Nature's Best Hope

Mumbai. The city of dreams. Shining bright with impressive skyscrapers, glamorous filmstars, and glittering malls. Standing tall on the shimmering coast of the Arabian Sea. Everywhere Sun hits here, this city dazzles. But beneath this warm dazzle, there is another Mumbai. The cold Mumbai. The dark Mumbai. The stronghold of the mafia. Where narrow alleys are splattered with gun-powder and blood. Where lives are discarded like tissue papers. Where an obscene amount of money circulates unaudited. And since years now, this formidable underworld is under Lala Amarnath Vaghela's thumb. The powerful mafia kingpin who started his ascent from the slums of Dharavi years back, today he controls most of the Indian subcontinent's illegal dealings and organized crime with an iron fist. But not without help. Kunal Ranjan Vaghela. Lalaji's grandson and his heir apparent. Apple of his grandfather's eyes, he is calculative, sly, and cold-blooded. Samar Jagtap. Lalaji's ruthless and cunning protege. Indispensable, he is as unapologetic as they come in this business. Everything is working smoothly in Lalaji's world. Like a well-oiled machine. Or is it? Because apart from sharing Lalaji's trust, apparently these two capable young men also share an undisguised hatred for each other. Not above playing dirty in this high-stakes arena, both are merely bidding their time to tear one another down. But no matter who emerges the winner out of the two, there is someone who will only lose. A torn heart that refuses to take sides. A girl who dared to love them both. Stubborn and loyal-to-a-fault Maahi. Full name Maahi Ranjan Vaghela. Kunal Vaghela's beloved baby sister. And the beautiful confusion of Samar Jagtap's life.

Sabrina devoted seven years of her life to a marriage built on hope, sacrifice, and repeated heartbreak. But just when she discovers she is pregnant again, her husband Leon shatters her world with one sentence.” She’s carrying a healthy baby, Sabrina… and she deserves to be with the father of her child.” Thrown aside for Zara—his first love, now heavily pregnant with his child—Sabrina spirals into a life-threatening tragedy the moment Leon turns his back. As she fights for her life in the hospital, the only man who runs to her side is Cole, Leon’s best friend… the man who has silently loved her for years. While Leon builds a new family with Zara, Cole bleeds, fights, and risks everything to keep Sabrina alive. Betrayed and broken, she finds unexpected solace in Cole Lander—her husband’s best friend. Will Sabrina find the strength to start over, or will her pain consume her?

"Let's be clear. While I stay here, no kissing, no hugging," Aiden Anderson said without breaking his gaze at Jessamine, his best friend since third grade. "You're my best friend... You're like a sister to me and my only family. I don't want to be reckless and lose you in the end." "I was only teasing you, Aiden. I'm not losing you as well. You're the only man I trust besides my father," Jessamine assured him. Jessamine turned her back on him, fighting the tears, unsure why her heart was disappointed. A part of her brain said she would rather die with heartache than admit to him that she wished there was more to their friendship, but her heart screamed something else. She wanted to be reckless with him and gave her heart the freedom to love him more than best friend, but how could she admit to him she loved him when Aiden assured her he would disappear from her forever if they crossed the boundary of their friendship?

“My brother would kill you, Roman. Hell, I shouldn’t even be here!” He moves closer, blocking the exit. “He’s not here, and you’re not telling me to stop, Nikki. So, why don’t we stop lying to each other and admit the truth?" I glare at him. My heart’s slamming against my chest. “Which is what exactly?” A wicked smirk curves his lips. “That we want each other. Always have. No matter how badly we shouldn’t.” *** Ten years ago, I almost kissed the one guy I should’ve stayed away from, my brother’s best friend, Roman Hayes. But then he vanished from our lives and has somehow become the person my brother hates the most. I haven’t seen him in years. The last place I expect to find him is at a high-end gala where I’m meeting potential sponsors for my charity, dressed in a ridiculously expensive suit and reeking of sin—and somehow, he might be the answer to all my prayers. But there’s a catch: I’m not supposed to be anywhere near him, and the moment our eyes lock, I know I’ve made the biggest mistake of my entire life. He’s my brother’s ex-best friend, after all, and there’s a spark between us that’s never been extinguished, and a truth neither of us wants to admit. But some truths are darker than I could have possibly imagined, and some games are too wicked and wild to be entertained. This man might just destroy my life in ways I never saw coming… And the worst part? I’ll enjoy every second of it.

‘An hunter, and his prey. The forbidden fruit tastes the best.’ “Did you want this?” His deep baritone asked, as he straddled her hips on his thigh, with the eyes locked oozing with tame desires that both had been hiding. “I–I–this is wrong.” Cassandra breathed, but her breathing stiffened when she felt the man's hand run through her thigh into her dress, and it was like her body was on fire. “No one asked you what's right, kitten, I asked, if you want this?” He breathed, his hot breath fanning her chest, and her n*pples stood erected. She couldn't think straight, so she decided to forget about her stance, and let herself loose. She wanted the man badly, she was done fighting. “Yes,” she mumbled. “Answer better!” The man teased, as he pinched her butt. “Yes, I want it daddy!” Cassandra breathed, and immediately the words left her mouth, the man crashed his lips on hers. *********************** Cassandra swore she would never cross the line. But the line blurred the moment her best friend’s uncle walked into her life..older, forbidden, and devastatingly magnetic. She told herself it was just lust. A dangerous spark she could smother with distance. But fate had other plans. Work pushed them together, and every stolen glance, every accidental touch, only pulled her deeper into a desire she couldn’t control. Dante Blackwell was no stranger to women. A notorious playboy, he had conquered them all. But Cassandra was different, wild, untamed, a temptation that clawed at his control. She wasn’t supposed to matter. She wasn’t supposed to be his weakness. But he found her irresistible. Will they resist temptation, or let passion consume them both no matter the cost?

I tried to hide this secret. But wanting him burned inside me like a fever I could not shake. He is my best friend's brother. The one I should never touch. The kind of guy who could break you without trying. Every girl wanted him. So did I. He was my secret. My late-night fantasy. The one I craved but never dared to want out loud. Then one night, he looked at me like he finally saw me. Touched me like I was the only girl in the world. And just like that, I stopped pretending. Now we are stuck in something messy… Lust, secrets, and stolen nights. I know I should walk away. But I cannot breathe without him. I loved him quietly for years. Now I am his secret. And maybe the next girl he would break her heart. Can I stay alive without him? These feelings would kill me alive.

"Take off your ring." His command settled deep in my bones. I shouldn’t be doing this. And yet… I slid the ring off my finger. He stood on the other side of the room, his face hidden in shadows, but I felt him—his presence wrapping around me like a dark temptation. "Take off your clothes." I obeyed, my fingers hesitating at the waistband of my underwear. "I didn’t tell you to touch that." So I stood there—shoes on, pants still clinging to my hips—while my engagement party continued just down the hall. His gaze burned through me, drinking me in. "God, Butterfly." His voice was a tortured whisper, and I ached to comfort him. "Crawl to me." The words settled over me like silk and steel. Slowly, on all fours, I obeyed… --- Alessandra has always been the family push over even when her father forces her into a marriage. She plays the role of the perfect fiancée—obedient, loyal, untouchable. Until she meets him. Jeremy’s best friend. A man just as powerful, just as dangerous—but with eyes that see right through her. A man who tempts her to break every rule, risk every consequence. They hate each other on sight. But hate is just another kind of heat, and the fire between them threatens to burn everything to the ground. Loving him could cost her everything. Resisting him might destroy her. Either way, she’s already ruined. ~~~~~ Trigger warning : Dark Romance, obsession, Forbidden Romance, Male lead is a bit mentally checked out...

She swore she’d never fuck him. Her brother’s best friend. The Madrigal heir. Arrogant, reckless, built to ruin her. Then one night he had her bent over the sheets—rough grip, filthy mouth, fucking her like she was already his. It should’ve been a mistake. Just sex. Just heat. Now there’s a billion-dollar merger on the line, a mafia family in the shadows, and Josephine can’t stop spreading her legs for the one man guaranteed to wreck her. He’s chaos. She’s ambition. Together they’re obsession, destruction, and the dirtiest mistake she’ll ever make twice.

Amelia was always the outcast, mocked for her size and ignored by everyone but Dylan Thane, the only light in her dark school life. She fell for him, of course. Who wouldn’t? But her heart shattered when Dylan, her best friend, seemed to fall for the very bully who made her life miserable. Desperate to be seen, Amelia struck a deal with a mysterious old woman for the perfect body. The new Amelia turned heads but not Dylan’s. Because he had always loved her as she was… and had never betrayed her. Now, the true cost of beauty is coming due and it’s more than she bargained for.

After a near-death encounter, Gale, a weak and poor college student, unlocks the mysterious thing residing within him. It was a SYSTEM that can make him level up, with him growing stronger in each levels. It would give him power that will alter his destiny. A power that will catch the attention of the secret societies lurking in the shadows.