Plant Power Ian Smith

*****Trigger Warning***** This book contains mature themes, physical, sexual and emotional abuse. My name is Lillian Blackwood. I thought my life was over. I had been beaten down and controlled by my ex both emotionally and physically for years. It was, do or die. Fortunately, I survived, and with therapy and time, I finally started some semblance of a life. The very last thing I was looking for was love. I hate dating, and quite frankly, I'm not a fan of men and who can blame me? I keep a very tight circle of friends, so I was surprised when love pushed and shoved its way into my life. But not all fairytales have happy endings, and my tale certainly gives happiness a run for its money.

After several years of hard work, Noelle Lewis is doing her best as a neurosurgeon in a private hospital when she suddenly finds herself meeting her ex-fiancé again. After she has recovered from her past and is living a contented life, what will happen now that her past has started to haunt her?

A week after my engagement, I was delivered an unusual engagement gift. My phone chimed. I glanced down and saw a push notification from a social app. [Fell in love with a female livestreamer right before my engagement. I feel guilty toward my older girlfriend who's about to become my fiancée—how should I deal with this?] The user ID was "SimonLovesClaire." The profile picture showed a melancholy side view of a man wrapped in a gray scarf. I recognized him instantly. It was my fiancé, Simon Aldrich. That limited-edition scarf was the birthday gift I had given him last year.

[ WARNING: MATURE CONTENT] "You're an offer to me this night and there's nothing you can do to change my mindset, because, after this day, I'm going to be your worst nightmare," he said in that blink of a scary smile that washed across his lips. _____ She was convinced to have a nightstand with a stranger to save her father's legacy, but never in her life had she thought after that night. Her life was going to change completely and she would become a bride to the ruthless man in the city.

Daisy: My life was cool and perfect until I met him—my best friend’s husband’s brother. He is an asshole, and I wouldn't mind plunging a knife into his perfect skin. Deep down, though, all I really want is to savor that skin all day. He brought nothing but trouble into my life, digging up my past and forcing me to relive it. But why do I crave his attention? Adriano: I have a dark side that no one knows about, not even my brother, who grew up beside me. I thought I had it all tamed—until she came into my life. She embodies everything I despise in a woman: sassiness, a smart mouth, and a knack for getting on my nerves. She brought out a part of me I never knew I had, and I hate it. She's running from someone, and I intend to find out who's after her. No one gets to be her nightmare except me.

As a CEO, Logan knows better than to get romantically involved with any of his employees. Unfortunately for him, his wolf won't accept anything less than Emory's everything.

The night of our engagement party, I found my best friend playing a dangerous game with my fiancé. The casino on our family's private yacht was where I found them. Clara was sitting on the lap of my fiancé, Killian, the Falcone family heir. Killian held a sharp family dagger, its tip snagging the thin strap of her dress. The blade traced a path along her collarbone. The slightest pressure would snap the silk. It was a dangerous, intimate scene. I stepped forward with a frown, but Killian just scoffed. "It's just a little game to liven things up, Principessa. Don't be so tense." Clara's eyes narrowed, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "We're just playing a traditional family game. The knife game. You don't mind, do you, sweetie?" I was about to speak, but Killian's expression hardened. "We just got engaged and you're already trying to control me?" So I said nothing. I just drew my custom pistol from its holster on my thigh. "So, it's a game," I said. "Then let's play for something real."

Three days before my wedding, Adrian canceled it for the fifty-second time. He came to the Palermo workshop to approve my gown’s crest embroidery, but the moment I stepped out from the fitting curtain, he snatched up his holster and radio. “Torino bastards smashed Bianca’s vineyard, surrounded the estate. Lia’s terrified, so I have to go. The wedding is off.” Once, I would have stopped him and demanded to know who mattered more to him, me or Bianca. This time, I simply let him go. Thirty minutes later, Bianca posted an Instagram Story: [You’re the only shelter for me and my daughter.] The photo showed Adrian holding Bianca close, with Lia in his arms, calling him Dad. They looked like a real family. My parents sighed. “Seraphina, is the wedding in Hawaii off again? We’ve already sent the invitations to every renowned Italian family. What will this do to the Bellini family’s honor?” I shook my head, tapping the backup invite. "The wedding goes on.  In three days, I’ll still be a bride. Just not Adrian’s."

Zara James thought she had it all—a promising journalism career, a passion for uncovering the truth, and the guts to expose the powerful. But when her exposé on a corrupt politician backfires, her world comes crashing down. Blacklisted, penniless, and humiliated, Zara is desperate to rebuild her shattered life. Enter Adrian Cross, a tech billionaire with a reputation as ruthless as it is alluring. Adrian’s empire is on the verge of collapse, thanks to a scandal tied to his enigmatic and estranged brother, Nathaniel. Desperate to salvage his public image, Adrian offers Zara an irresistible deal: become his fake fiancée, and he’ll give her the exclusive story that could redeem her career. It’s a win-win—or so it seems. Thrown into a world of glittering galas, high-stakes boardrooms, and shadowy secrets, Zara quickly realizes Adrian is hiding more than just a tarnished reputation. Beneath his icy exterior lies a man haunted by betrayal, bound by dark ties to his family’s criminal empire. As their staged romance starts to feel dangerously real, Zara finds herself torn between her growing feelings for Adrian and the truth she’s determined to uncover. But Adrian isn’t the only one with secrets. Ethan Blackwood, a charming stranger who sweeps Zara off her feet, has his own hidden agenda—one that ties him to her worst enemy. Caught in a web of lies, power plays, and dangerous alliances, Zara must navigate the treacherous waters of love and ambition. When betrayal strikes from all sides, Zara faces an impossible choice: trust the man who’s kept her in the dark or risk everything for the one who might be playing her.

“You think I'm going to force you to take my seed?” he growled, angry at the mere insinuation of it. “I… I thought…” “Look here bambi,” he bent down to my level, gray eyes weakening me, “I am many wicked things but nothing will ever make me force a woman into my bed. In fact,” he stood up and headed towards the door before turning to look at me again, “for this, I have decided you're going to be the one to beg me to fuck your virgin cunt. I won't give you what you need until you're on your knees, desperately begging for my cock.” I nearly rolled my eyes but he was still looking at me but deep in my mind, I was sticking my tongue out to him. If he thinks I'm going to let him touch me, beg him to, he's a joker. *** Maya has survived seventeen years of being unwanted. Her birth killed her mother and her father has never failed to remind her how much he hates her existence. Rejected by her mate on her eighteenth birthday and sold to a stranger by the same evening — she has nothing left to lose. Except her pride. And Caden Rhyndar, the most feared Alpha in the West, has decided that's exactly what he wants. He won't force her to have his child or his cock. He doesn't need to. He'll just wait, while doing wicked things that leave her body begging for more, never out loud though. But surviving forced proximity to a man built like a weapon, who looks at her like she's the only thing worth conquering, that's a war Maya isn't sure her body will let her win. She swore she'd never beg. He's never lost a battle in his life.