Drowning Thumbs Up

Isabela "Isha" Vergara has it all - beauty, brains, and a future everyone envies. To the world, she's the daughter of a wealthy, respectable family living comfortably in one of Manila's richest cities. But behind the elegant façade is a home built on lies and fear. Her father, a desperate businessman drowning in debt, hides his failures behind charm and manipulation. A narcissist and a gaslighter, he gambles away what's left of their fortune while her mother, too afraid to lose the luxury she clings to, chooses silence over truth. One night, Isha overhears a phone call that shatters her world: a deal made in the shadows to settle her father's massive debt. The price? Her. Without her knowing, she's been sold... and the man who bought her is Kervin - her father's powerful business partner whose intentions go far beyond business. Now, trapped in a web of deceit and desire, Isha must face the darkest truths behind the perfect family portrait and decide how far she's willing to go to reclaim her freedom.

On the eve of his 26th birthday, Luca Virelli, heir to a multi billion dollar empire is set to announce his engagement to a woman he barely knows. It’s a merger of dynasties, a flawless public image, and a life scripted to perfection. There's only one problem: Luca is gay, and no one knows, least of all his ruthless, image obsessed father. Drowning in guilt, silence, and a future he never chose, Luca does the unthinkable: he gets drunk, kisses a stranger in a crowded club, and spends one unforgettable night in a hotel room with him. No names. No faces. No future. Just escape. But fate has other plans. The next day, as Luca meets his fiancée at their engagement party, that same stranger appears, standing calmly at her side. He’s her brother. Asher Hartwell. And he’s supposed to be straight. As worlds collide, desire smolders in the shadows. But love this dangerous can’t stay secret for long. When lies unravel and the cost of freedom means losing everything, family, power, legacy, Luca and Asher must decide: is the wrong kind of love worth everything it will destroy?

"YOU BETTER PRAY TO YOUR CREATOR THAT I DON'T GET OUT OF THESE CHAINS . BECAUSE IF I DO , I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU. I AM TO SKIN YOU ALIVE. YOU WILL WISH YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT MY EXISTENCE. YOU WILL WISH YOU NEVER CROSSED MY PATH . FAMILY OR NOT ,YOUR DEATH WILL BE BY MY HAND " Anger, cruelty, hatred and thirst for revenge were what ran through her veins . Only because everything she ever charished was snatched from her. Being an orphan that never got a chance to experience a family love for a longer time, kicked out of the orphanage at the age of eleven, Athena has to do what it took to survive . Being abducted by a group of deadly assassins called *POISON*. she did whatever she had to do in order to keep breathing. She did not even realise she was being addicted and slowly being consumed by a darkness of evil. Did she has a chance to reach out to the light or did she let herself drowning till there was no hope at all????

In one devastating day, Wisdom Weisz lost everything—her home reduced to ash, her marriage shattered by betrayal. While she stood in the ruins of her life, her husband was tangled in sheets with her best friend at the same day, showing not an ounce of remorse. Broke, heartbroken, and with nothing left to lose, Wisdom finds herself drowning her sorrows at the bar of a luxury hotel. There, fate throws her into the path of a man she’s crossed before—mysterious, powerful, and impossibly wealthy. He makes her an outrageous offer: become his wife... for hire. No love. No strings. Just a business arrangement—and a hundred thousand dollars deposited in her account with a single word of agreement. Desperate for a fresh start—and a perfect chance to strike back at her ex—Wisdom says yes. But nothing about this arrangement is simple. What begins as a cold contract soon blurs into something dangerously intimate. As secrets surface and emotions tangle, Wisdom realizes one terrifying truth: She may have agreed to be his wife on paper. But her heart? That’s a whole different deal.

“Part your legs for me, Beth. Yes, like that. All nice and slow like a good girl.” * * * When Beth’s boyfriend of five years cheats on her, she decides she’s done being a good girl. Donned in her best party dress, she stops at a fancy club with the intention of partying and drowning herself in the best liquor they have to offer. Her plans seem to be going well until someone notices the beauty on the dance floor. A hot, handsome stranger with the most flirtatious smile she has ever seen. The two get talking, and he makes the most outlandish offer: one night in his bed. What better way to forget a cheating ex other than to let a stranger flush his memories out of her system? So, she says yes to the best night of her life. But what happens when this hot stranger demands more than a night stand with her? What will she do when another handsome man approaches her with the craziest story about werewolves?

Damian Moretti finally has everything he’s ever fought for—power in the Familia, and a future carved from loyalty and blood, and the woman he’s willing to burn the world for. Sareena is in his heart, his salvation, and the one girl he can never give up. She’s brilliant, untouched, and his. After London, she’s ready to stand beside him… forever. But the moment their jet touches down in New York, their future explodes. Sophia —Sareena’s jealous, manipulative twin - shreds their reunion with a single performance. Lies, tears, fabricated evidence have a room full of powerful men suddenly questioning everything Damian is. Sareena is blindsided. Literally. One brutal blow to the head, carried out by Sophia’s minion—had Damian’s world fracture. Now Sareena lies unconscious, fighting for her life, while every viper in the shadows circles closer. Damian breaks open the gates of hell to get answers—torture, bloodshed, and revenge delivered one trembling body at a time Will he expose Sophia? Will he destroy anyone who helped her, and will he make damn sure no one ever touches Sareena again? The deeper he digs, the darker the truth becomes. Sareena’s been betrayed for years. Cut off. Hidden. Hunted by the very family who claimed to love her. Ehile Damian fights to protect the only woman he’s ever loved, Gino—Underboss, grandfather, and a man drowning in guilt—must finally face the truth about the monsters he’s raised. Secrets unravel. Alliances crack. Bloodlines fracture. And Sareena… When she wakes up, nothing in her world will ever be the same. Because love in the mafia isn’t tender. It isn’t safe. It’s brutal, possessive, and merciless. And Damian Moretti? He’s willing to scorch the entire Familia to keep his girl standing beside him.

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.

It's been ten years now and I've programmed my brain to forget her little did I know that I was deceiving myself. Things changed when I saw her. She looked different. She wasn't the same little girl I had fallen in love with. She was now a grown woman. She was gorgeous. I needed her beneath me just for one night. I'd get her out of my system and move on. That was probably a lie. Months later. Here I am drowning my sorrow in alcohol on my last night as a single man. I was getting married to a woman I never truly loved. Tara gave me a shy smile as she approached the aisle with her father. Kelsey looked away and ignored me. I was about to slide the ring on Tara's finger and her father's voice stopped me. "Stop." I turned around and faced him. Tara grabbed his hand angrily. "Dad what are you doing?!" Tara yelled furiously.

What happens when the man you desire is your daughter's rejected mate? Blythe, the Luna of the Fresh Meadows Pack, is trapped in a loveless marriage with Alpha Vito, her best friend turned husband. Bound by duty, shackled by expectations, and ignored by the very man she was forced to marry, she craves something she never had—passion. Then she meets Xavier Clarence. A twenty-two-year-old omega ostler. A slave to the pack. And her daughter’s fated mate. But Ceres rejected him—shattered the mate bond without a second thought. Now, he’s free. And Blythe? She’s drowning in temptation. What starts as a forbidden affair quickly turns into something deeper, something dangerous—a love that could ruin them both. With every stolen moment, the risks grow. The pack must never know. Vito must never find out. And Ceres? She can never uncover the truth. But secrets never stay buried. Who is Xavier Clarence? What happens when love becomes an obsession? And when the truth finally comes out… Who will survive the fallout?

"Say you love me, Calantha," Favian demanded, those oceanic blue eyes piercing deep into hers. "Uhmm... No, thanks. The deal was to get married for a year. Smile before those fucking cameras and pretend to be absolutely in love with, after which you pay me my fucking money. So Mr Drake, cash or transfer?" Her indifference and cold response caught him off guard. A week ago, he could have sworn she was hopelessly in love with him. Or was it all a show? **** Calantha Donovan’s life takes a devastating turn when she’s fired from her dream job, leaving her drowning in debt and with no way to save her brother’s life. Desperate, she crosses paths with the mysterious and aloof billionaire, Favian Drake, who offers her a shocking proposition: A one-year contract marriage. No strings attached, no love—just a business arrangement to save her from her spiraling fate. But when the lines between duty and desire blur, Calantha finds out about Favian's haunting past. Will the price of their passion be more than either of them can bear?