Novels by Dark Lótus

When they entered the mansion, Karen felt the weight of dozens of eyes turning toward them.The hall was enormous, with hundreds of guests and servers circulating with trays of champagne and canapes. And everyone stopped what they were doing. The guests looked at the couple with barely concealed curiosity. The whispers began immediately. Karen could sense the words even without hearing them clearly.“Is that her?” “The bastard’s wife.” “They say she’s an orphan.” “Poor girl.”Karen squeezed Sebastian’s arm tighter.“Breathe,” he murmured, low enough that only she could hear. “They’re sharks. If they sense fear, they attack.”He guided her further into the hall with a confidence that seemed natural, but Karen knew it was armor. She was beginning to recognize when Sebastian was truly relaxed versus when he was just pretending.“I’m going to get a drink,” Sebastian said after a few minutes of forced smiles and brief greetings. “Do you want anything?”“Water is fine,” Karen replied, not w

The days passed too quickly until the long-awaited and dreaded date arrived: the night of the Sterling dinner.Sebastian was in the living room, adjusting his suit for the third time in front of the mirror. Everything had to be perfect. Every detail mattered tonight.Hair precisely combed. Tie adjusted. Gold cufflinks—a gift from his grandfather, the only person in the Sterling family who had ever been genuinely kind to him.His gray eyes stared back at him in the reflection, and for a moment Sebastian saw the twelve-year-old boy leaving the orphanage. Scared. Hopeful. Foolish enough to think he would be accepted.He blinked, and the image vanished.Sebastian checked his watch. Karen was late.She had been locked in her room all afternoon, getting ready. Or perhaps just postponing the inevitable.Sebastian called out, and the butler appeared immediately. “Go see if Mrs. Sterling needs any help.”“Yes, sir.”The butler climbed the stairs with his usual calm, knocking softly on Karen’s

Sebastian was in his office when Richard Chen walked in without knocking; he had the privilege of someone who knew all the secrets.He was carrying a thick folder under his arm and had the expression he used when he had important information. Good or bad, Sebastian couldn’t tell yet.“I’ve done a complete survey of Mrs. Salvatore’s assets,” Richard said, placing the briefcase on the mahogany table and opening it. Documents, spreadsheets, numbers that made your head spin. “It’s almost two billion. One million eight hundred, to be exact.”Sebastian stopped with the glass of whiskey halfway to his lips.“She’s richer than I am,” he said, and there was something between admiration and irony in his voice.Richard chuckled. “I think I’ll offer my services to her when she finds out. Maybe she’ll pay better.”“Smart guy,” Sebastian muttered, but there was a small smile there.Richard sat down in the chair across the table, crossing his legs in a relaxed posture.“Properties spread across thre

“I’m taking you somewhere.”Sebastian’s voice came from the dining-room door the next morning, pulling Karen out of her dark thoughts.She had spent the night awake, staring at the ceiling, thinking about Peter, about annulment, about running away to Chicago, New York, or returning to the orphanage. Anywhere but this gilded cage.“Where are we going?” Karen asked, not really caring. She didn’t have the energy to argue.“It’s a surprise,” Sebastian replied, and there was something different in his voice. Something Karen couldn’t quite put her finger on.The butler appeared, impeccable as always. “What would you like for breakfast, Mr. Sterling?”“I’m not hungry, maybe later,” he said, and waited while she grabbed her purse and followed them to the car.After a few minutes of silent driving, the car stopped in front of a store with immaculate glass windows and gold lettering.CartierKaren looked at the building, then at Sebastian, confusion clear on her face.“What are we doing here?”

Sebastian’s gray eyes widened and froze in time.For a moment, Karen saw something in them she had never seen before. Panic and raw vulnerability. As if she had touched something he kept buried so deep he didn’t even know it still existed.“That’s not what I meant,” he said, and there was an urgency in his voice now. Something close to desperation.Karen’s pride was hurt, but she replied anyway. “That’s exactly what you said.”“I meant that I know Peter,” Sebastian tried again, taking a step forward, his hands still raised as if he wanted to touch her but didn’t know if he should. “And he’s not capable of loving anyone.”Karen looked at him with a pain that came from her soul. A pain so deep that words could not reach, only eyes could convey.“But he loves Lindsay.”The truth was simple and devastating. Peter loved someone, and that person wasn’t Karen.Sebastian clenched his jaw. “I meant that I know Peter, and he’s not capable of loving anyone but Lindsay.”But the words sounded emp

Karen felt her heart beating fast as she crossed the garden. Since that fateful night when she had heard those words on the staircase, when her world had fallen apart—she hadn’t seen him again.And now there he was, leaning against his red Porsche as if nothing had happened. As if he hadn’t planned to steal a piece of her. As if three messages and a tearful phone call could erase everything.He looked different. Thinner. Deep circles under his eyes. The suit was still pricey, but it was rumpled in a way that Peter Karen knew would be unacceptable.“I knew you’d come,” he said, and there was genuine relief in his voice.Karen stopped a few feet away, keeping a safe distance between them. Her heart was pounding so loudly that she was sure he could hear it.Before she could take another step, before she could say anything, any of the thousand words she had rehearsed on the way, a strong, possessive hand grabbed her arm.Karen stopped “Where do you think you’re going?”The voice was Seba

Angelina’s awakening was gentle, something that hadn’t happened for a long time, and she opened her sleepy brown eyes. The pleasant sensation of the warmth of another body next to her made her feel momentarily safe, but her tranquility was abruptly interrupted when she realized that she was on William’s bare chest.“What are you doing here?” she asked angrily, kicking him off the bed.William, ignoring the risk they were taking at the moment, answered, still wrapping his arms around her,“Why are you up so early?”Her hard gaze stared at him in silence.“Have you gone mad? You can’t sleep here in my room. You have to go back to your quarters before the maids wake up. Do you want to ruin my reputation?”He didn’t hear a word she said. She could only see her lips moving soundlessly. William was ecstatic to be there with Angelina.“Have you ever been told that you’re beautiful in the morning?”William’s compliment hung in the air, creating a brief pause before Angelina’s reply, who, with

ChapterMeg and William were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the detective, who was considerably late. Just as they were on the verge of giving up, a series of knocks on the door broke the silence. Meg quickly hid while William cautiously opened the door. Outside stood the detective, panting and visibly worried.“Peter, please come in,” said James.“I’m sorry I’m late. I had a big mishap on the way out of the station. They tried to mug me.”He wrinkled his forehead.“Are you all right?”“Yes.”“Would you like something to drink?” asked James.“My friend, this time I’ll accept, because what I’ve discovered and brought with me is cause for celebration. I think we’ve got him.”Peter smilingly placed a series of documents and photographs on the table that incriminated the doctor responsible for monitoring Angelina’s pregnancy.“This man was never a doctor. He’s the son of a butcher, and everything he knows about medicine was learned by opening the bellies of pigs. I got the information

Ever since he read the messages his mother had exchanged with Mr. Abraham and discovered the torrid romance between them, James never went to work again. He couldn’t face it and pretend everything was fine. He had always been a cold-blooded person, a man of logic and numbers, used to facing the challenges of everyday life with serenity. But the secret revealed in the letters affected him deeply.What disturbed him most was the image of his mother, the woman he thought was immaculate, almost a saint, who was his boss’s mistress. This answered many questions he had: the generosity of the gifts and the high salary he received.Mr. Abraham was worried about James’ absence and silence. So he went to the Campbell residence himself. Mr. Barton knocked on the door several times, but there was no answer.“James, I know you’re here. Your car is parked outside,” he said in a firm voice.“James, if you don’t answer, he might call the police,” whispered Meg, not understanding what was going on.Ja

The day was slowly dawning, but no one could sleep in the old hospital. Everyone was gathered in the office of the Mother Superior.“Incompetents! They let her escape right under their noses. Useless! You’re all useless!”The mother's superior shouts echoed throughout the hospital, filling the room with her rage. She was screaming and sweating while a nun wiped her forehead with a handkerchief.“A fire broke out in the hotel. A candle fell near the curtain and it wasn’t anyone’s fault,” one guard defended himself.“Now, what do we do if she decides to open her beak?” said the nun, anxiously reaching for another dry handkerchief to continue wiping the mother’s face.“She’s out of her mind. No one will believe her,” said the guard with a hint of disdain.Mother Superior began to walk around the place as she always did when she was furious and needed to think. It calmed her down and helped her relax. The windows were covered with heavy curtains that kept out the dawn light. The office wa

The next morning, Meg woke up alone in bed, the room empty and silent. She lay still for long minutes, trying to convince herself that she wasn’t dreaming. She remembered the passionate kisses and vows of love that had taken place the night before.Meg cried, but they were tears of happiness and joy. She was safe and happy. There was no sign of James, and she couldn’t have been happier.She looked around as if it was the first time she had entered that room. It was one of the guest rooms with a privileged view of the immense garden. Meg was grateful to wake up in the Campbell mansion. After all those months, she had been stuck in the hospital, sleeping in a hard, uncomfortable place. She was afraid of being attacked in the middle of the night, or of simply being abandoned by everyone.Noises coming from the kitchen and a strong smell of something burning caught her attention. She quickly got dressed and ran downstairs to find it. Then she was confronted with an adorable and, at the sa

James opened the bottle of wine and enjoyed the drink in his glass, taking each sip calmly. Silently, he celebrated his brilliant victory. It had been a long road since he had hired the private detective. There had been many false leads, many closed doors, and misunderstandings. He thought all was lost.After a few minutes, he smiled sideways and lit a cigar, letting it burn on the bed while deliberately knocking over some lit candles on the curtains. Within minutes, the room was filled with fire and smoke.He took the last sip from his glass of wine and then called the hotel reception to report the fire in the room.“I need help here. The room is on fire,” he shouted.The door was flung open. Several employees carrying buckets of water tried to contain the fire. The panicked guests made a commotion in the corridor, running and shouting non-stop.Only then did the nurse realize that something was wrong. With a distressed expression, she approached James and asked: “Where is she? Where