Red Rising Read-a-long 18

Amanda Urduja, a jack-of-all-trades, was paid handsomely to seduce an underground broker who was pretending to be a regular customer in an illegal casino to obtain information and report it to the authorities. She had to do it overnight. Sleep with him and steal all the proofs he has hidden in his possession. It seems impossible, but not for Amanda. Given her experience, charisma, and intelligence, this task is a piece of cake. Everything was supposed to go smoothly except that Amanda mistakenly seduced the wrong man, who turned out to be the most menacing person in the room—the mafia leader. The mission was aborted, but the madly fallen savage continues to chase the sly woman and is determined to claim her.

The following book contains mature contents. I laid beside her and turned her body to make it face mine. I slid my one hand under her waist and pulled her even closer to me until there was no space left between us. I hugged her feeling a lot of things; love, care, pain, hate. “Gabriel?” she whispered. “Yes love.” “I Love You!” There. She said those words to me. If she'd said to me before yesterday then I would've been the happiest and most probably the craziest person on earth. I would declare a holiday in the entire city, I would take her in my arms and kiss her until we both run out of breathe, but today, it was different. I felt only pain. “Zayla?” She did not speak. She was already in her wonderland. “I don't want to love you anymore Love.” ------------------------------------------------------------ Her past was a Werewolf, her present is a Lycan. Her past broke her heart, her present deceived her feelings. Stuck in between Worse and Worst, Then and Now, yet she goes for the odd option; end her life and finish everything at once. "Everything will be fine as long as I'm gone." Experience the life of Zayla; a girl for whom luck never favored and no good cards were ever dealt to her, as she is torn in between a Werewolf whom she loved immensely and was her pride and a Lycan whom she trusted blindly and went against all the prejudice. ... Be ready for Pain, Hate, Betrayal and a Love like no other.

Maxine A. K. A Max John's is a senior at St John's. She doesn't believe in love nor in mysteries or fate. Her spiritual being feels threatened. For some reason she sometimes dreams about a mystical girl she has never met. She is abused at home, she fights for survival and dignity, but is oblivious of who she really is and where she comes from, or what she'll become. Her existence was declined eon years ago. What if she has a bigger purpose....what if her past caught up with her long ago but never realized it? Until….. Maya is a known kindergarten teacher, she has to start teaching at St Johns. She is a princess in a land oblivious to mankind. Her people are escapees of descendants of a world one can wish to be part of. A city where no man lives. She was chosen to lead her people but doesn't want to. She runs away to live amongst humans. She always wanted to be free and choose her own life, and lover. She dreams about a young girl. She never questioned why? Until...... All calls they return to their homes, humanity is at stake, and they are the only ones to fight who was coming, what had been going on eons ago? What will they do? Duck, or dive?

Every time my husband cheated, he gave me a bracelet. I collected 99 bracelets in four years of marriage—I forgave him 99 times. He was away on a business trip for three days lately. When he came back, he brought home a rare bracelet worth Ten Million Dollars. That was when I knew it was time to ask for a divorce.

結婚式を挙げてから三年、パイロットの夫・斎藤智也（さいとうともや）は十八回も私・田中美優（たなかみゆう）との入籍をキャンセルした。 一度目は、彼の女の弟子・清水花音（しみずかのん）が試験飛行をすると言い出し、私は戸籍課の前で一日中待ち続けた。 二度目は、道中で彼が女の弟子から電話を受け、慌ただしく引き返し、私を道路脇に置き去りにした。 それからというもの、私が彼と入籍の約束をするたびに、彼の女の弟子が必ず何かしらの問題を起こした。 やがて、私は彼のもとを離れる決意をした。 だが白嶺国へ向かう飛行機に乗った時、彼は狂ったように私を追って白嶺国までやって来た。

After coming home from buying fresh produce at the farmer's market, I began prepping the ingredients and making lunch. As soon as I was done with my tasks, my husband, Jeremy Tate, came home. "A pipe in Chloe's home has burst. Hurry up and help her out. It's difficult enough for a single mother like her to handle such problems." I took off my apron and went to Chloe's place to unclog her pipes. Then, I mopped up the stagnant water before proceeding to comfort her frightened child. Once I finally dragged my exhausted body home, I saw Jeremy handing over my daughter's sweater to Chloe. "Don't stress yourself out, Chloe. It's not like Eliza can still wear this anyway. This sweater is perfect for Lily." As I stared at the sweater, I suddenly spoke up. "Let's get a divorce, Jeremy." He looked at me in disbelief. "You want a divorce over an old sweater?" "Yeah. Precisely."

By the time I return home from a business trip, it is past midnight. However, my wife, Celeste Beaumont, isn't home. A man's shirt that isn't mine is lying on the couch. When I call her, she tells me that she's working late at the office. "Whose shirt is it on the couch?" I ask, cutting straight to the point. She playfully scolds, "Who else would it be? It's a gift for you, so hurry up and try it on." I skeptically put it on and immediately feel how tight and uncomfortable it is across my shoulders. "This is an L, babe. I've always worn XL." Celeste runs a clothing company. She's the one who handles all my clothes and even uses my body measurements for her menswear line. There's no way she doesn't know my size. The line goes quiet for half a second before she thoughtfully says, "It's from my new menswear collection. "I had pieces custom-made for you and Felix, so I must've grabbed the wrong piece. I'll swap it tomorrow." A beat later, her voice carries a little sob as she continues, "Babe, I've been so exhausted without you these past few days. I've missed you so much…" It's past midnight. As I listen to the undeniable weariness beneath her affectionate, playful words, my heart aches in distress. I can't help chiding myself for overthinking. However, after hanging up, realization hits me. Her brother, Felix Beaumont, and I are about the same build. He's always worn XL.

She was a prostitute, she needed money, and she had to be a substitute to get the money she needed. But, why should she become a substitute for someone else who ran away from her fate? Why should she marry a man she didn't love? Her mother prayed that she would find a man who loved her and give her happiness, but she ended up marrying a man who only knew to torture her and gave her sadness. After all, that was the price she should pay for her mother's life.

The day I find out I only have three days left to live, my mate comes home with a mate termination contract. He wants to break up with me and form a new bond with another she-wolf who's pretending to be dying—just to fulfill her so-called final wish. "Sweetheart, I don't have a choice," Caleb Lowe says, holding me in his arms. "Ruby's been poisoned with silver. She's got about a week left. Her dying wish is to marry me. But don't worry. You're the only one I love," he adds, looking at me with those sincere eyes. "Once the bonding ceremony is over and she's gone, we'll get back together—just like before." I look down and give a small laugh, then sign the termination contract. Forget it. I'm dying anyway. Who he ends up with doesn't matter anymore. I might as well let him have what he wants.

Clara Black, a wealthy heiress from Glenford, openly declares that she only dates men for a month at a time and never gets emotionally involved. Men eager to climb the social ladder line up across the city, hoping for a chance. After all, when she is in a good mood, she rewards them with a villa. When she isn't, she still gives them millions of dollars when the relationship ends. People in Glenford laugh at me, calling me the most humiliated live-in husband they've ever seen. They're convinced that I'll endure it for the rest of my life. That is until Clara brings home a college student named Leonard Frost. Leonard looks ordinary, yet he becomes the first man to break her one-month dating rule. Clara then gives me two options. One option is to accept an open marriage and let Leonard have equal footing with me. The other is divorce, with half of her assets given to me and a clean break afterward. Her close friends watch from the sidelines, certain that I'll keep enduring everything for the sake of money. Yet I choose the second option without hesitation. In my previous life, I chose to endure, only to have Leonard take advantage of me even more. He forbade Clara from touching me and refused to let her bear my child. In my old age, I could only look on with envy as Leonard enjoyed a household full of descendants. Even after Clara passed away, she didn't mention me in her will at all. Every part of her estate fell into Leonard's control. I kept the title of Clara's husband, yet I lived my entire life completely alone. Now that I have been reborn, everything is clear to me. I will take the money and walk away, severing all ties with her for good.