Fancy Dinner

My husband Bill and his beautiful assistant Doris are laughing and eating like they're on a first date. But the joke is on me... I'm here, Bill's wife, watching them from across the room, tending to my flat belly where a little life is now living. Of course, Bill doesn’t know about the baby yet. The news is still fresh in my mind, barely a few hours old. It is supposed to be a family dinner gathering, but I'm never the welcome one but an outsider. Watching Bill take the steak cut and handed over by Doris, his young age best friend who knows him the best, I guess I'm spoiling their fun by telling them now that I'm having a baby. Three years of marriage, and his frequent absences from the family left me feeling overwhelmed and alone. I've even forgotten the reason we got married. Maybe it was a mistake to begin with. Finally, I made a decision. Divorce. But a man came along and shifted things dramatically. And it didn't occur to me that this man was still deeply connected to bill's family. He was Bill's uncle.

By day, Maeve Briggs is just a regular, quiet high school senior. She tries to blend in, takes care of her younger brother, and deals with her mom cleaning the huge, fancy Dovewood mansion—a mansion owned by the very rich and very dangerous Caden Dovewood. But at night, Maeve becomes someone totally different: Eve. She puts on a black wig and high heels, dancing for strangers in a secret club. No one there knows who she really is. It's her secret way to escape her tough life and earn money to pay the bills. Then, Caden Dovewood walks into the club. He sees her, recognizes her, but Maeve remains unaware he's witnessed her secret life. It's only later, likely at his mansion, that Caden reveals his knowledge. He's loaded with money, he's dangerous, and he's the last person Maeve ever wanted to know her secret. Now that he does, he won't let it go. He's always a step ahead, pulling her closer with words that make her heart race and eyes that seem to see right through her. He doesn't just want to know her secrets; he wants her. And he doesn't feel one bit guilty about going after her, making their whole situation a dangerous and twisted game.

My twin sister, Ruby Stone, and I split up after our parents' divorce. She stays with Mom, while I went with Dad. Since the divorce, he's sunk into a deep depression, gambling away every penny we have. We move into a dark, damp apartment, and life becomes an endless struggle. Every day, I go to school and quietly work a part-time job to keep us afloat. Then, out of nowhere, Ruby—whom I haven't heard from in forever—sends me a link to a live stream. "Check this out, Aria. There's a surprise waiting for you." I click it, and my jaw drops. I'm the one topping the trending live streams. The screen splits in two. On one side, I sit in my dingy apartment, hunched over homework under the dim light. On the other side, Mom and Dad cuddle with Ruby on the fancy couch of their sprawling villa. The comments came pouring in. "Let's see what happens when twins are raised on opposite sides of fortune all the way to 18." "Aria still doesn't know, right? Her parents never divorced. They're loaded and perfectly happy. Ruby's life has been like a dream too." "Poor Aria. She's always starving and never has anything decent to wear. Isn't that basically abuse?" "She's the more sensible one, so her parents decided to raise her poorly."

One day, after getting rear-ended outside my office, I, Maeve Dahlman, call out for help, but Austin Cooper, who is simply passing by with Carmen Holt, merely glances at me impatiently, annoyed that I've disrupted their lunch plans. Instead of helping, he has his assistant take me to his private club and lock me in a room, accusing me of being paranoid and dramatic. "I'll give you three days to calm down," he says before walking away and leaving me in isolation. Eventually, I escape and call the police. An ambulance rushes me to the hospital, where doctors diagnose me with a brain injury that requires immediate surgery. I keep calling Austin, only to realize that he has blocked my number. Then, I see Carmen's latest post online, gushing about a romantic luxurious dinner with him. After I'm discharged, I cancel the wedding, destroy all the invitations, and finally call my mother. "Mom," I say, "I've made up my mind. I'm ready to meet him."

The man I love is getting married. And it isn't to me. I've been in love with Jonathan for as long as I can remember. I loved him as a girl. I loved him as a teenager. I loved him as an adult. I love him still. But he doesn't love me. How could he? He's a billionaire and I'm just the butler's daughter. But when I attend a party in my Gucci dress and fancy heels, he sees me in a whole new light. And it couldn't have come at a worse time. His high-powered wedding is in two weeks. It falls to his older brother, Christopher, to protect Jonathan from himself. As always. And this time, that means spiriting me away and tempting me with my dream job on a tropical island. Here, I learn that Christopher is so much more than I ever gave him credit for. He gets me in a way no man ever has. His body completes me in ways I didn't even know possible. And the way he looks at me makes me think he could be the one. I've always been in love with Jonathan, but now that I've been with Christopher, I find I can't choose. Some people go their whole lives without finding one love of their life. Now I have to decide between two.

I had been married to Natasha Bates for ten years, and not once did she ever join me for our family's Independence Day cookout. This year, on the night before the celebration, I finally gathered the courage to ask if she wanted to come. She scoffed and said, "What are you, stuck in the past? Who even celebrates the Fourth with a family dinner anymore?" Yet that very evening, I saw a social media post of Natasha with her male best friend, Stanley Rogers. They were quite intimate in the picture, and the caption read: [True happiness is celebrating Independence Day with your bestie!] I commented back: [Hope you two lovebirds make it official soon.] Stanley did not hold back. He messaged me a bunch of intimate photos of the two of them. Then, he added, [You're just a leech living off his wife. What right do you have to question anything about Nattie?] Everyone always thought I was a gold-digger living off Natasha's success. However, they all forgot that I was the sole major shareholder of the company. This time, I’m done staying silent.

Book 1-Alpha Axel: The Alpha of Revenge Rosalind Verlixe is not your average princess. She does not wish for handsome princes or fancy balls; she only wishes to take the throne from her abusive family. When her father announces that the only way she can claim the throne is to find her mate and complete the mate bond, she sets out to find the man she is fated with. Axel Steele lost everything he had in a blink of an eye. Stripped away from his glory, he becomes a cold and ruthless man, incapable of loving others. The last thing on his mind was finding a mate. However, fate is cruel when he is paired with a beautiful princess who wouldn’t take no for an answer. Book 2-Alpha Cupid: The Alpha of Destiny Alpha Cupid isn’t supposed to fall in love. At least, that’s what his punishment entails. He is bound to live alone for the rest of his life, and the person who he falls in love with is bound to suffer in the fires of hell. Gillian Waters is just an ordinary girl looking for a job that pays a decent salary. However, when she acquires a position in Alpha Cupid’s company, she doesn’t expect all the consequences that would come with it. Inevitable consequences, past lovers, and cruel gods try to break their love. Would Alpha Cupid be able to break his curse? Or will the both of them suffer in lifelong misery?

Born as the daughter of the Skybound Alpha King, Anastasia Zyaire was born to rule, trained with Luna etiquette, duty, and expectations , but not love. Raised by her parents who saw her as a bargaining chip instead of a daughter. At 21, still unmated, she's summoned to a grand family dinner, only to be told she's to marry a stranger from a rival pack in two weeks. She already gave her heart away. But when she runs to the only man who she thought would save her, she walks in on his betrayal. Broken and drunk at the full moon Fiesta, Anastasia finds herself ranting on a balcony, and falling into the arms of a mysterious stranger whose scent she can't even place. The heat, the touch, the mark…everything feels real. Until the next day. Because the stranger is one of two identical twins…cursed heir of the Dragon Rider Pack. And she’s betrothed to the cold one. Now bound by blood, politics, and secrets, Anastasia must choose between obeying her father’s command or chasing the bond that threatens to destroy everything. One wears the crown. The other marked her soul. And her heart was never meant to survive either.

Vera is a kind, sweet and beautiful 21 year old, with a heart of gold. Her Venta Black irises have the ability to Pierce through any façades she loves her family and will do anything for them but what happens when that is put to the test. without any knowledge of the secrets that lie behind the façade of her perfect family, Vera is forced into a marriage of convenience with the notorious mafia Don Julius Chrysanthos, the head of the ruling Spanish mafia. Julius is the head of the mafia, the mafia Don. he has no time for emotions, trivial things like women he has no time for gimmicks he calls emotions. but at first glance her gaze Pierce through his tall defences leaving him flushed. He is cold and devilishly alluring she is beautiful and shy he is ruthless she is kind he is sinful she is pure he is intruiged and attracted to her innocence and ethereal beauty, she is confused by his way of life one dinner changes and alters both their lives to never be the same again.. want to know how they cope when secrets are revealed, their love is put to the test by the dangerous world the fate of the mafia Don is destined to be bound by, will they survive? will they triumph? follow the journey of the Mafia Don's Wife...

It was not until after I married Bennett that I found out he had a clingy little childhood friend who loved to play the victim. On the very first day of our marriage, at dinner, I simply asked Bennett to pass me a bite of food. She immediately exploded. "Holly, you're disgusting! Bennett already used those utensils, and you seriously asked him to serve you food? What, don't you have hands?" I froze, completely blindsided. Before I could even react, Bennett put down his spoon and went straight to her, wrapping her in his arms like she was the one who had been wronged. Then he turned to me and said I should just get my own food from now on. However, honestly, wasn't it normal for a husband to serve his wife a bite? What was so outrageous about that? I barely got a word out before Bennett shut me down in a low, firm voice. "That's final. If Rosie doesn't like it, then we're not doing it. End of discussion."