Petty Squabbles

Mia Nova is sold to the devil to clear her fathers debt. Luca Barone, known in whispered fear as Diavolo, doesn’t just collect money, he also collects souls. Luca expects to meet a broken Mia who will plead for her life with tears and vivid fear. Instead he meets a petty thief who fears nothing. She smiles when he threatens to sell her to men, and makes jokes about her breast size not being enough for these men. In Luca’s world, the biggest currency is fear, but it seems Mia is bankrupt. When she steps into Pandemonium, his secret lair where powerful men are undone, she becomes the queen of the night, raking in five hundred million dollars in her first night. They make a second deal. The freedom of her soul costs six billion dollars in the six months of her gracing the golden chair every night. A kiss seals the deal. That same kiss changes everything between them. He becomes possessive, and she wants to surrender to him, but the ghost of the woman who graced the chair before her, returns with a fire that is set to burn everything down. Mia must decide between running from the Devil who owns her, or staying with the man who no longer wants to.

Before the flight takes off, my fiance, the pilot, boards the plane with a suitcase. He says it's a gift from his childhood sweetheart and warns me not to touch it. I can't shake the uneasy feeling creeping into my heart, so I sneak inside. To my shock, I find high-risk contraband hidden in the luggage. I report it immediately and use my commendation to cover for Edward's mistake and save his career. However, his precious childhood sweetheart is arrested, detained, and sentenced. He doesn't say a word after the incident. However, during another flight, he cuts the cord to my parachute. "Jade, I know you're jealous of Cindy! You sabotaged her during her flight attendant training and framed her afterward! Do you think this will make me love you? Dream on! I would never marry a petty woman like you!" I plunge from ten thousand meters above the ground, leaving nothing but blood and broken bones behind. When I open my eyes again, I see Cindy sending Edward off, and he's carrying the same suitcase. I quietly step back and decide I won't save him this time.

"I want you all to search every nook and cranny of that city. Get me that girl… alive. I want to torture her myself?", Jax roared in anger. How dare she? Does she think he's dumb not to know she was the one? She must be really dumb but he must confess, she was really a smart and scheming fellow to be able to pull that off. * * Aurora a 23 years old werewolf from the Blood moon pack who lives in the slums with her mother and younger sister, in order to provide for her poor mother and her sister's education she started doing petty crimes from the like of stealing from their neighbors and picking pockets. She was successfully going scot-free with her crimes till she got hooked when she stole the wallet of Jax, A ruthless and Merciless Alpha who happens to be her pack's Alpha. (She had no idea). What happens when she had to finally return home to the pack due to her mother's sickness and being wanted by the man she stole his wallet. What happens when she met the same man she stole his wallet, who has been looking for her as her supposed Alpha? Read on to find out!!!.

War. War is all we know. War for peace, war to take, war to protect. War for resources. It is impossible to avoid war because your neighbors won’t. If you are perceived as weak, you will be targeted. Your land and wealth stolen, your people killed, sons enslaved and daughters raped. To survive in this world, more important than oxygen; is strength and a cold heart. The only source of strength are mana veins. He who owns mana veins has the right to live and the right to rule. He who owns mana veins better have the strength to keep it or long life is but a pipe dream. Xasha hated war. War had taken everything from him and gave nothing in return. He hated that all wars were over petty things like pride and pocket change. He always looked to the vast wilderness with longing. He wondered why all the warmongers hadn’t turned their spears there. Where vast lands and untapped wealth were. Once he became a father. Xasha, the naïve, knowledge-loving merchant, decided he did not want his child growing up in the same world he did. He decided to change the world, end all war and unite the abandoned region. How will he do it? By starting a war, a war that will end all wars. Not a war with his neighbors over pride or a few mana veins. No. He will rage against the wilderness and the world beyond.

Someone started a thread on a forum asking, [Do men become stingy with their wives after marriage?] The replies were full of women complaining about how cheap and calculating their husbands were. My husband, however, went in the opposite direction. After we got married, he handed me his payroll card to manage and kept only a few dozen dollars a month for his own expenses, as though he had truly given everything to me and to this family. I shook my head and was about to respond when my mother-in-law's call interrupted me. "Chloe, Josh's god sister is sick. She needs $4,500." My husband immediately slipped an arm around my shoulders and assured me, "Don't worry. We'll use my salary. You won't have to pay a cent." "Alright," I said. Seeing how certain he was, I transferred one dollar to him on the spot and added a note: Medical expenses transferred. When my mother-in-law saw the transfer, she flew into a rage, sharply accusing me of being jealous and petty, even withholding money meant to save a life. I remained unmoved. "That's all there is on the card." She completely lost her temper, threatening to come over and audit how many kickbacks I had supposedly pocketed over the years. I agreed to settle the accounts. That was when my husband suddenly lost his enthusiasm.

Everyone has gathered around to play games together. The current game requires all players to transfer red wine to each other via our mouths. Before my fiance, Teodoro Lamperti, is able to transfer the wine to me, his female best friend, Cristina Ghedini, shoves me away before kissing him on the mouth right away. "What are you doing? Today is Serafina's big day, you know!" Teodoro might be complaining on the outside, yet he's patting Cristina gently on the back. The atmosphere in the villa becomes eerily silent. Everyone stares at me as I sit on the floor in a wretched manner. Cristina merely smiles nonchalantly. Then, she leans against Teodoro's shoulder. "Don't be so petty, Serafina. Teodor and I are as thick as thieves since we were kids. We're used to sharing everything together." Teodoro begins advising me as well. "It's just a game, Serafina. You've always been gracious, haven't you? Don't act like a sore loser." Everyone thinks that I'll explode into rage and flip the table of food over, like I had done in the past. But this time, I just draw to my feet and take off the engagement ring. Then, I slide it onto Cristina's finger. "This ring is yours now. Congratulations on your marriage. Remember to invite me to your wedding."

Selene's whole world ended the day she walked in on her husband and the man she gave up everything for, cheating with not just anyone but his own step sister. Filled with anger and pain, she decides to drop her usual good girl act and drown her sorrows. What she doesn't expect is that her attempt to forget leads her straight into the clutches of Aries Dimitriou, a reclusive and crazily wealthy man whose eyes were so cold, it sent goosebumps all over her skin. Before she can take a breath, he suddenly proposes a deal. Live in his home, cook and care for his three troubled children and earn a fortune. At first, she wants nothing of such a shoddy deal but the moment she finds that he is the fiancee of none other than the same woman who ruined her life, she accepts it without any hesitation. Now, trapped in a mansion so ridiculously large it seems like a maze, while also surrounded by mean little brats out for her life and an emotionless man whose gaze both scares and makes her body burn, Selene is starting to think that her little petty revenge plot might not be as easy as she thought. As if she doesn't have enough to worry about, she still has to deal with the Dimitriou crazy family members who think their all that just because they are rolling in wealth.

When I was eight months pregnant, my husband's foster sister invited me to hike a snow-covered mountain. Midway up, an avalanche hit. We were both buried. My husband rushed to the scene, but before I could utter a word, his sister accused me: "She planned this! She tricked me into coming today!" I tried desperately to explain. He didn't listen. Instead, he lashed out at me. "Sandra doesn't know any better, but you should! So what if she's blunt? Is this your petty revenge? Your pathetic life couldn't even begin to repay hers if she'd been hurt!" Then he left. Took her hand. Walked away. I screamed after him, begging him to save our baby. He didn't even glance back. Worse, he unhooked my safety harness and shoved me out of the rescue group. "Since you're so clever, find your own way down." Not long after, another avalanche hit. This time, I couldn't get back up. Three hours later, Sandra was in a car accident. She needed a blood transfusion. That's when he finally thought of me. But by then, he didn't know—I was already gone. Me, and the child I'd never hold, were still buried under the snow.

<> - Vanessa thought rock bottom was signing divorce papers with Derek Holland, a man with the emotional depth of a teaspoon. Turns out, rock bottom had a basement, and Ryker Holland was waiting for her down there with a smirk and a plan. Ryker, Derek's older half-brother (aka the family's dirty little secret), shows up offering Vanessa a deal: help her make her ex-husband, Derek Holland, jealous enough to come crawling back. In exchange, he secures his position as CEO. But Ryker isn't doing this out of kindness for he is petty and cruel. He would do anything to trample all over Derek, and now he has the perfect weapon. Vanessa, freshly dumped and just desperate enough to play along. And if she happens to enjoy making her ex suffer too? Well, that's just a bonus. As Vanessa sinks deeper into Ryker's twisted world of fake romance, secrecy and family dysfunction, things start getting real. Because fake love? It's a lot easier to control than real feelings. And Ryker has no idea what to do when the game stops being a game. Is Vanessa walking into a trap or building one of her own? Either way, the Holland brothers are going down. One's going to break, and the other's going to enjoy every second of it. _Disclaimer: This story features morally complex, flawed characters with twisted motives. It includes themes of manipulation, deception, and emotional cruelty. Reader discretion is advised.

A forced marriage. A ruthless CEO. And a contract that could ruin—or rescue—her heart. Ayla Morgan thought losing her father was the worst thing that could happen. She was wrong. Within weeks, her family restaurant is seized by debt collectors, her stepmother kicks her to the curb, and her arrogant CEO fires her in front of everyone over a petty mistake. With nothing left but humiliation and bills, Ayla is forced into a blind date arranged by her greedy family… and accidentally ruins the wrong one. That “wrong date”? Damon Cross. Her ex-boss. The coldest man she’s ever met—richer than sin and twice as dangerous. But instead of being furious, Damon makes her a shocking offer: Marry me. Three years. No feelings. No questions. In return, I’ll pay your family’s debt and give you your life back. To him, it’s just a contract. To her, it’s a lifeline. Living under the same roof, working as his personal secretary, Ayla swears she’ll never fall for a man who sees love as weakness. But behind Damon’s icy exterior hides a broken man forced to marry by his dying grandfather—and a loneliness that mirrors her own. As enemies become reluctant allies and fake kisses turn real, Ayla finds herself questioning everything. What happens when the contract ends… but her heart doesn’t? And will Damon let go of control long enough to realize that love might be his only salvation?