Poor Don Presley finds himself battling for his successful boxing girlfriend Nicolette Dayton against a rich businessman, Danny O'Reilly. Out of the blue, after days of turmoil between the two lovers, Nicolette gives Don a great night's sexy orgy, but Don is devastated in the morning when he learns she wants a breakup and there are conditions: they'll become friends and help each other find love. When the charming and arrogant Danny O'Reilly asks Nicolette out she turns him down and Dan vows to break them apart. He hates that they are still friends and seeks a way to put an end to their friendship. Don realizes breaking up with Nicolette was the best thing for him as his success turns out for the best. But is money and success worth more than the love he has for her? It is a story of true love, of suffering, and commitment despite the obstacles of life.
He was handsome, in his raggedy way. That was what Nicolette 'Summertime' Dayton thought when she paused by the entrance to watch her boyfriend, Don Presley, deliver a poem from the raised platform of the Spunken Theatre. He shook his long hair out of his hypnotic blue eyes lazily, giving the impression he was high on some drug, although she knew he was sober as a judge on a Monday. His sonorous voice rang clear and true, yet slurred and caressing. It rose high, then went low, swaying the crowd.
He took them to those depths and heights only known to poets and those who follow their poetic gospel.
He spread his arms, embracing them all. His face told a story of unfermented love,
"But you held me in my darkest,
Your love true as the sun's rays in summer,
We made love out of pieces of our broken hearts,
The shears and guns we melted into jewelry,
From the thorns, we grew roses..."
Nicolette had listened to the same poem sung a million times yet she still found it moving. Just like the first time she had heard it. She wiped a tear and moved from the door, cheering loudly. Her voice was choked with something deep, as deep as true love could infect it. She caught his attention, and he turned to address only her, his eyes devoured the distance between them until she felt he was looking directly into her eyes,
"An oasis in the desert, I found in you,
Broken, I found healing,
My heartbeat,
I'll love you better tomorrow,
Under the stars, we'll drink our fill..."
He knelt on the stage and blew her a kiss. He turned towards the crowd, engaging them, inviting them to be part of the poem. They responded, and became one with him. Everyone was on their feet, shouting and held helplessly by the enchantress in his voice. When it ended the audience went up in a roar. Nicolette wiped the tears with the back of her hand. It was a great performance.
*****
"Now that was awesome. But the other bit about oasis and deserts, that was made up. I know this poem as intimately as I know my name isn't Bob Marley," began Nicolette quizzically eyeing her boyfriend as they say later in her car.
"No, it wasn't made up, it was from the heart," he winked at her, "for the most beautiful woman in the universe."
"Oh sweetheart," she purred sweetly then reached across towards him, "Come to mamma, come and get a warm one." They hugged from their seats.
"So, how did your day go? Ready for the fight tomorrow?" He asked trying to cover up the awkward moment after disentangling.
"Of course, we have been training hard with Mr. O. He's a great coach, honey!"
Don couldn't resist it. Looking outside to take the edge off his sarcasm he attacked,
"Sure he's good, laying his filthy hands all over you. Do all trainers do that?"
Here we go, thought Nicolette. Aloud, as airy as a fairy,
"Oh yes, he's good. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here today, would I?"
"Sure, there's a price for everything, and you're willing to pay it, aren't you?" He turned towards her and continued,
"We both know you could have picked up another trainer. There's Joyce. She's good but no, you don't want her. You'd rather be with that vile pig and put our relationship on the rocks protecting him!"
"Please," she begged.
"Why would anyone call themselves Mr. O moment? That's pretty vulgar!" he fumed.
"That's exaggerated, he's not Mr. O moment." she protested lamely.
He turned to look at her. He couldn't believe her naivety.
"Why do you always have a problem with me?" She asked.
"I don't have a problem with you, I have a problem with the way you relate with your so-called associations!" He fired back.
"I'm tired of these fights!" She replied.
"Look, I don't mean to...,"
"Ouch!" She interrupted.
He left the words hanging in the air and decided to shut up. He wondered why there was such a huge wall between them. Don felt that she deliberately chose not to listen to him. He felt that she was going out of her way to be difficult.
Nicolette looked straight ahead. She desperately tried to think of something to say but words failed her. She couldn't understand why he always found a way to spoil a good time. Always had a little something to disapprove. He was so insecure. They drove in silence, the tension seeping into their hearts, sowing its poisonous seeds.
****
Don woke up feeling a slight headache. The night before had been sour-sweet as always. They'd gone home, to her place. Both of them were ravenous even after the meal they'd had after the show. They always went to her place. He'd made a quick dinner for both of them. The duo had eaten their meal in silence. He'd decided to go back to his place afterward.
He picked up his phone and quickly went through his WhatsApp messages. Nothing from her. He clicked on her name and typed a message, but deleted it again and with a sigh, dropped the phone back on the table.
They had been dating for three years now. Fightings and misunderstandings were the order of the day for them. Their relationship strived on it. The toxicity was the lubricant that kept their love wheels turning. Admittedly, he had failed to make her happy. Hadn't she told him numerous times that she wanted to be married? She always said something about what a man must do for his woman yet he knew he had failed to give her even half of the things she wanted.
He didn't understand what stopped him from getting married to her. It could have been the financial constraints that beleaguered him relentlessly. All he knew was something always held him back. Maybe it was the double standards he felt she kept. He knew he wanted to be married-he craved for it. Don knew he didn't mind falling in love in the morning and getting married later in the day but for some reason, he had stalled short of getting married to her. He couldn't understand what it was but it was there, a force that held him back. Don sighed sadly, for he was in love with her–or so he thought.
His bedroom was cold and gloomy. Don promised himself to move out to a livelier place, just like he had done the last one hundred times. He wasn't into moving in and out of places. He was a man who enjoyed a sense of permanency in life.
Looking around, he realized how much he hated his own life. The house he rented was cold, even on the hottest of days. This coldness about it went beyond literal temperature. He could be in this house on a vest and the fan battling to cool the air while he sipped iced juice and still feel the coldness of the room. The furniture was mostly old pieces either bought at some local auction or one he'd had for a long time. Needless to say, every piece of his furniture had outstayed its longevity. His very life, just like his furniture, was a mangled mess. It reeked of failure, unrealized dreams, and numerous forsaken projects either from lack of money or some other reason. At times he did admit, that he lacked consistency. Partly he was right, that is both ways. His financial challenges were the major reason he failed but he also lacked the fire to see his projects through. Was he not an amazing poet and a good actor?
He lacked the will to persevere against the odds that came with success. It was the only thing that could save him: perseverance. But again it could have been his lack of motivation-something he could live for. Something to add meaning to his life. He realized it was the reason why he needed Nicolette so much, to fill that void in him. To find a reason to get up every morning and fight to write his own success story. He sighed again and slid a disk into his music player. It was some trending jam from one of those fly-by-night artists. Picking his towel, he went out to the bathroom for his bath.
After hiding her true identity throughout her three-year marriage to Colton, Allison had committed wholeheartedly, only to find herself neglected and pushed toward divorce. Disheartened, she set out to rediscover her true self-a talented perfumer, the mastermind of a famous intelligence agency, and the heir to a secret hacker network. Realizing his mistakes, Colton expressed his regret. "I know I messed up. Please, give me another chance." Yet, Kellan, a once-disabled tycoon, stood up from his wheelchair, took Allison's hand, and scoffed dismissively, "You think she'll take you back? Dream on."
Veronica is an eighteen-year-old omega who falls into an emotional breakdown when her Mate, who was soon to be the Alpha of the Sun crest pack, turns against her, hurls hurtful words at her, and rejects her on the night of the full moon festival because he and everyone in the pack, including her, thinks she is an omega. As if the pain of rejection, helplessness, and worthlessness wasn't enough, she lost her best and only friend to the cold hands of death when rogue wolves attacked their pack. Right in the presence of her mate, she was tagged as someone who always attracted problems and calamities anywhere she went and he turned a blind eye and watched as she was banished from the pack. With hatred for her life, she runs deep into the woods that were off-limits and jumps off to end her life, but in a turn of events, something else happens. What would her mate do when he finds out that Veronica is not who he thinks she is? Will she be able to forgive him? What fate lies ahead for them?
For three years, Shane and Yvonne were wed, sharing heated nights, while his devotion clung to his ex. Yvonne strove to be a dutiful wife, yet their marriage felt hollow, built on desire rather than real warmth. All changed when she became pregnant, only for Shane to thrust her onto the operating table, warning, “Either you or the baby survives!” Broken by his cruelty, she vanished in grief and later returned, radiantly accomplished, leaving everyone awestruck. Haunted by remorse, Shane begged for another chance, but Yvonne only smiled and replied, “I’m sorry, men no longer interest me.”
"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!
After two years of marriage, Sadie was finally pregnant. Filled with hope and joy, she was blindsided when Noah asked for a divorce. During a failed attempt on her life, Sadie found herself lying in a pool of blood, desperately calling Noah to ask him to save her and the baby. But her calls went unanswered. Shattered by his betrayal, she left the country. Time passed, and Sadie was about to be wed for a second time. Noah appeared in a frenzy and fell to his knees. "How dare you marry someone else after bearing my child?"
"You were about to cum in me." I said and sat up. That's when I felt a stinging pain across my ear as my hand caressed my face, then the realization hit me- he had slapped me, Lee had just slapped me. #Sex. Lies. Money. Power. *** Jessie, after finding out her fiance had married another woman, decides to have a one-night stand with his uncle, only to find herself married to him. But despite being married to his uncle, she was still attracted to him, so she started secretly seeing him. Well, the uncle wasn't willing to give her up now, not after he vowed to always be by her side; now she had two men fighting for her. And the woman her ex-fiance married wasn't just going to give up on him. Will Jessie realize old flames can never be and live a peaceful life with her new billionaire husband, or will Jade succeed in winning her back?