Valerie's greatest regret was taking up a job to work as Edwin's personal secretary. It turned out that loyalty didn't mean a thing to him. When he got tired of her after everything she had done for him in the past five years, he transferred her to the branch office without batting an eye. It was said that working at the branch office was harder. However, Valerie found herself enjoying every bit of it. She was happy because she was finally away from that jinx of a boss. A handsome hunk took interest in her. At the same time, she discovered that her father was a dying billionaire. All she had to do was nod and she would inherit his wealth. Life was full of ups and downs. As it turned out, working for Edwin was her down. Their paths didn't cross until some days later at a cocktail party. Edwin-who was so full of himself-sneered, "I see that you still haven't gotten over me. You even followed me to this party. How desperate can you be?" Valerie scoffed and clicked her tongue. "Hey, Edwin. I don't recall inviting you here." "Say what now? Oh, I see that the heartbreak affected your brain. You should seek help," Edwin retorted with a smirk.
Valerie Reese awoke with a frown. Groaning in discomfort, she rolled over, and her hand landed on something warm. Only then did she realize that a man was sleeping next to her.
With clenched teeth, she sat up and flipped on the nightstand light. Beside her, the man sighed deeply out of frustration.
The dim light from the lamp illuminated his bare back as well as the side of his face.
Valerie crept to the closet, changed, and returned to the bed's edge, where she reached out to gently touch the man's back.
"Mr. Layfield, it's already six in the morning. You have a meeting at seven-thirty."
The man swatted her hand away and growled hoarsely, "Go away!"
Valerie, who had long since gotten used to his temper, got to her feet with an air of nonchalance.
Quietly, she made her way downstairs to the kitchen to prepare some breakfast. Without waking the man, she finished her food and left the house. She then took a cab to the company.
During the day, she worked as the chief secretary of Edwin Layfield, the CEO of the Layfield Group. At night, she was his bed partner.
Valerie arrived at the company and soon got everything ready. Her gaze remained icy as she waited for Edwin outside the conference room. Everyone who walked by her spoke to her in a respectful and fawning tone.
Two minutes before the start of the meeting, the CEO's exclusive elevator chimed.
Valerie breathed a sigh of relief but remained rooted in her spot.
Edwin's towering stature of about 6.5 feet contributed to his authoritative demeanor and he always had a stone-cold facade that made him appear untouchable.
When compared to him, Valerie's height of 5.5 feet suddenly seemed somewhat diminutive.
Edwin ignored her completely, as though the man who had sex with her the night before was someone else entirely.
The meeting lasted for quite some time. Valerie had to leave in the middle of it to go to the secretary's office and order breakfast for Edwin.
She was scanning the menu when her fellow secretary, Marisa Kendall, walked up to her and asked, "Valerie, have you checked Mr. Layfield's afternoon schedule?"
Valerie looked at her with furrowed brows. "Is there something wrong?"
Marisa made a clicking noise with her tongue and murmured softly, "Later, Mr. Layfield is scheduled to have dinner with Brent, the president of SHINE Corporation."
It took a while for Valerie to remember who Brent was.
Brent Clark was well known for his tendency to sexually harass female employees. There was even one time when he drugged another company's secretary and forced her to sleep with him. Rumor had it that he also tried to harass Edwin's aunt, Ivanna Layfield, before.
Edwin always took one of his secretaries with him to business dinners. Because the others were reluctant to go with him, Marisa approached Valerie to ask her about it.
"Don't worry. I don't think Mr. Layfield will take any of us with him," Valerie said nonchalantly.
As soon as she was done speaking, someone opened the door to the secretary's office. A colleague stuck her head in and looked around until her eyes landed on Valerie.
"Valerie, Mr. Layfield wants to see you."
Valerie promptly completed her order and left the secretary's office without changing her countenance.
She had been Edwin's secretary for five years. Not long after she joined the company, they had sex in the lounge, marking the beginning of their odd arrangement. She had dealt with several difficult clients over the past few years, but he had never asked her to engage in shady activity.
When Valerie entered his office, Edwin did not even look at her. He continued signing documents as he instructed, "Get ready. You're joining me for dinner tonight."
Valerie froze.
When she still did not respond, Edwin finally raised his head and looked at her with a frown. "Valerie?"
Valerie snapped out of her reverie and finally replied, "Yes, sir."
The man threw a folder at her and demanded, "How long have you been working for me?"
She did not know why he was asking that, but she nonetheless answered, "Five years."
"You've been working for me for a long time, so you should know your place by now. Do your job properly, will you?"
"Of course, sir."
Valerie left the office with a straight face. Her hands were cold and trembling.
It seemed that Edwin had gotten tired of her and was looking for an excuse to give her to another man.
She went back to the secretary's office, where she snacked on grapes all afternoon. Before the office hours ended, she stuffed a dagger in her bag.
If Brent drugged her, she would stab herself to wake up.
Yelena discovered that she wasn't her parents' biological child. After seeing through their ploy to trade her as a pawn in a business deal, she was sent away to her barren birthplace. There, she stumbled upon her true origins—a lineage of historic opulence. Her real family showered her with love and adoration. In the face of her so-called sister's envy, Yelena conquered every adversity and took her revenge, all while showcasing her talents. She soon caught the attention of the city's most eligible bachelor. He cornered Yelena and pinned her against the wall. "It's time to reveal your true identity, darling."
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.
Everyone was shocked to the bones when the news of Rupert Benton's engagement broke out. It was surprising because the lucky girl was said to be a plain Jane, who grew up in the countryside and had nothing to her name. One evening, she showed up at a banquet, stunning everyone present. "Wow, she's so beautiful!" All the men drooled, and the women got so jealous. What they didn't know was that this so-called country girl was actually an heiress to a billion-dollar empire. It wasn't long before her secrets came to light one after the other. The elites couldn't stop talking about her. "Holy smokes! So, her father is the richest man in the world?" "She's also that excellent, but mysterious designer who many people adore! Who would have guessed?" Nonetheless, people thought that Rupert didn't love her. But they were in for another surprise. Rupert released a statement, silencing all the naysayers. "I'm very much in love with my beautiful fiancee. We will be getting married soon." Two questions were on everyone's minds: "Why did she hide her identity? And why was Rupert in love with her all of a sudden?"
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."
Rena got into an entanglement with a big shot when she was drunk one night. She needed Waylen's help while he was drawn to her youthful beauty. As such, what was supposed to be a one-night stand progressed into something serious. All was well until Rena discovered that Waylen's heart belonged to another woman. When his first love returned, he stopped coming home, leaving Rena all alone for many nights. She put up with it until she received a check and farewell note one day. Contrary to how Waylen expected her to react, Rena had a smile on her face as she bid him farewell. "It was fun while it lasted, Waylen. May our paths never cross. Have a nice life." But as fate would have it, their paths crossed again. This time, Rena had another man by her side. Waylen's eyes burned with jealousy. He spat, "How the hell did you move on? I thought you loved only me!" "Keyword, loved!" Rena flipped her hair back and retorted, "There are plenty of fish in the sea, Waylen. Besides, you were the one who asked for a breakup. Now, if you want to date me, you have to wait in line." The next day, Rena received a credit alert of billions and a diamond ring. Waylen appeared again, got down on one knee, and uttered, "May I cut in line, Rena? I still want you."
Lindsey's fiancé was the devil's first son. Not only did he lie to her but he also slept with her stepmother, conspired to take away her family fortune, and then set her up to have sex with a total stranger. To get her lick back, Lindsey decided to find a man to disrupt her engagement party and humiliate the cheating bastard. Never did she imagine that she would bump into a strikingly handsome stranger who was all that she was currently looking for. At the engagement party, he boldly declared that she was his woman. Lindsey thought he was just a broke man who wanted to leech off her. But once they began their fake relationship, she realized that good luck kept coming her way. She thought they would part ways after the engagement party, but this man kept to her side. "We gotta stick together, Lindsey. Remember, I'm now your fiancé. " "Domenic, you're with me because of my money, aren't you?" Lindsey asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Domenic was taken aback by that accusation. How could he, the heir of the Walsh family and CEO of Vitality Group, be with her for money? He controlled more than half of the city's economy. Money wasn't a problem for him! The two got closer and closer. One day, Lindsey finally realized that Domenic was actually the stranger she had slept with months ago. Would this realization change things between them? For the better or worse?