Uncanny Charm Chapter 1 소설 & 이야기

Mikel Rysdale needed an escape after a devastating blow to her heart and lifestyle. The number of people she can trust can be counted on one hand. Escaping to the one place she was free, she finds the most unlikely person to lean on. In his eyes, he was a broken man incapable of rejoining society. Army Veteran Killian returns home to live on his family's land in peace. Happy to see his sister again, he wasn't prepared to welcome a guest. What started as a tolerable relationship, the two found the need to be there for each other. Old wounds are hard to heal especially the ones in your heart. “Who are you?” His question was meant to be gentle but they came out as an angry ogre. She laughed at his question. The first chord of that sweet laugh was now trapped in Killian's mind and heart. Slowly she stood up and walked towards him. She was within four steps of him and her scent was intoxicating. Vanilla and the scent of fruit he had to know of. Up close she was perfection in his eyes. Unconsciously he stepped forward wanting to be close to her for some reason. The pain, the memories none of it was on his mind. His sole focus was on her. “Name's Mikel Rysdale. You can call me Mik for short.”

Sharlynn Willie Eisenhauer- the biological daughter of Heinz Othman Eisenhauer, was shocked to see her fiancé and step-sister making love in front of her. Heartbroken, she entered a nightclub and drank alcohol to calm herself. Half drunk, she was nearly assaulted by a man. Fortunately, she was saved by Sevariano Ricardo del Vecchio, the Kaufman's assistant and bodyguard, who happened to be there. Not wanting to be taken home, Richie was forced to take Sharlynn to his apartment. When she returned home, Sharlynn told her father everything. Unfortunately, it turns out that the father favours his step-sister and forces Sharlynn to give up Julian. Not wanting to show her downfall, Sharlynn forced Richie to marry her with threats. Richie refused, but at the insistence of the Kaufman Family, who still had family ties to the Eisenhauer family, the conditional marriage finally occurred. The two lived a loveless life. Richie's gentle and conciliatory behaviour gradually created love in Sharlynn's heart. However, something happened to Richie's grandfather, who was in Milan-Italy. The man was forced to take Sharlynn to meet his grandfather until the true identity of Richie's family was revealed. The disaster begins when the woman from Richie's past shows up and wants him back, so much so that she will do anything to keep Sharlynn and Richie apart. Will Richie and Sharlynn's marriage rekindle the love in their hearts? Can Sharlynn defend her marriage when the woman from her husband's past tries to destroy it?

I discovered that my mother had remarried this dangerous man upon my return from abroad. The drastic shift blindsided me. The strict rules he imposed and my mother's constant defense of him made me want to run away. However, I am only nineteen years old. If I recklessly walk out, I will forfeit the entire inheritance left by my late father. Therefore, I plan to drive my stepfather out instead so that I will not have to lose anything. I began breaking his rules one by one. Until one night, while my mother was out of town on business, I broke his absolute strictest rule at a nightclub. It was not my mother who came to my rescue when my safety was threatened, it was Alexander. Under the influence of a spiked drink forced on me by a male friend, my sanity failed me, and I recklessly threw myself at his broad frame in a desperate search for warmth. The events of that night exposed a massive secret he had been keeping all along just to protect my family. My hatred is slowly crumbling, replaced by a dangerous fascination. Now, I am trapped in a forbidden attraction that could destroy everything. Should I run from this feeling, or should I surrender to the charm of the man who is still my mother's husband, the very man I am supposed to call my stepfather?

Eight years married, and my wife? She asked for a divorce 99 times. I thought it was just her usual drama—testing me. Then I found out she'd been wiring half a million every year to some dude. Always with the same note: ILU. When she hit me with divorce number 100, I finally signed. I pulled my money out of her little passion project and ghosted—moved my company overseas, wiped my tracks clean. Now she's out there losing her mind, trying to find me.

I was eighteen when I left Italy for Chicago. My brother Leo handed me over to his most powerful ally for “protection.” Don Damien Volkov. His eyes locked on me the first time we met. They never looked away. By day, I was his private doctor. By night, I was the only thing in his bed. His seduction was a slow, deliberate hunt. The way his body brushed against mine during an exam. A stray kiss that landed behind my ear. The weight of his hand resting on the small of my back. I fell fast and hard for his dark charm. I gave myself to him, letting him claim me, again and again. For four years, our affair was a secret hidden in the shadows. In that time, he sculpted my body, teaching it to crave his touch, molding me into his perfect obsession. Then she came back. Isabella, his exiled ex-fiancée. He sent his private jet for her. I swallowed my pride and crashed his reunion. An hour ago, his hands, still smelling of blood, gripped my chin. He forced his kiss on me. But now, right in front of me, he was stroking another woman's hair. "Elara, you're the one who climbed into my bed four years ago." "You act like a whore, but you expect me to treat you like a Donna?" The way he looked at Isabella was so tender. The way he looked at me was pure scorn. Shame burned through me. Head down, I sent my brother a coded text. Accept the Moretti proposal. I looked up. A smile bloomed on my face. "Fine. Then this is goodbye, Damien."

The first time I found out that Jessica Blake was cheating on me was in our own bedroom. I was young and hot-headed, and I wanted a divorce on the spot. She cried and said she'd gotten drunk and mistaken the guy for me. She fell to her knees, begging me to forgive her. "If you divorce me, I'll jump from this window right now." That one line softened my heart for the next five years. During those years, she was gentle and caring, as if that night had never happened. Everyone could see it—Jessica loved me so much she was willing to die for me. But then came her mother's 60th birthday party. Out of nowhere, my mother-in-law, Linda, asked her, "Jess, where's my grandson? Why didn't he come?" I was confused. I thought she was just having a moment, so I smiled and said, "Mom, you forgot—Jess's due date is still two months away." Linda glanced at me calmly and murmured, "Oh… so you still don't know." My heart sank. I looked over at Jessica instinctively. She quietly put down her fork, as if she were talking about something as ordinary as the weather. "Actually, I have a son. He's five years old."

This book is a Standalone, you don't have to read the first two to relate to what happened, though I do recommend it. Book Three of the Bloodlust Series “Is this some kind of joke?” Kiara asked frowning in confusion, waking up in the familiar podium where she once grew up watching people die in front of her as she herself fought for her own life. “I don’t know, but I don’t like this” Richard said from beside Kiara. The two were trying to process how they even got here to begin with. People around them started coming to their senses as they woke up inside the podium. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Bloodlust Games, The final chapter” ************************* Re-entering the Bloodlust games was never an option in Kiara’s life. But when revenge is on the line and both she and Richard are forced into them, they have nothing to do but survive, for it was either play and live. Or die…

In the two weeks leading up to our fifth wedding anniversary banquet, my wife's secretary, Ronald Piper, sent me photos of the two of them in bed every single day. I pretend not to know. On the day of the banquet, my wife, Jessica Tuttle, books out an entire hotel and gives a heartfelt speech, saying that I am the person she is most grateful for in this lifetime. Everyone applauds through tears. Over the years, Jessica, the aloof and capable CEO, has flown a thousand miles overnight just to come home and cook me broth when my stomach hurts. And when she is sentenced to imprisonment, I willingly serve two years behind bars in her place without hesitation. To outsiders, we are a perfect couple who are deeply in love with each other. While cutting the cake, I notice the pendant on Ronald's wrist. I had to call in every favor I had to get that pendant for Jessica. Back then, she says to me, "As long as the pendant stays on, our love remains. If it's ever removed, our relationship is over." I look at Jessica, who sighs with a helpless and indulgent expression. "Felix, Ron has been having nightmares lately. He's been down with a fever, too. I lent it to him for a few days to ward off bad luck. Don't argue with a kid over something so small, okay?" She then pats Ronald's shoulder reassuringly and urges, "You should thank Felix. He's always been understanding. It's just a trinket. He wouldn't be reluctant to part with it." Ronald looks at me timidly and says, "Thank you for letting me have it. With it protecting me, I can finally sleep peacefully every night while holding it in my arms. When I get better, I'll give it back to you." My best childhood friend is furious upon hearing this. "How can you turn a blind eye to all this?" he hisses. Of course I can.

My husband's secretary, Regina Wade, claims she is a lucky charm. She wins every lottery ticket she buys and even wins three bets in a row. In truth, she is just transferring her bad luck onto me. In my previous life, she confidently invites the entire company to gamble, and everyone walks away with huge winnings. Well, everyone except me, as I lose everything. Regina throws money around in the casino, indulging her vanity, while my face rots and my body becomes riddled with illness. She conducts livestreams to auction off her good luck, while I get hit by cars every time I go out and almost die from infection during surgery. When I ask my husband, Jack Burns, to investigate her, he points at me angrily and scolds, "Ariel Nichols, stop blaming your bad luck on Reggie. You are just jealous that she is lucky. With such vicious thoughts, you deserve to get hit!" Three days later, Regina wins a trillion-dollar gamble and gains boundless wealth. I, on the other hand, bleed from inside and die suddenly. Even until my death, I never figure out why I have such terrible luck. When I open my eyes again, I return to the day Regina first claims she is a lucky charm.

So here's the thing about being adopted by a junkie sex worker: you learn real fast that nobody's coming to save you, and the world doesn't give a shit about your potential. I got out and got a scholarship to some fancy boarding school where rich kids pretend they're better than you because their parents bought their way in instead of fucking their way through. Silvercrest Academy; prestigious, elite and completely fucking weird. Like, weird enough that my roommate has fangs and my lab partner's eyes glow in the dark and the three hottest guys on campus won't leave me alone for reasons I can't figure out. Dante—the golden boy who looks at me like I'm a problem he's trying to solve. Jax—the TA who tried to intimidate me until I put him on his ass, and now he follows me around like an angry cat that hasn't decided if it wants to be pet or bite me. Elias—the too-pretty rich boy who asks too many questions and looks at me like I'm the answer to something he's not saying out loud. I thought I was here to study genetics, turns out I'm the genetics. Aether bloodline that is believed to be ancient and extinct except apparently not, because I'm standing here with gold in my hair that won't dye out and an allergy to silver that makes no sense and power I don't know how to use sitting under my skin like a loaded gun. Someone's trying to kill me for it and through it all, three wolves telling me I'm their mate—which would be flattering if I wasn't too busy trying not to die to figure out what the fuck that means.