The Stepping Stone

“Don't send me away! I promise to do whatever you want. Don't just send me back!" Desperate Candy pleaded with the man she knows nothing about. He slowly turns to look at her, his gaze piercing as ever, sending a chill down her spine. Stepping closer, he reached her chin and raised it to make her meet his eyes, using his index finger. "Little woman, accepting to be my wife means I'll own you and there's no turning back. You seems too fragile to be in my hell," He warned. With nervousness kicking in, she took a deep breath. She'd rather face his hell than stuck in the misery her stepmother had prepared for her. "Yes. I want to be your wife. In return you'll have to protect me from my step mother," She boldly declared prompting the man's lips to curl up into a devilish smile. His gaze settled on her slightly exposed cleavage, and lust filled them. "Strip" He ordered. ___ A deal... With the Billionaire devil... Will Candy ever regret her decision? What happens when enemies, dark secrets and unexpected emotions threatened to tear them apart?

To let Alpha Duncan's first love become the mother of our son, my husband didn’t hesitate to commit perjury in court and personally send me, his wife, to prison. Four years later, after I was released, just as I was starting to regain hope for life, dozens of luxury cars showed up at the prison gate, with two people stepping out. “How could you?! How could you do something so evil?! You should never have been my mom. I wish Auntie Ashley has always been my mother!” My heart broke. Seeing my husband and son again, I felt like they were real demons, turning me away so easily. Just then, the little boy beside me stepped forward. “Don’t bully Mommy!” Hearing this, my biological son angrily asked, “Who are you calling ‘mommy’?! I’m her only son!” I didn’t want to deal with them or explain anything. I just wanted to live a good life with my Justin. I crouched down, hugged him, comforted him in saying, “Justin, there’s nothing to say to these people... We’re overstaying our welcome. Come on.” “Halt right there!”

Billionaire heir Alexander Sterling is tired of his mother’s relentless matchmaking with spoiled socialites. In a desperate move to escape, he proposes a contract marriage to Elena Carter, a struggling waitress he met on a drunken night at a restaurant. She sees it as a golden ticket to cover her mom's medical bills, unaware she’s stepping into a life of cold indifference and relentless torment. Bound for three years, their marriage is filled with icy glares and unspoken pain. But in their second year, a mistake leads to an unexpected pregnancy. Fearful of his wrath and threats of Eleanor, Elena hides the truth, enduring his cruelty in silence. As time passes, Alexander begins to feel something he never expected. But pride keeps him from showing it. On the verge of the third year, unable to bear the suffering any longer, Elena disappears, presumed dead. Devastated, Alexander is haunted by regret, not knowing she has survived and given birth to their twins. Years later, fate brings them back together this time, as equals. Wealthy. Independent. A mother of two. Elena is no longer the fragile woman he once controlled. But their reunion is complicated by the arrival of Matteo De Luca, a ruthless Italian billionaire with a vendetta against Alexander and an interest in Elena. With enemies on all sides and unresolved emotions between them, will love conquer all? Or will the past destroy any chance of redemption?

"You’re just too old to handle me,” I spat in fury. “That’s why you won’t f*ck me.” His eyes turned feral. “What did you just say?” he growled, stepping closer. My breath hitched, and heat pooled between my legs. “I said you're old—and not man enough.” He grabbed my chin, lips inches from mine. “Baby girl, when I’m done with you, you’ll beg this 'old man' to stop. You won’t just know I’m man enough—you’ll feel it in every inch of your sore, trembling body.” ***** At 40, architect Lorenzo De Vito has built a life of discipline and control—until 23-year-old Emily Ross steps into his world. She's bold, ambitious, and irresistible, awakening desires he buried long ago. Lorenzo knows she's off-limits, a risk to his career and reputation, but her teasing smiles and undeniable chemistry make her impossible to resist. As the tension between them ignites, the line between control and surrender begins to blur. Will he resist the temptation or risk it all for the one woman he shouldn’t want?

“You’re mine.” “No,” she corrected, stepping closer until their chests nearly brushed. “I’m your obsession. There's a difference.” Then—again—that wicked, infuriating smirk. He leaned in slowly, lips ghosting over her ear. “I don’t share, Elara.” “Then you should’ve tried harder to keep me.” She turned and walked away, disappearing into the shadows of the garden without looking back. Killian stayed there, jaw tight, fury simmering below the surface. She thinks she’s winning. But she hadn’t seen obsession at its peak. Not yet **** Elara Beckett picture perfect life crumbles when her step sister, Ivy, stole her fiancé, Aiden, and her father’s company. Heartbroken Elara leaves then returns five years later as a successful fashion designer who is determined to take back her legacy and bring her sister down. She teams up with billionaire Killan Hayes, a ruthless man who has his own vendetta against ivy. A fake engagement is created and they work together to defeat Ivy and Aiden. In the process, sparks fly between Killan and Elara, this complicates their alliance. Dark secrets about her family and Killian's hidden motives come to light threatening to destroy everything. Elara must rise up and reclaim her destiny and find love in the chaos.

“I’ll agree to this—but only if you stay out of my business.” “You have a deal,” the man chuckled, raising his hands in mock surrender, his husky voice dripping with amusement. “But,” he added, stepping closer, his breath brushing against her ear, “you’ll have to agree to my conditions, too.” “I said I’d agree, didn’t I?” Sherry replied coolly. Her expression didn’t waver as she grabbed his collar and pulled him down to her eye level. “Mr. Smith,” she whispered, matching his tone with a quiet fierceness. Hah… This woman is going to drive me insane, Levian thought, already realizing this would be far from easy. ~~~ On her wedding day, Sherry is poisoned by her best friend. Her fiancé? At the hospital, he was celebrating the birth of his child with someone else. But fate rewinds the clock. Waking up a day before her death, Sherry has one goal: uncover the truth and take back control. However, as the secrets unravel, she realizes the betrayal runs deeper than she imagined. That's when the rumored Levian Smith makes her an offer: “Marry me, and I’ll stake my very soul for you.” Now, she must choose—revenge or redemption?

Livie thought she found her forever with long-time boyfriend Abel. Livie and Abel were just meant to be. At the age of eighteen, they sneak off to get married. On the night of their wedding, things go too far. A drunken Abel is tricked by Livie's sneaky cousin, Anna. Anna has been jealous of Livie their entire lives. Determined to wreck Livie's happiness, Anna does a terrible thing. When Livie discovers what Anna and Abel have done, she runs away, stepping out of their lives. A heartbroken Abel moves away when his band becomes an overnight success story. A sick Anna reaches out to make peace with Livie nearly a year later. Livie forgives her dying cousin. Suddenly, Livie is thrust into parenthood by caring for Annas young son, Fin. Fin's famous father adds to the distraction of Livie's new reality. Faced with the truth that it is time for her to move forward in life, Livie reaches out to Abel for a divorce. Unfortunately, Abel causes a stir when he declares he wants their marriage to work out. Livie must learn to navigate her feelings for Abel and her desires for a fresh start. Her fresh start may be with a new man or it may be with a second chance romance.

“This is wrong. You’re supposed to help me fix my marriage” “And yet here you are, squirming under my hands like you're begging me to break it” “You're too close… I can’t think straight when you’re this close” “Then stop thinking. Just feel.” He leans in, his breath brushing against my lips. “Tell me to stop Lillian—and I will. But if you don’t, I’m going to kiss and claim your body like I’ve imagined a thousand times on that chair” *~*~*~*~*~*~*~* When Lillian Calloway walks into marriage counseling, she’s desperate—not just to save her crumbling relationship with her emotionally distant husband, but to hold together the image of a perfect life. Then she meets Dr Ronan Carter. Calm, devastatingly handsome and far too familiar for her comfort. Each session unravels more than just the crack in her marriage—it exposes desires she’s locked away for years. Ronan makes her feel alive. And when the professional lines begin to blur, Lillian finds herself stepping on the edge of something forbidden. He’s her counselor. She’s his client. Falling for each other will cost them everything. But what if the biggest lie was the marriage they were trying to save?

"You think I am a fool?" he whispered in my ear, coming closer. He was pissing me off. "Why the hell do you want to marry me?" I gritted my teeth. He touched my cheeks, and something flashed in his eyes. "No," I said, stepping back, keeping space between us. He was about to speak, but I cut him off. "I will not marry you." ********************** Gurans lives a very depressing life with her parents, who don't have any love for her. With the continuous hatred from her parents and frustration from her own life, she tries to end it. Her suicide attempt turns into another failure in her life as she finds herself in a stranger's house. She tries to leave the house but as the stranger doesn't let her go she starts to believe that she was kidnapped.  Tired of her questions, the stranger puts out a deal for her. Although the details of the deal have not been fully revealed, for her freedom, she accepts it. Finally, she gets free from his hold, but it's not long before he comes to claim her back. Once they start to live together the truth of the deal is slowly revealed turning her life upside down. Cover credit - ** Art Created by ImperialSkyGod using Midjourney **

Numbers is everything here in New Gloria-- and the World. Once your Reborn and earn your class and system, those numbers that measure your abilities mean your life....or your death. Many Heroes lay down their lives in pursuit of fame and power while exploring the Tangent's. But the main goal is to stop the creatures from within the Tangents from coming out and further Terra-forming the Earth, as well as combating the Bosses of the Tangent's who seem to have their own ulterior motives. Somewhere within the vast green forests of western New Gloria, a boy named Claude Grey learns pretty fast that most people in power do everything they can to stay that way, even if that means stepping on the throats of the ones they hold dear. Claude's only ever liked a few humans and as he gets older he learns new ways to hate them. Hate that is cultivated during his exploration of the Tangent's where he stumbles upon a strange and beautiful transformative power that helps to show him how truly horrible humans are and maybe these beasts of the Tangent's arent what the Heroes make them out to be... *** Cover art does not belong to me so if the original creator happens to stumble upon my novel and would like credit or for me to take it down please let me know.