Long Way Down Rules

You never really know if it's dark or if you're actually blind till the blindfold is removed. Niamh Cross's marriage to Caspian Blackwell, the man of her dreams, was going well till she allowed her desperate and homeless cousin, Isla, to come live with them. It started slowly at first, from telling her he wanted them to have separate rooms to denying her access to his room. But it didn't take long for the blindfold to be removed and Niamh saw everything that had been happening under her very nose, in a house bought with her own money. She did what any sane woman would do and with a gun aimed at his head, she forced him into signing both divorce papers and transfer of funds to her name. Caspian didn't know what he had lost till his wife completely left his life and he became miserable. When he found her again at an event, he held her wrist and asked her to come back. But she was with another man already. She looked at him like he was a nuisance and said, "Get down on your knees and beg."

When I'm on my break, I decide to help my neighbor, Yvonne Cook, fix the gas valve, which has been leaking gas. But she instantly lodges a report, saying that I've gone against the rules. She demands compensation for the shock that she's suffered as well. I don't bother defending myself. Instead, I just write a reflection report. After that, my squad leader sentences me to disciplinary confinement. Yvonne wastes no time gloating in the tenants' group chat. "It's time to teach these power-abusers a good lesson, anyway!" Three days later, a fire breaks out in Yvonne's apartment. Thick plumes of dark smoke keep rising from the burning apartment. Yvonne wails as she bangs on my door and pleads with me. "Please crack open the door and put out the fire!" I can only sigh from behind my front door. "I'm under disciplinary suspension right now, so I can't break protocol. You should wait for the fire truck instead."

Clayton Amos finally agrees to marry me during my fifth year as the antagonist of a novel. On the day of my wedding, the chandelier in the middle of the hall suddenly snaps and falls. At the most critical moment, he shoves me aside and runs over to protect Gladys Dawson, the protagonist of the novel, and his first love. Clayton's arm is slashed as a result, and blood pours out of the wound, dyeing his pristine white suit red. Meanwhile, Gladys remains unharmed in his arms. I hold a hand against the bleeding wound on my neck and finally accept the fact that Clayton never loved me. This is when the system appears and asks me, "Hailey Paltrow, would you like to abort your mission now?" I nod in silent response. "Since he's going to end up losing all four of his limbs and ultimately wish for death, I'll let him have it."

"Fresh out of prison and you can't wait to prostitute yourself, you sure are a no-nonsense bitch." Framed and imprisoned, Zona is kidnapped just after her release from prison to a slave auction and bought by her nemesis, Mafia Lord Valerio, for five million dollars. Because of the misunderstanding that Zona is the murderer of his own sister, plus the misunderstanding that she has betrayed him physically and mentally in the past, Valerio, who used to be gentle and accommodating to Zona, now sits in the VVIP box of the auction and casts a gaze at her as cold as looking at garbage. Valerio does not want to kill her, so he humiliates her, in order to revenge, he wantonly plundered her spirit, body, tortured her like a broken doll, and threatened to set her free only if she paid him back five million dollars. Zona endures all the abuse and pain she is subjected to in order to clear her name and avenge the death of her best sister. When the real killer appears in front of her, will she be able to fight back and make the bad guy pay? When the truth comes out, how will Valerio deal with the "angel" that he has tortured so much? And when it's all over, what path will Zona choose, heaven or hell?

A blizzard is approaching. Yet my mountain guide girlfriend, Clover Ainsley, insists on waiting for her childhood sweetheart, Elliot West, to return to the group before leading everyone down the mountain. In order to save everyone's lives, I keep pleading with her to take us down the mountain first. Finally, she reluctantly agrees to my pleas and takes us home. Unexpectedly, Elliot is trapped in a cave afterward. He ends up freezing to death because help never comes to him. Clover claims that she doesn't regret saving me and the rest of the group. In fact, she even proposes to me afterward. But on the night of our engagement, she poisons me and drags me to the snow mountain. "If it wasn't for you demanding me to leave the mountain, Elliot wouldn't have died! He was the billionaire's son, you know! You can't even compare to him at all! "He had died naked, and his stomach was filled with snow! I want you to suffer the same way he did!" After that, Clover strips me naked and pushes me into a snow mound. When my body goes all stiff from the cold, she drags me to a high ledge before throwing me off the ledge. Just like that, my body shatters into pieces because of how brittle I've become. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day the blizzard is about to come. If Clover wants to wait for Elliot, who's taken on my identity as the billionaire's son, then she can go ahead and do that. I'm not going to meddle with their fate this time.

My wolf has a rare gift—she can detect lies and reveal the truth about what anyone tries to deceive. My Alpha—Theron Shadewound—loves me dearly. For as long as I've known him, he's never once lied to me. However, a month before our mating ceremony, my wolf catches a whisper of truth from his heart. He had thought, "I'm holding the mating ceremony with Mirelle next week, and Arynn must never find out." I freeze when I realize something. He'll be using the ballroom I spent two months meticulously setting up to host a mating ceremony next week with his childhood sweetheart, Mirelle Hollowmaw. As it turns out, my mating ceremony, scheduled a month later, is nothing but a joke. Quietly, I pack my belongings and book a ticket to leave the Nightcrest pack. On the day Theron and Mirelle pledge themselves to each other, I walk away without looking back.

"My husband sold me like property. But the man who bought me... he wants to make me his queen." For three years, Stacy has endured the unthinkable. Her husband Matt doesn't just neglect her—he sells her. Night after night, he forces her into the beds of wealthy investors and powerful business partners, using her body to seal his deals. An "open marriage," he calls it. But there's nothing open about being used as merchandise. "I was his business asset. His bargaining chip. His whore." At the Sterling Gala, Matt drugs her and delivers her to a room full of predators—five men ready to claim their "payment." But something inside Stacy finally breaks. She fights back. She runs. And crashes straight into the arms of Michael Sotheby—billionaire, corporate king, and the one man even her husband fears. "I didn't save you for free. You owe me a debt. And I intend to collect." Michael's protection comes with a price. What starts as a transaction becomes something far more dangerous. His touch doesn't feel like violation. His kiss awakens desires she thought were dead. For the first time in three years, she feels alive. But when morning comes, terror grips her heart. Michael isn't just any billionaire—he's Matt's biggest rival. And he has no intention of letting her go. Caught between the husband who sells her and the billionaire who wants to own her, Stacy discovers that sometimes the most dangerous man is the only one who can set you free. WARNING: This book contains mature themes including sexual coercion, trafficking within marriage, dubious consent, dark romance elements, and morally complex characters. Intended for adult readers only.

My best friend, Sophia Lisciotti, is brutally murdered at the docks, and I cover up for the real killer. The Don of the Sollazzo family interrogates me, and the Sollazzos hunt me down. Nevertheless, I guard the secret. I would rather die than speak. Ten years later, my former best friend, Valeria Sollazzo, rises to become the Principessa of the Sollazzo family, wielding absolute power. She chains me to the tribunal platform and places a memory extractor over my head. "Lina, you let the murderer walk free for ten years. Today, I'll drag out the secret you've spent your whole life hiding." But when the screen projects the murderer's face, the ruthless Principessa goes deathly pale.

When I was five months pregnant, I was kidnapped by a group of thugs. They used my phone to call my brother, Jeremy Wirkola, and my husband, Grant Sanders, to demand a ransom of ten million, but no one answered. I was tortured and assaulted until I was barely alive. When I was finally rescued, Jeremy cried and promised to avenge me. Grant was in tears too. He vowed to get me treated. However, while under the haze of anesthesia, I overheard Grant's cold voice outside the door. “Jessie is waiting for a bone marrow, but don’t forget to remove Ashlyn’s uterus. Just tell her the injuries were too severe to save it. Oh, and get the best surgeon for her. She’s afraid of pain.” His assistant hesitated. He was clearly uncomfortable. “Mr. Sanders, isn’t this going too far?” Grant paused for a second before he replied firmly. “She refused to donate her bone marrow to Jessie and even used the baby as an excuse. She’s selfish. Besides, if we don’t do this, how can I bring back Jessie and our child into the family? As for Ashlyn, she’s my wife. I’ll make it up to her for the rest of my life. She used to bully Jessie with her status, which resulted in Jessie suffering from depression and almost killing herself. It’s time she paid the price for it.” As I listened to his heartless words, something inside me shattered completely. Since they had chosen to sacrifice me for Jessie, let them have what they wanted then.

The day I fail to get into university, my childhood sweetheart breaks off our engagement. Then he delivers the next blow. He's marrying my best friend, Katherine Schaffer, who actually got into a university. They've even already registered their marriage. Crushed by the double betrayal, I leave home to clear my head, only to fall into the hands of human traffickers. Katherine's stepbrother, Dominic Frizzell, spends his entire fortune rescuing me. Even after I lose a hand, he proposes. After we marry, he spoils me in every way. Sometimes it feels like he practically worships me. That goes on for seven years, until one day, I overhear my mother-in-law lecturing him. "You abducted Valerie and cut off her hand just so Katherine could take her place at the university. And to make sure Valerie couldn't get revenge, you even married her. You've done more than enough for Katherine." Dominic's voice holds a quiet melancholy. "It's still not enough. Kat always deserves the best." I freeze behind the door, stunned by the truth. It turns out that all the suffering and every supposed act of salvation were simply Dominic using me.