Better Off Dead: A Jack Reacher Novel

My sister wanted to make a quick buck selling herself on a cruise ship. I tried desperately to stop her, but my entire family held me down and drowned me in the ocean instead. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the moment before she left. This time, I smiled while helping her with her makeup. "Let me send you off properly, sis." Later, her screams echoed through the nightmare aboard that ship. I stood safe in the arms of a mafia Don who held me close. "Figlia, your Papa finally found you." Meanwhile, my adoptive parents and sister were on their knees across the deck, begging me to spare their worthless lives.

Juana Escarzega, a savvy businesswoman, returns to her family's hacienda in the Philippines, stirring whispers of memories, sa paniniwalang ito ang magiging pahinga niya sa mga problemang tiniis niya sa Canada. Amidst the embrace of the cold sea breeze, she’s back to confront the memories she left behind. Especially her forgotten relationship with Izo Eloje Frentones Jr. In the centre of Samar's social whirlwind, old flames flicker, and family ties tighten. Nang magkaharap ang dalawa, tila bumalik ang mga ala-ala at humapdi ang mga sugat na matagal nilang ikinubli. Drawn back by Izo's magnetic pull, Juana faces their shared past, grappling with passion and pain. With the circling rumours and lurking secrets, they must decide. Isugal ang lahat, o baguhin ang tadhana. Against the stunning coastline, they confront their feelings and the harsh world's realities. Can they overcome obstacles and find forgiveness, or will they discover a different kind of love's liberation?

I married Kael Throne—the infamous king of New York’s mafia—not for his power, not for his fortune, but because I loved him. He was unlike any man I’d ever known. A man who could have a thousand women at his feet, yet dismissed them all with a single glance. I believed his faithful love until the day I learned the existence of a college girl. He’d “respected” me enough to keep her hidden… until I forced the truth into the light. Kael didn’t rage. He didn’t deny it. He only looked at me with that calm, dangerous gaze and said, “Then we divorce.” I refused. He offered me his money, his casino, his everything. Still I said no. Because I loved him. That’s when his love turned black. He had me kidnapped. My mother, too. All to force my signature on those papers. “You found out,” he said, almost bored. “And there’s no more fun in hiding. Leave now, Vivienne. Give me—and Nyssa—our happy ending.” I watched as the man he’d sent slit my mother’s throat. My answer came too late. Kael Throne was a monster. I collapsed, my head cracking against the floor. And when I opened my eyes… I was back on the day I first learned Nyssa existed. This time, I didn’t confront him. I played the perfect wife, smiling sweetly while I waited for the perfect moment to vanish from his life forever. I just never imagined that when I finally disappeared… Kael would lose his mind.

Raised by a ruthless mercenary, Rebel became one of the deadliest assassins alive. Trained to kill, she knows only bloodshed—until a mission in Cali leads her to Daniel, an infuriating billionaire who makes her dream of something more. But love has a price. Betrayed by the organization that shaped her, Rebel uncovers a shocking truth: Her parents are alive and were victims of the organization and her disappearance was a warning to her Aristocratic father. Now, with Daniel and her mentor by her side, she’s turning the tables. The assassin becomes the avenger, and the hunter becomes the hunted. Only his love for her is powerful enough to bring her back from darkness.

{Warning: Some chapters of this story, entails erotic and matured contents. Read as your own dim fit, or at your own detriment. Consider this an authors advise.} "Then I realize what it is. It's him. Something about him makes me feel like I am about to fall. Or turn into liquid. Or burst into flames." * * * Amethyst Villarreal had been secretly in love with her best friend - Sebastian Almonte. But something between her dream to win the heart of the man she love. Pietho, her cousin who is her best friends fiance. Alam n'ya na mali ang mahalin ito ngunit ayaw paawat ng kan'yang puso. She tried to hide it, even if it pains her the most, but she couldn't believe and never expected that Wade Harris Coleman - Seb's best man, knows her romantic feelings toward her best friend since then. Ngunit sa kabila ng inis n'ya rito ay natagpuan n'ya ang kan'yang sarili na ibinubuhos dito ang lahat ng sakit na dinaramdam n'ya sa mahabang panahon. And the next morning she found herself next to his bed . Now, how was she going to get out of that mess? ✓ Collaboration Series of PaperInk Publishing House ✓ Not for minors

Le jour où je suis revenue à ma seconde vie, j'étais devant le formulaire d'enregistrement du couple. Cette fois, j'ai décidé d'y inscrire le nom de ma sœur, Lana Hébert. Dans cette vie, je les laisserais, elle et Adrien Nadeau, réaliser leur histoire. Sans attendre qu'Adrien me le demande, j'ai offert ma robe de mariée à ma sœur et j'ai mis la bague, symbole du lien du couple, dans ses mains. Je ne me suis ni disputée ni énervée, et j'ai facilité chacune de leurs rencontres. Quand il a emmené ma sœur dans les territoires du Sud pour combattre, j'ai simplement préparé mes affaires et je suis partie étudier à l'université, dans les steppes du Nord. Car dans ma vie précédente, j'ai passé la moitié de mon existence à m'occuper de la famille tandis que mon mari Adrien, après être devenu le premier guerrier de la tribu, il s'est agenouillé avec notre fils pour me demander de rompre notre lien… afin de vivre son amour avec ma sœur. Dans cette nouvelle vie, j'ai décidé de ne pas devenir sa compagne. Par contre, je veux poursuivre mes propres rêves : partir à l'université des loups-garous dans les steppes du Nord, obtenir mon doctorat en médecine et vivre la vie libre dont j'ai toujours rêvé !

I was dying from my fear of heights, but my husband, Don Vincent, was busy with his assistant, savoring the latest coffee flown in from Hawaii that morning. "You're a grown woman, Bella. What's the big deal? You're stuck on a roof, figure it out." Then he hung up on me. I collapsed onto the hot tar of the roof, my body shaking uncontrollably before everything went black. It was two hours before building security found me. When I got home, I asked Vincent for a divorce. He rubbed his temples, his patience worn thin, looking at me as if I were a child throwing a tantrum. "Over a cup of coffee? I told you, the heights are all in your head. You’re perfectly safe now. Stop making a scene alright? What's this nonsense about a divorce? I have more important things to deal with. Calm yourself down." I stared at his back as he left, tears already streaming down my face. Something important? Did he really think I couldn't hear his assistant, Sophia, murmuring in the background? Did he think I didn't know he took her to the last family gathering? I had loved Vincent for three years. Everyone knew he was the center of my world. They all thought an orphan like me could never leave him. But now, all the love I had was eclipsed by a profound, soul-crushing exhaustion. I was done. I picked up my phone and dialed a number I hadn't touched in three long years. "Uncle, book me a flight to Seattle. I'm ready to leave Vincent."

That night, drunk and heartbroken after her fiancé’s betrayal, Celeste accidentally sent her masturbation video to her boss, Lazarrus Walkez V, the ruthless billionaire who lives in permanent numbness. The next morning, a single text arrived, “Come to my office, Little doe.” From that moment…he offered her a dirty deal, and she became the only one who could awaken the monster that had been dead inside him. Revenge turned into obsession. Obsession turned into love.

“It is done,” he said softly. “You carry my mark now. The Devil’s mark. You are bound to me….by the moon, by the curse, by choice. Your body belongs to me. You will have no say in what I do to you whether you want it or not. I will use you for as long as I want, in any way I want. You have given me the right to own you completely, to take you, to make or break you and make you mine until you can't even remember what it feels like to be free.” ****** They took everything from Elara Veyra. Her father. Her dignity. Branded wolf-less, betrayed by the man she loved, and cast out by the pack that once called her their own, she ran into the one place even death fears to enter…..the cursed lands of the Devil Alpha. Draven Nightbane. A name whispered like a prayer and a curse. The monster who slaughtered kings, the beast born of darkness and fury. He should have killed her the moment she crossed his borders. Instead, he looked at her as if he’d been waiting. Now Elara lives in his fortress of shadows, bound to the most feared Alpha in existence. But beneath his cruelty lies a hunger even the Moon Goddess can’t explain…and when his touch awakens something ancient inside her, she begins to realize the truth. She's not wolf-less. She's sealed. And he is the key to unleashing what the Moon goddess herself tried to hide. He thinks she offered herself to him to survive. But when the truth of her bloodline surfaces, he’ll learn that she was never the prey…. She was the prophecy that could destroy him.

Trisha Lee M. Fuentes is a woman full of positivity despite the tragic death of her parents that left her and her brother to fend for themselves at a young age. When her cousin who nurses a grudge against her and created a scandal, Trisha finds herself comforted by the man she had used to get back on her cheating boyfriend by kissing him at the airport but later on found out that he was her long lost friend back in her childhood days. Despite her pains, she's still determined to not give up on one thing... FALLING IN LOVE Marsden F. Hernandez was betrayed by the woman he had chosen to share his life with when she fell in love with his bestfriend. Now he's back and determined to avoid committing the same mistake again. Mistake was forgiven but not easily forgotten,he chose to close his heart on one thing... LOVE Completely different in views but experienced the same, they became best of friends. But with a kiss that ignited Trisha’s hope for true love but squashed by Marsden’s continuous denial, she constructed a deal, no label, enjoy the moment and let go when it’s time to end. Would they survive unscathed? With a woman who’s just starting to discover her passions, Marsden’s resolve is in peril. Could he continue to deny his desires when she flirts at every turn? Will the book of flirtation Trisha purchased help her out? So who will win and who will surrender? Played by fate as Marsden’s ex-fiancé came in the picture, finding them in an embrace shuttered and pained Trisha but would she now fights for the man she loves knowing he is not officially hers and painfully so he still cares for his ex?