She got pregnant by the man she loved, but he left her. To protect the image of their family, Ayana Salma De'Mario was grounded and hidden like a bad omen, together with her child. Five years later, she knows only the walls of her room, her sweet five-year-old girl, her paintings, the young student she is teaching, and this mysterious ghost lover whom she has never met. But a tragedy strikes their family empire. In need of a savior, her family decided to trade the black sheep of the family to save their company. And in the picture enters the cold-hearted Adam Stone De'Leon, the most notorious heartbreaker the city has ever had. A proud womanizer who parades his sins as if they are crowns. But the moment he meets Ayana, something changes-something that leaves his walls in shambles. His heart starts beating for Ayana in ways he never imagined. He would go to any extreme to have her. Can she really resist him, or will she also make it to the list of uncountable women he has knacked and tossed aside like trash?
FLASHBACK. ABOUT SIX YEARS AGO
"Let's see. I will forget all this ignominy that you have brought upon me and this entire family. I will forgive you, Ayana, if you only tell me that that moron you were shamelessly fooling around with is on the way right now to marry you." My father's despotic tone echoes, shooting an arrow directly into my bleeding heart.
How I wish that was the case. At least I would leave this house, and he wouldn't have to look at me with this shame and hurt. Ooh, how I wish!
"No, Dad! I am sorry, but there will be no marriage. He won't take responsibility either." I hiccupped, my face almost sweeping the floor with shame.
I cannot bear to look my father in the eye again. The scorching heat of his breathing on the side of my face is cogent evidence of how enraged he is right now.
My eyes are pools of tears. My nose is all red from blowing it. And my head is a whirlwind of emotions. The shame I am feeling right now is immeasurable. I wish the ground would open up and swallow me right now.
I know I messed up big time. Believe me, it wasn't my intention, because I know just how much my family's icon and repute mean to us all. But how was I supposed to know that I loved a heartless, shameless, dickhead who did not love me at all? How was I supposed to know that he was only after this cursed thing between my legs?
"Just what have you done, sis? I always warned you about that guy, but you didn't listen. See now what you have done to us. How will people see us now? How will we even face society with this shame?"
And here comes the mocking voice of my baby sister.
Yeah. She warned me. Countless times, freaking yes! And, ooh, yeah, I did not listen. How was I supposed to go against the desires of my heart? I was in love, you know. Can nobody really infer that fact alone and cut me some slack?
But in a sixth sense, I think I appreciate her jeering and my father's rancor more than the mutism of my mother. She has not uttered a word since I broke the news to them minutes ago. Only God knows what she thinks of me, but I just wish she could at least say a word. Her silence hurts more than anything.
"Then at least tell me you have a plan out of this mess and save us from the embarrassment of being the talk of the nation, Ayana. We cannot afford that! What do you plan to do with that bastard in your womb?"
Shoot me! Wait a minute.
Is that my father speaking like that?
I had to raise my head and gawk at him in disbelief. His eyes are an inferno of rage and loathing. His countenance depicts seriousness. The words did not just erroneously slip from his mouth. He meant to say every single letter he uttered.
But... I infer that this is not the way they would have chosen to become grandparents, but it happened. And there is nothing to change about this whole'mess' as he called it. But through this mess, they are expecting their first grandchild. Shouldn't that at least make them look at this scenario from a different angle?
A bastard?
How can my child, their first grandchild, the great heir or heiress of their empire-how can he call my baby a bastard?
"I have no time, Ayana. What is your plan? Speak up before I lose it all!" He speaks again before I can finish analyzing his facial idioms or digest his unbelievable words.
I take a deep breath, amassing all the boldness in me to exude my willingness to take responsibility for my actions as is expected of me.
"I will raise my child alone, father. My child will..."
He raises a hand to my face, shutting me up. A cold chill cuts through my bones, almost paralyzing me. That is what they expect of me, right?
"I see you have decided to throw your life away just like that, and even though I want to kick you out right now and disown you for disgracing me this way, I am still your father, Ayana. And for the sole reason that my blood runs through you, I will swallow this bitter pill and let you have that bastard, but here are my orders for your shameless actions and staining the name I have built and protected for years."
I swallow hard, holding my breath as I await my judgment. Everything in the surroundings falls silent, and we all snap at him in awe as he speaks with authority.
"You are forever grounded!!! There is no more college, and not even your shadow should appear in any of the family's activities or be seen out of this compound. Your face and that of the bastard you are carrying will remain hidden as the disgrace that you are."
Hell just broke loose!
God, please tell me I did not hear any of that right.
The ground I am standing on trembles. It's as if it is being ripped off from under me. I attempt to fix my eyes on him, to try and see whether he is joking or not. But the opaque curtains of tears in my eyes are impairing my vision. I see nothing but blurriness. My whole being is convulsing while his world hangs in my head like a heavy cloud.
Hang on. No! My loving father cannot do this to me. I messed up, yes, but the situation is not this serious, right?
"Dad, I am sorry, okay? I am deeply sorry for what I have done, but please, you cannot do this to me." I plead, scouring away the tears from my eyes so that he can see the sincerity of my plea.
But as our eyes meet, I can bet on the innocent seed in my womb that my words did not mean anything to him. He has made up his mind and spoken his thoughts. And there is no going back on his words.
I turn to my mom, pleading for her intervention on this, but her glare alone shifts mine from hers. It is crystal clear that she has righted my father's unjust judgment. I look at my sister, but she gives me the same look as my mother's. They are all in agreement. Nobody is willing to do anything to help me.
Only I can help myself.
I drag my blurry vision to my father, reaching for his hand to plead with him. But he grips my hand tight, pressing it so hard that I scream in pain.
"Dad! You are hurting me!" I cry out, wincing at the pain.
"This is nothing compared to the pain and shame you have inflicted on me and this family, Ayana. I am so ashamed to even call you my own!" He lets go of me and starts to walk away.
But I am still his daughter despite all this, right? He still has a soft spot in his heart to listen to me and show me a little mercy.
"Dad, please! Do not do this to me. It is not fair!" I howl, and it seems like luck is on my side because he halts in his tracks.
I was not wrong to think that he still has some sympathy and love left for me.
He turns to me, and we rock eyes, mine glowing with gratitude and expectations, but his are an assortment of something I cannot decipher. Something that makes me doubt my take on him stopping.
I swallow hard!
And he speaks, proving me dead wrong!
"I said I could not kick you out, Ayana, but I did not say that you were not free to leave on your own free will. If you cannot take what I am offering, then by all means, the door is wide open. Just make sure you do not take this family's name the second you step out of that door!!!"
And with that, my father does not even spare me another glance. He turns his back on me, and my mother and sister follow behind him, leaving me to make my own decision: to either leave my home and everything behind and chase freedom, or stay like a prisoner in my own home.
--------------END OF FLASHBACK----------
"You are a cold-blooded psycho! Get your filthy, bloodstained hands off me!" Through clenched teeth, Irma shrieked as she battled to liberate herself from the man's barbarous hold. His eyes were a refulgent inferno. They held an insidious fire of lust as they thrived deeper into her debilitated ones. "How flattering!" The man sneered, and Irma froze. A ripple of both ice and fire skint in her nerves at the man's vexatious riposte. Before she could amass any little bravery left in her, the man spoke again in a hoarse tremor, erupting a chill down her spinal tube. "But if you don't watch your sweet, dirty mouth, you snoopy, pesky brat, my third leg will shut it for you! Or maybe," he wavered, and fixed his dangerous, lascivious gazes on hers, gently stroking her hair as if petting his sweet, wild pet, "that is what you want, little dove?" A freelance journalist, flaming with ardent desires to unveil the secrets behind the series of mysterious disappearances happening in the city. Her hunch points her to the dark underworld of the mafia, and unfortunately, she crashes into LUCCA DE'MATTHEW-the other name for terror! Their encounter will evoke a catastrophe that only they can solve. But how, if their mere beingness is a menace to each other?
I spent years cleaning up a man. We were in love, or should I better say, I was in love, because in the end, that is what that shit felt. After all that I did for him, he heartlessly broke my heart. Found him in bed with our wedding planner two weeks to our wedding. And he had the balls to take pleasure in my pains. I almost became a murderer that night. Almost killed a man. I put the very first stain on my family's spotless name. My father could not take it. He distanced himself from me and stood a safe distance to watch the whole world rise against me. But in all these difficult and trying moments, one thing remained my solace and my beacon of all the good vibes that I yearned for-Joe Fredrick Montana. My stepbrother. And before we knew it, the connection bloomed into something we both never anticipated. It is wrong, yet so strong! It is forbidden, yet irresistible. For a while, none of us seemed to care about the consequences of our steamy undercover affairs, until something that threatens to tear everything between us and beyond happens. This, is our story!
Her grave sin was her spellbinding allure that blurred the blood-tie line for him, and his grave mistake was obsessing over a girl he was supposed to exterminate. The vicious King of Evil, the one who didn't have a heart, now finds himself trapped between vengeance, and the irresistible burning desires for the only remaining enemy he has left - and she, oblivious of the abysm of the evil he exudes, is determined to liberate herself from the cage of the monster at all costs. But her desires are inconceivable. Absurd! invalid dreams- or so did everyone thought, until things started taking a turn. What transpires when the vicious heartless monster finds himself at the feet of his culprit? What more miseries await Ella when the truth of her connection with the monster and the mystery besieging her get revealed?
Betrayed by her fiance and her family, Ellie thought, for a fleeting moment, that being tied down to a ghost she had never known was the only option. But that was until a wild thought banged her head. "Run, Ellie!" Her mind screamed. The heart is always right, they say, and at that point in her life, Ellie had no one to trust but her shattered heart. She ran into a new city, and as if fate had chosen to compensate her for all the sufferings she had gone through, she crashed with someone who swept her off her feet on their very first encounter. But months later, a call came through from home: "Ellie, my child. You need to come ASAP! Your father has been seriously ill. Your father needs you now more than ever." The voice of her nanny echoed through the line. The following morning, Ellie was once again packing her bags and saying goodbye to the love she had found. Finding her father on his sick bed and with a swam of doctors surrounding him broke Ellie's heart into a million pieces. And then came her father's plea in his sick bed. "My dear, I am giving you a choice out of this, but on one condition: that you have to meet your betrothed even just this once. Whatever you decide after that, I, your father, will respect your decision." This was what Ellie had always wished for, but given the situation, she knew she could not upset her father. She had to concede. But the moment her supposed ghost betrothed walked in, Ellie realized one thing: she had never known the face of betrayal until that particular moment!
“You are a cold-blooded psycho! Get your filthy-blood-stained hands off me!” Through clenched teeth, Irma shrieked as she battled to liberate herself from the man's barbarous hold. His eyes were a refulgent inferno. They held an insidious fire of lust as they thrived deeper into her debilitated ones. "How flattering!” The man sneered, and Irma froze. A ripple of both ice and fire skint in her nerves at the man’s vexatious riposte. Before she could amass any little bravery left in her, the man spoke again in a hoarse tremor, erupting a chill down her spinal tube. “But if you don't watch your sweet-dirty-mouth, you snoopy, pesky brat, my third leg will shut it for you! Or maybe," he wavered, and fixed his dangerous lascivious gazes on hers, gently stroking her hair as if petting his sweet wild pet, “Is that what you want, huh, little kitten?” A freelance journalist, flaming with ardent desires to unveil the secrets behind the series of mysterious disappearances happening in the city. Her hunch points her to the dark underworld of the mafia, and unfortunately, she crashes into LUCCA DE’MATTHEW - the other name for terror! Their encounter will evoke a catastrophe that only they can solve. But how, if their mere beingness is a menace to each other?
She was all alone, wallowing in divine grief and lamenting her losses. She had nothing to call her own, and all her wounds had refused to heal. She yearned for just one thing now—to disconnect from the cruel world. In the darkness, she closed her eyes, hoping to awaken in a place of tranquility—in heaven, surrounded by the beautiful souls she had lost. But to her bewilder, she found herself in bed the next morning with someone she would never have anticipated seeing again, especially in the darkest moment of her life—Liam Morgan Adams. Her ex. And he came with his own overflowing bucket of surprisal and sorrows that, for reasons best known to him, only Lynn could help him carry. "Bear me a child, Lynn. The price is yours to name.” He spoke, and everything in Lynn froze. A child! Her head spun some degrees, and when it settled, she squinted as the raw memories of her past pains surged in, fused with the memories of what they once had. And his constant, desperate plea left her between a rock and a hard place. Can she do this? Can this be her redemption? And Liam, why would a filthy, married billionaire ask for a child out of wedlock? And why Lynn, of all people?
"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?"
Once upon a time, there were two kingdoms once at peace. The kingdom of Salem and the kingdom of Mombana... Until the day, the king of Mombana passed away and a new monarch took over, Prince Cone. Prince Cone, has always been hungry for more power and more and more. After his coronation, he attacked Salem. The attack was so unexpected, Salem never prepared for it. They were caught off guard. The king and Queen was killed, the prince was taken into slavery. The people of Salem that survived the war was enslaved, their land taken from them. Their women were made sex slaves. They lost everything, including their land. Evil befall the land of Salem in form of Prince Cone, and the prince of Salem in his slavery was filled with so much rage. The prince of Salem, Prince Lucien swore revenge. 🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳 Ten years later, thirty-years old Lucien and his people raided a coup and escaped slavery. They went into hiding and recuperated. They trained day and night under the leadership of the fearless and cold Lucien who was driven with everything in him to get back their land, and take Mombana land too. It took them five years before they ambushed and attacked Mombana. They killed Prince Cone and reclaimed everything. As they screamed out their victory, Lucien's eyes found and pinned the proud princess of Mombana. Princess Danika. The daughter of Prince Cone. As Lucien stared at her with the coldest eyes anyone can ever possess, he felt victory for the first time. He walked to the princess with the slave collar he'd won for ten years rattling in his hand as he walked. He reached close to her and with a swift movement, he collared her neck. Then, he tilted her chin up, staring into the bluest eyes and the most beautiful face ever created, he gave her a cold smile. "You are my acquisition. My slave. My sex slave. My property. I will pay you in spades, everything you and your father ever did to me and my people." He stated curtly. Pure hatred, coldness and victory was the only emotion on his face. .
She was a world-renowned divine doctor, the CEO of a publicly traded company, the most formidable female mercenary, and a top-tier tech genius. Marissa, a titan with a plethora of secret identities, had hidden her true stature to marry a seemingly impoverished young man. However, on the eve of their wedding, her fiance, who was actually the lost heir to a wealthy dynasty, called off the engagement and subjected her to degradation and mockery. Upon the revelation of her concealed identities, her ex-fiance was left stunned and desperately pleaded for her forgiveness. Standing protectively before Marissa, an incredibly influential and fearsome magnate declared, "This is my wife. Who would dare try to claim her?"
"You're mine, little puppy," Kylan growled against my neck. A soft gasp escaped my lips as his lips brushed my skin. My mind screamed at me to push him away-the Lycan Prince who had humiliated me again and again, but my body betrayed me, leaning into him before I could stop myself. He pressed his lips against mine, and his kiss grew more aggressive, more possessive as I felt my legs weaken. What was I doing? In a split-second, I pulled away and slapped him hard across the face. Kylan's eyes darkened, but the smirk on his lips exposed his amusement. "You and I both know we can't fight this, Violet," he said, gripping my wrist. "You're my mate." "And yet you don't want me," I replied. "You told me you were ashamed of me, that l'd never be your queen, that you'd never love me. So please, accept my rejection and let me go." "Never," he whispered, his grip tightening as he pulled me closer. "Soon enough, you'll be begging for me. and when you do-I'll use you as I see fit and then I'll reject you."
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 was only one man in Raegan's heart, and it was Mitchel. In the second year of her marriage to him, she got pregnant. Raegan's joy knew no bounds. But before she could break the news to her husband, he served her divorce papers because he wanted to marry his first love. After an accident, Raegan lay in the pool of her own blood and called out to Mitchel for help. Unfortunately, he left with his first love in his arms. Raegan escaped death by the whiskers. Afterward, she decided to get her life back on track. Her name was everywhere years later. Mitchel became very uncomfortable. For some reason, he began to miss her. His heart ached when he saw her all smiles with another man. He crashed her wedding and fell to his knees while she was at the altar. With bloodshot eyes, he queried, "I thought you said your love for me is unbreakable? How come you are getting married to someone else? Come back to me!"