The Off Limits Rule

My husband's first love jumped to her death due to depression and landed right on me as I was passing by. I was rendered unconscious on the spot and subsequently rushed to the ICU. However, my orthopedic surgeon husband stayed by his first love's side to comfort her over her minor scratches. He even refused to sign my Critical Care Notification. "Whoever joined her charade can get lost along with her! Come to me when she's really dead!" he said. It wasn't until he received a death certificate that he realized in horror—the deceased's information was identical to mine.

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."

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.

Mabel always knew She was born to be a Luna… until her husband, the only man she loved chose her sister, murdered her baby and turned her into a disgraced trash Mabel's title is stolen, her heart shattered, and her home is ripped away from her. Mabel is abused, humiliated, and banished from the pack she was meant to rule. But fate isn’t done with her. To survive, Mabel is forced into the hands of her worst enemy, Alpha Alistair aka the devil of the north. The same man who killed her parents! He is a dangerous Alpha king who is powerful, feared…and obsessed with destroying her. What begins as a deal of necessity turns into something far darker and intoxicating. Determined to return and take her revenge on all her enemies, Mabel is forced to rise from her ashes, train, and conquer until She becomes powerful enough to set the world on fire. And Now she’s back, but not for forgiveness, shes back for revenge. But suddenly, the ex who betrayed her swears he never stopped loving her and he wants her back. While the man who was her sworn enemy now vows he’ll burn down kingdoms before he ever lets her go. Two Alphas. One scorned Luna reborn. This is war for her heart and her crown.

"There should be rules if we are even going to do this," he said without looking at me. "I have always lived by the rules." He slid a file towards me. "This is the contract. The rules are stated there." I opened the file and glanced through it. "You can take it home and study them; give me feedback tomorrow evening. But I will read out the rules for you now because they start now, and in case your brain can't comprehend them, then I can explain." Anger seethed through me, and I almost threw the file back at him, but when I thought about the money involved and how it would benefit little Sophie, I bit my lower lip to push back the anger. He continued. "Rule number one; don't you fall in love with me." His eyes flipped up to me. "Crystal clear," I said. "That would never happen." Ellen never had fun in college. One night she decided to have fun with her friends and slept with a handsome stranger who disappeared before she woke up. A month later, she found out she was pregnant and searched everywhere for him, but to no avail. Five years later, she moved to a new city and met the same man she never thought she would ever see again. He didn't remember anything about her, and he was now a cold, arrogant man who needed a wife, and she needed money. They agreed to contract marriage with strict rules, one of them being never to fall in love with each other. They were sure they wouldn't break the rule, but as sparks grew between them and became too much, they found themselves trying hard to keep to the rules. Who will break rule number one between them?

After an unexpected pregnancy, Silas Shaw, who had always avoided the topic of marriage, suddenly proposed to me. Overjoyed, I readily accepted. However, on the day of the wedding, I stumbled upon an unexpected conversation between him and his friends. "Are you really going to marry Chaldene just because of your child with Nora?" one of them asked. Silas was visibly irritated and full of disdain as he responded, "It's all because of my mother. She kept saying that Nora's family background wasn't good enough.” "If it weren't to give my child with Nora a better status, why on earth would I marry Chaldene?” "You have no idea how boring a woman like her is in bed. I got tired of her after sleeping with her twice."

“You weren’t supposed to fall for me.” A bitter laugh escapes me before I can stop it. “Then what exactly did you think this was going to be?” Alexander stays silent. “This vacation,” I continue, my voice rising. “The way you touch me. The way you look at me when you think I’m not watching. Sleeping in the same bed every night and holding me. What was I supposed to feel?” **************** Ethan Cole has nothing left but debt, a sick sister to protect, and pride he was ready to lose. So when Billionaire Alex Veyron offers him a simple arrangement, he signs. The contract comes with money, protection, no deadline, but has only one rule….. Do not fall in love. It should have stayed professional. Instead, stolen glances turn into heated nights. Power games turn into obsessions, and the man Ethan was supposed to use becomes the only one willing to burn the world for him. When secrets from the past refuse to stay buried, Powerful enemies circle and Family ties twist tighter than either of them expected, love might be their only way out. But in a world ruled by money and control Breaking the one rule might cost them everything.….

My boy friend Caleb Ford's childhood sweetheart, Julia Leclair, is losing her hair from chemotherapy. So, he orders me to cut mine off and make her a wig. "Julia's allergic to synthetic wigs. You've been growing your hair for ten years—it's perfect." I refuse, but his friends tie me down. Someone shaves my head to the scalp, buzzing through my thick, glossy hair until nothing's left but a butchered mess. Julia sits in her wheelchair and laughs, saying I look like a toad. Caleb smiles and nods in agreement. He adds with a chuckle, "It's just some hair. Was that really necessary?" But back when I was bullied for having uneven, choppy short hair for six straight years, it was he who stood in front of me. He had his arms spread wide as he shielded me from harm. Now he's the one wielding the blade. One by one, their little circle chimes in. They tell me not to hold a grudge against someone who's sick. Caleb snaps impatiently, "Stop trying to talk sense into her. She can get lost! Did you see that fit she threw over a few strands of hair? It's not like they won't grow back." I turn around and walk away. I never look back. Later, I hear that Caleb begs for my forgiveness by kneeling his way up 9000 steps until his knees are ruined.

On my wedding day, my groom's sister, Nadia Lawson, wears an elaborate ball gown and comes on stage to snatch the emcee's microphone. Before all the guests, she arrogantly says to me, "Can't you see the princess is here? Why didn't you curtsy and greet me? You deserve to be punished! Get on your knees and prostrate yourself before me as an apology!" My expression sours at her insolence. I turn around only to see the indulgent expressions on her parents' faces. The groom, Bowen Lawson, says dotingly, "We spoiled Nad silly since she was a child. You are her sister-in-law now. Don't make things hard for her." I am so mad that I can't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. The clown thinks she's a princess, asking me to kneel before her? Ridiculous.

The deal was simple. Fake-date Tyson Blackwood, the campus's most insufferable Alpha, hockey captain and the man personally responsible for my first heartbreak, or watch my scholarship disappear overnight. He needed a girlfriend to make his ex jealous and I needed to stay enrolled. So we shook on it. Terms stated cold and clean: no feelings, no complications, strictly business. The no feeling part was going great. Right up until my heat hit, his rut triggered, and we spent five days in his suite while his rut burned through every wall between us. Now he's looking at me differently. His scent patch fails everytime I walk into a room and the pack that spent years treating me like a joke is watching the hockey captain lose his mind. The hockey captain who chose me as a pawn is now knotting me like I'm the only thing he's ever wanted to keep.