COMPLETE. Gretel has a long list of reasons to despise arrogant and wealthy Javier del Mundo. First, he was proud. Second, he was not her dream man. Third, she was attracted to him. Javier was mysterious, and he seemed to hide a lot of secrets. Gretel had no business with him at all. But when her brother got involved in a robbery in Javier's mansion, she offered herself to him as a sacrifice while proving that her brother was innocent. Will Gretel finally uncover Javier's secrets, or did she just put her life in danger?
CHAPTER ONE
GRETEL knew poverty since she was a child. She lived in a small cottage in a humble village and her older brother, Hansel, and their mother. Despite that, she grew up to be happy and grateful because she had a complete family.
But five years ago, their father died while he was working in a merchant ship. They met a storm, and not even a single soul came back alive to the shore. Their mother had to work harder so she could provide for the two of them. From a plain housewife, their mother began selling fruits and vegetables in the market. While her brother Hansel helped her, Gretel would be in-charge of their house and garden and assisted in their stall when she had more time.
Their stall never ran out of customers, especially young men, whenever Gretel was around. She was beautiful with her sun-kissed skin, long, brown hair, and slender body.
Men would bring her fresh flowers and other gifts, hoping she would give them a chance. But Gretel knew her priorities, and it was her family. She could not marry yet. After all, she was just nineteen years old.
Gretel wanted to marry the man of her dreams. And she knew she must wait and take her time. He'll come along; she was sure of that.
"Here. Take all of them. Don't let me see them again."
Gretel laughed as she took the pile of books from her friend.
She was waiting for her under a huge oak tree. It was on the other side of the road, in front of their houses. They would usually hang out in the afternoon.
"Books are one of the most wonderful things in the world, Dory." She wiped the little dust from the book.
"Unfortunately, I sit in front of the sewing machine for a whole day every day, so I don't get much time to read. Books are just adding to the clutter in our house, " Dory said with a frown.
Dory's family owned the biggest dress shop in town. Sometimes, Gretel would work part-time for a few bills, which was a big help.
"If you got more clutters in your house, you know what to do, okay?"
"Of course. You're just one call away."
The two of them laughed. Dory finally sat beside her.
Gretel glanced at the huge mansion on top of the hill. It was a beautiful view from there. It was built a couple of months ago by a wealthy merchant from another town.
She would hear stories about the man. How he dressed nicely and how intimidating he looked. Some would say he was good-looking, but he did not look friendly at all. Gretel wished she would see him just to satisfy her curiosity. She wanted to see for herself what kind of a man he really was.
"What are you thinking?" Dory asked.
"Will I ever get to live in a beautiful house like that?" she said and sighed.
"If you can marry the terrible person who lives in there."
Gretel glanced at Dory with a frown.
"Do you really think he's a terrible person?"
"That's what people say, " Dory replied with a shrug.
"Anyway, I don't literally mean living in that house. As long as I marry the man of my dreams." Gretel smiled.
"You have to leave this village for that to happen. The world is big out there. You will surely meet a lot of gentlemen."
"Hmm, you're right. But I can't leave my mother and my brother yet."
GRETEL liked the weekends. She had all the time to read books as she rested without worrying about the house chores. There was a tiny stream near their vegetable garden. She would spend hours reading and bathing all by herself without getting bored.
Her favorite spot was the huge branch that was close to the ground. Gretel would put her clothes and book there as she bathed in the stream.
Gretel squeezed her wet hair as she walked away from the stream. She had a good swim and was refreshed enough to go back to reading again. She pulled her towel and dried herself. Instead of putting her clothes back, Gretel remained naked. She climbed to the higher part of the branch, where thick leaves would serve as her cover.
She finished the remaining pages of her book and finally closed it with a satisfied smile on her lips. She slipped the book inside her pouch bag that was hanging in one of the branches. She laid on her back. She was overwhelmed and satisfied. And that feeling the book gave her would definitely stay in her system for a long time.
"Hmm..."
The next thing Gretel knew, she was already touching herself. Gretel was never ashamed about it. It was human nature.
She shifted in her position, practically riding the sturdy, rough branch. Gretel parted her thighs to feel the roughness against her sensitive flesh. The leaves began to shake as she started humping.
Gretel was panting and trembling a few moments later. She looked between her thighs and saw her warm juices flowing on the branch. She looked down and found that her dress fell.
"Oh."
She shifted in her position once again. Before she could get down from the tree, a huge, black dog appear and grabbed her clothes by its mouth.
"Oh, no! Hey, that's mine!"
The dog ran away. Gretel jumped and hit the ground with a loud groan. The dog was now running toward the woods.
"Come back!" she screamed as she ran after it.
The dog disappeared into a huge tree, and Gretel chased it.
"Aw!" Gretel bumped into a hard figure, and she was thrown off balance.
She heard a groan, which was a man's voice, and the next thing she knew, she was on top of an unfamiliar face wearing hunting gear. Her eyes widened in horror. And when she realized how awkward their position was, she moved away from him, and she felt the ground.
This is not a romance novel. Different women and their stories of giving in to their desires whatever the consequences may be. Chapter I, Part-time Lover: Arissa found pleasure in the arms of her boss after being neglected by her fiance.
"Never let anyone treat you like shit!" I learned that the hard way. For three years, I lived with my in-laws. They didn't treat me as their son-in-law but as a slave. I put up with everything because of my wife, Yolanda Lambert. She was the light of my life. Unfortunately, my whole world came crashing down the day I caught my wife cheating on me. I have never been so heartbroken. To have my revenge, I revealed my true identity. I was none other than Liam Hoffman—the heir of a family with trillions of dollars in assets! The Lamberts were utterly shocked after the big reveal. They realized what fools they had been for treating me like trash. My wife even knelt down and begged for my forgiveness. What do you think I did? Did I take her back or made her suffer? Find out!
After two years of marriage, Kristian dropped a bombshell. "She's back. Let's get divorced. Name your price." Freya didn't argue. She just smiled and made her demands. "I want your most expensive supercar." "Okay." "The villa on the outskirts." "Sure." "And half of the billions we made together." Kristian froze. "Come again?" He thought she was ordinary—but Freya was the genius behind their fortune. And now that she'd gone, he'd do anything to win her back.
“Drive this woman out!” "Throw this woman into the sea!” When he doesn’t know Debbie Nelson’s true identity, Carlos Hilton cold-shoulders her. “Mr. Hilton, she is your wife,” Carlos’ secretary reminded him. Hearing that, Carlos gives him a cold stare and complained, “why didn’t you tell me earlier?” From then on, Carlos spoils her rotten. Little did everyone expect that they would get a divorce.
In their three years of marriage, Chelsea had been a dutiful wife to Edmund. She used to think that her love and care would someday melt Edmund's cold heart, but she was wrong. Finally, she couldn't take the disappointment any longer and chose to end the marriage. Edmund had always thought that his wife was just boring and dull. So it was shocking when Chelsea suddenly threw divorce papers at his face in front of everyone at the Nelson Group's anniversary party. How humiliating! After that, everyone thought that the formerly-married couple would never see each other again, even Chelsea. Once again, she thought wrong. Sometime later, at an award ceremony, Chelsea went onstage to accept the award for best screenplay. Her ex-husband, Edmund, was the one presenting the award to her. As he handed her the trophy, he suddenly reached for her hand and pleaded humbly in front of the audience, "Chelsea, I'm sorry I didn't cherish you before. Could you please give me another chance?" Chelsea looked at him indifferently. "I'm sorry, Mr. Nelson. My only concern now is my business." Edmund's heart was shattered into a million pieces. "Chelsea, I really can't live without you." But his ex-wife just walked away. Wasn't it better for her to just concentrate on her career? Men would only distract her—especially her ex-husband.
Accused of murder, Sylvia Todd's mother was deemed a traitor by the entire pack, condeming Sylvia to live the rest of her life alone in humiliation as a lowly slave. All she wanted to do was to prove her mother's innocence somehow, but fate never seemed to be on the side of the traitor's daughter. Still, Sylvia never lost hope. As the future lycan king of all werewolves, Rufus Duncan possessed great power and status, but he had an inexplicable reputation for being cruel, bloodthirsty, and ruthless. Unbeknownst to everyone, he had been cursed long ago to transform into a killer monster on every full moon. Even though fate did not always look upon the two, it brought Sylvia and Rufus together as each other's destined mates. Will justice be served for Sylvia's mother? What about Rufus' secret? Can Sylvia and Rufus defy all societal norms and stay together? Will these two unlucky souls have their happy ending?
Bailey seems to be never destined to fit in, a little geeky, but under it all, a hidden beauty that so many seem to miss, but still not what her pack Alpha is looking for in a fated mate... so he is determined to reject her and make her life hell. Bailey, knowing her life will likely never be the same focuses on what she can control, her future, and heads off to study; becoming a teacher. Asher is the Beta of Autumn Valley Pack, a neighbouring pack. A broken man having suffered the loss of his mate after a rogue attack, Asher is slowly crumbling. Falling to pieces. A shadow of his former self, and not a man that anyone wants to be around anymore... Until, Autumn Valley Pack require a new teacher, and Bailey finds herself there and pushed together with the Beta. Is there a connection building or is that in their imaginations? And what will happen when Bailey's mate comes back to claim what is his?