The Kept Man Strikes Back Chapter 1

WARNING: MATURE CONTENT | RATED 18 "Love conquers all," they say. Is love when it can possibly destroy what your parents have? Or is it selfishness? Nahli and Kendric are soon-to-be-stepsiblings. However, as love ignites between them it brings a big risk to the relationship of their parents. Choosing their parents love means letting each other go. What do you think they'll choose? Their love? Or their parents’ love?

After our eighty-eighth canceled wedding, I called my business partner. "I'm taking the Haviana market project." There was a beat of stunned silence. "Seriously? That's ten years overseas. You just got married—well, weren't you? Does your husband even know? What about your parents? You always said staying close to them was everything." I glanced around the empty church and let out a sharp laugh. "There was no wedding. No husband. And my parents? They've got Cindy. That's all they need." Another pause. "Alright. Pack your bags. You leave tomorrow." After the call, I ran a hand down my wedding dress. One last tear slipped out, quiet and pointless. Cindy had another "episode" today. Claimed she'd off herself. Andrew canceled—again. I'd looked at him, drained. "It's the eighty-eighth time." He dropped his head, guilt all over him. "Just a little more time, Viv. She's been off since the accident. I'm scared she'll actually do it. I swear, I'll talk to her. For real this time. Then we'll get married. Promise." My parents didn't hesitate. "Vivian, let Andrew go. If Cindy hadn't gotten kidnapped trying to save you, she wouldn't have these breakdowns. Are you really putting a wedding over your sister's life?" "How could you be so selfish?" I'd heard it all before. Used to fight it. Not this time. If neither my fiancé nor my parents wanted me around, then fine. I'd leave.

This is a story between a bloodthirsty merman and a kind and naive researcher. Linda, a researcher at a Japanese maritime university, found herself raped by a lewd merman in a dream. This tempted her to conduct research on this mythical creature. Together with her professor Gary, they set off to sea in search of merfolk. They successfully caught a merman, but Linda was marked as its mate…Was it a human that had caught a merman, or was it a merman who had found its prey?

My best friend, Cassidy Braun, earned a modest monthly salary of 2,800 dollars, only to constantly trash her doting husband with an annual income of 600,000 dollars, labelling him a broke loser. “That incompetent husband of mine can’t even afford a 20-carat diamond ring! “I have the looks that can bag me a billionaire. I must have been out of my mind to marry that piece of trash.” I chimed in. “You’re right. You’re practically a goddess. Only a Greek God stands a chance with you.” Eventually, Cassidy left her husband and hooked up with a trust-fund kid, just as she wanted. A year later, she was scammed out of every penny she owned and diagnosed with cancer. Fragile and broken, she came to me. “I heard that ex-husband of mine remarried and that he’s loaded now. Judging by the way he used to worship the ground I walked on, I bet he’ll drop the woman in a heartbeat if I ask to get back together.” I gave a dismissive nod while running my fingers along the new Birkin bag my husband had bought. “Oh, absolutely. He’s pretty wealthy now.”

On the very day I sold my company shares to raise money for my wife’s medical treatment, my phone flashed with a notification about a trending post. "My husband or my lover, which should I choose?" An anonymous reply shot to the top of the comments. "Why choose? I want both." What followed was a casual, shameless confession. A staged car accident right after the wedding, a fake overseas treatment plan, parents who helped maintain the lie, and millions siphoned off under the excuse of life-saving medical fees. The money was never for treatment. It funded luxury vacations, hotel suites, and a long-term affair. Someone asked if she was afraid her husband would find out. Her answer was chilling. "Why would I be afraid? He thinks he took my first time and swore to take responsibility for me forever. He doesn’t know it was just a repair surgery I did for his sake." The post ended with a vacation photo. A woman in a bikini, smiling under the sun. And on her waist, a tattoo with the letters 'NG.' The same tattoo worn by my wife.

Morgan loved him with her entire heart. She sacrificed everything for him, her life, her family, her career, her dignity, all in the hope that he would love her back. "What are these?" Morgan whispered her voice shaky, staring at the papers tossed on the table. She looked up at her husband of three years. "Dante, what is this?" "Sign the papers. We're getting divorced." He said with a straight face. Just like that, all the years of her life spent loving him and pining after him wasted like that. The baby in her stomach she had planned to tell him about weighed heavily on her mind. But a divorce? She hadn't seen that coming. "I was with you only because you looked like her." He proceeded to say. "Sign the papers and get out of my house." Once his first love returned, he was quick to cast her away like used trash. Morgan, determined to move on with her life, left him. He had no idea who she was. It was time for her to come back home. After the breakup, fate brought them back together. But the Morgan of now was no longer the sad girl in love with him. Now the CEO is the Rosewood Enterprises, she vows to reclaim her life back. Dante realized he was in love with her, and tries to get her back. But there's a new man in her life now. Will she forgive Dante, or will she move on from him completely? How will she handle the challenges thrown at her? How will she continue to rise to the top and overthrow her enemies? Or will she succumb to the voices? Read to find out.

Dahil sa sobra-sobrang pagmamahal ni Salome sa nakababatang kapatid ay pumayag siya sa kagustuhan ng kapatid na sumunod sa syudad na pinagtatrabahuan nito. Ngunit hindi niya alam na balak siya nitong gawing pambayad sa utang. Huli na ang lahat nang matagpuan niya ang sarili sa kama kasama ang gwapong estranghero. At si Treous Elagrue na isang kilalang walang puso at makapangyarihan sa mundo ng mga mafia ang siyang nakauna sa kaniya at sapilitang umangkin sa kaniya. Ngunit hindi niya aakalaing magbubunga ang kababuyan na ginawa nito sa kaniya. Dahil sa takot ay itinago niya ang bata at pinalaki itong mag-isa. Ngunit mapagbiro ang tadhana dahil nalaman ni Treous ang tungkol sa bata at ngayo'y sapilitan itong kinuha ng lalaki sa kaniya. Ngunit gagawin ni Salome ang lahat upang mabawi lamang ang anak. Kahit pa ibaba niya ang sarili at lumuhod sa harapan ni Treous.

"I saved his life with a lie. Now, I have to live it—or die in his bed." Noah Bennett is a nobody, a starving survivor in a kingdom of ice. When he finds the poisoned, half-dead King Ethan Walker in a frozen ravine, he makes a desperate, split-second choice to secure his future. He pitches his voice high, binds his chest, and claims to be a maiden named Abigail. He expected a reward and a quiet escape. He didn’t expect the King to wake up with a terrifying, soul-deep obsession. Now, the "Angel of the Ravine" has been brought to the palace in a carriage of gold and silk. Ethan Walker is a man of cold steel and dark hungers, a King who pampers his "Abigail" with a devotion that feels like a chokehold. He wants his savior. He wants a Queen. And he wants her—him—in his bed before the moon turns full. As the wedding bells toll, the stakes reach a breaking point: The Lie: One torn gown or one slipped word will lead Noah to the executioner’s block. The Lust: Ethan’s touch is electric, a "Good Turn Bad" obsession that makes Noah’s heart hammer for all the wrong reasons. The Trap: The King’s traitorous brother is watching, the General is suspicious, and the Silver Wolf of the north is howling for the truth. In a court of vipers, Noah is playing the most dangerous game in Aethelgard. He must navigate the King’s possessive "Silk Noose" while hiding the truth beneath his robes. But as Ethan leans in to claim his "bride's" neck, Noah realizes the most terrifying secret of all: The King might already know. And he might like the lie even better than the truth.

During summer break, I took my son, Luke Thorne, diving at our private beach. Ralph Foster, a hotshot TV actor, suddenly showed up with a whole entourage and barged in. "This is a private beach that Gloria personally secured for me to entertain VIPs. You two nobodies had better get lost right now!" He threw his weight around and even dragged my wife, Gloria Stokes, out as a threat. When he learned who I was, he went a step further and mocked me as a kept man living off my wife. I actually laughed. I was the head of the Thornes, the most powerful family in Frenkinston. Since when did I become some freeloading, useless husband? On top of that, Gloria's film studio and every bit of her backing came from me. But when Gloria arrived, she sided with Ralph and actually tried to force Luke to put on a show for some sleazy investors. Sneering, I made a call that only the head of the Thornes had the authority to make. "Shark Vanguard, clear Crescent Bay. Now."

SYNOPSIS: Enemies with Benefits: The CEOs' Matchmakers Strike Emma Sinclair never expected her life to take a sudden turn when she found herself entangled with Chase Donovan—the cold, calculating CEO who made it clear that love had no place in his world. Isang gabing puno ng alak at pagkakamali ang nagdulot ng hindi inaasahang one-night stand sa pagitan nila. Pero hindi lang iyon ang sorpresa—dahil ang lalaking iniwan niya kinaumagahan ay siya ring CEO na mag-aalok sa kanya ng isang kasunduang kasal. Chase needed a wife to secure his position as the rightful heir of Donovan Enterprises. Emma, on the other hand, was drowning in her own problems. A marriage of convenience seemed like the perfect solution. Ngunit sa mundo ng pagpapanggap, saan matatapos ang linya sa pagitan ng kasunduan at totoong nararamdaman? With past lovers resurfacing, deep-seated family conflicts, and undeniable chemistry brewing between them, Emma and Chase find themselves in a dangerous game where the biggest rule is simple—No Falling in Love. Pero paano kung may isa sa kanila ang sumuway? Will this fake marriage turn into something real, or will it crumble under the weight of secrets and lies?