The Paying Guests

Juliet Fredrick has spent her life staying unnoticed. Working the night shift at a fast-food chain, paying her mother’s hospital bills, keeping her younger sister safe. She knows how the world works: nobody saves you. You save yourself. But everything changes the night she crosses paths with Ejike Olatunji. He is more than the richest man in Africa. He is a man whispered about. Ruthless in business. Untouchable in power. Unbreakable in will. And he has just made Juliet an offer that sounds like salvation: Marry him. Play the loyal wife. Protect his public image. In exchange, he will save her family. Juliet steps into a life she has never imagined: penthouses, private jets, global boardrooms, and people who smile at her while planning her destruction. Because Ejike has enemies. And now, so does she. A jealous socialite who refuses to be replaced. A rival billionaire who plays mind games with a smile. A former partner who wants the empire burned to the ground. The closer Juliet gets to Ejike, the more she realizes something is wrong. He is not just closed off. He is watching. He is waiting. And he is hiding a secret dangerous enough to shatter them both. Someone is lying. Someone is hunting them. And the only person Juliet can trust is the man she was never supposed to love. A marriage built on survival is becoming something else. But love, here, is not tender. Love is a battlefield. And the first mistake could be fatal.

When I go home for the holidays, I find out that my dad has installed a facial recognition machine at the front door. "You'll have to pay an entry fee of 50 thousand dollars. Will you be paying by card or payment code?" I thought my dad was joking at first. As I laugh, I attempt to walk through the front door while pushing my luggage forward. But my mom passes me a price list with an icy look. "That'll be 200 dollars for dragging stuff across the floor. You'll also be charged 1,000 dollars per hour for using up the air." I'm stunned by her words. "Mom, stop messing around already!" But when I walk into the house, I realize that the air inside has disappeared. Unable to breathe, my face soon turns bright red out of suffocation as I kneel down on the floor. My mom huffs coldly again. "If you want to live, then pay up!" With great difficulty, I dig out my phone and pay the fees. Once the transaction is done, I can feel air rushing through my nostrils and into my lungs. For a few moments, I pant heavily. As I stare at my cold-looking parents, I finally feel that something is off. So, I scramble up to my feet and rush for the door. But that's when I find out that the front door is already welded shut. There's a payment code pasted on the door as well as a message. "Exit fee. One million dollars."

For 15 years, Ravyn Hawkins believed that she was an orphan, stuck in an orphanage when a rich family swooped in claiming to be her biological family. She was happy thinking that she was finally going to be loved, only to see that they had adopted a baby after her disappearance who turned out to be Aspen Hawkins, the doted fragile heiress to the Hawkins Family. Ravyn Hawkins tried her best to fit in, hoping that one day her family would love her, just as they love Aspen but that dream never got fulfilled. Once she turned 18, she was set up by her family to take the fall for a murder that Aspen did, claiming that Aspen was too fragile and this was her way of paying them back for looking after her. With no one on her side, Ravyn was thrown in one of the most cruel and infamous prisons for 5 years. She got assaulted by an unknown inmate and got pregnant with twins. She never met the man again after that night and 4 year later, she was a young teen mum of Rhysand and Rhysian. But during a coup in prison, her son Rhysian was taken and she never found him. Now her sentence is out and she is picked up by her elder brother Nathan Hawkins , but what they don't know is that the girl that they sent into prison, is no longer the fragile timid girl they once thought they knew. Ravyn will do all she can to find out who stole her child and more importantly who assaulted her that night. And she will make sure she crushes the Hawkins family, leaving them in the dust.

I'm a mafia princess with crippling social anxiety. My fiancé, Rocco Falcone, is our family's consigliere. He’s the exact opposite of me—extroverted, effortlessly charming, a master at reading and bending people. He's supposed to be my protector. My only link to the outside world. Tonight was the charity gala for my late mother. I was hiding in the darkest corner, a mask covering my face. Rocco was supposed to give the speech. My speech. He never showed. [Emergency. Sorry. Skip the speech, I know you hate the attention. Driver will take you home after the auction. Don't wait up.] Then I saw Livia’s new post. It was a picture of Rocco, draping his suit jacket over her shoulders. He was looking down at her, his eyes full of a tenderness he never showed me. The caption was a gut punch: [No prom date, so my big bro saved the day! Couldn't have done it without him! ] The cold hit me. Bone deep. He ditched a memorial for my dead mother... to take his stepsister to a university dance? The guests began whispering and sneering that I, the famously awkward, socially crippled princess, couldn’t even force a word out. I stared at the whiskey I’d ordered for him. The ice in my glass was melting. Just like the hope in my heart. When I got back to our empty penthouse, my screen was lit up with missed calls and texts from Rocco. The last one came in thirty minutes ago: [Aurelia, trouble at Livia's prom. You know how she gets. Couldn't leave her. Your mother's gala means everything. I'll make it up to you, I promise. Next time will be perfect. Trust me.] I didn't reply. An engagement held together by "next time." Was a promise like that even worth keeping?

“You’re a blank, John. A hollow shell. Do you really think I’d tie the future of the Card family to a man who can’t even manifest a drop of instinct?” Caleb’s voice was like a wire garrote, tightening around John’s throat. “Carl is the heir. You’re just the mistake we kept in the basement.” John Mark was the Syndicate’s golden prince—until his power never came. In a world where the Hale Mafia rules through raw, predatory instinct, being a "blank" is a death sentence. When his biological brother, Carl Cole, returns to claim his birthright, John isn't just pushed aside; he’s erased. His brothers look at him with loathing, his father treats him like a stain on the ledger, and his fiancé, Caleb Card, discards him for the new, powered heir. But the city is rotting. The Abyss King, Morcant, demands a soul to keep the shadows at bay. With nothing left to lose and fifteen days to live, John signs the Sacrifice Certificate in secret. He’ll give his life to save the family that hates him, paying back his debts in blood. He dons a red coat and a porcelain mask, becoming the nameless "Red Savior" the city worships—while by day, he is the "useless" son the Hales kick into the dirt. As the clock ticks toward the final jump, John discovers his power didn't vanish—it was stolen. Now, trapped in a house of vipers, John must decide: Does he reveal the truth and watch his family’s world burn, or does he leap into the dark to save the monsters who broke him? The Abyss is hungry. And the man they called a failure is the only one who can feed it.

Samantha is tall black wolf with white paws next in line to be Alpha of her pack. Thomas is a vampire with brown hair who's next in line to be heir to the coven. What happens when these two misguides souls meet. Sam was sitting on the fountain, tired of her mom bossing her around like she had to set the right example for the pack as the next heir. She found a rock and threw it hard without paying attention to where she threw it. Thomas was walking away from the coven he grew up in; he didn't want anything to do with this life anymore and live on his own. Kim was the only vampire he wanted and now she's dead and he was being forced to marry the daughter of the coven leader his family was at war with to create a peace treaty. He still remembered that day when the coven came back from the recent battle and she wasn't there and he waited for days, refusing to eat. Then by sunset on the fifth day since the battle, he was told that she died bravely in battle defending the coven. Thomas started crying at the memory as fresh grief racked him when he was hit with a rock. He looked around and saw that he came farther than he intended, almost into the werewolf territory like his feet were leading him. He cried out in pain and looked in the direction the rock came from. That's when he first saw her someone so beautiful, he couldn’t believe he was falling in love again. Before he realized it, his feet were moving on their own towards this stranger. Sam looked up when she heard someone cry out in pain after she threw the rock, she saw

Daisy - Her parents sold her as a child to gain money, locked into a life under contracts she finds herself sold from one owner to the next. Her final owner: Dean, uses her in a way none of her previous owners have, and his gambling addiction has the whole house of slaves moving from city to city. Their final stop is in the Devil's city, and there is where Daisy first meets Demitri Devil, and he learns that Dean is not a man that his brothers want in their city. However, Daisy isn't weak and isn't afraid to fight for what she wants. Demitri Devil - Meets Daisy at a brothel, where he pays extensive amounts to have her. Only once in the room, he isn't after sex, instead, he asks her why she is doing it, telling her there surely is another way. He never goes there to buy women but to try to show them they can survive another way. Only he is stunned to find out Daisy makes no money from her time in those rooms. The second time he finds her there, she looks ready to drop and surprises his brothers when he arrives home with her for the night. Marcello Devil - He told Demitri he was crazy for bringing her home and buying her for the night to give her a break. Only he goes one further and he finds her in another business, he offers her a week away from Dean. Dean is all too pleased to take the money. Calix Devil - Seems to be the only one making his brothers realise they can't keep paying to keep Daisy for the weekend to get rest, but that goes wrong when they decide to buy her whole contract.

''Mate !'' his wolf howled loudly in his head and just when he was about to make a move forward, his father placed his hands on the shoulders of the little girl and said, '' This is Mia, your half sister.'' those words from his father seized his steps. ''I hate you, I hate you with everything in me.'' He yelled and took a step forward to her, while she gulped and took a step backward. ''Your mother conspired with my Father and killed my mother.'' he yelled and yanked her to himself. '' I'll make sure you spend the rest of your life paying for their sins.'' He declared those words as a promise, ignoring the whimpering of his Wolf. ''Why do you hate me so much, I'm your mate for goddess’s sake…'' I tried speaking, but he choked me by the neck and slammed my back to the wall. ''Never, you are not my mate, you are my half sister, my worst enemy and the person I hate the most in this world.'' He yelled with so much disgust. The minute alpha Ricardo met her he realized she was his mate, but he kept it away from everyone because to him, it was disgusting to be mated to his own half sister. Just when Ricardo was trying to process everything, his father and mistress got involved in a car accident and died at the spot, leaving him to care and look after Mia, whom he hates so much. He transferred the anger he had for his father's mistress to innocent Mia. He showed her nothing but pain and hatred, but little did he know that there were so many mysteries left for him to solve.

On New Year's Eve, my boyfriend, Brian Eggert, gives me a second-hand fake bag as my New Year's gift. Angered, I break up with him immediately before I run off to meet my best friend, Cathy Capshaw, so that I can complain about him to her. Unexpectedly, the moment I see Cathy, I suddenly hear her inner voice. "Finally, you've broken up with Brian, you bitch! He never prepared a second-hand fake bag for you—I was the one who swapped bags when both of you weren't paying attention! "I suppose you don't know jackshit, huh? The man whom you've just broken up with is actually the richest man in town. He was planning to propose to you tonight, too! "Why should you have the best guy alive? From now on, he's mine!" After hearing Cathy's inner voice, I quickly check the security footage. As expected, I see her swapping bags sneakily. Later on, I cut off all ties with Cathy and quickly reconcile with Brian after clearing up the misunderstanding with him. Soon, we get married. What I don't expect is that Brian doesn't have money at all after our marriage. On top of that, he even racks up a huge debt. Every day, I'm forced to hide from the debtors, only to fall to my death in the end. When I wake up again, I've returned to the day I can hear Cathy's inner voice.

"I want to do things to you. Things only a man can do to a woman." he breathed on her neck. "I want to touch you in places that will make your toes curl. I want to have your body pinned under me in my bed. I want to pleasure you until the only thing you can think of is my name. I want to rake my hands all over your naked body and have you beg me for more. I want to hear you chant my name like a spell Allison. That is what I want to do to you." He finally pulled away and looked at her face. He smiled at her flushed and dumbstruck expression. Her lips parted like she is going to say something but no word left her lips. She opened her mouth again and closed it. "Breath." he said to her "Wh...you ... how...I". She closed her mouth again not knowing what to say. ********* A man who is used to getting whatever he wants, he lacks nothing; women, power, money, fame. Promiscuous and unfeeling, he will do anything to get what he wants Allison's only sister has been recently diagnosed of leukemia and a lot of money is needed for her treatment or she might die. Out of desperation, Allison finds herself in the office of the cold CEO seeking for a high paying job as one of his employees but the CEO has another job for her. Will he take pity on her? Will he make her do something against her will? Will she go any length to save her sister? Or will they find something they didn't expect from each other?