Stacking The Deck

For Ava Monteverde, all her life, she was never ready. She was never ready for the death of her father. She was never ready for paying all the expenses. She was never ready when her mother suddenly had cancer.  But she survived anyway. So when Ethan Lancaster suddenly arrived in her life, she was never ready at all. Left with no choice, stacking bills to pay pushed her curiosity to a mysterious ad looking for surrogate mothers. There she met Ethan, the man who built his walls so high, cold and distant who was forced by his father to produce an heir.  One thing led to another, now Ava had to give Ethan an heir. Now she doesn't even know if she would survive this at all. Relationship bound by duty and responsibility.  Will Ava be able to give Ethan what he wants, or will she be Ethan's first failed transaction?

"Do you want me to stop?" Nicholas asked me in a seductive voice. His hands traveled toward my birth pearl. My body arched from the ticklish sensation his hands were giving me. "Tell me, Rosetta. Do you want me to stop?" "No..." "No what, Rosetta? No what?!" "No, Daddy. Please Daddy, wreck me. Pleasure me...." After losing everything—her father, her fortune, and her future—Rosetta Morgan is desperate. The bills are stacking up, and the world she's known has turned cold. Then comes an offer she can't refuse: one man, one deal, one way out. Nicholas Rivas is a billionaire with a body built for sin and a heart frozen by the past. He doesn't do love. He does control. But Rosetta is unlike anyone he's ever met—fierce, vulnerable, and too tempting to ignore. Their arrangement is simple: no strings, no emotions. Just pleasure, power, and enough sparks to burn down every rule he's ever made. But when passion turns possessive and feelings get in the way, the lines start to blur—and the cost of falling might be more than either of them bargained for.

At the yacht party, everyone watches as Sophia Montgomery falls overboard by accident, whereas I dive in after her to save her. When I reach her, she clings to me, dragging us both under. Jack Harrison doesn't hesitate to jump in. He pushes me away before pulling her into his arms. Up on deck, the crowd erupts in cheers, applauding the hero for saving the damsel in distress. Camera flashes go off endlessly. Meanwhile, I struggle alone in the freezing ocean to reach the ladder. No one notices me. The next morning, still burning with fever, I place a document in front of him. "I want a divorce," I demand, my voice hoarse from swallowing seawater. Jack frowns. "Just because of last night? Sophia can't swim, and it was an emergency. Since you can, you could make it back yourself." A laugh escapes my lips. Of course. I can only rely on myself. I've been doing it for the past five years. He only has eyes for Sophia, so, of course, he doesn't care whether I live or die.

"Do you want me to stop?" tanong ni Nicholas sa akin gamit ang pang-aakit na boses. Naglalakbay ang kaniyang mga kamay patungo sa aking perlas na sinilangan. Napaarko ang katawan ko sa kiliti at sensasyon na binibigay sa akin ng kaniyang kamay. "Tell me, Rosetta. Do you want me to stop?" "No..." "No what, Rosetta? No what?!" "No, Daddy. Please Daddy, Wreck me. Pleasure me...." **** After losing everything—her father, her fortune, and her future—Rosetta Morgan is desperate. The bills are stacking up, and the world she's known has turned cold. Then comes an offer she can’t refuse: one man, one deal, one way out. Nicholas Rivas is a billionaire with a body built for sin and a heart frozen by the past. He doesn’t do love. He does control. But Rosetta is unlike anyone he's ever met—fierce, vulnerable, and too tempting to ignore. Their arrangement is simple: no strings, no emotions. Just pleasure, power, and enough sparks to burn down every rule he’s ever made. But when passion turns possessive and feelings get in the way, the lines start to blur—and the cost of falling might be more than either of them bargained for.  

“WAKE UP, DANIELA!” The death warning, yet rather a call that Daniela dreamed about after walking up in the series of chances, greed, sacrifices, and the seven deadly sins, and from an inevitable chance to turn back into time and run into the loop of space and dimension. To her life that was surrounded with lies, blessed fate, but curse destiny she is entwined to save the person who is long dead from the present that she never had in the first place. Now being stunned by the life she never dreams of having, she runs toward the series of miseries behind the hidden books of the reincarnated blood she bares. “Death reincarnated, that is your world and your book.” To the chances that were led by greed, longing or hope, will the past that alters by the son of darkness, will long be able to vanish? What if what everyone knew was a lie, and the lie that they are trying to run away from is the truth they are seeking after all? Will the world they are walking that is filled with the unknown they only knew will lead them to the truth of who is the clone from the original? Can she solve the puzzle of the first book in her world that revolves in the mystery of a tarot deck? From the series of reincarnation and dimension can she solve the real mystery of ‘Who is the real dead one?’

After my rebirth, I avoided my family and my boyfriend like the plague. When they tried to throw me a birthday party, I faked an urgent business trip to dodge it. When my parents pleaded with me to move back, I secretly bought my own house that very night. When my boyfriend popped the question, I spun on my heel and married someone else. In my previous life, my sister and I were swept away in a raging flood. By sheer luck, a jagged tree branch snagged my clothes, saving me from the depths, but my sister drowned in the merciless current. My parents, consumed by grief and rage, gripped my throat and screamed, "If it weren't for you, Andrea would still be alive!" My boyfriend acted like it was no big deal, offering half-hearted comfort before we tied the knot. But on our wedding anniversary, during a family cruise, they cornered me on the deck and shoved me overboard. "Time to taste drowning yourself!" they hissed. It turned out they had never gotten over Andrea's death. My boyfriend had never forgotten about her. When my eyes fluttered open again, I found myself back on that fateful day. This time, I vowed to live for myself, reclaiming the joy they'd stolen from me.

Like in the deck of cards, the Ace outranks the King—and so does Ace Salvatore. A Greek-Italian mafia leader feared by all, Ace is a man of unspeakable cruelty, a calculated mind ruling an empire built on blood and terror. His face is a mystery— those who’ve seen it are long gone, silenced by his wrath. Manipulative, controlling, psychotic, and untouchable, he rules his empire with an iron fist, his past buried beneath layers of bloodshed and regret. His obsession with power and control leaves no room for weakness—not in himself, not in his enemies, and certainly not in others. When a desperate debtor can’t repay what’s owed, he offers something unexpected to settle the score: a little girl. Ace accepts the deal, not out of need, but because curiosity flickers in his mind— a curiosity he loathes. Yet the little girl is more than just an innocent. She unknowingly awakens ghosts of Ace’s past— a life of betrayal, loss, and secrets he swore to bury. Even monsters have scars. The darkness that shaped him, the wounds he carries, and the revenge that fuels his every decision begin to resurface. The past never truly stays buried. As their worlds collide, her presence becomes both his salvation and his torment. But as the past catches up, threatening to destroy everything, Ace must face a harrowing choice: cling to the monster he’s become, or risk everything for the one thing he never thought he’d have— a chance at redemption. Will his darkness consume her and change her? Or will she destroy him?

“Rule #1: Don’t fall for the roommate. Rule #2: Seriously, don’t fall for the roommate.” *** After an incident that shattered her confidence, Phoenix wants nothing more than to disappear. So, when her twin brother makes her a crazy, bizarre but deliciously sinful offer, she slips on a uniform and takes her place as his twin ‘brother’ at Harrison Park Academy — a chance to restart and feel in control, just until she feels okay again. But HPA has its own rules—and none of them account for bathroom phobias, shared dorms, or accidentally locking eyes with your ridiculously attractive new roommate. Justice is intense, loyal, and way too perceptive for her comfort. Worst of all? He’s the one person she can’t seem to avoid… or stop thinking about. He’s just irritating enough to make her blood boil. But he’s also kind in the quietest ways, and she’s falling, fast. Now Phoenix is navigating locker room close calls, midnight showers, secret crushes, late-night parties with their sister all-girls’ school across the lake and an escalating rivalry between the athletes and the academic elite. Her lies are stacking higher than her jump shots, and with each game, the stakes get heavier. Everyone thinks she’s just another boy chasing a spot on the team. But she’s playing for more than victory. She’s playing to feel like herself again. She’s playing to forget what happened last year. And if anyone finds out who she really is, it won’t just be her cover that’s blown— it’ll be her entire world. Phoenix is one step away from getting exposed. And when you’re living a lie? One wrong move is all it takes to lose the game. How long can she keep playing it straight?

It all seemed like a naughty prank at first. You know, the 'disappearing' trick lovers usually pull on each other to see who misses the other most? Yes, that was what Katniss thought at first until months passed and still, Noah was absolutely no where to be found.... Witty, beautiful and bubbly. Just a few adjectives to describe Katniss Costello's interesting and charming character. A young lady who had it all; from affluent parents to wealth and popularity to a quite amazing love life she shared with Noah Rogers, her then soon to be husband. Her life seemed to have come to a shattering halt after reality dawned on her that Noah might never return. She barely talked. Barely smiled. Barely went out, always bed ridden, gloomy and depressed. Void of all emotions. Indeed the shadow of her previous self. Her parents took advantage of the absence of her fiance and deemed it fit to have her married off to a proud, rich and arrogant son of their friend. She strongly opposed to the arranged marriage for few wisps of hope that he might return still laid in her heart. It was the motivation and inspiration she had to wait for him and when he does return, she'd still be here...waiting. When the pressure from her parents was getting too tough and unbearable, she wanted to get rid of it all, get rid of the emotional pain, get rid of the weight that was becoming far to heavy to carry. All she wanted was freedom, but there was only one way to do that... That night, underneath the Blue Moon, standing on the deck above the Ballad River where she wanted to end it all, there she met Asher Holden and that was the onset of her rollercoaster love life.

After ten years of being mated, I discovered my aloof Alpha mate had been keeping a sunshine-like Omega lover. That Omega could bring warmth and light to everyone she meets. My Alpha mate, Dominic, who had spent his childhood in the doldrums, was easily attracted by that kind of pure warmth. That very night, I presented him with a mate bond severance agreement. Dominic sneered coldly as he tore up the agreement, throwing a psychiatric evaluation at me instead. "Sign this. Admit you have delusional disorder, and I'll send you to the best mental hospital to live out your days. I know all about your dirty little tricks. I won't give you any chance to hurt her." So, all these years… every little thing I’d done to protect him? To him, it was just despicable scheming. I refused to sign. Dominic had me bound and tortured with silver powder, watching coldly as I convulsed in agony. He even had our two five-year-old pups hung from the bow of massive ships about to collide. "Either sign, or watch them get crushed to pulp. Your call." I dropped to my knees on the deck, banging my head against the wood like a madwoman, begging him to let me sign. But it was too late—I watched helplessly as my pups' small bodies got torn apart by metal shrapnel. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day I discovered he was keeping that girl. I decided never to love him again. But after I left him, Dominic suddenly went mad searching for me everywhere.