Completely drunk, she entered the wrong room. Since then, her life had changed drastically. He helped her avenge herself. Not only did he fight back the shame and humiliation thrown at her by her stepmother, but he also protected her from her stepsister's dirty tricks. "Sign this contract and be my wife. I'll give you the whole world," he promised. But promises were made to be broken. When the contract was due, he didn't allow her to leave. "You stole my heart. How could I set you free?" No matter where she went, she couldn't escape from his hands and his heart.
The curtains of the French windows were tightly drawn, but the morning light managed to filter in through the thick layer of cloth. Save for those few specks of light, the whole room was immersed in ambiguous darkness.
Ding, ding, ding!
The phone alarm broke the silence in the room.
Shirley Rui had a blackout the previous night. She frowned and opened her eyes. There was a dull ache in her legs. She stretched out her hand to touch it, but her hand grazed something else, or rather, someone else.
She sat up with a jolt!
Shirley Rui realized that she was naked under the quilt. When she turned around, she saw a man lying beside her!
Something snapped inside her.
Fragments of memories from last night flooded her mind.
The revelry at the clubhouse, the raucous music, countless glasses of wine. It was not until she was pissed drunk that she went back to the hotel. What had happened after that? She searched her brain for answers.
How did she end up in the same bed with a strange man?
The man beside her opened his eyes.
He saw the shocked look on Shirley Rui's face and sneered. He pushed off the quilt and stood up without hesitation, completely confident in his skin, not to mention his sculpted body.
Shirley Rui quickly averted her gaze, unwilling to make eye contact with him. She didn't even get a good look at his face. She asked in a trembling voice, "Who, who are you? Why are we here? Last night...... What happened?"
The man chuckled, his deep voice hoarse and sexy from sleep. "What do you think happened?" he asked, raising one eyebrow.
No explanation was required. Shirley Rui understood.
A man and a woman in the same room? Naked? It was easy to put two and two together.
Shirley Rui's face turned pale.
She had slept with another man.
What about Baldwin Xu? She had cheated on the man she was going to marry. How would she face him?
How could she explain to him?
Shirley Rui's mind was in a mess. She had a fiance who she loved and yet she had spent a night with a strange man in a strange city.
She bit her lower lip tightly and squeezed her eyes shut, wanting to erase the memories of previous night's debauchery. She was racked with pain and guilt.
Shirley Rui swiped the screen of her phone and her fingers hovered on the name "Baldwin Xu" for a long time. Her hands were shaking. She did not have the courage to press the call button.
Suddenly, her phone vibrated.
A WeChat message popped up.
She had a picture message from Lana Rui.
Shirley Rui clicked it and the image opened instantly. Her pupils contracted and her jaw dropped.
The picture was blurry as it was taken in a dim room. Even so, she could make out the two people in the photo.
Lana Rui clung to a man's bare chest. Her white shoulders were half exposed. It was an intimate gesture.
The handsome man, against whom she snuggled, was smiling lovingly. Shirley Rui was very familiar with those soulful eyes.
It was none other than Baldwin Xu! Her fiance. The love of her life!
Shirley Rui was clenching the phone so tightly that her fingertips had turned white and her face turned ashen.
There was a voice message along with the picture. Lana Rui's voice came from the other end of the line
"Sis, how was your business trip? When will you come back?
By the way, I have some good news for you. I'm getting married to Baldwin in two days! He said he loves me and couldn't live without me. I'm sorry. Please let me have him, my dear sister. Hope you can make it back in time for our wedding. Bye!"
Lana Rui's sweet voice was filled with petulance and evil charm as if she was just a little girl asking for a toy.
Shirley Rui sank onto the mattress slowly, hugged her knees, and rocked back and forth to absorb the blow she had just received.
She couldn't believe it. Baldwin Xu. His name danced in front of her eyes. The memories related to this name used to be so sweet.
Flashbacks of their love story replayed in her mind like a movie.
Baldwin Xu had pursued Shirley Rui since college. They would meet often after work. He was always polite and courteous, but there was undisguised tenderness in his eyes.
Shirley Rui had always been indifferent towards love and she didn't lower her guard immediately. But Baldwin Xu did not rush her. He was kind, considerate, and patient.
Shirley Rui was neglected as a child in her family. Her young sister, Lana Rui, and her stepmother, Haley Zhou, alienated her in every way, while her biological father, Dan Rui, always took her unruly and wayward sister's side.
Baldwin Xu seamlessly filled the void in Shirley Rui's heart that was created by her family.
Gradually, she got used to Baldwin Xu's gentle company.
She still remembered the night before her business trip so clearly. Baldwin Xu had asked her out for a walk by the river. He had held her hand, and his eyes were aglow with excitement as he proposed to her. He had told her that he wanted to get engaged as soon as she returned.
Shirley Rui recalled turning scarlet and lowering her head. She had shyly blurted, "Okay!" She was overjoyed!
Never in her wildest dreams had she thought it would end like this. His vows were lies. Baldwin Xu couldn't control himself for the few days that Shirley Rui was away on a business trip. He had fallen for Lana Rui's trap and slept with her!
The sound of the running water in the bathroom suddenly brought Shirley Rui back to the present. She remembered that the stranger from last night was still in the room.
The man whose face she didn't dare to look at, had already slept with her.
Shirley Rui had dreamed of a happy life with her fiance, but now he was going to give that same life to her sister instead.
How ironic!
Shirley Rui's eyes stung. She gritted her teeth as she struggled to hold back her tears. She quickly grabbed her clothes, which were scattered on the bed, and put them on hurriedly. Then she ran out of the hotel without looking back.
Belinda thought after divorce, they would part ways for good - he could live his life on his own terms, while she could indulge in the rest of hers. However, fate had other plans in store. "My darling, I was wrong. Would you please come back to me?" The man, whom she once loved deeply, lowered his once proud head humbly. "I beg you to return to me." Belinda coldly pushed away the bouquet of flowers he had offered her and coolly replied, "It's too late. The bridge has been burned, and the ashes have long since scattered to the wind!"
COALESCENCE OF THE FIVE SERIES BOOK ONE: THE 5-TIME REJECTED GAMMA & THE LYCAN KING BOOK TWO: THE ROGUES WHO WENT ROGUE BOOK THREE: THE INDOMITABLE HUNTRESS & THE HARDENED DUKE *** BOOK ONE: After being rejected by 5 mates, Gamma Lucianne pleaded with the Moon Goddess to spare her from any further mate-bonds. To her dismay, she is being bonded for the sixth time. What’s worse is that her sixth-chance mate is the most powerful creature ruling over all werewolves and Lycans - the Lycan King himself. She is certain, dead certain, that a rejection would come sooner or later, though she hopes for it to be sooner. King Alexandar was ecstatic to meet his bonded mate, and couldn’t thank their Goddess enough for gifting him someone so perfect. However, he soon realizes that this gift is reluctant to accept him, and more than willing to sever their bond. He tries to connect with her but she seems so far away. He is desperate to get intimate with her but she seems reluctant to open up to him. He tries to tell her that he is willing to commit to her for the rest of his life but she doesn’t seem to believe him. He is pleading for a chance: a chance to get to know her; a chance to show her that he’s different; and a chance to love her. But when not-so-subtle crushes, jealous suitors, self-entitled Queen-wannabes, an old flame, a silent protector and a past wedding engagement threaten to jeopardize their relationship, will Lucianne and Xandar still choose to be together? Is their love strong enough to overcome everything and everyone? Or will Lucianne resort to enduring a sixth rejection from the one person she thought she could entrust her heart with?
Madison had always believed that she would marry Colten. She spent her youth admiring him from afar, dreaming of their future life together. But Colten was always indifferent to her, and when he abandoned her at a time when she needed him most, she finally realized that he never loved her. With renewed resolve and a thirst for revenge, Madison left. Endless possibilities lay ahead, but Colten was no longer part of her plans. Colten rushed to her place in a panic. "Madison, please come back to me. I’ll give you everything!" It was his powerful uncle who answered the door. "She's my woman now."
For ten years, Daniela showered her ex-husband with unwavering devotion, only to discover she was just his biggest joke. Feeling humiliated yet determined, she finally divorced him. Three months later, Daniela returned in grand style. She was now the hidden CEO of a leading brand, a sought-after designer, and a wealthy mining mogul—her success unveiled at her triumphant comeback. Her ex-husband’s entire family rushed over, desperate to beg for forgiveness and plead for another chance. Yet Daniela, now cherished by the famed Mr. Phillips, regarded them with icy disdain. "I’m out of your league."
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?
Rachel used to think that her devotion would win Brian over one day, but she was proven wrong when his true love returned. Rachel had endured it all—from standing alone at the altar to dragging herself to the hospital for an emergency treatment. Everyone thought she was crazy to give up so much of herself for someone who didn’t return her feelings. But when Brian received news of Rachel’s terminal illness and realized she didn’t have long to live, he completely broke down. "I forbid you to die!" Rachel just smiled. She no longer needed him. "I will finally be free."