Rage And Ruin

I slept with my brother's best friend. And I didn't even know who he was. --- The first time I saw Rafael De Luca, he was a stranger by the pool with sin in his smile and hunger in his icy blue eyes. He kissed me like I was air and he'd been drowning. Then I learned his name. My brother's best friend. The heir to the De Luca empire. My family's sworn enemy. I should have walked away. Instead, I let him ruin me. One night of passion. One whispered "my little sunshine" against my skin. One secret I took with me when I disappeared without a trace. Now I'm back. Six years later, Rafael is colder than ever, Chicago's most feared mafia prince, and the man I'm being forced to marry. He doesn't know why I left. He doesn't know about the five-year-old secret waiting at home with his father's blue eyes. And he definitely doesn't know that one look from him still sets me on fire. "You're mine now, sole," he whispers against my lips on our wedding night. "And I'm going to find out why you left. Every. Damn. Reason." He thinks he's in control. He thinks he's the one ruining me. But Rafael De Luca doesn't know the truth yet. I didn't just sleep with my brother's best friend. I gave him a son. And when he finds out, this monster who wears obsession like armor will have to decide: Destroy me for my betrayal... Or surrender to the passion that could save us both.

At the company's annual meeting, my promotion opportunity goes to an intern instead. I confront Mitchell Wilson, a manager, only to be publicly humiliated. "The industry is in a slump, yet you have the best sales performance in the entire company. Who knows how you get your clients?" I drank until my stomach bled and ended up in the hospital in the middle of the night. I have forced a smile while serving arrogant, sleazy executives. Yet, none of that feels as humiliating as this moment. My ex-boyfriend looks at me gloatingly while holding the intern's hand as they plan a celebration party. Before leaving, he mocks me, "Yvette is the Saccone Group heiress. Once her evaluation period ends, she will go back to inherit the company. Who do you think you are?" I frown in confusion—I am the Saccone Group heiress.

Lia Carter’s dirty secret: She wants her stepbrother, Rubben Carter. 6’2 of muscle, scars, and control. The man who’s supposed to protect her. Instead, he ruins her. With one look. One touch. One word. Little sister. He doesn’t know what he does to her. How her pulse races when he’s near. How her body betrays her every time his jaw ticks. He’s forbidden. Untouched. Off-limits. She’s drunk. Reckless. Done pretending. One whisper of his name and he’s there — close, hot, dangerous. She’s helpless under his gaze. She wants him. She can’t. But desire doesn’t care about blood or rules. *Will Rubben give in to the girl he should never touch?* *And when their parents find out… who will survive the fallout?*

Grote Mendoza, the Alpha of the Valkyrie pack, has an extremely strong libido. Whenever he sees my body, he can't seem to control himself at all. He's very rough with me in bed, resulting in me fainting every time we sleep with each other. "Honey, can you endure this for me one more time?" It's been seven years. This is my 99th time enduring the torturous session with Grote. Because of that, my private part suffers from severe ulceration and infection. I thought Grote loves me, but it turns out that he's just a wolf who suffers from weird fetishes. I thought he'll slowly learn how to be gentle with me for my sake. But when I watch all 99 tapes that he and his mistress, Christine Henson, have recorded of themselves going at it, I finally realize that his gentle side is never meant for me at all. Grote blames me for not being able to be with pup thanks to my private part's condition. He allows Christine to abuse and humiliate me however she wants. In fact, he even beds her before my eyes. He refuses to believe that I will ditch him. All he does is beg me relentlessly for my forgiveness and promise me that I'll be his only Luna. Apparently, having a mistress spices up his bedroom life for him. But Grote repeatedly allows Christine to humiliate me. She forces me to become her slave and keep serving her until she gives birth to her pup. I've been enduring Grote's actions for seven years. All I get is pain and abuse that keeps worsening in return. I don't want to endure the humiliation anymore, even if it means dying right here, right now. I jump into the sea without hesitation, allowing the ice-cold water to swallow me whole. I'm willing to do anything just to escape from Grote's suffocating love that's packaged as abuse… After I die in the sea, Grote completely loses control of himself and keeps looking for me everywhere he goes.

On the first day I take my daughter, Layla Gibson, to an elite kindergarten, I'm told that Layla hasn't been admitted to the kindergarten at all. I call my husband, Maverick Gibson, on the spot. After all, he's the one in charge of enrolling Layla in the kindergarten. How is it possible for her to not fit the criteria to be accepted into the kindergarten? In an upset tone, Maverick tells me that the kindergarten has gotten it wrong. "I'm sorry, darling. Our company's assets have yet to reach the minimum requirement that's needed for the kindergarten to accept Layla as a student. "I was worried that you'd be saddened when you found out about this, so I didn't say anything about this. This is my fault for not working hard enough. Because of me, Layla lost to her peers in terms of education." After ending the call, I call my dad, who's actually a board member of the kindergarten. At the same time, I have my lawyer draft a divorce agreement. I'm interested to see which bastard child has taken Layla's spot, which has already been reserved by my dad a long time ago.

My company hosts an appreciation gala to thank long-time clients. I go to the company's cold storage to retrieve the batch of wine just flown in from overseas when a stream of comments suddenly appears before my eyes. "That was close! She almost caught Daisy covered in red wine and looking all seductive. Good thing Tristan reacted fast and hid her in the freezer." "Can Scarlett just leave already? Look how cold Daisy and Tristan are. They are shivering. What if they catch a cold?" I pause mid-step, my gaze landing on the freezer behind me. Red wine is dripping out, and a piece of fabric is caught in the door. On it, I see the motif I personally sew onto my fiancé's clothes. Just then, the comments appear again. "Tristan plays it cool, claiming he is all about platonic love and staying chaste for Daisy. What a touching romance!" I smirked coldly. The platonic act is fake. The truth is he's cheating on me. Without a word, I turn around and toss the clothes they leave on the floor into the trash. Then, I lock the cold storage door and call the boss, who is in the middle of giving a speech. I exclaim over the phone, "A thief broke into the company! I locked them in the cold storage. Please bring some men and come over quickly!"

"Benjamin! I swear, I never cheated on you. I am a pure woman. I never let anyone touch me. Please, believe me." Charlotte was on her knees, begging her husband to believe her Innocence. But he only looked at her with anger and disgust in his eyes for her. "Do you think I am a fool? If you didn't cheat? If you are that innocent? How come you are pregnant? Is that the reason why you didn't let me touch you in four months of our marriage?" Benjamin yelled at her, hatred dipped from his eyes for Charlotte. "I don't know anything! But please, believe me. I never cheated on you." Charlotte cried, trembling with fear. "That's it! I can't live with an unfaithful woman. I am divorcing you. Get your ugly face out of my sight and never show me your face again, you slut." Without listening to her pleas, Benjamin slapped the divorce papers. ---------------- Charlotte was full of life. With so many dreams in her eyes, she was looking forward to having a bright future. Until an arrogant man laid his eyes on her. And everything changed in her life. She was forced to marry the man she hated the most. When she thought nothing worse could happen to her, she found out that she was pregnant. But how? She was still a virgin and she never let any man touch her?

In the seventh year of running my jewelry store, a woman came in to order a set of gold jewelry for her future mother-in-law. As I introduced the designs, I noticed the gold bracelet on her wrist. It was identical to the one my husband had crafted for me. Just as I was about to take a closer look, her phone lit up. The wallpaper was a photo of a couple, and the man in it was Julian Holt, my husband of seven years. My expression froze. I walked to the far end of the counter and placed a call. “Honey, do you remember the gold bracelet I asked you to keep when we got engaged? Can you take a photo of it and send it to me?” There was a brief pause on the other end. When he spoke, his tone of voice was tense. “Why are you suddenly asking about the bracelet? I stored it in a bank safe deposit box. It’s probably too late to go get it now. Tomorrow, I’ll bring it to you.” I smiled and agreed. After hanging up, I returned to the female customer.

While Adrian was out negotiating a partnership, Vivian slipped nuts into my food — the one thing she knew I was deathly allergic to. I broke out in blisters all over during the negotiation, making a scene in front of everyone. But Vivian didn't care. She pulled me aside and sneered, "You, Luna, spoiled as you are, just stay there and be a pretty face. Leave the real business to me and Adrian." I lost my temper and slapped her hard across the face. The next second, Adrian appeared in front of Vivian, pulling her into his arms. The look he gave me was pure reproach. "You're the Luna — is this how you treat your own pack members? Vivian didn't do it on purpose. Why are you making her life difficult?" Vivian pressed herself against him, eyes wide and glistening. "Luna, I know I'm clumsy. You're not really going to hold a grudge over something so small, are you?" That night, he didn't come back to our hotel room. I sat on the bed and waited until dawn, tears streaming silently down my face. Through the mate bond, I could feel exactly where he'd been — with Vivian, the entire night. He'd already betrayed me. Numb with heartbreak, I picked up my phone and called Alpha’s father.

“Run. For when the moon rises so do the monsters.” Blood trickled down my legs as I managed to keep my foot in front of the other in an attempt to run. Who would imagine that running away from being engaged to an old Alpha would lead right into the clutches of my fated lycan king? And that right there would lead to my death or...? Now I'm hunted, claimed and I might just end up ruined.