Private Room

Three years after graduation, I was waiting tables at a restaurant when I happened to run into some of my old classmates having a private dinner there. The moment they saw me carrying trays, they burst out laughing. My old rival Elliot sneered that I was a useless nobody, then pulled out 50 bucks and tossed it in front of me, telling me to lick the food scraps off his shoe. "Clean my shoe, and that fifty's yours!" Even my ex-girlfriend joined in to humiliate me. "I can't believe this is what you've become three years after graduation, Chase. Good thing I dumped you when I did—I'd hate to be the girlfriend of some broke loser." Elliot and a few others pinned me to the floor, forcing me to kneel and even bark like a dog. My ex clapped her hands, laughing. "Chase, you really do look like a dog when you're on your knees." Then, the restaurant manager rushed in. The moment he saw me, his face went pale with shock. "M–Mr. Levine… are you all right, sir?" Blood dripping down my forehead, I pointed at everyone in that room. "No one leaves this room tonight."

After my friend Josh Yates fell deep into gambling, he showed up one day wearing a wide, excited grin, insisting on taking me to Macoria. "I just won big," he said. "My treat. We're staying at the most luxurious hotel." However, the moment we landed, he led me straight into a private room buried deep inside a casino. "The truth is, I lost 7.5 million," he admitted. "If I can't pay it back, they'll sell me off to the Mykar Borderlands… "However, the woman who runs this place is looking for a man with a crescent-shaped birthmark. If they find him, all debts are wiped clean. "You've got one on your stomach. I saw it when you were showering. I'm sorry, man… I really don't want to die." Four men pinned me down on a sofa. That was when I noticed a child's drawing hanging on the wall. I had made it for my mother before I was taken from her. She cherished it, said she would keep it for the rest of her life. An icy smile tugged at my lips. Josh, Josh… this time, you really did place the right bet, I thought. Too bad the winner would not be you.

Sophia Moreau is a challenge no man has ever won. A self-made CEO, ruthless and untouchable, she built her empire from the ground up, leaving no room for weakness. No distractions. No mistakes. And definitely no men who think they can outplay her. But Travis Cole? He doesn’t walk away from a challenge. For years, Travis has kept a list—a private game between him and his closest friends. The women no one else could have, the ones deemed impossible. He’s never lost a bet. Never failed to break down the walls of even the most untouchable. And when Sophia’s name is thrown into the mix? He’s supposed to say no. She’s supposed to be off-limits. But one encounter with her, one sharp-tongued argument, one look in those firestorm eyes, and suddenly—he wants her. More than the game. More than the win. More than he should. What he doesn’t realize? She’s the one game he was never meant to play. And when she finds out the truth, when she learns that he made her a bet— She won’t just walk away. She’ll make sure he is the one left broken. Because Travis might have fallen first… But Sophia? Sophia was never meant to fall at all.

Five years ago, Sierra Savalini made the biggest mistake of her life, falling into bed with a stranger who turned out to be everything she’d sworn to avoid: powerful, and untouchable. She left that hotel room before sunrise, vowing to forget the man and the night that changed her forever. Now, she’s a single mother fighting to keep her struggling bakery alive. When she is presented with a dream opportunity, a job as a private chef to a reclusive billionaire, she can't say no. The pay is life-changing, and the position promises stability for her and her child. But on her first day, the man she’s hired to work for, stands in front of his luxurious mansion to welcome her. Louis Trevejo. The stranger from that night. The man who got her pregnant. Trapped under the same roof, Sierra tries to keep her distance, pretending their past never happened. Louis, however, can’t shake the feeling that he’s seen her before. Unfortunately, they both have an irresistible magnet that pulls them together, no matter how hard they try to ignore it. When Louis discovers the secret she’s been hiding, he’s not just fighting for answers. He’s fighting for the family he never knew he had. Can Sierra trust him this time… or will the past consume them both?

Maverick Lloyd finally agrees to marry me after five years of dating. We head to the hospital to tell my ill mother the good news. On the way there, Maverick receives a call from his true love. He turns the car around and takes me to a bar instead—his true love is short of people at the bar, so he tells me to help out as a bargirl. When I'm being harassed and sullied in a private room, he's living it up with his true love next door. The hospital calls to tell me my mother's condition has worsened. I jump out of the third-floor window to get away. However, when I arrive at the hospital, all I see is my mother's cold body. Meanwhile, Maverick's true love updates her social media. "He appears before me like a hero whenever I'm in danger." It comes with a photo of her cuddling in Maverick's arms. My heart dies. I take off my engagement ring and place it with my mother's body to be destroyed during the cremation. Then, I like Maverick's true love's post. "I hope you two stay together forever. Don't ever harm anyone else."

My uncle’s rival, Emmett Meyer, saved me twice. The first time, I was drowning after a shipwreck—until he cut through the waves on a speedboat and dragged me ashore. The second time was after someone had slipped drugs into my drink. That night, I seduced him, a hardened man ten years my senior. In the dim glow of a private room, he guided my hand downward and growled, “I want you so bad, Babe.” He took me ruthlessly, ignoring my sobs and pleas. From then on, Emmett—the untamable “Prince of Silverbridge”—abandoned his reckless ways and devoted himself to me. Or so I believed. Then one day, he coaxed me into his Rolls-Royce and captured our tryst on camera. I flushed with embarrassment and secret delight. Later, as I hurried after him to return some documents he had left behind, I heard the sneers whispered in the hallway: “You’re so wild, Emmett. Everyone heard your girl moaning.” “Damn, the car rocked so hard I thought you’d break it.” “Hey, if Franklin Reed ever finds out that his precious niece has been your plaything for three years… think he’ll have a heart attack?”

I was Alpha Damon’s Head Beta. For six years, I had been his partner in bed and his second-in-command. When he announced our mating ceremony, the entire pack celebrated. My dream was finally within reach. But then, outside his private trophy room, I heard him bragging about his “Luna trials.” And just like that, I learned the truth. I wasn’t his one and only. I was one of thirty candidates. He’d spent a month with each of us, grading our bodies, our submission, our performance. My score? Lower than an Omega’s. Lower than Lydia’s. “Fucking Lydia was incredible,” he boasted. “I could barely pull myself away. Then I look at Elysia—so stiff, so in control—and I’m just… bored.” Ice flooded my veins. My body went numb. Six years of devotion. Countless nights tangled in his sheets. It all meant less than a cheap thrill and a wolf who knew how to kneel. My heartbreak hardened into ice. I sent a message to an Alpha who had wanted me long ago. “Adrian, you once said your offer to mate was a standing one. Does it still stand? Damon and I are over now.”

On the third anniversary of our bond, I pushed open the private room door, my heart full of hope—only to see Chisel on one knee, leaning in to kiss Sylvia. In that instant, every thread of love and trust inside me snapped. “What are you doing?” My voice trembled; tears blurred my vision. Chisel looked up at me, eyes full of irritation. “Enough, Leah. Stop putting on that wounded look. We were just playing a game. I lost, that’s all. Why are you angry?” I could no longer bear the betrayal. After losing our pup, something inside me died completely. I decided to break the mate bond, to end this painful, scarred union once and for all. Even as Chisel kept apologizing, swearing he would change, I no longer believed him. My voice went cold: “Even if I forgive you, our pup never will.” I left the home that had once been full of love and hope, flying toward a new world that would be mine alone. On the other end of the phone, Chisel’s voice trembled. “Leah, I was wrong. Please… give me another chance…” I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply, and hung up. My voice was calm, final: “I have nothing more to say to you, Chisel.”

On the day of our engagement, my girlfriend, Jean Sullivan, is nowhere to be found until late at night. Beside myself with worry, I, Seth Lloyd, frantically reach out to our mutual friends and even consider calling the police. Suddenly, I come across a post about her from her assistant, Callum Cox. "My manager came over to discuss some plans, but the door lock suddenly broke. Does this mean we're going to be stuck in the same room tonight? I can't help feeling a little excited." When I like the post, Jean immediately calls me, furious. "Don't you have any idea how much I earn in a year? Just one day of my lost income would cover what you make in a whole week. "All I did was skip that stupid engagement party, and you start acting all snide. I don't have time to deal with your stingy relatives." My mom, Teresa Whitfield, stays silent, her eyes sweeping over the gold, eight sets of haute couture jewelry, and several property transfer deeds in the private room. With a forced smile, she asks, "Seth, have all these wedding gifts we've prepared embarrassed you?" I sneer, caressing the keys to the luxury car I'm about to give Jean. "No, it's me who's being too generous to her."

My husband, Julian Sutton, is busy with work on the day of my prenatal checkup. His childhood sweetheart, Vera Levine, with whom he's been amorous for years, offers to drive me. On the way there, she suddenly swerves and rams into the back of a truck. The car is flattened. Julian is a doctor in the emergency room, but I don't call him. Instead, I dial 911 and wait for assistance. Why? I called him in my past life, and he took me to the hospital. Our child was saved, but Vera died due to significant blood loss. Julian claimed not to blame me and even arranged for me to stay in a private hospital ward. But on the day I was discharged, he dragged me to Vera's grave and stabbed me. I lost the child and was on the verge of death as I stared into his bloodshot eyes. They were filled with unbridled hatred as he snarled, "Vera wouldn't have died if you hadn't grabbed the wheel! Don't think I'll believe you just because you're acting innocent! An eye for an eye—I want you to die for her, but only after experiencing the pain she felt in a hundredfold!" He twisted the blade and stabbed me repeatedly. My blood splattered on Vera's gravestone, dying it red. When I open my eyes again, I find that I've been taken back to the scene of the accident.