It Is Not

As the only daughter of a casino magnate, I have grown up surrounded by danger and betrayal. To keep me safe, my father has raised nine bodyguards from a young age. After I come of age, he asks me to choose one of them as my fiance. Everyone expects me to pick Harry Hunt, the man I have secretly loved for years. But I do not—not after what happened in my previous life. On the day of our engagement, I was kidnapped, and my hands were pierced with poison-tipped spikes. Tortured and desperate, I called Harry for help. His response still haunts me today. "Victoria, stop with these games. Your location shows you're still in the hotel suite. Trying to pull these pity stunts just to keep me to yourself? Pathetic." With another woman laughing in the background, I closed my eyes and gave up. As the iron cage sank beneath the waves and the sea filled my lungs, my life ended. Then, I open my eyes and find myself back on the day my father asked me to make a choice. This time, Harry's name is the first I cross off the list. But why is he crying and begging me to marry him at my engagement banquet with Jeffrey Reed?

"Sorry, it was a dare", that's what I utter after the passionate kiss. I can still feel the familiar taste of that familiar mouth. He still feels the same, he still kisses me like there's no end, he's still passionate and possessive when he holds me in his arms. But he still doesn't look the same. A devilish smirk appears across his fierce face, his eyes darkening at me, making my breath catch. I'm still obsessed with the way he looks at me. "No, Emily. Not again", I tell myself and turn back, escaping the man who knows each bit of my soul, heart and body. The tough palm wraps around my arm harshly, pulling me back against his hard chest as he possessively secures me in his arms. I knew it was going to go well. "Let me go", I whisper. "Not after you reminded how you taste, Em", his hoarse whisper lets his warm breath brush across my neck as I shiver in his grip, weakening to my knees. Amid all similarities, I can't find the old chirpy— vibrant man anymore, instead, I feel the familiar man turning into a demon who wants nothing but to consume me again. This time not in love, but . ~~~~ Kane Gabriel was a kind and vibrant man with excessively features and a heart of gold until his girlfriend Emily Benson betrayed him. Years later Emily herself walked into him only to complete a dare but she didn't know what she invited for herself— a wounded lion who now knew nothing but breaking. With a vow to taint her with pain, will Kane achieve his motives or end up losing his heart once again? Or will a new truth break him from the core?

The king orders me to spend three days in a trial marriage with four beastmen separately and pick one to be my consort. The first beastman is a naga, which means double the fun down there. The second beastman is a werefox who has the fluffiest tail. The third beastman is a lycan. His kind is known for having the strongest core strength. The fourth beastman, on the other hand, is Julius Lockewood, a cervitaur I've liked since childhood. After I'm drugged, I reject the other three beastmen and search desperately for Julius while tremors rack my body. However, I end up overhearing his friend laugh and say, "Julius, you rascal. I can't believe you drugged the princess just to win a bet that she would keep herself pure for you. Aren't you worried that she'll go to someone else instead?" Julius snorts indifferently. "She's crazy in love with me. Cervitaurs prefer virgins. If she loses her virginity, she'll have no chance of marrying me. She wouldn't dare. I bet that even if she were driven mad with lust, she wouldn't touch anyone else." Heartbroken, I follow the king's orders and enter a trial marriage with each of the other three beastmen. When Julius comes to my house, he hears me beg, "Don't put your tail there…" It makes him so angry that he loses his mind. When the royal decree is issued, he gets on his knees and begs me to stay with him.

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.

Seraphine Hale, a genius musician, announces her return to the country. When a reporter asks whether she's back for her first love, she smiles icily. "Are you talking about that trash? It wouldn't be any of my business even if he were to drop dead tomorrow." What she doesn't know is that I've already been dead for close to a decade.

In my previous life, my husband, Lucien Walker, tells me he wants to take care of his widowed sister-in-law, Lina Morgan, and take her as his second wife. After I refuse, Lina throws herself off a cliff while pregnant, killing both herself and the pups. As the Wolf King, Lucien chains me on a clifftop and lets vultures tear at my flesh day after day. He gouges out my eyes and snarls, "You lied about your fertility to trick me, then drove Lina and her unborn pups to their deaths! This is your punishment!" My son, Pierce Walker, whom I pour my life into raising, stabs me 9,999 times. "If Lina were my mother, I would be strong. This is all your fault!" They never know that without my gift for bearing children, Lucien has no heir at all. When I open my eyes again, I'm back on the day Lucien proposes taking Lina as his second wife.

After just a week of getting dumped, Gabrielle Taylor learned from a common friend that her ex-boyfriend and best friend were already engaged. Enraged by their betrayal, Gabrielle crashed into their engagement party and drank to her heart's desire. She put up a face and even wished her best friend and ex-boyfriend all the best. Claiming to already be in a relationship, Gabrielle walked up to a stranger and kissed him outright! . *** Other than his mother, his sisters, and his niece, Kyle Wright, the CEO of the Wright Diamond Corporation, never batted an eye for a woman. He was satisfied, running a business, not intending to be in any relationship. One evening, while excusing himself from a family gathering, a girl came up to him and kissed him out of the blue. His heart raced! Except for the drumming sensation in his chest, he felt everything around him turned mute. He took a deep breath and savored that blossoming scent, coming from the girl. His eyes unwittingly closed as he found himself relishing the brief but stirring kiss! When the kiss ended, Kyle's eyes struggled to open. It was as if time had stopped, and it suddenly dawned on him that for the first time since he could remember, he experienced what it felt like… getting a boner. After that fateful kiss, he swore to make Gabrielle his. *** Book 3 of the Wright Family Series Book 1: Mommy, Where Is Daddy? The Forsaken Daughter's Return Book 2: Flash Marriage: A Billionaire For A Rebound Book 4: The Devil's Love For The Heiress Book 5: I Fell For The Boy His Daddy Was A BonusNote: Each story can be read as a standalone. Follow me on social media. Search Author_LiLhyz on IG & FB.

Melissa Hartford is a 25 year old woman who recently took over from her father as CEO of Hartford Industries, navigating the business in Indiana comes with its own problems, that is until she meets identical twins Brock and Blake Milligan, who both want her, as she tries to navigate love and business, there’s a dark side to both. Can she come out the other side relatively unscathed? Who is the person who is stalking her and where do they fit in to this?

During a company team-building event, I collapse from a seafood allergy. Yet my fiance, Frederick Scott, rushes Beatrice Sutton, who only twisted her ankle, to the hospital. I come close to dying because I don't get treatment in time. Later, Frederick explains, "Beatrice is my best friend's sister. He's seriously ill now, and I promised him I'd take care of his sister. I swear I'll keep my distance from her from now on." This isn't the first time I've heard an excuse like that. On our fifth anniversary, Beatrice accidentally deleted a work file and burst into tears out of worry. When Frederick heard about it, he left me stranded on a mountain and drove back to the office himself. I spent a whole day and night walking home through the rain. On Christmas, Beatrice's house lost power. Frederick was worried that she might be scared of being alone, and he rushed over to her place without even telling me, leaving me out in the snow waiting for him until dawn. These kinds of things have happened countless times. Afterward, he always brushes them off with the same excuse. I've long since lost all faith in him and no longer believe a single word he says. I pick up my phone and call the company that keeps reaching out to me. "I've decided to accept your offer from last time. I'll bring the core technology with me."

Forced to marry the cold billionaire heir, Adams Carter, to save her crumbling family business, Gina Thompson decides to have one last night of fun before taking her marriage vows. Unexpectedly, the man who caught her attention that fateful night turned out to be the billionaire himself, Christopher Carter, her father in-law. Will they both ignore their growing feelings for each other? What will happen when Adams finds out that his wife had a one-night stand with his father?