Novel & Cerita Paid Payback

He was the boy I was promised to. Now, he’s the man I’m paid to kill. Ten years ago, a blood-pact between the Moskvin and De Luca empires was shattered, turning a childhood engagement into a bitter war. For a decade, Claire Moskvin lived in the shadows—until the night Grey De Luca stormed her estate and executed her father in cold blood. Now, Claire is back under a false name, "Leah," with a single, lethal goal: infiltrate the De Luca estate and end Grey’s life. To get close enough to strike, she signs a million-dollar contract to become Grey’s "scapegoat bride"—a sham marriage designed to serve his brother’s ambition. But the viper’s nest is full of secrets. As Claire navigates a world of psychological warfare and explosive, forbidden chemistry, the lines between revenge and desire begin to blur. Grey is a cold, unreadable monster, yet he is the only one keeping her alive in a house that wants her dead. She came for his head. He’s already captured her heart. When the lies of her past are burned away, Claire must decide: Will she finish her mission and kill the man she loves, or put her feelings behind and avenge her father's death?

They Told her to choose duty. She chose love and paid the price. Selene was never meant to be ordinary. As the daughter of Alpha Jamie and bearer of ancient spirit energy, she was destined to lead her people into a new era. Feared, revered, and expected to follow the path carved for her, Selene carried the weight of her world until she met him. Ethan, a hybrid prince and the son of vampire King Nicholas was everything she was warned against. A forbidden mate. A dangerous alliance. But he was also her sanctuary, her secret, and the other half of a bond that defied the rules of bloodlines and kingdoms. Together, they hid their love behind the walls of duty until a war ignited that would shatter everything. When betrayal tears through the supernatural realms and a dark force returns from the dead, Selene is forced to embrace her power, her destiny, and the unbearable cost of leadership. With her only maid and dearest friend, Ruby, falling in battle to save her, Selene is driven to the edge of heartbreak and rage. Reinforcements arrive. Allies unite. But the true war begins when he returns. Xander, a monster of legend, reborn in shadow… and targeting everything Selene holds dear. Now, as worlds collide and the battlefield burns, Selene must face the unthinkable: To save the world, she may have to kill the man she loves.

The moment my best friend dashes into the lottery shop ahead of me and rattles off that familiar string of numbers, I know instantly that she has been reborn, too. In my past life, my best friend and I were shortlisted for an interview at a Global 500 company just before graduation. However, there was only one opening available. On the day of the interview, I had a sudden urge to buy a lottery ticket, but as a result, I missed the interview, and my best friend got the job. As it turned out, I won the jackpot, totaling 50 million dollars. After graduation, I lived a carefree life, lounging at home and living off the interest. Meanwhile, after entering the company, my best friend was paid little and got bullied every single day. Eventually, she vented her anger on me and shoved me off a rooftop. I died from the fall instantly. After my death, my boyfriend covered for her, twisting the story to claim that I'd gone mad from idling too long and jumped on my own. The two of them fed on my misfortune, becoming influencers with millions of fans and raking in fortune. When I open my eyes again, I am reborn to the very day I bought that lottery ticket.

My long-term relationship has finally paid off. At the wedding venue, my fiancee, Dakota Young, has just begun sliding the ring onto my finger when her first love, Kyle Robinson, calls her all the way from the country he's currently studying in. All of my friends know of Dakota as the woman who loves me more than life itself. But this very same woman doesn't hesitate to bolt in the airport's direction with red-rimmed eyes after answering the phone call. My hand is left frozen in mid-air. That's when I suddenly start seeing live comments before my eyes. "Holy hell! I just took a glimpse at the profile picture of her first love! He looks exactly like the corpse who's delivered to my department!" "Seriously? Don't go around scaring me right now! I believe in the power of science!" "Either he has a twin, or you just got the wrong person! Stay calm!" My jaw goes slack, yet I can't utter a word after a while. I know who Kyle is. That man used to be her classmate back in college. But I also remember very clearly that he's the only child in his family…

Someone @'d me on Nextdoor. "Hey, penthouse girl. You're single. What do you need a whole rooftop garden for? My husband's throwing a party. We'll be needing it starting tomorrow." "Don't worry, we'll give you two hundred bucks a month for upkeep. You'll make a couple hundred for doing jack shit. You should be thrilled." I stared at the screen. It was a joke. I was Don Ricci's heir, groomed to run the South Side. But I traded that life for a paintbrush. This apartment was my sanctuary, my quiet place. That rooftop garden wasn't some building perk. It was mine. I'd paid half a million cash for the deed when I bought the place. I turned it into my sunroom studio. And now someone thinks they can have it for two hundred bucks a month? I replied with two words: "Dream on." I didn't expect the building manager and two security guards at my door the next day. Someone had filed a complaint about me "misusing community resources." And now, for the sake of "neighborly harmony," they were demanding my keys. Fine. They wanted to throw civility out the window? They were about to learn what real power felt like.

You had met the woman of your dreams and fell in love. You eloped. But when you both returned to take your rightful place among the clan, your dream turned into a neverending nightmare. Your souls became destined to always say goodbye, but what happens when those shadows that you once feared become your comfort? Can a love be reborn in the shadows of goodbye? Edward, a light Fae prince, had met Ara and fell in love. His father ripped that love from him and killed her. He sought his revenge and summoned The Darkness and became The Beast. He became a dark demonic Fae and got his vengeance but the price he paid made him have to accept human sacrifices. One such sacrifice, Bella, caught both Edward and his Beast’s attention. He took her to the Fae realm and made her his servant. His Beast becomes so drawn to her that he claims her and instills her with his magic. It binds their souls but it also does something else. It triggers visions of Edward’s life before he was The Beast. Ara begins to manifest more and more causing Edward and his Beast to war with themselves. Does Ara have a plan? Will Edward submerge himself and ultimately lose himself to the shadows of goodbye?

My wife's gym is celebrating its grand opening, and I drag my buddy along to check the place out with a 9.90-dollar trial class I bought through an e-commerce platform. For the entire time, I never once let it slip that I'm the owner. Right after we finish training, a male coach tosses a price sheet at us. His eyes sweep over us with contempt as he says, "You two look like freeloaders. Our private sessions cost a few hundred each, and we don't offer freebies to people like you." I let out a disbelieving laugh. "We paid for this trial class. How is that freeloading? Go get your manager." He rolls his eyes and makes it seem like he's enforcing a very important rule. "Don't bother looking for the manager. My girlfriend owns this place, and she hates broke losers who try to get free classes." He dials her number right in front of us. His voice sounds both arrogant and pitiful. "Babe, two guys showed up and tried to con us into giving them a free class. They even told me to call the manager. Come over here and show them what's what!"

The moment my best friend, Patrick York, rushed ahead of me into the convenience store and asked for a lottery ticket with that specific string of numbers, I knew he was in the same boat as me. We were reborn. In the past life, Patrick and I were shortlisted for an interview at a Fortune 500 company, but there was only one opening. The day before the interview, I had a sudden urge to buy a lottery ticket. However, because of that, I missed the interview and Patrick got hired. Surprisingly, I got the winning ticket and won 50 million dollars. After my graduation, I enjoyed an easy life by living off interest from the bank. Meanwhile, despite getting hired, Patrick was paid a low wage and suffered daily abuse from his colleagues. In the end, he took out his frustrations on me by pushing me off the rooftop, killing me on the spot. After my death, my girlfriend, Emily Hayward, committed perjury for his sake. She claimed that after a prolonged period of staying home with nothing to do, I was in a bad mental state and leaped off on my own. The two of them profited off my death and became trending influencers, making it big. When I opened my eyes once more, I realized I was back to the day I purchased the lottery ticket.

I paid for a first-class plane ticket with my own money to beat our competitors and locked down a multi-million-dollar deal. By the time I went back with the signed contract, I received a notice of termination. The reason was because I violated the company cost-saving policy, and I was dismissed effective immediately. I was stopped and mocked by Maeve Zolten, the intern assistant. "It's a strict company policy that only train travel is allowed for business trips. You deliberately violated this rule. Should we undermine the company's regulations just for you?" My fiancé and the CEO of the company, Chance Goode, backed her up without hesitation. "As the director, you're taking the lead in violating the rules, setting an extremely negative example!" Through the narrow gap in the blinds, I caught a glimpse of him cheating on me with Maeve. That was when I finally understood all the mistreatment. They clearly misunderstood who owned the deal if they thought firing me ended the story. They fired me for a ticket, but I would walk away with the future. I turned away, pulled out my phone, and made a phone call. "I'll join you and bring in my new energy project worth tens of millions of dollars. Additionally, does your company restrict key employees from flying for business negotiations?"

She watched her future crumble through a camera lens. Four years. One ring. The wrong woman wearing it. Sloane's carefully constructed life shatters in a single night when her boyfriend proposes to someone else at an event she's photographing. Broke, humiliated, and desperate for a fresh start, she's ready to give up on everything. Until an opportunity falls into her lap that changes everything. A contract with Lennon Cross. The biggest name in music. The man everyone wants but no one can have. Half a million dollars for six months of her life. It sounds perfect. Too perfect. Because Lennon doesn't do charity. He doesn't do kindness. And he definitely doesn't do love. What he does do is destroy anyone who gets too close. Sloane should walk away. Should protect what's left of her shattered heart. But desperation makes people reckless. And when her ex comes crawling back, suddenly success tastes like the sweetest revenge. The man who broke her. Or the one who might save her. If he doesn't ruin her first. Some contracts are signed in ink. Others are paid for in heartbreak.