On Turning Ten By Billy Collins Novels & Stories

She’d escaped me once. She’d not do it again. I am the brother of the Alpha of the Asara Pack. I did everything she asked of me. She was a queen up on her throne. I was her Captain of the Guard. Her secret assassin killing anyone who'd threaten her. I had declared my intent to claim her as my mate. And she had fled. Like the coward she is. Still she went ahead and seduced me, bidding me do whatever vile thing she commanded. Now she claims to rule this kingdom. However, her people are starving and her new fiancé is to blame. But will she hear a word of it? Of course not! Well, I've found a way to make her listen. To no longer allow her to deny what she really is. To rip her from her sanctuary amongst the humans. It's high time she learn a she-wolf’s place in this realm. She needs a real king, and it won't be that sniveling lord with designs on her. It's going to be me. She’ll learn I'm no longer hers to command. She is mine.

They always said we should be good…… but we chose to be ruined. This isn't a fairy tale. It's a confession where every secret is bared. A collection of every moment where “No” turns to “Please” and all boundaries are crossed. These are not just stories. It's a control to spread your legs wider and let your finger do the dirty things you've always thought in your head. Where everything called morals is stripped away and you're left with only the heat in between your legs. Here there's no stopping. The step-brothers are without restraint, best-friend daddies do not care even the bosses in the office do not only control your day but fucks you till your world falls apart. There's no gentle, no careful and definitely no love. So lock your door. Lower the lights and find out how good the forbidden tastes.

Chester Ford brings home a female university student for the 10th time during our 10th wedding anniversary banquet. He walks into the banquet hall with the young lady in his arms. "Don't you see that your outfit is clashing with hers, Yuna Sutherland? Take off your dress. Right here and now." He slowly loosens his tie while I take a step back in panic. He then proceeds to tug my pearl necklace from my neck. "What are you waiting for? Stop acting like you're innocent. Your father tossed your younger sister to Ford Group to be a kept woman back then. He also practically delivered you straight onto my bed, all for 30 million dollars. I'll never forget how he looked when he was begging on his knees." Everyone eagerly watches the drama unfold with champagne glasses in hand. I stare at the wedding ring on his ring finger, which is close to becoming tarnished. For the 10th time, I request a divorce. Chester sneers. "How original of you, Yuna. Yet, you eventually kneel and plead for forgiveness every time. If you leave the Ford family, who's going to pay to keep your sister alive in the ICU?"

“I am going to break you. That’s the whole purpose of this exercise. From the moment the door inside that room closes, I am not going to be Mr. Nice Guy. I am going to do everything in my power to hear you scream, and I won’t stop until I hear you beg for mercy. Do you wish to proceed on that basis?”

After an earthquake, my sister and I help to rescue the victims. I save a wealthy woman who adopts me as her daughter. I become the sole heiress to an astronomical fortune. My sister saves a regular person. All she gets as thanks is a few thousand dollars. She thinks life is unfair and drags me to die with her. When I open my eyes again, I'm looking at the debris from the earthquake. This time, my sister rushes to save the wealthy woman. She says smugly, "It's my turn to be a rich heiress!"

The nights in Vicente were a coexistence of order and gunfire. Tonight was the wedding, ten years overdue, between Anthony Oliver, the don of the Oliver mafia family, and Mabel Samson, the woman who had stood beside him through bloodshed, betrayals, and underworld wars. A top-tier luxury hotel had been cleared by the family's soldati. Below them glittered a sea of city lights; above them bloomed fireworks commissioned for the future Donna alone. The man known for his ruthlessness knelt on one knee with a rare diamond ring, his eyes filled with rare tenderness. "Mabel," he said, "you walked through hell at my side. Let me give you peace for the rest of your life." It seemed that all the sacrifices and patience had finally led somewhere. However, just as Mabel's fingers were about to touch the ring, a piercing scream came from above. "Don't! Anthony! Save me!" That single cry drew all of Anthony's attention away. The girl was not unfamiliar to Mabel. Two years earlier, Anthony's twin brother had been tortured to death by a rival mafia family while covering his retreat. His body was never recovered. And Cheryl Reyes was the fiancée he had protected with his life. Mabel watched as the man she loved abandoned everything without hesitation and ran toward another woman. She stepped forward and tried to stop him. "Don't go. The wedding isn't over." However, when their eyes met, the Don accused her coldly of being heartless and selfish. And in that moment, Mabel felt tired. Perhaps it was time, just once, to choose herself over the Family.

I had been secretly married to my CEO husband for six years, but he still would not let our son call him “Dad.” After he missed our son’s birthday again because of his secretary, I took out the divorce agreement and left with our son for good. The usually calm man lost control and stormed into the office to demand where we were. This time, neither my son nor I would come back.

Natalia and Andrei’s marriage was originally a three-year contract. With only 30 days left until the contract ends, Natalia discovered that she’s pregnant. Just when she thought Andrei would reconsider divorcing her because of this, his deceased first mate, Lilith, returned. Feeling hopeless, Natalia decided to initiate the divorce. However, at their engagement party, Andrei received the news of Natalia’s car accident, along with the shocking discovery of her pregnancy test results...

When my husband learns of his first love's death, he jumps from the cruise ship where we are spending our honeymoon, ending his life. Only then do I realize he has never gotten over Clara Levine. Reborn back to his teenage years, he resolutely lets go of my hand and walks toward his first love. I watch them leave together, then turn and walk away. From that moment on, our lives become nothing more than two parallel lines that will never meet. Ten years later, we run into each other at a banquet in Oceanus City. He has become a rising star among the elite, with Clara appearing on his arm, intimately holding onto him. When he sees me accidentally wander into the banquet, he can't help but give me advice. "Stop obsessing over me. Even if you wait for me for ten years, I still won't fall in love with you." I ignore him and pull my son out from the corner where he's sneaking cake. His eyes suddenly turn bloodshot as he grabs my hand tightly. "How dare you try to make me jealous on purpose? Didn't you say you would only love me for your entire life?" he says.

After her first love died, Sophia Hayes hated me for ten years. I tried to win back her favor every day, but she only responded with cold sneers. "If you really want to make me happy, why don't you just die?" Her words were like daggers to my heart. It was a shock when she died in a pool of blood while trying to save me from an oncoming truck. With her final gaze fixed on me, she whispered, "If only I had never met you." Her mother was inconsolable with grief at the funeral. "I should have let Sophia be with Ethan Brooks. I never should have forced her to marry you!" Her father also looked at me with hatred in his eyes. "Sophia saved your life three times. She was such a wonderful person. Why couldn't it have been you who died instead?" Everyone regretted that Sophia had married me—myself included. I was driven away from the funeral, completely devastated. Three years later, I traveled back to the past after a time machine was invented. This time, I chose to sever all connections with Sophia, giving everyone the version of history they truly desired.