Novel & Cerita Unexpected Bond

Aurora Hayes had it all — success, love, and a future that seemed certain. Until the day she discovers her fiancé’s betrayal with her best friend, and the world she built comes crashing down. Determined to start over, she leaves everything behind… only to collide with the man she least expected she’d see again.Noah Carter — her brother’s best friend, a powerful billionaire with ice in his veins and secrets he’ll never speak of. Years ago, he made a promise that tore them apart. Now, fate pulls them back together under the same roof, where buried emotions burn brighter than ever.But some promises are dangerous to break, and some wounds run too deep to heal.When love and loyalty collide, how much are they willing to risk — and who will they be when the truth finally comes out?

"I will be your mistress, Adrian. Just let my family live." Adrian lifted his glass of wine. A faint smile curved his lips. "I thought they would send me the adopted daughter," he said, "I didn't expect you." "Everyone said your brother spoiled you like a princess. Turns out that was just a joke." The tip of the pen paused, stabbing a small blot of ink onto the paper. I signed my name, calm to the point of silence. The contract would take effect in three days. Then, I would cut all ties with the Willis name. I traded myself for the survival of the Willis family and my own permanent release.

When Matteo Ricci threatens to end our engagement for the 100th time unless I take Lydia Capone's place in the famiglia's drug trial, I don't cry or make a scene. I just sign my name on the engagement termination agreement and calmly hand over the man I've loved for eight years to my twin sister. A few days later, Lydia storms the mafia summit like she owns the room, insulting the Pirelli family and daring anyone to stop her. I'm forced to step in and bear the full weight of her chaos. And now they're saying Lydia's body can't handle the trial after all, so they want me, the older sister, to take her place. The moment I agree, my parents smile at me for the first time in years. Even Matteo, who barely notices me, hovers nearby and murmurs, "Don't be afraid. The trial isn't lethal. When you get out, I'll take you for your favorite spaghetti alla Napoletana." But he has no idea that there's a late-stage stomach cancer diagnosis tucked inside my pocket. No matter what horrors the trial holds, he will never witness me walk out alive.

Sharon’s parents convince her to marry Tom, the only son and heir to a powerful billionaire family. To them, it’s a dream union — a promise of security, prestige, and a future beyond imagination. But behind the lavish wedding and glittering smiles lies an unspoken truth. Tom has no love for Sharon. Bound by duty and family pressure, he agrees to the marriage solely to appease his parents. In secret, Tom and Sharon sign a prenuptial agreement — a quiet pact that their union will last only three years. As months turn into years, Sharon’s heart betrays her. She finds herself falling deeply in love with the man she once viewed as distant and cold. She believes time has changed him too — that perhaps love has found its way into their marriage after all. Then, just when she begins to dream of forever, Sharon’s world shatters. She walked into their living room to find Tom seated a brown envelope on the table. Calmly, he reminds her of the agreement they made three years ago. Sharon is left speechless, her heart collapsing under the weight of reality. What she thought was love was merely borrowed time — and now, it has run out.

Blurb She loved him fiercely, masking her wealth to prove her devotion, willing to sacrifice anything to make him happy. But her loyalty was met with coldness and a stack of divorce papers tossed her way. Heartbroken and betrayed, she walked away, vowing to let him believe she was defeated. Yet, when he comes crawling back, realizing he’d thrown away his chance, she’s ready. This time, he’ll learn just how cruelly her heart can play, how sharp her silence can sting, and how merciless love can be when betrayed. She’ll make him pay—for every moment she wasted loving him.

Heating starts on the 15th, so I give my mom the money to pay the heating bill two days in advance and ask her to pay it for me. But a week passes, and it still feels like an icehouse in my apartment. I am on the phone complaining to my younger brother's wife, Selena Lyons, who lives upstairs. "You are right not to pay the heating fee. I paid, and it made no difference. We're freezing to death here." From the other end of the call, I faintly hear my nephew shouting, "Mom, it's so hot! I want a popsicle!"

My SAT scores are out. It turns out that I'm the top scorer of my state. But I insist on applying to an obscure, third-rate private college in front of my friends and family. Everyone thinks that I've gone nuts. Mom even gets down on her knees and begs me not to destroy my future. "You can go to any top college you want! Why must you attend that trashy college instead?" I remain unmoved despite the fact that everyone keeps convincing me to change my mind. What they don't know is that if I don't go there, everyone will die in three days.

Three days after Theodore marked me, I took the three million his mother offered. Then I aborted our pup and forced our mate bond apart. Outside the operating room, he howled until he spat blood, begging me not to be so cruel. He said he would hate me for the rest of his life. Seven years later, we met again at an auction. A beautiful, docile she-wolf was sitting beside him. I'd come to the auction for the moonlight grass. But Theodore kept raising his paddle, snatching up the very lot I was bidding on. He took the moonlight grass, dropped it in front of me, and crushed it into the dirt with his heel. He said, "Anything you want, I'll destroy." He didn't know. The moonlight grass could save my pup's life. His pup, too.

When I was seven years old, my younger brother went into anaphylactic shock after sneaking a handful of peanuts. Outside the emergency room, my mother slammed my head against the wall over and over, her face twisted with rage. "If you had been watching him like you were supposed to be, this never would have happened! You should be the one with a ruptured stomach, not him!" After that, whenever my brother so much as caught a cold, my mother forced me to eat spoiled leftovers as punishment. I once prepared an elaborate feast. She flipped the entire table and made me crawl on the floor to lick it clean. When I said I wanted to study culinary arts, she poured hot oil over my hands. My father wanted to send me to vocational school to learn a trade, but my mother clutched my brother to her chest and wailed. "She destroyed her brother's health! She owes him a lifetime of service!" When I was fifteen, my brother's gluttony cost my father an important business deal. I took the blame without even being asked, and the furious client forced me to drink more than half a gallon of hard liquor. By the time I was sent home with a bleeding stomach, my father had already scolded my brother. My mother took out her anger on me instead, slapping me so hard my ears rang and my vision went dark at the edges. "You useless thing! You should’ve choked to death at that table! I get sick just looking at you!" I coughed up black blood. From my pocket, I pulled out a piece of sour candy that had gone soft and sticky. It was the only treat my mother had ever given me with a smile, back before my brother's allergic reaction. I put the candy in my mouth and swallowed it down with the taste of stomach acid. The candy was so sour it made my throat burn. Whatever came next, I just hoped I would not have to be my family’s garbage disposal again.

Gilmore Davis, has never had anything to do with his employees or business partners. He didn't even know their names or their faces. He was that employer that barely relates with people. He only paid attention to important happenings in his business, strictly differentiating business from pleasure. He had never been a fan of office romance either. But, things changed and he suddenly had interest in one of his business partners. Vanessa Amelia Jones, was just a girl that wanted to make ends meet, avoiding trouble, and never wanting to be in the spotlight.They both seemed like opposites. But had a past binding them together. What's this past that is binding a nonchalant man like Gilmore, with his business partner, Vanessa?