What happens when Ariana Santiago, gets a letter from her father after about 14 years of banishment, to return home and see her dying mother, one last time. Will this be the start of her tribulations that she has to endure under the hands of a lackadaisical father, and a wicked step mother, bent on taking all her inheritance. She meets Ryan, who constantly steps on her toes, and challenges her, making her to hate him with so much passion, but when passion and wants begin to spark up between the both of them, a secret dark and nasty might be what will eventually drive their story to an end? What is the deep dark secret? Who is the conspirator behind her mum's death? Are there all thorns and no roses in her life? Find out in this thrilling and captivating steamy book.
A MONTH AGO
It was a sunny afternoon as Ariana was packing her clothes into her Ecolag It was finally summer when the school had vacates. She looked at her calendar on the wall. It was the last day of school. Finally, she was done with college. She looked around the room, taking in the place once more. This has been her home for four years, and now she hated the fact that she was leaving and going home. Home! The word sounded grave, she hasn't been home in seven years. Her father had banned her from coming home, after an incident happened and she proved stubborn, so for the past three years when she was still in high school, she lived with her aunt Lily, at her home, before she entered college. In college, she stopped visiting her aunt, and started staying in school even at holiday time, she had a few friends, she wasn't the outgoing type and the only reason she knew them, was because of an assignment that they were paired with.
Ariana closed her bag, as she went to the window and looked outside. She could see her fellow graduating students, laughing with their parents and taking pictures. She had no one to do it with. She knew that her dad wouldn't come, he never cared about her, and her mum.... her mum was the reason she was going back home. She walked to the table and retrieved the short letter, that her dad had his secretary draft out for him.
She reopened it for the hundredth time that day, and read.
"Good day, Ariana Rose Santiago, your mother is very sick, come home as soon as you get this, and see her. Goodbye. From Mr. David Aaron Santiago."
She heaved a deep sigh, her father doesn't care about her, now she knew, at first, she always made excuses, saying that her dad was a busy man, and he works hard, to get money to support the house, but her dad was a rich man before he even married my mother. He was so stinking rich, that almost everybody knew him, in the business world and beyond.
She dropped the letter in her bag, as she carried the last of her things, looking one last time to make sure you that she wasn't forgetting anything, she pulled her Ecolag and walked out of the room.
She reached the airport, in less than an hour. Her flight was scheduled to take off at exactly 5:30 pm, and it was already after 5.
She got to the terminal when she heard some people shouting her name.
"Ariana! Ariana! Wait, don't go. Wait for us. She could hear them yelling, the voices sounded familiar. Could it be?" She wondered as she paused in her tracks.
She turned back and saw that it was her friends. They had reached her, and they were panting.
"Aurora, Azaria, Leo, Liam, what the hell are you doing here?" Arianaasked surprised.
Aurora was the first to regain, her breath. "You! how dare you? you were leaving without telling us." Aurora said as she pointed a finger at Ariana.
"I thought you guys had left, I went to your dorms this morning, but I couldn't find any of you guys. Wait, how did you guys find me?" Ariana said.
"By your GPS in your phone. And the reason you didn't see us is thatwe were up all day, searching for the perfect presents for you. Azariasaid bursting out the secret.
"AZARIA!" The three of them yelled in unison.
"Oops, sorry, my bad," Azaria said sheepishly.
"Wait, what? You all were getting a gift for me, why? Is it an occasion? What happened, did we win something...." Ariana asked looking at them for answers.
"No silly, it isn't. I...we just decided to get you something for your graduation, and we did. Ta-da!" Leo said giving her a big bag.
"It is from all of us, well, we each dropped something inside the bag, also with letters from each one of us," Liam said as Ariana gasped.
"Oh my God, thank you so much," Ariana said as she hugged them one after the other.
After the hug, Ariana was emotional already.
"Oh come on, don't cry, if you cry, you are going to make me cry too," Azaria said as she tried to wipe Ariana's tears away.
"And me too. I don't want to cry too" Aurora said sniffling.
The boys rolled their eyes and said. "Girls and their unnecessary drama."
"Hey, don't talk about us, that way. We do not act unnecessary drama. Oh, by the way, we almost forgot. There are some instructions attached to the presents."
"Oh okay, what is that? Ariana asked curiously.
"Do not open the presents immediately you get home. Just randomly open it, on a random day, whenever you are feeling happy, angry, or sad. Okay. The presents are going to help you with it. Aurora said.
"Oh, just randomly? That is a strange request, but sure. No problem, I am going to do as you said. Thanks, guys, I appreciate it. Ariana said as the speaker started announcing.
"The plane for California leaves in exactly 10 minutes, so passengers heading to California should start entering the plane before the doors are locked.
"Guys, that is my plane, I need to start going okay. Ariana said as she tried to pick up her.
"Wait! One last group hug before you leave. Liam said as everyone came in for the hug. The hug lasted for about three whole minutes before Ariana started pulling away.
"Guys, I need to go now. Bye. Ariana said as she finally pulled out of the hug, and took her.
Don't forget to call us okay. Aurora said.
"And don't forget to watch out for yourself okay. Azaria added.
"Greet your family for me. Leo yelled.
"Don't forget we are always here when you need us. We are just one call away. Liam said as they all waved at her.
Ariana turned back and waved one last time before entering the plane.
"Do you think that she will be okay? Leo asked as they all turned to leave.
"No, she is not. But we shall only hope. Azaria said as they left the airport.
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."
I received a pornographic video. "Do you like this?" The man speaking in the video is my husband, Mark, whom I haven't seen for several months. He is naked, his shirt and pants scattered on the ground, thrusting forcefully on a woman whose face I can't see, her plump and round breasts bouncing vigorously. I can clearly hear the slapping sounds in the video, mixed with lustful moans and grunts. "Yes, yes, fuck me hard, baby," the woman screams ecstatically in response. "You naughty girl!" Mark stands up and flips her over, slapping her buttocks as he speaks. "Stick your ass up!" The woman giggles, turns around, sways her buttocks, and kneels on the bed. I feel like someone has poured a bucket of ice water on my head. It's bad enough that my husband is having an affair, but what's worse is that the other woman is my own sister, Bella. ************************************************************************************************************************ “I want to get a divorce, Mark,” I repeated myself in case he didn't hear me the first time—even though I knew he'd heard me clearly. He stared at me with a frown before answering coldly, "It's not up to you! I'm very busy, don't waste my time with such boring topics, or try to attract my attention!" The last thing I was going to do was argue or bicker with him. "I will have the lawyer send you the divorce agreement," was all I said, as calmly as I could muster. He didn't even say another word after that and just went through the door he'd been standing in front of, slamming it harshly behind him. My eyes lingered on the knob of the door a bit absentmindedly before I pulled the wedding ring off my finger and placed it on the table. I grabbed my suitcase, which I'd already had my things packed in and headed out of the house.
A sudden twist of fate connected Helena to a prominent and influential person. To onlookers, she appeared as a naive bimbo. In truth, she was a top-tier specialist, shrouded in layers of hidden identities. Charlie declared, “She’s quite delicate and easily hurt. Cross her, and you’re crossing me.” The elite families, outwitted by Helena's prowess, kept these truths from him. Helena eventually broke free from Charlie, sending him on a frenzied worldwide hunt. To him, she was a bird with dazzling wings, and his goal was to help her reach new heights.Â
Joelle thought she could change Adrian's heart after three years of marriage, but she realized too late that it already belonged to another woman. "Give me a baby, and I'll set you free." The day Joelle went into labor, Adrian was traveling with his mistress on his private jet. "I don't care whom you love. My debt is paid. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other." Not long after Joelle left, Adrian found himself begging on his knees. "Please come back to me."
Rumors claimed that Fernanda, newly back with her family, was nothing more than a violent country bumpkin. Fernanda just flashed a casual, dismissive grin in response. Another rumor suggested that the usually rational Cristian had lost all sense, madly in love with Fernanda. This frustrated her. She could tolerate gossip about herself, but slander against her beloved crossed the line! Gradually, as Fernanda's multiple identities as a celebrated designer, a savvy gamer, an acclaimed painter, and a successful business magnate came to light, everyone realized they were the ones who had been fooled.
The day Lilah found out that she was pregnant, she caught her fiancé cheating on her. Her remorseless fiancé and his mistress almost killed her. Lilah fled for her dear life. When she returned to her hometown five years later, she happened to save a little boy's life. The boy's father turned out to be the world's richest man. Everything changed for Lilah from that moment. The man didn't let her experience any inconvenience. When her ex-fiancé bullied her, he crushed the scumbag's family and also rented out an entire island just to give Lilah a break from all the drama. He also taught Lilah's hateful father a lesson. He crushed all her enemies before she even asked. When Lilah's vile sister threw herself at him, he showed her a marriage certificate and said, "I'm happily married and my wife is much more beautiful than you are!" Lilah was shocked. "When did we ever get married? Last I checked, I was still single." With a wicked smile, he said, "Honey, we've been married for five years. Isn't it about time we had another child together?" Lilah's jaw dropped to the floor. What the hell was he talking about?