COMPLETE. Half of her life, Clara had been an obedient niece to her Aunt Carlota. She adopted her and gave her everything she needed. Clara treated her as her second mother, but it was not the same for her aunt. For Carlota, Clara was only a robot meant to follow her orders, including marrying the man she had chosen. Clara only wanted her aunt's affection. And if she follows her every command, maybe she would learn to love her someday. Clara's obedience will be put to the test when she met the rugged and handsome Fuego del Mar after saving her life. Clara could not deny her attraction toward him. She never once broke her Aunt's rules until she met him. But choosing Fuego meant disappointing Aunt Carlota. Will she be able to take the consequences? Is Fuego even worth it?
CLARA scratched her eyes. She was sitting on the counter of her coffee shop for more than an hour now. She was busy with the papers again. With her limited manpower, she had to do almost all of the work, including accounting.
"Are you alright, Miss Clara?" Jennifer asked. She was one of her baristas.
The shop had just closed, and Jennifer was preparing to leave. The rest of her staff had gone home already.
Clara nodded with a smile. She glanced outside the coffee shop. It was almost eleven o'clock in the evening, but the rain hadn't stopped yet.
She was never always in a hurry to come home, though. After all, there was only her Auntie Carlota in the house. But then, she rarely saw her at home because her aunt was a workaholic. She was good as alone.
"I guess I'll have to take these papers home, " she said.
"I'll see you in the morning, then." Jennifer hanged her backpack on her shoulder. "Drive carefully, Miss Clara."
"Take care, Jennifer."
Clara flexed her back as she watched Jennifer exit the door. Then, silence was Clara's only company left. She wondered if she would ever get used to it.
Clara may have got everything she wanted in life, but she was still lonely on the inside. Everything she had was because of her Aunt Carlota. And the latter wanted her to be indebted all her life.
She could not date even if she wanted to. Aunt Carlota had already chosen a man for her, but it would not be an easy quest. And Clara dreaded every time she thinks about how she will get the man her aunt wanted for her. It was like selling her soul to the devil.
Clara stood up and cleared her stuff. She could not afford to fall asleep inside the coffee shop.
CLARA put the plastic envelope on her head as a cover as she sauntered toward her car. It was still raining, but it was not as heavy as earlier. She fished the keys from her bag, and even before she could open the car's door, a force suddenly wrapped around her neck, almost choking her.
For a moment, she froze in horror, and she dropped her envelope on the wet ground.
"Give me your bag, and I'll let you live, " a man's muffled voice said. He was probably wearing a covering for his face.
The man's stinky odor filled Clara's nostrils, adding to the terror she was feeling at the moment. He was also reeking of alcohol. Clara could not breathe, but she was too scared to gasp for air, either.
"O-okay. I-I'll give you what you want. J-just..."
"Hey, I think you also want some of this, " said another man's voice from nowhere.
Clara was thrown off-balance on the side of the car as the robber was violently pulled away from her. She caught her throat as she desperately gasped for air. The second man, wearing an all-black attire with a helmet still on his head, gave the thief a headbutt.
The robber groaned sharply as he fell on the ground, the wet concrete making a loud splash. He tried to get up, and Clara saw his forehead bleeding as she struggled to stand straight. The man in black sat on his stomach and punched him remorselessly. She could only watch the horror happening in front of her.
He turned to her.
"Call the police, " the man in black commanded.
Clara fished for her phone in her bag with trembling hands. She swallowed and cleared her throat as she dialed the nearest police station's number.
After the quick call, she rushed to the man's side. The robber was already unconscious and could not fight.
"S-stop! Y-you're going to kill him!" she said.
The man's fist hung in midair as he turned to her.
"So what?" he said, panting. "Don't you want to get rid of all the criminals in the world?"
"Y-you're not a criminal. Stop."
The man drew a breath as he finally stood up. His fist was bleeding.
"You need first aid, " Clara said anxiously. She tried to hold his hand, but he flinched.
"This is nothing. I punch faces for breakfast."
"You could get an infection!"
"Thanks, but no, thanks."
"P-please..." Clara grabbed his bleeding hand and looked into his helmet-covered face. "I have a first aid kit in my car."
The man sighed, which Clara took as a submission. They sat on the dry pavement just in front of Aroma del Cielo after Clara retrieved her first aid kit inside the car.
"Thank you for saving me, " she said.
"Hmm, " he drawled. He took his helmet off and put it aside. Clara stared at what she thought the most handsome face she had ever seen in her life.
He had messy hair that hadn't been cut for months now. He has a thin stubble around his mouth. His thick eyebrows complimented his eyes. And his nose looked perfectly sculptured. He looked like the hero from the covers of her favorite romance novels.
"What are you staring at?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You're handsome, " she said and then blushed in embarrassment. How could she say those words into his face?
"I know, " he responded.
"I'm Clara. I owned that small coffee shop." She motioned behind her.
The man glanced at it, too.
"Aroma del Cielo? Too fancy, " he said with a smirk.
"My parents are coffee farmers. I thought of them when I was putting up this business of mine." Clara smiled at the memory.
When she glanced at his face, he was staring at her. Her heart skipped a beat.
"W-why? Is there something in my face?"
"You're beautiful."
She looked away and focused on putting alcohol on the cotton.
"T-thank you." She looked at him. "This is just going to sting a little."
"Go ahead."
She put his hand over hers as she tapped it lightly with the cotton bud.
"I'm Fuego."
Clara stared at his face once again.
"Hmm?"
"Just in case you're too shy to ask for my name."
"Ah." Clara nodded with a soft giggle. "Too uncommon for a man's name. But it suits you."
"I know."
"Does your hand still hurt?"
"It's nothing, " he replied with a shrug.
"You can drop by at my coffee shop when you are free tomorrow. I'll treat you for coffee."
"Is that indirectly saying you want to see me again? I'm sorry, but I don't believe in love at first sight."
Clara laughed.
"I see that you're a heartbreaker, Fuego."
"I know I said you're beautiful, but you look too young for my taste."
"Well, you're too old for my taste, either. Don't worry."
The police finally came, just in time for the robber to gain consciousness. Clara felt a little sad that she had to part ways with Fuego now.
"Don't forget to shower when you get home. You're going to catch flu, " Fuego said when the police car was gone.
Clara did not expect that. She could not help laughing.
"Thank you for reminding me."
He put on his helmet and mounted his big bike.
"Will I see you soon?" she asked.
"If fate would allow."
Clara could not help watching in awe as he kicked his motorcycle to life. He looked like a movie star. And just like his name, he was hot.
Carson and Mary Cris are two people marrying not because of love. Carson wants to keep his inheritance and double it if he was lucky, while Mary Cris wants to give honor to her tribe as the future leader. But things keep on going in the wrong track as the two clashed even at their first meeting! Well, Carson must tame his fierce wife if he wants the wedding to push through.
Due to the plight of her family, Phoebe had no choice but to embark on the path of selling herself. In an accident, she had a tangled night with Alexander. Everything began to derail, and even if she fled to the ends of the earth, she would still be found by him and entangled... *** Phoebe screamed in frustration, "What do you want from me?" What was this supposed to be? He raised an eyebrow wickedly. "What do I want? You'll find out soon enough." With that, he hoisted her up and carried her back into the office. The door slammed shut with a kick, and he cleared the desk with a sweep of his arm before laying her down on it, his body pinning hers in place, completely trapping her in his grasp. Every cell in his body was telling him he wanted her. He wanted to claim her again. This time, there would be no escape for her-he wouldn't let her slip away. Never again. If he had suffered for five years, then this woman wouldn't get off easily either!
"Love is blind!" Lucinda abandoned her beautiful and comfortable life because of a man. She married him and slaved off for him for three long years. One day, the scales finally fell off her eyes. She realized that all her efforts were in vain. Her husband, Nathaniel still treated her like shit. All he cared about was his lover. "Enough is enough! I quit wasting my years with an ungrateful man!" Lucinda's heart was shattered into many pieces, but she summoned up the courage to ask for a divorce. The news caused a stir online! A filthy rich young woman recently got divorced? She was a good catch! Countless CEOs and handsome young men immediately swarmed to her like bees to honey! Nathaniel couldn't take it anymore. He held a press conference and begged with teary eyes, "I love you, Lucinda. I can't live without you. Please come back to me." Would Lucinda give him a second chance? Read to find out!
Rosalynn's marriage to Brian wasn't what she envisioned it to be. Her husband, Brian, barely came home. He avoided her like a plague. Worse still, he was always in the news for dating numerous celebrities. Rosalynn persevered until she couldn't take it anymore. She upped and left after filing for a divorce. Everything changed days later. Brian took interest in a designer that worked for his company anonymously. From her profile, he could tell that she was brilliant and dazzling. He pulled the stops to find out her true identity. Little did he know that he was going to receive the greatest shocker of his life. Brian bit his finger with regret when he recalled his past actions and the woman he foolishly let go.
They don't know I'm a girl. They all look at me and see a boy. A prince. Their kind purchase humans like me for their lustful desires. And, when they stormed into our kingdom to buy my sister, I intervened to protect her. I made them take me too. The plan was to escape with my sister whenever we found a chance. How was I to know our prison would be the most fortified place in their kingdom? I was supposed to be on the sidelines. The one they had no real use for. The one they never meant to buy. But then, the most important person in their savage land-their ruthless beast king-took an interest in the "pretty little prince." How do we survive in this brutal kingdom, where everyone hates our kind and shows us no mercy? And how does someone, with a secret like mine, become a lust slave? . AUTHOR'S NOTE. This is a dark romance-dark, mature content. Highly rated 18+ Expect triggers, expect hardcore. If you're a seasoned reader of this genre, looking for something different, prepared to go in blindly not knowing what to expect at every turn, but eager to know more anyway, then dive in! . From the author of the international bestselling book: "The Alpha King's Hated Slave."
"There will be no falling in love, we will only act as a loving couple when we are in public, we will share a room to make it believable, but no intimacy, touching is off-limits. We'll only have sex once a month, and that's solely to produce an heir. You won't interfere in my business, and I won't interfere in yours. You will be my wife in every sense and you will not be involved with any other man," he said, arrogance seeping from every word. I watch his mouth move, I'm not ready to fall in love with any man, especially not one as arrogant and egoistic as him. I can handle acting as a loving couple, and as for intimacy once a month. I can agree to that just to satisfy my sexual cravings with no strings attached. "Where can I sign?" I asked since I had nothing to lose. *** Nadine's wedding dreams turned to nightmares when she caught her sister and fiancé cheating! With a secret recording, she's ready for revenge. But then mysterious billionaire Logan West offers a deal: A Contract Marriage to take down her ex's empire. But what Nadine doesn't know is her life is getting complicated as she takes her chance to get revenge or risks everything for a chance at love?"
In her previous life, Kimberly endured the betrayal of her husband, the cruel machinations of an evil woman, and the endless tyranny of her in-laws. It culminated in the bankruptcy of her family, and ultimately, her death. After being reborn, she resolved to seek retribution against those who had wronged her, and ensure her family's prosperity. To her shock, the most unattainable man from her past suddenly set his sights on her. "You may have overlooked me before, but I shall capture your heart this time around."