Ransom Center Austin

My younger sister, Lila James, had a heart attack. The doctors tried their best, but she died. On the day we buried her, the men she had been involved with showed up. One was an unhinged lawyer, and another one was a powerful heir from Jovaris. Yet another one was a messed-up top celebrity. When they heard that Lila was dead, they lost it. They tried to dig her out and torture her. I blocked their way and begged them, “She’s gone! If you need someone to blame, take it out on me!” That was the moment I became Lila’s stand-in. They tortured me in every way they could think of. They beat me until my skin tore open and forced me to film humiliating videos. I somehow escaped and tried to bring them to justice. The unhinged lawyer threatened to ruin my life! The powerful heir used his influence to shut every door in my face. The messed-up top celebrity leaked the videos and claimed I had seduced him. I became the center of a national scandal, and my reputation was irreparably damaged. My parents even published a statement and cut all ties with me. I went home to confront them. When I reached outside their door, I heard Lila’s voice. She sounded immensely pleased. “Mom, Dad, your plan to fake my death saved me! I can finally get away from those lunatics. “Good thing we had Yara! Otherwise, I would’ve been the one in all these scandals.” I broke down. I rushed into the house. I was ready to drag Lila to hell with me, but my parents killed me first. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day Lila had her heart attack.

Seventeen-year-old Nora Macie has spent her entire life surviving in the shadows of the Collins mansion. Her mother is the underpaid and mute housekeeper who raised Nora to stay silent, stay small, and stay invisible. Master Stephan Collins pays Nora’s tuition at Riverbrook High, a constant reminder that their lives belong to the family. Especially to Asher Collins, the arrogant heir who is expected to take over the Collins food empire. Nora obeys the rules she was raised with: do not look at Master Asher, do not speak to Master Asher, do not fall for Master Asher. His mother drilled them into her every month. She has always kept her distance from him, until one humiliating accident shatters her carefully controlled world. One night, she films a private sex tape meant for her eyes only. She tries to delete it, but her fingers slip, and the video is sent straight to Asher Collins, the guy who is also her stepbrother! She expects humiliation, exposure, and ruin. Instead, Asher watches it with hunger, curiosity, and a dangerous idea. When he discovers her hopeless crush on James Porter, the flawless leader of the Library Club, he offers a deal. He will transform her into someone unforgettable, someone every boy at Riverbrook High notices. Refuse, and he will tell his mother that the maid’s daughter is in love with him. The makeover ignites chaos. Rich boys notice her. James notices her. Damien Priest, Asher’s rival, notices her. And worst of all, Asher begins to want her too. The quiet maid’s daughter is suddenly the center of a war she never asked for—a war of obsession, jealousy, and temptation. And the boy who is supposed to help her might be the one who destroys her.

"What the fuck—” I started. He looked up at me. His lips were wet, swollen. He licked them slowly, like he was savoring the taste. “Keep your hands where I left them,” he said. My jaw clenched. My knuckles went white against the bedsheets. I didn’t speak. I just watched him. He lowered his mouth again, slower this time. His tongue circled the tip, then slid down the side. I felt every second of it. Every inch. He paused halfway down and looked up at me again. “You like this too much.” My throat tightened. I didn’t answer. “Bet you’ve never let anyone make you beg.” *** Callum Kesington isn’t just a billionaire CEO. He doesn’t believe in love. He believes in control and power.But when his estranged brother resurfaces through a cryptic call, dragging him into a trail of files, threats, and old betrayals, everything he's built starts to crack. Remy Beckett, a rising star in the culinary world, is no strang to love but one man has him unraveled. A single dinner at Remy’s restaurant ignites an attraction that shakes Callum’s carefully guarded world. He’s never wanted a man before. Never craved the scrape of stubble against his skin or the heat of rough hands pinning him down. But Remy? He’s all Callum can think about. A shadowy attack leaves Remy bleeding in Callum’s arms, and suddenly, this isn’t about desire. It's about survival. Someone wants Remy dead, and Callum’s brother is at the center of it. Now, Callum must confront the ruthless empire he built, the family who betrayed him, and the truth he’s been denying.

Sara married to Lucas. In order to support her husband, Sara is willing to live simply and work as an ordinary clerk at her family's shopping center, without receiving a penny from her family's inheritance. She became the backbone of the household, providing for Lucas and his family, believing that her love and sacrifice would be rewarded. However, those sacrifices turned into wounds when Sara learned that Lucas was having an affair with a woman who had been considered his business partner. To make matters worse, the business she had helped build became a tool for Lucas to betray her. Not wanting to be victimized any longer, Sara decided to stand up. She returned to her family and used all her resources to destroy Lucas. With her intelligence, she slowly took over the business that she had helped grow, leaving Lucas pressed and losing ground. Sara utilized her father's connections to pressure Lucas' investors to withdraw their support. She also manipulated distribution channels, making it difficult for Lucas's company to secure raw material supplies. However, Lucas is not a man to give up easily. He tried to turn things around by threatening Sara with a secret document that could destroy Sara's family's reputation. Sara is faced with a dilemma: let Lucas off the hook to protect her family, or keep bringing him down despite having to face huge consequences. At the end of the story, Sara finds a way to get rid of Lucas without destroying her family. She works with the authorities to frame Lucas, proving that he has committed tax evasion and financial manipulation in the company he manages. Lucas is eventually arrested, and his business is completely destroyed. However, before he was completely defeated, Lucas made one last threat: that he would come back and take revenge.

I WAS walking confidently on the red carpet. Today is the event of the Cohen Modelling Agency. The paparazzi immediately went after and lots of flash stroke in my eyes. I'm a bit nervous while walking in the midst of the red carpet. I chose the right path. This is what I want. Even though I chose my career and my unborn child, my heart was still empty. I opted to leave him and break up with him. I opted all of this that's occuring around me. Fame, money, and being a beautiful woman. Until I'd decided to walk inside the event. I grasp my clutch tightly when I saw how exquisite the ambience of it. The huge chandelier at the center and waves of people were chattering inside. I held up my chin and continue to walk and I saw Sophia walking towards to my direction. "You're just in time," she exclaimed. "Come with me..." "Okay..." Nakita ko yung pamilyar na lalaki na nakatayo. I felt my heart thumping so crazily. And butterflies were twisted in knots inside of my stomach when our gaze met. It's been a days... I haven't seen him. The last time I saw when I broke up with him inside of his office. My hands began to shudder in nervous. And his wife is there beside him. I smiled. This is what I want, right? To let go of him? "Oh, Miss Portugal," he acknowledged. "Good evening, Mr. Cohen..." We used to be sweet with each other. He used to snake his arms around my waist and whispering to me all the sweet things. But that was before... I knew we can't continue this kind of relationship. It is too forbidden. Too forbidden to taste because I'll get addicted to it again and again.

Reyna's life has been far from sunshine and roses. As the Alpha's daughter, at the age of 21, should have received her wolf by now. She was the only member of her pack without a wolf and had to endure constant bullying and heartache, which was made worse by her intended mate's rejection in favor of her step-sister. This life made her determined to leave, and so she hatched a daring plan to escape during the highly anticipated Hallowed Bond Ball, which was a night of celebration that marked one year after the end of the War of the Three Alpha Kings. She had no idea that destiny was about to throw her a curveball. Just as she was attempting to escape under the cover of darkness, a surprising twist of events suddenly takes place. The word 'mate' reverberates through the castle walls, spoken in not one, but three distinct voices. To her astonishment, Reyna finds herself bound to three mates. A wolfless mate to all three powerful Alpha Kings fresh from being at war with one another. With the fragile truce between the three Alphas threatened, Reyna's life is in danger from powerful families who would do anything to keep the peace after decades of war. Reyna stands at the center of a prophetic revelation, holding the key to something far greater than she could have ever imagined. But as soon as she learns why she was chosen, evil slowly starts closing in. *** “You're intoxicating, darling… I think we may have found something we're all addicted to..." My face reddens as I look at them, and for the first time in ages, I feel like I belong. The way they're looking at me with reverence and the desire I know is meant only for me… I feel like a Queen.

“I, Alpha Arthur Grant, reject you, Phineas Wells. You were never my mate; you were just a placeholder for a King.” The words didn't just break Phineas’s heart; they shattered his soul. Standing in the center of the pack gala, clutching a hidden sonogram in his pocket, Phineas watched as his husband of three years handed him divorce papers in front of the very people he had served, healed, and protected. Behind Arthur stood Phineas’s own younger brother, Clement, wearing a smug smile of betrayal. They didn't just want Phineas gone—they wanted him erased. Thrown into the freezing rain of the Dead Lands, pregnant and broken, Phineas expects to die. Instead, he finds a nightmare far more seductive. Enter Lucian Aurelius. A Mafia Kingpin with a wolf of pure shadow and a heart of ice. He doesn’t offer Phineas love; he offers a cage of gold and a contract written in blood. Lucian is the ultimate Black Flag—possessive, obsessive, and dangerous. He monitors Phineas’s heartbeat, tracks his every breath, and whispers terrifying promises of protection that feel exactly like imprisonment. But as Phineas’s life is reduced to a "Scattered and Shattered" mess, the "Sunshine" Omega dies, and something colder is born in the dark. While Arthur’s pack begins to crumble and Lucian’s obsession turns into a lethal addiction, Phineas stops crying. He begins to watch. He begins to learn. He realizes that a monster’s greatest weakness is the thing he claims to own. In a world of fated mates and brutal betrayals, Phineas will play the "Helpless Omega" one last time. He will make them crawl. He will make them bleed. And when the smoke clears, the two Alphas who broke him will realize the terrifying truth:

“You loved me at my worst so you deserve me at my best.” Unrequited love hurts but what hurts even more is when the person you love with all your being is in love with your best friend. And what hurts even worse is when your Best friend slaps the truth right in your face that your man has been in love with her all along and you are nothing but just a second choice. As important as a rock on the street. No one should ever go through this. But Serena wasn't that lucky. To get revenge on Shanice Cooper- the queen bee of High Central- Asher Carter begins dating Serena Adams- Shanice's best friend. Serena, who is deeply in love with Asher, fails to notice his ulterior motive and keeps falling for him even more. It takes her 7 long years to know she was just a pawn in his game. But 7 years is long enough to change the game. It was all supposed to be just a game, but Asher couldn’t help himself falling for this innocent girl. He didn't realise when she became the center of his world. When did she become so important? So much that he bent the sky and moved the world only to see her smile. He became the richest man on earth only so that his woman lived like a Queen. He thought he was in love, but what he felt for Serena Adams was far more intense than he had felt for anyone ever. It was straight madness. But what happens when his first choice returns? The question is would Asher go back to her or would he, this time, protect his marriage? And what will happen when Serena finds out the truth- will she stay or leave him?

*** “Get back here Bella. Do not even try because you can't get away from me, and do not let me catch you myself.” “I don't want to have anything to do with you," she retorted angrily. “Oh, sweetheart, that is totally on you. Do you know how long I have been invested in you?” “You kidnapped me and brought me here. I don't want to be here and I'm not letting you touch me," her voice was so strong. He loved her challenge: it only made him harder. "Me touching you is definitely happening. You absolutely can't resist it for too long: you can only enjoy it now,” he said in a low, dangerous voice. With that, he quickly ran around the kitchen counter and caught her. “Got you… You can't run away from me Bella; no matter how hard you try I will always find you. “Let me go… now,” she shouted. “Not when I'm still breathing baby, you will love every single thing I do to you” he carried her over his shoulder to the bedroom… At a young age, Mirabella Antonio lost everything. Her parents died suddenly in a car crash. They died with a debt tagged to their names. A year later, her older brother, David was murdered in cold blood, trying to keep her safe and pay off the debt their parents owed. And the man at the center of it all was Hunter Groves. Four years later, he saw her again. He wants her. And Hunter doesn’t ask. He only takes. She opposed him in every way possible but he took her in every way possible. He is determined to imprint himself on her body and soul and that he did. Note; Dark romance; Male lead is a totally obsessed psychopath. ***Trigger warnings***

I've been married to Sylvia Fuller, a mafia donna, for ten years. I'm there with her in every life-and-death situation. My hands, which are meant for playing the piano, have developed calluses from using guns. They are also stained with blood from the enemies. But when Sylvia turns 28, she falls head over heels in love with Wilson Hink, the young man she's brought back from the slums. Sylvia has hidden him very well… right until the moment I bump into him accompanying her to a prenatal check-up. Mad with jealousy, I demand Sylvia for answers, but she just passes me a divorce agreement in a lackadaisical manner. "Wilson is a man of religion. He can't sire a child without getting married, so I have to give him a legitimate status. Sign this agreement, and I'll give you 40% of my shares." I refuse to give my position away, so Sylvia keeps forcing my hand. In the end, she even kidnaps my younger brother, who's paralyzed from waist down, and drags him to the spot beneath a hydraulic press. "Sebastian Chance, either you sign the agreement, or watch him get crushed. Your choice." I kneel on the ground and beg Sylvia to stop. But soon, I hear the hydraulic press being activated. It doesn't take long before I'm completely covered in my brother's flesh and blood. I end up collapsing onto the gore-splattered ground. When I open my eyes again, I realize I've gone back in time—back to the time when Wilson has accompanied Sylvia to the prenatal check-up. This time, I don't say anything. Instead, I contact a rehabilitation center located overseas before filing for a divorce and leaving Sylvia behind. But once I'm gone for real, Sylvia actually goes crazy.