Usborne Wind Up Books Novels & Stories

BOOK #5 Wright-Petrov Series Nursing her broken heart and crushed pride, Abigail Marie Fuentebella Sandoval boldly gatecrashed her ex-fiance's engagement party. As she stood in the corner of the massive hall, she gritted her teeth in pure contempt while witnessing his betrayal. Worst, they looked so happy together. To assuage the searing pain drilling her chest, she drowned her sorrows in several glasses of champagne. Her boyfriend of eight years fathers her scheming stepsister's unborn child. Seeking retribution, she impulsively hooked up with a striking man from the crowd, convinced he was someone of importance. However, she was cruelly ridiculed after discovering he was a pauper, not the prince she had hoped for. She faced immense mockery for presumably "downgrading" from her wealthy ex-fiance, Justin Del Castillo, the President of F&D Group of Companies, to a struggling man who couldn't even afford to take her on a date at her family-owned luxurious hotel. Unbeknownst to everyone, especially to Abigail, she was not mistaken that night. The man she chose was not a mere millionaire, but a BILLIONAIRE. The shrewd business tycoon, CEO Lucas Alexander Montes Wright, the cherished firstborn of the world's richest family and the eldest heir of the Petrov Mafia.

When hockey superstar Jake Sullivan's career crashes, the last thing he expects is to find his ex-girlfriend Emma scrubbing floors in his new office building eight years after she crushed his heart and disappeared without a trace. But Emma's hiding more than just her identity; she's been raising his son in secret, a handsome boy with Jake's piercing blue eyes and natural talent on the ice. Now that the truth is out, Jake will stop at nothing to claim his family, even if it means facing the powerful enemies who tore them apart and proving that some love is worth fighting for, no matter how many years have passed.

The last thing Miranda thought when she responded to a prison pen pal request was to find true love. Joel, well, he was only hoping to pass time and maybe if he was lucky, he'd find someone to have a little fun with after doing ten years of hard time in the state penitentiary for a crime he committed when he had just barely turned eighteen years old. He had been hardened by the things he'd seen and the experiences of imprisonment and no longer believed in lovey dovey fairy tales or happily ever after. So hardened in fact, that he knew women only led to one thing-trouble. Not even a good girl like Miranda would break him ever again. Not with her long dark hair, those hypnotizing amber-eyes, and definitely not those full lips that would look so good…nope, nope, nope. What neither one expected was to find the perfect balance of emotional and physical attraction. Can Miranda's persistence and commitment soften and heal Joel's untrusting heart or will Joel break Miranda in ways she has never experienced before? This is the first book of three in the Locked-Up Lovers series. Enjoy!

When Dexter Welch, a security guard who works in the residential area, sees me driving my pink Toyota Corolla everywhere, he's very certain that I'm a sugar baby who's being backed by her own sugar daddy. On the first day, I see one word getting carved into the car hood. It says "bitch". I merely give the hood a wipedown without uttering a word. Later on, I swap out the current SD card of my dashcam to an SD card that has a 512 GB memory. On the second day, my car windows get smashed in. When I go over to the property management office to check the security footage, the front desk agent tells me that the security camera overseeing my car "happens" to be broken. Dexter leans against the desk with a grin on his face. "If that car of yours is ruined, then so be it. Tell your sugar daddy to buy you another one." I crouch down and take a picture of the damage. Then, I save it into a folder called "evidence" in my phone. On the third day, two of my tires have gone flat. When I bend down to pick up a spare tire, Dexter hugs me from behind all of a sudden. He murmurs into my ear, "What's so good about sleeping with an old codger? Why don't you date me instead? I'm young and strong—" That's when I grab a wrench and smash it right into his arm. As Dexter nurses his injured arm, he glares at me. "How dare you lay a finger on me! Go ahead and lodge a report, then! My uncle's the property manager here! What can you do about me, hmm?" I silently note down Dexter's work ID without saying anything. On the fourth day, I drive another pink car back to the apartment. As soon as Dexter notices the flash of pink in its usual parking slot, he smiles as he exits the guardhouse. Then, he pulls out a key from his pocket and scratches my car with all his strength. An older gentleman who happens to be walking his dog nearby freezes in his tracks. He sounds so startled that his voice actually cracks. "Have you gone nuts? Do you know the model of the car you've just scratched? That's a top-tier Rolls-Royce!"

I've spent the past seven years by Caleb Hale's side, but I don't have a proper identity. He doesn't seem interested in marrying me, either. Later, he has plans to marry the daughter of the White family in a political marriage. They only have one condition—he must throw away the sandalwood bead bracelet he always wears. Caleb doesn't even bat an eye as he says, "It's just a little trinket, and I've grown sick of it." After that, he throws the bracelet into the annex from his balcony. Coincidentally, the annex later catches fire. Everyone is stunned to see me dash inside to retrieve the bracelet without a care for my safety. Subsequently, someone in the online community reveals that I kneeled in the snow outside Highspire Hall to get that bracelet.

On the day of our daughter's full-month celebration, Harvey McKinzie walked onto the stage holding the hand of his widowed, heavily pregnant sister-in-law. "Honey, to be honest with you—my sister-in-law's baby is mine." His parents followed behind, looking completely unapologetic. "We're the ones who made it happen. We drugged them. Our oldest son may be gone, but the family can't be without an heir. "Harvey is taking on the responsibility of carrying on both family lines—it hasn't been easy for him. From now on, you need to take good care of Lydia and the child she's carrying." The sister-in-law, now eight months pregnant, glanced at me shyly. "Jennifer, we're sister-wives now." I stood there frozen, holding my daughter, my voice trembling. "Why are you doing this to me?" Harvey frowned and let out a long sigh. "You're always saying how hard Lydia has it, right? Isn't it better if I just take care of her openly and properly? "I promise—you'll be the first wife, and she'll be the second. On paper, you're still my only legal wife." In that moment, my blood ran cold. Then, for the first time in a long while, I heard the system's alert in my head. [Host emotional fluctuation detected. Would you like to use all remaining points to exit the current world?]

My father-in-law, George Lane, suffered from a brain aneurysm and fell onto the ground. The floor was covered in his blood. I calmly picked up a mop and wiped the floor clean. As his daughter-in-law, I gave up on saving him within the most critical time. In my last life, I was the first person who found out that George was injured. I immediately got an ambulance and sent him to the hospital. Before the surgery, the hospital required his immediate family member to sign off the consent form. However, when I asked my husband, Brian Lane to come to the hospital to sign that document, he thought that I was acting out of jealousy because he was spending time with his first-love. He thought I was making an excuse to get him home, so he refused to go to the hospital. In the end, George passed away as he did not receive the treatment on time. Brian did not manage to see George for the last time, and he blamed it all on me. He then hacked me to death. “It’s your fault! My dad was so old, and you didn’t take good care of him as a daughter-in-law! Since you’re not doing your part when he’s alive, then you should continue your duties as a daughter-in-law in hell!” When I opened my eyes, I found myself on the day when George died again.

The night I find out I'm pregnant, my family's villa suddenly goes up in flames. I endure the suffocating smoke and run the risk of being disfigured as I run to my son's bedroom. However, it's empty. Just then, I hear his excited exclamations outside the window. "Monica, you look so cool when putting out fires! I bet you'll get first place in this upcoming Firefighter Challenge!" I'm about to head downstairs to lecture him when a wall collapses and crushes me. As I drift in and out of consciousness, I hear my stern, stoic husband praise Monica Sloan for her courage. If I'm guessing correctly, my husband and son have started this fire to please her. I stare at the door, which is so close and yet so far. I send out one final text before dying of asphyxiation.

She thought divorce would set her free. Instead, it led her straight into hell and the devil himself, Sebastian Sterling. He offered her salvation. What she found was sin. --- An emotional, dark romance about temptation, control, and the price of survival. -- After ending her ten-year marriage to an unfaithful husband, Rosemary Seo wants nothing more than peace. No more manipulation. No more control. Just a chance to start over with her daughter — even if it means living in a cheap motel and scraping together every cent. But when every company in town suddenly rejects her job applications, Rosie realizes she’s trapped once again — not by love, but by power. Her ex-husband’s influence stretches further than she imagined… And her only hope lies in the hands of his estranged younger brother — Sebastian Edward Sterling, a man with a reputation as dangerous as his charm. Sebastian offers her a way out. A job. A chance to rebuild. But his terms come wrapped in silk and sin — and soon, Rosie finds herself drawn into his world of temptation, control, and forbidden pleasure. “You can be my personal assistant,” he said slowly. “Take care of my daily needs.” Then his voice softened further, dangerous and intimate. “Especially in bed.” He calls it a job. She calls it a deal with the devil. Caught between survival and surrender, Rosie must decide — Will she tame the devil who wants to own her, or become his next obsession?

Calla Wynter is in for a ride and she doesn't even know it yet. 18 years old Calla Wynter thought rejecting her fated mate would free her. Instead, it trapped her in a dorm room with three wolves, each one tied to her past and her secrets. Three irresistible boys that are all attracted to her, three irresistible boys that she can't decide between. Especially when each of them makes her heart beat faster, and throws her wolf into a frenzy. When a professor’s murder exposes a curse linked to her rejection, she’s forced to fake-date the mate she swore off to save the academy… and maybe her own heart.