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She walked away from her cold, loveless marriage... only to discover she carried the one thing they would stop at nothing to claim. Alina Hart never imagined her life would become bound to the Vaughn dynasty, Atheria’s most powerful family, where legacy mattered more than love. To the Vaughn's, she was simply the bride chosen for Sebastian, a match arranged for convenience. And to Sebastian Vaughn himself, she was a responsibility he accepted out of duty, not desire. Until one night changed everything. The only night he ever dropped his guard, and the only night she believed they had a future. By morning, he called it a mistake. By evening, a betrayal had a name: Natasha Fairfax, the socialite his mother loved, ready to take the place Alina never really had. Alina left, vanishing into the town of Marlowe. She soon learned she hadn't just left a husband; she was pregnant with the heir the Vaughn's would one day come for. Six years later, she returns. She is no longer the discarded wife, but a strong woman with her own power, her own name... and a secret that could destroy their empire. The Vaughn's want their legacy. Sebastian wants the truth. Natasha still wants her place. Alina wants only one thing: to protect what is hers. Their dynasty demanded an heir... she became their reckoning.

He didn't want her money. He wanted her. Elara Vance is one bad week away from losing everything. Her freelance career is barely keeping the lights on, her sister is falling apart on her couch, and her car is about to be repossessed. So when she accidentally damages a stranger's luxury car on an empty street, she knows she's ruined. But the man who steps out of the black sedan isn't interested in her insurance. He isn't interested in the police. He isn't even interested in the forty‑two thousand dollars she owes him. Adrian Volkov wants something else entirely. He's been watching her for weeks. He knows about her sister, her bills, her father's death. He knows she's desperate enough to do anything. And he's about to prove it. The contract is simple: she moves into his mansion, follows his rules, and becomes his Doll. In exchange, her debt disappears. No police. No record. No questions. But the rules aren't what she expects. The mansion is a cage, the servants know more than they say, and Adrian's cold exterior hides something darker than she ever imagined. He doesn't just want her body. He wants her submission. Her trust. Her surrender. And he won't stop until he has all of it. Elara tells herself it's just a transaction. A way to survive. But the line between obligation and desire blurs with every glance, every touch, every night she spends in his bed. The more he controls her, the more she craves it. And the more she learns about his past, the more she realizes: she was never the one in control. And now that she's his Doll, he'll never let her go. Doll is a dark romance with explicit content, power dynamics, and a slow‑burn descent into obsession. Recommended for readers 18+.

I go to the boutique my son has invested in to pick up the gown I've ordered for a banquet. Just as I'm about to leave, the manager, Wendy Reed, stops me and says that I still owe them money. She pulls out the bill. I look down at it and see that the boutique is charging me 300 thousand dollars for their creativity, 500 thousand dollars for fabric therapy, and one million dollars for their chief designer's mental wellness. On top of other expenses, the price totals up to two million dollars. I laugh incredulously and send a message to my secretary. "Withdraw our funding from my son's company and this boutique!"

After ten years studying interior design overseas, I came back to my hometown to do work that mattered to the people who raised me. I offered the full package, from site survey to soft furnishings. The materials were chosen by hand. The price was fair to the bone. The town had just gone through a redevelopment. Everyone was getting new units. With the new family policy, every family wanted a third bedroom too. My business was good. Customers from the next county were driving in. Then a girl just back from a city college kicked open my studio with her phone on a livestream and her neighbors at her shoulder. "This is the dishonest one. Look at her. She has been ripping the village off." "In the city, an eighty-square-meter unit can be done for twenty thousand dollars. She is charging eighty." "That's a sixty-thousand-dollar margin. Sixty thousand. Right out of our pockets." The village fell in line behind her. They demanded the difference back. When I refused, they smashed my studio. They beat me into a coma. The pile-on online killed me. When I opened my eyes again, I knew exactly what I was going to do. I would refund every single one of them. And then I would tear out every single thing I had installed. Let's see what twenty thousand dollars actually buys you.

"You're paying for my body. Not for my soul." Alpha King Thomas Blade is a man of pride and power. A year ago, he divorced his wife, Kiara. He threw her out of his pack and out of his life, trying to forget the bond they shared. But fate has a cruel sense of humor. While visiting a high-end bar, Thomas is shocked to find Kiara standing on an auction block. The woman who was once the Luna of the Moonlight Pack is being sold as an escort. Angry and confused, Thomas outbids everyone. He buys her for one night, determined to find out how she fell so low. However, the Kiara he meets isn't the shy, sweet girl he used to know. This version of Kiara is cold, bold, and claims she only cares about money. What Thomas doesn't know is that Kiara is hiding a heartbreaking secret: she is drowning in debt and selling herself only to pay for her dying mother’s medical bills. Unable to let her go, Thomas makes a new deal: He buys her for an entire month. He wants to punish her, but the more time they spend together, the more he sees the truth. Behind her "greedy" mask, Kiara is still the selfless woman. When Kiara’s mother finally passes away, Kiara disappears, leaving Thomas with nothing but the truth. He discovers the poverty and pain she endured alone while he sat on his throne. Now, the Alpha King must hunt for the woman he wronged. To win her back, he will have to beg for forgiveness, pay her debts, and protect her from a dangerous world where wolves are traded like shadows. He broke her crown. Now, he’ll do anything to give it back.

Finals were over, my class started planning a graduation trip, and I offered to have my family's travel agency put the itinerary together. Ten days and nine nights across five countries in Aurelia, for $999. Everyone was scrambling to sign up until the prettiest girl in class spoke up. "We're all classmates here. Isn't it a little gross to gouge us like this? "I found an agency online. All of Aurelia for five sixty-nine. There are forty of us. How big a kickback are you taking off that?" Forty hands stopped halfway through sending their deposits. "Four hundred bucks buys a lot." "Yeah, let's not." The whole class turned around and booked with her agency instead. I shrugged and let them go. At $999 all-inclusive, with airfare alone running over seven hundred, my family was already eating the difference. I knew the company behind that $569 offer. All I could do was wish them a safe trip.