Reduced To Atoms

I've always been sensitive and delicate since young. The first reaction I often exhibit whenever I run into a problem is "I wanna die". But weirdly enough, those who bully me are also the ones who get really unlucky in life. It turns out that I'm the real heiress to a wealthy family. On the first day of me rejoining said family, the fake heiress, Quinn Emerson, cries hysterically as she hollers about wanting to jump off the balcony. My parents and my older brother, Finn Emerson, keep consoling her that she's always their precious darling. Knowing that I won't have a good status in this family, I rush over to the window and scream "I don't wanna live anymore!" before jumping off the third floor. Unexpectedly, I land right on top of Finn. While I'm left unscathed, he suffers from multiple fractures and has to get hospitalized for three months. Later on, I'm admitted into an elite academy. Quinn cries about how I've been bullying her. In order to avenge her, my parents use the excuse of driving me to school just to abandon me in the middle of the highway. Feeling very aggrieved, I scream "I don't wanna live anymore!" again and turn to look for a truck to get run over. But the truck driver manages to pull off a 360-degree spin, crashing into my parents' car instead. The car does three flips in the air before landing on the ground. They almost get reduced to vegetables in that accident. On my 18th birthday-slash-coming-of-age ceremony, Quinn's urge to cause trouble is overtaking her once again. This time, she intends to accuse me of stealing the jewelry worth tens of millions of dollars that's gifted to her by our mom. But my parents, Finn, and even my grandma, who used to dote on Quinn a lot, are so frightened that they slap Quinn a dozen or so times. "Why must you cross that walking jinx?" they exclaim.

On our seventh wedding anniversary, my wife, Blair, the daughter of the city's richest man, straddled my lap, her kiss deep and intoxicating as she toyed with my lower lip. The same night, we just announced our pregnancy to the world. Just then, Blair's best friend, Chloe, asked in French, her tone suggestive: "Blair, you're absolutely glowing. But tell me honestly, how does it feel to get railed by another man while carrying a baby?" Blair let out a soft laugh, a familiar sound that sent a chill down my spine. She replied, also in French: "It feels absolutely incredible, Chloe. He's like a wild wolf. Just yesterday, he had his head buried between my thighs, using his mouth to bring me to tears before taking me so deep I forgot my own name." Her fingers were still toying with my collar, but her gaze was already distant. "But remember, keep this from Kevin. If he finds out what I've been doing behind his back while pregnant, it will be a disaster." The socialite sisters gathered around them shared knowing chuckles, raising their glasses and promising to keep the secret. The warmth in my veins turned to ice. My fervent passion to welcome a new life was instantly reduced to a pathetic joke. They had all forgotten that I spent my childhood in southern France. I understood every single syllable. I forced myself to remain calm, my face fixed in the perfect smile expected of a blissful husband about to welcome his first child, but the hand holding my champagne glass was trembling. I didn't fly into a rage. I didn't smash everything in sight. Instead, I took out my phone, found the invitation I had received a few days prior for the Aegis Agency, a highly classified organization on the other side of the world, and clicked "Accept." In three days, I would vanish from Blair's world.

I was eighteen when I'd given my heart to Julian Thorne, friend of my father and a silver-haired god who ruled the city. He'd laughed, called me a child, and then exiled me to Europe. Five years later, I returned, no longer a naive princess but a desperate pawn, destined to be sold into an abusive marriage to save my bankrupt family. Julian was the only key to my cage. He agreed to save me. He bought my father's debt and claimed me as his own. His price was my submission-my body in his bed, my life under his thumb. All along, I'd thought I was playing a game of seduction to survive, when, in fact, Julian was playing a game of war. And when I found out he used our nights to steal my inheritance and destroy my family, I ran. I disappeared, faked my own death, and took the one thing he could never reclaim his son. Three years of freedom reduced to naught the instant he found us. He dragged me back into his gilded cage, intent on revenge. But before his vengeance could take root, a rival's sabotage put him in a coma. The moment Julian opened his eyes, he remembered his empire, his rivalries, his treacherous ex-fiancée, Seraphina. He remembered everything.except the woman he'd risked his life for, and the son who carried his eyes. Now, I am trapped: in a fight with a forgotten man, haunted by the ghost who swore his love to me in a final dying letter, facing an enemy who wants to eradicate the only thing Julian cannot forget: our connection. To save myself and my child, I have to make the monster fall in love with me all over again-before his past decides I'm a risk worth killing.

I ripped his claws from my shoulders and pinned his arms above his head. He thrashed under me, his eyes flashing with something deeper than anger. That was when I sensed it. The sweet scent of cinnamon—the smell of a wolf’s arousal. We froze, our bodies pressed together, so close I could feel the tremors of his heart against mine. That wasn’t all….I felt his hardness, bulging and aching with need. “Don’t look at me.” He turned away, squeezing his eyes shut as his cheeks tinted pink with shame. “I give up, so just kill me already, I can’t take it anymore.” I swallowed hard, faltering yet again. But instead of recoiling, instead of mocking him, I crashed my lips against his. **** Darius Lane lost everything for the sake of love and freedom. Once a renowned Alpha betrothed to the princess of Fenrir, he was stripped of his title and dignity after he chose the man he loved over a Royal decree—the same man who betrayed and left him to bear the brunt of his actions. Out of despair, the young princess had taken her own life and Darius was condemned for murder, thrown at the mercy of Prince Kael, the ruthless tyrant who reduced him to less than a slave. But when Kael moves to end his life, the unthinkable happens. A mate bond sparks between them, turning the tides. The tyrant prince faltered for the first time in his life, unable to believe he was tied to his sister’s killer. And a man at that! It is a prison of desire for Darius, for he began to crave the cruel prince who takes pleasure in his suffering. Against their will, their wolves yearn for each other, and hatred soon blurs into obsession.

Tyler Zimmerman had only 36 hours left to get married. Otherwise, his father’s business empire will be reduced to nothing by his step mother. However, his father added a stipulation in his will that he can marry anyone except Sophia. General Max came up with a solution, under the guise of marriage they're going to hit two birds with one stone. Protecting Jade to carry out her mission without being suspected as their informant and satisfying the conditions of his father's will to obtain his inheritance. Despite himself he married Jade Leitner, the expert hacker who wanted to avenge the death of her parents. But along their mission, an unexpected thing happened…. "What have I done to deserve this? What was my crime that you're punishing me for?" Jade eyed him, seeking an answer. "You left and robbed me." Jade's eyes grew wide in shock. "No, I didn't take anything from you, you must be wrong." With a smirk he said, "I'm an honest man and wouldn't fabricate a story." "What did I steal from you?" Jade shook her head, trying to make sense of what he was saying. "You stole my heart," Tyler bared his heart to her without holding back. Finding his confession ridiculous, Jade let out a humorless chuckle. "You made a mistake, Sophia is the real culprit." "I'm certain, you are the thief who stole my heart," Tyler insisted. "If you say so, I'm giving your heart back," Jade was stone-faced, her voice edged with scorn. "Don't give it back, I'll steal your heart and we'll get even," he said and reached out to caress her face but Jade dodged his touch. "You have nothing to steal from me anymore as I don't have my heart with me. I have given it away," Jade said emotionlessly.

After I get abducted to an underground auction house belonging to a mafia family based in Aleroth, I become the most popular commodity ever in the live stream hosted on the dark web. As the live comments flood the screen and the viewers keep tipping the live stream, I feel my legs being forced open inch by inch. The electric chair beneath me keeps pulsing me with jolts of electricity, making me tremble uncontrollably. Men keep rearranging my limbs however they want in various positions. Then, they put me through all sorts of torture, as if I'm not a human being at all. Once everything is over, I can only curl into a small ball in a corner of the iron cage. My clothes are completely disheveled, and my gaze remains hollow and lifeless. That's when I hear someone speaking in Elythran, a language I'm familiar with. "Haha! That chick still thinks she can escape from this place!" "To think that the mafia princess of Elythra ends up getting lured to this place and reduced to a common whore for us to toy with! Those brothers really are ruthless!" "I heard the brothers did this just to appease their adopted younger sister, Emilia Ricci. That's why they ordered us to put up a show. Even the people tipping on the live stream are actors they've hired to make this show perfect." "This idiot is still waiting for her brothers to come rescue her! Last night, she kept crying out to them in her sleep, begging them to save her!" As the henchmen speak, they open the door to my room, only to be stunned by the blood-stained floor. Immediately, they dig out their phones and begin dialing numbers anxiously. The moment I make out one of the numbers, I feel my blood turn into ice. It appears that the so-called abduction is just a show that my brothers have put on just to appease Emilia… I can feel blood rising in my throat. As my vision goes blurry, I think I see another man's gentle expression. That's the memory that I've kept buried deep inside my heart—the memory of my actual older brother, Silvio Gallo.

When I'm paying the pension for my jobless wife, Lilith Ingram, I accidentally find out that she's had a job this whole time. She's paid a salary of two thousand dollars, which is wired into her personal bank account. Every month, the money will be transferred elsewhere, leaving her without a single cent. I've never seen the money before. Back when our daughter, Maisy Ingram, was severely ill, we were 200 dollars short to pay for her hospital bills. I was so poor that I had to sell my blood and beg everyone around me just to get them to lend me money. But during that time, Lilith never thought of sharing the burden with me. She merely comforted me with empty words before transferring two thousand dollars to her first love, Hayden Grant, the next day. Our marriage of 30 years is reduced to nothing but a laughingstock. I place the divorce agreement that I've printed out in front of Lilith. It's a silent confrontation between us. "Must you really resort to this method?" Lilith snaps impatiently. "It's just two thousand dollars! You have an annual salary of 200 thousand dollars! Why care so much about chum change?" Even Maisy takes her side by calling me a petty, stingy geezer. "Everyone has an unattainable first love when they're still young! You should be grateful that Hayden has been holding back his urges without crossing the line for so many years!" I feel as though I got struck by lightning at that moment. It's then that I belatedly realize I'm the only outsider in this family. "Getting a divorce is fine by me. Hayden's getting on with the years. I just want to take care of him and send him off when his time eventually arrives." Maisy adapts a righteous tone. "As compensation for me, I get the house, the car, and the savings. You're leaving this marriage without a single cent under your name."

After dating Gabriel Lowe for three years, we finally saved up enough money to buy a villa for ourselves. I personally designed this villa. But what I didn't expect was that the gas line in my villa would explode on the day Gabriel and I were meant to receive the keys. Not only did the entire villa get reduced into ruins, but the explosion also killed the neighboring family of three. On top of that, the fire even destroyed their antique painting that was worth 500 million dollars. Since I took responsibility for the explosion, I faced massive compensation claims. My mother-in-law and Gabriel had tears streaking down their faces as they promised to help me tide over this crisis, even if it meant selling everything under their name. I was touched by their words, so I used all of my assets in compensating the victims. After that, I spent the next 20 years in prison, only to die of severe illness there. But when I was on the verge of dying, I saw Gabriel with his arm around his first love, Jasmine Wade. Apparently, they were here to visit me. They grinned maliciously at me outside the bars. "The truth is, the family didn't die at all. The painting was a cheap imitation, too. I bribed them so that they could fake their deaths and leave the country. That's how I successfully got my hands on all of your assets. "If I didn't do that, how would I be able to marry Jasmine and move her into the villa?" It turned out that my decades of atonement was nothing but a huge scam targeted at my wealth and life staged by others. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day I'm meant to receive my keys. This time, I've personally checked all the pipes, installed seven safety valves, and taken away all the blueprints. Let's see how the explosion will occur now that there aren't any leak points! But at 3:00 pm, the explosion in the villa still occurs…