What Does It Mean To Play Devil's Advocate

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!

On the day Fiona Starr and Mark Zimmer tied the knot, his childhood friend jumped off the Starr family's thirty-story apartment and was reduced to pieces. The wedding wasn't called off, but in the ensuing three years, Mark's poker face became even more creepy, even though he would do everything Fiona asked. Then, when Fiona was three months pregnant, she was told that her father had gone missing. But instead of taking her to file a police report, Mark took her up the peak of the mountain, where Fiona saw her father. His whole body was swollen and bleeding everywhere, and he was barely alive as he lay on the ground. There were puddles of his blood everywhere, after someone tied him to a car trunk and dragged him up along the mountain road. That was when Mark gave Fiona the same treatment, even though she was pregnant with his child. As his car dragged her up and down the mountain, her legs were reduced to bloody stumps, but she didn't die there. So she locked her up in a basement in the company of rats that nibbled and devoured her legs. She despaired, her mind breaking until she eventually stopped breathing too… But she opened her eyes again and found herself returning to the day before she married Mark, whom everyone called the Starr family's live-in son-in-law. Smiling through her tears, she told herself that she wouldn't choose him again in this life.

On Christmas Eve, my father got the man I had secretly loved for ten years drunk and sent him to my bed. When I woke up the next morning, Roy pulled away from my attempt at a good-morning kiss. His voice was cold and distant as he agreed to marry me. After the wedding, Roy wasted no time submitting a transfer request. He took an overseas post and left. He did not return for five years. I gave birth to our daughter, Eve, alone and waited for him to come back home. When I heard that Roy had finally applied to return to a domestic position, I was overjoyed. I spent days preparing, imagining our first reunion as husband and wife. But even when the clock struck midnight, he still hadn't come home. Our daughter, ever so thoughtful, placed her most treasured possession—a photograph of Roy—into my hands. "Don't cry, Mommy," she said softly. "Look, Daddy's right here." I tried to convince myself that his absence was due to a delayed flight. But later that night, while watching the news, I saw him. He was on a crowded city street, holding a young girl in his arms. Beside him stood a woman, her smile soft and warm. Facing the camera, Roy said, "Being with them is my greatest wish." At that moment, something inside me broke. I wrote up the divorce papers, packed our things, and planned to take Eve to change her identity. I didn't want him anymore. The day before we left, a man I had never met came to see me. He was Roy's father. "You could call me Dad," he said, a faint smile playing on his lips. "But I'd rather you call me Ryan." I told him everything about the past five years—how I had waited, how I had hoped. When I finished, he laughed softly, an unusual warmth in his voice. "If it was just business," he said, "perhaps your father should have tied a bow around me and sent me to your bed instead. But I hold my liquor well—if I ever end up wrapped in a bow, you can be sure it's by choice."

After pursuing Yves Chapman for five years, he finally agrees to marry me. Two months before the wedding, I get into an accident. I call him thrice, but he rejects my call each time. It's only because Clarisse Tatcher advises him to give me the cold shoulder for a while to stop me from pestering him. When I crawl out of that valley, I'm covered in injuries. My right hand has a comminuted fracture. At that moment, I finally understand that certain things can't be forced. But after that, he starts to wait outside my door, his eyes red as he asks me to also give him five years.

In the fifth year of my marriage to Kevin Gray, he, a sailor, is reported dead during a mission at sea. When his twin brother brings home his ashes, I break down and sob until I can barely breathe. Nothing can stand in the way of our love—not even death... or so I think. Grief consumes me. I cannot accept the reality of losing him. I try to end my life five times. Every time, Kevin's mother or his brother saves me. They plead with me to let go, to live on. After all, Kevin's last wish was for me to find happiness in every day of the life I had left. But in the third month of mourning, I discover the truth—he never died. He lied to me. He took his twin brother's identity and spent his days by Evelyn Stewart's side. He told me he still loved me, that he couldn't live without me, and that everything he was doing had a reason. He said he'd explain everything after Evelyn gave birth. To protect Evelyn and her unborn child, he asked me to move out for a while—just temporarily, until the baby was born. Then, he promised to bring me home again. Kevin, don't bother coming to get me. I'm not coming back.

After surviving a botched assassination attempt, Elena DeLuca resurfaces with a new identity and a thirst for revenge against those who betrayed her. Once a trusted ally of the Moretti family, she now seeks to expose the traitors within. Helios Valenti, the enforcer who failed to protect her, is forced to work with Elena to uncover the plot. As their past resurfaces, tension builds between them, blurring the line between hate and desire. Elena’s return also uncovers long-buried secrets, revealing a hidden assassin network led by Sophia Ivanova and linking Nico Moretti to the plot against her. In the midst of her revenge, Elena reunites with her best friend, Isabella, who never believed Elena was dead. Their reunion complicates things further, as Isabella becomes torn between loyalty to her friend and the Morettis. As Elena and Helios fight to expose the traitor, their bond deepens, but the threat of a larger conspiracy looms. Will Elena’s quest for vengeance destroy her humanity, or will she and Helios survive the growing darkness? Teaser for Book 3: With a deadly assassin network closing in, Elena and Helios face a war that will test their loyalty and trust.

Holly thought she had it all—a decade-long marriage to the love of her life, Michael, a cozy home, and a sense of stability. But when Michael starts pulling away and forming a suspiciously close bond with a charming coworker, Holly feels the familiar pangs of being invisible in her own love story. Determined not to jump to conclusions, she supports Michael through his stress, even as her own insecurities and loneliness deepen. But everything changes during his work trip. Faced with the slow unraveling of her marriage, Holly chooses herself for the first time in years. She throws herself into therapy, fitness, and healing—reconnecting with parts of herself she had long buried. By chance, she meets Finn, a magnetic bartender with a guarded past and a knack for listening. Their late-night conversations turn into something more… something safe, yet electric. Now caught between the ashes of a long-term love and the flicker of something new, Holly must answer the hardest question of all: Can love survive betrayal—or is it time to let go of what once was, to make room for what could be?

WARNING: **This story is about a love so forbidden and a passion so intense, it might just burn you. Consider yourself warned.** ____ "Lucian shouldn’t have been near you,” he growled, his voice rough velvet. “I told them you’re under my protection. Under me.” ___ He is Manhattan’s most ruthless CEO. Cold. Powerful. Untouchable. But behind the sharp suits and devilish smirk hides a secret darker than the night itself— Joachim Knight is a vampire. When Yvette, a scandal-chased celebrity agent, crashes into his world, she expects another arrogant billionaire with too much money and no soul. What she finds instead is danger wrapped in seduction, a man who makes the air crackle with heat every time he’s near. His kiss burns like fire. His touch feels like sin. And his possessive words leave her trembling: "You’re mine, Yvette. Under my protection. Under me." But the more she craves him, the more she discovers the monstrous truth he hides— and the blood-soaked secrets that could ruin them both. In a world of lies, power, and forbidden hunger, will she resist the Devil’s kiss… or surrender to the dark passion of a 570 year old vampire who would destroy anyone who dares to touch her?

In the third year of my marriage, I endure a full day of painful labor to give birth to my first child. However, my husband steals the baby to give to his true love. I try my damnedest to stop him, but all I get is a barrage of insults. "It's just a baby! I'm the one who planted the seed, so I get to decide who gets the fruit!" I'm overwhelmed by grief as I watch my husband leave. However, he shares a happy post on his social media. "Mother and daughter are safe." His true love comments, "Thank you for giving me a child, Jaspie. I'll be the happiest woman in the world with you two by my side." Clueless friends bless them and wish them well. I silently comment, "Give me back my child." All I get is another round of insults. Then, I'm blocked. I don't want to endure this anymore. I hire a lawyer to draft divorce papers before making a police report. "Officer, I want to report my husband for child trafficking."

Margo aka Bridgette lost everything that was precious to her in one single night. Her family, her safety, and her innocence. After spending five years in captivity and three years in hiding she's back and ready to face the demons of her past. However, she isn't returning alone and must plan her next steps carefully or the people hunting them will have both of their heads. Kane is ex special forces and a member of the Devil's Knights MC. He has hardened his heart against the fairer after his ex wife turned his world upside-down and left his heart as broken as his body. When they run into each other Kane is reminded of a young woman he helped escape while Margo tries desperately to hold on to her heart. After all, who would want someone as broken as her. They soon find themselves in a race against time and Kane can't help his attraction to the woman who seemed ready to to protect everything she holds dear. Danger lurks around every corner and old wounds will be ripped open. What Margo doesn't know is that Kane wants her and will to keep her and her ward safe. Steamy scenes await as they plunge head first into the dangerous world that is his home and has Margo dancing a fast paced tune of revenge. In this book Margo will learn that nothing is as it seems and that only one man will keep her safe and her warm.