Scheming

All of it started in an auction where I didn’t know that will change my life entirely. “Where a-am I?” Unlike the girls that have been bought by these men, my bidding started at a jaw-dropping amount. I never thought that a girl like me would start bidding at $20,000 in an underground black market like this. I was just looking down, hearing the surprising amount they are willing to bid just to have me only until the bidding went up to million. A man who's in his 60's came, betting almost a million dollars which made the crowd silent. I thought that the old man will be my owner but I was wrong when a man was strong enough to oppose him, betting ten million dollars just to have me. "Can you just b-bring me back to my h-house?" I spoke, breaking the silence. "I won't waste fucking millions just to free you, woman. You will serve your purpose to me," he spoke out using his thunderbolt tone. The thought of fleeing away from him slipped off my mind as the tension between us has been added by a fuel in a scorching fire, a fire that we built and a deep connection we both agreed. I should be scared of him, I should be running away but the contrary was happening. I just found myself on his bed, naked whilst he was drowning me with his poisonous kisses. “I promise to keep you safe… and won’t let you slip away from me, Amore.” People say love is the most important thing in this world. At first, Ares didn't believe as he only see it as a hindrance but when he experienced it for himself, he could no longer get up on Mariana's scheming fire burning around him.

Noah Singh, heir to the powerful Singh Corporation, thought he had control over everything, until a stranger walked into his life. Kai Bennett, recently adopted into the family, seems innocent and obedient, but he harbors secrets, obsession, and a possessive streak Noah never expected. When Mr. Singh announces Kai will stay with Noah, tensions ignite. Noah believes Kai is an escort, and Kai uses the misunderstanding to subtly test boundaries, learning Noah’s triggers, manipulating situations, and planting the seeds of obsession. Kitchen run-ins, hallway encounters, and late-night tensions turn their forced cohabitation into a slow-burning, dangerous game of control and desire. Jealousy flares when Kai joins the male student council, and Noah can’t hide his territorial instincts. Yet even as Noah suspects Kai’s manipulations, he can’t resist him. Their relationship develops in secret, until Noah’s ex, Mia, resurfaces, scheming to reclaim him, forcing Kai away. But distance does not weaken Kai’s influence, he continues to shape events from afar. Two years later, Kai returns, more dangerous, more cunning, and immediately recognized by Noah. As their obsession escalates, external threats including a manipulative girlfriend and family interference push their boundaries to the edge. Lies, deception, and power struggles test their control, loyalty, and desire. When a staged attack exposes hidden truths, Kai’s life hangs by a thread, revealing shocking secrets about his identity and family connections. Yet even facing betrayal, danger, and manipulation, Noah and Kai’s bond proves unbreakable. In the end, the soft, innocent boy is gone. In his place stands a master of psychological games, possessive, obsessive, and utterly devoted. Together, Noah and Kai overcome every obstacle, claiming both their love and the family legacy while proving that obsession, when fused with desire, can be a force impossible to resist.

A DARK EROTIC BILLIONAIRE ROMANCE. “Arghh, oh my, faster…” I moaned in pleasure, my head rolling back as my vision turned hazy with ecstasy. My mouth hung open, muttering incoherent words while I watched the beast of a man before me pound harder into my dripping entrance. “I’m going to fuck your tight, virgin c*nt so hard that I’ll ruin you for any other man out there,” he muttered in my ear as he switched our positions, laying me on my back. I gasped as I felt drive deeper into me than ever before. — “The night I caught my fiancé in bed with my sister was the night I stopped being the good girl.” After seventeen years of blind loyalty, Leah Harnes walks in on her fiance tangled in sheets with her own sister. Heartbroken, humiliated and desperate to forget, Leah does the unthinkable when she spends a reckless night with a hot stranger. But then, her world shatters again when she discovers the man from that night is ‘Ethan Blackwood,’ her ruthless and dangerously powerful boss. Ethan offers her a cruel contract; Her body in exchange for his power. Except, a man like Ethan doesn’t do soft. No romance. No love-play. All he knows is control, pleasure and pain. She swears to hate him. He swears to own her. Between her scheming step-mother, her vengeful ex and Ethan’s dark obsession, Leah is caught in a web of lies, desire and revenge. But when love ignites between them, and enemies strike from all sides, Leah must decide to destroy Ethan to save herself or lose everything to the man who already ruined her once. A man like Ethan, who despised being touched, but now, he craves the touch of only one woman.

"You're here to play nurse, not to pretend you care," he snapped, his cold gaze locking onto hers. "And you are here to waste your life because it's easier than fighting for it," she shot back, her voice shaking but defiant. He wheeled closer, his jaw clenched. "Don't think for a second that you can fix what is so broken." I'm not here to fix you," she whispered, her eyes unrelenting. "I'm here because I believe there's more to you than this bitterness. He was the untouchable golden boy of his family, a magnetic presence destined to inherit a sprawling empire. His charm, his power, and his perfection made him unstoppable until a car crash shattered his life and left him confined to a wheelchair. His once-loyal followers turned their backs, leaving him drowning in the bitterness of betrayal. She was living proof of her family-a forgotten daughter whose dreams of becoming a doctor kept her sane amidst years of neglect. All she wanted in life was freedom, but fate had other plans. Forced into a contract marriage with the epitome of misery, she found herself engulfed in a battle she never asked for. Their worlds collide in a storm of resentment and vulnerability. Underneath his bitterness, though, lies the ruins of a man who had everything to lose-and the dim hope of someone who could help him find it again. As she works her way through his fury, and he pushes against her kindness, a bond forms-a bond neither expected. But with jealous rivals scheming in the shadows and old wounds threatening to tear them apart, their fight for love becomes a war for survival. Can two broken souls find strength in each other, or will the scars of their pasts destroy them both?

One of Ethan Sterling's closest friends got drunk and humiliated me. Called me a nobody orphan who married above her station, said I'd never be accepted by the Sterlings, that I wasn't fit to sit at their table. Ethan smashed a bottle over the man's head. He announced in front of everyone that if anyone ever disrespected me again, he'd make them pay. When I was pregnant and the morning sickness was so brutal I couldn't keep anything down, he went and scheduled a vasectomy. He didn't want me to suffer through another pregnancy. This was a man who loved me like I was his whole world. And yet — when I was lying on the operating table about to give birth, he was standing right in front of me with his arms around Iris, putting on a show for anyone watching. Iris was the daughter of another old-money family and she'd donated bone marrow to save Ethan's mother's life. The night before her own engagement, her fiance betrayed her, and the trauma wiped her memory clean. Now the only thing she knew for certain was that Ethan Sterling was her husband. In her world, I was the homewrecker — the scheming woman using the bastard in her belly to force her husband into a divorce. Ethan promised me it was all an act. Just repaying the debt for his mother's life. Once Iris recovered, he'd walk away from her immediately. But when I picked up the surgical consent form for him to sign, and his first instinct was to pull Iris behind him — to shield her — I knew. His heart had already drifted off course. The fairy tale of a Cinderella marrying into high society was over. Time to wake up.

CASTELLO DI CARTE MAFIA CHRONICLES, BOOK 1 [Also known as PRECARIOUS: THE GAME OF HEARTS] 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀 When my mother's declining health forced me to reconsider my career options, my boss steered me in an unexpected direction. The was simple: get in, get the information, and get the out. Except, it wasn't that easy. Especially when my target was the most nefarious man alive in New York. The closer I got to him, the more I saw sides of him I never expected. He burned me with his scorching touch, demanding and eager gazes. He was determined to have me at all costs. One might think he would stop at that, but—devil, help me—he needed more. More than I was ready to give. There was a reason I never wanted to the Underworld. When my past came crashing onto my doorstep, every lie unravelled, but nothing prepared me for the worst. The truth about the connection between the man I desired and my dead sister. 𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐒 We all know what they say about sweet things: when consumed excessively, they turn from savoury to bitter. That was what she was. A poor excuse for a sweet I wanted to devour. I wanted to make her suffer with the same intensity. She deserved it. And so did her scheming sister. Only, I didn’t know the latter was dead, and I might be the one at fault. But did that stop me from craving her? , no. My desire to have her magnified. She became mine the moment she walked into my life with those hauntingly blue eyes. She could give me the one thing I never had in life: happiness. But being the master at ruining everything, how could I ever be the man she wanted me to be?

Liesa Valtieri was just a psychology assistant—nothing glamorous. When her supervising therapist passed on a case, Liesa took it up. That decision dragged her into a long-term, hands-on job: fixing the emotional blind spots of business tycoon Angus Romano’s fractured personalities, one world at a time. --- **World One: The CEO and His Personal Doctor** Angus reclined dramatically on the hospital bed, eyes dark. "You only lost love," he rasped, "but I lost a leg." Liesa glanced at his chart, then his uninjured limbs. "...Angus, it's just mild discomfort in your right leg." He stared at her. "If you don't love me, this leg can go." She rubbed her temples. "I love you. Happy now?" He smiled, instantly healed. --- **World Two: Prison Kingpin and Rookie Guard** "Do you like me?" he asked, casually. Liesa didn't hesitate. "No." He nodded. "Alright. Then I'll escape tonight." "...Wait..." --- **World Three: Noble Lady and Her Devoted Attendant** Liesa handed him a book. "I want you to study more," she said. "Grow up educated. Contribute to society." The attendant hugged her waist. "No," he said calmly. "I just want to stay with you and sleep." "..." --- **World Four: Heiress Wife and Her Husbands… Plural?** Angmar Romano crossed his arms. "I'm Liesa's husband," he said. "The wedding was ruined by a certain jerk." Across the room, Durgus smirked. "Sorry. First come, first served." Liesa stared at them both. "...OMG," she muttered, "two Mr. Romonos? And they're twins?" --- **World Five: City Lord's Wife and Her Scheming Husband** Angus sighed, voice full of regret. "I've only wanted one thing," he said. "To be a kind, harmless man." Liesa, speechless, replied, "Could you put down the knife on my neck first?"

My mate, David Hayes, who is the Alpha, has been cold to me ever since he claimed me as Luna of the pack. He assumes that I gave him a dose of pheromones under the full moon. That was why I got the chance to mate with him and ended up being pregnant so quickly. So, as an Alpha, and for the sake of his reputation, he decides to mark me. That is how I became his "mystery Luna". The pack only knows that he has a Luna, but no one knows it's me. When I gave birth to our pup the next year, he showed no interest in the slightest. When a lupine maid brings the newborn to him, he glances at the pup with disgust and turns away. "Let's hope he's nothing like his mother—scheming, manipulative, and a disgrace to the pack!" I lie in bed, weak and exhausted, but the tears won't stop. … Today, David's childhood friend, Sophia Sinclair, returned to the pack. The moment he heard the news, he lit up with excitement. That night, after coming back from Sophia's place, drunk out of his mind, he pulled our pup into his arms. My son, Joseph Hayes, was over the moon. He snuggled closer to him and whispered to me, "Mom, he hugged me on his own… Does that mean he accepts me now?" I held him tight, tears stinging my eyes. "His mate has come back. We're leaving the pack." What he didn't know was that the healer had already told me I have Wolf Spirit Degeneration, which leaves me only three days to live. Before I die, I'll take Joseph to my parents, where he'll be loved and cared for, and not hated and abandoned by his own father. In three days, David will never see me or our pup again—and for the rest of his life.

Aurora is a twenty-one-year-old wolf shifter who recently graduated with a master's degree in business and landed a prestigious manager's position at Xanders Financial, the largest financial company owned by her pack. Driven and focused on her new career, finding a mate is the last thing on her mind. However, her carefully planned life takes an unexpected turn when Maverick, the Alpha's son and notorious playboy who has been studying abroad for five years, returns to town. ​Maverick arrives at the company headquarters intending to inform his father, Alpha Alexander, that he is abandoning his future Alpha duties to marry his fiancée, Scarlett, and live in Paris. But the moment Maverick and Aurora cross paths, they are hit by the overwhelming scents of caramel apples and pine, and their wolves instantly recognize each other as fated mates. ​Despite the powerful pull of the mate bond, Aurora tries to push Maverick away, frustrated that he is already engaged and determined to protect her heart and her career. Meanwhile, Maverick's world is thrown into turmoil. He postpones his wedding to figure out how to handle the mate bond, much to his father's demand that he reject Scarlett immediately. ​Unbeknownst to Maverick, his fiancée Scarlett is a manipulative, status-obsessed Delta wolf who secretly rejected her own true mate just to secure Maverick's wealth and power. Realizing her plans to take over the company are threatened, Scarlett begins plotting to uncover the identity of Maverick's fated mate so she can eliminate Aurora as competition once and for all. Caught between a scheming fiancée, an Alpha's expectations, and a stubborn but beautiful mate, Maverick must decide if he is finally ready to leave his playboy ways behind and fight for Aurora.

After dating him for five years, my boyfriend, Jayden Porter, sends me 10 dollars. He asks me to buy our future matrimonial home with that money. That same day, he transfers 3 million dollars to his dream girl, Lina Doux, to buy her a grand detached villa in Centralis. I decided to break up with him out of frustration, but he accuses me of being greedy for money. "Your house is still livable, so why buy another one? When did you become such a gold digger?" "Lina and I are childhood friends, so what's wrong with me giving her money? "On the other hand, you're scheming to get your hands on my wealth despite us not being married yet. I'm so disappointed in you!" He turns around and proposes to Lina. Six years later, we encounter each other again in the werewolf kingdom based in Centralis—the Darkmoon Kingdom. He's about to become Centralis' Beta. Lina is by his side, wearing a haute couture dress. When he sees me covered in mud and rummaging through trash, he mocks me with disgust, "You looked down on 10 dollars back then, Emily Everhart, but now you're digging through trash cans like a beggar. "Do you think you'll be able to earn money by selling scraps? Even if you put on a sorry act in front of me, I won't show you any pity!" I glance coldly at him and continue to search for my pup's favorite ring. I had unknowingly discarded it like common trash. My pup, Cassidy Holstrom, is incredibly upset about it. As such, I have to find it quickly to cheer her up.