Thirty-three Thousand

Alex, a CEO and university professor, struggles with his disabled legs, leading him to be harsh on himself and others. Claire, the daughter of a prostitute, feels low self-esteem and faces numerous challenges in her life with nothing to offer. They are afraid to approach each other, yet their hearts yearn to be together. 'I never chose to love her; my heart did, and I was powerless against it.' 'Three years, thirty years, three hundred years... as long as your heart still loves me, I will still be here waiting for you.'

On Halloween night, an accident struck the haunted house attraction. The children and I were trapped in a pitch-black room, while the staff outside spoke without the slightest urgency. “At this hour, the repair workers have already gone home. If you want them to come back, you’ll have to pay an extra thirty thousand in overtime. “If you’re unwilling, then stay inside for the night.” I begged them to call the repair worker first. We had been in the sealed space for too long, and one boy with heart issues was struggling to breathe. But the staff member only scoffed. “That’s got nothing to do with me. He’s not my kid. Either pay, or sit quietly.” Yet later, outside the emergency room, that same woman knelt on the floor in tears, begging the doctors to save her own child…

Lynn Sheldon was finally happy her husband had allowed her to work after caging her for three years. Her happiness turned to despair when she realized her husband had sold her to a ruthless billionaire for one night stand for just four thousand dollars.

Thirty days is long, thirty days is short. It comes and goes in a blink of an eye, again it can wash you over with all the happiness you want. Eva had only Thirty Days. Thirty Days to make her husband fall in love with her. Thirty Days to claim what was rightfully hers, his heart. The question is, Is Thirty Days enough? No?! Then add Sixty Kisses to it! Thirty Days and Sixty Kisses, Eva has her husband on his knees before her. Let's travel through the chapters and unravel her story. Caution: This story contains heavily mature content. Rated 18+

I'm having a mental breakdown as I face a clogged drain with my feverish and fussing daughter in my arms. Meanwhile, my husband has reserved a hotel to celebrate another woman's birthday. My mother-in-law spits on the floor. "This is what you deserve. You can't even capture a man's heart!" I clench a fist around the winning lottery ticket in my pocket. I want to get a divorce.

The day my brother, Chester Rodney, came to the orphanage to take me home, my boyfriend Dominic Huxley looked at me coldly and said, "If you choose to acknowledge your birth family, we're over." I knew he had his pride—he could never accept the difference in our social standing. So, for him, I turned my back on the family I had yearned for my whole life. In the decades that followed, I toiled without complaint, saving every cent to help him rise to success. By the time I was not yet fifty, overwork had worn me down. Lying on my deathbed, my breathing shallow and weak, I watched Dominic on television. He was now an acclaimed scientist, just awarded the nation's highest research honor. Tears welled in his eyes as he thanked another woman. "All these years," he said, "I never felt worthy of Alicia. But now, maybe I can use this award as the prologue to a love I've owed her for decades." The "Alicia" he spoke of was the woman mistakenly switched with me at birth—the false heiress the Rodney family raised as their own. The camera zoomed out. Alicia Rodney stood radiant, graceful, and perfectly preserved by years of luxury, blushing as she accepted the trophy. "I waited for you for decades," she said sweetly, "but marriage is still something I'll need to ask my brother about." Chester, who had long taken over the family, looked at her with an indulgent tenderness tinged with something unspoken. "I was adopted by our uncle back then for one reason—to protect Alicia. Making the only princess of the Rodney family happy has always been my life's mission." Only then did I realize—everything I thought I had chosen freely, every sacrifice I made without regret, was nothing but a trap, carefully woven by two men, all for Alicia. The betrayal pierced my heart. I died without peace. But when I opened my eyes again, I was back on the very day Chester came to take me home from the orphanage. I glanced past the two men eyeing me with subtle disdain. Without hesitation, I stepped into the car. "Take me home," I said. This time, I'd send whoever stole my life back to the gutter they slithered from.

Damien who was known as a ruthless alpha was waiting for his mate for thirty years. He had three Lunas but all were dead. There was a rumor that he killed his mate. But Lilia who was betrothed to another alpha come out to be his mate. What will he do to win her back? and what will be her fate? What will Lilia decide when she would know that she was not her first Luna. And what will happen when she would get to know that he killed his mate.

“This agreement states that Blake Monroe will act as Ethan Blackwood’s girlfriend for a duration of three months, in exchange for the sum of thirty million dollars, to be paid upon successful completion of the arrangement.” I dropped the paper. He watched me with that damn smirk. “Well?” I stared at him. “Are you completely out of your f**king mind?” Blake didn’t mean for it to go that far. It was supposed to be a quick one time thing one reckless plan. But she picked the wrong guy. Or maybe… the right one. Ethan Blackwood. The youngest billionaire in New York. And instead of pressing charges, he offered her a deal: be his fake girlfriend for 3 months in exchange for thirty million dollars. Thirty million dollars. Blake accepted with only one condition No sex between them. From the look of things she needed this money. She had just lost her job and home. Easy, right? Blake finds her self falling in love with Ethan who does not do love and doing the one thing she didn’t want to do in the first place. But when the lies start to feel like truth… What happens when the contract ends and she finds out the truth of her parent’s death? Will he love her back? Will Ethan still want her when this act is over? Or will she just be another deal he planned to walk away from?

My daughter’s kindergarten held a family event, and I rushed there, only to see her holding hands with my wife’s male secretary. “Daddy,” she said, “I wish our family could stay like this forever.” I watched as the three of them hugged, radiant with happiness. Suddenly, exhaustion washed over me. Later, I filed for divorce. Then I left to teach in rural villages for thirty years. If I couldn’t light the lamp in my own home, I’d at least illuminate the path for others.

I was twelve when Henry Shaw took me home from the orphanage, gave me a new name, put me through school, and gave me a good life. Ten years later, his first love returned from abroad. Her name sounded like mine, and her face looked like a mirror image. I quickly realized I had been a stand-in all along. Crushing the diagnosis in my pocket, I decided that I was going to live the rest of my life for myself, even if I did not have much time left.