Helen Hoffman Library Novels & Stories

#DarkRomance #Steamy #CEO #Possessive #ContractMarriage #Revenge #Betrayal #ContractMarriage #FamilySecrets #Dominant Twenty-four hours. That's how long Grace Vance has before her father's empire collapses. With bankruptcy looming and scandal threatening to destroy everything her family built, she has only one option: sign a marriage contract with Elias Thorne—the ruthless billionaire who owns half the city. The terms are simple. Two years of marriage. Perfect devotion in public. Separate lives behind closed doors. And one rule she must never break: Never enter the East Wing library after midnight. But when Grace discovers a hidden wall filled with photographs of herself taken long before they ever met, she realizes her husband isn't the man he claims to be. Because Elias Thorne didn't choose her by accident. He's been watching her for years. And the deeper Grace digs into the secrets surrounding her mother's death, the more she begins to suspect that the man she married isn't her savior. He's the reason she was trapped in the first place. Now she's bound to a billionaire who will do anything to keep his secrets hidden—even if it means destroying the woman he can't let go.

Ean's face twisted with anger as he grabbed me by the arm, dragging me toward the old, rusted freezer in the corner of the warehouse. "You're going to feel what Helen felt," he spat. "Maybe that'll teach you not to mess with her." I struggled against him, panic rising in my chest. "Ean, this is insane! It was an accident! Let me explain—" He wasn’t listening. He shoved me inside the freezing metal box and slammed the door shut. The echo of the lock clicking into place made my heart pound in my ears. I banged on the door with my fists. "Ean, please! You can’t do this!" I screamed, but the sound of his footsteps grew fainter as he walked away. He left me with nothing but a single bowl of water, like I was some kind of prisoner. I slumped against the cold metal, shivering. The temperature plummeted almost instantly. The hum of the freezer kicked in, and I realized too late—it wasn’t broken like he thought. It was working, and I was trapped. My body shook uncontrollably as the cold seeped into my bones. I screamed for help until my throat was raw, clawing at the walls in desperation. My bloody handprints smeared across the icy surface, a silent plea for mercy that no one would hear. Seven days passed. When Ean finally returned, the look on his face was one of smug satisfaction. He had expected me to beg, to apologize. But when they pried open the freezer, all they found was my frozen body, stiff and silent, my suffering long over.

I blinked behind my glasses, stunned and confused. "Did I...do something wrong? If so, I'm sorry..." "No need to apologize," Helen cut in, frost edging her cultured voice. "You've done nothing wrong, Tristan. Except be complacent." I frowned, feeling cold dread creeping through my veins. "What do you mean?" Vivian released a short, harsh sigh, as if disgusted by my ignorance. "Must we spell it out? This marriage clearly isn't working anymore. You lack ambition. I've simply outgrown you at this point. I'm doing what's necessary and best for myself by letting you go." Her icy words slammed into me like a physical attack. I stared at her lovely face I had once adored so much, now cold and remote, trying to make sense of what she was saying. Letting me go? Was she saying... Linda held out a crisp legal envelope to me. Hands shaking, I accepted it from her polished nails. The contents confirmed my worst fears - divorce papers, all drawn up and ready for my signature. My eyes scanned the conditions outlined within. The terms were heavily skewed in Vivian's favor. "This...says I would get nothing," I murmured in stunned disbelief. "No alimony, no remaining rights to shared assets or property..." "Naturally," Linda replied coolly, inspecting her manicure. "You contributed absolutely nothing of value to this marriage financially. Therefore, you should leave with what you brought to it - nothing."

I could hear the thoughts of the poorest girl in the entire school. At our campus ball, she deliberately ate food that contained nuts to give herself an allergic reaction and blame me for it. With tears streaming down her face, she cried, "I know you don't like me! I know you look down on girls as poor as me, but you can't bully me like this!" Everyone believed her and turned on me, including my fiancé, Mark Hawkins, who was expected to form a political alliance with my family through our engagement. He pinned me in place and demanded that I apologize to the 'victim'. I shook my head, trying desperately to explain that it was not me who put the nuts in her food. That was when I heard the thoughts of that 'poor' girl, Alice, ''So what if she's the mafia don's daughter? I still brought her down. Being defended by her rich, clueless fiancé feels incredible!' I was stunned. Before I could react, Mark pushed me to the floor and said firmly, "Helen, apologizing won't kill you." A disbelieving laugh slipped out of me. I wondered if he would still say the same thing if he could hear Alice's thoughts. When I finally gained the ability to share the thoughts I heard with someone else, I chose Mark without hesitation.

I head over to my boyfriend, Skylar Reynold's house during the holidays to pay his family a visit. Skylar's mother, Helen Benett, smiles and says to me in front of everyone, "According to our rules, a future daughter-in-law must give cash gifts to all the children and elderly people in the family in her first year here. You must give every person at least 200 dollars to show how generous you are." I'm stunned, to say the least. Skylar nudges me before murmuring, "It's just a few thousand dollars, isn't it? Doesn't the holiday bonus that you've received before the holidays cover everything?" I look at the living room, where 15 children and 8 elderly people are present. That makes it 4,600 dollars—the same figure that I've received after the taxes are deducted from the bonus. I let out a soft chuckle at that moment. Then, I turn to look at Helen. "According to your rules, Mrs. Reynold, I shall be the one giving away the cash gifts. But according to my family's rules, the groom's family has to give the bride's family cash gifts as well. The cash gifts must be doubled so that our marriage will be graced by luck. "It'll be 9,200 dollars altogether. Would you like to pay me in cash, or are you going to transfer it into my account?"

While preparing for the SATs at the library, my brother is accidentally shot and injured, causing him to bleed profusely. I pass by this scene but turn a blind eye and quicken my pace to leave. This is because in my previous life, when I saw him, I rushed him to the hospital in a panic. He had intracranial hemorrhaging, and he urgently needed surgery. I quickly called my mom, the top neurosurgeon in the city, begging her to come to the hospital as soon as possible. However, she thought I was jealous that she had taken my adopted sister to the beach instead of spending time with me. She also believed I had fabricated the story about my brother's injury, and thus refused to return. By the time my dad and the rest of the family hurried to the hospital, it was too late for rescue efforts—my brother had passed away. The whole family blamed me for his death. They were convinced that I had deliberately misled my mom and delayed his critical treatment. When my mom returned from out of town, she lost her composure and pushed me down the stairs, watching coldly as I bled to death. After opening my eyes again, I had returned to the day my brother was shot at the library.

She was his unknown damnation. He was just another to add to her death row. ``` 25 year old Alina Diaz, detective Lina by day, and a ruthless assassin by night. When past trauma of losing both her father and brother in one night leads her to a life of violence, weapons, fists and blood. From affluence to gang life, Alina loses all trace of fragility in her. When she’s given a new mission: “Infiltrate the Mexican Mafia estate and assassinate Antonio Alvarez”, Lina dives headfirst into a messy, tangled web of dangerous temptation, uncovered secrets and new discoveries. 33 year old Antonio Alvarez, a powerful don haunted by control, loyalty, and the slow realization that love is the one thing he can’t command, sharpened by the cruel reality of his world, is seen as a heartless beast just like his father and he makes no attempt to clear up the misconception. Cold, unwavering and devilishly handsome. He can snap a neck in mere seconds, and hold children delicately with those same hands. When the line between loyalty and burning passion blurs, when wrenching secrets are uncovered, will love really heal open wounds, or will it add fuel to the engulfing flames? WARNING!! BOOK CONTAINS: Language| Sexual activities| Substance| Violence If you love Action, drama and romance packed into one, then you’ve found the book for you. Please, like, share, comment and don’t forget to add to library to keep up with daily updates!

Inés never wanted to be saved. When her mother married a dying billionaire, it came with a price: living under the same roof as Miguel Alvarez, the cold, arrogant heir who treats her like she's dirt on his expensive shoes. But her mother's new marriage isn't about love. It's about survival. Because back in their old life, they owe dangerous people dangerous money. And those people don't forget. So every night while everyone thinks she's at the library, Inés dances under red lights at P-Valley, the city's most exclusive strip club. Behind a mask and a wig, she's not the boring stepsister. She's Red, untouchable, mysterious and free. Until the night Miguel walks in. He doesn't recognize her. But he can't stop watching and wanting her. At home, he ignores her. At the club, he's obsessed with her. Inés knows she should run before he discovers the truth. But she doesn't because as much as she hates him, her body betrays her every time he's near. But secrets buried in the dark always come to light. And when Miguel discovers that the girl he craves and the stepsister he despises are the same person, it won't just shatter them, it'll burn down everything they thought they knew.

I was the heiress switched at birth by a nanny. It was not until I turned eighteen that my biological parents finally found me, and traded me back for the girl they had raised and loved as their own. However, fate played a cruel joke that very same week. My parents died in a car accident. The family business collapsed. In one night, I lost everything. My older brother survived, but his kidneys failed. I did not hesitate. I gave him mine. However, grief broke something in him. Blaming me for our parents' deaths, he spiraled into madness. "You killed Mom and Dad! Why wasn't it you who died instead?" he screamed. I gave up college and took on three jobs a day just to pay for his treatment. Years passed. One day, while cleaning a mansion as a housekeeper, I saw her, the "sister" I was traded for, gliding through a lavish party, dressed in designer clothes and dripping in jewels. I froze when I heard the voices I had long thought silenced. My parents, alive, speaking to her as gently as ever: "Jasmine, you're so compassionate… agreeing to end Helen's punishment early." My brother, the one who should still be seeing a therapist, frowned and objected. "No. Not even a day less. Just because she suffers a little doesn't mean she deserves to live." I glanced down at the medical report still warm in my hands. For the first time in years, I smiled. "Perfect," I whispered. "Now I can finally die like I wanted to."

Ambelyn did something terrible six years ago. She willingly gave her virginity to the college bully who had been tormenting her because she was forced in an arranged marriage by her family to marry the son of their biggest investor. Now stuck in a loveless marriage, where she watches her husband parade his first love and their second child hurting her and her miracle baby. Her husband hated her after divorcing she wasn't a virgin, which was the main requirement for their marriage and decided to show her how worthless she was. She swallows the insult for the sake of their child, but when her husband refuses to sign the papers for their son to get surgery or loses his life, and their second child bullying her and his elder brother and wishing for a new mummy, she decides to do what she never thought and divorce her husband, granting him slow custody of the second child, while she takes sole custody of the first child. The only issue was, she started working for the Heartless Cruel CEO who returned back home after six years abroad and it was the same man who pinned her against a library shelf and deflowered her. Would Ambelyn be able to survive working under the bully who once made her life a living hell, or would she be able to find her happily ever after in the hands of someone unexpected.