Cirque Du Freak

I’m just a farmer’s wife, yet I’ve been suffering from an unbearable addiction. The frequent flare-ups have thrown our entire autumn harvest into chaos. With no other choice, I followed my husband, Tom Reed, to seek help from the new young town doctor, Dr. Cole Carter, but his method of treatment completely broke me…

Cassandra a planté son fiancé devant l'autel quelques minutes avant leur mariage et s'est enfuie en Italie. Deux ans plus tard, le piège se referme sur elle et, pour éviter de retourner à San Francisco, elle se sent prête à tout. Même à signer un contrat de mariage ? Adriano semble être la solution à tous ses problèmes. L'Italien n'a que trois conditions : prendre soin de ses enfants, respecter les termes du contrat et ne pas tomber amoureuse de lui. Cassandra est catégorique, mais si son esprit résiste aux charmes de son mari, son cœur succombe à son emprise jour après jour. La passion s'embrase, et avec elle, une multitude de sensations inconnues de tous deux.

Vous me détesterez sûrement... et mon père en n'est le seul fautif ! Il ne devait pas être comme il est.

After I got pregnant, I witnessed my boyfriend's grandmother's death. She left behind a secret, and now, everyone who knows that secret is dead. First, it was my boyfriend's father who died. My boyfriend's mother followed soon after. Lastly, my boyfriend died too. He ended his life by overdosing right before my eyes. The media went wild. They dug obsessively for the truth. Again and again, the police summoned me for questioning. Online hate toward me was overwhelming. Everyone wants to know what the secret is. People claim I cursed my boyfriend's entire family to death, just to keep the secret to myself. I stay silent, never saying a word in defense of myself. On the seventh day after my boyfriend had passed, I spot someone at his funeral. At that moment, I place my hand on my swollen belly. I am utterly calm and at peace. It is time for me and my child to die too.

Raymond, brillant avocat promis à une carrière d’exception, voit sa vie s’effondrer du jour au lendemain. Accusé du meurtre de son associé, il se retrouve au cœur d’un complot méticuleusement orchestré par une organisation criminelle. Libéré sous caution grâce à un tour de force juridique, il croit entrevoir une chanc... jusqu’au moment où un second drame le frappe : le corps de son ami est retrouvé, et lui, debout à côté, un pistolet à la main. Le temps de comprendre, la police intervient. Accusé d’un second meurtre, il est condamné à la prison à vie. Derrière les barreaux, Raymond doit apprendre vite. Les alliances sont fragiles, et la trahison rôde. Un jour, il sauve la vie d’un parrain de la mafia, prenant une balle destinée à ce dernier. Reconnaissant, le parrain le prend sous sa protection et lui ouvre les portes d’un cercle restreint de pouvoir et d’influence en prison. À force de sang-froid et d’intelligence, Raymond devient un leader respecté parmi les détenus. Sa bonne conduite lui permet d’obtenir une libération anticipée. Dehors, il n’a plus qu’un but : détruire la Triade qui a brisé sa vie. Pour atteindre ses ennemis, il s’engage dans une manipulation risquée : séduire Isabella, la fille du parrain, afin de gagner un accès privilégié aux réseaux criminels. Ce qui devait être une manœuvre froide se transforme en un véritable lien, un amour qui complique ses plans. Pris entre vengeance et passion, Raymond devra choisir : protéger la femme qui a conquis son cœur ou achever le plan qui pourrait enfin mettre à bas l’organisation qui l’a piégé. Piégé par la Mafia est un thriller captivant mêlant complot, survie, et un amour né dans les ombres, où chaque décision peut être la dernière.

I’ve always been someone with a strong, restless libido I can’t quite explain. I’ve never gone to a doctor about it, but I know myself well enough to realize it’s something that comes and goes in waves, especially when I'm ovulating. During that time of the month, I'd need to do it two to three times a day or my body would feel extremely uncomfortable. Normally, my tall, broad-shouldered husband would be the one to ease that ache and fill the emptiness in me. However, lately he’s been impossibly busy, away on business trips for weeks at a time…

In my previous life, everything I do to care for myself somehow ends up benefiting my new housekeeper instead. I apply expensive skincare, yet dark spots and fine lines spread across my face, whereas the 45-year-old housekeeper's face becomes silkier. I jog every morning, yet my body only grows heavier and bulkier, while hers becomes slender and toned. When my husband notices the stretch marks on my abdomen, his face twists with disgust, and he never touches me again. "I genuinely can't bring myself to touch you. How can you look worse than Mirabelle when you take such good care of yourself?" My housekeeper looks at me with a sinister smile. A chill crawls up my spine, and the strange feeling makes me fire her on the spot. Yet, as soon as she leaves, I start aging at lightning speed, entering menopause 20 years early and developing diabetes and high blood pressure. I see every doctor I can, but after hanging on for a week, I die from a stroke. When I open my eyes again, I'm back on the day she first reports to work. This time, I push away the royal jelly she sets in front of me with a pleasant smile. "I've been avoiding certain foods lately. You can have it instead."

I catch the eye of a talent scout on the street and am sent abroad for training. However, as soon as I land, my passport is snatched away. I'm even locked into a cage. The people who beat me up tell me death is the only path for people who disobey orders at Elder Corporation. But if my memory serves me correctly, Elder Corporation is the name of my fiancé's company abroad.

The smoothie shop was a whirlwind of activity during the lunch rush when a customer's call shattered my focus. "Is this the manager?" a sharp voice demanded. "I ordered a smoothie with just a touch of sugar. Why is it so sweet?" I checked her order and explained calmly, "Miss, Chocolate Bliss has a naturally sweet base." Not long after, she called again. "I asked for five ice cubes. Why are there only four?" Swamped and barely keeping up, I apologized and moved on. Before I could catch my breath, the phone rang once more. "I requested the guy in the black shirt to deliver my order. Why did a girl show up?" Suppressing my irritation, I clarified, "Miss, we handle the drinks; deliveries are managed by couriers." Finally, the calls stopped. But as the rush subsided, the headquarters called, telling me that a customer had lodged a complaint, accusing me of seducing her boyfriend.

My dormmate, Summer Lodge, always uses heavy-duty electrical appliances to cook in our dorm. I kindly remind her that it's a fire hazard and that she'll get a demerit if the college finds her out, but she snaps at me and tells me to mind my own business. One day, her oven bursts into flames and burns one of our dormmates—the daughter of an affluent family—to death. When the college investigates the matter to apportion the blame, Summer and another dormmate push the blame on me. I'm expelled and cyberbullied. My dead dormmate's boyfriend even comes after me for revenge. He shoves me and my family into the furnace at a crematorium. When I open my eyes again, I'm back to the day when Summer decides to make a meal with the oven.