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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.
Linsey was stood up by her groom to run off with another woman. Furious, she grabbed a random stranger and declared, "Let's get married!" She had acted on impulse, realizing too late that her new husband was the notorious rascal, Collin. The public laughed at her, and even her runaway ex offered to reconcile. But Linsey scoffed at him. "My husband and I are very much in love!" Everyone thought she was delusional. Then Collin was revealed to be the richest man in the world. In front of everyone, he got down on one knee and held up a stunning diamond ring. "I look forward to our forever, honey."
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."
“Drive this woman out!” "Throw this woman into the sea!” When he doesn’t know Debbie Nelson’s true identity, Carlos Hilton cold-shoulders her. “Mr. Hilton, she is your wife,” Carlos’ secretary reminded him. Hearing that, Carlos gives him a cold stare and complained, “why didn’t you tell me earlier?” From then on, Carlos spoils her rotten. Little did everyone expect that they would get a divorce.
Dear readers, this book has resumed daily updates. It took Sabrina three whole years to realize that her husband, Tyrone didn't have a heart. He was the coldest and most indifferent man she had ever met. He never smiled at her, let alone treated her like his wife. To make matters worse, the return of the woman he had eyes for brought Sabrina nothing but divorce papers. Sabrina's heart broke. Hoping that there was still a chance for them to work on their marriage, she asked, "Quick question,Tyrone. Would you still divorce me if I told you that I was pregnant?" "Absolutely!" he responded. Realizing that she didn't mean shit to him, Sabrina decided to let go. She signed the divorce agreement while lying on her sickbed with a broken heart. Surprisingly, that wasn't the end for the couple. It was as if scales fell off Tyrone's eyes after she signed the divorce agreement. The once so heartless man groveled at her bedside and pleaded, "Sabrina, I made a big mistake. Please don't divorce me. I promise to change." Sabrina smiled weakly, not knowing what to do...
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.
Elisa watched as the most important people in her life showered the evil imposter-The fake heiress, with love. Elisa, the lost daughter of one of the most wealthiest family was found 18 years later and was brought back to her rightful home. However, someone had already taken her place. A fake heiress, the pampered little princess. Her coy acting and innocent façade made Elisa's real mother love her more than Elisa, her real daughter. That made Elisa, though, the true daughter end up as an adopted child. "Elisa, could you try not to appear in front of her too much as it could trigger her insecurities." Her parents had told her because of the fake heiress. "Elisa, You've taken everything away from her. Why can't you give her a little more?" Her fiancé had ordered her. Because of an unfortunate accident plotted by Isabelle-The fake heiress, Elisa was sent to prison and her family cut ties with her without a second thought. Four years, after much torture which led to her being crippled and blind on one eye, she was released, but got hit by a truck. While laying on the pool of her blood, she wanted to question, Why? Why had they all treated her so cruelly, while they love Isabelle unconditionally? She badly wanted to rip off Isabelle's mask of innocence, to reveal the fake, manipulative woman beneath. She was full of hatred. But after her death, she woke up back to when she was 18 years like all that happened were all nightmare. She was elated. She was reborn to re-live all that had happened in her last life, but now, her mission was to reveal mask beneath that woman and make everyone that made her suffer in her past life pay. It was her time for revenge! And definitely, she won't mess this up!