Atoning

At an investor banquet, my fiancé Tanner Clarkson’s secretary, Willow Thorne, recklessly throws a glass of wine at an investor and hurls insults without thinking. In retaliation, the investor demands that Willow make it up to him with her body, or he'll pull his funding. To ensure the company's successful IPO, Tanner hands me a glass of spiked wine. Then, he pushes me to the investor, expecting me to extinguish his flames of rage. His eyes are filled with feigned hesitation as he says, "Willow isn't like you. She just graduated—she's pure and innocent. Stop fighting it, Kathy. I'll make it up to you once the company goes public." When I regain consciousness, I stare at the man across from me, my voice hoarse. "About that deal you mentioned... I'll sign it."

On our wedding day, Carter Hall's father took his own life in our new home. He left a suicide note, blaming me for his death. From that day forward, Carter despised me to the core. He said, "Lindsey Thomson, you deserve to rot in hell, atoning for your sins for the rest of your life." Eventually, just as he wished, I wandered the streets, mute and half-insane, living a life worse than a stray dog. But then, he regretted it.

Sheer fate was what turned our bittersweet love into a happy ever after. Fate? I myself erased and rewrote our love story to give it the happy ending we deserved. I was promised to Matteo Giuseppe, the youngest son of the most powerful family in the Chicago Outfit but I was given away to Salvatore Berlusconi, the Capo dei Capi of the New York Famiglia. I was sold to him as an object marking the end of the Great War, or rather, it was me atoning for the sins of my father. A wedding solely about duty, honour and atonement. ••••••••••••••• “ If you told me about the darkness inside of you, I'd still look at you like you are the sun.” Book one of A Mafia's Love Chronicles.

Vivica had spent her whole life atoning for her late father’s crime. Forced to clean up after the pack members while being ridiculed for not having a wolf, she endured everything hoping that her pain would finally come to an end when Jason, the pack’s Alpha, revealed her as his mate. Then, everything will fall in place and she won't have to run anymore. What she didn’t know was that Jason—her childhood friend turned lover—was just as terrible as his people, he had only been toying with her all along. At the full moon party, Jason mates with a reputable wolf kicking Vivica to the curb after fifteen years of leading her on. Meanwhile, Adrian—Jason’s estranged stepbrother—would give anything to see Jason gnash his teeth in regret. Even if it meant transforming Jason’s cast-away lover into a woman he could never have access to again.

BOUND Gray can't deny his passion for me—all parts of me, Even the truth I try to bury—the flaws he knows I'm hiding. And trust me, he's imperfect too. But sometimes, we need more than love—more than we can give. FREED Choosing between the past and future is too painful. Too raw. Too final. I was bound to Gray, but he lost me, Let me slip through his fingers. That was then. This is now. I'm freed. REDEMPTION Desperate for the ultimate forgiveness, Melissa Jackson offers herself up in the most selfless way. But, by atoning for her past, she could lose her future as she tries to keep her secret from unraveling at the feet of Dan, the man she adores. The Bound Collection is created by Stephie Walls, an eGlobal Creative Publishing Signed Author.

The day I was reborn, I came across that anonymous post again. “My sponsor is like a sister to me, but her husband gives me butterflies. “I know it’s wrong, but I can’t stop myself from feeling this way. Yesterday, we got down and dirty on the couch she bought.” Back in my past life, this very post broke me. In a fit of rage, I exposed their filthy secret to the world. The girl I once gave my heart and soul to help succumbed to cyberbullying and took her life by jumping off a building. After the funeral, my husband, Taylor Rogue, became a devoted and gentle man, only to lock me up in a mental institution the moment I put down my walls. “You should spend the rest of your life atoning for ruining Ivy!” With three years of pills and electric shock stripping away my sanity and dignity, I climbed to the roof and leaped. When I opened my eyes, I was back to the moment everything began.

After the video exposing my sister Issa Acosta’s plot against me was revealed, my parents and my fiancé, Henry Nolan, stood firmly by my side, making me feel loved and safe. I confidently handed over all the evidence to them, trusting them to handle it. However, they told me that after Issa was kicked out of the house, she died in a sudden car accident, and I believed them. That was until five years into my marriage, when I accidentally saw Issa—the woman who was supposed to be dead. She was holding a little boy, clinging tightly to Henry’s hand. "Henry, if it weren’t for you and my parents, I’m afraid Zoe would’ve thrown me in prison. Thankfully, my parents destroyed the evidence and even opened a jewelry design studio for me. To avoid suspicion, you even sacrificed your own marriage. Thank you for everything in the past five years.” "Think of it as me atoning to Zoe on your behalf. As long as you and Bear are happy, that’s enough for me." So, what I thought was a happy family was nothing more than a giant lie—a scheme concocted by my parents and Henry. My parents, my husband, and Issa were the real family, and I? I was just the fool who had been deceived for five long years. Whether it was family or love, none of it was real, and I don’t want any of it anymore.

“Fall for me in the same way I loved you, so you can feel the pain and despair you put me through, before I take your life.” ~--~ Sylvia’s world revolved around her husband, Duke Alec Winston. For a lifetime, she gave him everything despite his infidelity. But in the end, when she wasn’t necessary for his plans, he plunged a sword through her flesh without a single parting word. That should’ve been the end. Yet Sylvia finds herself regressed, back to her ten-year-old self living in the slums of the Rezine Empire. With the lingering sting of betrayal in her heart and the memory of dying imprinted in her mind, she decides to eliminate the source of her misfortune while atoning for her past life’s sins. Even if it means going against known and hidden powers within the empire. To start, she needs allies worth their salt and the backing of her family, the duchy of House Lundren. But despite her knowledge of the future and a lifetime’s worth of experience, Sylvia soon realizes that she knew so little. For there are secrets she’s yet to discover, stories she’s yet to hear, and prices yet to be paid. After all, a human living past death over and over is nothing short of an anomaly, and a power that can grant it won’t come for free. Death wasn’t the end. For Sylvia, it was the beginning. And a curse.

I'm famous in the rich wives' society for having an ostrich-like personality—cowardly and often loves escaping from reality. In my three-year marriage, I've personally conducted cosmetic surgeries on 99 substitutes of Callum Holden's first love, Alice Teller. Veronica Dane, the 99th substitute, stares at her reflection in the mirror in delight. There's a trace of mockery in her eyes at the same time. "Mrs. Holden, I heard that you've been alone throughout your marriage. What a shame… To think that the nation's best plastic surgeon can't work on altering her own face. "In order to thank you for your efforts, I'll give you a glimpse of Callum's bedroom performance when the time comes. How about that?" I tune out Veronica's mocking words. After all, I've gone through similar situations 98 times in the past, and I have fought back before. But all Callum said to me was, "You owe me this much, Talia. You can never finish atoning for your sins, even if it takes you your entire life!" The thing is, he has forgotten that I've given him 99 substitutes, just as I had promised. Now, I will never go looking for the love that is never mine, to begin with.

The day my adopted sister Xina was diagnosed with a rare blood disease, I was captured by rival pack hunters and taken across pack territories. In a hidden den beneath the mountains, I was chained like an omega during the day and subjected to endless humiliation. At night, they locked me in a moonless chamber and extracted my blood and bone marrow while I was conscious. By the time my pack found me, my body was broken beyond recognition, covered in bite marks, and infected with numerous diseases that even our supernatural healing couldn't combat. My mother, Alpha Serena, looked at me barely clinging to life, and howled so painfully she collapsed several times. My brother Ivan even traveled beyond our ancestral lands to find healers who could treat me. But in my half-conscious state, I accidentally overheard their conversation: "Mother, we captured Lisa just to save Xina, and let her be violated by so many rogues. Now we're taking one of her kidneys too—isn't that going to kill her?" Mother was silent for a long time, then choked up and said: "For Xina, I had no choice." "Besides, Lisa challenged Xina's rank all these years, made her severely depressed. This is just me atoning to Xina on her behalf." "It doesn't matter if she's been tainted. From now on, we'll keep her in the packhouse and take care of her. That'll count as compensation." As the silver blade sliced into my body, tears streamed uncontrollably from my eyes. A den with four wolves... was simply too crowded.