Thousand Autumn

Alessandra Marino, 35, runs New York's most powerful criminal organization from a penthouse forty-two floors above a city she owns. She has built this empire with one purpose: to avenge her father Vittorio, murdered seventeen years ago in a warehouse on Fifth Street when Alessandra was eighteen. She has a scar above her heart from that night — a knife meant for him. She has never once questioned the direction of her war. The night she executes a traitor named Theron, she receives a call from an unknown woman who claims to know why Vittorio really died. The woman is Giuliana Torelli — daughter of the man who pulled the trigger, made to watch as a fourteen-year-old, carrying the truth for seventeen years while waiting for someone ready to hear it. What Giuliana reveals dismantles everything Alessandra believed: Vittorio wasn't killed for his power. He was killed because he was going to go federal — because his wife was pregnant with a second child and he wanted to run, to be ordinary, to give his family a life outside the empire. Thomas Accardi, the man who married Alessandra's mother after Vittorio's death, was the architect of the murder. And Accardi has always known about the second child. Her name is Mara. She is twenty-eight years old, living in Williamsburg, and completely unaware that her entire life is a lie — or that Accardi has just wired a hundred thousand dollars to a fixer named James Sullivan.

“Thirty minutes for 10 thousand dollars.” That was the deal. Julian Valentino is the “Holy Billionaire,” an ice-cold CEO who views love as a liability. After a brutal Valentine’s Day betrayal, he didn’t just swear off women…. he chose a path of strict celibacy, vowing to keep his body as untouchable as his empire. For years, he has been a saint in a world of sinners, until he is anonymously drugged in his own hotel. With his control now crumbling and his body on fire, he turns to the only woman who can quench the flame: THALIA. Popularly known as "Tee" in elite lounges, she is a high-end sex worker who doesn’t believe in fairytales love and only lives for the bag to fund the search for her lost identity. What she expects to be an easy paycheck turns into a nightmare when a city-wide murder triggers a 48-hour security lockdown. Now trapped with a possessive, drug-fevered billionaire, thirty minutes of service becomes two days of raw heat and secret whispers. But when the doors finally open, Julian doesn't want to let her go. He wants a new deal... a new contract to buy her time and be her exclusive client. And that is when it dawns on Thalia that she has walked into a trap. Behind the closed doors, another contract was waiting. She isn’t just a worker anymore… with the outside contract? She’s now the very weapon sent to destroy the Valentino empire. CONTENT WARNING: This story is strongly 18+

The night I found out, I almost fixed it. Almost. My assignment had been changed to Everglades Academy. Two thousand miles south. Swamp territory. Three omegas died there last year. I'd asked Kael to file my school preference. Silver Peak Academy. Together. The way we'd planned since we were twelve, lying in the snow making promises to the stars. Now the screen said Everglades. I called him immediately. He picked up on the second ring, relaxed as always. "Hey." "My assignment," I said. "It says Everglades." "Oh." Not guilt. Recalibration. "Lil came by while I was filing yours. She wanted to play a prank—switched it to Everglades for a laugh." He laughed. Light. Careless. "Deadline's tomorrow night. Just override it yourself. It takes thirty seconds." "If I hadn't checked—" "But you did check." That patience. "Fen. You always check everything. That's why she knew you'd catch it. It was just a joke." Just a joke. So my future was a punchline. My life, someone else's entertainment. I said nothing. I packed my gear. I left for the transport hub on departure day. Kael found me at the platform. His smile was gone. "I told you to override it. You didn't change it back?" "No."

At the wedding, I recognized at a glance that the masked man standing before me, Howard Larson, was an impostor. Despite this, I went through with the ceremony as though nothing were amiss. In my previous life, I exposed the fake groom in front of everyone. Left with no choice, Howard reluctantly returned and completed the wedding with me. That very night, his childhood sweetheart swallowed sleeping pills and jumped from a building, taking her own life. When my fiancé heard the news, he showed no hint of sadness. Instead, he cursed her, saying she deserved to die. After the wedding, Howard and I seemed as loving as ever. I even used my family's money to pull his company back from the brink of collapse. However, on our first wedding anniversary, my husband personally bound me to a helicopter while I was pregnant. There was no warmth left in his eyes. "If you hadn't forced me to come back and marry you that day, Joyce would still be alive.” "Why should you get to live so happily? I want you to feel the pain she felt when she died." He shoved me from an altitude of ten thousand meters. I was utterly destroyed. This time, I pretended not to notice the deception and completed the wedding with the fake groom. I wanted to see for myself how, without the Smith family's support, he intended to save the already crumbling Larson Group.

**Mature Content!** "I'm so sorry, Mr. Lawson, you can marry my daughter Marga but Sabrina is an exception." "Why? She's your daughter I thought you and my parents had already arranged this marriage. And I choose Sabrina. I won't marry anyone but Sabrina." "Then why Sabrina?" "Let's say that Sabrina and I have a special thing back then," Gabriel said with a little smile. Ferdinand frowned and was curious. "Well, she might deny it." Sabrina Mondragon Alvarez – is a mute rich woman. She's an introvert and hated getting along with rich people who always talk about senseless stuff. She was bullied by socialite but never they knew that behind that innocent-looking woman hides a strong and powerful aura. Being quiet doesn't mean weak but is something more dangerous than anything. Silence would lead all of her enemies to one place that can also be called danger. Soon, she'll have them in the place that she's secretly reserving for those who made her life and family miserable. She said to be someone who can't speak not until he came and chose her to be his wife. Gabriel Lawson - a rich powerful tycoon with a strong background. He fell in love with the woman he had a one night stand with and chose her to be his wife. He would do anything for her. And for those people who hurt her--they must pay a thousand folds.

My husband's first love was scalded by boiling water. To punish me, he forced me into a customized steamer half my height, turned the heat to its highest setting, and sealed me inside. "I'll make you feel the pain Jessica suffered a thousand times over!" Trapped in the suffocating space, my breath came in ragged gasps. Heat seared my skin, and my body felt as though it would melt. I sobbed, begging him for mercy. "Please! I'm going to die!" But he didn't look back. Holding his beloved in his arms, he walked away. He even locked the door after he left the room. "Don't worry, you won't die. This is the only way you'll understand Jessica's pain." Despair swallowed me whole. I screamed, my voice raw, but the boiling water beneath me splashed up, scalding my skin, stealing even the strength to cry. He left the country with Jessica that same night. A week passed before he finally remembered my existence. "That wretched woman must have learned her lesson by now. Let her out." What he didn't know was that the water had long since boiled away, the heat had faded, and inside the steamer, my corpse lay rotting—swarmed with maggots.

How much will the surgery on your brother cost? He asked. It's $250,000. I replied. But the contract says that you will be paid $80,000." How are you going to pay for something with that little money? He asked. I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything. If you agree to have sex with me, I'll give you three hundred and seventy thousand dollars. He said. "What'll you do?" I asked him again as if I hadn't heard him before. I want you to get pregnant normally with my child. He said. Not by having a surrogate? I asked. No. If you agree, though. He answered. After giving it a lot of thought, I decided to take him up on his offer. Yes I'll do it. So that my brother can stay healthy. I thought I said the last part. So, that's that. He said. You'll have your own room and a credit card that you can use to buy whatever you want or need. But it can't be taken back. For two weeks, you will sleep in my room and have sex with me every day. You can't leave without my protection or permission. And last but not least, you won't have boyfriends as long as you're pregnant. You'll only belong to me after you sign that paper.

My deskmate, Sierra Langford, handed me a throat lozenge. I turned around and melted it into the school cafeteria’s "Top Scholar Soup", letting all four thousand students share a taste. Because this time, I’ve been reborn. In my previous life, Sierra had a system that could steal other people’s exam scores. As long as I ate something from her, my grades would automatically transfer to her. She was a rich girl, already set to study abroad. Stealing my college entrance exam score was just a joke to her. On the other hand, I was poor. The exam was my only chance to change my fate. After three mock exams, my scores kept dropping for no reason, and no matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find out why. In the end, I failed the college entrance exam. Lost and broken, I was hit by a car. After I died, my soul hovered in the air and overheard Sierra laughing with her best friend, Hailey Monroe. "Who would’ve thought Vera Collins could’ve ranked first in the entire city? Well, that title’s mine now! Someone like her deserves to rot in the mud forever." This time, I’m back. So, she liked stealing people’s scores for fun? Then stealing just mine would be too boring. This time, the entire school’s exam scores would be a surprise for her.

In the bustling city of New York, Mary Jane Carter lives in a rundown apartment with her mother, Lynn Carter. She works a thousand different jobs just to make ends meet but her major job is a daytime job as a barrister in the biggest café in town- la petite bean. She works very diligently, not paying much attention to the fun of life and the people around her. Ever since her father died life has been hard for both herself and her mother, she vowed to make things better for her mother and she works everyday towards achieving that goal. Ethan Cogsworth on the other hand is a rich CEO born into the wealth of Cogsworth enterprises. Although he tends to be rather introvertive, he used to have a lively frivolous past. By fate or coincidence, his path crosses with Mary Jane’s when he comes to have coffee at the café she works with his best friend Clifford Mann. She catches his eye and he begins to chase after her in hopes of winning her heart. It takes a while but Mary Jane eventually decides to give him a chance. Their seemingly perfect love story is put to the test when she finds out about Ethan’s dreadful past. Can they overcome the wrongs and learn to love each other through their hurt? Or will the truth Mary Jane learns of be the end of their relationship as well as Ethan Cogsworth entire career?....

My childhood sweetheart has aplastic anemia and desperately needs a bone marrow transplant. His brother agrees to help, but there's a catch. "I can save him, but you need to marry me." My lover ultimately dies because of medical negligence. I'm heartbroken but still marry Martin Steinfeld per my promise. During the wedding, he gets on one knee before me. His gaze is loving as he says, "I'll treat you well for life, Audrey Lynch. I'll be a thousand times better than Henry; I won't let you shed another tear." I look at his face, which is so much like Henry Steinfeld's. I believe him. Three years after our marriage, I'm five months along when I stumble upon Martin with his mistress. He wraps an arm around her and sighs. "She still can't forget about that dead guy despite us being married for so long. She's not like you, who only has eyes for me. "If not for her insisting on marrying Henry and ruining my future, I wouldn't have had to take my own brother down so much earlier than planned." My blood runs cold, and I tremble all over. Hatred consumes me, and I only have one thought—I have to destroy Martin!