The Witching Hour Anne Rice

It’s just a deal right? But what happens when the deal turns into something more? Anne is trying to get fundings for her start up tech fundings. She takes a chance which landed her into the hands of multi billionaire tech CEO Royce DuPont Royce DuPont doesn’t need a partner but when his standings in the tech society demands him to get a wife, he agrees to fund Anne’s company with thr condition that she marries him. From a contract to a night which changes everything to feelings that are too strong to bear.

A video proving that Zachary Groff, the fake scion, has set me up is exposed. Following that, my parents and fiancee, Leta Quinlan, stand firmly by me, offering me love and support. I hand the evidence to them, giving them full trust and authority to handle the matter. They tell me that Zachary died in a car accident after being chased out of the house, and I choose to believe them. But then, in the fifth year of my marriage, I have an unexpected encounter with Zachary, who should have already been dead. He is carrying a young girl in his arms while holding tightly onto Leta's hand. He says, "Leta, if not for you and my parents, I probably would have been locked up by Harvey Groff, that heartless man. "Thankfully, Mom and Dad destroyed the evidence and even opened a jewelry design studio for me. You even sacrificed your own marriage so that he doesn't suspect a thing. "Thank you for everything you've done these five years!" "Let's just say that I am making amends to Harvey on your behalf. I'm just glad that you and our daughter are happy and well." It turns out that the happy family, which I thought I had, is just a massive web of lies spun by my parents and Leta. My parents, my wife, and Zachary are the ones actually living happily as a family, while I am just a fool who spent the last five years being deceived. I no longer want to have love—whether familial or romantic—that is not solely mine.

At the company's annual meeting, my promotion opportunity goes to an intern instead. I confront Mitchell Wilson, a manager, only to be publicly humiliated. "The industry is in a slump, yet you have the best sales performance in the entire company. Who knows how you get your clients?" I drank until my stomach bled and ended up in the hospital in the middle of the night. I have forced a smile while serving arrogant, sleazy executives. Yet, none of that feels as humiliating as this moment. My ex-boyfriend looks at me gloatingly while holding the intern's hand as they plan a celebration party. Before leaving, he mocks me, "Yvette is the Saccone Group heiress. Once her evaluation period ends, she will go back to inherit the company. Who do you think you are?" I frown in confusion—I am the Saccone Group heiress.

After the video exposing my sister Issa Acosta’s plot against me was revealed, my parents and my fiancé, Henry Nolan, stood firmly by my side, making me feel loved and safe. I confidently handed over all the evidence to them, trusting them to handle it. However, they told me that after Issa was kicked out of the house, she died in a sudden car accident, and I believed them. That was until five years into my marriage, when I accidentally saw Issa—the woman who was supposed to be dead. She was holding a little boy, clinging tightly to Henry’s hand. "Henry, if it weren’t for you and my parents, I’m afraid Zoe would’ve thrown me in prison. Thankfully, my parents destroyed the evidence and even opened a jewelry design studio for me. To avoid suspicion, you even sacrificed your own marriage. Thank you for everything in the past five years.” "Think of it as me atoning to Zoe on your behalf. As long as you and Bear are happy, that’s enough for me." So, what I thought was a happy family was nothing more than a giant lie—a scheme concocted by my parents and Henry. My parents, my husband, and Issa were the real family, and I? I was just the fool who had been deceived for five long years. Whether it was family or love, none of it was real, and I don’t want any of it anymore.

The Andersons' rule was simple and brutal: the inheritance passed to sons, never daughters. So, I lived as a man for ten years. Even Winston Quinn, the one I had been promised to since childhood, had no idea. To him, I was just his best friend. After taking control of everything, I was finally ready to tell him the truth. Before I could say a word, Winston grabbed my arm, smiling like he couldn't be happier. "Sam, there's something I've been keeping from you. Louise quietly came back last month. We're getting married! She really looks like you." My whole body went rigid. That “sister” I had made up, the one who was supposedly recovering overseas? Before I could react, a woman who looked eerily like me peeked out from behind him. She shoved me aside, her expression sharp and smug. "I'm back, Sam. Stop clinging to Winston just because you're my brother. Have some shame. Otherwise, I'll tell everyone you've got twisted feelings for your future brother-in-law!" I looked at the arrogant impostor in front of me and almost laughed from sheer anger. She was Louise Anderson? Then who the hell was I?

As I washed my wife's underthings, I discovered semen stains. It had been over two months since I last did it with Winona Sundown. She always looked down on me for not lasting long and being as boring as a dead fish. I silently accepted her criticism and mockery. That was until I saw a stranger messaging Winona with a hotel room number. The hotel just so happened to be my workplace, Pinnacle Hotel. The room number was 8102. I camped by the room, waiting to catch my prey. However, the woman at the door was a young and sensual woman. Unbeknownst to me, I had fallen into Winona's trap long ago...

Anne Wellington spent three years as Donald Ashford's perfect fiancée, sacrificing her identity and dreams while he prioritized Hannah Grey, the woman who "saved his life" as a child. Anne endured public humiliation, emotional neglect, and constant comparison to a woman who weaponized victimhood. What Donald never knew? The patient woman he took for granted was heir to the Wellington real estate empire, a dynasty worth billions that could crush his company with a single phone call.

"Sir, is there a problem?" I lift my face flooded with tears and snot to this person held in front of me. She is handing me disposable tissues and I take them from her hands while thanking her. I clean tears from my face. The stranger sits next to me on the public bench where I am sitting. I suddenly feel ashamed to have been caught by a stranger crying, moreover a woman. I then tell her with my head down "I'm sorry that you attended this pathetic spectacle!" "It's nothing. It happens to everyone to have problems in life. And believe me, it is advisable to cry to evacuate your pain. "She said to comfort me. "Thank you!" "So why are you crying? What is your problem with as for you? I'm sure there must be a solution." The young lady asked, while sitting next to me, in a sympathetic tone. "I don't really believe that there is a solution to my problem. Unless a large sum of money falls to me miraculously from the sky. " I replied, looking desperate. "Then marry me!" Such was the declaration of this young woman. I may have been in a desperate search for money, but she was mad to make me such an offer. Dinam is a young man desperately looking for a job. His mother having been diagnosed with blood cancer, he is ready to do anything to find the money to pay for therapy, even if it means marrying against his will. Believing to get out of misery thanks to this marriage, Dinam does not know that he was throwing himself directly into the mouth of the wolf. Conspiracies and low blows from his wife's stepmother will now be his daily life.

"Marriage was never on Ariana's mind. Living a lifetime with a man, living in a dream house, having children who look like him, and a partner - these were all beautiful daydreams that other girls might entertain, but not her. Ariana decided to live a single life and enjoy the rest of her days alone. However, what if she was forced to step into the shoes of her twin sister, who disappeared right before the wedding, and marry a man she doesn't know? Although some people might consider her lucky to be married to a young billionaire who owns an international venture company, Ariana doesn't feel that way. So, will her marriage go according to plan because people are pressuring her? Or would the results be different?"

“You think I want this? Do you think I want to be with a woman whose pack killed my mother and my mate? To be with a weak omega. If I could have my way I would kill you and drink on your grave for what your pack did to my mate, my father, my mother. I would love to watch you burn” he shouts at my face, his eyes red with anger. I walk towards him closing the gap between us “Then kill me, let me die!” I plead. He scoffs and rakes his white short hair with his hands. He turns to me and grabs my chin. “Do I have to imprint it on your head? You do not get to die after what you and your pack did to me. You don't get to end it and leave me in this mystery. You are my mate Olivia, my second chance mate, a replacement for the love of my life. Therefore you would live and watch your mate mourn his dead mate all the days of your miserable life” Olivia had always been insignificant to her family, she was a weak Omega. To gain a little purpose she joins the pack soldiers and gradually builds a name for herself as one of the best assassins in her pack. Fate plays his way when her Alpha sends her to kill the whole Lark family for trying to kidnap his daughter. She sets out with five others and successfully kills Grim's mother before they are caught. To make matters worse the moon goddess decides to make her Grim second chance mate. Now she must watch as her mate loses himself in the memories of his dead mate or fights hard till she becomes the center of his world.