Debauchery At The Dinner Party Novels & Stories

Eight years after running away pregnant, I found myself crossing paths with my ex-husband, Howard Quinn. His friends stared at me in surprise. "So, this is what you have become after leaving Howard? Reduced to a cleaner?" When I was six-months pregnant, I met with an accident. While I lay there, he was staying by the side of another woman, his so-called true love, in labor, never leaving her side. When I confronted him, in pieces, he looked at me bored and impatiently. "Don't be so jealous and petty. I have no time for you. As long as you behave, you'll always be Mrs. Quinn." I couldn't stand it any longer, so I ran away, staying away for eight long years. Now, those sharp eyes glared at me. "Have you had enough? If so, come home." What he didn't know was that my husband and daughter had already made dinner, waiting for me and my son to return home.

My colleague, Nora Lewis, suddenly leaned over at the company annual dinner. “You managed to land such a tough project with Sanscape Group. Tell me, how many people did you sleep with to pull that off? “I’ve heard for ages that you’ve got a great body and that you’re quite the player. You really live up to the rumors!” Right after, she pretended to have misspoken and quickly covered her mouth. The dinner table, which had been bustling just moments ago, fell silent. Everyone exchanged meaningful glances before pricking up their ears in perfect unison. Then, they lowered their heads to play with their phones. I looked at her calmly and asked in return, “Does closing a business deal require sleeping with someone? I’ve been working for so long, and I never knew that. You must be quite the expert, Ms. Lewis?” Also, how come I’ve never heard that my dad’s company requires sleeping with someone to secure a project?

In my second year running the company, my high school class monitor suddenly started tagging me nonstop in the group chat. [Alice, Vivian was only joking with you back then. Why won't you come to her party? Are you trying to make her feel guilty?] I didn't understand what was going on. Only after reading the messages did I realize that our class beauty, Vivian Spencer, had recently found her biological parents—and today, she had thrown a party to announce it to the world. Me: [I'm busy.] I had no intention of attending a party hosted by someone who used to bully me. But my answer didn't shut them up. Instead, it stirred up even more absurd speculation. [Don't tell me you're doing some kind of labor job and can't take leave?] [We're all former classmates. If you show up, I'll give you sixty dollars. That should cover two days of your salary.] Vivian chimed in as well. [Alice, it was just a joke back then. And I'd already dropped out by then. Why can't you let it go?] I stared at her message for a long moment before typing: [Only trash would call bullying a joke.] The group exploded instantly. [Vivian's no trash! She's a wealthy heiress. She's not even in the same league as you. Poor people really love to nitpick.] Vivian, ever the hypocrite, tried to smooth things over. [No matter what, today marks a new beginning for me. I hope you'll come to witness it. [We're classmates, after all. I don't hold it against you for forcing me to drop out. If you're short on money, I can even ask my dad to arrange a job for you.] Then she sent a screenshot of her chat with her father. When I saw her father's profile picture, I froze. Wasn't that the same profile picture as my freeloading dad? But I look seventy percent like my mom—it's impossible for me to be a fake daughter. And Vivian was two months younger than me. I let out a laugh. "Alright, I'll definitely attend your recognition party."

On Valentine's Day, I set up a candlelit dinner and waited. At 9 PM, my husband, Alfred Johnston, finally texted. [Something came up at work. Don't wait for me.] Then I saw her post. [On a business trip with the CEO for Valentine's Day. Every hotel is fully booked—awkward...] Vivian Bianca, his secretary. Attached was a photo of a guy in a bathrobe, standing by a floor-to-ceiling window. The comments were all 'ooh, CEO's so hot and girl, you're in for a night.' Vivian? Just dropped a smug emoji. So that's what "something came up" meant—a romantic getaway with his secretary. I screenshotted it, posted it on my own feed, and added a smiling emoji. A second later, Alfred called, fuming. "Vivian was joking! Why are you so petty? She's young, not as calculating as you!" I didn't let him finish. "Then let's get a divorce. That way, I won't have to care when you screw around and catch something."

When Fallon Prescott returns to her parents’ mansion for what she thinks is just another family dinner, she’s blindsided by two shocking revelations: her father’s company is on the brink of collapse, and the only way to save it is to marry the last person she ever wanted to see again—Reid Callahan. Reid, the charismatic and wildly successful heir to the Callahan fortune, has no interest in marriage either. But business is business, and their parents have sealed their fate with an arrangement neither of them can escape. Determined to keep things strictly business, Fallon and Reid strike a deal: a marriage on paper with an expiration date. No love, no complications, just two years of playing the perfect couple to satisfy their families. But as they navigate awkward public appearances, nosy socialites, and unexpected sparks, Fallon starts to wonder if their arrangement is as simple as it seemed. Because Reid Callahan might just be the one man capable of breaking through her carefully guarded walls—and rewriting the rules of her heart. Can two people who swore off love find it in the most unexpected place?

I still have a week before my due date when a truck suddenly hits me, sending me flying several feet and leaving me bleeding profusely on the ground. As I lose consciousness, I call my husband, Wallace Brown, begging him to rush over and save our unborn child, only for him to reply coldly, "It's Beth's 18th birthday party today, Meryl. You can't seriously be pulling one of your stunts on a day like this, can you?" In the next instant, I hear my son, Daniel Brown, exclaiming, "You're always using the baby to threaten us, Mommy! I really hate it when you do that!" Wallace stresses the importance of Beth's birthday party again, demands that I attend immediately, and then hangs up on me. With a pool of blood spreading beneath me, I close my eyes, overcome by despair. When I open my eyes again, I am met by the sight of a death certificate. The doctor delivers a crushing pronouncement. "I'm sorry, but if you had gotten here sooner, we might have been able to save the baby's life…" I look at the death certificate, feeling as though my heart died with my baby. I finally decide to leave this family, yet now they're the ones begging me to stay.

On New Year’s Eve, a poolside party was held at the hospital. There, my fiancee Valerie Charlton’s medical prodigy junior colleague, Cyrus Zeigler, drew the wildcard in a party game. His task was to select a woman from the attendees and enact an explicit scene in front of everyone. He scanned the crowd, and his gaze landed on Valerie. “Valerie, you’re about to get married. I know I can’t have you. So let me have this one time. Okay?” Valerie’s eyes welled up, and she was about to nod. I scoffed and tossed the unsigned medical equipment purchase contract onto the table. “You’d better think carefully. Either he gets lost, or your family’s hospital shuts down for good. Your choice.” Cyrus glared at me angrily when he saw that Valerie was torn with indecision. “Is it that Mr. Everest can’t take a joke? He’s already controlling everything you do before the wedding. After you get married, he’ll probably keep you in a cage.” Valerie calmed down. Then, she turned to me and said scornfully, “You are a grown man. Have some grace. What era are we living in? Do you have to flaunt your masculinity all the time?” I watched calmly as they walked toward the pool. Then, I turned and made a phone call. “Since she doesn’t care about this marriage, she can watch the Charlton family crumble.”

I shouldn't have gone for that vacation, I felt it in my sixth senses. The truth is I could only blame myself, I was foolish enough to make the decision even when I knew. When my boyfriend broke up with me, I should have left newyork immediately but I stayed. I stayed, when for that party, had a one night stand and got into trouble and you know the freaking kinds trouble? The mafia kind. Now, I have in front of me a contract that says shit!

Lucia Garcia has spent her life hiding bruises—both on her skin and in her heart, trapped under the thumb of her abusive stepfather. Lucia is thrust into a dangerous world when her stepfather drags her to a lavish party hosted by Lorenzo, the ruthless Mafia King who rules the city with an iron fist. When Lucia accidentally witnesses Lorenzo execute a man, she finds herself at his mercy, her fate hanging in the balance. Lorenzo: "The moment I set eyes on you, you became mine!"

Is love hard to find? Bobby found his Soulmate at a glimpse of an eye. He attended a once in awhile beach party that led him into falling in love and finding his long awaited lady of his dreams. Who knew love would be this elementary to find. His associates teased him and he denied it but deep down they knew he was concealing his sensitiveness. Their love grew even stronger that it led into marriage and making up a family together. Love comes where you are, we don't look for it. It comes naturally.