Pick A Number

In the tenth year of being the secret lover of Luca, a Mafia Don, I died. When the bullet tore through my chest, I used the last of my strength to dial his number. “Luca, I’ve been shot… Please, save me…” On the other end, he let out a careless, mocking snort. “Eva, is this another one of your tragic‑act routines? Helena’s waiting for me to have breakfast with her. I’m tired of this game. Stop bothering me.” Then, the call cut off without mercy, and so I closed my eyes in despair. When I opened them again, I had gone back seven days before the shooting. This time, with trembling fingers, I dialed a number I hadn’t dared to touch in three years. “Marcus, three years ago, you said you’d marry me. Do you still stand by it?” The voice on the other end exploded. “Eva! You finally called me! I’m in Sicily, clearing out an enemy faction. I can’t get back right now. “Give me seven days. I swear I’ll come back to you in a blaze of glory!”

Damien Walter!Knees falls, and Jaws drops hearing his name.He is one of the youngest billionaire in the whole of New York, in which he owns a sugar company.Partying, f**king and smoking was his middle name, but when it comes to business, he is always serious about it.Damien has no plans for the future, neither does he have plans falling in love. His aunt has set him up on many dates, but after a one night stand with his dates, he blocks their number and pretends they don’t exist.He believes that women can easily be bought with money, and that’s why he chose living his baddie lifestyle and not caring about love and its fantasy.But his way of thinking slowly changed when he falls in love with Chloe at first sight.Damien vows that he was going to have her to himself, only for him to find out that Chloe has a boyfriend and they plan on getting married soon.But despite knowing Chloe has a boyfriend, Damien is still determined to make her his.Will he ever succeed in winning the heart of a girl who doesn’t care about his existence and only focus on her long-time boyfriend whom she loves so much??

Lara Austen is the CEO of SignaBook, and the only daughter of James and Tola Austen. Her parents' only concern is for her to get married but that is the least of Lara’s concern. At the age of 24 she is one of the youngest leading business women in Yula and she has her eyes set on being one of the top among businessmen in Yula. Clark Rique the CEO of Dames and the best friend of Lai Austen, Lara’s brother. He is the next in line to succeed the number one company in all of Yula, Dames. A mobile phone company that not only sells phones but also produces apps. Clark and Lara have a bittersweet relationship, mostly filled with dislike for one another as they can’t bear each other's behaviour though they are linked through their relationship with Lai. Due to a family betrayal Clark is forced to get married in the span of less than two months, causing him to propose a marriage of convenience to Lara. Will Lara be able to bear Clark cold and domineering behaviour? Will Clark be able to survive Lara’s stubborn and sassy behaviour? Would they be able to put their differences aside and make this marriage work? Would this marriage evolve from a marriage of convenience into a love marriage? Theme: Arranged marriage, Romance, Business, Love

“Fine, but there should be rules.” I said sitting back down. “There is one, don't fall in love with me, Ice Queen.” He said with an ecstatic voice. “I’d be caught dead before that happens!” “We’ll see.” He muttered with a smirk on his face. Everything… Amara Forger had lost everything, from her company to her name. She had given years of hard work and love to the people who tore down to the ground. She is now caught in the middle of a whole lot of drama, but something happens. She is offered help from the one person who she would have never imagined to help her. Her number one enemy, Roman Winters. He offers to marry her and in return he would help her save her firm and return everything she lost while she would help him do something that was biting him down. Amara agrees, but then she sees the terror in the Winters household and she also learns things about Roman that she didn't know. She begins to put things together, but the question remains. Can you fake emotions forever without them turning real?

On the day of my wedding gown fitting, a stranger burst into the VIP suite and stabbed me with a knife. “You think you deserve a dress this expensive after stealing someone else’s man?” She tore at the delicate fabric of my skirt. Then, with a twisted smile, she hurled a bottle of acid at me. The blade was buried in my lower abdomen. The pain drove me to my knees. She grabbed my hair and yanked my head up. “Gerald’s my husband! What are you? You’re nothing but a mistress who can’t even be seen with him in public!” Blood dripped down my fingers. That was when it finally sank in. The man I had been with for seven years had been keeping another woman by his side. “What’re you staring at? Even if I kill you, with my husband’s influence, no one will dare touch me!” Staring at her smug face, I pulled out my phone with hands slicked in blood and called my brother. “Matt…” My voice was unnervingly calm. “Come pick me up at the bridal shop. And please inform the Hoover family that the engagement is off.”

On the same day we were registering our marriage, my boyfriend, Levi Salfolk, had someone throw me out of the clerk's office while he led his childhood sweetheart inside. He looked at me nonchalantly. "Rosalie's child can't be illegitimate. I'll marry you once we get divorced." Everyone thought that the lovestruck me would wait for him for another month. After all, I had already waited for him for seven years. However, I went overseas that night, accepting the arranged marriage my family had set up for me and disappearing from his world. Three years later, I accompanied my husband back home to pay our respects to his ancestors. Something came up, and my husband sent someone from the local branch office to pick me up. Unexpectedly, I met Levi, whom I had not seen since I left. "Enough with the fooling around. Come back. Rosalie's child is starting preschool soon. You're in charge of picking up and dropping off the child."

At the wedding I've spent months planning, my usually stoic fiancé, Anthony Scott, is about to run off with his assistant, Erica Jones. To top it all off, she is wearing a wedding gown. Out of nowhere, his younger brother, Christopher Scott, grabs my hand and plans to pull me straight to City Hall. He disregards my panicking eyes. "Let's get married," he says, as if it's the most normal thing in the world. Then, the stage decorations suddenly collapse, revealing a room full of guests mocking and laughing at me. The two men who once swore to love me forever do all just to make Erica smile. The three of them clink glasses and drink a love toast on stage, completely lost in their own moment. "The wedding you planned was way too outdated. You should thank Erica for turning it into a bachelorette party!" "The real wedding will be this Sunday. Isn't Erica's idea amazing?" Anthony and Christopher were confident that I wouldn't dare leave them. But I quietly pick up my phone and type a message. "Let's set the wedding date for this Sunday, Levi."

My sister accompanies me when I go for my premarital medical checkup. When I'm preparing a urine test, I hear embarrassing sounds coming from the cubicle next door. I'm about to leave when I hear the conversation. "Keep it in you, Willow. We're doing this again if it slips out." The voice belongs to my fiancé, Zachary Hilton. The woman to whom he's speaking is Willow Langley, my sister. I dial his number hysterically to see whether it really is him, but my calls go unanswered. All I hear is the incessant ringing of a phone next door and moans alongside it. I'm rooted to the spot, too stunned to do anything. Zachary once vowed to love me for life, yet he's doing something like this with Willow prior to our wedding. The moans and pants next door take a long time to subside. Once I hear them leave, I call home, my face wet with tears. "Mom, change my husband-to-be to Thomas Hilton, Zachary's youngest uncle. I don't want to have anything to do with Zachary anymore."

At the engagement party, the champagne tower is only half-built when Marcus Harrison answers a phone call. He glances at me and says, "I have to go. Lily collapsed at the airport." I say, "If you leave, we're done." He leaves anyway, in front of 200 guests. He carries Lily Bardot in his arms, wearing the coat I gave him, as he drives away in my car. The next day, he sends me an email that reads, "Lily will be moving into my apartment. She needs me, and I hope you can understand. Once Lily gets better, we'll get married. Please trust me." I stare at the screen and suddenly laugh. So what he wants isn't someone who loves him. It's someone who needs him. And I'm too independent, so I don't make the cut. That evening, I scroll through my contacts and find a number I've never given a second glance to. It belongs to someone who's been waiting for me for 23 years. I dial it. "Tomorrow night, 7:00 pm. Meet me at the restaurant by the sea."

On the day we're supposed to register our marriage, my girlfriend Jenny Sutton has me removed from the city hall. She walks in with her childhood sweetheart, Ronald Walsh. She looks at me without a flicker of guilt and says, "Ronald's kid needs his legal status sorted out. Once we divorce, I'll marry you." Everyone assumes I'll wait. I'm the devoted fool who's already waited seven years, so one more month seems trivial. That night, I go along with my family's plan and leave the country for a marriage of convenience. I cut myself cleanly out of Jenny's life. Three years later, I return to the country with my wife, Ellie Olsen, who's a CEO, to pay respects at her family's graves. A last-minute issue pulls her away, and she asks the local branch to send someone to pick me up. I didn't expect Jenny, not after three years. "You have dragged this out long enough. Come back. Ronald's kid will be starting kindergarten soon. You can handle the school runs."