The Running Man Novel Novels & Stories

**Warning: This book contains mature sex scenes, "I hate you," she whispered — breathless, furious, aching. "I hate you more," he growled back. And then he made her forget every man who came before him. Rhaena thought she knew what was missing from her life — until her boyfriend called her boring in bed. Two years together. Not a single orgasm. Done with shame, done with faking, she makes a decision that will unravel everything: one night, one stranger, an elite escort and a dark sex club where no one knows her name. The masked man who finds her there doesn't just give her pleasure. He ruins her — for every other man, for every careful, curated version of herself she's ever performed. But when she leaves, a message arrives: a refund. A record that says she was never there. And before she can make sense of it, her mother drops another bomb — she's engaged. There's a dinner. A mansion. A future stepbrother named Alessio, who looks at Rhaena like she's a problem he wants to destroy. Cold. Hostile. Magnetic in a way that makes her teeth ache. When she overhears him cutting her apart with words, she doesn't run. She fights back. And something ignites between them — sharp as a blade, hot as a wound — something neither of them is willing to name. Because the line between hatred and desire isn't just thin. It's already been crossed. What happens when Rhaena realizes the masked man who woke her body, who owned her in the dark — is her future stepbrother? What happens when Alessio discovers that the woman he can't stand is Cherry — the one he can't stop thinking about? Some secrets don't stay buried. And some hatreds are just love that hasn't lost control.

At the company's year-end awards ceremony, just as it is supposed to be my turn to go on stage and officially announce the relationship between my wife and me, my wife's first love suddenly proposes to her in front of everyone. Angela Reed does not refuse. Instead, she laughs brightly and promotes Samuel Hayden to the new department manager. Employees throughout the entire company cheer loudly for their romance. Seeing that I have no reaction, someone beside me cannot help but ask, "Ronald, you've worked for Ms. Reed for nine years. How can you show no response at all?" I smile as I walk onto the stage, take off my wedding ring, and toss it to Samuel. "How can you propose without preparing a ring? Here—it's yours."

My fiancé's true love was diagnosed with an incurable disease. Her last request? "I want your bridal gown, your wedding, your fiancé, and you to be our wedding witness." She donned the gown I had made for myself, wore the jewelry I had chosen for my special day, and took my fiancé's arm. She stole my marriage. I thought I would endure it—for the sake of a dying woman. But that wasn't enough for her. Soon, she attended an auction to buy the only thing I had left from my late mother. I watched as she and my ex drove the price of Mom's white nephrite bracelet up to a staggering 27,000,000 dollars. The people I had called family had drained me dry. I was at my wit's end. I couldn't afford to keep the bracelet any longer. I was about to lose my mother's keepsake—until a calm, cool voice echoed above the din. "40,000,000." The crowd fell silent. The mysterious scion of the Kenway family had spoken. And he added, "A gift for me to the ever-elegant Miss Taylor Jones." I thanked him. "I'll repay you for this, Mr. Kenway. Slowly, but surely!" He frowned. "Hold on. Don't you remember me, Taylor?" "Huh?!"

She underwent a death experience—at the hands of the family she cared for most, who then sold her off. At eight years old, Seraphina Valeza was adopted from an orphanage by the Hawthorne family, a run-down third-rate family in Lunada City. She lived for fifteen years there, always careful, thankful for a house that was not her home. She was an excellent student, kept her sufferings to herself, and obeyed them in return for their "kindness." When the Hawthorne family was on the verge of bankruptcy, they chose survival over conscience. Seraphina was forced to marry Julian Moreau, the heir of a second-rate elite family. The marriage was hell. Behind closed doors, Julian humiliated her, controlled her every move, and crushed her dignity. In public, she was paraded as a trophy wife; in private, she was nothing more than a disposable tool. Once Julian seized full control of the Hawthorne family, Seraphina lost even her last value. With no way out, she resorted to suicide. But destiny wanted otherwise and gave her another chance. She found herself in the same spot as she was on the day of her marriage. This time she did neither crying nor begging. Instead, she smiled and switched the groom. In front of stunned guests, Seraphina walked past Julian and stopped before a man sitting casually at the banquet table, dressed out of place and enjoying the food as if the wedding had nothing to do with him. Lucien Cross. The annoying guy she constantly quarreled with in college. The man who cried while carrying her dying body in her past life. The one whose love she came to realize onlqy when it was too late. This time, Seraphina will not let him go. And all those who wronged her will be punished, without exception.

HE IS THE BOY THAT WAS BORN AS A GIRL AND HAD TO PROVE TO HIMSELF, EVERY DAY THAT HE IS MAN ENOUGH FOR THE WORLD. ~~~~~~~ Adrian's life hasn't been one he is proud of since he lost his home the day he came out to his family. He thought they loved him as they always said but it turned out it was all a big fat lie. Going through life and trying to make the most of it, he met a man who would turn his whole world around. Just when he thought he was finally going to be happy, fate showed up with another plan, one that would leave Adrian wondering whether living was actually worth it. ~~~^~~~ "Elijah, you can't be serious!" "I am." "Why?" "Because he's a man and he is mine!"

On the day of our wedding, Henry Zander, my fiance, gets his legs broken in a car crash in his attempt of playing the knight in shining armor who intends to rescue the damsel in distress. So, I terminate our wedding on the spot. Both families surround me, trying to convince me to prioritize the bigger picture. My future mother-in-law cries her heart out as she takes my hand. "Winona, Henry got crippled because of his acts of heroism! He's the real hero here! If you head over to the hospital and take good care of him from now on, we'll still be a family!" My mom hugs me as well, her voice lowered. "You're still pregnant with the Zanders' heir, Winona. Do you have the heart to deliver your baby to this world without a father in their life? Hurry up and apologize to the Zanders so that this incident can be water under the bridge!" My dad acts more impulsively by slapping me on the spot and calling me an insensitive bastard who humiliates the family. Regardless, I walk over to the emcee calmly and pick up the microphone. "I'll give the 880-thousand-dollar wedding gifts meant for Henry and me to the driver involved in this car accident."

In Dean Murray's eyes, Rachel Gray was a ruthless gold digger who would go to any lengths for money, even setting traps and faking a pregnancy to force a marriage. Therefore, Dean had never treated her well after they got married. Rachel endured this for a long time but finally decided to file for divorce on their third anniversary. "How much more do you want?" Dean said with a dark expression. "I don't have time to play these childish games with you." "Not a penny," Rachel replied calmly. She thought they would never intersect again, but not long after the divorce, Dean appeared before her once more. "If you regret it, I might consider giving you another chance." Rachel responded, "Thank you, but I'm good."

Kiran York descended from his home in the mountains to cancel his engagement, only to have his fiancee immediately drag him off to the city hall to grab his marriage license. Also, she’s gorgeous?!No. His wife’s good looks would not sway him. He must divorce her! He refused to become a kept man!At his declaration, his wife very calmly asked, “How many children do you want?”Kiran screamed, “I’m the Miracle Doctor! Don’t you dare defile me!”

He does not believe in love. She does not believe in giving up. Debt. Empty stomach. A mattress on the floor. This was Elena Hart’s reality. A girl who had nothing but her education and an unshakeable belief in love. Then she met Dr. Adrian Cole. Brilliant. Cold. Untouchable. A man who stood in front of an entire class and declared that love did not exist. A man with locked doors and no photographs and eyes that saw everything but gave nothing back. He offered her a contract. One year as his wife. In exchange for everything she desperately needed. She said no. Then she said yes. She married a man who cannot feel. He married a woman who feels everything. And somewhere between the silence and the rules and the things neither of them will say out loud… Something is beginning to shift. What broke him? And can she survive finding out?

Eudora Dawson has always lived in the shadow of her sister, Camellia, unseen, misunderstood, and never truly accepted in her own home. When Camellia is left paralyzed after a sudden car accident, Eudora becomes the one everyone blames. No one listened to her. Not her family. Not even Desmond Nelson, the man her sister is engaged to and the boy she once saved as a child. After Camellia’s sudden disappearance, Desmond forces Eudora into a marriage that is not built on love, but punishment. To him, she is the reason everything fell apart. To her family, she is a burden they are willing to sacrifice. And in a house where she has never truly belonged, Eudora learned to survive by enduring in silence. But silence cannot protect her forever. On the anniversary of Camellia’s disappearance, one night changes everything between Eudora and Desmond but when Camellia suddenly returns alive, Eudora is pushed out of Desmond’s life without hesitation, handed divorce papers, and forced to leave the only place she has ever known. Pregnant, alone, and with nowhere to turn, she disappears without a trace. Five years later, Eudora returns as someone unrecognisable. No longer the girl they once blamed, she is now a high profile painter with a life built far away from the ruins of her past. But the past is not finished with her. Because Desmond is searching for her. And the truth about that accident is beginning to surface.