Novels by Dark Lótus

Angelina, her eyes still teary, took a step toward him.“I saw the way you looked at her, with a tenderness you never showed me. Your smile always widened when she appeared, and I wondered how that was possible. I was courted by many men, and I chose you, but you never truly chose me. You never truly loved me. You loved an orphan, a poor wretch.”“My heart has always belonged to Meg, since childhood,” he confessed. “But I would have been faithful to our marriage until death.”Angelina’s rage exploded. She threw a vase onto the floor, shattering it.“We are married! Until death do us part,” she screamed desperately.“The fake doctor was arrested. He gave a statement and named all the names. If you think I’m bluffing, go to the police station and confirm.”“But I didn’t do anything. It was William who did everything. He hired the men to kidnap Meg. He got the baby. I didn’t do anything.”“We will tell everyone that you died in childbirth and that our son survived. You will leave on the

James knew it was wrong to disrespect Angelina’s mother, a respectable lady of society. However, at that moment, the rules of etiquette seemed irrelevant. He ran his hands through his hair several times, as if trying to calm himself before continuing.“Did you know that the women who enter there never come out?”“And how would I know?” his wife asked.“Because that was the reason you and William put Meg there. So that she would never leave. So that she would die inside.”Angelina’s thoughts spun at an incalculable speed. All her cunning and intelligence abandoned her at that moment, and all she could do was mumble meaningless words.“I...”“You asked Meg to fetch your dress. You could have asked any servant, but you chose her.” James crossed his arms, staring fixedly at Angelina, his gaze intense. “It was you who called the rental car, but that day there was no request to our address. None.”He paused, taking a deep breath, as if trying to control the frustration growing inside him.“

James collapsed onto the sofa with a heavy thud, his usual composure disintegrating like wet paper. His head fell back, revealing a rare vulnerability that contrasted violently with the image of the polished gentleman everyone knew. After a few moments of near immobility, he recomposed himself in a quick movement, his spine erect again and his sharp gaze fixed on his wife - a predator merely feigning weakness.“These days have left me with too much time for reflection.”His fingers drummed on the arm of the armchair, an irregular rhythm.“I went personally to the pharmacy. Something unusual for me,” he pronounced, each word spoken slowly. “The pain was so great that I could not wait for one servant. The pharmacist, a curious man, asked questions. Many questions.”“Ava always takes care of these...” she began, her voice a barely perceptible thread.“I always slept deeply,” he said, his voice oscillating between incredulity and contempt. “Like a stone, they would say. Until that night.”

It was already night when they arrived at the mansion with a newborn son in their arms and a few lies to tell. Despite the commotion of their arrival, none of the staff came to greet them, not even Ava, the oldest servant, appeared in the room.Angelina shook the dust from her clothes, looking around. Everything was quiet and disturbing, only a few candelabras were lit.“Where is everyone?”Her mother, a high-society lady who valued the subservience of the household staff, frowned.“This is unacceptable.”They remained still until they convinced themselves that no one would help them with the luggage.“Something must have happened,” Angelina tried to justify, although unease grew in her chest.Silence prevailed until James appeared at the top of the staircase; he was especially handsome, wearing a black tailcoat of matte silk. He descended without any haste, each step creaking under his slow footsteps. There was a sinister aura around him, something in the intensity of his gaze that i

The persistent fog covering the fields around the country residence seemed to mirror Angelina’s state of mind. More than fifteen days had passed since her arrival at that bucolic refuge, and longing for London was becoming an increasingly oppressive presence. The days dragged on in a torturous mixture of boredom and anxiety that consumed her from within, undermining her strength.On the other side of the room, the wet nurse rocked a small bundle that would not stop whimpering. The woman, with deep dark circles marking her exhausted face, struggled in vain to calm the child. Angelina watched the scene with a mixture of poorly disguised revulsion and impatience.“You need to at least pretend some happiness, my daughter,” her mother whispered, approaching with silent steps. “Walls have ears, even here.”“How can I pretend anything when I haven’t slept in five nights?” retorted Angelina, running her fingers nervously through her disheveled hair. “This incessant crying is driving me crazy.

The guards and nurses tried to control the inmates.“Lock them all in solitary confinement!” the mother superior shouted.When Sophia managed to lift her head, the image she saw was of the patients eating all the food like a small anthill around a grain of sugar, and the staff using extreme violence to restrain them.She knew it was only a matter of time until they were all subdued. They were greater, but they were hungry, malnourished women against trained, well-fed men. Soon they would be locked in their cells, without food, without water, and without dignity.Then she looked at the lit fireplace. The flames warmed and illuminated the place; she grabbed a torch and ran to the curtains, setting them on fire.“Run outside!” Sophia shouted, throwing the torch onto some books on the bookshelf.“Put out the fire!”The Mother and some employees tried to extinguish the flames, which spread faster than they could put them out. In a few minutes, the entire office was ablaze in a huge incande

When the dance ended, the music stopped, Karen and Sebastian remained there for a second longer than they should have.Too close. Too aware of each other.It was Karen who pulled away first, breaking contact. Her fingers slid through his, her hand on his bare back slowly, reluctantly withdrawing.An awkward silence fell between them.Karen looked at the other guests, anywhere but Sebastian. She feigned interest in the floral arrangement. In the orchestra. In the way Dorothy laughed too loudly at some comment from another guest.Anything to avoid acknowledging what had just happened. What she had felt.“Viktor Kozlov,” Marcus’s voice cut through their discomfort. He was approaching, bringing the tall Russian with him. “I want you to meet my son.”The word son sounded strange. As if Marcus were trying out the term, seeing if it still fit after so many years of rejection.Sebastian straightened his shoulders, the mask returning instantly. “Mr. Kozlov,” he said, extending his hand.Viktor

Karen approached slowly, keeping a respectful distance. Despite everything, despite the rivalry, the unhealthy love triangle, the kidney. She saw a sick woman leaning against a sink as if she were about to collapse.“Do you need any help?” Karen asked. “Do you want me to call someone?”Lindsay stood up straight, moving away from the sink with visible effort. Her blue eyes sparkled, but not with tears, but with something harder. Anger and pure hatred.“Here in Las Vegas,” Lindsay began, her voice low but sharp, “it’s full of opportunistic people. They wait for an opportunity to climb, to win, to take what isn’t theirs.” She took a faltering step toward Karen. “I hate those people. But there’s one type of person I hate more.”Karen waited, her heart racing.“It’s the nice ones,” Lindsay continued, each word a stab. “The ones who feign empathy just to watch you suffer up close. The ones who offer help with that fake smile while rooting for you to fall.”“I’m not that kind of person,” Kar

Karen didn’t know what was going on around her.She saw Sebastian tense; she saw the Russian man waving; she saw Marcus’s eyes shining with something that looked like victory. But she didn’t understand why. She looked at everything with curiosity and innocence; she was a spectator in a game whose rules she didn’t know.But her heart almost stopped when she saw Peter arrive with a woman. Lindsay, his girlfriend.Karen knew Lindsay existed. She had heard about her. She knew she was the reason Peter had planned to steal her kidney, but seeing the face of her rival, the woman Peter loved, and still having to smile...It was more painful than she had imagined.Lindsay was beautiful. Even sick, even pale and too thin, there was a delicacy about her that made Karen feel ordinary in comparison. Blonde hair falling in soft waves. Big blue eyes. A light pink dress that hid, but not completely, how fragile she was.And the way Peter held her; with such care, such devotion that it made something

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