Dollar Store Fidgets

Eight years ago, Alpha Sebastian Carter betrayed her. While she was pregnant with his pups, he exiled her to fulfil his mate’s evil wish. Jasmine had nowhere to go for years. From the gutters, she began to rise to fame with her triplets and her second chance love, Asher, at her side. But what happens when Sebastian comes back with a ring he vows to put on her finger? He still believes that Jasmine will always be his to possess. ~ “Do you think of me when he touches you, Jasmine?” his voice in her ear cut deep. She’s broken, shattered to pieces because of this man, yet he didn’t stop. “Move, Sebastian,” she begged, trapped in between him and the store room’s wall. “Wrong answer.” She tried to shove him, but he held her hands captive above her head. “I know your body remembers me.” “Shut up!” “My kisses are what you dream of every night,” he growled, and her thighs clenched. This was wrong. It was forbidden. He’s a mated wolf, and she’d moved on from the past. Right?…

Irina Volkov has three most important rules: no emotions, no real names, and never meet in person. For two years she has survived on those rules alone — running romance scams on wealthy men, funneling every stolen dollar toward the crushing debt her abusive stepfather signed in her name before she escaped. She is not greedy. She is desperate. And she is very, very good. Until she targets Nikolai Dragunov. What Irina doesn't know is that Nikolai has known about her from the beginning. He created the perfect bait — a lonely businessman with money to burn — and waited for her to find him. Because in a world Nikolai controls down to the last detail, Irina Volkov is the only unpredictable thing left. He wanted to see how far she would go. Now the game is over. The con is exposed. And Nikolai isn't asking for his money back. He's keeping her. Trapped in his penthouse with nowhere to run and a Bratva boss who looks at her like she's both a puzzle and a prize, Irina has to survive the most dangerous mark she's ever made — and somehow stop herself from falling for him in the process. She's a liar. He's a monster. And neither of them expected to fall. "You took my money, Malyshka. Now you belong to me."

“No! I don’t care if you buy me the city skyline, Jason. I’d still tell you to fuck off.” Jason Hale smirked. “What if I bought you the moon?” Samantha Torres’ life isn’t what she planned. Once a top science student, she now waits tables to pay off debt and care for her family. And the one wound she’s never healed? Jason, the man she loved in college, who cheated and broke her heart. Now, five years later, Jason is back. He’s heir to a billion–dollar empire and determined to win her again. He claims he’s changed, and he tempts her with lavish gifts, promises, and the same charm that once ruined her. But Jason has dangerous secrets, and Samantha swore that she would never fall for him again. Until her brother’s gambling debt pulls the mob to her doorstep…and Jason becomes the only man who can save her. Now she is drawn back into his world of wealth and risk, and Samantha finds herself torn between old wounds and new desires. But enemies circle fast: his ruthless twin, the woman who once came between them, and a rival who wants her for himself. Will Samantha walk away from Jason, or will she risk everything to find out if love is worth the danger?

"You asked me to save you!" "Because only you could." "Then why do you want to kill me?" "Because I need your blood to replenish." He said firmly. Mariah started dreaming about a strange man on her sixteenth birthday. For over a century, this very man kept appearing in her dream and when she was a hundred and seventeen years old, he finally told her where to find him. Filled with curiosity about this not so stranger, she went with her brother to find him but who would have prepared her for what was in store for her when she eventually found him? Not only did he almost kill her brother, he was hell bent on killing her too. King Alaric had been buried alive for over ten thousand years and he had spent the years hovering in people's dreams to find the one that can save him. When he eventually did, he was shocked that she was none other than his mate. However, knowing who his enemies were, he can't afford to dwell in romance and so wants nothing more than to kill her and use her blood to energize himself.

For a decade, my world had been measured in laundry cycles, grocery lists, and the ever-growing pile of dishes in the sink. I was elbow-deep in soapy water, scrubbing the remnants of another family meal, when it happened. A sudden, silent cascade of text flickered at the edge of my vision, like subtitles for a movie only I could see: [Gosh, the heroine is so tragic. Her husband's entire family has been feeding on her luck like parasites!] [Her husband stole her graduate school admission and her career!] [The in-laws are literally siphoning her health away. No wonder she's always sick.] [And the sister-in-law took her "romance" stat! No wonder her love life is a desert.] [Heads up! Her husband's about to give her another "gift." Let's see how much more he takes from her this time.] My hands, clutching a greasy plate, froze. Right on cue, my husband, Tristan, sauntered into the kitchen. A smug, self-satisfied smile was plastered on his face as he took my wet hand. He slid a flimsy, garishly colored plastic bracelet onto my wrist. "Look what I got for you, sweetheart," he announced, his voice dripping with pride. "I made a special trip after work. Found it at the dollar store. It's romantic and economical, just like you always say you want. You love it, don't you?"

In New York’s Upper East Side, there were two heirs. One was a speed-obsessed daredevil dominating the racetracks, the other was a brilliant actuary who controlled the flow of capital. Born into powerful families and polar opposites in temperament, yet they grew up side by side as each other’s only best friend. They had fought over girls and bickered endlessly over racing bets. However, at fifteen, there was one thing they did in perfect unison. They each put on the same roughly carved bronze badge. They were trinkets Mia had idly made during a craft class, marked only by a faint “M” scratched on the back. Back then, Mia was seated in the last row of the classroom. Her background was a complete mystery to everyone. Yet they wore that badge for ten whole years. Whether standing on the F1 podium or locking in billion-dollar trades at the exchange, the cheap little badge on their chests never changed. Until Ella showed up. She was the cherished daughter of a rising conglomerate family. She hand-stitched two gold-thread fabric patches and gifted them to them. The patches looked so ordinary they looked like the kind of trinket you would find three for a dollar at a flea market. And yet, they both replaced their bronze badges with her plain patches. Mia did not say anything. She simply folded away an old newspaper clipping with a photo of the three of them smiling together. That night, she called her father in Sicily. Her voice was emotionless. “Papa, I accept the marriage arrangement.”

I'm the top salesperson at a tutoring center. Payday comes, and my commission is 50 cents. I'm so furious that I march straight to my boss to demand answers, but his secretary, Sasha Watson, steps in front of me. She digs through her pocket, pulls out 50 cents, and flicks it straight at my face in front of everyone. "Here's your 50 cents!" My ears ring. Heat crawls up my neck and into my skull. "Ms. Watson, this has to be a mistake. I closed 1.5 million dollars on my own last month. My team pulls in over three million dollars. My commission should be at least 200 grand." Sasha rolls her eyes. She reaches into her wallet, pulls out a dollar bill, and slaps it against my cheek. "Stop barking! Fine, I'll throw you a dollar. Keep the change!" I'm about to lose it. "My mom is still waiting on that 200 grand for her surgery. Without it, she could die." The coworkers around us start whispering. "50 cents? For the top salesperson? That's insane!" "Lower your voice. She's the boss's niece! What she says goes. Unless you want to get fired, pretend you didn't hear anything." I turn away, pull out my phone, and dial our biggest competitor. "I'm in. Five million dollars a year."

“A desperate woman. A trapped billionaire. A crime empire that will kill to keep them silent. When Mia agrees to become a surrogate, she doesn’t realize she’s walking into a cage built by people who destroy anyone who tries to escape. But Damien Cross has his own agenda, and saving her might cost him everything.” To save her brother’s life Mia, a debt-ridden nursing student agrees to a five million dollar surrogacy contract for a powerful, emotionally unavailable and nonchalant billionaire together with his supposedly infertile wife. When Mia discovers she's carrying twins instead of one baby, the doctor tells her everything she needs to know and also about the DNA that actually created the babies. This was never a normal surrogacy. She found out that Victoria isn't infertile at all, she realizes she's walked into something far more dangerous than a simple contract. In a world where she’s beginning to have feelings for the billionaire, Mia must navigate a deadly game she didn't know she was playing. The stakes? Her life, her brother's future, the twins she's growing to love, and a chance at something she never expected: a real family with a man who she shouldn’t want. Can their forbidden love survive the shocking truth, or will the secrets they keep cost them everything Some contracts are signed in ink. Others are written in blood

"Let's get married. I'll pay you any amount you want," She spill those words to him like they were nothing, while he stares at her unbelievably wondering how she got the guts to ask him that. "This can't work, Alicia. You're older than me. I am not ready for marriage, and even if I am, you aren't expecting me to settle down with an older woman, right?" Hearing those words from him, her heart shattered into pieces as she tries to fight her tears back. She's only twenty-nine and he's twenty-six for goodness sake. How is she old? After her first boyfriend ditched her and ran away with her money on their wedding day, Alicia has spent the recent years of her life, hating on men and vowed to never get married. However, her life became a mess after her parents wouldn't stop pushing her to get married, and now she has only one week to bring home her boyfriend whom she lied to reside in Asia. Do you think she will be able to bring home a man when she have known in her life? What does fate have in store for her even if she eventually finds a man?

My mom often makes an example out of someone when it comes to parenting. Unfortunately, I'm that someone, while my little brother, Raymond Nelson, benefits from it. Ever since I was four years old, my mom had been using this method. If Raymond breaks a bowl, I'm the one kneeling on the floor to pick up the pieces. If Raymond destroys something belonging to someone else, I'm the one writing the reflection report on his behalf. Mom tells me, "You're the older sister here. Since you can't keep your brother in line, you're the one at fault." But Raymond can never get rid of his bad habit of stealing and lying. When Franklin Harris, the owner of a grocery store, comes knocking on our door, Raymond points at me once again. "She was the one who stole your money!" In order to help Raymond get rid of this problematic habit of his, Mom decides to hand me over to the owner. "Sorry, Franklin. It's my fault for not raising my child well. I'll give my daughter to you. You can do whatever you want to her, be it scolding her or beating her up." Little does she know that I will never go home after Mr. Harris takes me away.