The Witching Hour Anne Rice

A car accident left me with severe brain injuries. I was left hanging by a thread. My wife, a renowned medical genius, personally operated on me for 18 consecutive hours, pulling me back from death's grasp. Yet, the first words I said to her after waking up were, "Grace, I want a divorce." Her eyes were filled with tears. "Derek, I just saved your life, and now, you want to leave me? Is it because I've been too busy at the hospital? Because I haven't spent enough time with you?" I frowned. "It's exactly because you saved me that I want this divorce. I won't let you sacrifice your reputation for me." The family elders tried to reason with me. "Grace is such a wonderful wife. She takes care of everything and loves you deeply. Why insist on a divorce? Why throw away such happiness?" No matter who approached me, I dismissed them with the same response. "If you think she's so perfect, then she'll be available once we're divorced." The elders were furious. "Fine! Get your divorce! But don't come crying to us when you regret it!" I whispered under my breath, "The only thing I regret is not divorcing her sooner."

When our marriage contract expired, I found out I was pregnant. Charlie Newman’s voice was icy. "If it’s a boy, we’re even." I asked quietly, "And if it’s a girl?" He paused–then said coldly, "Then we keep trying until you give me a son." I sighed. Three years of marriage couldn’t compete with the need for an heir. However, one night, when I went downstairs for water, I saw him kneeling in the attic, eyes devout, voice trembling. "Merciful God, please grant me a daughter. If you hear my prayer and make my wish come true, I will give generously to your church and serve you faithfully all my life."

My future mother-in-law, Diane Grant, loved setting rules. On the day I proposed, she sat there with that smug, superior look and told me if I wanted to marry her daughter, Olivia Grant, I had to pass her so-called "son-in-law training", which was three months working as a food delivery driver. She said she wanted to test whether I could handle hardship. For my fiancee's sake, I kept my identity hidden. I was the heir to one of the most powerful families in Crestfall City, and I agreed without hesitation. For three months, I shed every trace of privilege. I worked from dawn to night, delivering orders across the city. My parents didn’t understand. My friends disapproved. Mrs. Grant watched me like a hawk, picking me apart every single day. "Three minutes late? That’s a $3,000 penalty. The wedding shall be delayed by a month!" "Wrong unit delivery, bad review? $8,000 penalty. You don’t get to see Olivia this week!" Even then, I never gave up. Until the final day. I received an urgent order with a massive tip. The note was in bold: "Lifesaving medication. Immediate delivery." I sped through the streets, pushing myself to the limit. Just as I was about to enter the residential compound, Mrs. Grant stepped in front of me, blocking my way, her face full of disdain. Her voice shot up sharply. "The wedding gift goes up to $200,000. Not a cent less." I looked at her look of absolute certainty and suddenly laughed. My finger slid across the screen. The recipient of that urgent order was her precious son, Christopher Grant. I slowly put away the unlimited card in my pocket, along with the check I had prepared for a million-dollar wedding gift. Originally, I had planned to reveal my identity that day to give her the surprise of a lifetime. It seemed there was no need.

Charlotte Flair, the daughter of Kyle and Nicole Flair, had always harbored doubts about her true parentage because of how they'd always treated her. On her 20th birthday, she attended a gala event with her parents, only to be knocked out and wake up naked beside Desmond Elliot Elijah, the country's most eligible billionaire bachelor. Believing they had been intimate, both their parents quickly arranged their marriage, and they were wed. Desmond, however, was furious, convinced that Charlotte had orchestrated the incident to trap him into a marriage. He grew to resent her, seeing her as a manipulative schemer who had used underhanded tactics to become his wife. For six years, Charlotte had lived as a hidden wife— unacknowledged, unloved, and expected to satisfy Desmond's desires whenever he was in the mood. That was the only moment he would show her tenderness and passion, and once their intimate moments were over, he would return to his cold, distant self. For six years, Charlotte had endured his emotional cruelty, the constant humiliation from his Aunt and her daughter, and the feeling of being invisible, until the night her husband introduced another woman as his fiancee. Avery Gilbert— the only daughter of one of the country's most prominent billionaire, Bernard Gilbert. When the truth shatters her world, Charlotte decided to leave, but discover a shocking truth— she was the true daughter and only heiress of the Gilbert's family, and wasn't related in anyway to the Flair's.

VADIM KERZHAKOV, who lives under the disguise name, ENZO GRAYSON, is the heir to a powerful Russian mafia family,who escaped his world and his duty to live as a college lecturer, hiding secrets while seeking vengeance for his mother's death in secret. Nick Walker, a nineteen-year-old student from a poor background, never meant to cross his path. But one tense encounter pulls them together. What begins as misunderstanding turns into undeniable tension between them, and tension into immeasurable desire between them. As danger closes in on Lorenzo’s hidden past, the hardest thing to protect is love. Both men must have to choose between the lives they know and the love neither expected.

After our class reunion, my best friend naturally expected me to play chauffeur and drive everyone home. I agreed. However, halfway down the road, a limited-edition luxury car slammed into the back of my car. The owner, who claimed to be a wealthy businessman from overseas, waved off the idea of filing an insurance claim. He said the crash was fate, and with a grand gesture, handed the luxury car over to me on the spot. From that day on, I drove the million-dollar luxury car every day, until jealousy consumed my best friend. She secretly sabotaged my car, and it ended with my death in a fiery wreck. My boyfriend turned on me, insisting I had simply fallen asleep at the wheel. My parents, unable to bear the shock, both died of heart attacks. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of the reunion.

Jewel finally gets the freedom she's been hoping for when she got into a boarding school. Wanting to show everyone that she was all grown up, she falls for someone who in turn hurts her back. Heartbroken and devasted, she runs. What happens when she's back after ten years and meets the one that she has been running away from? What happens when he wants her back and would stop at nothing to win her back?

Sylvia Frost and Victor Rothwell's wedding had been postponed 33 times. This time, it happened on the night before the ceremony. She was struck by a car and left with 19 broken bones. She was rushed to the ICU three separate times before her condition finally stabilized. Once she was strong enough to leave her bed, she braced herself against the wall and shuffled into the hallway. As she reached the corner, she overheard her fiancé speaking with a friend. "Last time it was drowning. This time you used a car. That gets you another two months. What are you going to do next?" Sylvia's blood turned to ice. Victor stood there in his white coat, his phone turning slowly in his hand. "No more delays." His voice remained flat.

I was a famed assassin. She knew my name. Everyone did. Feral. Death's very own hound. But she was the one that'd left our hut in the dead of night. And I wasn't one to forget something like that. I'd gone looking for her when she left things the way she did. She was nowhere to be found then. Yet here she is now. Standing in my tavern. With her cloak in a pile around her ankles and offering me her body in plain view of every rogue in here. Bold move. But she was nothing if not that. She thought I'd give in and said yes to this venture to rescue someone she loved because of some misplaced honor. Not in the least! I said yes because I intend to wreak vengeance on her, for what she did to me. Every chance I get, I'm going to make her miserable. And I'm going to take great pleasure in doing so. Welcome to my world Warrioress. Where the price of vengeance comes much higher than a bit o' coin.

"I didn't mean to…" All I had done was catch the scent of my classmate's mother's stockings, and that alone was enough for her to drag me into a room and punish me for it. What terrified me even more was this. Somehow, unbelievably, my classmate was about to start calling me Dad.