Stepping Stones Synonym

At the banquet, the most wanted bachelor of Rivenport announced that my stepsister was the woman he truly wished to marry. Without hesitation, I stepped aside and married Simon Barker, who had been pursuing me for years. Our married life was filled with love and happiness. That joy lasted until I finally became pregnant, when I discovered he had been slipping contraceptives into the milk he gave me every night. I also found a custom diamond necklace he kept in his safe that was labelled "For proposal", but the engraving bore my stepsister's initials. It became clear that I had only ever been an obstacle he needed to remove for the woman he truly loved. All those years, he had pretended to love me, but he was just using me as a stepping stone for my stepsister's bright future. No matter how blind I had been before, now I was fully awake to the truth. With a consent form for abortion and a divorce agreement in hand, Simon and I became strangers forever.

Divorced at a young age, Emily takes a step back at her love life as she strives to regain a new life away from her obsessive ex-husband. She experiences an unexpected encounter with George Walters who is on the line to becoming one of the city's most powerful CEOs as his father is gradually stepping down from his reign and to acquire this position, he must be presented as ‘Married’. Haunted by the continuous search for a perfect girl, he settles for Emily who rekindles the worn-out flame within his heavy heart while she struggles to hold down her feelings for his assistant, Ryan. Their relationship blossoms but is soon threatened severely by Eric, Emily’s ex-husband, who has a deeply rooted obsession for her even after their divorce but a stronger envious desire to get her back. However, amidst the trust complexities and shadows of their separate pasts, George and Emily struggle to navigate their supposed love story. Will Emily eventually get to the sweet end of the road with George? Or will she forever be hunted down by her obsessive ex-husband till he wins her over?

In my tenth year of marriage, my old childhood friend, Joshua Sears, posts a photo on social media. Both Joshua and my wife, Sabrina Lawson, are hugging his son, Andy Sears, and my daughter, Tiana Jenkins, in it. The four of them look very close to each other. The caption accompanying the post says, "Blessed to have the perfect son and daughter." I leave a comment below the post, saying, "Looking good together." A few seconds later, the post is deleted. The next morning, Sabrina rushes home and yells at me. "Ashton Jenkins! Joshua was finally feeling better for once. Why did you have to trigger him again?" Tiana shoves me hard and snaps in an accusatory tone, "It's all your fault that Andy's crying now!" I take out a copy of the divorce agreement and slam it down before them. "Yes, it's all my fault. That's why I'm stepping out of the picture now. Then, the four of you can form the wholesome family you've always wanted."

The medicine in her hand is a gateway to death, but it may not be. Victoria knew the path she was about to take could lead to destruction, but the hope for a little happiness remained. In the darkness of the hospital room, before her sits a man she once knew-a man who has lost everything, who now stares at her with sharp, hateful eyes. Logan, the badly injured CEO of Dallas Corp, spends his days in a wheelchair, trapped in a deep grudge. Victoria knows this is the right moment. If she didn't act now, it would all be over. “I can take you to get everything back,” Victoria said, voice wrapped in hesitation yet full of determination. Stepping closer, her eyes met Logan's dark, piercing ones. “Everything they ever took away, including your own honor as CEO of Dallas Corp,” she added, looking at him deeply, like an unbreakable promise. “But... pay for my daughter's entire treatment. Even if necessary, find the best doctor in the country so he can work on her recovery.”

*COMPLETE* Rosalie has crossed over the void of time, and overcome a mountain of obstacles to find her one true mate Alexander Black. She has given up everything she holds dear to be with him. But fate is now beginning to catch up to the Black family. Whilst Alexander is faced with a rival from the past, baying for his crown, Rosalie is dealing with a foe much closer to home... Rosalie is a white wolf, the Goddess' own assassin and protector of the werewolf species. Will Rosalie find the power within to defeat a new dark evil? In order to save the life she has made for herself in the past, she will now have to once more leave everything she loves behind and venture back to the future to defeat what lurks in the shadows..... Landon Coombes has know that Rosalie Summers was his second chance mate the moment that he laid eyes on her. But when she mysteriously disappeared without explanation, he begins to fear that he will be alone forever. That is until Rosalie reappears just as unexpectedly as she left.  Landon finds himself doing all that he can to help Rosalie defeat a new dark evil which threatens to destroy the Eclipse pack forever, all in the hopes of proving how much he cares for her. But Rosalie is nursing a broken heart, can Landon be the glue to hold her together once again, or are somethings just too hard to put back together?  Note from the author: This is Book 2 of 3 in The Last Alpha King Series, please read The Last Alpha King - Mists of Time first. More details for The Luna Stones (Book 3) to be released soon. Return of the Luna Queen is now complete.

For three hundreds under vampire rule, the Blood Prince has drawn a new bride from his realms every fifty years. In my previous life, Seraphina was chosen,Lucian’s childhood sweetheart. The night before our bonding ceremony, she burst into our chamber, tears streaming. “Lucian, I’ve been chosen as the Blood Prince’s seventh bride!” she sobbed. “They say he loses control on his wedding night, drains every drop of blood from his bride. None of the first six lived to see dawn. I don’t want to die—please, claim me as your mate!” But Lucian had already claimed me. And by wolf law, an Alpha may bind only one mate at a time. So I step forward, and refused her. The next day, at the altar, Seraphina slit her throat with a silver dagger. Lucian didn’t flinch. He ordered the blood scrubbed from the stones—and proceeded with our ceremony as nothing had happened. However,on our honeymoon, he pushed me into starving wolves. His eyes burned crimson as he snarled, “If you hadn’t tricked me into marking you earlier, Seraphina would be alive. You killed her.” Over a dozen of wolves with gleaming eyes swarmed me in, tore me limb from limb. Then I woke, back on the day the mate-hunger hex seized Lucian. This time, I dragged Seraph-the girl Lucian cherished as most precious jewel,from her house myself, and shoved her into Lucian’s chamber. “Be his cure, and I’ll take your place as the Blood Prince’s bride instead.

I replaced my sister. Stepping into Claire’s wedding gown, I vowed myself to Tobin Voss, the most feared mafia lord in the city. It was the perfect deception, my way of punishing her for a lifetime of betrayal. With every smile I gave him, every lie I told, I slipped deeper into her life, hiding my true name beneath the mask of a devoted bride. I thought I could control the game. Pretend. Lie. Survive. But Tobin is not a man easily deceived, and his world is built on blood, power, and loyalty. One slip and I’m dead. Then Claire returned. Broken but ruthless, and hungrier than ever to claim what I stole. Her husband, her throne, her place at his side. Now I am trapped between his dangerous desire, her merciless vengeance, and the secrets that could burn me alive. He thinks I am his bride. She thinks I am her enemy. And I don’t know which one will destroy me first.

**Dark Romance** Being the new girl is hard, Mary is shy, introverted, and prefers the solitude of being with her books than people. But in her new school, things became different as she got noticed by the wrong people. She catches the attention of the school's bad boy who begins to taunt and ridicule her. ***** I played with my fingers as he stared, he didn't stop staring and I was finding it hard to maintain eye contact with him. His stare was making me feel uncomfortable. I couldn't help but wonder what he was doing here alone. "Mary Davies," he whispered my name. "You are still a virgin right?" He asked smirking. "Hmmmn... Untouched. Innocent. Just like I have always wanted." He whispered, trailing a finger down my collar bone. "I am going to have so much fun with you," he whispered again, kissing my ear lobes. "So much fun." He added, stepping away from me. He began to walk towards the door. "See you tonight."

"You make it sound like I did something wrong?" Niklaus says with a sly smile before stepping back to avoid the punch I swing at him. His hand grabs my wrist tightly before he spins and presses me back on his desk, with my upper body facing him. His hips press against my parted legs. "Really...Luci, I missed you like crazy. How can you say such harsh things to me?" He says with a pout. Wait…wait, what is that pressing against me? "You crazy b*stard." I all but scream the words, but the manic excitement in his eyes doesn't waver as he forces his hips against me. Eight years ago, novice recruit Lucien Sinclair had the perfect partner and brother-in-law anyone could ask for; everything vanished in the blink of an eye when the 'perfect' man, Niklaus Heinrich, turned out to be the perfect devil, an arms dealer masquerading as the perfect CEO to the largest company in Ferndale. What happens when the two are forced to work together again? {This is a stand-alone book}

I stared at him blankly. "Then reject me before I do it myself." "I won't. I'm not as heartless as you are." "Compared to your cold-blooded pack?" I laughed with no humor before being serious again. "Choose and save us both from this misery. Reject me or I will." The alpha remained still, just staring at me with no emotion at all. "I, Zehra Heyerdahl of the Crescent Moon Pack, re—" He cut me off. — • — Zehra Heyerdahl's life was sailing smoothly until one night, her family was murdered brutally by unknown assailants. To seek justice that they deserve, she found herself stepping into the Farnsworth Valley where she encountered a series of events that turned her world to disarray... especially after meeting Alpha Xanth. Skeletons in the closet were unveiled, revealing all the unmentionable things kept for a long time ago. Two souls with their own priorities; one uncovering the truth and the other one protecting the lies they believed were true. What faith awaits to the both of them? Will there still be a happy ending? Or will they just go in separate ways?