Laced Roses

As the adopted child of the Steward family, I was the glass child, the last child, the black sheep, the ignored. I wasn’t wanted, I was chosen. Chosen to become the one to uphold their ‘social standings’. They had no care for me, they picked me, they saw the quiet, bullied girl in the orphanage who was constantly picked on but couldn’t fight back. And they decided that I was the perfect choice, to be the poster child that cleaned their poorly received social standings. Now, I’ve been promised to the devil CEO in place of my runaway older sister who decided to run merely days before her engagement ceremony. Adrian was no sweetheart, he was cold and standoffish. Not a man of many words but a man with a commanding presence. I thought I would forever be miserable in the marriage but luck shined on me because my new husband wasn’t what the media and the rumor made him to be. He may very well be my fortune. But my happiness has never been guaranteed, just when I thought I could finally be happy, secrets, snakes and unfolded memories threaten to ruin it.

The wedding had reached the part where the groom kissed the bride. I closed my eyes and leaned in to kiss Stella Stafford, only to end up with a mouthful of fur. Her assistant held up the camera and burst out laughing. "The almighty Mr. Rowe can't even tell if he's kissing a person or a dog?" I stared at the Husky in front of me, its tongue lolling out, and felt my stomach churn. I was about to lay into him when Stella stepped in to block me. "It was just a joke. No hard feelings." Laurent Reilly smirked smugly, his tone dripping with arrogance. "And guess what? This Husky happens to be a female, so why don't you just marry her instead? You're not good enough for Stella anyway." The employees erupted in laughter. Mortified, I kicked him square in the chest, sending him sprawling. The next second, Stella smashed a wine bottle over my head and demanded an apology. I wiped the mix of wine and blood from my face, then dialed an overseas number with a cold grin. "The wedding is short one bride. You in?"

Three days before my marking ceremony, someone set fire to the bridal shop while I was inside trying on my ceremonial dress. Alpha Marcus threw the arsonist into the pack prison, sentencing them to the harshest punishment our laws allowed. I lay in the hospital bed, my body covered in third-degree burns, refusing to wake fully as the reality of my disfigurement sank in. In my semi-conscious state, I heard Marcus speaking with the pack's healing witch. "Alpha, we can still heal her completely with the ancient magic. If we wait any longer, Sarah will bear these scars for life! You just want Miss Rachel to be your Luna at the marking ceremony. This is cruel beyond measure!" "Let her keep the scars. I'll provide for her for the rest of her life, but if she's healed, she'll definitely cause trouble at the marking ceremony." "I promised Rachel that her pup would be welcomed into the pack with full honors. Only when Sarah is completely disfigured will she be grateful enough to raise Rachel's child as her own. The scars are necessary - at least this way, she won't dare mistreat the pup." In the corner of the room, where no one was watching, a tear slid down my burned cheek. So this was the truth. The marking ceremony I'd dreamed of was nothing but a lie. The mate bond I longed for would be my death sentence. If that's how it had to be, I would give him what he wanted.

"How about your actions when you sexually h... Uhmm, I mean you harassed him?" "Harassed him? Me? When did I?" "You tore off his clothes and tried to take advantage of him... Should I remind you more?" Swallowing hard, she tilted her head to the right in embarrassment. 'Celeste. Oo, Celeste. What did you do? How come he is everywhere? If he is really the man I married then he is very dangerous, there's no way I will survive if I stay near him. Death won't be my only choice either, he might want to torture me like some criminal...' ***** A beautiful wedding dress, a simple ring and a tiara, with her family members present and with the man she loved always... Celeste Banks imagined such a wedding so many times but they say, we don't always get what we wish for. Finding her boyfriend cheating was not enough, she was forced to accept a marriage proposal from an old baldie. When Celeste finds out that it was a conspiracy against her to get married, she runs away from her wedding. To save herself from getting caught, she uses a mysterious man as a shield and not only that, she even rips apart his expensive black shirt then makes an escape only to end up as his bride. ***** "We were checking the cctv footage to find out about Mrs. Weston, then we saw that... That woman actually escaped before the wedding. We have got the surveillance footage of her escaping, she was already in the flight during the wedding." "Then the woman..." Celeste's voice resounded in his head as he remembered the time of the wedding, trying to imagine how she looked. "Who is the woman I got married to?"

I was the firm’s star. The one they called for the impossible cases. My latest miracle? The “Titan Project” patent case. I made the firm a billion dollars. My cut was supposed to be a two-million-dollar bonus. But today, a fresh-faced intern waltzed off with it. I thought payroll had made a mistake and stormed straight into the senior partner's office. “Preston. My two-million-dollar bonus. Tell me there’s been a mistake.” Preston didn’t even bother to look up. “Victoria, I’ve looked into it. We won this case because of Chloe’s client management.” “She was schmoozing clients. Late-night golf games. Weekend yacht parties. While you were what, exactly?” “You never showed your face outside the courtroom. Teamwork is everything.” I almost laughed. It was absurd. “She’s a rookie who can’t even recite the rules of discovery.” “Enough!” Preston cut me off. “The firm doesn’t make mistakes. I see what everyone contributes.” “If you're not happy, you can prove your worth somewhere else.” He tossed a severance agreement on the desk. My heart went cold. I signed it on the spot. Before I left, I got the last word. “Preston, next time the firm has a real fight on its hands, you’d better call your social butterfly, Chloe. Don’t bother me.” He blew a perfect smoke ring, smirking right through it. Unfazed. Soon later, my phone blew up. It was him. Begging me to come back and save his ass.

Three days before my blood oath ceremony, someone planted a silver crucifix in the bridal shop and set it ablaze while I was inside trying on my ceremonial gown. My fiancé — Vampire Lord Damien — had the arsonist thrown into the silver prison, sentencing them to the harshest punishment our laws allowed. I lay in the healing chamber, my body covered in severe burns, refusing to wake fully as the reality of my disfigurement sank in. In my semi-conscious state, I heard Damien speaking with the coven's apothecary. "My Lord, we can still heal her completely with the ancient blood rites. If we wait any longer, Serena will bear these scars for life! You just want Miss Vivienne to be your Consort at the blood oath ceremony. This is cruel beyond measure!" "Let her keep the scars. I'll provide for her for the rest of her life, but if she's healed, she'll definitely cause trouble at the ceremony." "I promised Vivienne that her child would be welcomed into the coven with full honors. Only when Serena is completely disfigured will she be grateful enough to raise Vivienne's child as her own. The scars are necessary - at least this way, she won't dare mistreat the boy." In the corner of the room, where no one was watching, a tear slid down my burned cheek. So this was the truth. The blood oath ceremony I'd dreamed of was nothing but a lie. The blood bond I longed for would be my death sentence. If that's how it had to be, I would give him what he wanted.

My adopted sister, Rita Lawson, and I get ambushed by a rival family at the same time. But she pushes me away at the most critical juncture, leading to me getting kidnapped. After my kidnappers feed me poison, they leave me to rot in the wild. When I finally get home, I find out that Rita pretends to be poisoned, so my dad has already given her the only antidote. With tears streaking down her cheeks, Rita tells my parents that she's chosen to ingest poison for me, and yet I abandoned her and fled on my own. Of course, everyone believes her. My parents tell me, "Rita got poisoned just to protect you. You must transfer your businesses to her." My husband, Enrico Fulci, says to me, "Someone needs to take care of Rita. Let's get a divorce, Elisa." Even my own daughter, Ivana Fulci, asks me, "Mamma, when are you going to be as gentle and understanding as Zia Rita?" Faced with everyone's accusations, I drink a serum that I've bought from the black market in order to suppress the poison in my system. It can allow me to live like a regular person. But in return, the poison within me will erupt three days later, causing my instant death. Using the three days I have left, I hand my businesses, my husband, and my daughter over to Rita. Everyone is pleased, thinking that I've finally learned my place. But what they don't know is that Death will come for me after 72 hours.

*BOOK 1 - COMPLETED - 148 Chapters (Chapter 1 to Final Epilogue) —No cliffhanger *BOOK 2 - Mr. CEO, Hold My Heart Forever (Continued ) *Spin Off — I KISSED MY EX-BOYFRIEND, & IT WENT WRONG— Available Now on GOODNOVEL — Can be read standalone. ~~~~ "You're not a victim, Ivanna. Nor am I a culprit," he hisses. "Let's do the business properly" I ogle at him, sniffing in wrath, anger burning inside me. He only knows the business. ~~~~~ Ivanna left her favourite city Texas to reunite with her family that she could never accept. With a vow to be a good daughter to her father and stepmother, Ivanna reached her city Dallas on her stepsister Irene's wedding, only to find out that she would be replacing Irene as a Bride. Her vow to be a good daughter turned out to be the worst decision of her life when she felt manipulated by her father. However, Ivanna was not a damsel in distress type of girl. She sent a message to the suitor, Christian Scott, the most eligible bachelor and the most powerful business tycoon of the city, placing the three most smart conditions to marry her. She thought that he would turn such conditions down and leave the thought of marrying her. But Ivanna's life turned upside down as he accepted all her conditions, completely determined to make her his and make her aware of the most crucial truths of her life. *The Cover picture is especially designed for the book 2. There's no child role in book 1*

Hindi kailanman sumagi sa isipan ni Raina na papalitan niya ang position ng kanyang kapatid na si Reina, bilang asawa ni Marcus. Ang kasal na tinakasan ng kapatid. Sigurado siya na hindi rin siya papansin ni Marcus sa oras na siya na ang asawa nito kaya pumayag siya, ngunit sa hindi malamang dahilan, bigla na lamang nagbago ang ugali ni Marcus. Nagbago ang lahat, ang dating kinukwento ng kapatid ay nag-iba. Ano ang gagawin niya? Tatakas narin ba siya kagaya ng kapatid? O mananatili sa tabi ng lalaking ni minsan ay hindi niya pa kilala nang lubusan.

The first of a twin is always created to protect and guide the second, but no one said anything about them giving up their identity to fulfill the destiny of their younger sibling. London Elrod had no ambition in life, unlike her sister, who had her head in the cloud. One incident and a thing of joy becomes a river of sorrow, and London takes on the identity of her sister. She now has to answer a name that wasn't hers and carry a cross she knew nothing about. There's a light at the end of the tunnel, but would she be able to survive till she gets there?