Destinations Of A Lifetime

BOOK 1 & 2 BOOK 1: A WHOLE NEW WORLD ESSENCE I would’ve died for them. My husband. My son. But when I was drowning, they didn’t even blink. I gave them everything—my heart, my time, my life. And still, I wasn’t enough. “Will you be my mommy?” my son asked his father’s mistress right in front of me. “Don’t be so selfish, Essence,” my husband said. “You’re lucky anyone married you at all.” They broke me. But I didn’t stay broken. I walked away with just a vow to build something for myself. What I didn’t expect? Lucian Knight. The billionaire bachelor every woman wanted... on his knees, whispering, “Please marry me, Essence. I’ve waited for you my whole life.” I left betrayal behind. But I never knew love could feel this good... or this sinfully sweet. BOOK 2: ENEMIES TO SOULMATES Daniel Knight lives for two things — running his empire and watching Sexy Red burn up the stage. The mysterious, red-haired dancer with a body made for sin is all he wants… and all he can’t have. The last thing he expects? His mother shoving him into an arranged marriage with Kelly Thompson… the plain, boring, mole-faced “ugly duckling” he insulted without a second thought. He hates her. She hates him more. “Marry you? Not in this lifetime,” he sneers. “Right back at you,” she fires back. But when the wedding ring is on, Danny still can’t get Sexy Red out of his head... until one night, he rips off her disguise and realizes the woman he’s been craving is the wife he swore to make miserable. Now, every touch feels like a lie. And the man who swore to ruin her… can’t stop trying to claim her.

On the day I was about to give birth, a pack of rogue wolves surrounded me. They tore open my belly and shredded my child to pieces. My Alpha mate Marcus went insane, rushing me to the healing center and commanding the healers to save my life. "If anything happens to my mate, you'll pay with your lives." As they carried me to the operating table, I heard his conversation with his Beta. "Alpha, those wolves disguised as rogues have already been secretly released from the Silver Prison." "As long as we get her forgiveness letter, the Alpha Council won't pursue this matter further." "It's just... both Luna and Miss Celeste are carrying your children. Isn't this treatment of Scarlett a bit cruel..." Marcus's tone turned cold as he shot his Beta a warning glance. "Scarlett cannot give birth to this child! My heir can only be born by Celeste. I promised her that her child would be my Alpha heir." His Beta didn't dare resist, only suppressing his displeasure. "But... there were other ways. We didn't have to let Miss Celeste hire rogues to literally tear apart Luna's child..." "Luna's wolf has been dormant since pregnancy, leaving her without healing abilities. The healers say she might not survive." Marcus became cold, mixed with helplessness. "I didn't expect them to be so brutal." "Keep watch. Make sure the healers save her. If anything happens to her, the healers know the consequences. This is all I can do now. Later, I'll give her all the pack's resources as compensation." The healing center doors slowly closed, severing my love for Marcus forever. When I woke up, there was only the stabbing pain in my lower abdomen and a pile of blood and flesh... Marcus, my child is gone. I wish you and Celeste a lifetime of happiness.

“My lawyer will bring the divorce papers tomorrow and you can sign it. Once it's a month, I will have it delivered to the court." Liam explained with calmness. “Fine, but you will have to act according to my rules now," I said, and Liam looked at me with eyebrows furrowed. “I have conditions I would like you to pay keen attention to it." Liam didn't pry too much, and instead, he told me to go ahead. “Okay. I would like to have my separate room." “Fine," Liam agreed without batting an eyelid. “I don't want to share meals with you or anything. I will walk the way I want and do everything I want in my way." “Accepted," Liam replied. I released my hands under my bosom and clasped them together. I bit my lips in nervousness and braced myself. I'm no longer a teenager. “I don't want us having s*x," I said, looking at the wall. A blush crept to my cheeks which made me shut my eyes tight, muttering some curses under my breath. * * * * * * * * Emily had an arranged marriage to Liam Nolan, the ruthless billionaire in Los Angeles. Although she always had a crush on him Liam never recuperated her feelings. Despite the love she has for him, Liam didn't hesitate to treat her like trash. Betrayed by her sister, Emily's life was cruelly cut short. However, she was granted a second chance and this time, Emily swore to not repeat the same mistake she made in her past life. What happens when she realizes her ruthless husband has no intention of letting her go in this lifetime? Would she find the strength to break free, or would Liam's relentless pursuit rekindle the flames of their passionate yet toxic love?

My breath caught in my throat the moment my eyes dropped between his legs. Oh God. His cock was hard, heavy, long, impossible to ignore. Panic filled my chest. “Is… that going inside me?” The words slipped out before I could stop them. My voice didn’t even sound like mine, small, breakable. “Oh, sweet doll…” His voice dropped, gravelly and dark. “It’s not just going inside you.” He stepped closer, towering over me. My skin heated as his hand wrapped around himself, stroking twice. He swelled even larger, as though to prove the threat in his words. “It’s going to stretch you wide open. You’ll feel me for days. You’ll walk with the memory of me buried deep, dripping down your thighs. You’ll cry from it, shake from it, and still… you’ll beg for more.” “Oh…” The sound tore from me, heavy with terror. I was sold for three million dollars to the man who killed my father. Dante De Luca, older, ruthless, dangerously handsome and untouchable. He didn’t buy me for a night. He bought me for a lifetime, to make me his mistress… and then, his wife. Trapped in a contract marriage, I vowed never to love him. But my body betrayed me. His possessive kisses. His punishing touch. I found myself wanting more. Craving him. Yearning for everything he gave. Dante wanted revenge, because my father killed his wife and stole his Mafia kingship. He wanted to punish me. He wanted to break me. But somewhere in his quest to cause me pain… he began to fall and save me, even from my own father. Now, when loyalty calls upon me, I’m torn. Between the man who raised me… and the man who owns my heart.

After the college entrance exams, my parents left me at home and took their adopted daughter on a trip to the beach. A typhoon hit, and the three of them never came back. When the news reached me, I did not cry or throw a tantrum. I had their deaths registered right away and pulled out the life insurance I had bought in advance. I received one hundred million in compensation. My fiance scolded me for caring only about money. What he did not know was that I had been reborn. In my past life, after I learned about their deaths, the huge debts they had left behind fell on me. I gave up the chance to go to college and started working to pay everything back. I fought to protect our ancestral home from debt collectors. My fiance stayed with me and cheered me on when I came home late at night from delivery runs. But he never gave me a single cent to help. At thirty-five, I finally cleared every debt. On my birthday, I bought myself a ten-dollar cake to celebrate. Just as I was about to blow out the candle, the door opened. My parents and their adopted daughter, who should have died in the typhoon, walked in dressed in designer clothes. They smiled at me smugly. “Well done! We can finally believe that you aren’t greedy for money. You’ve passed the test. From today, you are qualified to be the daughter of the Jameson family.” “Jane, this brilliant idea was all thanks to you.” My adopted sister smiled. She leaned close and blew out my candle. The only light left in my twenty years of lifetime went out with it. My body gave in to exhaustion. My heart failed. I collapsed and died on the spot. When I opened my eyes again, they were about to head to the beach in the middle of the typhoon. I bought a massive accident insurance policy for them on the spot. This time, all I wanted was for them to disappear from this world forever.

After my stepsister, Jennifer Nichols, died in a tragic accident, Julian Asher hated me for ten whole years. He was the youngest star attorney in Vaxton Bay. He was always calm and composed, yet he never once hid his disgust toward me. I gave up everything for him: my education, my family, my friends, even the inheritance I was meant to receive. I stayed by his side through the grueling bar exam and the brutal early days of his career. But all he ever said was, "Miley, if you really want to please me, go ahead and die." The only woman he ever loved in this lifetime was my stepsister. And I realized that far too late. It wasn't until a fire broke out unexpectedly in the courthouse archives and I was trapped upstairs that something changed. Julian ran in to save me. The blaze devoured everything in its path. In the end, he shoved me out of the rubble. The collapsing steel beams crashed down on him. Blood spilled everywhere. Outside the operating room, I fell to my knees, begging the heavens to let him live. Before he died, he left me one final message with the doctor. "Miley, I hope we never meet again in the next life." At his funeral, his mother slapped me hard across the face—again and again. "You're a cursed wretch. Killing Jennifer wasn't enough for you; now you've killed my son too. I never should've agreed to let Julian marry you." His father dragged me to my knees by my hair, forcing me to kneel. "This is all my fault. I was too soft-hearted. Julian saved you three times, and all you ever brought him was misery!" Everyone believed I was the reason Julian died. And deep down, I believed it too. In the end, I slit my wrists and took my own life—only to awaken back in university, at the very moment we was supposed to get engaged. This time, I made a choice. I would not chase after him again. I would step aside and let him be with the one he loved most—my stepsister, Jennifer.

My husband, Jaxon Murray, was a renowned medical expert and owned a big company. He was participating in a clinical drug trial when someone tampered with his medication. Under the influence, he ended up entangled with an intern—ninety-nine times, right there on the lab table. When he regained clarity, he rushed home, locked himself in the bathroom, and submerged himself in the tub without food or water as he waited for me to return from work. "Lauren," he said, "my medication was switched during the trial. I made a terrible mistake. But I paid her off and had her dismissed. She'll never appear before me again." I wept miserably, clutching my belly that had once again failed to carry life. And in the end, I chose to forgive him. Several months later, he crashed into a guardrail while answering a phone call, causing me to miscarry. The injury left me unable to conceive for life. He buried his face in the crook of my neck, his voice choked with remorse. "Darling, I don't deserve you. I'm so sorry… We don't need children. We have each other, isn't that enough?" One day, I went to bring him lunch, only to find him in the next hospital room, cradling and feeding the woman he swore he'd never see again. "She's too weak to eat by herself," he said. "She has early-stage stomach cancer. There's no one else to take care of her… she's all alone." I chose to believe him. Again. Until one day, a pair of twins appeared in our home. Sophie Dixon knelt before me, wearing the postpartum gown he had once lovingly picked out for me, clutching my hand with tears streaming down her face. "It's all my fault. Please don't blame Jaxon. If you say the word, I'll leave with the children immediately." Jaxon grabbed my other hand, desperation thick in his voice. "Lauren, you've always been the kindest person I know. The children are still so young. How could Sophie possibly raise them alone? You wouldn't be that cruel… would you?" I looked down at the hands gripping mine from both sides, and suddenly, I laughed. "Jaxon, let's get a divorce. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness."