Harvard Ping Pong Table

After Katarina Andretti graduated valedictorian of her college class she thought her future was set for her. Oh how wrong she was. Her gambling, alcoholic father owes money to a local mafia boss. A lot of money. Ten million dollars to be exact. Taken from her graduation after party and placed in a room with a double-sided mirror, Katarina has no idea what is at stake when he sits down at the table with to play a game of poker with the ruthless tyrant. At least not until she is brought into the room to sit right next to him. Alejandro King is a local mafia boss with a problem. One, he doesn't appreciate his clients owing him money and not repaying him and two, he has to find a wife by his twenty-fifth birthday in to stay in power of the families or his cousin Javier takes over. When he first sees Katarina he is taken aback by her beauty and innocence. She seems to be just what he has been looking for. Both beauty and brains. He negotiates with Chase Tomas, Katarina's father for his daughter but when Tomas says no Alejandro challenges him to a game of poker, Tomas' weakness. Little does anyone know but the game has been set up to let Alejandro because once Alejandro sets his sights on something he wants he always gets it even if he has to take extreme measures to ensure he gets his possession, namely Katarina.

Amelia's leg tapped against the table as she asked, "What are your thoughts on love?" Her hands were clasped together on her lap, but her eyes sparkled with curiosity. Lucas met her gaze, a smirk playing on his lips. "Love is a waste of time," he replied. "It's a tool designed to weigh people down. Without it, we could achieve so much more." Amelia's eyes lit up with interest; he had just ticked almost all her boxes green. "I agree," she said, her smirk matching his. "Love is nothing but bullshit. We could save a lot of time by keeping our relationship minimal." With a proactive glint in her eye, she added, "What do you say? We should get married to fulfill our filial duties." _____________ Their marriage was a facade, a contract between two individuals who didn't believe in love but were forced to get married to fulfill their obligations. Everything was going as planned, until suddenly... "Have you eaten, dear?" "How is my baby?" "Is he doing well?" Lucas's words, once empty and mechanical, now held a tender tone. Amelia found him falling for her, and she seemed to be falling too. Why were they succumbing to the very thing they once scorned? Love, once a distant possibility, was now becoming an option. But would they choose it?

I died the day my husband forced the doctors to take our baby from my womb. I thought I’d never love again after losing my ex-boyfriend to a heart attack. But fate gave me a second chance. I married the man I adored, a billionaire named Maxwell. Just when I was about to share the joyful news of my pregnancy, I caught him getting cozy with my best friend, Morgana. Worse, he believed her lies: I was a drug addict. The truth? I was battling a severe mental illness triggered by my ex’s death. I needed medication to cope, but Maxwell never cared to understand. He refused to believe a word I said. They locked me away in a private rehab clinic. But that place wasn’t for healing, it was a trap. Morgana used it to cut me off from Maxwell and torment me without consequence. And just when I thought things couldn’t get worse… Maxwell signed off on a surgery to take my baby. I lay on that cold operating table, tears streaming down my face, and died in the fire that followed—broken, betrayed, and alone. But I never expected to wake up again. This time, I have a new life. A new family. And even one of my children survived. Maxwell, Morgana—this time, I’m coming back. And you’re both going to pay.

Elle a failli mourir sur la table d'opération à cause d'une hémorragie due à une grossesse extra-utérine, tandis que son mari, dans une indifférence glaciale, allumait des bougies d'anniversaire pour sa maîtresse, fêtant l'événement avec ostentation. Mariés depuis quatre ans, elle s'humiliait jusqu'à se nier elle-même, mais le cœur de son mari restait de glace. Jusqu'au jour où elle l'a vu chérir la fille de son ennemi, la couvant du regard comme un trésor : elle a alors perdu tout espoir, a laissé les papiers du divorce et est partie la tête haute. De retour dans le monde du travail, elle s'est investie à fond dans sa carrière, éblouissant toute la ville, et devenant la coqueluche des cercles mondains parisiens, convoitée par les élites. Voyant les prétendants se presser autour d'elle, son mari glacé n'a plus supporté. Dans un accès de possessivité, il a écarté ses rivaux et l'a plaquée contre un mur. « Madame Ravot, je refuse le divorce ! »

After my rebirth, I decided to draw a hard line between myself and the heir of the Mafia Family, Carlo Gutierrez. He had his golden retriever take my seat and told everyone I wasn't even fit to touch dog food at his party. After that, I never sat at the main table again. He complained that my voice was giving him a headache and got in the way of his business, so I muted myself in front of him. He sneered that I reeked, so I packed up and went back to my rundown apartment in the slums, never setting foot on his territory again. In the end, he said just having me around would ruin his marriage alliance with the Moreno Family's Principessa. I nodded, then accepted someone else's proposal without hesitation. I made the choices opposite to what I made in my last life. After I married him in my previous life, the Moreno Family's Principessa was killed in a shootout. Carlo concluded I was the culprit and threw me into the basement for torture before finally throwing my body into the sea. Later, when he saw me with another man, he confronted me with red eyes. "Rosa Shaw, you've had your fun. Come back with me, and I'll pretend none of this ever happened!"

At the dinner table, my wife's best friend suddenly speaks to her in Lytian. "Three years ago, you married Julian in a grand wedding just to help Jace get Julian's letter of forgiveness. Over the years, I've seen Julian fall more and more deeply in love with you. Yet, you're still lying to him. "You gave him sterilization pills but passed them off as his depression medication. Aren't you afraid that he'll fall apart if he finds out the truth?" My wife, Erica Inman, briefly shows a conflicted expression on her face. She then gives a bitter smile and says, "A child unwanted by their mother has no reason to be born. As long as Julian doesn't stand in the way of Jace's happiness, I will keep my promise and stay by his side for the rest of his life." No one knows that I've learned Lytian to keep up with Erica. I stand in the living room and look at the fresh kiss mark on my neck. As I glance at the medication I take regularly for my depression, my whole body turns cold. It turns out that all of Erica's affection toward me was fake. What I thought was my salvation turns out to be nothing but a carefully planned deception. Since that's the case, I'll do my part to make sure they all get what they want.

“I will never love you,” Anthony said with a determined look. However, the girl didn't care about his words. Regina still repaired a table full of beautiful dishes. Then, she took some food and put it in his mouth. His whole body relaxed and savored the satisfying sensation in his mouth. “I know. But can we enjoy the meal first? I have made your favorite food,” Regina blinked her moving eyes which made Anthony's heart a little unbearable. He gulped and sat down on the chair. “I love your food, not you,” Anthony began to take the meal while he was maintaining his harsh expression. Regina secretly smiled but she knew he wouldn't run away from her. ------------------------------------- Regina lived two human lives. In her first life, her family sold her to Anthony, the head of the Dominic mafia family. Regina and Anthony tormented each other until he accepted to let go of her hand. The good life was disrupted by the adultery and deception of her sister and her husband. Anthony was always waiting for Regina to return, but she ended up dying in his arms while taking the bullet for him. Reviving at the age of 17, Regina decided to change everything and accept being with Anthony. However, Anthony seemed to avoid Regina causing her to actively pursue him.

Valeria was just a wife on paper. Three years of a hellish marriage with the only man she had ever loved but it ended in divorce one rainy night. “Sign them. I can no longer stand to see your face or pretend like I don't want to strangle you with my bare hands everytime I lay eyes on you.” He barked coldly, throwing the papers on the table in front of her. She couldn't say it was unexpected. It had always been a matter of time. Once childhood friends, everything had gone to hell because of one woman, Isis Whittaker, Luka's late fianceé. An unfortunate accident. An incriminating message. Somehow, Luka came to believe Valeria was responsible for the death of the woman he loved and took it upon himself to punish her personally. Three years of torment and being labelled a murderer. She'd never thought the ending would be so…cathartic. Her hand lightly grazed her stomach as she signed the papers. Terrified of how she would explain she was pregnant from a night of passion he didn't even remember, she no longer needed to tell him. She would make sure he was never going to find out that she was carrying his son, the heir to the Thorne Empire. But then again, things never quite go as planned, she should have realized this by now…

“What if I choose not to?” I asked. “You don't want your little secret to get out, do you.” he raised a brow. “No, I don't.” I said, dropping my head. “Good.” he said, and snapped his fingers. A young man walked up to our table with a briefcase in his grip. Conrad received the briefcase from him, and placed it on the table. He unlocked and turned it to me. In the briefcase were wads of cash. “I believe this is good for a start.” he said. “Also, I'll help you get rid of that scar on your face. So what do you say? Do we have a deal or not?” ********************* One minute, Lauren was preparing to leave home for her friend's birthday party. And the next? She is a murderer. Faced with the chance of spending the rest of her life behind bars, she's approached by Conrad Anderson — son of the man whom she murdered. He offers her a deal: help him get some information from the CEO of Beamers Industries — Thomas Roy, by becoming his secretary and he would keep her secret safe with a promise to help her get rid of the scar on her face. But when she realizes that she's nothing but a pawn in Conrad's game of revenge, would she terminate the deal, and suffer for her sins, or would she help him get the information which he needs to ruin Thomas's life completely?

BOOK ONE OF THE IMMORTAL SERIES “Over a hundred people have reported you for aggravated assault, vandalism of property, several attempts at bullying, invasion of privacy, and reckless driving. Who are you?” The stupid police officer in front of me asked as he continued to read out, “Kidnapping??” “Mark I think that is enough,” Zachariah intervened. Mark closed the file that had all of my detailed crime reports as he glared at me. “And so on,” he said, placing it on the table that separated us from each other. “What do you have to say for yourself?” he asked. I sniffed into the air as I exhaled out deeply, my back relaxing less comfortably on the iron chair as I answered with not a single show of concern at all. “What can I say? They all deserved it.” I cackled as I admired my gloves, having nothing but evil thoughts as I looked at them.  ____________________________________________________________________ Cursed since birth to become the Snake Goddess and wield supernatural powers way stronger than she can imagine, Eve is on a journey to become one of the greatest the immortal realm has ever seen, and she won't be on this journey alone. But with her amulet still missing and the world slowly drowning into utter chaos because of her, time can only tell if there has been a mistake made in handing over such powers to her, as there are secrets that lie ahead of her that can either rip her apart or make her stronger.