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"Oh, here he comes! You know him, right? Christopher Tao Xu, CEO of Xu Empires, Heir to the Golden Estate! I don't date broke guys!" Alia said to spite Stephen with a satisfying grip on her lips. After watching her relationship of three years go done the drain because her boyfriend cheated on her, Alia Moon Crust, trying to get back at him get Christopher entangled in a lovers' feud. But what happens when entanglement turns into love? Will Alia give in to Christopher? What happens when he finds out that she is the woman he has been chasing for two years? What happens when Stephen decides to strike back.
FIVE YEARS AGO
"Help!!! Please, help me!!!" I screamed at the top of my voice, tied up in a dark room with a light bulb at the center as the only source of light.
I have been kidnapped and it's only a week to my birthday. I don't want to die yet. I don't even know who or what kidnapped me. I struggled to free myself but it was all futile. I decided to give up and remain silent until someone could come rescue me, while searching around with my eyes.
Where is Christopher? I thought.
Just then, he walked in. Christopher? No, it wasn't. It was the man who would ruin my life forever.
"It's July 19th" the man said out loud as he walked closer to me, his shoes making a sound with each step he took. I couldn't make out a face just yet.
"Please, please help me!" I begged him at the top of my voice.
He got closer to me and lean in. Finally I could see his face. A scar! He had a scar underneath his left eye. It looked old but it made him more domineering. He had this psychotic smile and for a kidnapper, he sure was handsome. I didn't care about the details of his face because obviously I was in panic but the scent of his perfume and his well-fitted black suit told me he is rich. His appearance screamed of it.
"I will help you." echoed his voice in the entire room as he pulled away from my face and stood in a clear view where I could see him. We were in what looked like an old abandoned warehouse and it was the perfect place for a kidnap.
"Thank you. Thank you so much!" I thanked him. He let out a heavy laugh that echoed even more in the warehouse. It seemed like he was happy. Maybe he might let me go?
"That was a good one!" he said after the laugh.
"Please, I don't know anything about the business deal and I haven't done anything, so if you could please just let me go and I won't tell Christopher about all this!" I told him with tears streaming down my eyes. I was scared. I knew I had to be.
"Christopher? You absolutely think I'm worried or scared of Christopher?!" he asked in disbelief.
"I don't know. I...just want.. to be free." I said with a quivering voice and fear in my heart.
"Oh I'll free you Alia. I will free you!" he replied to me with a maniac look in his eyes.
"Can you let me go now?" I asked with fear.
"Not yet. The fun's just getting started. Christopher's still looking for you!" he responded with a sly smile on his lips.
"Which is the reason why you should just let me go!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
"Like I said, I will let you go but...not in the same way you came." he said and let out a psychotic smile.
"What do you mean?" I questioned him, this time more fearful than ever.
"Nothing." he said nonchalantly.
"If you try to do anything to me, Christopher will find you and he will end you!" I threatened.
He let out a long laugh and sighed.
"I heard...it's someone's birthday in a week!" he said cunningly.
"Please, don't kill me!" I begged profusely.
"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, happy death day..... Happy death day to you!" he sanged as he walked round me in circles. I couldn't help but shudder in fear. I began to cry because at this point, it was the only thing I could do.
"Please, please, please don't kill me. If it's about the business deal, I'll make sure you get it. Christopher will step down. Mark my words!" I tried to reason with him.
"Oh no! I don't want the business deal anymore. For all I care, he can have it. I have something much more precious to him." he replied.
"I give up." I said with tears streaming down my eyes. It was like an ocean in form of raindrops let loose.
"Give up? Why so easily?" he asked with interest on his face.
"Because...it seems to me that you have already made up your mind and trying to plead or reason with you anymore would be utterly stupid!" I said with a straight face.
"Smart girl!" he remarked with a smile on his face.
"What are you going to do to me? Kill me?" I asked, this time my tears had dried up and I had accepted my fate.
Christopher wasn't coming. I have to be brave.
"Killing you would be too easy Alia. I don't want to kill you." he responded.
"Then what?" I asked further.
"You sure are inquisitive for an artist. I see why Christopher likes you." he voiced out with a mischievous smile.
"Don't you dare say his name!" I screeched at him.
"Okay, okay. Easy there now. Fiesty! I like it!" he mumbled out loud to me.
"If you're not going to kill me then what are you going to do to me? It's funny how you are wasting all of your time to torture me. Christopher's gonna be here anytime soon." I fired at him.
"Who said I was going to torture you?" he asked me with arched eyebrows.
"Then what!!!" I screamed at him.
He let out a small laugh and leaned in to me. The scent of his perfume was breathtaking.
"I am going to give you a scar that will last you a lifetime!" he hinted and let out one of his psychotic smile.
"A scar? Like the one underneath your eyes?" I asked as he pulled away back to his previous position.
"Even better!" he muttered confidently.
"Make-up can fix it!" I assured him.
"Who said it's going to be on your face?" he asked again.
"Do you always speak so unclearly? It must be hard working for you when you can't say exactly what you want!" I said to spite him.
"Do you know what's worse than death for a woman?" he asked again.
"Oh good, more questions!" I replied to him.
He let out a scoff and proceeded to say "When her dignity gets taken away from her!"
I stopped to think. Making him angry wasn't my goal anymore. His words kept ringing in my ears. I was confused. What did he mean by her dignity? He saw the confused expression on my face and smiled in satisfaction.
Oh no! He wouldn't dare, would he?
"What?" was all I could mutter.
"Oh good, more questions!" he repeated my words back at me in a proud manner like he had finally won.
"I'm sorry what?" I couldn't help but ask again. Maybe I'm the one with the bad thought.
"What are you thinking?" he asked.
"Are you...going to...ra..pe me?" I shuddered to ask as a tear drop down from my eyes.
"There's the smart girl I know!" he replied.
"Why?" I wanted to know.
"You see Alia, for a person like Christopher, hurting their loved ones is the best way to ruin them." he answered with an air of certainty.
I breathed in, it was more of a sharp breath "And you think he would just let you live?" I asked.
"Death...I don't fear it...I await it. Christopher should." he replied to me confidently.
I prayed in my heart that Christopher would come, that he would find me and save me.
"Christopher will find me. I promise you!" I affirmed with hope in my heart.
"Don't you get it? There is no saving you because he can never find you!" he said out loud.
"You bastard!!!!" I screamed as he laughed and walked towards me, he bent down close my face and whispered into my ear.
"You would look gorgeous in a red dress."
He proceeded towards the exit with me screaming and crying at him.
"See you in seven days, Princess Alia!" were his final words as he walked off.
I waited...and waited.
Christopher never came...
And I wore the red dress.
"To Liam and Aurora... for your story will always live on in my heart." Aurora watched in horror as her father attacked her mother and charged at her to kill her. She never thought that her life would change on the night of the tragedy. She never imagined that one fateful night would change everything. When she begged Liam Anderson, a mysterious and powerful figure, to save her, she never imagined that he would offer her a marriage proposal in return. She was torn between her desperate need for safety and her reluctance to marry a man she hardly knew. Little did she know that accepting Liam's proposal would lead her into a world of romance, danger, and suspense, one where they would both have to fight for their life.
"Is-Is that a ring I see? Stephen, are you…engaged to her?" I stuttered, my voice trembling. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My mind was reeling, trying to process the reality of the situation. Alia's world is turned upside down when she discovers that her boyfriend of three years has been cheating on her. Filled with anger and hurt, she reluctantly attends a high society event, where she runs into Stephen again. They get into a bitter argument, and in a fit of pique, Alia claims that she has a new boyfriend - a man she doesn't even know. But this man, who turns out to be the dashing and enigmatic CEO of Xu Empires, Christopher Tao Xu, is more than happy to play along with Alia's charade. As Christopher and Alia continue their charade, they begin to develop real feelings for each other. But as they grow closer, Alia's ex-boyfriend, Stephen, becomes increasingly jealous and vengeful. He starts to plot against the blossoming relationship, putting Alia's safety in jeopardy. Will Alia and Christopher's love survive? Or will Stephen's scheming tear them apart?
“It all began in Casablanca, do you still remember?” the voice said. Stripped of everything he has and betrayed by his wife and bestfriend, a young, wealthy businessman sets out on a path of vengeance to get back what he's lost. Along the way, he discovers that the betrayal may have been part of a larger conspiracy, and he must decide whether to continue down his dark path or try to rebuild his life….but vengeance is a must!
“Get married to my son if you ever want your father to be released!” Mr. Carter uttered the very words that would end up turning my life around. I knew he wasn't joking. The look on his face was all the evidence I needed. I knew I had to do it because it was the only choice I have left, but... I'll not go down without a fight! "I, Althea Ruiz, swear on my life that I will never get married to Adam Wilson!" I said out loud, my voice echoing through the room. "We'll see about that!" Adam said through the phone. *With blood on the line and an arranged marriage as ransom, Althea has to make the most difficult choice of her life; abandon her boyfriend of six years and get married to a man that no one has seen for the last ten years. What could go wrong?
"Carroll Brown is dead! But you have to marry him in your sister's name." My mother said to me in a cold tone. My sister was engaged to the hottest billionaire. It should have been a perfect marriage. Unexpectedly, Carroll was dead in an accident. My sister didn't want to become a widow, so she forced me to marry her dead fiance. And I had no right to refuse her. Actually, I was the biological daughter of the Smith family. My sister was an adoptive one. My sister and I had been swapped at the hospital when we were just born. My parents had already had a deep relationship with her. So they chose to sacrifice me. On the wedding day, I was taken to the mourning hall. "Ma'am, please keep Master company and let him feel warm." The housekeeper said with a cold expression. I couldn't help but look up at the portrait above the coffin, and my heart skipped a beat at this glance. The man in the portrait was more handsome than the superstars in Hollywood. Carroll Brown? My dead husband? Wow, he was really handsome! I didn't know how long had passed when my stomach began to rebel. After one glance at the coffin, I swallowed my saliva and then begged with my fingers crossed. "Mr. Carroll, I'm starving! May I eat your pastries? You don't mind, do you?" "I do." "Ah!" Scared, I broke out in a cold sweat. My legs went limp, and I fell to the ground. I shouted, "Ghost!" Carroll curled his lips, leaned over, and touched the black coffin. "Mr. Carroll has risen from the dead. What do you think of this headline tomorrow?"
It took only a second for a person's world to come crashing down. This was what happened in Hannah's case. For four years, she gave her husband her all, but one day, he said emotionlessly, "Let's get divorced." Hannah's heart broke into a million pieces as she signed the divorce papers, marking the end of her role as a devoted wife. Within Hannah, a strong woman awakened, vowing never to be beholden to any man again. Embracing her new life, she embarked on a journey to find herself and command her own destiny. By the time she returned, she had experienced so much growth and was now completely different from the docile wife everyone once knew. "Is this your latest trick to get my attention?" Hannah's ever-so-arrogant husband asked. Before she could retort, a handsome and domineering CEO pulled her into his embrace. He smiled down at her and said boldly to her ex, "Just a little heads-up, mister. This is my beloved wife. Keep off!"
During her three years of marriage with Brendan, Adeline had become as humble as dust itself. However, what she got in return wasn't love and affection, but endless indifference and disdain. Worse yet, when the woman in Brendan's heart suddenly showed up, he further distanced himself from her. Finally, Adeline couldn't stand it anymore and asked for a divorce. After all, why should she stay with such a cold, distant man? The next one would surely be better. Brendan watched as his ex-wife left with her luggage in tow. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him and he made a bet with his friends. "She'll definitely regret leaving and will come crawling back to me in no time." After hearing about this bet, Adeline sneered. "Dream on!" A few days later, Brendan ran into his ex-wife in a bar. It turned out she was celebrating her divorce. Not long after, he noticed that the damned woman seemed to have a new suitor. Brendan was starting to panic. The woman who had clung to him for three years suddenly didn't seem to give a damn about him. What was he going to do?
"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?"
Ethan always viewed Nyla as a compulsive liar, while she saw him as aloof and insensitive. Nyla had cherished the notion that she was dear to Ethan, yet she felt coldly rejected when she realized her place in his heart was insignificant. No longer trying to break through his coldness, she stepped back, only for him to alter his approach unexpectedly. She challenged him, "If you trust me so little, why keep me around?" Ethan, who had once carried himself with pride, now stood before her with a humble plea. "Nyla, I've made mistakes. Please don't walk away from me."
For two years, Ashton had poured his heart into his marriage, yet Emalee's heart remained cold. Despite his dedication, Emalee presented him with divorce papers. She bluntly stated she could not remain married to a man whose net worth was less than a million dollars. Ashton signed the papers, closing one chapter of his life and stepping into a new beginning. Then, Ashton revealed his secret identities: a music mogul, a medical expert, and a martial arts master—each persona impressive enough to stun the world. As Ashton’s true capabilities came to light, Emalee was overwhelmed with deep regret.