully constructed escape plan crumbling around me.
"Lena!" My father's sharp voice cut through my panic. "Get in here. Now."
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Alpha's Last Minute Bride
Evangeline was blackmailed to marry a ruthless Alpha in replacement of her sister. Anything she hated in her life was the werewolves. She had seen her father leaving her mother for another she-wolf. Why? Because her mother was a human and so is she!! Though her father loved her a lot despite her being a human, she never forgave him for the things which he did to her mother and stayed away from pack and werewolves community. Little did she know that she had to marry an Alpha just because her sister ran away from her wedding at the last moment. Daniel Grint was the ruthless, heartless and fearless Alpha. He never believed in mate or mate bond because of the circumstances he faced in his life. But he had to marry a stupid alpha daughter to strengthen his pack. He hated that idea from the beginning but he agreed for the sake of his pack. He was finding himself hard to control his anger and frustration when he came to know that his stupid bride flew away before the wedding and he was offered a human as his last minute bride, who also happened to be an Alpha’s daughter and…..his mate.
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The Rebel
"Lower your eyes mate" He said with a hint of warning in his tone. She didn't flinch under his cold fingers coiled around her neck, instead with a smirk on her bruised lips,she looks back at him. Daring to defy him. "Submit!" He growled at her this time, frustrated with her ability to infuriate him to the extent of forcing him to hurt her. "Many have tried mate" The word mate leaving her lips sounded more of a mockery, making his grip on her neck to tighten slightly. "I am not others Vera. I am your mate. Your superior. Submit this instant!" She again smiled, managing to roll her eyes at him. "You can try . But remember,you will never succeed in it" He could end her with just a little more pressure on her neck, having the fate as many others who have dared to defy him,but something in those eyes was stopping him. He wanted to extinguish that fire in them., to see them rolling over as he thrusted inside her, to see them begining him to continue as he denied her. He wanted her to submit.Badly. Completely to him in all respects. Body and soul both. To let him be her protector,her punisher, her dominant,her lover her mate. Her everything. But little did he knew that his mate was not an ordinary Luna who happily submits to her mate's whims and needs. She was who they all popularly call as "The rebel" The mysterious protector of good and savior of women. The man who gives justice to the inequality created by men. If only they knew he was a women instead. .................................................... "The day I submit to a man will be the last day of my life mate. Vera Red was born as a rebel, will live as a rebel and will also die as a Rebel. With or without a cause"
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Beloved Wife Of The God Of War
My mother in law hated me so much cause I couldn't bear her son a baby eventhough my husband and I have spent six years in marriage. She desperately wants my husband to divorce me so she and my bestfriend set me up to be f*cked by a stranger. When my husband heard of this, he mocked me and divorced me. While painfully dragging my luggage out of his house, I saw my pregnant bestfriend carrying her luggage inside my husband's house. Turns out my husband has impregnated my bestfriend. I cried blood and left the city. Seven years later, I became a popular Surgeon General and now have beautiful triplets by my side. But I was deployed back to my city cause my medical skill was most needed. In a twist of fate, I got married to an handsome solider. Only after I resumed work did I find out that the soldier I just married is the five star General, leader of every military units in the country plus he was by far the wealthiest man in the country. I'm just a single mother trying to create a better life for my three kids, now that I found myself entangled in his cold and ruthless world, how will I survive? And how will I explain to him that I do not know how my triplets bore the same resemblance with him?
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My Baby's Daddy Is Mr CEO
It was Valentine`s day; the day of love. Arianna had gone out with for a date with her boyfriend, she was expecting him to pop the question tonight but instead, he did the exact opposite. He announced that the relationship was not working and he couldn't push on anymore. So he walked out of her life and out of the country as well. She was broken, ended up in a bar where she intended to drink away her sorrows. She got tipsy and that's when Mr. handsome stranger showed up. The both ended up in a hotel room and the next morning before she could wake up, he was gone. Only if she knew that the one night stand would lead to an unexpected pregnancy. She was pregnant for someone whose name she didn't even know, a complete stranger. Six months later, she bumps into a magazine with his picture "Oliver Gomez; Business man of the year" That's when she realizes that her Baby`s Daddy Is Mr. CEO!! She confronts him but the billionaire CEO denies it, however she is not going to give up, not without a fight.
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Billionaire's Regret: CEO Wants Mother Of Twin Back
Lily was the wife of the richest and most powerful man in the continent, but because she couldn't conceive an heir for her husband, everyone treated her without respect including her husband. After five years, she finally conceived but her husband, Drake Bell believed her pregnancy was a result of an affair she has because he never had any intimacy with her ever since his childhood sweetheart returned back to his life and that was a year ago. Hence, he took Lily to the hospital and enforce an abortion on her pregnancy eventhough it was against her will. Broken, battered and wasted, Lily dropped a divorce paper on the table and left her husband's villa. The wife of the richest man in the continent ended up being homeless and sleeping on the street but two weeks later, she started experiencing strange symptoms. On visiting the hospital, she was told she was pregnant. Many years later, Drake Bell knelt before Lily and begged her and her twin to come to him but Lily was already a top designer with enough money in her account, she has more than enough to take care of herself and her kids, as for Drake Bell, she told him to rot in hell. But destiny can be tricky, could there a possibility of love between Drake Bell and Lily considering Drake Bell's unforgivable act in the past?
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Moonlit Secrets
Moonlit Secrets is a combination of self-awakening and darkness, all of which is set in the town called Silver Hollow. Evelyn Hart who is not interested in socializing, finds a historical oak tree marked with unfamiliar symbols, little did she know she had unearthed an old secret related to Silver H
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LUNA'S SECRETS
I staggered as cold realization dawned on me. The man I married in Erica's name, my handsome prince charming, is none other than the Royal wolf emperor, Richard Ferguson, the monster who killed my parents and burnt my pack to ashes
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Secrets & Scandals
She bumped into him. Literally. And from that moment, nothing in Ivy's life was quiet again. First came the stares. Then came the whispers. Then came death. Her parents, gone in one day. Her best friend, now a stranger. And Liam, the boy everyone wants, he kept looking at her like he saw something
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Under Secrets
During the war between the Kingdom of Greavaria and the Empire of Promor, Magdaleena Montgomery the Queen of Greavaria Kingdom gave birth to a boy, but before she die, she asked her escort to hide the fact that the child she gave birth to was a boy, to avoid after he grows up as a Prince have to fa
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Aurora's Secrets
She stared at him with hooded eyes, heated breaths mingling in the air between them, "If you agree to this, there's no turning back." His fingers dug into the curve of her ass and she mewled helplessly, "So tell me, flower. Do you agree?" As she gazed into his dark orbs, a fiery passion ignited wi
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Sinful Secrets
Some secrets are too sinful to keep... The diaries are open again, and this time the fantasies are darker, riskier, and even more forbidden. Sinful Secrets takes you behind closed doors into ten dangerously seductive encounters-where love is a risk, lust is an addiction, and boundaries are meant t
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Secrets unveiled
Savannah Angeles-Monroeville's life takes an unexpected turn when a chance encounter with the enigmatic CEO of her company shatters the barriers of secrecy. Drawn into a world of mystery and scars, Savannah finds herself navigating through the complexities of love and acceptance. As Gabriel Monroe
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The Secrets Of Meera
Meera Thakur goes from India to NY to establish a new branch of her very successful NGO, where she meets Arthur Guild, a successful businessman. Whenever they meet, they end up fighting. They both hate each other. But fighting is not the only reason Meera hates him. Arthur is the prime suspect in hi
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Marriage Of Secrets
Karla Yina fought hard to save her dying mother. Caught up by poverty, she marries a billionaire Anderson Stone, who promises to change her life for good and save her mother. Though the marriage was supposed to bring her peace, she never got peace. Anderson Stone was a trap! He'd not married her to
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Bound By Secrets
Lena lost her mind for a moment and actually had a one-night stand with her boss, Ethan Walker, after too much drinking! She was so terrified, afraid of being discovered by him, that she would lose her good job. So she ran away. But the very next day, Ethan found her and showed her a necklace. "Whos
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The Hidden Secrets (completed)
"I can't leave you when you are bearing my baby." He whispered, afraid of scaring me; his gaze solely on my flat tummy. "Baby?" I was stunned and speechless. Fresh drops of tears started to pool down through my already wet cheeks. If it had happened any other day, I would have been happy but now...
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"THE SECRETS UNFOLD"
Naomi Burray; demanding, arrogant, and alluring words that described her best. She was a lawyer, but even when abiding behind the law she was lawless, and sadly didn't change when she received Daniel's case. Daniel was CEO you see, a billionaire who was entirely captivated by Naomi's beauty at first
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Emily’s Dirty Secrets
There's a wide stance between 'Fantasy' and 'Dreams', it could be excused when fantasy drives its way into dreams. Emily Miguel, is a 21-year-old super-model who has taken the crown over and over again in the fashion industry. It all runs down to when she starts having intense smutty hardcore dream
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Bound by Secrets.
Lila Anderson accepts a convenient marriage to the enigmatic and aloof Ethan Cross with the expectation of living a life of solitude and silent sadness. She enters Ethan's world and is thrown into a mystery where love may be both dangerous and seductive. She soon finds out that their contract is mor
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The Dark Secrets
Asuka, a young woman who's experienced more intimate struggles than most. When her father abandoned her in favor of his new family, she had to rely on her own resourcefulness to survive. She has fiercely battled poverty with unwavering determination. However, her life takes an unexpected turn when
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Masquerade of Secrets
Mirabelle Worthington, a young woman stifled by societal expectations, finds herself entangled in a whirlwind of intrigue when she encounters a mysterious stranger at a lavish masquerade ball. Their passionate encounter ignites a forbidden desire within her, a spark that threatens to consume her as
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The Secrets Songstress
“Ella, I've always believed that love knows no boundaries, and no matter how hard I resist this feeling, it persists.” “I'm trying to say that I'm in love with you.” It was a symphony, a whirlwind of emotions as if the stars had descended to dance in the vast expanse of my heart. William said he lo
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The Grave of Secrets
A heavy rain washes away the buried male corpse in the cornfield. The murderer is quickly caught. Only I notice something's off— someone is missing. Ten years later, the people from the past reunite, and rotting oranges are hard to emit a fragrance. The regrets of ten years ago, this
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Secrets and Lies series
Lying and holding secrets comes to us naturally, as natural as breathing and looking on either side of the road before crossing. We all do it to protect ourselves because sometimes the truth can hurt us. Some are harmless little white lies, but some secrets hide horrible things. Those lies will a
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Dirty Little Secrets
"Why are you so damn gullible and stupid?!" I screamed, the harsh words tearing from my throat before I could even attempt to filter them. I stepped right into his space, poking a trembling finger hard against his chest. "Are you completely brain-dead, Kingsley? What part of stay out of my business
