Novel & Cerita C L O S E T Unscramble

"There should be rules if we are even going to do this," he said without looking at me. "I have always lived by the rules." He slid a file towards me. "This is the contract. The rules are stated there." I opened the file and glanced through it. "You can take it home and study them; give me feedback tomorrow evening. But I will read out the rules for you now because they start now, and in case your brain can't comprehend them, then I can explain." Anger seethed through me, and I almost threw the file back at him, but when I thought about the money involved and how it would benefit little Sophie, I bit my lower lip to push back the anger. He continued. "Rule number one; don't you fall in love with me." His eyes flipped up to me. "Crystal clear," I said. "That would never happen." Ellen never had fun in college. One night she decided to have fun with her friends and slept with a handsome stranger who disappeared before she woke up. A month later, she found out she was pregnant and searched everywhere for him, but to no avail. Five years later, she moved to a new city and met the same man she never thought she would ever see again. He didn't remember anything about her, and he was now a cold, arrogant man who needed a wife, and she needed money. They agreed to contract marriage with strict rules, one of them being never to fall in love with each other. They were sure they wouldn't break the rule, but as sparks grew between them and became too much, they found themselves trying hard to keep to the rules. Who will break rule number one between them?

Olivia Penn was the only daughter of the Penn family. She was born into privilege and status. People often called her the holy maiden of high society. She was untouchable and devout. The system gave me a mission to win her heart, but I ended up losing mine to her. After we got married, the mission was successfully completed. I should have left this world immediately, but I chose to stay for her. The cost was constant, bone-deep pain every single day. One day, I saw her being intimate with my younger brother in a church. The rosary she never took off was teasingly caught between his lips, then removed and tossed aside. Even our son wanted my brother to be his father. So, I gave them what they wanted. However, if this was what they wanted, why did they regret it after I died?

I saved the life of Don Stefano Marino of the Marino family. The moment a bullet was about to strike him, I was the one who shielded him from it. Because of the life debt he owed me, Stefano decided that I would be the one marrying him instead of my older sister, Anna Costa, in the marriage alliance. But on our wedding night, Stefano would rather drink himself into a stupor somewhere in the city than consummate our marriage with me. Like a naive fool, I thought that I'd be able to melt his heart of ice someday with my love. But it had been less than five years when Stefano brought a kid, who resembled him, and Anna back. "Anna has suffered tremendously during her time overseas while trying to raise her child on her own. I need to make it up to her." Then, Stefano passed the divorce agreement to me. "You've hogged the position as the Donna for so many years. It's time for you to give it back to her." Only then did I find out that Stefano had actually spent the night with Anna on the night of our wedding. I pulled out the pregnancy report that I had meant to surprise Stefano with, only for him to rip it into shreds. "I don't need another child." Once those icy words fell, I was sent into the operating theater by force, where I suffered from heavy bleeding afterward, resulting in the deaths of me and my unborn baby. When I woke up again, I saw Stefano, who was about to get shot. This time, I shoved Anna in his direction.

My wife dies in an accident, leaving me and our son, who's just started kindergarten, behind. I barely make it through the funeral. However, when I get home, my in-laws come knocking with my wife's brother in tow. They want to take over my wife's fortune, including an old bungalow my parents left me for me in the city. I finally realize that my wife has changed me so much that her family has never seen me tearing people's throats out.

I was just eighteen when I mistook a business deal for a fairy tale, letting a schoolgirl crush blind me to the truth. My prince charming? He turned out to be more of a wolf in an Armani suit. Now, five years and a thousand broken pieces later, I've rebuilt myself into someone I barely recognize, a CEO, a survivor, and most importantly, a mother to my beautiful son Griffin. I thought I'd buried the naive girl who once dreamed in a garden. Apparently, the universe had other plans. My ex-husband's back, claiming he's changed and wanting a second chance. And then there's James Drake, a billionaire with scars that match my own, who makes me wonder if my heart remembers how to beat for something other than revenge. Between poisoned flowers showing up at my office and threats creeping too close to my son, I'm learning that success is the best revenge, if I can stay alive long enough to enjoy it. They say love is sweeter the second time around, but can I trust it when betrayal wore the face of love once before? One thing's certain: I'm not that naive wife anymore. And this time, I'm playing for keeps.

He pinned me against the wall. His voice, a low growl in my ear. “You’re trembling, little bird. Fear? Or something else?” His hand burns against my skin. “Your brother would kill me for this... but look me in the eye. Tell me you don’t want me. Tell me you weren’t wet the moment I touched you.” At twenty-one, Elara Stark thought she’d finally escaped the Vipers’ world of blood and leather. Six years later, after her father's murder and her fiancé's betrayal, she's back, only to be trapped under the watch of her brother's Enforcer, Knox. Knox has been secretly obsessed with Elara for years. The girl he once knew is gone, now stands a woman, broken and vulnerable in a way that awakens something dark and possessive in him. He is everything that goes against the moral core and peaceful life she craves, and she knows he's dangerous, but she simply can't resist the temptation. But there's a catch– a rule, no romantic relationship with a Viper or Vipers' families, failure to abide means instant death for the club member. When Elara's pain forces them into a forbidden kiss, the rule doesn't stop them. Will this crushing secret be the final thing to destroy them both? Read to find out what happens when you crave the one thing that will end you.

So you don't remember Lexi?" Piercing blue eyes stare in to mine, I watch as he licks his lips and he takes a sip from his whiskey. "You don't remember how you screamed our names that night?" The deep voice from beside me chuckles and I look in his direction, brown eyes, taking me in from head to toe. "We could always remind you Lex, you just have to say the word" *** 5 years ago after a drunken one night stand with two of the most eligible bachelors in town-Lexi ran away. There's two reasons why - one, they're her brother's best friends and two, it just absolutely can't happen. Now she's back in town and hopes to avoid them like the plague but Damien and Parker have other plans, they've had their share of fun but no one could ever top that night. Their little vixen ran off and they let her but she's back and they have no plans on letting her go again. That night is burned into Lexi's memory and soon these two men are everywhere she goes, in everything she touches and it's only a matter of time till she gives in. Now the only question she needs answered is how long can she avoid this fruit of temptation? And what could possibly go wrong?

I'm the daughter of Don Falcone. After I got back from studying abroad, my family threw a welcome-home banquet, conveniently setting me up to meet the fiancé my father had handpicked for me—Santino Moretti. My father praised the guy to the skies in his letters: he was the heir to the Moretti family, elegant, ruthless, drop-dead gorgeous, and holding half the city’s underground operations in the palm of his hand. I arrived at the Elysium Hotel right on the dot. Just as I was about to take a seat, a hand shoved me hard. A woman's shrill voice pierced my ear. "Livia, what's a Sicilian peasant like you doing here? This is the Imperial Suite. Do you think you even deserve to breathe the air in a place like this?" I recognized the woman. It was Bella, a bitch who had always had it out for me back in college. She was clearly trying to humiliate me. Instead of getting mad, I smirked. "Whether I deserve to be here or not—is that for you to decide?" Bella sneered, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm Mr. Santino's personal assistant. Today, Mr. Santino is hosting the eldest daughter of the Falcone family here. This isn't an occasion for bottom-feeding trash like you." "Be smart and crawl back to your slum." I pulled out my phone and dialed my so-called fiancé. I wanted to ask him if it was a tradition in the Moretti family to let their dogs bark at the front door.

Mia Dawson married a cold CEO believing in love but lived beside him as if she were invisible. For two years, Mia gave everything to her husband. Her strength, her loyalty, and the empire she silently helped build, only to be met with indifference, humiliation, and the constant presence of another woman who always seemed to matter more. But things take a turn when she finds out through an accident that her sister-in-law isn't just her husband's stepsister but his lover. Broken and hurt, she hands over her divorce letter and walks away with a vow to take revenge no matter what. But some heartbreaks don’t end in goodbye. And some love stories begin again when the truth finally comes to light.

Kiran York descended from his home in the mountains to cancel his engagement, only to have his fiancee immediately drag him off to the city hall to grab his marriage license. Also, she’s gorgeous?!No. His wife’s good looks would not sway him. He must divorce her! He refused to become a kept man!At his declaration, his wife very calmly asked, “How many children do you want?”Kiran screamed, “I’m the Miracle Doctor! Don’t you dare defile me!”