Gifted Hands

My family was the wealthiest in River City, with assets worth trillions. On my eighteenth birthday, my brother, Calvin Chester, gifted me an entire jewelry production line while my parents built a private museum and named it after me. The greatest hardship I’d ever faced? Learning how to spend my inheritance. Then I met Dario Darwin. For him, I cut ties with my family and helped him build his empire from scratch. But when I was three months pregnant, he demanded I drink on behalf of his assistant, Fran Fallon, a woman “slumming it” as an intern while secretly being the heiress to another fortune. “Stop pretending,” he sneered. “You’re not like Fran, raised in pampered luxury. You’re older, so act like it and take care of your juniors!” Then, to the clients leering around the table, “My wife’s just being dramatic. She can hold her liquor. Don’t hold back—pour her another!” Amid their jeers, he left with Fran, abandoning me to a room of drunken men. Years of sacrifice, only to be humiliated. I scheduled an abortion and called him. “We’re done.” Through the phone, Fran’s simpering voice chimed in, “It’s my fault that Clea is upset… I should quit and go home to my family’s billions.” “Ignore her. She’s faking it,” Dario cooed back. On the day Dario signed the divorce papers, my parents and Calvin came to take me home. Our marriage came to an end, but his tragedy was about to begin.

THE first time Arianna and Enrique met was the night she was gifted to grace his bed. When he woke up and discovered the blood on the sheets in the morning, his conscience wouldn’t silence him up. He was drunk and all he could remember was how their moans melded and the soft, responsive body under him. But she was a virgin. How could he have been so wrong? ARIANNA knew the wealthy Enrique Quiroz for a very long time. He was the only son of the plantation’s Don. She never dreamed he was the man waiting for her that night. When she had dreaded for hell in a stranger’s bed… it had been heaven. Bliss. The shocking completion of her womanhood. When she left him, she also left a part of her that only he could give back. ENRIQUE hunted for the stranger whose beautiful face haunts him every night only to discover she was right under his nose. He could have her, make her his lover. He couldn’t forget that night, how their kisses made him think only of passion and sweet wine. She has no power to resist him. He is obsessed. He can’t not have her again, and again, and again… But Arianna fought him just as much as she fought to survive her miserable life even though he promised her everything. Everything except his heart. And in the war that ensued, their hearts were ruined by love, that power that makes those who surrender win, and those who cower are set free…

Sybil is unique, gifted with a certain type of magic. One she is going to use to save not hurt. She'll do what she must, even if that means crossing some lines to get what she needs. What she doesn't realize is that her stubborn determination puts her right in the path of Alpha Prime Aries. He's intimidating and clearly used to being obeyed. Who in their right mind would actually disobey him though? He's the leader of the strongest wolf shifters there are. Aries knew the moment he laid eyes on Sybil she is his mate. Even if she doesn't know this. What he does know is that his mate has a will of iron and a fire in her soul that she hides behind a polite mask. He's not fooled, and her stubbornness will make it hard for him to protect her. Sybil has no idea the dangerous world she just stepped into. Werewolves are not the only type of creature out there. Aries knows he needs to get Sybil to understand just how dangerous things are. Especially since she is the mate of the Alpha Prime and that puts a steep price on her life. __ “If I said no?” Sybil asked. At her words it looked like Aries's gaze went solid black. “Do you want to learn what bonding is by force or choice?” He asked her in a growl. “In this I will be an animal before a man.” Sybil saw the truth in his gaze and it made her heart slam against her ribs.

Everyone in Sirano knows that Lorenzo Gallo only likes one type of woman—submissive and docile. I happen to fit those criteria. When we're dating, Lorenzo has gifted me jewelry, villas, and even a harbor. He has also prepared a grand proposal for me. After the proposal, Lorenzo tells me that the Don has ordered him to sire an heir with his widowed sister-in-law, Elena Marino. Only when an heir is produced will the Don acknowledge Lorenzo's wedding with me. Since then, the phrase that he utters to me the most is "just wait for a little longer". I have to wait for Lorenzo throughout all 99 nights of him sleeping with Elena. I need to keep waiting till she gets pregnant once again. Just as I think all the waiting has come to an end, I accidentally overhear a conversation between Lorenzo and his best friend. "Lorenzo, the hospital has confirmed that Elena is pregnant with a boy. This means you must marry Susanna now." "It's impossible for me to be with Elena in this lifetime. But Susanna is very docile, not to mention she loves me with all her heart. She's the best candidate for my marriage." It turns out that the man I thought who loved me deeply had fabricated those feelings just to protect another woman. That night, I no longer drag out Howardson University's invitation, and chose to leave for a ten-year classified medical research program abroad. Lorenzo Gallo, I don't want your misplaced love anymore!

Ava-Rose Redclaw is excited when she meets Alastor Drexel on her 19th birthday. He's handsome, powerful, and the Alpha of The Drexel Forest pack. Proud of the mate the Moon Goddess gifted her with, she wants to jump into her role as Luna only days after meeting. As soon as Ava-Rose touches the Drexel Forest pack's soil, her mate's true nature surfaces. He's a cruel tyrant, with a thirst for blood. Ava realizes that her mate has no love in his heart for her. Saddened by this fact, she turns to his younger brother, Beta Trenton Drexel and they begin a 10-year affair. He loves her dearly, but he loves his brother more, so much so, that he turns a blind eye to the abuse Ava-Rose endures by his brother's hand. Tired of the abuse and humiliation, Ava teams up with a White Witch she befriended who lives alone in the swamps. Winifred invites Ava to run away with her to a land far, far away, out of the reach of her mate. Ava sees this as the perfect opportunity, as she's been planning her escape for a while, knowing that the day is near when her secret will come out. On the day of the voyage, scores of she-wolves from near and far show up to journey with the Luna. They are tired of their abusive relationships as well. Days later and they arrive at Mount Hecate, a sacred place for white witches. Ava is content with getting revenge on the pack that tried to break her. Love is the furthest thing from her mind until she meets Typhon, a mysterious shifter that lives on the top of the mountain.

I'm the best plastic surgeon in the industry. Hendrick Twain is a regular customer of mine who has gotten his manhood enlarged nine times via surgery. But after I performed the latest surgery on him, he decides to linger around in my clinic instead of leaving. He keeps showing off his brand-new luxury watch while gloating to me, "Isn't this watch pretty, Dr. Yard? Winona was the one who gifted it to me." Upon noticing my lack of reaction, Hendrick approaches with a smile on his face. Then, he lowers his voice. "What's the use of preserving your chastity, anyway? Winona prefers to be with a plastic hunk like me, who's gone through nine manhood enlargement procedures, than be with you, Mr. Au Naturale." As I stare at Hendrick's face, which has gone under the knife countless times for minor adjustments, I remember the excuses Winona Grahm made to my face every night to avoid going home. Just the memory makes my gut churn in disgust. All of my grievances and disgust turn into ice at that moment. Finally, I take the wedding ring off my ring finger and place it on the desk gently. Then, I grab my phone and dial the number, which I haven't called in the past three years. "Dad." I sound eerily calm on the phone. "Since Winona thinks marriage is nothing but a joke to her, then there's no need for the Grahm family to continue existing in this world."

The Mafia circle in New York City was a tangled web, where power shifted in the blink of an eye. The Dusk family, once a powerful force in the underworld, was now reduced to nothing more than a pawn in the game. Their only hope for survival was to marry off their daughters, securing the support they so desperately needed. I, Seraphina Dusk, was sadly one of those daughters. In my past life, I had managed to secure myself a powerful marriage. I married Silas Vane, the head of the most influential mafia family in the country. My sister, Lila, was less fortunate, ending up with Jaxon Westmore—whom she believed would save her. I gave Silas a son and a daughter, and in return, my family was gifted wealth and power. But my sister? She was not so lucky. Jaxon wasn’t the man she thought he was. Instead of honoring the marriage or alliance, he squandered his time on models and strippers, leaving Lila discarded by both him and our father. One seemingly ordinary day, Lila invited me to lunch—never did I expect that she would kill me, drove a knife into my heart. Then she killed herself. And now here I was, reborn, back when our father first told us that Lila and I have to marry for the family. And this time, Lila called her shots on Silas Vane. That’s when I knew. She was reborn as well. Let her have him, then. She had no idea what kind of man he really was.

After the death of her parents, the young omega female was left in the hands of her wicked aunt whom maltreated by her aunt. Her aunt willingly sold her off to be a maid at the palace when she heard they were hiring maids. She was made to serve the Alpha but it wasn't long when their wolf started reacting to each other and they feel drawn to each other every moment. It was later revealed she is the Alpha Luna.

Aubrey, open your eyes. He wanted me to watch how intensely he desired me as he took me in his mouth. What he said was too much. My hips ached, but I was enjoying what he was doing to me. I really wanted to squeeze my legs shut, but his hands were gripping my thighs, which he had forced wide, and wouldn’t let me.

Have you ever wondered what lies beyond the veil of arranged marriage? Meet Irene, a woman whose fate is sealed in the hands of a billionaire groom with a hidden identity. Despite the absence of love, can she thrive in a life where she must conceal her true self? As her story unfolds, it begs the question - is the traditional concept of arranged marriage all that it seems? Who is the real Irene behind the facade? The answers may surprise you.