Katniss Sings Hanging Tree

His heart was about to burst off its ribcage from the amount of continuous consternation he suffered since the drive to the hospital after he receives the catastrophic news about his wife. Ace Taylor the renowned businessman, world-famous pharmaceutical tycoon, and eminent top textile industrialist of the United States dashed through the entrance of Breach Candy hospital. His eyes searching for the reception flurried as drops of sweat settle down on his forehead even on the biting cold night of mid-December. He slaps the desk on tenterhooks unable to form the right words to gain the attention of the middle-aged lady sitting at the entrance. She raises her head to embrace the attention and her eyes were on stalks to receive the striking Aphrodite who only could be anyone's dream watching on big screens and business magazines standing right in front of her. "My wife...Scarlet Taylor..." "Yes sir..yes sir" the receptionist scurried on her speech and looked through her monitor. "Burns case, room number 13, straight from left Dr. Shahnaaz Hussain is treating her. You can speak..." Ace raced in that direction leaving the receptionist hanging on her words. "Scarlet?" His eyes left red with unshed tears as he shook his wife awake. Scarlet opened her eyes and stared at the man standing in front of her dolorous. "Who are you?"

I knew from the exact moment I had my eyes on her. That what we're going to have isn't something simple, monotonous relationship often the common werewolves have till they die. Her physical condition was tiring her out, the abuse, the humiliation cutting her deep down, but still her eyes sparkled as she was hoping for something. Not only hoping, I was certain that she'd make it to reality, that's how determined her pheromones felt. The curvy reddish black hair hanging from her shoulder, sharp doe eyes highlighting her symmetrical face, the new blossoming figure, the subtle submission yet the aggressive domination surrounded with mystical aura, natural since she's an Alphaess. Luck wasn't with her at that time, but I predicted precisely that she'd come out of it, everything and everyone would be under her control. Hell, since that moment I wanted to be with her, I didn't care if it was love, or I was just a way of getting her revenge, or I was a tool. I promised myself that I'd do everything which works in favor, as her sweet yet powerful voice was ringing in my head making me slightly shiver, I never felt anything like that before. "May I help you with anything, Alpha Lorenzo?"

During spring break, my family's housekeeper's son, Ethan Shaw, steals my black card and takes the entire class on a luxury trip to Norkin. He books out an entire fireworks show to impress my girlfriend, Claire Sanders. Then, he treats everyone to first-class tickets for the cruise while basking in the spotlight. But when I discover he's using my card and confront him, he teams up with my girlfriend to twist the story. They accuse me of being jealous of him. Cornered on the deck, I'm about to pull out my phone to prove it when Ethan suddenly shoves me over the railing. I'm left hanging by one desperate hand. His voice is ice-cold. "Lucas is just picking a fight because he's after my money. I can't sleep soundly with him around." On Ethan's signal, his lackey crushes my fingers one by one until my grip fails. I fall into the open sea, ending as food for the fish. When I open my eyes, I find myself back on the day Ethan is booking the fireworks show. Watching him revel in the spotlight, I take out my phone and call the bank to cancel the card. This time, I want to see just how he plays the lavish big shot.

Framed and betrayed by her mate, shamed by her Pack, and abused by her own family, Anora’s life takes a painful turn. She’s traded to replace another as the betrothed wife to the formidable Alpha King, Alpha Dane of Blackburn—a man with a dreadful reputation. Forced under a false identity, Anora is bound to a stranger every other Alpha fears. To be his bride, a bargaining chip in an arranged, loveless marriage, Anora is warned by Dane of the cold consequences of their union. Alpha Dane, inhumanely handsome yet cold-hearted, wants neither marriage nor affection. Yet, by duty, he’s bound as Alpha to a political marriage for power and an heir. He gives her a chance to call it off, but trapped in an impossible situation by her ex-mate, Alpha Liam’s blackmail (with her mother’s life hanging in the balance), Anora has no choice but to live the lie, even if it means sacrificing her happiness forever. But in the forced proximity between two opposite souls, what happens when a desperate beauty clashes with a heart of stone? When affection, a forbidden attribute, begins to burn? What happens when Alpha Dane finds the truth about his bride’s true identity and the lies she’s tricked him into believing? In the end, does Anora’s story explode in her face? Can love, a bond, be born out of deception, or is their destined bond doomed to crumble?

Alyssa Hart is out of options. Drowning in medical debt, with her mother’s life hanging in the balance, she’s desperate for a solution. When an unexpected email offers her an interview at the mysterious Valentino Enterprises, she doesn’t hesitate. But what she walks into isn’t a job opportunity... it’s a marriage contract. The powerful and feared Valentino Crime family needs a wife for their heir, Stephano Valentino. Cold, ruthless, and utterly uninterested in love, Stephano has discarded every woman his parents have introduced him to. They don’t expect Alyssa to be any different. The deal is simple: marry Stephano, bear his heir, and in two years, she’ll be free, with enough money to ensure her mother’s survival. There’s only one rule: this is not a real marriage. Stephano can do as he pleases, but Alyssa is bound to him alone. She should hate him. He gives her every reason to. But the longer she stays, the more she begins to see through the cracks in his armour. Beneath his icy exterior is something broken, something she can’t help but want to fix. And Stephano, who swore he would never care, finds himself drawn to the woman he was never meant to love. But in their world, love is a weakness, and breaking the rules always comes with a price...

Isabella’s Herrera’s world unravels when her father’s reckless dealings with the notorious mafia boss Lorenzo Castillo leave her family drowning in debt. With her younger brother’s life hanging by a thread, Bella is forced into a dangerous bargain: herself as payment for her father’s sins. Lorenzo Castillo is a ruthless and calculating man, hardened by the violent underworld he controls. Bound by a code of power and loyalty, he has no room for emotions—until Bella’s fiery spirit and unwavering determination begin to chip away at his cold exterior. As the contract between them deepens, so does the dangerous attraction that neither can ignore. But Bella’s past is riddled with secrets, and as she navigates the shadows of Lorenzo’s empire, she discovers that not everything is what it seems. A rival mafia leader, Gabriel Moretti, is hell-bent on taking over Lorenzo’s empire, and Bella becomes the key to his plot. With her life now at the mercy of two powerful men, Bella is caught between love, loyalty, and survival. In the world of betrayal and bloodshed, can a debt born from desperation ignite a passion that could either save or destroy them both? A Debt of Passion is a gripping tale of forbidden love, power, and redemption, where every choice comes with a deadly cost, and every heart is a battlefield.

At the factory, my arm is pulled into a machine. After the surgery, the factory supervisor tells me it's my fault. Because of my arm, the machine has to be shut down for repairs, and every day of downtime will cost them millions. "Someone has to take responsibility for this, Zachary," the supervisor tells me. "It wouldn't make sense to demand millions from you, so just compensate us with 300,000—that's all." Under their threats—and my family's desperate begging—I sign the IOU for 300,000. With one arm gone, I can no longer find a job. All I can do is collect trash to repay the debt. While picking up bottles outside a restaurant one day, I hear the factory supervisor laughing and bragging inside. "Actually, that one-armed guy didn't violate any rules. In fact, the HQ gave three million dollars in compensation. My house and car? All bought with that money," he said. "I mean, who'd ever find out? With that debt hanging over him, he's probably already run off somewhere." Shaken by the news, I stagger onto the street. A truck roars out of nowhere, slamming into me and throwing me 16 feet across the road. When I open my eyes again, I had returned to the day I lost my arm.

Married in secret for five years, Yvonne Singer always thought I was just a washed-up nobody from a fallen family. What she didn't know was that I was the sole successor to Guzman Group, the world's largest venture capital firm. She tricked me into attending a cocktail party for the sake of her male best friend, Francis Yorke, and forced me to toast my sworn rival. Furious, I shattered the wineglass in my hand and snapped, "Yvonne, don't push me! Believe it or not, with a single word from me, your company can disappear from the stock market by tomorrow!" Panic flickered in her eyes. The next second, she threw herself into my arms. "Honey, I just needed your help. I didn't mean to hurt you." She then personally fed me a hangover pill and gently escorted me to a private room. When I woke up, I was hanging upside down from a drop tower. Francis slammed the switch. I was sent flying dozens of feet into the air, then plummeting straight down into the water. As my consciousness began to waver, I forced myself to make an emergency call. "Mr. Chance, contact global media outlets. Before nightfall, I want headlines showing them begging on the streets!"

Three years of marriage, and it all ends with two words. Sign it. He didn’t even look up when he said it. Just slid the papers across the table like I was another business deal to close. We weren’t supposed to fall in love it started as a contract, something practical, something safe. But feelings have a way of growing where they shouldn’t. For a while, I thought he cared. The quiet moments, the small things he remembered my favorite song, how I take my tea, the way I hate the rain. I thought they meant something. Turns out, they did. Just not for me. Every gesture, every soft word, was borrowed from a memory. From her. The woman who had him first. The one who left. The one who’s now back. So I signed. I smiled. I walked away. Not because I wanted to but because I had to. He doesn’t chase me. Not yet. But I can feel it the weight of everything unsaid still hanging in the air between us. Maybe he’ll realize what he’s lost. Maybe he won’t. Either way, this time, I’m not waiting around to find out.

Ethan Vale was the golden heir to a fortune, a boy who had everything until his own blood turned against him. Framed for the brutal murder of his parents by his uncle and brother, Ethan was cast into the depths of Metropolis Prison to rot. Beaten, starved, and forgotten, he waited for a death that wouldn't come. Then, the shadows parted. Enter Damien Blackwood. Known in the underworld and the boardroom as the "Living Yama," Damien is a billionaire whose mercy is non-existent and whose power is absolute. He walks into Ethan’s cell with a contract that defies logic: "Marry me, and I will give you the heads of those who destroyed you." Ethan isn't gay, and he doesn't trust the monster standing before him. But with a death sentence hanging over his head and a burning thirst for revenge, he signs his soul away. What starts as a cold, business transaction between a broken prisoner and a heartless tyrant soon spirals into something far more dangerous. As Ethan is transformed from a "prison rat" into the pampered, untouchable spouse of the Living Yama, the lines between hatred and obsession begin to blur. Damien promised to help Ethan destroy the Hales, but Ethan is beginning to realize that the most dangerous place in the world isn't a prison cell it’s in the arms of the man who owns him.