Eight Hundred Grapes

Eight years ago, Lena Hale vanished from Adrian Vale’s life after a single winter night that shattered everything between them. Adrian believed she betrayed him for money and walked away without waiting for an explanation. Lena left carrying silence, fear, and consequences she could not explain without causing more damage. Neither of them ever recovered. Now Adrian is a billionaire whose life is ruled by control, calculation, and restraint. His mother is gravely ill, and her final demand forces him toward a marriage he does not want, meant to provide stability before she dies. Adrian approaches the obligation with emotional distance, convinced love is a weakness he outgrew long ago. Lena is barely surviving. Her father’s debt has turned violent, placing her family in danger and forcing her into impossible choices. When her best friend asks her to cover a single escort assignment, Lena agrees, believing the money will keep her family safe. She does not expect to encounter Adrian. When their paths cross in a luxury hotel, the past detonates. Adrian sees Lena exactly as his old belief requires her to be, a woman who trades herself for money. Lena sees the man she once loved stripped of softness, and certainty in his judgment. An arrangement that binds them together under the guise of necessity rather than forgiveness. As they are forced into proximity, cracks begin to form in Adrian’s certainty and in the version of Lena he believes he understands. But just as the possibility of reconciliation begins to take shape, forces outside their control resurface. Jaden, the same man whose actions destroyed their relationship eight years ago, is determined to destroy their marriage now. Obsessed with Lena, he will do anything to claim her for himself. Can their love survive it?

At six in the evening, Allen Bennett prepared a perfect dinner, with each dish carefully chosen to match Sarah Foster's preferences. By seven, he had run her bath, adding lavender essential oils and rose petals to the warm water, filling the bathroom with a calming fragrance. By eight, he placed her comfortable slippers by the entrance, awaiting her return. At nine, the front door finally opened. Sarah walked in, and Allen immediately went to greet her. With practiced grace, he helped her out of her coat and placed her slippers before her feet, then hung the coat in the entryway closet. Turning to her with a gentle smile, he asked, "Would you prefer to have your bath first or would you like to eat?"

My stepson pushes me down from the second floor, all because I accidentally break a bowl. He stands over me, looking down with a cold, emotionless gaze. "You're just a stand-in my grandfather forced on us. Don't even think about replacing my mother!" I stare up at the boy I've raised for eight years, and his indifference cuts deeper than any wound. Blood slowly trickles down from my forehead. Fighting through the pain, I dial a number. "Whatever debt I owed has been paid. It's time for me to leave." Coincidentally, I already have the divorce agreement that his father has signed.

With a large pack and the duty of the gods on her shoulders Drew is becoming all her parents had ever dreamed, a leader, an enforcer, a punisher. Heavily set in her role and the responsibilities of her pack, Drew is not one to relinquish her control, at least not without a fight. Arden is no stranger to being walked on, over looked, and taken for granted, but eight years ago, he made a decision that would change the course of his life. Now a rogue from the Tracker pack; the world, the forest, is his to roam. Finally free of the shackles of conformity and a degrading caste system, Arden is set on a track that will intertwine his path with an overachieving, strong willed, stubborn Alpha female. Can they grapple the challenges one another bring forth and become one of a whole as the goddess believes, or will they destroy one another trying.

Erica is a seventeen-year-old girl from a humble background whose only dream is to get admission into the college to study architecture. But got entangled in a love triangle the moment she set her eyes on Damian Anderson, Student union president and heir to a multi-billionaire real estate mogul. Damian Anderson while in college is caught up between his love interest Erica, and his over possessive stepsister Sophia. They are both separated and spent eight years apart. Only to see each other again when Damian buys the company Erica works in. Will they pick up from where they left off or will pride and grudges be the other of the day? Especially Now that Damian is the CEO of his late father empire and Erica is a single mother of one. Find out in the romance-themed story, Damian Anderson.

Eight months pregnant, my family threw me a loving baby shower. When fire broke out, my parents instantly shielded my blood-cursed sister and fled, leaving me behind to die. My husband, Lysander, rushed into the flames to save me. His back was scorched raw, yet he only cradled my belly, whispering, “You and the baby must be safe.” I thought that was love. Until I accidentally saw his messages to my sister— “Once she gives birth, the cord blood will save you. Just hold on a little longer.” I touched the life kicking inside me and smiled silently. The next day, I scheduled a termination. And on the day of the procedure, they stormed into my hospital room with sedatives and restraints.

I'd been married to my lawyer husband for eight years. In all that time, he never once acknowledged me as his wife in public. He wouldn't even let our daughter call him "Dad." Again and again, he missed out on her childhood because of his childhood sweetheart. Even when she hurt our daughter, he still forgave her. I was worn out and empty. So I decided to leave. I took our daughter and vanished from his world. But he refused the divorce. He started searching for us like a madman, turning the whole world upside down. Only this time, neither my daughter nor I will be looking back.

“You are mine Bella, you have always been.” Ian said to me binding my hands tight behind my back. His hard breath beat my skin. Even a cold Alpha like him has his wild side. I gasped for freedom from his grip. I am his and he is mine. Our heavy heartbeats created a beautiful rhythm together. “You love me. You love only me.” He whispered to my ears. *** After a life threatening accident in the woods, Bella meets the cold and seemingly heartless Alpha of the silver city pack – Ian, who saves her life by transferring his life-force bead into her. Bella has to live in the pack and pretend to be Ian’s mate for a hundred days while she healed.

For eight years, I lived as a wife no one knew existed, built my life in silence, loving a man who never truly saw me. I gave him everything and he gave me nothing but cold nights…and quiet tears I cried alone. Still, I stayed. Day after days. Years after years. Enduring. Hoping. And breaking…slowly. Not until she came back. His first love. And he didn’t just welcome her into his wife, he brought her into our matrimonial home, right on our matrimonial bed. And the little girl I raised in my arms…now calls her momma. Choosing her over me. He thought I would stay. He believed I would keep loving him the way I always had—quietly, and endlessly—no matter what he did to me. But he thought wrong. Because that day…something inside me shattered, and something far more dangerous took his place. So I left. No tears. No begging. No looking back. And when I returned… I made sure I wasn’t the woman he remembered. Now, I stand beside a man the world fears. A man who doesn’t hide me. A man who looks at me like I am everything. “Stay away from her. She’s my wife.” Clyde growled, his hand tightening into a fist. I almost laughed. Because for the first time in eight years…those words meant nothing to me. He broke me once. Now he wants me back. But I didn’t come back for love. I came back to take everything he ever chose over me.

TRIGGER WARNING!!! YOUR MORALS WILL NOT SURVIVE THIS BOOK!!! This story contains themes of obsession, possessiveness, stalking, emotional manip-ulation, and psychological control. It is unapologetically intense and unsettling in all the right (and wrong) ways. Be guided. *** Eight years ago, Shannon watched her stepbrother get handcuffed and taken to jail for a crime she committed. He took the fall for it without hesitation. Not because he was noble. God, no. But because obsession looks a lot like love when you're seventeen and scared. After that night, she never went to visit him in prison, nor did she reply to any of his letters. She buried him with the past and went on to live a peaceful life without him. But the past never forgets. Eight years later, when she was living a simple, peaceful life, had a decent job and a husband who loved her deeply, Shannon's past came knocking at her door. Strange things start happening... Doors left open. Favorite things mysteriously re-placed. Eyes she can't see but feels always watching her. Everyone says she's paranoid. Everyone says He is still in jail. No one believes her when she says she had a STALKER. Her judgment is already upon her because, now, HE is out of prison. And the first place he goes is her doorstep, because he says she owes him her life. And he's come to collect what's his. How far can Shannon run from a man who never stopped loving her in the most ter-rifying way? A man who'd kill anyone, even her husband, just to make her his? HIS NAME IS KENAI... The Stalker You Never Want To Have. *** If you enjoy slow-burn stalker dynamics and morally gray characters, this one's for you.