Marianne Lake Salary Novels & Stories

Two best friends. Two love stories. One unforgettable ride. Rain’s running from heartbreak. Harper’s running headfirst into it. One’s swearing off love, the other’s daring it to try her. Every five chapters, the spotlight shifts—first Rain’s messy, laugh-out-loud journey, then Harper’s fiery, no-nonsense approach to romance. Two arcs, two wildly different paths… but somehow, fate keeps pulling them (and the irresistible men they should avoid) right back in. 💖 Who will fall first? 💖 Who will fall harder? Grab your seat – this is one love story that plays out in stereo. Harper didn’t sign up to play Cupid— but for ten times her salary? She’ll find her boss, Eros Lancaster, a bride in sixty days. The problem? Eros doesn’t do love. Wealth, charm, and a lineup of flings—he has it all. But with his company’s future on the line, his sister’s demanding he settle down. Just as Harper starts scheming, Eros flips the script—offering her the role of his contract wife. Now, Harper’s stuck between his sister’s deal and his tempting proposal. What could possibly go wrong? ~~~ One night turns into a morning-after she can’t stop thinking about. And when fate throws him back in her path—again and again—Rain starts to wonder if this wasn’t just some random hookup. Maybe, just maybe, the universe isn’t done with them yet. Love wasn’t on Rain’s to-do list… but it might have just RSVP’d anyway.

“Lou,” He called out before I could open the door to his office, “I have always wondered just how loud you would scream when I'm fucking you.” I stop in my tracks, unable to move or turn back to look at him, because if I do, he will see just how much his words affect me. Because this idiot man has not just said if, he said when. Years after I fled town with a shattered heart, trying to outrun the pain of a high-school romance that turned out to be nothing more than a cruel bet. But life brings me face-to-face with the last person I ever wanted to see again. The boy who broke me is now a man, and he is now the owner of the strip club I work in. I need this job to keep a roof over my grandmother’s and my head, and he knows it and he uses it tooo well. With a single sentence, he doubles my salary and pulls me right back into the gravity of his presence, like the years apart never happened. But everything changes the moment he finds out I have a boyfriend. The guilt I saw in his eyes hardens and darkens, then turn into possessiveness, something I remember all too well. He once walked away from taking what that stupid bet demanded… my virginity, and now, it’s painfully clear he intends to make sure I don’t give that part of myself to anyone who isn’t him. Because in his mind, no matter how many years have passed… I’m still his.

On the day I was supposed to register the marriage with my girlfriend, the CEO of Whitmore Group, her scheming male assistant stepped in first and handed over his ID. Just like that, the marriage certificate that should have belonged to me and my girlfriend became his and hers instead. All I did was ask a couple of questions. The assistant dropped to his knees in front of me, looking as if his world had ended. “Nathan, this is all my fault. If I hadn’t needed to get my child registered for school, I never would have resorted to something like this and entered a fake marriage with Claire.” Then he started sobbing and tried to slam his head into the wall as if he had to die to make up for it. Claire Whitmore had always been sharp and levelheaded, but this time, instead of saying a word for me, she slapped me across the face in front of everyone. “Ryan is a single father. Everything he did was for his child. Do you really have to be this petty? “It’s just a certificate. Once Ryan’s child is enrolled, I’ll divorce him. What difference does it make if you get yours a little later? Did you really have to push him to the edge? “Get on your knees and apologize to Ryan. Then give him half your salary as compensation. If you behave, I might let you borrow our certificate, take a picture of it, and show it off in your family group chat. Otherwise, don’t even think about getting one with me.” I gave a cold laugh. “Then forget it.” And I did not mean only the certificate. I was done with her, too.

My father was a senior HR executive. He used KPIs to define my life. "Rank top ten in your grade, and I'll give you a B, with a bonus of 250 dollars. "Place in a state-level competition, and you'll get an A, with a bonus of 500. "If your SAT score hits Ivy-level, I'll give you an S+ and a 5,000-dollar year-end bonus." I studied as if my life depended on it, and in the end, I got the acceptance letter. My father slapped a contract down in front of me instead. "Congratulations on onboarding into the next phase. Starting today, your allowance will be structured as base salary plus performance plus attendance bonus. "Base pay is 250 dollars a month, enough to keep you from starving. "To prepare you for a high-pressure work environment, I’ll conduct random inspections. Fail, and your pay gets docked." When I ran a 104°F fever, he cut my attendance bonus, saying my physical resilience didn't meet standards. When I forgot to submit a weekly report because I was buried in schoolwork, he froze all my money. To stay alive, I went behind his back and sold blood at the hospital. At the end of the semester, I held my transcript and scholarship certificate, thinking I had finally earned the highest rating. But my father looked at me without a trace of warmth. "Your S+ bonus has been reallocated. The company decided to invest it in your brother, Harry. He has more potential." I looked at the 100-dollar "consolation prize" he handed me and laughed. So in his company, I didn't even qualify as an "outstanding employee."

Seventeen-year-old Elara Ward has spent her life being forgotten and shuffled between foster homes and small towns that never remembered her once she’s gone. But the dying town of Willowmere is different. The air hums with whispers, the lake no longer reflects the moon, and something ancient is stirring beneath the willows. When Elara follows a strange light into the woods one blood-red night, she crosses the veil and a boundary between the human world and the Lumenwild, a realm of living moonlight and haunted shadows. There, she’s marked by an ancient power known as Moonfire, a symbol burned into her skin that pulses with the rhythm of the twin moons above. Saved by four mysterious men who are named Cael, their golden-eyed Alpha; Kian, the lightning-tongued rogue; Auren, the silent watcher; and Nyx, the shadow who walks between worlds and Elara learns that her arrival has reignited a prophecy buried in legend. The Riftborn, creatures of bone and smoke, are returning, and the mark she bears is both a weapon and a curse. In the heart of the Lumenwild’s glowing forest lies the Sanctum, a stronghold where wolves walk in light and the Moon’s will is law. There, Elara begins to uncover the truth, her crossing was no accident. The veil didn’t just let her in but it had called her home. As the moons draw closer and the bond between Elara and the wolves deepens, she must choose whether to embrace the power that could heal a broken world… or unleash the one that could end it. Because the Moon is awake again and she remembers her chosen.

Sebastian Miller was my Alpha mate. Because I asked him to remove his Beta, Charlotte Lewis, from her position, we had a huge fight. After that, he shut me out completely. Three months later, he assumed I had realized my mistake and suggested that we go on a vacation to Highfeather Forest. The moment Charlotte found out, she exploded. She screamed at Sebastian, made a scene, and even threatened to leave the pack. To calm her down, Sebastian canceled our trip. He used a business deal as an excuse and gave the vacation spot to her instead. Afterward, he offered me a shallow explanation. “I’m the Alpha of this pack. The pack’s interests have to come first. As the Luna, you should understand that.” I looked at the post Charlotte shared on her feed. The two of them stood by the lake, close and intimate, like true mates enjoying a private getaway. I knew everything they had done, but I said nothing. I only nodded. Sebastian mistook my silence for understanding. He seemed pleased with me, even promised that one day he would make the trip up to me. What he did not know was that I had already signed the withdrawal agreement to leave the pack. I had also gone to a witch and obtained the potion to sever a mate bond. It was time for this to end.

**********This story contains subjects and topics that are not suitable for younger viewers. Scenes that are depicted are that of abuse, slavery, trafficing, vulgar language, ect.. This story has a lot of dark and twisted topics and should not be read if you know these dark themes will be triggering. I will do my best to Label the chapters of abuse but know in almost every chapter there is some sort of triggering material. Again, I do not wish to cause any harm to anys emotional and mental health. Their are also subjestive material that includes but is not limited to emotional, physical, sexaul abuse as well as pedophilia. I in no way support any of these tragedies but do create dark and twisted stories. All stories created by me are completely fictional and have no real merit to any person's life (at least intentionally, I am not psychic and can not be sure that someone has or hasn’t gone through these horrors. Just know that you have been fully warned. Felicity is the oldest daughter of the Alpha of the Howl Pack. They are well known for their underground buisness. Forced to marry another alphas son in order to take over for her father Felicity is at a crossroads from wanting what she dreams and doing what she was brought up to do. Always the dutiful daughter. Felix was orphaned at an early age and sold into the seedy underground world of human sex slavery. Felix has only wanted one thing. Peace. His peace is that of a beautiful girl that sits by the lake every night to console him. In his dreams.

After two months of surviving on her own, Kieran returns to Concord, stepping straight back into the suffocating warmth of family love she isn’t sure she’s ready for. Fresh from a funeral and carrying wounds no one fully understands, she’s greeted by watchful grandparents, anxious relatives, and questions about a future that no longer feels like hers to decide. Concord is familiar, comforting even, but it’s also filled with memories she hasn’t healed from. Chief among them is Lucas, the boy who was once her best friend and then, without warning, walked away. No explanation. No goodbye. Just silence that hurt deeper than any fight ever could. His absence lingers, heavy with unanswered questions and unspoken feelings Kieran has never allowed herself to name. Seeking space, Kieran escapes to her favorite spot by the lake, hoping for peace. Instead, fate intervenes. The unmistakable growl of a motorcycle announces Lucas’s return, changed, bigger, sharper, and undeniably no longer the boy she remembers. One glance is enough to shatter the fragile calm she’s built. The past isn’t buried. It’s right next door. As summer begins, Kieran is forced to confront unresolved hurt, broken trust, and the dangerous pull of someone who once knew her better than anyone else. Some friendships don’t end cleanly...and some feelings refuse to stay buried.

For a $5 million research stipend, I agreed to let the System install an empathic link inside my body. "Subject. Are you sure you want to proceed? Once installed, the procedure cannot be reversed. This is a prototype. Side effects are not fully characterized." I looked at the sidewalk-stall clothes my girlfriend Cara Lake had bought herself, and the drugstore-grade makeup on her vanity. I nodded. That night, while she was out at her bar job. A current came up out of nowhere inside me. My whole body lit up with a sickening pleasure that did not belong to me. Seven times. A few days later I waited near the club where she worked. I overheard her with her friends. "Cara. You're something else. Pouring La Prairie into a plastic bag and using it like that? Faking poor like a champion. Doesn't Adam ever notice?" "Notice? He's stupid. He'll believe anything I say. His father got hit by a car, lay in bed without the money for treatment, died alone. I told Adam I couldn't help. He stayed up all night comforting me. I almost died laughing." The laughter went into me like a knife. I got out of there. The tears came on the walk home. I picked up the phone. "Professor. I'll go to the classified institute. I'll go now."

During the exchange of tokens in the Marking Ceremony, I presented the wolf tooth ring I had carved myself, as a witness to our marking. But my Alpha mate, Frendo, remained completely indifferent, not releasing any marking aura, as though he had entirely forgotten that today was the day of our spiritual bonding ceremony. At that moment, Lily updated her Instagram, saying she would be returning to the Sliver Lake Pack in an hour. The air immediately filled with the restless scent of wolves, and before I could react, my Beta brother, George, stepped onto the ceremony stage and emotionlessly announced, "The Marking Ceremony is canceled." Frendo and George, in perfect synchronization, turned and left the altar together, leaving me standing alone, under the watchful eyes of all the Pack members. They wanted to see how a one-person marking ceremony would proceed. It wasn’t until I held back my inner frustration and awkwardly finished the ceremony with some semblance of dignity that I opened Lily’s Instagram. In her latest photo, George and Frendo were both surrounding her, releasing intimate signals. One was holding a silver moon festival gift box, while the other offered her a moonlight rose, her favorite. I bitterly smiled and wiped away the tears from my eyes before calling the one family that truly mattered, my flesh and blood. "Dad, Mom. I want to go home."