Kathleen's life goes up in flames with the death of her parents, her dream to go to havard, fall in love with a decent man and live a normal life burning to ashes right before her eyes. And just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, she's sold off to a ruthless Mafia boss. Dario DeSantis is a terrifying man and Kat is completely at his whim, her body his to use as he pleases. But what happens when the Devil of Chicago begins to crave more than just her body and his revenge? Could Kat risk giving her heart to a man who is only capable of destruction or will forces much greater than the both of them succeed in ripping them apart?
"We'll be back in about three hours."
That was the first time in fifteen years that my father; Leonard Forrester, had ever lied to me, but at the time, I didn't know it was a lie.
"Okay," I glanced up from the novel I was reading to smile at him.
"Did you get the letter from Harvard yet?" My stepmother walked into the living room, clipping on her earrings distractedly.
I nodded, my smile increasing, "Yeah, but I haven't opened it yet. I don't know if I got accepted or rejected."
Mum laughed, "Don't be so modest. You'll surely get accepted. I trust your brain enough to know that this is a success. You know what? We can open the letter together when we get back. Okay?"
"Okay."
"Love you," she blew me a kiss and a moment later, I heard the door click shut behind them as they left the house for their anniversary date.
Even though my eyes were on the novel in front of me, I wasn't focusing on it. Instead I was a mixture of anticipation, anxiety and excitement over the letter from Harvard law I had received earlier today.
Becoming an attorney like my late grandpa had always been my dream and I was this close to finally achieving it.
While my mates partied and dated around, I kept my face buried in my books and being top of all my classes. After all, the only thing I have ever loved while growing up is books and the more I grew up, the more my fondness for books grew.
"Where's mum and dad?"
I was snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of my half brother's voice. When I raised my head, I found him standing at the doorway leading to the kitchen.
"They just left. Did you need something?" I asked.
Matteo's jaw clenched, "Yeah, but don't worry about it."
"Maybe I can help," I shrugged.
My elder brother just scoffed and then gulped down the bottle of whiskey I had just noticed. My forehead furrowed as I wondered what was making him drink.
"Unless you have seven figures lying around in your savings account, I don't think you can help me."
My jaw dropped open and I hurriedly sat up, "What do you need that kind of money for?"
"None of your business," he snapped, " But dad and mom won't lend it to me."
He dragged a hand through his hair and chuckled bitterly, "It's not fair. I never get what I want."
"What about your inheritance?"
My stepbrother's eyes narrowed at me and then he threw his head back and laughed, "Are you trying to mock me?"
My eyebrows shot up and just as I opened my mouth to voice out my confusion, his phone rang, cutting me off.
I watched him pull the phone out of his pants pocket and tense as he stared at the screen.
"What's going_"
But he pressed the phone to his ear and stormed out the living room, leaving me alone again and very confused.
As soon as he was gone, my anxiety over the college letter returned with full force, pushing the whole scene with Matteo to the back of my mind. I was sure he just wanted to buy a new car or something like that. He was a known spendthrift.
Unable to stand my own racing thoughts anymore, I decided to go bake to distract myself till my parents returned.
I walked into the kitchen and saw Lisa wiping down the counters.
"Hey, Lisa," I smiled at her.
She was the cook's daughter and we had grown up together, so she was kinda my best friend even though she was a maid.
"I'm sure that there's a good news behind this smile of yours" she said with a smile as she washed the dishes.
"What do you mean? I smile a lot, so what makes you think that there's a good news behind my smile?" I asked in confusion.
"Let me guess, you got accepted and you're about to become a fancy lawyer?" She squealed.
I chuckled, "I wish," I told her, "I'm going to wait for mum and dad to get back so we can open the letter together. I'm so nervous."
"It's going to be fine. You'll get in. And then you can leave this city. With your grandfather's former connections, you can get a job at a top law firm and you'll be swimming in money."
I rolled my eyes at her, "I don't want to use Grandpa's connections. I want to do it on my own."
She raised one dark brow, "You want to start scraping at a lowly job when you'll have over fifteen million of inheritance money in your account?"
"Something like that?"
"Ugh," she groaned, "You're so humble for someone who grew up with a whole house staff."
The thing was that my status as a bastard had always segregated me from the kids in school and the other wealthy kids. My upbringing up until age six when my mother had gotten diagnosed with cancer and brought me to the Forrester's house had been very humble.
It made me believe in hard work and paving a way for myself without having to depend on the Forrester's money even though I'm kinda part of them now.
"That's just me I guess."
"Go get some sleep," Lisa urged, "I'll come wake you up when your parents get home. You're just going to worry yourself into illness if you continue like this."
It was both a good and bad thing that Lisa could read me so well.
"I don't think I'll be able to sleep with that letter just sitting on my table and taunting me."
"Try," she ordered sternly, "You're making me nervous."
With a sigh, I nodded and decided to take her advice.
I climbed up the stairs slowly, trying not to think about the life ahead of me at the law school. I couldn't wait to start learning all about the justice system, fighting for good and being on the side of justice.
I would help to put evil guys behind bars forever, and then I would fall in love with a good, decent man, get married and grow old with him.
My future was literally at the tip of my fingers. I could almost feel it.
"Kathleen," my brother's voice called from the end of the hallway, specifically from dad's office.
"Yeah?"
"Don't just stand there," he barked, glaring at me, "Do you expect me to shout from across the hallway?"
I jerked, startled by the irritation in his voice. Did I do something? Perhaps he's just irritated about that problem of his that needs to be resolved with a six figure money, whatever that problem is tho.
Hurrying to the office, I had just crossed the threshold when lightning flashed in the sky and a loud thunder boomed around the house.
I had always been deathly afraid of storms, and so my heart was already pounding in my chest when I faced Matteo.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"They're dead." He dropped the shell bomb and I staggered backwards .
Madison Lane's uncomplicated one night stand turns out to be anything but uncomplicated when the man she had been dreaming about since their explosive night together turns out to be her new, mean and ruthless English literature professor. Lucian Buford is out for her, constantly singling her out in the class. Maddie can say goodbye to having any friends in class or having any fun whatsoever. Nobody wants to come close to her and incurr Professor Buford's wrath and he keeps her too busy with assignments to even have time to breathe not to talk of going to get lunch with the cute boy who's interested in her. Maddie thinks Lucian hates her, but what she doesn't know is that he's doing everything in his power to not drag her into his office and kiss her senseless. What happens when the professor with dark secrets and the fiery red hair he's obsessed with clash in a battle of wills? Will they both come out unscathed or be torn apart by forces that are beyond their control?
How far is she willing to go to get her twin back in her life? London couldn't answer this question if her life depended on it. The limits to what she's willing to do for her twin doesn't exist. Pretending to be her sister for a dinner party? No big deal. That is, until she finds herself in the very complicated position of playing fiancee to a man she barely knows but is quickly falling for. She knows that when this ends, her heart is going to be left in pieces and yet, she's holding unto every second with a man that she has no right to. A man that doesn't know she exists.
Months ago, a case of mistaken identity set off a chain reaction that ended with Millicent Haworth pregnant with ruthless billionaire; Tommy Bradford's child. Her plan is to have his child and maybe, some day in the future tell him about it and let him decide if he wants to be a part of their life. All of a sudden, he's sweeping back into her life and making her feel things she shouldn't be feeling. Millie knows what they have is temporary and there's no future where someone like him ends up with someone like her, but it doesn't stop her from falling a little bit harder every day. She knows he's going to break her heart at the end and there's nothing she can do about it.
On the day of their wedding anniversary, Joshua's mistress drugged Alicia, and she ended up in a stranger's bed. In one night, Alicia lost her innocence, while Joshua's mistress carried his child in her womb. Heartbroken and humiliated, Alicia demanded a divorce, but Joshua saw it as yet another tantrum. When they finally parted ways, she went on to become a renowned artist, sought out and admired by everyone. Consumed by regret, Joshua darkened her doorstep in hopes of reconciliation, only to find her in the arms of a powerful tycoon. "Say hello to your sister-in-law."
"Never let anyone treat you like shit!" I learned that the hard way. For three years, I lived with my in-laws. They didn't treat me as their son-in-law but as a slave. I put up with everything because of my wife, Yolanda Lambert. She was the light of my life. Unfortunately, my whole world came crashing down the day I caught my wife cheating on me. I have never been so heartbroken. To have my revenge, I revealed my true identity. I was none other than Liam Hoffman—the heir of a family with trillions of dollars in assets! The Lamberts were utterly shocked after the big reveal. They realized what fools they had been for treating me like trash. My wife even knelt down and begged for my forgiveness. What do you think I did? Did I take her back or made her suffer? Find out!
To the public, she was the CEO's executive secretary. Behind closed doors, she was the wife he never officially acknowledged. Jenessa was elated when she learned that she was pregnant. But that joy was replaced with dread as her husband, Ryan, showered his affections on his first love. With a heavy heart, she chose to set him free and leave. When they met again, Ryan's attention was caught by Jenessa's protruding belly. "Whose child are you carrying?!" he demanded. But she only scoffed. "It's none of your business, my dear ex-husband!"
Corinne devoted three years of her life to her boyfriend, only for it to all go to waste. He saw her as nothing more than a country bumpkin and left her at the altar to be with his true love. After getting jilted, Corinne reclaimed her identity as the granddaughter of the town’s richest man, inherited a billion-dollar fortune, and ultimately rose to the top. But her success attracted the envy of others, and people constantly tried to bring her down. As she dealt with these troublemakers one by one, Mr. Hopkins, notorious for his ruthlessness, stood by and cheered her on. “Way to go, honey!”
Elena, once a pampered heiress, suddenly lost everything when the real daughter framed her, her fiancé ridiculed her, and her adoptive parents threw her out. They all wanted to see her fall. But Elena unveiled her true identity: the heiress of a massive fortune, famed hacker, top jewelry designer, secret author, and gifted doctor. Horrified by her glorious comeback, her adoptive parents demanded half her newfound wealth. Elena exposed their cruelty and refused. Her ex pleaded for a second chance, but she scoffed, “Do you think you deserve it?” Then a powerful magnate gently proposed, “Marry me?”
"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?"