Thirty Sixth

Can second chance ever have a chance? Christopher Crawford is the perfect combination of good looks and wealth. He is the rightful heir to Crawford Corporation but to claim his possession, he had to do one thing — Get married. It was easy, he had a girlfriend. The love of his life, so he thought. But she turned his proposal down thus crushing his soul. He vowed not to love again, but still needs to get married in order to get the company. Desperate and eager, he heeded an advise from a friend. A simple and easy contract marriage. Raven McKenna is a smart, hardworking, ambitious and kind single mother of one. She loves two people more than herself — her mother and seven years old son. She loves them and can go any extent for them. So what could a poor twenty six years old single mother offer to a thirty years old corporate heir? Raven has to get married to a stranger because she needed money. She sold herself to a rich heir to save her son’s life. She signed six months of her life to help him claim his possession. Raven never knew a deal with a billionaire would change her life forever. Can he bring himself to love her after being burned so badly by his ex girlfriend? Can a marriage based on contract ever survive or last forever? And what happens when they have to battle rivals from their past? Will their love become what is worth fighting for? Find out in this story about love, heartbreak, betrayal, misunderstandings and drama.

I'm ten years older than Vincenzo Corleone. He had just turned 23 years old when he took over the Corleone family as the patriarch. A hint of teenage childishness could still be seen etched onto his youthful features. I was the one who held his hand and helped him calm the turbulence of his family affairs. I blocked three assassination attempts that were made on him. I used five years of my life to help him grow from a useless scion into the fearsome don who wielded the utmost authority in Nowork's underworld. Once, Vincenzo had embraced me in the church. He rested his forehead against my palm as he swore, "Age, identity, or the world's viewpoint of us will never stop us from being together, Freya. I will protect you with my life." But after that, he told his older brother, Marco Corleone, "Freya is too old. She's already 38 years old; I can practically smell the rot of age rolling off her. Even the crinkles in her smile disgust me to no end." Some time later, Vincenzo found himself a mistress who bore some resemblance to me. She was young and vibrant—like a white rose who had never experienced the ugly side of society. While Vincenzo gave me the title of the Donna of the Corleone family, he reserved his gentle, doting, and even passionate side for the mistress named Lina Marino. Vincenzo thinks he can pull everything off flawlessly. What he forgets is that the reason why I can establish my reputation in the underworld isn't because of his protection. I've been relying on my ruthlessness and my sharp sixth sense this whole time. When I slam the signed divorce agreement onto the spot before Vincenzo, I say with a smile, "You've fought by my side for so many years, so you should know very well that I can afford to go for high-stakes risks and withdraw my chips whenever needed. "But once I lose, someone here has to pay the price!"

Vienna Carter’s life is a living hell and her home is Earth’s chapter of Tartarus. But when her husband goes on a month-long business trip, she seizes the opportunity to know something other than her world of pain. She joins the passengers on Queen Odette, a cruise ship that promises her the best month of her life. As she takes in the elegance of the ship and is pampered by their first-class services, she starts to believe that the promise will be fulfilled. But her hopes of a perfect vacation are thrown overboard when she finds out the man staying in the suite next to hers is none other than the love of her life,Ex-boyfriend and reason for all her suffering. Only a psychopath would choose to be hunched over a desk, working for hours on end over the deckchairs of a luxurious cruise ship, watching the sunset on the Atlantic Horizon. Hans Griffin is that psychopath. He craves his office’s cold glass walls and despises his luxurious suite aboard Queen Odette and is beginning to despise his best friend for convincing him to do this. Work helped him forget his demons but this ship is made to tear down the walls he spent the last two years rebuilding and after meeting the woman staying in the suite next to his, he fears those walls might be reduced to nothing but piles of rubble before the month is over. How will Hans endure one month with just a wall separating him and the woman who scarred him? How will Vienna keep her distance from the one man she’s forbidden to be with when she’s stuck on this cruise with him? But most importantly, what secrets will be revealed before the thirty days are over?

Everyone called Mia a shameless whore. However, the one trailing behind her was the youngest don of the Yorick family, James. He hand-washed her lace camisoles, broke three ribs for her, and even with his face covered in blood from a beating, he could still smile at her. One night, after too much drinking, the underboss he trusted most leaned down beside him. His face was full of disdain. “Boss, Mia is a disgrace to all of us! A woman like that, how could she ever be worthy of you?” James suddenly laughed. His eyes went terrifyingly blank. The cigar between his fingers glowed faintly in the dark. “Back then, before I secured my position, I was young, greedy for power. To get my sister-in-law that antique necklace she wanted, I took advantage of Mia being drunk and took pictures of her myself… “Ten dollars a copy. I sold thirty thousand of them. Things blew way out of control… I owe her.” James took a long drink of whiskey while his Adam’s apple bobbed. “Thankfully… she will never know. I will spend my whole life making it up to her, treating her twice as well.” He did not see the private room door quietly close the moment he said those words. Mia turned around with a blank expression on her face and walked into a small clinic on the corner. She laid down on the operating table. He would never deserve to know that he had once been a father, if only for a moment. That whole lifetime he planned to spend making it up to her, she did not want it anymore.

“Those are divorce papers. Sign it,” He instructed, his voice cold as usual. I stared at the papers in shock and despite knowing the answer, I still asked. “Why?” “Because you aren't needed. I married you only because my father made it the only way to inherit his properties. I wasn't going to allow my hard work to go to the snake that is my younger brother and now that I've inherited almost everything, you're not needed.” “That is all I was?” I inquired knowing fully well his answer would hurt me but he didn't bother giving me an answer. “You'll be paid for your years as my bed warmer—” Bed warmer? “—and the moment my lawyer receives the signed document, you'll have the money sent to your card. In addition, you can stay here for an extra month.” I smiled through gritted teeth. “Fine. A hundred and thirty thousand grand is all I need.” “You can get more.” “I need just the amount I specified and don't worry, I'll sign right now. Just send the money now,” I told him before signing the document and handing it to him. *** After Shawna ends her loveless marriage she finds out that she's pregnant for her ex-husband. Now she has to figure out how to take care of herself, her kids, and her sick mother. When Damien comes back into her life and is willing to share her burden and take care of her. Will she forgive him and come back to him after everything he has put her through?

“We signed the divorce papers six months ago. Tonight I’m wearing the lingerie he bought me on our honeymoon…and I’m not leaving his penthouse until he remembers why he put a ring on it.” Lila Grant never begged,not when Ethan built his empire on her late-night sketches. Not when he shut her out with silence colder than the marble floors of their Manhattan tomb. Not when she scrawled her signature on the line that severed them. But six months of celibate nights and whiskey-soaked memories have carved her hollow. One look at him across a crowded gala with his new fiancée draped on his arm like a cheap trophy and something primal snaps inside her. She kisses him in front of the cameras. Claims the mouth that once whispered mine against her throat and then she issues the ultimatum that detonates their carefully buried war: Thirty nights. His Hamptons fortress. One bed. No safe words. No surrender. If either of them says the word divorce, the other walks away with everything,money, pride, the last shred of sanity. Ethan never lost until Lila walks back in wearing red silk and the scent of ruin. What begins as a vicious game of who-blinks-first spirals into something darker. Jealousy that tastes like blood on the tongue. Sex that leaves bruises shaped like vows. He wants to punish her for leaving. She wants to burn the memory of his touch out of her skin. Both get exactly what they came for,until the one thing neither planned explodes between them: She’s pregnant. And the man who swore he’d never beg is on his knees

The Job: Save the career of the man she hates. The Boss: Her arrogant and damaged step-brother. The Rule: One month on a bus and no crossing boundaries. °°•°°•°°•°° Anya Sharma is a professional hater because she gets paid to ruin reputations. As a top music critic, she has spent years dragging Kai Rhodes for his lack of talent and his massive ego. She does not do it for fame but for the money she needs to fund her secret charity for immigrants. It is a noble cause fueled by a very dirty job. But after a career-ending car wreck leaves Kai broken, his manager offers Anya an offer she cannot refuse. She must join the tour and play his loyal assistant while writing a story to save his image. If she succeeds, her charity gets millions. If she fails, she loses everything. Trapped on a luxury bus for thirty days, Anya expects to find a monster. Instead, she finds a man who looks too good in the dark and knows exactly how to push her buttons. They're supposed to despise each others guys, but the tension between them is a live wire ready to snap. Anya thought she was the one in control until she found things she wasn't supposed to find. She thought he was the one she was saving until she realized he was the one setting the trap. Kai knows her secrets and she is starting to love his. But the contract ends in three days and only one of them is getting out with their heart.. and life, intact. PS- Do not read this if you want a sweet and normal romance. Read this if you want to watch a professional hater get wrecked by the one man she is legally supposed to avoid.

"I'll do anything!" she pleads, grabbing my hands. "I'll do anything. Just let him go. He made a mistake." "That's not an excuse. It was a costly mistake." "Please. I'll do anything you want. Anything at all." I let the silence hang in the air between us as I think carefully, my eyes drawn to how firm and full her tits are. "Anything, princess?" She lets go of my hands and straightens, raising her chin. I watch as she swallows nervously. "Y-Yes. Anything at all." I raise my fingers to her face, smearing my thumbs with her tears. I trail them down her strong jaw, to her throat, over the small hollow between her collarbones, the skin of her chest, stopping between her tits. I circle the spot quietly while she holds her breath, perhaps in anticipation. "Would you let me fuck you, Titania?" — Feisty, yet innocent Titania Williams is best known for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and this time she's getting more than she bargained for. When her dear Uncle Patrick betrays one of the most powerful Mafia Lords in New York, Kristoff Stavkros, Titania is caught unexpectedly in the underworld web of crimes and deceit. To save her uncle's life, she makes Kristoff an offer. She'll be his for a month. Thirty days, he owns her body. Stupid, right? But Titania plays by the rules. But how can she come out victorious when Kristoff keeps changing the rules and is hell-bent on making her his forever?

With one of the best college grades and her degree in medicine, Emma Newton’s next plan is to move to Abuja to pursue her dreams. Her goals in life were easy; get a great job at a private hospital, pay back all her family's debts and make her parents proud. That was before her father got very sick in front of her eyes and is fighting for his life. She reluctantly moves to Abuja with one major goal at the top of the list; Save her father from dying. Alex Lightwood is the CEO of the billion dollar technology company; Pearl mobile, and one of the top business moguls in Abuja. He's also one of the hottest men in the city. But what no one knows is the pain he carries in his heart from mourning the death of his wife and first love. Because of that, he has become cold hearted and ruthless. His wife left him with their three kids but he can't stand to look at them because they remind him of her so much so he hires nanny after nanny to take care of them. However, his mischievous and ill mannered kids have sent away all THIRTY nannies he's hired. That's when he realizes he needs major help. Fate causes Emma and Alex’s paths to cross and he offers her a job to be 'His Caretaker’. Desperate for the money to save her father, she accepted. To Emma Newton, Alex Lightwood must be the coldest, insufferable, arrogant and bipolar person she has ever come across. But, to Alex Lightwood, Emma Newton is the only girl who has ever dared to look him in the eye and question him. Will they let love win or their egos?

“Is this a…contract?” “It has everything you would need if you want to go on dates with me for the next couple of weeks. From the times you can call me to the days I would not be available to pick up calls or even respond to text messages no matter how urgent they are. There’s also a number of locations we can have our dates and another number of places I would never set foot in. Things you can talk about and things you should stay out of. There’s a detailed list of questions you can ask me there and an even more detailed list of things you should never mention. It’s not too much. All you need to do is go through it, sign the contract and we’re good to go. I’ll text you the dates and locations of our dates and have my driver come pick you up.” Emily was bewildered. “You’ve got to be joking.” ——- Emily Stark was given a choice- to either get married to a billionaire she had never met her entire life in place of her sister who had ran away in fear of getting married or somehow find a way to pay her parents’ debt of thirty million dollars in a day. She is immediately stuck at a crossroad but knows she has no choice but to succumb and get married. After all, it was just marriage? How much complicated could it be? Well, unless your husband to be is a cold ruthless billionaire who only cares about his work and has absolutely no interest in you. And to make it worse, thinks marriage is nothing but another business deal. A contract to be signed and simply gotten over with with time.