Edd X Tom

"Nikahi aku!" Allard menatap tertarik ke arah seorang gadis yang berdiri di hadapannya. Mata gadis itu memancarkan kesungguhan yang membuat Allard menyunggingkan senyuman tipis. Mengangkat alisnya dengan gaya sombong, Allard berujar, "Layani aku satu malam, jika pelayananmu memuaskan aku akan mempertimbangkan untuk menikahimu."

On the night before the wedding, New York was washed in cold rain. The rehearsal at St. Patrick's Cathedral had been set for seven o'clock. Under the vaulted ceiling, the white roses, black satin bows, and silver candelabras had all been arranged exactly the way I wanted. But by the time the rehearsal ended, he still hadn't shown up. At 11:17 that night, I finally got a message from him. [Sophia is pregnant. Although the baby isn’t mine, I can’t let her child be born carrying the name of an illegitimate child.] [I went to City Hall with her tonight and made it legal.] [The wedding is still happening tomorrow.] [That piece of paper is just a formality. The person standing at the altar will still be you.] [Don't let outsiders know too much. And don't ruin her reputation.] I stared at those lines for a long time. In the end, I replied with a single word. [Okay.] I don't want the wedding and you.

Je me suis toujours demandée comment les choses allaient se terminer pour moi... Après avoir perdu mes parents de façon étrange, ma vie n'a plus de sens et mes envies perdent de leur couleur. Mais il a fallut d'un seul renvoi de mon lycée à Wilmington, en Caroline du Nord, pour changer tout ça. Je devais à tout prix m'éloigner de cette ombre qui me hantait, et volait mes sommeils. Mon petit-ami, Jack, s'inquiétait beaucoup pour moi... donc le mieux était de prendre du recul, et aller à Boston, avec la soeur de ma mère. J'ai été sauvée lors d'une balade en moto par un membre de la famille Williams, et cet homme a changé mon existence... mais mon addiction a vite grandit. Sean Williams est devenu ma raison de vivre, mais j'étais pour lui sa raison de tuer. // Date de publication 14 mai 2021 // Couverture : l'auteur

En la entrega de premios del Concurso Mundial de Diseño de Joyería, mi hermanastra, Sandra, se llevó el gran premio. Usó los diseños que me robó. Lo que no sabía era que el mayor patrocinador del evento era Jude Moretti. El Padrino de la familia Moretti. Un monstruo sediento de sangre, marcado por una explosión, un hombre del que dicen que nunca podrá tener hijos. ¿Y el gran premio? Convertirse en la esposa del Padrino. Esa noche, los hombres de Moretti, todos de negro, entregaron un contrato de matrimonio con ribetes de oro. Habían venido por la "diseñadora genio". Mi prometido, Marco, entró en pánico y llevó a Sandra a Las Vegas para salvarla. Se casaron esa noche. Con el matrimonio hecho, Sandra regresó pavoneándose, vestida con mi bata de seda. Mostró el anillo en su dedo y los chupetones por todo su cuello. —Marco es mío ahora —ronroneó—. ¿Qué vas a hacer, Odessa? El Padrino solo te da un día. Si no te casas con él, la Familia tendrá que apaciguarlo. Eso significa enviarte al barrio rojo. Venderte a la clase de psicópata que se excita con cosas rotas. Ella estaba equivocada. Yo tenía otra opción. Encontré a mi padre y a mi madrastra, ambos luchando por lidiar con el contrato. —Lo haré —dije—. Me casaré con el Padrino.

The night before our wedding, Edward Fowler's friends gather for a celebration. A full set of sex toys lies in the gift box from his tomboy bestie, Winnie Spencer. I freeze, and Winnie shouts boisterously, "Don't you dare go easy on him, Sarah. That pup might look like someone who's abstaining, but he's actually pretty wild in the sheets. "During the start of the year, he only used three of these, yet he landed me straight in the hospital with injuries that took me half a month to heal!" She then hooks an arm around Edward's neck. "Let me give you a piece of advice as your buddy—you need to learn how to be gentle once you're married. "Sarah looks so delicate, so you'd better not pull the same stunt as last time. I was just recovering, yet you dragged me into it for two whole days. I almost died in bed!" My face darkens. Winnie covers her mouth in exaggerated shock. "It's just us buddies messing around. You're not mad, are you, Sarah?" Everyone is anticipating for me to snap. But instead, I let out a soft chuckle before replying, "Why would I be? I should be thanking you for being a free tutor instead. After all, someone who's in your line of work would charge at least three hundred dollars per night just for the same lesson."

On the day I tried on my wedding dress, a stranger burst into the VIP fitting room and slashed me with a knife. She tore my dress to shreds, her face twisted with rage. "A gold-digger like you doesn't deserve a dress this expensive!" The blade, soaked in sulfuric acid, pierced my abdomen, and I collapsed in agony. She grabbed my hair and slapped me, snarling, "Clarence promised to marry me! You're nothing but a homewrecker!" Blood stained my gown as the truth hit me. My boyfriend of seven years had been cheating on me. "Keep staring, huh? My man runs this city. I could kill you, and no one would touch me!" she taunted, smug as hell. With bloodied hands, I pulled out my phone and dialed my brother. "Chris, come get me from the bridal shop. And tell the Thompsons the engagement is off."

At the airport, I ran straight into Zach Martin, the man who had left me at the altar two years ago to accompany his foster sister to Apania to watch elephants. I had on sunglasses, yet he recognized me instantly in the crowd. “Tina, I’m back to marry you.” I paused for a moment. There was a flicker of doubt in my eyes. “You’re…” He gave me a helpless smile. “Hey, come on. Don’t be mad. I didn’t mean to disappear like that. After taking Yvette to see the elephants, she wanted to stick around and document everything. She’s my only sister. I had to spoil her a little. “After two years of working on the project and finishing the shoot, I rushed straight back to fulfill our engagement!” Only then did it dawn on me that this dark, scrawny man, flashing a mouthful of white teeth, was actually my former fiancé! Wait. Did nobody tell him that on the very day he ran away, I married his uncle instead?

Kiara stood in front of the Altar, excited for the day she has waited all her life. Today, she'll officially become the wife of the guy that she had admired and loved all her life!. "Do you, Asher Huxley, accept Kiara Anderson, to be your lovely wedded wife and to love her till the last days of your life?". "I reject you, Kiara Anderson". His voice was cold and his red coloured eyes, piercing as he rejected Kiara in front of the Altar before he left , leaving everybody stunned. This was the day Kiara could never forget. This day was the day she needed her family's care and support the most, but they all turned their backs against her like she was a complete stranger. But what would Kiara do when she discovered she was pregnant for Asher Huxley? The guy who rejected her without a second thought. ……

While cleaning Desmond Maynard's house, I accidentally knocked over his mother's keepsake. He once told me it was his most precious possession. But when I picked it up, hundreds of love letters spilled out. There were beautiful poems, passionate lyrics, and heartfelt confessions. He had written one letter a week without stopping. On the back of each one wrote a line: To My Love, Bunny. The nickname rang a bell. It was his junior in college. Things started to make sense. I slaved away for 13 years, running his household and caring for his family, but Desmond never even said he liked me. That was because he already had someone he liked. I sorted the letters by date, put them back, and grabbed my phone to make a call. "Mom, I'm in for the marriage proposal."

One day before my wedding, my fiancé, Tristan, declared, “you can no longer be my bride." The reason? My sister, Victoria, had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Her dying wish was for me to give up my place as the bride, so she could marry my fiancé instead. And Tristan agreed without hesitation. He even turning on me, "How can you be so heartless? She's your own sister!" The mocking smiles from my sister and the righteous anger from my fiancé left me broken. Little did I know, I would turn to the man I never anticipated—Rowan, my fiancé's uncle. He was the true power behind the family. Rumored to be ruthless, politically powerful, and never interested in women. However, I had never expected that he would took me in his arms tightly."Don't leave me."