Anne Rice

During our New Year’s Eve dinner, I told my family that my company was not giving out year-end bonuses. The table went silent. Even the TV host counting down to midnight suddenly sounded grating. My husband and daughter slammed the table in frustration. “No year-end bonus?! How are we supposed to pay the mortgage and the car loan? I didn’t marry you so you could live off me!” “Other moms either buy designer bags or send money. You’re the most useless one. You can’t even bring home a $100,000 bonus.” My in-laws sat there with dark looks on their faces and said nothing. I looked at their self-righteous faces and felt a lump in my throat. All these years, every expense in this family was paid with the money I earned from late nights, overtime, and project commissions. But all they could see was the $100,000 bonus I did not bring home. “If you can’t make any money, then get out!” My husband grabbed my arm and pushed me toward the door. My daughter was not satisfied and kicked me on the lower back. I did not turn around. I took out my phone and booked the presidential suite at a downtown five-star hotel. My bank account had just received a $1 million dividend payout. It was true that I did not get a year-end bonus. But I got promoted to management. From this day onward, I would receive $1 million in dividends every year.

Artist, Vanessa Davis, has risen from her lowly artist lifestyle to a thriving career after being signed to a high end art agency. After catching the attention of Billionaires; Anderson Jeremy and Ryan Theodore. One falling for her with real intentions, the other using her as a pawn in a revenge scheme against his rival. Sparks fly, anger consumes and betrayal looms when emotions rise and truth comes to light. Would Vanessa choose the one who ignites something in her but keeps his heart away, the one who draws her in only for his benefit or herself.

After I discovered I was pregnant, I slammed the pregnancy test report down in front of my playboy boyfriend. Alan Rivers lit a cigarette and blew smoke rings at me, his tone casual and cruel. "Seeing as you've kept me company for seven years, I'll give you two choices. "First, you can abort the baby. I'll compensate you with a million dollars, and you can stay by my side. Second, keep it, take the kid, and disappear. The farther, the better." Why did I have to choose? I wanted both, so I took the million dollars and vanished from his world without a trace.

A girl's love so deep? It appeared it was true love at the beginning. She was determined to do everything possible to get what she wanted. Her friends ridiculed her. Society mocked her. But she did not give up. "True love?" I often asked myself. But I had no answers to my questions. It took me quite a long time to define her true intentions. One night, she visited. "Let's try it," she proposed that night. I felt her warm breath as she whispered. Her wild expectations coupled with anxiety was making her heart beat very fast. It was a quiet night, and the light was dim in the room. That was the first time she spent the night with me. I was determined not to have any affair with her. I was a novice, and I believed she was not though many people in the community including her family believed she was a virgin. A feeling I could not define thrilled through me when she spoke. "A test or she mean it?" I asked silently. We have often talked about staying chaste till the appropriate time, the time we are sure to get married, so why was she proposing that we try it? I brushed off that thought and began thinking about how I was going to go about it if she really meant it. I had no experience in satisfying a woman in bed. "Did you hear me?" she asked. And before I could say anything, I felt a kiss on my right cheek. The man in me responded to the touch. But before I could act on my feelings, I remembered grandma's prediction about us. "Are we really going to get married someday?" I asked silently . . . Happy reading!

The time of heroes has passed. The ages of the empires and their glory have all passed. The world is on the road to annihilation. The demons have moved and their invasion and corruption can be seen in every corner of the world. The Gods which the people have believed in for years have not made a move. https://discord.gg/acEBNnnefG link for the discord server The world needs heroes. Guardians. Saints. Will the newly arrived humans be those heroes? Or will they just accelerate the fall? When the first wave arrives in the fractured western continent. Will the banner of the old empire be raised again by them. Will they fight to restore an old order or will they make a new order... Find out with me, as we watch Aidan, a newly arrived human. Struggle and find his place in this dying world. Will he rise or fall as a footnote in history?

My husband's beloved lover suffered from menstruation complications. A traveling doctor claimed that a fresh placenta was needed to cure her. His gaze fixated on my seven-months-pregnant baby bump. And thus, I was pinned down on the bed as they ripped the placenta from my body. My son was carelessly tossed aside. He didn't even get the chance to cry before his tiny body fell silent forever. My husband pinched his nose in disgust, frowning as he looked at me—bleeding out, feebly reaching for my child. “It’s just a premature baby. He'll be fine after a few days of care. Why are you making such a fuss? Sandra is waiting for her medicine." He left and locked the door behind him without looking back. He claimed it was a lesson I needed to learn. By the time he finally remembered us, my son and I had long since bled dry, our bodies cold and stiff.

After being rejected by her destined mate, Naomi tries to rebuild her life alone—until the day her triplets mysteriously disappear. Desperate, she finds herself forced to seek help from the very man who broke her heart: Casper, now a powerful Alpha with a new mate. While trying to find her children, Naomi crosses paths with Lancelot, a coffee shop manager with a dark past and an unusual truth: he is also her Mate. But Lancelot is more than he appears — a medium wolf, belonging to a feared and misunderstood lineage. When their destinies intertwine in an overwhelming and forbidden passion, Naomi must deal with old wounds, wild instincts, and impossible choices. Between confrontations with wild wolves, revelations about hidden species, and the awakening of a new bond, Naomi finds herself torn between two men—the Alpha who rejected her, and the wolf who accepted her completely. In a race against time, she will have to discover who is behind the kidnapping of her children and to whom her heart belongs.

“As a financial forensic, I'm trained to uncover traces of fraud in numbers. But nothing prepared me for discovering my own husband's secret accounts... and the bodies buried beneath his transactions.” In the heart of glittering Amsterdam, where ancient canals hold modern secrets, Sofia Van Der Meer is a renowned relationship therapist who seems to have it all: a successful practice, a beautiful canal house, and a perfect marriage to hedge fund manager Marcus Dekker. But behind the glitter of their elite Dutch society life lies an intricate tangle of lies that threatens to destroy everything they've built. When Marcus' dangerous secret is revealed, Sofia is drawn into a dangerous game of passion and revenge with charismatic psychiatrist Dr. Julian Reeves. As the line between professional ethics and primal desire begins to blur, Sofia must confront a dark truth: sometimes those who heal others bear the deepest wounds.

Simpleng buhay lang ang pangarap ni Arianne Arevalo. Mula sa simpleng pamilya na nangangarap na makaahon sa kahirapan na naging dahilan para iwan ni Arianne ang pinakamamahal na Palawan at lumuwas ng Cebu upang makapagtrabaho. Subalit hindi trabaho ang kaniyang natagpuan kundi isang kabaliwang tradisyon ng pamilya Del Fuego. Sa dinami-dami ng tao sa mundo, bakit siya pa? Bakit siya ang napili maging biktima? Cards is game of luck. Pero paano kung sa larong pusoy, lamang ang madaya? Sa bawat araw na muli siyang nabuhay sa ikalawang pagkakataon, walang ibang sinisigaw ang puso at isip niya.... Paghihiganti! Isang salitang itinatak na niya isip sampu ng kaluluwa niya! Hindi siya titigil hanggat di nakakamtan ang hustisya! Babawiin niya ang lahat ng dapat ay nasa kaniya. Hanggang saan aabot ang kaniyang paghihiganti?

“You are not going to disrespect me! She is a commoner, and I’d rather die than let you be with her!” Isaac’s father was very loud and his tone was threatening. “Then you better drop dead right now, because I’m sick of being caged by the standards and rules that this family has set for me! I’m sick of being a robot built for the sole purpose of being the heir to the Ford fortune!” Isaac spat the words in his father’s face.