Perfect Lady

Under my parents' request, I work as the finance officer in my childhood friend, Julius Sanford's company. But the moment he goes on a business trip, the new intern, Lizzie Dalton, rushes into my office and demands that I process her reimbursements. As I stare at the pile of receipts that come from luxury stores, all I feel is shock. "Lizzie, I can only use the company's funds to reimburse business expenses. Why are you asking me for reimbursements when all you did was buy clothes and bags of your own?" But as soon as my words fall, Lizzie splashes a cup of coffee at me instantly. "I'm the lady boss of this company! The company's funds are my funds too! Don't think you can just reject my receipts just because you know my husband!" I do my best to suppress my fury as I dig out the company's policy and reiterate, "No, I seriously cannot do that. The company's cash flow must be reflected in the books." Seeing as I refuse to yield to her no matter what, Lizzie calls Julius on the phone and begins whining to him. "Babe, since when do I need to ask your childhood friend for approval if I want to buy something I like for myself? Or could it be that she's acting so assertively because you two are secretly having an affair?" Julius panics and tells Lizzie that he has nothing to do with me. After that, he quickly releases an announcement on the company group just so he can defend Lizzie. "Lizzie Dalton is my wife! She's the second boss of this company other than me!" After that, Julius tags me in the group. "Hey, finance! You're not my mom here! I don't like you, so please stay out of my private matters! "I'd like nothing more than to let my own wife spend my own money! If you don't like that, you can pack up and leave!" Once Julius makes his stance clear, I change my tune and reimburse Lizzie the expenses she's claimed. But one week later, Julius finds himself staring at the list of debts that's 33 feet long when he returns from his business trip.

"Don’t worry, Sister," Lorenzo says. "Our dirty little secret is safe with me. Infact, it is already forgotten. It wasn't even that memorable. Just a few lousy sex." I gape at him, not wanting to believe the words coming out of his mouth. This isn't the Lorenzo I knew. It's like he changed to this cruel bastard standing in front of me. What happens next is out of character. It's like someone takes over my body and controls me. I don't even think about it, I just act. The slap I give to him across his face lands with a crack that draws the attention of passersby who murmur and point at us as they pass away, probably wondering who the crazy bitch is. I back away from Lorenzo in horror, my now throbbing palm held in my other hand like I just touched a hot pan. Lorenzo brings a hand to his cheek which is now spotting an angry red color and stares at me in shock then he laughs, the sound bitter and cutting through the still night's air. "When did Little Miss perfect get feisty?" He drops his hands and eyes me, a leering look in his eyes. "Maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to dump you." He rubs his jaws, still eying me. "Who knows, you might have brought this attitude to bed. It would have definitely made things more exciting." I hate him so much.

One night of moon-fueled liquid courage was all it took for Mars Reed to ruin his life. Mistakenly messaging his cold, predatory Alpha CEO instead of his best friend was strike one. Waking up in the elite VTN ROOM entangled in the powerful limbs of Grant Walker was strike two. But fleeing the scene and leaving behind the pack’s most sensitive legal contracts? That was the death blow to his career. Mars is a low-level analyst with a dying mother and a mountain of debt. He can’t afford to be the object of an Alpha’s curiosity, especially not one as ruthless as Grant—the man rumored to have a heart made of mountain ice and a secret soul-bond etched in ink on his skin. But when Mars creeps into the Walker Ridge Estate to beg for his documents back, he doesn’t get a pink slip. He gets a command. "I need a consort. You need a savior. We sign the blood-bond at dawn." Grant Walker doesn't do accidents. He doesn't do mercy. And he certainly doesn't do romance. He needs a husband to solidify his claim over Westline Holdings, and Mars is the perfect, disposable piece for his board. Locked into a high-stakes marriage of convenience, Mars must navigate the lethal politics of Havencrest while resisting the heat of a man who treats him like a subordinate by day and a treasure by night. But as the shadows of the Walker Ridge close in, Mars begins to realize that the "mistake" in the hotel room might not have been a mistake at all—and that Grant’s guarded heart might be the most dangerous trap of all. He walked into a contract he thought belonged to another man. Now, he belongs to the Alpha.

A month before the SATs, I, Jenny Reid, could see my score. Literally. It was just floating right above my head. But there was a catch. Every time I cracked open a prep book, my score would drop by ten points. But if I skipped a day of school? It jumped right back up by ten. So, I played the system. For a whole month, I barely lifted a finger. And on the day of the test, the number glowing over my head was a solid 1560. When the scores finally dropped online… I'd scored a 500. And the 1560? That was my little sister Patricia's score. My parents lost it. As punishment, they got me a grueling night-shift job at a local electronics factory. That first night, a bunch of guys I'd never seen before cornered me in the parking lot and beat me half to death. Fading in and out of consciousness, I heard my sister's voice right by my ear. "You just had to one-up me, didn't you? Thought you were so smart… but you never figured out I was the one controlling that number over your head." The truth hit me like a physical blow. The score had been her trick all along. I opened my eyes—and I was back. One month before the SATs. The number above my head read exactly 1300. "Hey," my sister said, all fake sweetness. "Want to study together tonight? We can go over the practice tests." I looked at the stack of papers in my own hands. Without a word, I pulled out my lighter and set them on fire right there in the driveway. "Exams are coming," I said, watching the flames. "I'm not studying." My score ticked up to 1310. My sister's face was this perfect mask of disappointment, but the second I turned away, I caught the sly smile she couldn't quite hide. She had no idea… the real performance, the one I'd been rehearsing just for her, was finally about to begin.

Lilianna was the daughter of a successful businessman, their life was perfect but there's one thing in Lilianna's life that she's been longing for. A mother. Her mother died in a car accident when she was young. Her dad did his best to raise her alone and provide her all the love a father could give. Finally her dad found someone who would love them or so they thought. Alejandro Fray Eleazar was a billionaire who once indebted his life to Lilianna's father. The time came when a news came to him, Lilianna's father's sudden passing and all of his company suddenly went bankrupt. He knows that there's something wrong going on, he wants to pay back Lilianna's father by igniting their company and saving all the properties that've been left to Lilianna. When her stepmother was notified that Alejandro wants to help she proposes a deal to Alejandro saying that in order to strengthen the company he must marry her daughter. Lilianna's stepsister, but in all of their shock Alejandro declined saying that he will only marry Lilianna and if not he will not be helping their company from bankruptcy. Alejandro takes this chance to claim Lilianna and stop her from avoiding him, because ever since something happened to them two years ago from that bar, Lilianna was doing her best not to cross paths with Alejandro. Thinking that what happened to them was a mistake because Alejandro was his father's friend. But Alejandro was determined to make Lilianna his, even the big difference of their age doesn't stop Alejandro. From him paying Lilianna's father back and making Lilianna his wife, he feels like he's hitting two birds with one stone.

Alejandro Smith is one of the handsome bachelors traveling the world with a hidden identity that only his trusted colleague knows... His perfect that everyone wants him, but he's careful enough to protect himself. He's enjoying the pleasures of everything, a free lifestyle while busy bringing their company on top of the list. He never dreamed of being a married man. For him, marriage is just a jail of misery and losing all the benefits of all the luscious adventures of life. Despite of disagreement about marriage, his a loving sister and son to their family. He's at the peak of all the crazy adventures in his life when suddenly a twist of fate changes in the presence of her new secretary. Can he still prove his belief that there is no real love, but just fucking a random woman? Or would he eat all his words and fall for her damn charm?..

Aurora Hills marked the genesis of it all, where she was drugged, surrender her innocence to a stranger by night, stripped of power by morning and narrowly evade death grasp. six years later, Olivia Reynolds is back, perhaps fleeing from something and she is ready to mete out karma to those who wronged her, things are exactly as planned or so she thought. Till try throw Alexander kings, a filthy rich CEO, who happens to share an uncanny resemblance with her kids, and whom she is inexplicably drawn to, then suddenly it becomes a lot harder than expected. Will it unravel disastrously or could it lead to unexpected twist of fate? Will Olivia seek out her sweet perfect retribution or get caught up in an unexpected romance with Mr. CEO?

“Who the hell changed the screw tolerance by 0.007 mm?” “I did. Is there a problem?” Kimmy Zabel, our department’s “good-luck charm” and full-time slacktivist, did not even look up from her compact mirror, where she was carefully applying lip gloss. “It just didn’t look right, so I tweaked it. Do you really have to yell at me?” The production line had been running on the wrong spec for twenty-four hours. I hit the emergency stop. Keeping my voice steady took some effort. “These parts no longer meet export standards. If we miss tomorrow’s shipment, even a month of overtime wouldn’t cover the penalties.” “It’s one tiny number. You’re being so dramatic!” Kimmy snapped her makeup case shut. “Anyway, it’s New Year’s Eve. I’ve got a date. I’m not staying here to suffer with you people.” Before she even reached the door, I gestured to the staff to pull the shutters down. “For precision components like these, one number translates into a million-dollar loss. You can take these defective units and explain them to the regulators.”

When Naomi Sullivan married me, she was already ten million dollars in debt. I spent the last five years working three jobs to help her pay off her "debts" while providing for her as well as our son, Shane Lewis. Not once did I ever complain about anything. All along, I firmly believed that my efforts would pay off, and we would eventually lead a good life together. Last week, our company finally secured a massive investment. Naomi and I hugged as we celebrated the occasion. I thought that the hard times were finally over. Today, I ended up seeing Naomi featured in the financial news. Dressed in a formal gown, she was hailed as the sole heiress to a multi-billion-dollar empire. She was shown engaged in an animated conversation with her "investor", Jared Lewis. The news headline read, "Naomi Sullivan Completes Five-Year Adversity Trial, Proves Her Ability to Build from Scratch to the Board of Directors". I trudge home in a daze. When I get there, the five-year-old Shane is playing with the latest limited-edition toy robot. He looks at me with a frosty, distant expression that bears an uncanny resemblance to his mother's. "Mommy told me everything. You failed the trial, Daddy. You care too much about money."

I grabbed an extra work meal to entertain a client. My boyfriend's sister saw it and went ballistic, docking my entire $500K commission. She pointed at my nose and screamed, "Are you taking me for a fool? You're just hiding behind 'client entertainment' to rip off the company! It's shameful, damaging the company's image! All of your commission for this month will be deducted as a warning to others." The client looked at me, wide-eyed in shock. I shrugged. "Do what makes you happy. Just don't regret it later." From then on, I started slacking off, and she freaked out.