A Dish Served Cold

"Anna, are you sure you want to recommend Riley for the Kentran Top-Secret Research Project? It lasts a decade, and you two will be separated for a long time," the person in charge of the project looked at me with shock and doubt in his eyes. Riley and I were known to be the model couple in the company. The story of how he had almost drained all his blood to save me was still something our colleagues talked about here. I looked at the footage from the security camera on my phone, where Riley and Nelly were sleeping together. I nodded resolutely. "Of course. I want the separation." Since Riley had chosen to betray me, he had to pay the price of losing me.

After a team building event, my colleague, Matthew Wells, gives me a ride to the company so I can work overtime. That very night, his girlfriend throws a fit and claims I'm a homewrecker who tried to seduce Matthew. She even produces edited photos of us being intimate. The company's management speaks to Matthew and me—he claims I regularly harass him and pushes the blame on me. The management labels me as a troublemaker and fires me. My apprentice tries to speak up for me but gets bullied and sidelined. Ultimately, she quits out of depression. I charge over to the company to seek justice for my apprentice but accidentally get pushed down a staircase during an argument. I land with my head on the ground and die on the spot. When I open my eyes again, I'm reborn and taken back to when Matthew's girlfriend starts throwing a fit.

My father was the CEO of a major corporation, and I was his illegitimate daughter—the one no one was supposed to know about. Growing up, I was the child nobody cared for. My father didn’t love me, and my mother wasn’t much better. From a young age, it was just me and my little brother looking out for each other. When I got into college, my father’s family decided to take my brother in. However, only a few days later, I received the news that my brother was dead.  I knew, deep down, that his death wasn’t just some accident. From that moment on, I worked even harder, determined to succeed. When I finally returned, I had a special gift prepared for my father’s family. This one’s for my brother!

My biased mother brought my sister, Irene Baxter, to help me with my child. But one day, I forgot to bring a contract to work. When I returned home, I saw two bodies entwined. To cover up their secret, my husband, Sam Hodgson, and Irene pushed me off the tenth floor. It was only after my death that I realized I had been nothing more than a tool for carrying on the family name. "It's better that she's dead. Now my sweet girl can be a mom without having to go through childbirth." "Sleeping with her was revolting; she was like a block of wood. Irene is so much better." Even Irene had regrets. "Still, we shouldn't have pushed her down. She was smashed beyond recognition—otherwise, we might’ve been able to sell her corpse for a pretty penny." When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day they pushed me off the building. This time, I wouldn't let any of them off the hook.

Malia's world turns upside down when her boyfriend cheats on her with her best friend. Seeking revenge, she turns to Asher, the powerful Lycan King's son, who has his own reasons for helping her. Unfortunately, the moment they embark on this journey of revenge and cold calculation, they find themselves tangled in the cutthroat world of Lycans and Werewolf and they must confront their own secrets and lies. But when a deadly threat emerges, targeting students and disrupting the fragile peace, Malia and Asher must work together to uncover the truth. Can their unlikely alliance survive the danger and deception surrounding them, or will their secrets tear everything apart?

For three years, Laurie Rayne lived as the perfect wife. She was silent, devoted, and invisible in the shadow of the Voss empire. Every bestselling creation credited to the Voss name bore her fingerprints, but none bore her name. And Zane Voss, her cold, distant husband, never once gave her his heart. Now his first love is back, and Laurie is nothing more than a forgotten pawn; discarded, humiliated, and blamed for everything that went wrong. But when her younger brother's life is on the line, Laurie begs Zane for help… only to be spat on and called a leech. Cornered by desperation, Laurie does the unthinkable… She auctions herself off to the highest bidder. Theron Blackmoor: ruthless billionaire, feared businessman, and the man who buys her at a price that shocks the world. He makes her his possession, but promises her power in return. Anything she wants: except her freedom. As Laurie experiences the dark, seductive world of Theron, she uncovers secrets that were never meant to surface. Zane is not done with her. And the past she thought she left behind may be the key to taking everything back. Love was never part of the deal. But is it? Revenge? That was always the plan. ♠

I applied for a popular online job as a personal chef. I thought I'd be cooking simple, home-style meals, but I quickly found myself trapped in a world of surprises. The food they were craving was me, served on a platter. The wealthy women were looking for excitement, torturing me night after night. But what they didn't realize was, the real thrill came when the dogs turned on each other.

The day my mother-in-law discovered she had uterine cancer, she packed up and moved in to our home. “I don’t have much time left. I’m all out of hope!” she choked out. “You’d be cruel to kick me out. Show me some mercy!” I looked at my speechless husband, then at my beloved son I had raised with so much love and care. I asked them, "What do you guys think?" My husband silently made a grim expression and grabbed my arm. “How long are you going to hold on to that little incident that happened after Everett was born? Mom's already so sick." My son echoed his sentiment, “Grandma doesn't have much time left. Of course we have to take good care of her!" I smiled at them and said, “Alright. You guys can take care of her if you love her so much."

At Sullivan Group's annual banquet, a female university student approaches Peter Sullivan and offers herself to him. The usually cold and distant Peter suddenly freezes because this young woman looks exactly like his deceased first love. He can't help but tease, "You're asking to be my mistress in front of my wife. Are you so sure you won't be thrown out?" The young lady lifts her chin, and her stubborn expression is identical to that of his lost love. "You two got married for business reasons and mutual benefits. Does she have any say over what you do? Peter, only you can save my mom. Will you do it or not?" She's right. I'm just a pawn in a marriage of convenience. How could I possibly influence Peter's choices? But then, I catch a glint of tenderness in his eyes that I've never seen before, and a self-deprecating smile forms on my lips. Maybe, instead of clinging on and being thrown out like trash, it's better if I give up my place willingly.

"I have to say I quite like the sound of my name on your lips," he bent over until they were face to face. He smiled at her as if to let that piece of crucial information sink in. Anelia's breath caught at his close proximity. "Come now, breathe Anelia. I have hardly started," butterflies and even more butterflies erupted in her stomach. Anelia Telford only cared about three things in her life; taking care of her sister, doing her job and staying off the radar. Being a loving and hardworking person she had no trouble keeping the former two in check. The latter? Well, that didn't exactly work out considering she ended up encountering a man whose comings and goings alone were a mystery at La Vida; the hotel she worked at. As if being manipulated by a whirlwind, her life gets entangled with Dexter Black's, a man she would have only used the words arrogant, annoying and sly to describe. But what happens when two people from two different tracks of life suddenly develop feelings beneath the dislike they have for each other? Will Anelia be able to handle the complications, manipulations and pain that come with loving a wealthy man such as Dexter. Find out in this heartwarming story where true love wins! *Unedited*