Telephone Conversation

My family is on the brink of bankruptcy, and I beg my fiancé to help us with emergency funding. He turns me down cold, then gets engaged to Nellie White without hesitation. Just when I'm out of options, my childhood friend shows up with an investment contract and a marriage proposal. I say yes without thinking twice. But even with his help, our company can't escape ruin. My father, unable to bear the blow, suffers a heart attack and dies. At the funeral, overwhelmed by grief, I faint. In my haze, I overhear a conversation between my childhood friend and his friend. "You've already crushed Talitha’s family. When are you going to take her uterus for Nellie?" "On the wedding day," he replies casually. "I'll stage an accident, then operate on her myself. Her uterus will be Nell's. I can't give Nell happiness in this life, so I'll give her a wedding gift. I hope it makes her happy." Turns out his so-called devotion was just so he could take my womb. Even his proposal to me was just a way to remove all obstacles for the woman he loved.

My parents died when I was ten years old, but a big shot in Jade City adopted me. It was rumored that Sean Graham was a cruel and violent man, but he doted on me for nearly ten years. He booked the advertising screens in the city to celebrate my birthday and promised to marry me when I got drunk and pestered him about it. I called him Uncle Sean at his request. Fear gripped me when I woke up in his bed every morning, but I kept it a secret. Yet one time, we accidentally slept with each other. I got pregnant with his child and wanted to keep it, but I knew I would not live for much longer. One day, I heard his conversation with a servant. “Clean up Zella’s room for Yulia.” “But Mr. Graham, Miss Cooper has been staying there for ten years. Didn’t you design it for her?” “No, I only let her stay there because Yulia had gone abroad.” I touched my belly as disappointment gripped me. It turned out that the man who had promised to provide me with a home as long as he lived wanted to drive me away.

Sophia Rivera couldn't possibly be further away from his universe. Coming from a middle-class family and after the death of her father, Sophia built herself up brick by brick. She doesn't want or need saving and certainly didn't need any spoiled billionaire to validate her worth. Success for Sophia, is earned, not handed down. Damian Hayes has it all; money, charm, and scandals. As the golden grandson of a formidable business mogul, Damian is renowned for hosting wild parties, charming beautiful women, and an utter disinterest in taking anything seriously. To him, love is just a game; loyalty is a joke, and reputation is just one more weapon in his glittered world. Their worlds collide when Damian's grandfather enacts an ultimatum to Damien, marry Sophia or lose the empire. What was to be a quick solution to tame Damian's recklessness erupts into an all out war under one roof. Where Damian sees Sophia as an ugly burden, ordinary, obstinate, and "Beneath His Standards," Sophia sees him as an entitle brat, arrogant, and reckless. Their marriage isn't constructed on love but is developed on defiance. Every glance is a challenge, every conversation a battle, every touch is uncomfortable sparks neither wants to acknowledge is there.

Hugo Laurent is determined to have me as his wife. He pursues me for a decade, resolute in winning my heart. But the night before our wedding, I overhear his conversation with his friends. "Are you going to marry Katherine just like that? What about your secret girlfriend?" Hugo is silent. Then, he says, "She's just a stand-in. She can't compare to Katherine. I'll consider keeping her by my side if she doesn't kick up a fuss. Katherine's generous—she won't mind." The following day, his secret girlfriend crashes our wedding and causes a stir. She shoves me off the stage, but Hugo darts toward her to protect her—she holds a jagged shard of glass to her neck and threatens suicide. "Are you going to choose me or her?" Hugo panics. He shoves me aside despite my injuries and snaps, "Get out of the way—I need to take her to the hospital! I'll make you pay if anything happens to her!" My heart dies in that instant. That very night, I purchase a flight ticket out of the country and leave him behind.

My fiancé suddenly announces he's marrying my sister instead. And just as my world collapses, the cold, noble Twinkle Oriven kneels before me with a diamond ring in hand. He confesses he's loved me for years. We get married. For three years, he's gentle, considerate, and flawless in every way. Then, one day, I accidentally overhear a conversation between him and a friend. "Twinkle, Amelie has everything she has ever wanted. Isn't it time to end this fake marriage?" "Since I can't marry Amelie, it doesn't matter who I marry. All that matters is that it keeps her life undisturbed." In the chapel where he prays every day, the wallpaper is covered with one name—Amelie Ashcombe. I hear him pray to the heavens. "May all the good in the world belong to Amelie. I'd trade my own happiness for her peace and joy. I don't ask to have her in the next life… I just want her to remember me." So this is the truth behind three years of a seemingly perfect marriage. I erase my identity and stage a fake death. From now on, Twinkle and I are nothing.

On the day I was supposed to try on wedding dresses with Charles Jaspier, the mafia leader I had loved for seven years, I walked into the boutique carrying a pregnancy test report—my heart full of hope. Instead, I overheard a conversation that shattered everything. "Registering the marriage with Ellis Olsen was a temporary measure," he said calmly to his closest confidant. "My brother died in a shootout. She's carrying the Jaspier family's only heir. Without a legal status, neither she nor the child would survive in this family." "Everyone would bully them." A cigar rested between his fingers. His voice was cold, edged with resignation. "Zoey Qandor can't have a title—but I can give her everything else. My love. My money. This must never reach her ears." I clenched the pregnancy report, my heart turning to ash. With my best friend's help, I created a new identity—one that ensured Charles would never find me again—and disappeared from his world. If he could not give me and my child a complete family, then this love—built on responsibility and lies—was better cut cleanly, once and for all.

The day my husband left the country on a business trip with his assistant, I learned—by sheer accident—that his archenemy was plotting revenge overseas. Without a second thought, I raced to the airport and stopped him from boarding the plane. But his assistant went ahead, alone. And over there, she was killed brutally. Not a trace of her remains was ever found. When my husband received the news, he fell apart. Wracked with guilt, eaten alive by remorse, he spiraled into a relentless, violent mania. In the past three years, I'd been in and out of hospitals more times than I could count because of him. And this time, he pushed me so far—I lost our child. Then I overheard a conversation between him and his secretary. "Sir, Casey is still alive. Why keep pretending you're sick? Aren't you afraid your wife will find out and leave you?" "Leave me? What right does she have to be angry?" He laughed coldly. "If she hadn't stopped me from going abroad, Casey would've never been lured away by that bastard. Everything Linda's suffering now—she brought it on herself."

After five miscarriages, I seek out a doctor to ask why I can't carry my babies to term. However, I overhear his conversation with my husband when I'm at the door. "The abortion medication you've prescribed is quite effective—she's already had five miscarriages. When can you do a hysterectomy? I can't let Adrianna have my child. "Oh, and give me something to keep a mother and baby safe. Monica is pregnant with my child; I have to make sure she gives birth to a healthy baby." The doctor says, "Adrianna's health has deteriorated over the years, though. It's highly likely she'll never have children." Reynold Scott scoffs indifferently. "So what? It's precisely because I don't want her to have children that I've been making her miscarry! Look, let's end this here. I need to accompany Monica on a shopping spree for the baby." I feel cold all over when I hear this. It turns out the love I've been defending is nothing but a joke.

He didn’t respond with words: he responded with his body. Drawing back slightly, he lined up the head of his cock and gave a small, careful thrust. She stiffened and he paused. “Babe?” He moved his hand under her curvy ass, supporting her. “You OK?” She nodded, already breathless. “You feel so damn good.” “Oh, fuck,” he groaned as she rotated her hips, taking him deeper. “Ditto, angel.” That was the end of coherent conversation between them. **** This is the final book in the 'Fighting For Love' series, and happily-ever-afters don’t come easy. Mia and Nick fight to rebuild intimacy after Nick’s devastating amputation... and to survive the vulnerability it demands. Katie and Adam face infertility and the brutal truth of how childhood trauma still echoes into adulthood. Reena and Mitch emerge from trial victorious, only to confront the responsibility – and power – of a life-changing judgment. Maggie is drowning in grief, and Joe is determined to prove that redemption isn’t just a promise, but a permanent change. Four couples. Eight battered hearts. Too many fears, scars, and second chances to count. Everything that can go wrong threatens to. But this time, love doesn’t back down. Because happily-ever-after isn’t given. It’s fought for.

My wife, Sarah, died unexpectedly. My in-laws made an absurd request. "Why not have Stella play both roles? After all, Luke can't be without a mother." My brother-in-law, Greg, yelled at me, calling me shameless, and stormed out in anger. I looked at my sister-in-law, Stella, who looked exactly like my late wife. I could hardly conceal my grief. I was about to urge them to abandon their ridiculous idea, when I accidentally overheard a conversation between her and her parents. "It was Stella who died, so why did you lie and claim it was you?" Sarah sighed. "I love Greg. I staged my death so I could be with him legitimately. As for asking me to play both roles, don't even bring it up again. As for Michael, I have already given him a child and a respectable marriage. I owe him nothing." Turning around, I saw Luke with reddened eyes, asking me softly, "Daddy, does that mean that Mommy no longer wants us?" I bent down and pulled him into my arms, forcing myself to soothe him. "Your Aunt Stella wants to protect the person that she loves. We shouldn't bother her. It's time for us to prepare a new life."