Independent Woman

His gun-roughened hands burned against my waist, every breath laced with the cold, unyielding possession that had made him the most feared Cosa Nostra Don in all of Sicily. A shrill ring sliced through the haze. He answered in guttural Sicilian. It was the dialect I’d learned years ago to fit into his world, so I caught every word. His consigliere was screaming down the line at him for filing a valid, legally binding marriage license with Sofia Lombardi, the woman who’d abandoned him when a bomb left him mute for seven years. Luca’s order was cold as a trigger pull. “Secure the original license in the family vault. Draw up a forged, null-and-void marriage license for Isa to keep her compliant.” In the eyes of the law, of his entire crew, I was nothing but his mistress. After seven years of laying down my life for him, I’d been reduced to nothing but his mistress. Another call flashed. Luca turned to me, the lie already shaping his mouth. “Family matters. The guards will see you home.” Without a word, I stepped out into the Palermo night, my hands shaking as I dialed his mother, Anna Vitali. “I’ll take your fifty million euros. I’ll leave Luca. For good.” Anna once said Luca and I were worlds apart. I had to admit she was right. This time, I want to leave with dignity.

Sa loob ng sampung taon na magkasintahan si Elle at Franz, nauwi ang lahat sa hiwalayan, dahil sa isang babae na isang kaibigan lang daw. Alam ni Elle na mabait at maunawain ang kanyang nobyo, pero masyadong lumagpas ang pagiging mabait nito na naka-apekto sa kanilang relasyon, siya na naturingan na nobya, pero parang siya pa ang walang karapatan kay Franz. Masakit kay Elle na bitawan si Franz, pero hindi niya hahayaan na masira pa lalo ang buhay niya kung laging pagdadahilan ang maririnig niya mula sa bibig ni Franz. Nagpakalayo at napadpad sa isang tahimik na lugar si Elle para lubos na makalimutan si Franz, at para na rin doon ibuhos ang lahat ng sakit, pero hindi rin pala niya magagawa dahil sa isang mala-yelong pagkatao ng isang lalaki na makakasama niya sa isang bahay, hindi naman siya pinanganak na mayaman kaya kailangan niyang mangupahan. Ang akalang kalmado at walang sakit sa ulo na tahanan ay magiging mahirap para kay Elle, dahil sa ugali ni Jack, ang kasama niya sa bahay. Kung si Elle ay mayroong liwanag kahit pa nasaktan ito, si Jack ang nagpapawala no'n dahil sa hindi sila magkasundong dalawa sa lahat ng bagay sa iisang bubong. Away dito, away doon ang ginagawa nila araw-araw. Tuluyan kayang maghilom ang sugatan na puso ni Elle, o mas lalong hindi, dahil kay Jack? Paano na lang kung isang araw sa kagustuhan na mag-move-on ni Elle kay Jack na tumitibok ang kanyang puso? Ang isa pang malaking rebelasyon, paano kung malaman ni Elle na isang bilyonaryo pala si Jack na nagpapanggap na mahirap para sa isang misyon?

While my boyfriend, Caleb Lawson, is in the shower, I grab his phone on a whim and drop a message in the group chat he's in with his friends. "Guess who I'm with tonight." I expect them to say my name, but their reply blindsides me. "That freshman who used to chase you when you were a sophomore? She's obsessed with you. She's definitely easier than your girlfriend. Want us to swing by tonight?" My gut tells me he's hiding more than an affair. Just as I start scrolling through his messages with the freshman, a notification from her pops up. "Caleb, I agree to the threesome. I'll do anything you want." Seconds later, another message appears in the group chat. "Just be careful this time. We don't need another body on our hands."

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."

As the plane was going down, we discovered one of the parachutes was defective. In that life-or-death moment, Eugene Shaw handed me the last working parachute. I made it to the ground, but my illegitimate sister, Sharon Cook, was lost in the crash, her remains never recovered. After our rescue, Eugene kept his word and married me, fulfilling our engagement. The wedding was extravagant, but our marriage was a complete disaster. For six years, he lived with a searing hatred, convinced I was responsible for Sharon’s death. To him, I was a villain, and my life became a living hell. When we finally reached the end of our toxic marriage, Eugene dragged me back to the site of the crash, choosing to end both our lives in a twisted act of vengeance. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on that fateful day, just before the crash. This time, I decided to give the chance of survival to the person he loved most.

Three years ago, Camilla Voss abandoned her billionaire inheritance for love. Three years later, she walks into her bedroom and finds her husband in bed with her best friend. Humiliated, blamed for infertility, and discarded the moment another woman becomes pregnant, Camilla finally learns the devastating truth: She was never the problem. Her husband was. So on the same night the Hartford family celebrates their future heir, Camilla serves divorce papers at the dinner table and returns to the powerful family she once betrayed. But her homecoming comes with a price. To reclaim her place as the sole heiress of the Voss empire, Camilla must enter a new arranged marriage with a man far more dangerous than her ex husband ever was. Luca Xavier Milano. Cold. Ruthless. Sinfully unreadable. The billionaire owner of Nova Corporations. And the one man capable of destroying the Hartford family overnight. There’s just one problem. Luca isn’t only Nathaniel Hartford’s business rival. He’s his uncle. Now the woman they mocked as barren and disposable returns wearing another man’s ring, standing beside an empire powerful enough to bury them all. And as revenge, desire, and old family secrets collide, Camilla begins to realize her marriage to Luca may not be a contract at all. It may be the beginning of a war.

"Is this the life-like doll Paige got me as a Christmas present? Wow, it looks just like that beautiful best friend of hers…" My best friend's father mistakes me for the Christmas present she has prepared for him. Things start to heat up in the room. The man eagerly spreads my legs, ready to experience the scalp-crawling pleasure I can bring to him.

I married my vampire husband ten years ago and gave him a half-blood heir, abandoning my career as a painter to become a full-time mother. Fortunately, my son inherited my talent. At just six years old, he held his first solo art exhibition, inspired by the theme "My Mother." But he never let me attend, and he never let me see his paintings. My husband said my presence would make Luke nervous---that I should stay home and do the housework as a good wife and mother, and wait for them to come back. I told myself he was just young and didn't know better, that he was only pushing back against my discipline, not truly rejecting me. Until the day I snuck into the gallery wearing a surgical mask pulled low. In the center of the crowd, my husband held our son's hand while tenderly pulling a woman in a red dress into his arms. He turned to the guests and announced: "This is Luke's mother---my wife." The three of them stood together, beaming with perfect happiness. And I---the one who'd stayed up all night setting up this exhibition---stood before the paintings while not a single person recognized me. That was when I finally understood. My seemingly gentle, caring vampire husband had long ago given our son a replacement mother. And I was nothing more than the human nanny who'd served her purpose by producing an heir.

On Couples' Day, I received a last-minute urgent request from a client to help feed her dog at her residence. The client's home is located in the same residential area as Zachary Yandon's and my marital home. Even the passcode to her home is very similar to ours, with the last four digits being Zachary's birthday. When I open the door, it feels as though I've walked into my own home. The furnishings in my client's home are surprisingly the same as the furnishings in my own home. Even the Itorian men's loafers placed at the doorway are the exact same pair as I bought for Zachary last month. I stand at the doorway hesitantly without entering the home. It's then that a golden retriever dashes out of one of the rooms and runs into my arms. The force is so strong that I stumble backward, hitting my back on the door. I know I'm not imagining things at all. It turns out the client's dog is Bingo, my furbaby who went missing three years ago!

Territorial Mafia Men Series #2: VAUGHN CROSSBAN (SSPG) ​Hingal at takot, iyon lang ang nararamdaman ko habang pilit na nagtatago sa loob ng isang misteryosong van. Ngunit tila tumigil ang pag-ikot ng mundo ko nang mamukhaan ang lalaking prenteng nakaupo sa dilim. Si Vaughn—ang bilyonaryong ex-fiancé na iniwan ko sa altar at tinakasan ko noong araw ng aming kasal. ​He wasn't shocked by my sudden intrusion. Instead, he remained focused on pleasuring himself. His dark, predatory eyes were pinned on me with a chilling intensity that made my knees weak. ​“I’m almost cúmming, but you interrupted it, whore. Now... finish what I started,” he growled. ​"Suck it," he commanded; his voice was a lethal mix of dark honey and cold steel. “Suck my dick, bitch.” ​Bago pa ako makatutol ay marahas niya akong isinubsob sa tapat ng kanyang naninigas na págkalalaki. ​“I know you intentionally got inside my car just to suck a man's dick.” What an unlucky night for me. A night of escape led to our fierce, repeated encounter.