Take Off Chapter 1 Novels & Stories

"Marry me for three years. Once Leah is back, we’ll divorce, and I’ll give you ten million dollars." The words were a cold offer, spoken so close to her that she could barely breathe. Alexander King—ruthless, untouchable, looks to die for and heir to the King empire—has never been the kind to beg. But when his first love, Leah, disappears, he makes a deal with Athena Dawson, the orphan girl his family has sponsored for years. Three years of marriage to protect the position of wife for Leah. A contract. And a promise of millions. But Athena doesn’t want his money. She wants him. She agrees, hoping that in those three years, she can make him love her—not as deeply as he loved Leah, but just enough to make him keep her by his side. And for a while, it almost seems possible. He’s sweet. Protective. Almost hers. Until Leah returns. Just like that, the dream shatters. The warmth disappears. And the man who once held her so gently turns cold, placing divorce papers in her hands as a cruel reminder of the deal they made. Their dirty little secret. But what if Athena isn’t the same girl who agreed to the contract? And what if, for the first time in his life, Alexander King realizes he made a mistake?

🪷"Fuck... Klaus." Adrianna moaned, a shudder running through her entire body as she caught her bottom lip between her teeth.🪷 ༺༺♡♡༻༻ One moment of weakness was all it took to cross a line they were never meant to cross. Klaus Brennan is the school’s hockey captain—confident, untouchable, and infamous for never getting attached. Adriana Coleman is his sister’s best friend… the one girl who should have been completely off-limits. But some temptations don’t stay buried. What begins as a reckless dare turns into late-night encounters filled with stolen touches, lingering glances, and a chemistry neither of them can ignore. Around others, they act like nothing has changed—but behind closed doors, every moment pulls them deeper into something dangerously real. Klaus has always been in control. Until her. And Adriana has always followed the rules. Until him. Now they’re trapped between desire and consequences, secrecy and loyalty, knowing that if their relationship is exposed, it won’t just break hearts—it could destroy everything they’ve built. Because loving Klaus Brennan was never supposed to be an option… but letting him go might be impossible. And some secrets aren’t meant to stay hidden forever.

As I stepped out of my older brother's newly opened supermarket, the alarm suddenly rang. The sales assistant grimly reached out and grabbed me, "Miss, you haven't paid yet." I remembered that my buttons were made of metal, which triggered the alarm. After patiently explaining and easing the atmosphere, I said, "The owner of this supermarket is my older brother. He'll pay the bill." The sales assistant scoffed. "Your brother's the boss? Why not say he's your husband instead? You stole and refused to admit it. Pay up or I'll call the police immediately," she said and crumpled the receipt into a ball before throwing it at my face. I endured the humiliation and unfolded it. A baby pacifier for 100,000 dollars. Two packs of baby wet wipes for 200,000 dollars. Security personnel's hush fee, 300,000 dollars. All of the miscellaneous expenses added up to exactly one million dollars. I laughed in anger. "One million dollars? Why don't you just rob a bank? Go and get Chad Surrey. I want to see how I ended up with such a heartless brother." She rolled her eyes. "Don't pretend if you can't afford it, thief. Is Mr. Surrey someone you can see whenever you want?" When my parents came to help me, I said, "Only one of us exists in this family. It's either me or her."

The stock remained in the warehouse for two months. The final payment due date arrived, but the company’s finance department was still unwilling to make the payment. I followed up numerous times, and the finance director finally got sick of me. “Our capital is all currently invested in wealth management products. If we liquidate it all, we’d lose four hundred dollars a day! Who then would bear the loss of the company? “Tell them to put it on our tab. We’ll immediately pay it once the investments mature!” I patiently explained that the supplier was not willing to accept any delayed payments. They would only hand us the stock once they received the money. She sized me up for a moment. “Women in sales are basically escorts! Just play coy with the supplier, and they would give you the stock! Why are you pretending to be better than that?” I was stunned. Left without a choice, I mortgaged my new house. The stock was worth four million dollars. I would be able to double the profit once I sold that off.

Victor Gunner, my husband, is a man of his prime - wealthy, attractive and the brilliant CEO of Gunner Holdings, Inc. with stakes in the aviation and maritime industries. People often question why he married me because it was certainly not a love match nor was it a union of convenience. I believe it was because Victor felt ready and I was available. When I accepted his proposal, I naively thought my love was big enough for the two of us until he proved me wrong. Three years and our marriage began to crumble. For one, I can’t give him an heir. Then came Victor’s past love with a child in tow. A child who looks strangely like my husband. For the first time in years, I saw excitement filling Victor’s eyes. He dotes on them, recreating the dream of a perfect family, while I was gradually being cast aside, relegated to watching them enviously on the sidelines. I tried fighting for my place, but how can one fight a battle lost before it has begun? I had no place in his perfect family so when he proposed divorce, I accepted and never looked back. When we met again, I was an emerging heiress divorcee of our time, given countless accolades due to my work with women who underwent trauma in their relationships. It gave me immense satisfaction that for the first time, Victor saw my worth and wanted me back. Unfortunately, he has to fall in line. Three other men want me, too. All are wealthy, attractive and doting not only to me, but to my triplets as well. I watched in amusement how our roles quickly reversed. Now, Victor scrambled to beat all those men. But can he win this fight? Can love bloom beyond goodbye?

For sixteen long years, Eulalia Clearwater gave everything to Percival Dunraven, her first and only love, only to be cruelly pushed aside for his new infatuation. Percival believed that without Eulalia, a world of happiness awaited him, a fresh start with a new love. But when he stumbled upon Eulalia's devastating medical diagnosis, panic set in. Rushing to her side, he found her hand entwined with another's, her eyes filled with a resolve he had never seen before. "Why didn't you tell me about your stomach cancer?" he demanded, his voice trembling with fear and regret. Eulalia's response was a bitter laugh, her eyes gleaming with a mixture of pain and liberation. "Didn't you wish for my early demise?" she mocked. "Percival Dunraven, in the final moments of my life, I no longer want to love you."

Auretta never imagined that one day, her mate would slander her, reject her, send rogue assassins to kill her and claim her pack and all its members ten days after she gave birth to their son. However, the two rogue assassins did not murder her. They helped her take revenge and reclaim everything Alpha Andrew had taken from her. Alpha Andrew of the River Oval Pack was unaware that his former mate dared to pose as their child's nanny and was secretly plotting to destroy him. Will Auretta succeed in her revenge, or will she allow herself to fall back into the arms of her ex-mate?

When Edna Crossby ditches the marriage registration for the fifth time, I block her contact number and social media accounts on the spot. If she's in any of the social gatherings, I turn down the invitations right away. I'd rather take the long route than walk past the cafe Edna frequents. If she attends a team-building session, I take the day off without hesitation. Even when Edna shows up on my doorstep with gifts in hand on Christmas Eve, I pretend that I'm not home at all. I don't answer any calls from her. I don't respond to texts she sends me. Just like that, I completely fade away from Edna's world. In the past, Edna used to be the focus of my life. My emotions fluctuated all the time because of her. When Edna flakes out on me for the fifth time, I finally snap out of my lovesick stupor. I don't want to live life like this anymore. Rather than getting abandoned time and again, I might as well live my life on my own happily.

On the day I go to the car dealership to pick up my car, I'm told that the previous salesperson has resigned, so a different salesperson will attend to me. Yet the first thing the salesperson does is say that I paid too little for the car and demand that I pay more to make up the difference. "The other salesperson is truly an idiot. How could he sell a car for 300 thousand dollars in cash? It's no wonder he got chewed out and quit. If you want to take the car, you'll have to switch to a five-year loan with an interest rate of 12%." I'm rendered speechless as he blatantly tries to extort me. "I've already paid and signed the sales contract. You're breaching the contract!" The salesperson scoffs. "So what? The car is with us anyway. If you're not going to pay the difference, don't even think of taking the car with you!" I can't help but chuckle. I calmly pull my phone out of my suit pocket. "Walter, place Mr. Paul Roland's loan application on hold for now. He's earning big bucks for his business. It seems like he doesn't need it anymore."

Cornton playboy Justin Swanson openly declares that he only keeps girlfriends around for one month at a time and never falls in love. Women hoping to marry into wealth line up from one side of the city to the other. After all, when he is in a good mood, he rewards them with a villa. Even when he isn't pleased, there is still a million-dollar breakup payout. I am a joke to everyone in Cornton. They say I'm the most humiliated rich man's wife in all of history. They all assume I will put up with him forever. That is, until Justin brings home a college goer named Kayla Holt. She looks pretty ordinary, yet she becomes the first woman to make him break away from his vow of only having one woman as a girlfriend for a month. Justin gives me two choices. The first is to accept an open marriage and let Kayla stand on equal footing with me. The second is to divorce him, take half the assets, and walk away with no strings attached between us. His friends stand nearby, enjoying the show. They are convinced I will stay and keep playing the patient, long-suffering wife for the money. But I choose the second option without hesitation. In my previous life, I choose to tolerate Justin's infidelity, only for Kayla to become more and more demanding. She forbids Justin from touching me, and she forbids him from giving me any property. In my old age, I can only watch with envy as Kayla is surrounded by children and even grandchildren. When Justin dies, his will does not mention me a single time. All of his inheritance goes to Kayla. I spend my entire life clinging to the title of Mrs. Swanson, only to end up completely alone. After getting a second chance at life, I am no longer hung up on him. I understand clearly that I should take the money and leave. From now on, he and I have nothing to do with each other anymore.