Messing With Someone New

To afford train tickets home for New Year's Eve, I searched for a part-time job and stumbled into a livestream that was practically throwing money at the chat. A young woman in a silk robe rested her chin on her hand. Behind her, a villa glowed under expensive lighting that reflected off polished marble floors. "Being kept in here is suffocating," she said in a voice that mixed boredom with sweetness. "My sponsor gives me more money than I can spend. Help me out. Take some off my hands." Cash drops flashed across the screen one after another. I tapped as fast as I could, my heart hammering. A few large ones landed in my account. I was close. One more would cover both my ticket and my boyfriend's. The streamer leaned closer to the camera. "He keeps saying my tear mole looks like his girlfriend's," she said, her mouth twisting with disgust. "So unlucky. Of all things, I had to match with some broke girl." My finger slipped. I had a tear mole under my eye in the same spot. The live chat flooded with questions. [How is the sponsor's girlfriend broke?] The streamer gave a short snort and reapplied her lipstick, as if correcting a minor flaw. "He's just messing around. He tricked her into 200,000 dollars in debt. She's so stupid she works multiple jobs to help him pay it off." A chill settled in my chest. My boyfriend also owed 200,000 dollars. She continued, her tone light, "The funniest part? He slept with me for three days. When he left, I asked if he was giving her a taste of honey." She smiled cruelly. "He said all he has to do is claim he's going to work a construction site hauling rebar. The idiot will feel guilty and deliver food all night. So he won't need to please her." Another large cash drop flashed across the screen. The total reached the exact amount I needed. My phone rang. Benjamin's name lit up the display. When I answered, his voice sounded worn down, as if it had scraped against concrete. "Via, we still don't have enough for the tickets," he said. "I hauled rebar and made a little over 40 dollars. I'm heading home now."

Monte and Ericka agreed to marry only on paper to avoid the pressure from Monte's grandfather, who wanted him to marry Almira Madrigal. Monte believes Almira is connected to the death of his sibling, Montana. However, their happy couple life, and starting falling to each other, was replaced by a series of tragedies, leading to Monte and Ericka's separation. Monte thought Ericka was dead. But when he discovered that she was alive, She already had children. How can he regain Ericka's love, especially since she has built a new life with someone else and their children? Will he be able to reclaim the woman he let go, or should he continue pursuing her despite the intense pain?

Just one night, Elisa's world was turned upside down. Her virginity was snatched away without her consent. Before she could regain herself, she received a sack letter from her boss. Life was unfair. To keep her sick mother alive, she needed to accept a menial job she never imagined. Her beauty became her torture. She was framed by her mistress and she suffered the greatest humiliation of her life. Multiple times, she contemplated suicide. But the love of her mom kept her going until she became a surrogate mother to someone who was once a thorn in her skin. Will this be the end of her world? Or the start of a new beginning?

On the fifth year after marrying Giovanni Santoro, the Don of the Santoro family, he decides to make a public appearance with his mistress, Valentina Conti. He no longer denies the truth behind the romantic scandals. Videos of them that have been taken in secret, as well as salacious gossip featuring the two, are spread like wildfire in New Albion. It's an act of declaring ownership over Giovanni that he himself has silently permitted. There are even busybodies who don't know their place and decide to prod me for answers with smiles on their faces. "Does this mean someone else is going to replace you as the Donna of the family?" That night, the underworld of New Albion secretly goes through a thorough purge. I file for a divorce with Giovanni immediately before marrying his biggest enemy, Franco Messina. After that, the Santoro family goes into bankruptcy. Their power and authority easily crumble into dust. Giovanni kneels before me. With tears running down his face, he begs me for forgiveness. I just smile while waving the divorce agreement in my hand. "Sorry, but we're already divorced."

“You’ll be my fiancée until the baby is born,” he said. “And after that?” “We’re done.” --- A baby. A contract. And a man who still loves someone else. One night bound Ivy Marlowe to Asher Cole, the ruthless, magnetic heir to the Red Star empire, in ways neither expected. Now a temporary engagement is her only shield from scandal… and his way to keep her at a distance. But tangled with her new life in London, Ivy still holds the ghosts of a past she can’t outrun, and Asher’s heart belongs to a long lost love. Locked in his world of secrets and colder rules, she swore she wouldn’t fall for him. Again. She’s starting to think that was more of a warning than a rule.

Nora Connolly's parents were murdered by a werewolf. Or at least that was what she thought. Upon meeting Roman Eliot by chance in a subway, Nora finds out that The New York Prince of Werewolves is actually her mate and someone has been keeping her from him. She learns that she is actually a witch, born to a coven that disliked the idea of werewolves and witches together, forcing her and her parents on the run. The coven manipulated Nora into thinking that a werewolf had killed her parents using shapeshifting magic, and pushed her and Roman away for years. When the truth is revealed, she reluctantly teams up with Roman and her family to fight the corruption in her coven bringing them together (or maybe pushing them apart).

Born with the mark of the crescent, she was a blessed wolf—a wolf who was meant to bring prosperity to her kind and bring them to new heights. But at what cost? She was left to discover that on her own. Seraphine Williams, born a wolf, was raised by humans. She never got the chance to learn about her roots; to connect to her essence, her soul. That was until she met him. Alpha Alaris, feared by the most, was a force to reckon with. He ruled over one of the largest packs in all of Canada with an iron fist. Famous for being cold and ruthless, he was someone with a heart of gold but only for those he held dear to himself. What will happen when a clumsy girl with no knowledge of the werewolf world crosses paths with the most ruthless of the alphas?

I stopped fighting. The moment I came back, I stepped out of the family spotlight on purpose— no arguments, no expectations, no awkward “let’s bond” moments. And somehow… that’s when my parents lost their minds. They made my little sister the heir? I congratulated them and filed my transfer to the Vegas branch the same afternoon. They threw her a massive coming-of-age gala? I smiled, booked a flight, and left before the invitations were printed. They bought her a limited-edition luxury car? I claimed my “old wrist injury” made driving impossible and insisted she take it. I thought they’d be relieved. I thought they’d finally get their perfect family without me messing up the picture. But instead—my cold, distant parents started calling nonstop. Showing up at my door. Pleading with me to come home. Asking what they did wrong. Why now? Why only when I stopped trying? Because in my last life, I spent decades clawing for their love— only to die bitter, resented, and humiliated. Even my grown son told me I was embarrassing. This time, I came back different. I refused to fight for a place in their world again. I refused to compete with my sister. I refused to beg. But the moment I stepped away… the entire family empire began to crack. And now they’re terrified. Not because I left— but because they finally realized what they lost.

Camilla George is a young singer at a local bar, who has everything going for her at her pace, but her life took a huge turn when she bumped into her doppelganger in a mall one day, but only if that was all. She was proposed to marry her fiance. How could she marry the fiance of a girl, who looked just like her? How was she supposed to cope? Did you think she was going to agree to the setup? EXCERPT: “Why are you messing around with me? Your job is just look pretty, and be my wife!” the cold man rumbled while glaring at Camilla, and a heavy sigh escaped her lips. “And that is what I have been doing, Mr. Sanders!” she rattled, but the man hissed, not believing it. “No, you have been doing more. You had been seducing me, and snugging into my mind!” he accused. “Was that a bad thing? So did you mean I should go away?” Camilla asked, meeting the man's fiery gaze, and she sucked in air when the man's hot palm touched her back. “No, even if you do, I am going to find you with my last breath, because you need to take responsibility for me,” he says. “So what happened to the no falling in love rule,” Camilla asked with a solemn look. “Trash it!” he says, crashing his lips on hers.

A bond mysteriously formed. Or was it tampered with? After a promise of a new mate to Connor, he suddenly felt like he was sharing the bond of the pack with someone but he did not pay attention to it as he did not want to have high hopes after the pain he went through for losing his mate, Anna. But then a strange lady comes to his pack, claiming him as her mate. He was uncertain about accepting her. One thing he did not know is that he had just opened his pack to vipers. They slowly crawled their way in and a predestined lady who was promised and destined to fight for them comes to light. How does the trail of Pain and sorrow drive in between Connor's fate for a mate?