Forty Thousand

"Darling, this ends when you are entirely mine once more. I have a thousand ways of chasing you down. Some of which you won't enjoy." Her sultry, alpha voice makes Abel's body to stiffen. "Fuck off!" Abel hisses in a firm voice. ******* Vanessa Sterling, the beautiful billionaire owner of starlight styles, a fashion brand known to all elite circles, dumps her beautiful husband, Abel Blackwood, for his brother, Cyrus, who is fast becoming a renowned designer. She cruelly tells Abel, "Face it, you're a nobody. Cyrus is a talented designer that can elevate my brand," before handing him divorce papers which he grudgingly signs in shame before disappearing. Three years later, Abel Blackwood resurfaces as the most sought after male model. With his breathtaking, chiseled features and muscular physique, he has become the muse of top designers. Every major fashion house is clamoring to book him for their runway shows. Vanessa is stunned when she sees her ex-husband's beautiful face plastered across billboards and magazine covers. He is no longer the unknown man she once discarded. Many excellent women are chasing after him, including her friends and business rivals. But there isn't a woman on earth that can rival Vannesa's wits or determination Abel Blackwood will become hers again . . . or else...

On my husband's birthday, I ask him for 100 dollars for groceries. Yet he ends up transferring 100 thousand dollars to me, saying that it's "to buy Shannon a bag". A moment later, he bombards me with texts, saying that he transferred the money wrongly and that he wants me to return it to him. "Hello? Why aren't you giving me back the money? Give it back to me, you shameless woman!" Just then, Shannon Lambert updates her social media. "It's his birthday, but he's given me a huge diamond ring. It's so weird, but I love it!" Only then do I realize he's been pretending to be poor all these years. He's spent all his money on Shannon, a student he's been sponsoring. I refuse to transfer the money back to him. Instead, I reply, "I'll give you back half of it once we're divorced."

On the one thousand and ninety-fourth day of being Mrs. Harris, I asked James Harris for a divorce. His face showed a hint of confusion, but it quickly shifted to his usual, composed expression. "As you wish," he said, his tone as flat as if we were discussing whether to replace the milk on the breakfast table. He did not even bother to ask why. On the one thousand and ninety-fifth day, I gently saw him and the children off, acting as if nothing had happened, and then completely left the Harris family behind.

I was just eighteen when I mistook a business deal for a fairy tale, letting a schoolgirl crush blind me to the truth. My prince charming? He turned out to be more of a wolf in an Armani suit. Now, five years and a thousand broken pieces later, I've rebuilt myself into someone I barely recognize, a CEO, a survivor, and most importantly, a mother to my beautiful son Griffin. I thought I'd buried the naive girl who once dreamed in a garden. Apparently, the universe had other plans. My ex-husband's back, claiming he's changed and wanting a second chance. And then there's James Drake, a billionaire with scars that match my own, who makes me wonder if my heart remembers how to beat for something other than revenge. Between poisoned flowers showing up at my office and threats creeping too close to my son, I'm learning that success is the best revenge, if I can stay alive long enough to enjoy it. They say love is sweeter the second time around, but can I trust it when betrayal wore the face of love once before? One thing's certain: I'm not that naive wife anymore. And this time, I'm playing for keeps.

"Imagine, a witch who could level a city with a thought. Who could manipulate the very fabric of reality. Who could bring empires to their knees with a whispered incantation." In a world where witches and vampires are instinctive enemies, an unlikely romance blossoms between Lilith "Lily" Winters and Caspian Ravencroft. Their forbidden attraction sparks one fateful night when Lily encounters the mysterious Caspian while out clubbing with her witch friends Fern and Elena. Though natural adversaries, they find themselves inexplicably drawn to one another, unable to heed their innate urges to destroy the other. Elena senses the danger, trying in vain to dissuade Lily from pursuing the undead stranger. As Lily and Caspian's clandestine relationship intensifies, their passion burning hotter than the fires of a thousand suns, they must conceal their affair from their rival covens. For the cruel Gideon Thorne, a witch hunter turned vampire, has been relentlessly hunting Lily and her powerful bloodline for decades, obsessed with stealing her extraordinary abilities for himself.

Even as the Alpha's stepdaughter, it didn't save her from the cruelness faced by the pack for being an omega. Though everyone saw her to be ordinary, but that wasn't all true. Lupe was a rare wolf. The kind birthed one a thousand years when the purple moon comes. Though not only one can be born but, only one has to survive throughout the life span. Her worst nightmares began when the Lycan king found out about her and, was ready to do anything or pay any amount to have her be his breeder. Even when she met her mate, and planned to escape it all with him. Things got out of control. What happens when her mate has no choice but to leave her for the Lycan king? What sacrifice must she do for the safety of her loved ones? Will she be able to love the Lycan king or, try to kill him instead?

A week after I gave birth via C-section, Mark Whitman invited his friends over to celebrate the birth of our son. The crowd was boisterous—more than a dozen people. Not one of them bothered to remove their dirty shoes. The wooden floor was soon covered in muddy footprints. Mark came into the room and, without a hint of concern, ordered me out of bed. "Everyone's waiting outside. Don't just hide here and rest—you're embarrassing me in front of our guests." I had no choice but to push through the pain, forcing my body to prepare a huge meal for the large crowd, all on my own. When I carried the final bowl of steaming soup to the table, Lily Hoyte—whether intentionally or not—jabbed her hand against the wound on my abdomen. My hand trembled from the sudden pain, and the bowl slipped slightly, spilling the hot soup onto Lily's shoes. Mark's face darkened instantly. "What the heck did you do, Cammy? Lily rushed here right after her plane landed from overseas to see our son, and this is how you treat her?" The crowd quickly chimed in. "Come on, Cammy, no need to be so petty." "Mark and Lily grew up together. If there was really something between them, do you think you'd even be here now?" "Do you even know how much those shoes cost? They're limited edition—easily over ten thousand dollars. And you just ruined them." Lily stood up awkwardly, her eyes misting with tears. "If Cammy doesn't like me," she said softly, "then I'll leave. I don't want to be a bother." But Mark grabbed her hand in an exaggerated display of protection, his voice harsh as he turned to me. "Wipe Lily's shoes clean. Right now." His partiality for Lily made something sharp twist in my chest. My lips quivered as I fought back tears. "The wound on my stomach hasn't healed yet. I can't bend over." At that, his expression grew colder. "Don't use childbirth as an excuse. If you can't bend over, then kneel and wipe them. And if you won't, get out of my house!"

As I was cleaning up the house, I noticed something had fallen out of the cabinet my wife always kept locked tight. I remembered Megan's constant warnings. "That cabinet holds all our family's important records. If anything gets lost, there's no getting it back. Just leave it alone and don't touch it." Worried something valuable might have fallen out, I rushed to pick it up. But what I found was a thick stack of remittance slips. From forty years ago to now, every month, my wife had been sending money to the same account. And that's when it hit me. My wife had been lying to me. The money I'd been pouring into this family had been flowing right out, into the hands of someone else.

The world knows no master like Lucian Daiuz. While they claim that no one is above the law, he stands far beyond it—beyond governments, kings, monarchs, or mafias. All bow to him. His face is a mystery, his voice unheard by any who live to tell the tale. To some, he is a devil, a monster. Whispers and rumours paint him in a thousand shades of darkness, even questioning his manhood for remaining without a wife at 33. Every woman he takes as a wife vanishes before a month passes, and his wealth, so immense, could feed the entire country and still leave a fortune untouched. Lucian Daiuz—he is the man who haunts every nightmare. And now, I have been chosen to be his wife... She is the embodiment of grace in a world marred by shadows, a damsel whose beauty radiates across the kingdom. Men fall to their knees for a chance at her favour, but none have succeeded in capturing her heart. She turns them all away, waiting for the one who can truly claim her. Her purity and light are enough to banish the darkness that surrounds me. She is Princess Aurora von Dysheria, and I have claimed her to be my bride.

I'm a special kind of courier. Instead of packages, I transport beautiful women. I drop them off at designated locations and pick them up afterward. Each round trip earns me a thousand dollars. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that my crush would climb into my car one day. What's more, she'd brought my sister along, saying they wanted to make some quick money together.