Victoria dedicated the last three years of her life to the man she loved. When she receives the news that she is pregnant, she discovers that Lucca left her for his old love. Expelled from home, Victoria returns to her hometown, however, upon discovering that Lucca may be involved in her father's death, Victoria decides to take revenge! Lucca thought his life had gotten back on track, however, he finds himself reluctant to sign the divorce papers. "And I don't even like her!" He keeps telling himself. But he is not so sure anymore, not only because Victoria is away, but because she seems to have found someone else!
VICTORIA
"Oh, please! Do you really think you can compare to Alice?" His tone of voice was cruel, as was the light in his eyes that now stared at me as he spoke harsh words.
"Lucca, I'm your wife!" I fought back. How could he talk to me like that?
He let out a dismissive chuckle and looked me up and down. At that moment, I thought my heart was going to explode with so much sadness. It was as if there was an iron hand holding it so that it wouldn't beat, suffocating me.
"Against my will! I was stupid enough to accept my grandfather's orders, and after all the circus you created, I ended up accepting this stupid marriage!" He took a step towards me, his eyes, which had always been so clear, were now dark as night. "I love Alice! I have always loved her and always will!"
"L-lucca..." I didn't even know what to say and I felt my legs getting weak. To keep from collapsing altogether, I dropped to my knees.
"Baby... don't be so cruel. Vicky had been your wife for those last three years...," Alice's condescending voice disgusted me. I looked up and could see the look of fake sadness on her face, which she complimented with pout. The expression on Lucca's face changed completely.
"I never loved her, Alice. I'm sorry I got married to her," he caressed the woman's face with a tenderness with which he never showed me. Then he turned to me. The contempt was almost palpable. "Pack your bags. My lawyer will look for you so we can sign the divorce papers. When I return home, I don't want to see you here anymore."
He told Alice that he was going to the office to get some documents he needed and asked her to wait for him. As soon as he was out of sight, she looked at me scornfully.
"Did you really think he would come to like you, one day?" Ah, there was the real Alice! I had met her before, but I didn't know she was with Lucca at the time. She was always extremely nasty and fake. I preferred to remain silent. "He hates your guts. And whenever he touched you, he thought of me. He told me himself."
I really wanted to give an answer at that time, but Lucca came back and I wouldn't give her any more ammunition. Alice immediately threw herself to the ground when he was looking at his cell phone. He widened his eyes and turned to me, angrily.
"What did you do to her?" He gave me a slight push.
"Baby, it's okay. She... it's normal for her to be angry! Don't blame her."
"I should kill her for touching you, Alice!" He did something he had never done in all our years of marriage: he raised his hand at me, as if he was actually going to hit me! But Alice held his arm and whispered something in his ear. He quickly calmed down. "You're lucky Alice is so good! I won't forgive a second time!"
Lucca stood up with Alice in his arms, turned around and Alice glanced over her shoulder at me. She was smiling, that snake!
I wanted to tell Lucca that I was pregnant. After three years of marriage, always taking contraceptive injections on his orders, I had never had a child. However, I was so shaken by my father's death that I completely forgot to go back to the gynecologist. When I returned, she asked me for the usual pregnancy test, and that was when I knew there was a little baby inside me.
I don't even know how long I stayed there on that floor, but I was picked up by Ana, the lady who took care of our house. She was the housekeeper.
"Come on, madam. Let me help you," she looked at me with pity in her eyes and I knew she was genuine. Ana welcomed me very well from the first moment I stepped into that house and was always there for me.
I allowed her to help me and together we went up to my room. She didn't say anything else, after all, what was there for her to say?
I had married Lucca Mancini when I was nineteen. My father and his grandfather had an excellent relationship, as they were long-time friends. When Lucca's girlfriend went abroad, he was devastated and his grandfather, who had already been suggesting that he get married, recommended it should be me.
There was no dating and I only found out about the situation from his girlfriend - mind you, my family lives in another city! I didn't live around Lucca, I had only seen him a few times and I always thought he was really handsome! - when we got married. Well, to be more precise, after our wedding night. It was at the same moment he told me he didn't love me. And that I should never get pregnant, or he would make sure I aborted the child.
I was young and I ended up accepting it. Because now, remembering that and how he humiliated me for that woman... I felt so... so ridiculous! How could have I been so dumb?
I placed my hand on my belly. Before, I only took care of myself and could accept humiliation, give up on everything. I spent all this time begging for his love and for what? So that he would get rid of me at the first opportunity! Very well... I would fight for my child! That feeling of maternal love burned inside me and it was from there that I drew my strength.
"Thank you, Ana, for everything," I said as soon as we finished closing my last suitcase. I wouldn't take anything he had given me.
I was grateful to have finished computer science and be able to run my dad's company by myself.
"Madaml... maybe the boss wasn't serious," she said to me, but seeing Lucca tied to that woman, kissing her, in addition to the humiliating words... no, I was disappointed! Not only with him, but with myself for letting myself stay in that situation for so long! And he even had the courage to raise his hand to me... That was unacceptable!
"It doesn't matter anymore, Ana. What he did is done. I don't want this for myself anymore."
I thought Ana would try to convince me otherwise, but she smiled hugely, like a proud mother. This moved me, as it showed how much she liked me.
"Can I give you a hug, madam?" She asked me, opening her arms.
"No, not Madam. You. And yes, Ana, I really want a hug from you!" I hugged her tightly.
We got out of the house and I had already called for a taxi. I didn't tell Ana about the pregnancy. I didn't want her to know and ended up letting Lucca know. Not that I thought he'd mind, but either way, I'd rather avoid trouble. The 'abort' thing just came to my mind.
I went straight to the airport. My family wasn't as rich as the Mancini, but the Ortiz family had their place under the sun. I knew that my father's company had fallen, and that's why he committed suicide, but I would get around that situation. I would clear our family name!
"Mom?" I called from the airport waiting room.
"Babe!" My mother, Milenna, answered affectionately on the other end of the line. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm great! I'm going home, mom! Already at the airport."
"Home? I didn't know you and Lucca would visit!"
"No...," she liked him a lot, and I didn't even know why. Maybe because my father always spoke very highly of him. And I never made any complaints either, after all, he was my husband and I wasn't going to cause discord between him and my mother.
"No what, Vicky?"
I sighed deeply.
"I'm going on my own this time, mom. I... I'll explain everything when I get there."
"Okay," as always, my mother was super understanding and I was very grateful for that. "I'm sure Bella will be very happy with your visit."
Bella... my best friend. I had distanced myself from her after I got married because Lucca didn't want me talking to people or talking about our marriage. In fact, people barely knew me, as he never took me to any of his company's events. I wasn't even allowed to go in the building.
I hung up the phone and waited for my flight to be announced. From New York to Boston it didn't take long, less than two hours. It allowed me to relax and fall asleep as soon as I sat down in the seat.
However, my rest did not last long. Someone had sat next to me and that person wasn't very small. I opened my eyes slightly, in order to see what was happening, since the man, - yes, I could tell by the scent - kept pressing his leg against mine so much!
I came across a man with very blue eyes and a super friendly smile. He was huge.
Melanie never thought that helping a stranger would lead her to get married and, not only that, but with a Mafia Lord! Cesare Varricchio is handsome, obsessive, powerful and, most of all, he is dangerous. Aiming to ascend to the Don position of Camorra, he will stop at nothing, even getting married to a stranger. What should be a marriage of convenience can become a union based on love?
Carolina Navarro will be forced by her father to marry a disfigured man in order to save the family from ruin. Maximo Castillo had everything anyone could want, until a plane crash destroyed his body, his soul and his relationship, leaving him embittered. But he needs a wife and an heir. Can a marriage between these two people work? Is it just convenience or will love blossom between two wounded souls? Book 1, part 1: 1 to 95; Book 1, part 2: 96 to 129; Book 1, part 3: 130 to 165. Book 2: 166 to 271.
Ava will wake up to find a handsome man looking down at her, unbottning his shirt. āOk, let's get it done.āHe said, but she didn't know him! Ava was no longer herself, but Evelyn - Eve - Crawford, married to Theodore, a cold CEO. But how did she rebirth in this new body? How did Ava died? And Theodore... Why is he suddenly so nice and... lovely?
Marrying her best friend was a dream come true for Kelly, but everything truly has a limitation. Pierce is Kellyās first love, but as his best friend, she knew well there was always another woman deep in his heart. Lexi Gilbert. The woman Pierce could never forget even if he had already been arranged to marry Kelly. *** Kelly finally realized their happy marriage of the last three years was just a beautiful dream when Pierce asked for a divorce just because Lexi returned. She could only be his best friend even if she was carrying his baby. *** Since their friendship had become a cage, Kelly chose to set him free, as well as the miserable herself. But why then, it was Pierce who became the one who refused to move on? To make matters worse, her devil stepbrother also domineeringly stepped in at the same time, asking her to be his. *** Her Prince Charming vs. Her Devil Stepbrother? How could Kelly save her heart in this battle of love and hate?
My family was on the poverty line and had no way to support me in college. I had to work part-time every day just to make ends meet and afford to get into the university. That was when I met herāthe pretty girl in my class that every boy dreamt of asking out. I was well aware she was out of my league. Nevertheless, I mustered all my courage and bravely told her that I had fallen for her. To my surprise, she agreed to be my girlfriend. With the sweetest smile I had ever seen, she told me that she wanted my first gift for her to be the latest and top-of-the-line iPhone. I worked like a dog and even did my classmatesā laundry to save up. My hard work eventually paid off after a month. I finally got to buy what she wanted. But as I was wrapping my gift, I saw her in the dressing room, making out with the captain of the basketball team. She then heartlessly made fun of my inadequacy and made a fool out of me. To make things worse, the guy whom she cheated on me with even punched me in the face. Desperation washed over me, but there was nothing I could do but lie on the floor as they trampled on my feelings. But then, my father called me out of the blue, and my life turned upside down. It turned out that I was a billionaire's son.
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."
Madisyn was stunned to discover that she was not her parents' biological child. Due to the real daughter's scheming, she was kicked out and became a laughingstock. Thought to be born to peasants, Madisyn was shocked to find that her real father was the richest man in the city, and her brothers were renowned figures in their respective fields. They showered her with love, only to learn that Madisyn had a thriving business of her own. "Stop pestering me!" said her ex-boyfriend. "My heart only belongs to Jenna." "How dare you think that my woman has feelings for you?" claimed a mysterious bigwig.
Belinda thought after divorce, they would part ways for good - he could live his life on his own terms, while she could indulge in the rest of hers. However, fate had other plans in store. "My darling, I was wrong. Would you please come back to me?" The man, whom she once loved deeply, lowered his once proud head humbly. "I beg you to return to me." Belinda coldly pushed away the bouquet of flowers he had offered her and coolly replied, "It's too late. The bridge has been burned, and the ashes have long since scattered to the wind!"
Eight years ago, she thought he was a Money Boy at the club, and accidentally had a one-night stand with him because she was framed by her stepsister. Is $100 enough to buy a Money Boy for one night? The next morning, she casually dropped $100 and ran away. Eight years later, she returned with her genius son. Little did she expect to be "deceived" into the Noblefull Group by her beloved son. Her immediate boss turned out to be Mr. $100 from eight years ago! ... "Bad girl, how dare you humiliate me eight years ago, this time you will pay the price!" "Bad girl, one billion dollars, I buy your whole life!" "I just want to be a secretary. You already have several lovers. You are not my type." "But, I only have feelings for you, only love you." However, their relationship was not smooth. Due to a property dispute, his brother deliberately caused a car accident in an attempt to kill her and their son. Due to past grievances of the previous generation, his father held deep hatred towards him and sent assassins to kill them. There were also plots and attempts on their lives orchestrated by his girlfriend. On top of that, they faced oppression from rival factions of the mafia... This is a romantic novel about a billionaire and his secretary, involving several generations of love, hatred, and complicated relationships, and also involving the mafia, revenge...