Comfortably Numb The Departed Novels & Stories

Dante Moretti, the ruthless Billionaire CEO, hungers for power and control. Cold, calculated, he sends shivers down his rivals' spines with his cold, calculated way into any business deal that might pop up in his way. But inside the steely exterior of this man, a traumatic past torments him to have left him detached and numb as regards love. His goal is simple: solidify his control and paramountcy and build on an empire. Lyra Caine grew up privileged in a family that had disintegrated; the fortune of her father, Richard Caine, once a strong king of finance, had shrunk due to a number of bad investments. She needed to be married off to Dante Moretti, a man rumored never to have shied away from getting ruthless in whatever business dealings he had, so that their name would not be utterly ruined. Lyra had lived her whole life by what this great shadow of a father expected from her: fragile, with this inner fire barely apparent in herself. But here is the kicker that makes it even more twisted: Dante isn't marrying Lyra out of love or even because of business needs. He has an ulterior motive linked to her father's long-buried secrets, one that could totally unravel her family should it come to light.

“You are mine Valentina! And I don’t like to share what I own” Diego said, handing me the head of my boyfriend in a box. He is as cold as the Arctic ocean, An emotionless devil with no atom of humanity, Diego Fernandez, A name that everybody fears because it belongs to the stone-hearted ruthless Mafia boss who does not mind destroying everyone who stands between him and whatever he wants. He is often referred to as the Devil, he never takes no for an answer, in fact, no is a word people know not to say to him if they want their heads still sitting comfortably on their necks, so when he decided that he wanted the beautiful college student Valentina Sanchéz as one of the whores in his harem her owner Don Carlos knew he had no choice but to hand her over without so much as an argument. Diego is intrigued by her stubbornness, so he makes it his duty to punish her until she begs for mercy and she eventually does. Something about Valentina’s venerability makes Diego want to protect her, he slowly realises that he is indeed in love with her. Valentina is terrified when she realises that she has fallen madly in love with her captor, she is even more terrified by the fact she is carrying his baby. She knows of Diego’s desire to be the last of his bloodline, she also knows that not telling the devil of her pregnancy would incur his wrath, what would she do? Things also get worse when Diego finds out that Valentina is not the naive innocent girl he had thought her to be. Is there a chance for the devil and his angel to fall in love? Read to find out!

While Adrian was out negotiating a partnership, Vivian slipped nuts into my food — the one thing she knew I was deathly allergic to. I broke out in blisters all over during the negotiation, making a scene in front of everyone. But Vivian didn't care. She pulled me aside and sneered, "You, Luna, spoiled as you are, just stay there and be a pretty face. Leave the real business to me and Adrian." I lost my temper and slapped her hard across the face. The next second, Adrian appeared in front of Vivian, pulling her into his arms. The look he gave me was pure reproach. "You're the Luna — is this how you treat your own pack members? Vivian didn't do it on purpose. Why are you making her life difficult?" Vivian pressed herself against him, eyes wide and glistening. "Luna, I know I'm clumsy. You're not really going to hold a grudge over something so small, are you?" That night, he didn't come back to our hotel room. I sat on the bed and waited until dawn, tears streaming silently down my face. Through the mate bond, I could feel exactly where he'd been — with Vivian, the entire night. He'd already betrayed me. Numb with heartbreak, I picked up my phone and called Alpha’s father.

On New Year’s Eve, my fiancee, Delilah Carrington, left me to freeze to death in subzero snow. As my body went numb, she was wrapped in the military coat I had found for her, curled up in Everett Kingsley’s arms while eating the holiday groceries I had paid for. When I opened my eyes again, I was back before everything fell apart. So when she called—cold, demanding, rattling off a shopping list like I owed her—I hung up, blocked her number, and made my move. I sealed off Blackridge Logistics Hub, the largest logistics hub in the country. Stockpiling supplies? Pointless. Because my coworkers and I had more packages than we could ever open: seafood delicacies, premium cigars, top-shelf liquor, and industrial generators. Hundreds of millions of shipments meant for the holidays were now all mine. Inside a warehouse kept at a steady 26°C, I ate wagyu steak and watched the world collapse through surveillance feeds. I witnessed Delilah’s entire family tear each other apart over half a moldy pack of crackers. I thought I could live like this forever. I was wrong. In the apocalypse, the most dangerous thing isn’t what’s waiting outside. It’s the people who refuse to stop playing the hero.

Katherine Nolan, my husband's first love, was drugged while studying abroad. When she returns to the country, she is pregnant, just like me. On the day I suffer a massive hemorrhage during labor, my husband, Gabriel Donovan, shows up with Katherine to force me into a divorce. "Kate comes from a highly educated family, and her reputation means everything. If anyone finds out that she's carrying another man's child, it will destroy her. I have to be the father of her baby. Let's get a divorce," he said. In my previous life, I refused to divorce him and even exposed the truth. Katherine's image as an educated and independent woman collapsed. She became the target of public scorn and accusations of fraud. Heavily pregnant, she went to a bar to drink herself numb, but someone took advantage of her afterward. It led to a miscarriage and massive blood loss. She died despite emergency treatment. Gabriel held a funeral for her and offered me a sincere apology. Three months later, I was hit by a car sent by him and left disabled. He even threw our six-month-old son, Adrian Donovan, into a dog cage and left him to be mauled by wild dogs. Only then did I realize that he had long wanted to kill both me and our son. When I open my eyes again, I'm back on the very day he brought Katherine to pressure me into a divorce.

For years, Daisy endured the mistreatment and torture she from her husband but tragedy struck when him and his motorcycle-clubs suffers an attack and he is killed. At last, she was finally free from his world but even in death her husband’s resentment for her runs deep.He left everything, his empire, his money to his mistress and the secret son they had all along leaving her penniless and in dept Faced by this betrayal she decides to numb her pain with alcohol but one reckless night leads to something formidable. She wakes up to find herself lying with a man who identified himself as her husband. But Daisy hasn’t just signed a marriage agreement to a stranger in a drunken state but instead the man she married was no other than her ex husband rival. Christian Blackwood. Christian is the embodiment of the devil himself, the man who ruled the city behind the dark and is feared and respected by all. A man with a dark past that he keeps hidden waiting to be unleashed with just one rule in mind, dominate and rule and make all those who dares to stand against him pay. But when he runs into Daisy, the ex-wife of his rival, he wants nothing but to make her his property. But something buried inside that dark heart clicked. She was a fragile girl, lost and helpless but a marriage agreement between these two starts something formidable filled with so much twist and tension

Caleb Da Stephano is the illegitimate son of the powerful Russ DA Stephano and grandson of Gus Da Stephano. After Caleb's companies gets taken from him as the heir by Gus Da Stephano following his reckless lifestyle, he is forced into depression which leads him to a one night stand with the woman he never imagined he would be seeing in his life again, talk more of sleeping with. His elementary school nemesis. After catching her boyfriend sleeping with her Co worker at their apartment while trying to make it to the hospital on time before her mother dies of cancer, Mabel Lora finds her life crumbling, leaving her numb, only to find solace at a bar, in an unknown part of the city where only the stinking rich belonged. She's saved from holligans by Caleb, subjecting them to a one night stand. Unknown to the two of them, fate had brought two enemies together once again for a purpose. He’s dangerous, addictive, and Her newest assignment. The future she desperately hopes for rests in the palm of his hands. Breathtakingly handsome and painfully private, he’s the sinner who killed a saint. That’s what the world sees when they catch a glimpse of Caleb Da Stephano. Her job is to understand him. His goal is to break her. Only one of their hearts will survive. Let the cruel games begin.

His dark eyes spoke a lot while roaming her body ditching their shame. She shuddered from the weird disgust feeling of his nasty stare piercing her pride to no end, soon her body and mind became numb when she heard him. "Strip!"The male whispered in her ear, resulting in his husky voice to become huskier. His aura was so tragically dark and dominant that the girl felt her knees weakening because of his bizarre declaration.She moved a bit back from the close proximity as she felt her breath halting because of his sudden intimacy."Scared aren't you?" The male asked mischievously witnessing her face losing its every color, not caring what he demanded from her. His stare was burning her entire being as she felt her self respect tearing apart. She was looking around the people present in the room with a hint of shame and obvious anxiousness."Are you being nervous now? You didn't hesitate to slap me in front of them then why are you being so shy now." He spat those words like fire without any shame with only one attention, to bring her down and smash her composure in front of everyone.Her sparkling eyes attracted him to no limits. His dominance dragged her in his deep dark world, his egoistic aura took away that shine. He made her surrender to his sinful desires unwillingly...

A nurse, who has won a prestigious award for her career in the past, reveals a truth before passing away. "I don't have any regrets in this lifetime. The only thing I'm sorry about is the fact that I've helped switched babies for a woman ten years ago. "That woman came from a wealthy family, and yet she intended to show her child tough love. That's why she chose to swap her baby for the one belonging to a pair of beggars living in the slums. "I helped her conceal the entire incident. For that, I feel very sorry for that woman's biological child." At the moment, I'm sitting in a hut amid the rampant weeds. Scars criss-cross over every inch of my body. My gaze remains numb as I quietly apply medication to myself while listening to the news. Suddenly, someone knocks on the front door. When I open it, I see a wealthy-looking woman dressed in fancy clothes. "Ella, I'm here!" She pulls me into a hug, her eyes already red-rimmed. "From today onward, the tough-love parenting is over! Now, I'm going to take you home!" The old radio keeps emitting crackling noises as it repeats the nurse's final words. For a moment, I'm stunned. Then, I push the woman away and conceal my limping leg. My eyes are as hollow as the abyss. "You got the wrong person, ma'am."

“Either you make me forget, Lucas. Or I'll find someone who will." For a moment, he doesn't move, and I think he's going to push me away. But then, something shifts in his eyes and he closes the distance between us, his lips capturing mine in a heated kiss. Amelia's life takes a drastic turn when her boyfriend of two years, Ethan, who she discovers is also her mate, rejects her just days before his coronation—a coronation she meticulously helped organize. In an attempt to escape her painful reality, Amelia's best friend takes her out to celebrate her birthday. But fate intervenes when Amelia sees Ethan with another girl. Heartbroken and frustrated, she turns to liquor to numb her pain. In her intoxicated state, Amelia encounters Lucas, Ethan's cousin and the heir to the throne. They share a passionate night, and Lucas, both mysterious and cunning, proposes a contract marriage to make Ethan jealous and secure his position as Crown Prince. Amelia finds herself torn between two powerful men: her ex-boyfriend, whom she thought was her soulmate, and the Crown Prince, who challenges her in ways she never expected. As the contract marriage begins to feel more real, the tension escalates. Both Lucas and Amelia struggle with their deepening feelings, navigating a complex web of love, power, and betrayal.