Forgotten Realms Time Of Troubles

She was his stepdaughter by law… but his temptation by fate. A contract marriage_ A stepfather who should be off limits. But when the sparks fly between them, pretending isn’t enough. She’s drawn to him in ways she can’t explain, and he’s trying hard to resist. But desire is a powerful thing—especially when tied to a past they never knew they shared. Can they keep their hands to themselves, or will their forbidden temptation destroy everything?

Copper, named after her grandmother, was told to her face that she was the black sheep of her family. She got into fights, hang out with the bad crowd, and had the biggest crush on a teacher. However just when her parents couldn't take it anymore, a driver appeared outside of her school and informed her that her grandfather, the richest man in their city, and a man she'd done her best to forget about, wants to reunite. Kenny Greenland refused every woman his parents brought to marry him. Fed up with his folks, he made a deal. He would only marry the grandchild of his master, knowing full well that his master didn't have grandchildren. However, to his surprise the most dashing young lady he has ever seen claims to be his master's grandchild. She whispered, "Keep your promise, darling." From family conflicts, to poisonous rivals, outside forces were happy to stop the union of two powerful families, but they don't know who they're messing with. Whoever tried would live to regret it.

When I was waiting for Theodore at City Hall from dawn to dusk, he was accompanying his first love on a hike. I called him dozens of times, but he rejected my calls instantly each time. He finally picked up on the twentieth call. "Why are you blowing up my phone when you simply didn't see me for a day? Why are you acting so desperate? Sammy's feeling unwell because of her heart and I still need to take care of her at the hospital. We'll talk later about registering our marriage." Ten years of love. This was the 100th time Theodore had left me alone in front of City Hall for his first love. I hung up and calmly tossed the wedding ring away. This marriage? I was done with it.

Lena Clermont fell hard for her dad's friend, Andrew Rohan—twelve years older. The first time she saw him, he was all sharp suits and broad shoulders, effortlessly standing out. He smiled, patted her head, and handed her a princess dress. Fast forward to twenty. He got drugged at a banquet. She wore that same dress, offering herself as the cure.

Three days before her wedding, Aurora Vale, the young heiress of a luxury fashion empire, walks into her fiancé’s office—only to find him kissing his ex-lover. And then she hears the words that shatter her world: “You know I’m only marrying her for the company.” Without a scene or a scandal, Aurora disappears that night. She leaves behind her diamond ring and a single note: “I’m giving you my dream and my love. May you be satisfied with what’s left.” Three years later, she returns under a new name—no longer the heartbroken bride, but the powerful CEO of a rival brand threatening to destroy Liam Cross’s empire. When they meet again in the boardroom, Liam is stunned. Not only has she become the woman he can’t control… but beside her stands a little boy with eyes exactly like his. Now he’ll do anything to win her back. But Aurora isn’t the same woman he betrayed. Between love, revenge, and a secret that could ruin them both— which will she choose?

My parents made Dana and me settle it with rock-paper-scissors. Loser had to marry the Baillieu heir—the so-called "freak." I won. Then flipped the script. "Cool. I'll take Blake. Dana can have the empire." Last time? I was dumb in love with Michael—Dad's adopted golden boy. Chose the company, stayed behind, and handed Dana off to Blake Baillieu. Big mistake. Six months in, Dana was gone—wrecked by that marriage. Right before she croaked, she texted Michael blaming me. Said I lost the game and ditched the deal, dumping Blake on her. Michael? Snapped. Dude went full psycho. Turns out, he and Dana had been sneaking around for years. He dragged me behind the Baillieu estate and forced a dozen intellectually disabled men to assault me. "If it weren't for your cruelty, Dana would still be alive! You'll pay for everything she suffered!" I was over eight months pregnant—almost due. Begged him to stop. Begged for my baby's life. He didn't care. Kept ordering them to take turns. Even when my water broke, he just watched. Both my baby and I died that night. Now? I'm back. And this time, I rewrote the story. Step one: marry Blake.

“Are you crying?" She shook her head and wiped at her face as more tears were falling. “I’m so stupid.” she groaned. "Now I am truly and utterly alone. If I had just said yes to marrying him, none of this would’ve happened. I wouldn’t have dragged you into this mess.” Without warning, I turned sharp to the side, putting the car to a sudden stop close to the curb. “Don’t ever say that again. You think marrying a man you don’t love, a man who doesn’t care if he hurts you, just to please your family is the right thing to do?” I turned to her slowly. “That would’ve ruined you.” “But I would’ve had a home to go to, I would’ve been taken care of. Now I have nothing,” she looked away. I reached over and gently took her bruised hand in mine. “You did the hardest thing anyone in your position could have done. You saved yourself. That takes more guts than standing there and pretending to be happy.” I tucked a hair behind her ear. “You think you are alone? You’re not… you have me.” ___ Alina Etienne has always lived a life dictated by her parents. She is groomed to be an obedient daughter, a perfect public image, and now, a bride to a man she doesn’t know or love. On her wedding day, crushed by the weight of expectations, Alina does the unthinkable... she says “I don’t” and flees the altar. On the run and scared with nowhere to go, she crosses paths with Mikhail Antonov. A cold, guarded man with a past he doesn’t talk about. What began as a reluctant act of kindness turned into something neither of them expected.

On my 22nd birthday, my uncle Scott discovered my diary. After he found out about my secret love for him, he sent me overseas. He then spent hundreds of thousands, marrying the love of his life.

At twenty-eight, I held the dubious honor of being the last unmarried socialite on New York's Upper East Side. Everyone around me was growing increasingly anxious about my single status. In my previous life, my mother arranged a matchmaking cocktail party, where I was told to choose a husband from ten handpicked elite bachelors. I bribed the event planner to place Mark West's profile at the very top—and as I had hoped, I chose him. After we married, Mark treated me with what seemed like tender affection. He even bought me an oceanfront villa in the Hamptons, making me believe I had finally found true love. But that illusion shattered the day I was nine months pregnant, just hours away from giving birth. Mark drove a scalpel straight into my abdomen—then, right in front of me, hurled our newborn onto the floor. "If you hadn't forced me into this marriage with your family's power, Sofia wouldn't have been heartbroken enough to go drinking and get drugged and assaulted. This… this is what you owe her!" He tossed the scalpel aside, then calmly let his private doctor pin down my blood-soaked body. I fought through excruciating pain for six agonizing hours, until I finally bled to death. Afterward, Mark dumped my corpse into the Hudson River. But for Sofia, he hosted a grand funeral—funded with my money, under my name—and paraded himself to the world as a grieving, devoted widower. Given a second chance at life, I refused to step foot in that cursed matchmaking event. Instead, I went straight to my mother with a demand: marry me to Robert Black—the most ruthless, cold-blooded titan of Wall Street, whose scarred face was feared by all. In the end, stripped of my financial backing, Mark's hedge fund collapsed. He became a disgraced fraudster, spat on by everyone on Wall Street.

I sustain brain damage from a car crash and end up with a memory akin to a goldfish. However, I remember my feelings for Caleb Warner for seven whole years. Things change when he abandons me on a mountain top after losing a bet with someone. He sneers and says, "Write this in your journal, Sadie. Consider it a lesson learned." It's wintertime, and it's freezing on top of the mountain. I almost die there. I later destroy everything that has to do with Caleb and allow my memories of him to disappear from my mind. … One night, someone by the name of Caleb Warner calls me. My boyfriend jealously pulls me close and asks, "Who's this?" I shake my head dazedly. "I don't know." The person on the other end of the line loses it when he hears my answer.