The girl in the cage shivered, wearing a pure white scrumpy dress. It looked clean and mirrored innocence, a complete opposite of what's before her. "The price starts at one million!" "10 million!" "13 million!" "20 million!" "21 million!" Suddenly, a man raised his placard, and a cold voice sounded. "300 million." .......................................................... Lucas Eadwulf, a dominant Alpha, hated humans. They are weak, pathetic, and pitiful. Yet, he found himself couldn't resist the soft and beautiful Selene. He disdained himself for it. But no matter how much he wanted to control it, he couldn't. He wanted her. He craved for her. If he couldn't stop it, then just own her. Occupy her and if she breaks, then she will be crushed by his own hands.
Eastern Brooklyn City- 00:11 AM
"Are the goods ready?" A man's voice sounded at the empty porch. It was dark and only a bit of light from the post shone in the vast space.
Another man was waiting, leaning in a black car, smoking.
"It's already in." He answered.
The other man approached and positioned himself beside the man. Took out his own cigarette and lit it.
"How many crates is this transaction?" He questioned again.
"About 20-30 crates this time."
"It's much less than last year."
"Well. Business in Brickston is not that good, I heard."
Brickston City, the city that was made by the Mafia solely for their human trafficking business. The human trafficking business is still going strong because of this city. In this place, people are cultivated or "farmed" with the purpose of trade. The history boild down when the Mafia bought the whole city, but the people was adamant to stay and not leave their homes. Therefore, in exchange, the Mafia takes the payment and debt through the people themselves.
"Why did you reject the offer of the boss, Carter? If you just accepted, then you won't be transporting goods right now." One of the men asked the other.
James, who just smoked his cigarette, did not answer. When he saw the cargo ship arriving from afar, he threw his cigar on the ground and stepped on it.
"It's here, let's go." He said to the other man and went ahead to welcome the cargos.
The latter only followed with a sigh.
The cargo that is to be shipped to Eastern Brooklyn City arrived. The two men supervised the transfer of the goods to the plane, which will be flown to their headquarters.
After the transfer, both men went to the other plane. It was not long before they took off.
But sadly, only one plane would successfully arrive at the headquarters.
..................................
.
.
"At 1:40 AM this dawn, a plane carrying two passengers, a pilot, and 3 stewards malfunctioned and exploded. The bodies have been found and..."- The sound of broadcasting was heard in a nearby store.
Selene Carter was walking home from work. She is now working part-time after graduating high school, and when she decided to halt her education. She was fending for herself at the moment.
"Child, want to know your fortune?"
Suddenly, an old woman's voice sounded. Selene was startled and she turned towards the origin of the voice.
An old woman was sitting at the side of the road, a mat with unusual but unique patterns was spread on the ground, and antique and some gadgets that were also unusual were displayed.
Selene studied the old woman suspiciously, seeing the white hair and the ornament hanging on her neck, also the beads that she held on her hand, she tried to smile politely.
"Uhm, no thank you.." She started but was cut off when the old woman suddenly grabbed and pulled her hand.
Selene stumbled towards her direction.
"You, child had a hard life." The old woman's voice trembled as she spoke.
"But I am blinded by your light." She whispered.
"Uhm, excuse me.." Selene tried to struggle but she was gripped hard.
"A punishment haunts you from your past life till now.." The old lady's eyes plastered on Selene's face as she grabbed her hand tightly. Her eyes were as if reading something on hers.
"Grandma, what are you saying?" Selene became creeped out, as the old lady was spewing weird words and looking at her with eyes as if looking at her deepest heart.
"Be warned, there is more to come. The payment for love will be collected in this life."
Selene also felt drawn to the eyes of the old lady. Fear started to creep in her heart. Past life? Payment? What was this about?
"Be warned! Be-"
"Hey! That's not allowed here!" A loud voice interrupted. The old woman saw the guard that was approaching and quickly let go of Selene. She hastily grabbed her things and rushed to leave.
The guard who was about to chase saw that the old woman was leaving, stopped. He turned towards the young lady.
"Are you alright, miss?" He asked.
Selene woke up from her stupor and turned to the guard.
"Uh, yes! Yes.." She responded.
"Don't mind that old lady. She's always loitering around here making some superstitions. Something might be wrong with her head, don't take her words seriously." The guard advised as he patted his uniform.
"Okay. Thank you, sir." Selene said to the guard.
The guard only nodded and walked back to his post.
Selene was left standing in her place. Her head was still circling about the old lady's words. She was curious about what those mean. But she remembered the guard's words, so she could only brush them off.
Maybe it was really just nonsense.
She sighed as she massaged her wrist and continued walking. After a number of steps, the people and establishment gradually decreased.
Walking through this dark and desolate street still gives Selene shivers. The people and vehicles became fewer and fewer until she was the only one walking on the dark street.
It was always like this going home, so Selene, despite the nervousness, kept cheering herself.
But when she saw a white van approaching, her heart immediately dropped. She felt something bad was coming.
She turned around and walked the other way. Her heart was thumping hard on her chest, and she felt breathless. Her gasp quickened as her steps also quickened.
Until her brisk walking started to become running, she was absolutely sure the white van was following her!
But how could two feet beat the wheels of a vehicle?
Not long, the white van caught up and stopped in front of her.
Selene stopped abruptly because of this and backed away fearfully.
Before she could turn around to run away, men in black immediately came out of the van and grabbed her.
Someone covered her nose and mouth and immediately she became dizzy.
Suddenly, everything went black.
On an isolated island stood a tall tower, where a Goddess of luck was kept by a rich man. When the Goddess reached adulthood, her "owner" arrived, the heir of the Albrecht family, Leon Zigmund Albrecht. When Leon laid his eyes on her, he was instantly mesmerized, and that night, he completely owned her. But the next morning, his goddess was gone. The moment they met again, he swore to take her away, especially seeing a mini version of her beside her. This is a story of a young genius CEO teaching and guiding his wife to live in the modern realm.
“Five hundred million for surrogacy. After you give birth, you will leave the child and never show your face again.” Anya was faced with a difficult decision in her life. That was to accept these absurd terms or just let her husband’s company fall into bankruptcy. In the end, she chose to toughen her heart just to save her husband. She took up this job that goes against her morals, the life she nurtured and cared inside her body, she gave it away. However, after everything she had done, her husband turned his back on her and chose to hurt her in every way imagined. When her world felt like crumbling to pieces, she would be unexpectedly saved and loved by a man she had least expected. She was Anya Laurier, and she’s a billionaire’s surrogate.
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?"
"Ms. Crawford, it’s time for you to divorce Mr. Larsen and come home. You're the only heiress the Master's waiting for.” ~•~ For the sake of love, Amara accepted the arranged marriage with Tobias William Larsen. She did everything to gain her husband’s heart but when his old love returned, she realized that all her effort was all for naught. Tobias demanded a divorce on the night of their wedding anniversary, even at the price of threatening her. Heartbroken, she finally dropped all her illusions about him and returned home to be the heiress. The next time she met Tobias, they were no longer couples but opponents. "Mr. Larsen, should I remind you again? We've divorced." "Amara, that's the stupidest mistake I've ever made. Please come back to me."
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."
Betrayed by her mate and sister on the eve of her wedding, Makenna was handed to the ruthless Lycan Princes as a lover, her indifferent father ignoring her plight. Determined to escape and seek revenge, she captured the interest of the three Lycan princes, who desired her exclusively amid many admirers. This complicated her plans, trapping her and making her a rival to the future Lycan queen. Entwined in jealousy and vindictiveness, could Makenna achieve her vengeance in the intricate dance with the three princes?
Two years ago, Ricky found himself coerced into marrying Emma to protect the woman he cherished. From Ricky's perspective, Emma was despicable, resorting to underhanded schemes to ensure their marriage. He maintained a distant and cold attitude toward her, reserving his warmth for another. Yet, Emma remained wholeheartedly dedicated to Ricky for more than ten years. As she grew weary and considered relinquishing her efforts, Ricky was seized by a sudden fear. Only when Emma's life teetered on the edge, pregnant with Ricky's child, did he recognize-the love of his life had always been Emma.
Janet was adopted when she was a kid -- a dream come true for orphans. However, her life was anything but happy. Her adoptive mother taunted and bullied her all her life. Janet got the love and affection of a parent from the old maid who raised her. Unfortunately, the old woman fell ill, and Janet had to marry a worthless man in place of her parents' biological daughter to meet the maid's medical expenses. Could this be a Cinderella's tale? But the man was far from a prince, except for his handsome appearance. Ethan was the illegitimate son of a wealthy family who lived a reckless life and barely made ends meet. He got married to fulfill his mother's last wish. However, on his wedding night, he had an inkling that his wife was different from what he had heard about her. Fate had united the two people with deep secrets. Was Ethan truly the man we thought he was? Surprisingly, he bore an uncanny resemblance to the impenetrable wealthiest man in the city. Would he find out that Janet married him in place of her sister? Would their marriage be a romantic tale or an utter disaster? Read on to unravel Janet and Ethan's journey.