Empire of hearts

Modern

Twenty minutes before the "Wedding of the Century" at The Plaza, I stood outside the Presidential Suite in a fifty-thousand-dollar Vera Wang gown. I was the girl from a West Virginia trailer park about to marry Hugh Maxwell, the golden heir to a billion-dollar defense empire. I pushed the door open only to find Hugh pinned against the bed with my own stepsister, Floy. She was wearing my bridal diamond necklace, and the sounds of their laughter scraped against my eardrums like sandpaper. I didn't scream; I listened as Hugh grunted that once the wedding was over and the trust fund unlocked, he'd dump "that hillbilly trash" on a bus back to the mountains. They weren't just cheating; they were planning to steal my family's land deeds and leave me with nothing. When I set off the sprinklers and exposed their naked bodies to the paparazzi, the Maxwell family didn't apologize. They called me a "greedy peasant" and threatened to ruin my life unless I signed a new deal to save their crashing stock. I realized then that I was never a bride to them. I was a transaction, a rounding error in a ledger to be used and discarded. They thought my poverty made me weak and my silence made me a victim. "If we don't have a marriage certificate by midnight, the bank freezes thirty percent of our liquidity," their lawyer warned. So, I gave them exactly what they wanted. I used a loophole in their hundred-year-old family covenant and married the only other direct heir available. I didn't marry Hugh. I walked into the ICU and married his uncle, Fleet Maxwell-the legendary war hero who had been in a vegetative state for months. Now, I am the matriarch of the Maxwell dynasty. I've suspended Hugh's executive powers, exiled my mother-in-law to the Swiss Alps, and taken control of the family vault. They think I'm just a gold-digger waiting for a "corpse" to die so I can collect a fifty-million-dollar widow's payout. But last night, as I lay beside my comatose husband, the man they called a vegetable gripped my hand back.

Romance

WE were three quiet, lonely old men, and SHE was a lively, handsome young woman, and we were at our wits' end what to do with her. A word about ourselves, first of all - a necessary word, to explain the singular situation of our fair young guest. We are three brothers; and we live in a barbarous, di

Mafia

The Empire of Darkness In the shadows of the city, Gabriel Moretti reigns over one of Europe's most feared criminal empires. Cold, ruthless, and dangerously intelligent, he controls everything-until he meets Alba Ricci, a woman with a fiery gaze and a past shrouded in secrets. Once a brilliant sur

Fantasy

She thought she was human. She was wrong. For fourteen years, Miri lived a quiet life, sheltered by the lies of loving parents who kept her hidden from a world that would tear her apart. But when tragedy strikes, the truth unravels with brutal force. Her name. Her identity. Even her safety was nev

Literature

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not

History

We often hear that love makes us blind, but when we add jealousy, we lose all beneficial notions, and we are ready to do anything so that the person at the origin of these evils, suffer. This is what will happen to Thetia Kestle, the youngest of the Kestle family. It is her older sister Jane who wil

Romance

"I don't need your money... I never have... And, I never will..." Jenifar stated firmly. Alexander smiled ruefully, his eyes glinting with a mix of amusement and challenge. "What you feel for me is irrelevant... I've never asked for your love. And you always seem to forget that what we have here..."

Mafia

Alessia Romano has lived in the long shadow cast by a receding father's failures since the day she was born. But his last, most unspeakable error was neither a bad investment nor a failure to save her mother from an increased dosage of suicide pills: It was a something rather darker-a debt to the de

Literature

Heralds of Empire by Agnes C. Laut

Fantasy

The elderly Brothers Owen, Morgan and Griffith live a quiet, retired life in the countryside, which is turned upside-down by Griffith's ward, the young Jessie Yelverton. Originally, her visit to them was to last only six weeks, but for a very certain reason, the gentlemen must find a way to prolong

Romance

In "A Trio of Hearts," Anna is torn between three very different men, each representing a unique aspect of love. Joshua is supportive yet competitive, pushing Anna to excel. Michael provides the stability and deep understanding she craves, offering her a safe space to grow. Daniel is the mysterious

Billionaires

Cressida, the unloved adopted daughter, marriage was destroyed by her sister. But fate had other plans. A contract marriage brought her together with Alaric, the crippled heir to a business empire. Forced to take her sister's place, she saw an opportunity for revenge and empowerment. With a burning

Young Adult

When Jenna Brooks's family goes bankrupt, she's forced to move in with the Declan family in Houston for her senior year. Getting to Houston, Jenna quickly realizes that things have changed since she last saw them. The Declan brothers, once innocent little boys, now have now grown up to be hot and at

Romance

When bestselling author Charlotte Davis returns to her picturesque hometown of Meadowbrook for her best friend's wedding, she never expects to fall for a man who has everything to remind her of why she left. Ethan Cooper, the town's charming and ambitious lawyer, is everything Charlotte doesn't want

Billionaires

Some empires are built on legacy. Others are built to burn. Loraine Thorne has spent her life trying to prove she's more than just a granddaughter. Smart, relentless, and polished to perfection, she's clawed her way through the ranks of the Thorne empire only to be passed over, again, for one simpl

Billionaires

Julian Thorne is a man of absolute control. As the ruthless CEO of a global empire, he has built his life on power, wealth, and emotional distance. When he discovers that struggling artist Elara Vance's family gallery sits on valuable real estate, he sees an opportunity for revenge against a rival c

Fantasy

He was sent to silence her. Instead, he risked everything to protect her. Marcos De Luca was raised to obey. As heir to a powerful crime dynasty, he was trained to be a weapon-precise, loyal, and unfeeling. His latest task is simple: eliminate the journalist threatening to expose secrets that could

Mafia

Larisa Morello was still in college when her dad, Lucas Morello, the Capo of Chicago threw the papers that she needed to sign to automatically become the heir to the Mafia empire when he dies. She went ahead and told him that she wasn't into claiming his properties, and she was ready to make haste f

Billionaires

Sarah lost hope and direction in life, yet she doesn't want to give up. Torture, Pains, Betrayal... She deals with them all, but life keeps treating her like crap. She struggled to see the breaking down most of the time until her ex-lover showed up and asked for a second chance. He's ready to sa

Romance

This book is set to describe the lives of two people, Tamara and Royal. Tamara is a foreigner that left for New york to study there for two years. Upon her graduation, she decides to go have some fun at nearby bar. Royal on the other hand is a celebrity of the popular DIAMOND CREW. Tamara does not r

Romance

Diana Hartley, an ambitious and independent architect, has built her life with precision and focus. When she lands a dream contract to design a landmark for the McAlister Corporation-a global powerhouse owned by reclusive billionaire Colton McAlister-she's sure this is the project that will launch h