Echoed

ADRIAN'S POV My head was pounding, a dull throb that echoed the frantic beat of my heart. I was hot, too hot, my skin slick with an unfamiliar sweat. I knew it instantly: drugged. One moment I was escorting Aria, basking in the glittering lights and dancing with her in the ballroom at her birthday party. Next, a wine from a waiter, a trip to the bathroom, and then… darkness. I blinked, trying to focus on the blur above me. Damien. My stalker. The man who’d been haunting the edges of my life for weeks, whispering cryptic claims of a shared past I couldn’t recall. He was on top of me, pinning me to the plush velvet of some unfamiliar bed. His eyes, usually so intense and unsettling, were filled with a disturbing mix of guilt and desperation. "I’m sorry, Adrian, I'm so sorry I had to do this, but I can't stand seeing you with her. Watching you rewrite our history... please, remember me. Remember us." He leaned down, his breath hot against my ear. "I promise, I'll cherish you this time." Then, his lips crashed onto mine, a fierce, possessive kiss that stole my breath away. His hands moved over me, desperate and knowing, igniting a fire that both terrified and strangely thrilled me. Maybe it was the drug blurring the lines of reason. Or maybe… just maybe, deep down, my body recognized something my mind couldn’t. It responded to his touch with a shameful eagerness, a desperate need that mirrored his own. All I could do was surrender to the moment, to the heat, to the undeniable connection I felt with this man, Damien, as I returned his kiss with a fervor that shocked us both.

Karen had invested her last penny in the business she had recently established and was eagerly awaiting the promised funds from her benefactor to take it to the next level. "Maybe he forgot. I should remind him," she thought, and promptly sent a text message: ‘I hate to sound desperate, but my finances are tight.’ After sending the message, she realized she had used the wrong number. She quickly started typing, ‘Please ignore the...’ when an alert popped up on her phone: ‘Five billion dollars transferred to you by Roger Dawson.’ Roger? The first name sent a chill down her spine, but the last name left her puzzled. "Roger? Could it be Tonia's bodyguard?" That was his number, but when did his name change? Her phone rang immediately, and the name she had feared for months echoed in her ears, his voice filled with emotion yet calm like a winter breeze. "Karen, stay put, I'm on my way to you." The call ended before she could process it. He was the reason she had fled, refusing to sign the divorce papers. Her love for him was unrequited, his heart belonging to her adopted sister, but what hurt more was the feeling of being traded between friends like a commodity. She would rather die than return.

Ava “Run, Ava! Run and never come back.” It was only in that moment when I looked into Harper’s eyes that I could see the hatred she felt for me for the first time. Her canines were protruding and her long claws were shining in the moonlight. It was in that moment that I realized Harper loved Daniel just as much as I did. I wasted no time and turned around and ran. I knew if she wanted to kill me she could. I thought about Daniel and how much I loved him, then the memories of the past couple of months flooded my mind. The man I loved became cruel. He treated me as if I was just there to produce an heir. As though he would kill me rather than love me. I wouldn’t be able to return to ice-skating. I would never become the world champion. With all my dreams shattered, I stepped onto my grandmother’s porch hours after escaping in the hopes that she would take me back. Daniel “Where the hell is she, Harper?” I gripped her throat so tightly that she couldn’t breathe never mind speak. Harper had set Ava free. There was a very real possibility that I would never be able to find Ava which meant I would never be able to see my son. Harper had done that. All because she wanted the power and prestige that came with being my mate. “Let her go, Daniel!” My father’s voice echoed past me and I whipped around to glare at him. I could see it in his eyes. He was the one who put Harper up to this. I needed to find Ava. I needed to bring her and my son home.

"But all these scars, they will always remind you of the beast that I am." He said in a hushed tones, caressing the scars on her face. "Not when they can be turned into beautiful scars." Her response echoed with confusion and incredulity to him. How could all the pain he had inflicted on her turn into something good? A broken and desperate, depressed Billionaire, and the poorest of all naive girl who just lost everything in a blink of an eye, and her mother just traded her like a piece of trash. They are to be bound together by a contract as husband and wife for just five months. Everything seems to be under control, until one night of total madness that complicates everything. She had done and sacrificed so much for him, asking nothing in return or ever complaining. In return, he asked for one night to treat her like the loving wife she is supposed to be. One night they surrendered and lost their souls to each other, marking the beginning of their unquenchable thirsts for each other. In the short run, a bond is formed. What happens if the two of them break the major rule of the contract? Who will bear the blame? What's the punishment for such an offense? When feelings arise, can they embrace them? But what happens when his real love returns? His crush. His first love. The one he once went insane for. She doesn't return empty-handed. She is seven months pregnant with the son he thought she lost. What will he do? Wait... His passionate nights with his contract wife bore fruits too. She is expecting his child. Will he marry both of them, or who will he choose?

The end of the world was upon us, but there weren't enough spots for evacuation. The roars of the zombies echoed in my ears as my fiancé, Oliver, gritted his teeth and pulled me onto the rescue vehicle—securing the last available seat. I arrived safely at the survivor base. Lina, his first love, did not. The zombies tore her apart. Oliver still went through with our marriage, but I never expected that he had only done so to make me suffer. In his eyes, I was the one who had killed Lina. If she had to endure such agony, then I should, too. For five years, he hated me. My life was worse than that of a stray dog scavenging for food on the street. On the day my divorce was finalized, he kidnapped me, dragged me into the wilderness, and wrapped his fingers around my throat. Then, he threw us both into the swarm of the undead. When I opened my eyes again, I was somehow reborn on the day the apocalypse began. The rescue team was shouting impatiently, "One more! We have room for one more—hurry!" I turned to Oliver, watching his hesitation. Then, with a quiet smile, I took a step back and let someone else have the last seat.

“If I say that I am not okay. Would you help me?” Ivan's peering gaze bored deep into Skylar's eyes, as his strong arms suddenly grabbed her tiny waist and pulled her close, causing her heart to skip and her eyes to widen in alarm. His deep mellifluous voice resonated in her ears, echoed in her mind, and sent tremor signals down her legs. Maybe it was the shots of champagne she had taken, or the secret desire for him that had never fed too much in her mind that took over at that moment, Skylar had no idea. However, staring at his gorgeous face which was extremely close to hers, gleaming and staring at her with intense hunger, she knew she was fucked. ‘This man was a walking temptation!’ ************ Just with one night of passion and pleasure with her boss, Skylar found herself torn between her professionalism and the dire need to act cool and pretend like nothing happened, all while being the best employee, to her cold, arrogant boss, Ivan Hamilton. She knew it was just any ordinary night, so obsessing over details could complicate things. However, things started to entangle more than she bargained for, when Ivan kept giving her reasons to confuse and question his actions. Just how would she keep the feelings she was beginning to harbor to herself, when the relationship between them had never exceeded the employer-employee contract? How would she deal with the truth that she was no longer immune to his endless charms which got her the job in the first place. And suddenly, Skylar was dropped from her pedestal of assumptions and fantasies, when reality dawned on her. Ivan Hamilton could never be the one for her. He was way out of her league. It was time to leave now.

"Lyra, please trust me. I am here for you". His voice echoed in my ears. I trust you. I wanted to tell him but it felt like I no longer could talk. He came near the place I was standing and I did not move. I wanted to hug him and make him believe that I wanted him more than I wanted myself. He pulled me closer to him and engulfed me in his chest and I knew I couldn't hold back. My tears wetted his Armani suit while his constant love made me realise how selfish I had become. ~~~~ Lyra had grown up locked by a bad-tempered man. He made sure to make her believe that she is nothing but a worthless human. She plans her escape. After she escaped, she met a handsome and rich savior and became attached to him. But she soon found the truth was beyond her imagination when he told her that she is Lyra Walton, the long lost hidden daughter of the world's first richest family, a girl who was declared dead at five. Lorenzo Rothschild, CEO of Schilds industries, a billionaire renowned for his cruelty in the business circles, saved an innocent girl just because he needed her to make a deal. Never did he foresee that she would be the love of his life. Would Lyra choose to trust Lorenzo? Would they defeat all difficulties and come closer? Read and find out.

Everyone in the Wandering Wolf Gang knew that Ash Blackwood loved me desperately and feared my disappearance most. To give me a sense of security, he drank a loyalty potion in front of me. He said that this magic potion would ensure that he would only desire me, get an erection for me alone, and that he would always report his whereabouts through our mate bond, even when he was on a dangerous mission. I worried about him, hiding my identity as the pack's tactical commander, I was worried that he would feel inferior, so I hid my own abilities and did not want him or the gang members to think that he had risen to power through my short-term precognitive abilities. Yet after a mission, I overheard pack members joking: "Alpha rushed so eagerly to meet Scarlett after taking the antidote, was she that amazing?" So after today’s battle, I quietly kept my mind link with Ash's group, and blocked his perception. In an unmuted mind-link, Ash's thoughts were filled with dirty desires and lascivious content, "Little slut, last time we went through seven vials of enhancement elixir, what do you think?" My heart turned to ice. In despair, I called upon the Moon Goddess: [I wish to leave this world.] The Goddess's ethereal voice echoed in my mind. [Once you leave, all traces of you will be erased from this realm.] [I know, please go ahead.] [Countdown begins: seven days.]

I stood in the shadows, the scent of pine and frost heavy in the air, watching my mate, Ethan, smile—truly smile—for the first time in years. But not at me. At her. My cousin, Isla. His first love. She sat beside him, warm and glowing, with our pups, Lucas and Mia, curled up against her like she was their real mother. They were laughing, sharing bites of ice-cream cake, the kind Lucas once said made his stomach hurt. I was never meant to be here. I wasn't his choice. He didn't fall in love with me—he was assigned to me. To him, our bond was never about love. It was a political arrangement—an alliance between two packs: his power, my father’s ambition. A tie forged not by hearts, but by bloodlines and borders. He never touched me unless required. He never looked at me like I was his Luna. In that moment, as their laughter echoed under the full moon, I felt the mate bond falter—thin, fading, like breath in winter. And I knew. I had played my part long enough. So I turned away. It was time to severe the bond that was never truly mine. But when he sensed I was really leaving, when the tether between us began to snap, he broke. Dropped to his knees, clutching the pups like lifelines, his voice raw. "Please," he whispered, "don't leave me." Even the pups cried, reaching for me with shaking hands. "Mom, we’re sorry… We didn't mean it. Please don't go."

I was the sole front desk clerk at a haunted hotel. Welcoming players, checking in on the bosses’ quarters, and slacking off a bit were all part of the job. At least, that was what I thought. It turned out my days were far from ordinary. A blood-drenched little girl in a tattered red dress kept ringing the service bell. Her eerie voice echoed, “Miss, why didn’t you come play with me?” A creepy black cat with glowing eyes wouldn’t stop meowing and rubbing against my legs. And then there was the old woman with claws like knives, cheerfully knitting me a sweater… out of players’ skin. One day, I took a day off to care for my sick mother. That was my biggest mistake. The entire game instance erupted in chaos. Bosses interrogated players, demanding to know where their precious front desk clerk had gone. “Did she abandon us? Is she never coming back?” I ran. They chased. But no matter how fast I fled, their grip on me only tightened. In the end, escape wasn’t an option.