Orange Tree

Hot. Fast. Dangerous. Only two things are capable of sating my hunger: racing and women. I’m a devil behind the wheel, and there isn’t another man in New York City who can beat me. Nor any dumb enough to try. But there was a woman who could. My ex-wife, Evie. And she did. Messed me up real good. Thanks to her, I gave up my dream of racing, but I can’t run from fate forever. The evil bastards at her side have taken over the underground racing scene, but I’m diving back in deep. With my focus on the road, the last thing I need is a distraction, but that’s just what Laina is. My best friend’s little sister feels off limits, until she isn’t. Perfect curves and a smile that could melt hearts, this woman has me wanting to say yes from the start. She’s relentless and drives me mad with the desire to be bad one more time—just for her. I might be outracing demons, but I’m not running from anything. Not me. Not ever again.

After three miscarriages for Xavier Lowe, I see it—my mother-in-law has three years left, my father-in-law nine years, and my sister-in-law two years. I say nothing. After the third miscarriage, my mother-in-law blames me, calling me a curse who "kills" children. My sister-in-law sneers, saying she almost died in a car crash the year I married Xavier—as if my bad luck dragged her down. My mother-in-law snaps, "She can't even keep a child. It must be because she's cursed!" Xavier just stands there, silent. He doesn't say a single word for me. I know that, deep down, he believes that I bring bad luck. Maybe it's also because he already has someone else—his secretary, Yvette Snyder. His mother has always liked her better, and he clung to her the night I lost my third child. I don't explain because I know the truth will only destroy them faster. On my 28th birthday, I catch a glimpse of my own countdown in the mirror. On that day, I take a leave of absence. I go to the funeral home and pick out an urn—pure white, just like the wedding dress I once wore. Wearing a beautiful floral dress, I text Xavier, asking him to meet me at the lake where we first met ten years ago. I wait from daylight until nightfall as my countdown ticks to zero. I die, and he never shows up.

My fiance, Dante de Rossi, is the heir to a mafia family in Manhorne, and he loves me dearly. Yet, a month before our wedding, he says his family has arranged for him to have a baby with his childhood friend, Isobel de Luca. Despite my refusal to agree to it, he brings it up daily and tries to push me into it. Half a month before the wedding, I receive a pregnancy report. I find out that Isobel is over a month pregnant. I have yet to give Dante my permission. This is when I realize just how fragile our years-long relationship is. I cancel the wedding and destroy everything he has ever given me. On the day of the wedding, I set off for Etolia to further my medical career. I accept a role with an international medical organization, severing all ties with the mafia. From that moment onward, he and I no longer have anything to do with each other!

Bella thought she could freeload off her wealthy husband for life, never imagining he'd suddenly want a divorce. A divorce? She demanded a reason! Calmly, in front of the elders, he stated, "Sexual incompatibility." The room fell silent, the parents shocked, their minds racing. Sexual... incompatibility? Damn it! Bella was furious. Where was the incompatibility? What was incompatible? You bastard! Explain yourself!

Mon fiancé Didier Gardet, héritier d'une famille mafieuse parisienne, m'aimait éperdument. Pourtant, un mois avant notre mariage, sous prétexte d'obligations familiales, il m'a annoncé qu'il devait avoir un enfant avec son premier amour. J'ai refusé, mais il n'a cessé de me harceler, jour après jour, insistant lourdement. Quinze jours avant notre mariage, j'ai reçu un rapport médical : cette femme était déjà enceinte de près d'un mois... À quoi bon, alors, feindre de demander mon accord ? À cet instant, j'ai compris : nos années de prétendue passion n'étaient que fragilité et illusion. J'ai annulé le mariage et ai brûlé chaque cadeau qu'il m'avait offert. Le jour même de notre mariage, je suis partie pour l'Italie. Je m'y suis plongée dans des études de médecine clinique, tout en prenant officiellement en charge une mission pour Médecins Sans Frontières. J'ai coupé tout contact avec lui. Dès lors, entre lui et moi : plus rien.

"Ms. Rowe, are you certain you want to delete all identity records? Once they're erased, you'll be completely removed from the system. No one will be able to find you again." Eva Rowe pauses for a moment before nodding with quiet resolve. "Yes. I want to disappear from this world. I want to make sure no one can ever find me." Two seconds of silence follow on the other end, as if they're giving her one last chance to reconsider. "Understood, Ms. Rowe. The wipeout protocol will be completed within 14 days. By then, you'll be officially 'dead' in all databases. Please make the necessary arrangements." With that, the call ends. Eva books a one-way ticket to Felnor, scheduled for 14 days later. Then, she turns off her phone, watching as the screen goes dark. She stands by the floor-to-ceiling window, staring out at the endless city lights, and lets out a soft, cold laugh. She is no longer anyone's Eva.

I had been with Lars Carter for six years. The head of Midas Capital in Eastwind City, he was a rising star in Riverton's Silver Street—the heart of this nation's financial world. Few knew his true roots. Within him flowed the Vitalus bloodline. Lars descended from an old mafia clan from the city of Virgil in Vitalus, the Viktors. Midas Capital was ours. We built it from the ground up together; Lars would haunt private clubs, ironing out business deals amid drinks. I would stay by his side, doing the accounts, steering the direction of the negotiations, and memorizing every detail of the high-stakes contracts. We did everything together—a tight team. Or so I thought. In my naivete, I was convinced I would rule the city alongside him. The woman behind the man, so to speak. …Until Pearl Ross arrived two months ago. His childhood sweetheart moved from Virgil to Eastwind City. It was then that I knew—she was the one he was waiting for all along. It had always been her. "Lars, I want to get married." Lars' face tightened; hesitation veiled in businesslike concern. "Bianca, you know the company's at a critical stage… We're mid-fundraising. I can't right now." I smiled, calm and composed. "That's fine." He misunderstood. I was getting married—just not to him.

Vincent Gredi adalah pebisnis sukses termuda di Kota Neysa. Dia memimpin sebuah perusahaan teknologi dengan saham senilai puluhan triliun dan merupakan pendatang baru legendaris yang sering terpampang di sampul majalah keuangan. Namun, hanya segelintir orang yang tahu bahwa dialah pemimpin mafia dari Negara Amsyah Timur yang sesungguhnya. Bagi Vincent, kekayaan, kekuasaan, dan takdir tidak lebih dari sekadar alat tawar-menawar. Aku pun pernah menjadi pion yang dia gunakan untuk menjaga stabilitas aliansi keluarga. Selama sepuluh tahun pernikahan kami, Vincent meniduri semua teman dan rekan kerjaku. Padahal, aku sangat memercayai setiap orang itu. Pagi itu, aku membawa bayi kami yang berusia satu bulan untuk menjalani pemeriksaan fisik. Namun, kekasih terbaru Vincent, Syafana, menabrakku dengan mobil. Anakku menangis hebat dan aku memohon pada Syafana untuk membawa kami ke rumah sakit. Saat Vincent tiba, ekspresinya terlihat sangat menghina. "Abella, sejak kapan kamu belajar buat menipu orang?" "Sekalipun kamu mati di hadapanku, aku juga nggak akan memandangmu." Setelah itu, Vincent berbalik badan dan berjalan pergi sambil menggenggam tangan kekasih barunya. Saat dibawa ke rumah sakit, bayi dalam gendonganku sudah mati lemas. Ibuku terkena serangan jantung setelah mendengar kabar itu dan segala upaya penyelamatan tidak efektif. Aku koma di rumah sakit selama dua hari. Saat aku terbangun, Vincent tidak ada di sana. Hanya ada ayahnya Vincent, Reyhan Gredi, yang merupakan pemimpin sebenarnya. Pria itu berdiri di depan tempat tidurku. Aku pun berbicara kepadanya dengan tenang. "Lepaskan aku. Aku sudah membayar utangku pada keluarga kalian dengan nyawaku." Setelah itu, suami mafia yang memperlakukanku dengan dingin itu …. Dia benar-benar berlutut di hadapanku dan memohon agar aku pulang. Namun, aku bukan lagi wanita menyedihkan yang dengan patuh menanti kepulangannya. Aku adalah istri mafia yang begitu berbalik badan, tidak akan pernah lagi menoleh ke belakang.

The Moretti Family's Thanksgiving party was in full swing downstairs—crystal clinks, fake laughs, classic mafia gloss. Meanwhile, I was curled up in a servant's room on the third floor. Jackson Moretti's wife. Legally, anyway. My hands were ice. I gripped the ultrasound report like it could anchor me. Three heartbeats. Strong, steady. It was supposed to be a surprise—his big Thanksgiving gift. To the outside world, Jackson was a polished Stanford grad, running a top-tier consulting firm in San Francisco. But behind the scenes? He ran the Moretti empire—cold, calculated, pulling strings in the West Coast's darkest corners. Three years of marriage and we barely spoke, but I still clung to the hope that maybe... maybe there was something real left. Then I heard him downstairs. "You really not letting your wife come down?" "Isabella?" He laughed. "She'd kill the vibe." Another voice chimed in. "Lina's back, right? Wild you married her twin. Which one do you actually like?" Jackson didn't miss a beat. "Isabella's just a stand-in. Quiet. Predictable. I could tell her to drop dead and she'd say 'okay.'" "So when are you ditching her?" "Dunno. She thinks she matters. I'm just playing her." I slapped a hand over my mouth to muffle the sob. A minute later, I was heading downstairs, numb. I brushed my fingers over my belly. "Sorry, babies," I whispered. Triplets. His. He thought I was blind. Weak. Stuck. What he didn't know? A quiet woman, once she snaps—she can burn it all down.

Vincenzo Moretti was Stonehaven’s youngest financial titan— a tech mogul commanding a multibillion-dollar empire, gracing the covers of business magazines as a modern legend. But only a select few knew the truth: he was also the ruthless Don controlling the East Coast mafia. To him, wealth and power were mere chips in a game. And I? I was just another pawn used to stabilize a fragile family alliance. In our ten-year marriage, he slept with my friends, my coworkers… every single person I once trusted. Then one morning, as I took our one-month-old baby for a routine checkup, Sienna Newton, his latest mistress, ran me down with her car. The baby screamed endlessly. I begged her to take us to the hospital, and when Vincenzo arrived, he looked at me with cold disdain. “Isabella,” he sneered, “when did you learn to stage accidents? “Even if you died here, I wouldn’t bat an eye.” Then he took Sienna’s hand and walked away without a backward glance. By the time I was rushed to the hospital, the child in my arms had suffocated. Upon hearing the news, my mother suffered a heart attack. She didn’t survive. I slipped into a coma for two days. When I finally woke up, I found out that Vincenzo never visited. Instead, his father, Renato Moretti, the true king of the Moretti empire, stood by my bedside. I looked at him calmly and said, “Let me go. Whatever I owed your family, I’ve repaid in full with two lives.” Later, that same Don who had once looked down on me knelt before me, begging me to come home. But I was no longer the woman who waited, silent and broken, for his change of heart. I was the Don’s wife who turned away and never looked back.