Bagel Nook Princeton

The 99th time my fiancé, Draven, hung up on me, I dragged myself to the family's church, my diagnosis of end-stage renal disease clutched in my hand. "Father, I wish to renounce the Rocci family and break off my engagement to Draven Frost." The words had barely left my lips when my parents burst in with my adopted sister, Bianca. My father, the family's Consigliere, didn't hesitate. He slapped me across the face, right there in front of the priest. "Your fiancé is a respected Capo in our world, and you choose to insult him like this!" "You're dragging our family's name through the mud in front of the whole organization!" My mother snatched the diagnosis from my hand, sneering after a brief glance. "Playing sick for attention again, are you? What is it you want this time?" My adopted sister, Bianca, clung to our parents' arms, her voice choked with tears. "I'm so sorry, sister. You can have my place at the gala. Please, just stop making trouble for Mom and Dad!" I wiped the blood trickling from my nose and calmly repeated my words to the priest. "I am no longer a daughter of the Rocci family. I am not worthy of an alliance with the Frosts." "I will be dead in three days. I want this engagement broken before then."

"Take off your clothes. Spread your legs." "...What? Why?" The voice cut through the silence, and my heart seized. I instinctively covered my stomach. It was the first anniversary of my marriage to Alessandro, the Don of the Santoro family. I was pregnant and had wanted to surprise him. But his secretary, Liliana, had blindfolded me and brought me to this unfamiliar place. "Donna, stop playing the victim. Seducing men is your specialty, isn't it?" "Tonight, in this underground auction house, you are the final item on the block." A chill shot down my spine, and my voice trembled. "Are you insane? I'm the Donna of the Santoro family! I'm carrying his heir! Alessandro will kill you..." Liliana scoffed and ripped off my blindfold. Blinding lights bore down on me. I squinted, and gradually, a man sitting in the VIP section came into view... It was Alessandro! I stared in disbelief as he slowly extinguished the cigar in his hand. "Pregnant? Whose bastard are you carrying?" "It's yours!" I cried out. "Liar!" He raised his hand, and a report was tossed at my feet. The bold letters "PROBABILITY OF PATERNITY: 0%" burned my eyes. He came closer and gripped my chin. "Liliana was right. Women like you are rotten to the core." "My love was never enough to satisfy your greed." "And I, Alessandro, will never raise another man's bastard." Later, he finally learned the child was his. For the first time, the man who was always so composed, arrogant, and in control knelt before me, his voice trembling. "Celeste, I'm begging you... even if you can't forgive me, please, let me make it up to you." But I felt nothing for him anymore.

At 4:00 a.m., my husband, Rocco, gently shook me awake. His voice was a low murmur, . "Alessia, my love, could you do something for me?" But his next words shattered the illusion. "Scarlett is hungry. Go make her some seafood soup." Scarlett was our maid, and she was also Rocco's pregnant goomar. "I just had fresh seafood delivered. Get to the kitchen and make her a bowl of soup. Just for Falcone's heir." I refused, my voice cold. His anger flared in an instant. "Don't be so unreasonable, Alessia." "Is it really so hard for you to make some soup?" I shook my head, silent. He stroked my cheek, a patronizing smile playing on his lips. "Fine, Alessia. So you've learned to defy me now." "Think carefully, Alessia. Do you really want to keep your place as a Falcone?" "And your position as the family's lawyer? Think about whether you still want these… then give me your answer." Seeing the arrogance in Rocco's eyes, the last ember of love I had for this man died. I took out my phone and dialed a number I hadn't called in a long time. "I want out of the Falcone family."

Als mein Verlobter Draven mich zum 99. Mal einfach auflegte, schleppte ich mich zur Familienkirche. Die Diagnose eines terminalen Nierenversagens hielt ich gekrampft in der Hand. „Vater, ich möchte mich von der Familie Rocci lossagen und meine Verlobung mit Draven Frost beenden.“ Kaum hatte ich die Worte ausgesprochen, stürmten meine Eltern mit meiner Adoptivschwester Bianca herein. Mein Vater, der Consigliere der Familie, zögerte keine Sekunde. Vor den Augen des Priesters schlug er mir ins Gesicht. „Dein Verlobter ist ein respektierter Capo in unserer Welt – und du wagst es, ihn so zu beleidigen? Du ziehst den Namen unserer Familie vor der ganzen Organisation in den Dreck!“ Meine Mutter riss mir die Diagnose aus der Hand, überflog sie und verzog verächtlich das Gesicht. „Stellst du dich schon wieder krank, nur um Aufmerksamkeit zu erhaschen? Was willst du nun?“ Meine Adoptivschwester Bianca klammerte sich an die Arme unserer Eltern, ihre Stimme von Tränen erstickt. „Es tut mir so leid, Schwester. Nimm du meinen Platz auf der Gala. Bitte, bereite Mama und Papa einfach keinen weiteren Ärger!“ Ich wischte das Blut ab, das aus meiner Nase tropfte, und wiederholte ruhig meine Worte an den Priester. „Ich bin nicht länger eine Tochter der Familie Rocci. Ich bin einer Allianz mit den Frosts nicht würdig.“ „In drei Tagen liege ich im Grab. Bis dahin will ich diese Verlobung aufgelöst haben.“

Assim que engravidei, fui aclamada como a mulher mais preciosa do submundo. Meu marido, o novo Don da família Jenkins, fechou uma ala inteira de um hospital particular para meus exames, enquanto meu pai, o Don dos Collins, convocou todos os chefs com estrelas Michelin de Nova York para a mansão, apenas para que eu pudesse escolher o que desejasse comer. O bebê que eu carregava estava destinado a ser o único herdeiro das duas mais poderosas famílias mafiosas. Mas no dia em que iríamos assinar os papéis garantindo a herança do meu filho, os dois desapareceram. — Surgiu um assunto familiar urgente. — Disse meu marido, Vincent, beijando minha testa. — Podemos finalizar a herança da criança quando voltarmos. Não há pressa. Pouco depois que eles partiram, recebi um link para uma transmissão ao vivo anônima. A voz do meu pai veio do vídeo, mais fria do que eu jamais tinha ouvido. — Você está dizendo que seu contrato de casamento com Evangeline nunca foi válido. Isso não torna a criança uma bastarda? Vincent, relaxado em um clube, soltou um anel de fumaça. Acomodada em seus braços estava minha meia-irmã, Sarah. — Evangeline sempre teve todo o amor e carinho. Seu filho nunca vai precisar de nada. — Sarah foi ridicularizada por seu status durante anos. Preciso consertar as coisas para ela, dar ao nosso filho um nome legítimo. Naquele momento, meu coração se apertou, e eu mal conseguia respirar. Então meu celular vibrou novamente. Era uma mensagem de texto: [Bem-vinda ao lar da família Gallo, minha rainha.] [Só me confirme, e a criança que carrega terá o nome Gallo e se tornará o herdeiro mais poderoso do submundo americano.]

Mon copain Julien est un grand maître d'échecs, un génie. À seize ans, il est devenu le plus jeune grand maître de l'histoire de la France. Je lui ai donné dix ans de ma vie, mais il n'a jamais parlé de bague. Mais lorsqu'il a atteint le sommet de sa carrière et remporté le Grand Chelem, il refusait toujours de rompre le pacte qu'il avait conclu avec sa famille au sujet de sa carrière. « Selon mon plan, je n'envisage pas le mariage ou toute autre forme d'engagement à long terme avant d'avoir atteint tous mes objectifs. » Je n'ai pas discuté avec lui. J'ai tranquillement préparé ses bagages pour le Championnat du monde et je lui ai souhaité le meilleur. Il ne savait pas qu'au moment même où il soulevait le trophée du championnat sous les yeux du monde entier, je traînais mon corps défaillant pour signer mon propre nom sur un formulaire de consentement à l'euthanasie.

Als mein Alpha-Gefährte Logan bemerkte, dass ich seit drei Tagen keinen einzigen Ausgabenantrag einreichte, meldete er sich zum allerersten Mal von sich aus bei mir. „Baby, ich habe die nächste Phase der Heilung deiner Wölfin bereits genehmigt. Siehst du? Solange du lernst, dich zu benehmen, gibt es nichts, was ich dir nicht geben würde.“ Sein Ton war immer noch so zärtlich, als wäre er wirklich ein guter Alpha, der sich krank vor Sorge um seine Gefährtin machte. Aber er wusste nicht, dass ich, während sein „Baby“ über meinen Bildschirm flackerte, die Vereinbarung zum Durchtrennen unserer Gefährtenbindung längst fertig ausgearbeitet hatte. Bevor ich ging, war das Einzige, was ich mitnehmen konnte, das alte T-Shirt, das ich getragen hatte, als er mich markierte. Niemand hätte je geglaubt, dass die geliebte Luna des Blackmoon-Rudels in den drei Jahren seit unserer Bindungszeremonie nicht einmal fünf anständige Kleider für sich selbst zusammenkratzen konnte. Jede einzelne Haushaltsausgabe, die ich hatte, musste mit dem Siegel der Luna genehmigt werden – dem Symbol meiner Macht. „Sienna, die Bücher zu führen ist zu anstrengend. Das wird dich nur auslaugen.“ „Lass Chloe die lästige Arbeit mit dem Siegel erledigen. Du musst nur schön sein, meine perfekte Luna.“ Und so wurde das Siegel der Luna, das eigentlich mir hätte gehören müssen, zu etwas, das ich Chloe anflehen musste – der Sekretärin des Alphas, die angeblich „die lästige Arbeit für mich erledigte“. Vor drei Tagen stand meine Wölfin kurz vor dem Zusammenbruch. Ich weinte und flehte ihn um die zweihunderttausend an, die für einen Notfalleingriff benötigt wurden. Doch Chloe hielt das Siegel absichtlich zurück und verzögerte die Genehmigung, indem sie sich auf angeblich falsche Abläufe berief. Schließlich wurde meine ohnehin schon gebrochene Wölfin tief in meiner Seele völlig still. Und damit war ich auch mit diesem Alpha fertig.

After I proposed to Kathy Johnson, my girlfriend of seven years, we went to City Hall to get our marriage license. Instead, she had her bodyguards throw me onto the street. Then, she walked through the doors, hand in hand with her childhood friend, Nate. She didn’t even blink when he saw me sitting there on the ground, shaking with disbelief. "Nate's son needs a legal guardian to secure his inheritance from the Johnson Group. The fastest way is for me to marry Nate and adopt the boy." "As soon as the paperwork is finalized, we'll get a divorce. You'll still be the one I really marry." Everyone assumed that I, the man who had been devoted to her for so long, would foolishly wait. After all, I had already waited for seven long years. But that night, I accepted the arranged business marriage my family had prepared for me and took a flight to Center City on the East Coast. I vanished from Kathy's world completely, and no one saw it coming. Five years later, I returned to Westlake City to visit my family. My wife, Rhea Weyland, was the sole heir to the Weyland family, a powerhouse that practically controlled the entire West Coast economy. She was tied up in a sudden international merger meeting. She had specially arranged for someone to pick me up from the airport. But I never dreamed that the "someone" she sent would be Kathy. The moment she saw me, her gaze immediately fell on the glittering watch on my wrist. "I can't believe that after all these years, you've stooped so low you're wearing a cheap knockoff." "Are you done with your little pity party? It's time to come crawling back. Nate's son is starting at an elite private school, and you're just in time to be his full-time driver and bodyguard." I gently stroked the watch on my wrist. What she didn't know was that this was one of the more modest gifts Rhea had given me.

At two in the morning, when the pack elders' urgent summons came, I had just crawled out from beneath my childhood sweetheart, the Alpha heir Slade. My body was still aching from his rough possession. As the only human healer in the entire Blackwood Pack, I was ordered to prepare herbs as a gift for Slade's marriage alliance with the Thorne Pack. I gently lifted Slade's arm from where it was wrapped around me. After a night of passion, his powerful Alpha body was still radiating a feverish heat. I assumed this was just another wolf princess he needed to turn away, so I poked his chest playfully and asked with a smile, "Slade, what excuse are you going to use the 99th time? That you've suddenly developed an allergy to the princess?" He rolled over and kissed my forehead, his eyes heavy with sleep. "My sweet girl, this time the herbs must be prepared by you, and you alone. The success of this alliance rests on your shoulders." I froze. For the past ten years, I had been his secret solace, the one who soothed his violent rages every night. I thought I would earn a formal bonding ceremony, sooner or later. But in that moment, I understood. I was just a convenience, a body for him to use. If that was all I was to him, then I would burn everything we had to the ground. I made a call to my old mentor at the National Institute of Medicine, Professor Sterling. "Professor, that research position regarding gene... is it still open? I'm ready to return to the human world." But when that arrogant Alpha, who claimed we were 'just friends' and 'strictly professional,' discovered he could no longer catch even a faint scent of me in the air, he completely lost his mind.

This is the ninth year Dante and I have honored the Month of No Masters. The Corinni family's heir apparent believes this will make our relationship last longer. For one month after our dating anniversary each year, he is free, and we stay out of each other's lives. If either of us finds someone more suitable, we are to wish them well. If not, we go back to the way things were after a month. Around me, the men of the family are spraying champagne with abandon. "To another year of freedom! Congratulations to our Underboss on reclaiming his bachelor status!" "The family betting pool is open! Place your bets on the left if you think they'll still get married, and on the right if you think it's over for good!" Through the hazy cigar smoke, I sat on the corner of a leather sofa, a cold observer, as if this whole farce had nothing to do with me. Dante's hand was curled around Scarlett's waist as he brushed past me, whispering, "Don't get any ideas. You'll always be my only Donna." "I'm a kite. No matter how far I fly, the string is always in your hand." I pressed my cold fingers against the gentle swell of my belly, my expression a blank mask. Dante, this time at the family's betting table, I'm putting my money on "the end." I'm going to vanish from your world completely. That kite string you're so proud of? Tonight, I'm cutting it myself.