Paid Payback

When I was five months pregnant, I was kidnapped by a group of thugs. They used my phone to call my brother, Jeremy Wirkola, and my husband, Grant Sanders, to demand a ransom of ten million, but no one answered. I was tortured and assaulted until I was barely alive. When I was finally rescued, Jeremy cried and promised to avenge me. Grant was in tears too. He vowed to get me treated. However, while under the haze of anesthesia, I overheard Grant's cold voice outside the door. “Jessie is waiting for a bone marrow, but don’t forget to remove Ashlyn’s uterus. Just tell her the injuries were too severe to save it. Oh, and get the best surgeon for her. She’s afraid of pain.” His assistant hesitated. He was clearly uncomfortable. “Mr. Sanders, isn’t this going too far?” Grant paused for a second before he replied firmly. “She refused to donate her bone marrow to Jessie and even used the baby as an excuse. She’s selfish. Besides, if we don’t do this, how can I bring back Jessie and our child into the family? As for Ashlyn, she’s my wife. I’ll make it up to her for the rest of my life. She used to bully Jessie with her status, which resulted in Jessie suffering from depression and almost killing herself. It’s time she paid the price for it.” As I listened to his heartless words, something inside me shattered completely. Since they had chosen to sacrifice me for Jessie, let them have what they wanted then.

I had my meal and was about to leave my sister's restaurant, but the manager stopped me. "Sorry, sir, but you haven't paid your tab." I never saw this guy before. He probably had no idea who I was. Kindly, I explained, "Put it on your boss' tab. She knows what to do." The manager instead gave me a look of derision. "Sir, we're a 3-star Michelin restaurant. We do not put anyone's bill on another person's tab." He handed me an itemized bill. The guy had it ready and printed. I went through the list. The meal alone cost 75 grand. The 'dining utensil gleam maintenance fee' ran up to 45 hundred. There was also an exclusive air purifier fee, which would cost 75 hundred. And there was a 'VIP calm headspace service fee' that ran up to 15 grand. Those were the ones that stood out, but they were far from the last. I had no idea my sister was running an extortion gig. Mirthlessly, I laughed. "I'm your boss' brother. Tell her she's talking to me when she comes home." The manager did not let me go. "Just say you can't afford it. You're not the first one to try and claim you know Ms. Grayheim. I know leeches like you well enough." I texted my secretary. 'Tell my sister she either fires this guy, or I pull my funds out.'

After I came back to life, the first thing I did was hand that five-carat diamond ring—yes, the one my husband gave me—to his mother. The very woman who spent years picking me apart like it was her favorite pastime. In my last life, that ring was a custom New Year's gift. He paid a ridiculous amount for it. I actually thought it meant something. One afternoon, I was out shopping when I walked right into a bridal party taking pictures. The bride glanced at my hand, saw the ring, and her entire expression changed. She stormed over and slapped me, accusing me of being a shameless mistress trying to steal her man. I stood there, completely stunned. She was wearing the exact same ring. Before I could explain, her friends grabbed me. They dragged me aside, tore my clothes, hit me, and stomped on my hand until I couldn't move my fingers. They carved the word "mistress" into my face and paraded me through the street like some kind of public disgrace. I died there on the pavement. When my husband finally appeared, he didn't fight for me. He just signed off on a settlement, as if my life were nothing more than a piece of paperwork. Widowed that morning, married to the bride by nightfall. His mother instantly welcomed the new woman, all because she was pregnant. And then I opened my eyes again… back on the very day he first placed that diamond ring in my hand.

She was light; they were darkness. She is innocent; they were cunning. She was optimistic; they were pessimistic. She was not what they wanted as their mate and yet they craved her. They hated her for what she was and yet they wanted all of her for themselves. They tormented her to break her and yet they felt like dying when they saw her in pain. They were trapped with her in a twisted game of fate. Will they be able to win this game, or will the cruelty of the world pull them apart? This was not just about winning the game. This was about their fate entangled with her. Fate was always cruel to her and yet she faced every hurdle with a new determination and smile. Will she be able to smile with the same determination when the secrets of their lives start revealing themselves to her? ----------------------------------------------------------- "Don't be afraid. It will be over soon. I am here with you..... always," he whispered comforting words in her ear while holding her wounded body tightly in his embrace. "You are an illusion, Gabriel. You will be gone once I open my eyes." She murmured weakly, her eyelids heavy. "No, my love.. I am not an illusion, and I will prove that to you," he replied in a determined tone before pulling her body up into his embrace and running towards his car, determined to save her and show her that this world is not just all about hate and bitterness. This world is also filled with love. He regretted coming late to save her. She did nothing wrong. Yet she is the only one who paid the price for others' faults. Life was never fair to her, but Gabriel was now determined to make everything right for her.

“Little wolf,” he said, voice low mixed with amusement. “You remember, don’t you?”I couldn’t deny it with the way he looked at me.I nodded before I could stop myself. “Words, Katherine.” The command was soft, but it slid under my skin. My throat went dry, the rag in my hand twisted as my fingers tightened around it. “Ye… yes,” I stammered, the word barely making it past my lips. He stepped closer, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from him. “You remember you owe me, don’t you?” “I… I already paid,” I blurted, the memory flooding back. My cheeks flushed. One dark brow lifted. “Did you now?” His mouth curved faintly, dangerous in its almost smile. “I never told you if you paid. You left hurriedly before I could.” I took a step back, but the edge of the desk stopped me. “I had to return to the pack,” I breathed, trying to sound steadier than I felt. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ He was never supposed to be more than a stranger. Omega Katherine Hart after been rejected by her mate of two years Sneaks out to the city to drown her heartbreak and ends up in the bed of a red eyed stranger. The Lycan ruler of the New Haven pack, unknown to her. Reign Salvatore. But when pack politics turn deadly and a dangerous attraction ignites. Katherine finds out the truth that she is not just an ordinary omega. But a key to the impossible. Reign would never let her go.

When my mother went into kidney failure and needed a transplant, it was Pauline Maynard—on the brink of death herself—who gave my mom a second chance at life. Just before Pauline passed, she gripped my hand tightly and whispered her final words. "Summer, Ricky is my only son. He's rebellious… and fragile. Please, take care of him. Just three years, please?" I gave her my word. Then I moved into their home and gave Ricky everything he needed—love, comfort, a sense of safety. For three years, I stayed true to that promise. By the third year, Ricky had transformed. No longer the wayward boy he once was, he rose to become the Mafia Don Ricky Lenza. And I was carrying his child. As I busied myself with wedding plans, I overheard something I was never meant to hear—his voice, low and mocking, as he wrapped another woman in his arms. "Summer? She's just pretending to love me for the sake of my mother's inheritance and a stupid deal. A gold digger like her dreams of marrying me? What a joke." A sharp pain pierced my chest, like thorns stabbing deep beneath the skin. On the way to a prenatal checkup, we were hit in a crash. My baby didn't make it. And my mother, sitting in the passenger seat, shielded me with her life. When I woke up, I stared blankly at the date on my phone. Three days left. That would've marked the end of the three-year promise. I realized then—I'd paid my debt to Pauline in full. It was time for me to go.

Newton college, a school in New York City. Popular firstly because of the magnificent build. Then the daily bullying. It's a school that only supports the rich so no commoner is attending but even the rich has levels. The extraordinarily rich (Upper category) Students whose parents own large conglomerates, students whose parents are business tycoons and students whose parents are influential politicians belong to this category. The normally rich (middle category) Students whose parents own a company at least and students whose parents are popular rich medical practitioners belongs to this category. The "just rich" (lower category) Students whose parents neither own a company nor conglomerate but they work under the owners and get paid hugely.... Such students belong in this category. Students wear identity tags which has their names and their categories written on it so it's easy to identify categories. The extraordinarily rich finds it fun to bully the "middle class" and "just rich" The "middle class" takes pleasure in bullying the " just rich" too. The " just rich" are the most helpless students in the school, thus becoming the target for bullying. And now the main reason for the popularity... The Emperors. On the other hand, November Blanco is the second daughter of Adelia and Matteo Blanco. Trouble can be her second name because she's always in one trouble or the other. She's not the clumsy, nerdy or dumb type, she's not brilliant either but she's a psycho who hates rude arrogant punks. She got to know from her mum that she's pretty and if there's anything she's proud of, it's her round @ss and curvy hips She has always dreamt of becoming a student of Newton but she fails the entrance exams yearly. What happens when November becomes a student of Newton college by chance?

At the New Year’s team-building event, the intern, Lilith Woods, did not obtain my approval and changed our suburban trip to a seven-day tour of Baline. “Mr. Lucian Stone, I hear a change of scenery can really spice things up. Don’t lock up tonight. I’ll come by for a deep dive into our collaboration.” She pretended to be drunk and fell into my arms while slipping the room key into my pocket in the process. To avoid suspicion, I did not return to the hotel. However, in the middle of the night, the police called me in for questioning—someone had reported a dine-and-dash. Only then did I realize that the reserved budget of $100,000 for the accommodation had long since been exceeded. Lilith had upgraded their room to a presidential suite, feasted on high-end seafood buffets, and even used company funds to buy luxury handbags! When I showed up at their private room, the interns were still casually taking king crabs and several unopened bottles of the Macallan Whisky with them. “Mr. Stone, you’re just in time. Could you please settle the bill?” Lilith looked utterly righteous as she said this with a grin. “Young people like us make mistakes, while adults help to pay the price. You’re not exactly short on cash, anyway. Just think of it as buying my happiness.” I stared at the $700,000 bill and paid it in silence. The next day, the payment invoices made their grand entrance in the group chat, accompanied by my pinned message. [Upon financial review, this team-building event does not meet reimbursement criteria. All expenses will be shared equally among the seven participants.] [Each person will need to pay $100,000, payable immediately. If payment needs to be deferred, please print the proof and submit it to the President’s Office.]

"For twenty million dollars, I want you to marry me, Ciara" The handsome stranger said. I frowned "What the hell is wrong with you? We met last night, had hot sèx, and now—" "Ciara, I haven't met you before now, yet you insist that we were together last night. So, let's make this work for both of us." "Okay?" I eyed him, confused. " Attend three family events as my fake fiancée with me this Christmas. Smile, play the part, and by the first week of the new year, you walk away with a generous sum. We never see each other again." The stranger said. ******** After a one night stand with a stranger at a club, the next morning, Ciara Baxter is shocked to get a wild offer from another man who looks exactly like him, but claims not to know her. All he wants is for her to attend three family events with him, act like his fake fiancée and get paid! She agrees to take up his offer because of the money involved. Soon, what began as a fake dating turns out into something worse when she finds that he had an identical twin and was a powerful Alpha heir. Her Christmas love story begins on the night this stranger and his twin brother call her “MATE” Does it get worse when their father begins to fall for her too? Or is it strange when she finds out that she is not merely a human, but a replica of the moon goddess and a rare hybrid? How does Ciara find out who she really is in this supernatural world? How does she handle the chaos that comes with being wanted by THREE men? Find out in this gripping werewolf romance!!!

Avery Nash had two lives and one rule. Keep them completely separate. By day she was the captain of the Crestwood University cheer squad and a Business Management student holding onto her scholarship by her fingernails. By night she was Scarlett, masked and wigged and untouchable, dancing at Velvet Underground to cover the gap between what her scholarship paid and what her mother's deadbeat boyfriend kept taking from them. On the night her boyfriend cheated on her with her biggest rival, Avery made one reckless decision. She followed a brooding stranger back to his motel room and gave him the one thing she had been saving. Her virginity. "Take off the mask. I want to see you." He had said. "A little mystery never hurt anyone, did it?" she replied. She slipped out before dawn, telling herself she would never see him again. Then she rang her best friend, Jade's doorbell and he answered the door. Liam Harrington was Jade's new stepbrother, who she hated, the transfer quarterback every girl on campus was already talking about, and the boy sitting three seats away from her in every Business Management lecture. He was also the only person in the world who knew what Avery felt like without her armour on. He just did not know her real face. Now Avery was living three lives at once. The captain, the stripper, and the girl quietly falling for the one man she was absolutely forbidden to want. And the secret that started as one reckless birthday night was growing into something big enough to burn everything she had built.