Novel & Cerita Lila Hayes

To avoid being accused of favoritism, my mother forced me, despite my severe anemia, to participate in the school's group blood donation drive. After only 100 milliliters, my vision started going dark. I reached for the needle, trying to stop the procedure, but the young nurse immediately grabbed my wrist and pinned it down. "Only 100 milliliters and you already want to quit? The other students all donated 400." She glanced at my pale face, her eyes full of disgust. "Donating blood is something honorable. Selfish people like you, pretending to be sick just to get out of it, deserve to have double drawn as punishment!" Nearby, my mother watched me coldly, disappointment written all over her face. "Briana Hayes, is this really how I raised you? "Everyone else donated. Don't think you're special. "You will finish these 400 milliliters today, even if it kills you!" I gasped for air, my heartbeat pounding so violently it felt like my chest would explode. By the time they reached the third bag, my vision had completely blurred, and I collapsed heavily onto the floor. My soul slowly drifted upward as I looked at my mother with guilt in my eyes. I'm sorry, Mom. I really wasn't lying. This time… I truly couldn't hold on any longer.

“Do you think I’ll die a virgin?” I stuttered, the alcohol making me sway until I fell onto his lap. “No,” he murmured, his voice dark and low. “I won’t let that happen.” His hands slid beneath my shirt, stopping only when they cupped my breasts. “I’ll make you taste heaven while you’re still alive,” he whispered. “And I’ll make that fool watch me fuck you until you forget he ever existed.” ***** Dahlia Hayes, a successful and renowned lawyer, faced the ultimate betrayal when her boyfriend of two years sold her nudes to buy a diamond ring for her best friend. That single act destroyed her career, shattered her reputation, and left her homeless. She thought her life was over, until she met him. Alec King. He's the cold, arrogant, but irresistible multimillionaire CEO of King Enterprises. Unlike everyone else, he didn’t cast her aside or judge her for her past. Instead, he promised revenge served on a golden platter. He vowed to help her rise again and make those who betrayed her fall to their knees, begging for mercy. But Alec’s help comes with one condition: She must marry him for a year… and let him show her what it truly means to be worshipped.

Ethan Carter, the school’s notorious flirt, is used to getting any girl he wants. When a new literature teacher, the stunning and mysterious Ms. Vivian Hayes, arrives, she instantly becomes the fantasy of every male student. Confident in his charm, Ethan makes a reckless bet with his friends—to seduce the alluring teacher and secretly record their night together. But what starts as a game turns into something unexpected. That night, as Ethan watches Vivian under the soft glow of moonlight, he feels something foreign yet undeniable—love. For the first time in his life, he wants more than just a conquest. He wants her heart. His world shatters when Vivian discovers the existence of the video. Devastated and betrayed, she vanishes from the city without a trace. Ethan, consumed by guilt, desperately seeks redemption, but by the time he tracks her down, it’s too late—she is married to a wealthy man handpicked by her family. Trapped in a loveless marriage, Vivian forces herself to move on, yet deep inside, she knows the truth. The boy she tried to forget had already stolen her heart before she even realized it. Now bound by duty and haunted by love, she faces a cruel twist of fate—choosing between the life she’s obligated to live and the love she was never meant to have. Can Ethan win back the only woman he ever loved, or will fate forever keep them apart?

Right after finishing a meeting, I opened a forum and saw a warning post. The location tag was our company. The title read: “Red flag! What a cheap company. Anyone who joins is a total sucker. They can’t even afford a decent coffee break.” The photo attached showed the expensive coffee and five-star desserts I had just asked my assistant to distribute to everyone. I frowned and tagged the entire group chat, asking if anyone had suggestions about the afternoon tea. A Gen-Z intern who had just joined, Julian Hayes, instantly replied with a voice message: “Boss, no offense, but these assembly-line desserts are full of trans fats. Nobody would eat them.” “A truly humane company hires a Michelin chef to cook and slice everything fresh on site. That’s what real respect for employees looks like.” I laughed in disbelief. Our company’s daily coffee break budget was thirty dollars per person—already considered top-tier in the industry. So I replied, “Since it’s impossible to satisfy everyone’s taste, we’ll cancel afternoon tea from now on and convert the budget into cash for everyone instead.” Less than five minutes later, that post was updated: “Guys, can you believe this? I made a perfectly reasonable suggestion and the lame boss immediately canceled the whole coffee break perk! This is the true face of corporate greed—can’t handle even a little bit of honesty!”

Clara Hayes never planned to step into the world of billionaires, power games, and corporate warfare. She is a driven, brilliant consultant whose career is finally on the rise until she’s assigned to work with Adrian Vale, the ruthless CEO of one of the most powerful companies in the city. Adrian Vale built his empire on control. He doesn’t hesitate. He doesn’t attach. And he never lets emotions interfere with business until Clara walks into his office and challenges every rule he lives by. Their connection is instant. Dangerous. Unwanted. As whispers begin to spread about their proximity, Adrian’s past crashes back into his present in the form of Serena Hale, his beautiful, strategic, and relentless ex-fiancée. Serena is not just a woman scorned; she is a corporate tycoon with influence powerful enough to destroy reputations and rewrite narratives. And she wants Adrian back both as a lover and as a business ally. When a public scandal erupts, Clara becomes collateral damage in a world she barely understands. Forced out of her position and stripped of her professional safety, she must decide whether to walk away from Adrian for good or risk everything for a man who thrives in control but is losing it because of her. As lust battles logic and devotion threatens destruction, Clara and Adrian find themselves trapped between power, betrayal, and a desire strong enough to ruin them both. Because in Adrian’s world, love is not a refuge. It is a war.

In the final minute before the exam, my childhood friend, the one who was supposed to bring both of our exam documents, handed in only his own admission ticket. When it was my turn, his hands were empty. He said matter-of-factly, “Your exam ticket and ID aren’t here. Skip a subject and give your Cornell slot to Summer.” I froze. I couldn’t believe he would sabotage my college exam just to help Summer. Summer Hayes was the class beauty, but my grades had consistently outshined hers throughout high school. I looked at the boy I had known for eighteen years. Anger and disbelief bubbled up, making me laugh bitterly. Then I turned and walked away. Behind me, Jason Turner shouted, exasperated. “You are so good at school. So what if you repeat a year? “And now you are skipping the exam on a whim. How will that make Summer look? Are you really letting everyone think she forced you?” I didn’t even glance back. Skipping the exam on a whim. He had no idea. Two weeks ago, I had already secured an Early Admission spot in Harvard’s Physics Talent Program. Coming to the college entrance exam today was just a gesture of our eighteen-year friendship, going through the motions with him. Since he didn’t care, that friendship ended here.

Ethan Hayes and I grew up together, but we ended up resenting each other for a lifetime. He blamed me for taking matters into my own hands, forcing his memories back, and causing his true love to jump off a building. I blamed him for going back on his word. He promised to love me forever, but after losing his memory, he fell for someone else. In the early stages of our ten-year marriage, we were as cold as strangers who knew each other too well. When I got diagnosed with ALS, everyone in town urged him to divorce me. He only carried me to a chapel, knelt among the burning candles for an entire day and night, and prayed for a miracle. On my deathbed, he held me through the night, his forehead against my cheek. "I've done my duty to you in this life," he whispered. "If there's a next one, I hope you don't make me remember. Just let me be with her." Tears slid down my face. I finally got it. I shouldn't have chained him down with our teenage love, dragging him through a whole life. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day I found Ethan. This time, I chose to let him be with his true love instead of waking his memories.

One childhood crush. One unbreakable rule. One mansion where every hallway feels like a trap. For fifteen years, Leighton Hayes has loved Noah Knight from afar, the untouchable older brother of her best friend Chloe. Now twenty-three, broke, and freshly homeless, Leighton has nowhere to go but the sprawling estate of the man who once barely noticed her. Noah remembers her all too well. The billionaire who built an empire from nothing has spent the last six months trying to become a better man, and the shy girl in oversized hoodies who just moved into his guest wing is the most dangerous temptation he’s ever faced. Chloe’s single rule was always clear: her friends are off-limits. Especially to Noah, the reformed Playboy who used to burn through supermodels and headlines. But late nights, shared secrets, and one stolen shirt ignite a fire neither of them can extinguish. What begins as whispered confessions and almost-kisses explodes into a secret affair neither wants to end, even as the lies stack higher. When Chloe discovers the truth, the betrayal threatens to destroy the only family each of them has ever known. Leighton must decide if love is worth losing her best friend. Noah must prove he’s finally ready to risk everything for the one woman he swore he’d never touch. Some rules are made to be broken. Some hearts refuse to stay forbidden.

"You're…you're divorcing me on our anniversary? Our fourth anniversary?" He quirked an eyebrow. "So what?" A surge of anger swept through me at his aloofness. "Tell me Jason. Tell me. Did our marriage mean anything to you?" “You could’ve at least let me eat before destroying me,” I said, my lips trembling with the weight of unshed tears. Jason shrugged. “I don’t see the point of dragging it out. It’s done. Sign the papers.” On their fourth wedding anniversary, Jason slides divorce papers over the dining table. Isabelle is bewildered and tries to reason with him but he is adamant and he insists that she signs the papers. Then, Lila, her cousin, appears out of nowhere, visibly pregnant and clings to Jason possessively. Utterly shocked and angered, she signs the papers and leaves the house. When she returns, she is locked out. Just like that she becomes homeless. She wakes up in a cheap motel with no plan, no money, just nothing. She gets a cleaning job but on her way home after the first work day, she collapses. She discovers she is pregnant. By the help of a mysterious man she meets at the club, she leaves town. Years later, she returns to the city, changed, sophisticated and wealthy. What happens when her path and Jason's cross? Is she back for dirty revenge? To crush his world to nothing but dust? Or is there a chance she would take him back? What happens when the mysterious man returns to her life?

I’d just wrapped up a short trip with my daughter, Elara. On the way back, I figured I’d swing by the Hale, our family’s casino, to check in on my son, Cassian. Maybe grab dinner together. I didn’t expect to be mistaken for his latest fling. Correction: not mistaken—accused. Violently. “You think you can just waltz in here like some queen?” she hissed. “I’m the woman Cassian loves! What kind of whore are you? And is this your bastard daughter with him?” She locked us in the basement. No phone. No light. Just concrete walls and the stench of mildew and madness. Then came the fists. She slapped me across the face—again and again—until my skin stung and my ears rang. When that didn’t satisfy her, she pulled a gun and aimed low. The bullet tore through my knee. I bit back a scream, shielding Elara with my body. “You need to die, whore,” she spat. One of her men hesitated, “We should at least tell Mr. Hale first. If we are going to kill these two in his casino.” Lila of course said no. But that man brought Cassian anyway. My son stepped into this dark little room like it was any other Tuesday—until he saw me. His whole body went still. The blood drained from his face. And then, in the smallest, most broken voice I’d ever heard from him, he whispered, “Mom? What are you doing in my basement?”