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His gaze held me. Fine dark eyes. Those eyes... where had I seen them... Then it hit me. The snob at the club. What was he doing in Mr Hendricks house and in the young Master's room? Wait... Was he an old servant I hadn't met or a new man servant? I scanned him. He looked nothing like a servant. The aura from him felt nothing like the one a servant could possess. His eyes pinched and he took a step towards me. "Did you not just hear me? What are you doing in my house?" His tone was icy. His house? There was only one person aside from Mr Hendricks that could say those words... Young master, Jay Adams! I looked at him again and hell the resemblance struck me. My jaw hung open and for a moment I felt my body go numb. *********** Jay Adams was a perfect man. More like a demigod that commanded both wealth and power. Women swooned over him and wanted a taste of him but he hated women. He does not believe in love. Beneath the tough exterior, beneath his million dollar tuxedo and his coldness were his flaws. And then there was Karen, a complete opposite of him. Poor with a sick father, a sister to cater for and saddled with debts. What will happen when these two cross paths?
KAREN ANDERSON
"Boss, she is here."
I heard the man that has led me in said to another man who was seated on a sofa. He was sipping from one of the glasses filled with liquor and ice.
And it was he that I came to find.
He was called Capon, a loan shark. He lowered the glass of wine back onto the table, reached for the saucer that held the remains of finished cigarettes and a fresh fat cigar stick and slipped into his mouth.
His face roughened up more than it already was and his eyes pinched as the heavy smoke escaped his nostrils and mouth dancing randomly into space.
All these while he acted like he never saw me, like I wasn't even standing before him.
My teeth gritted but that was as much as it could go.
"Capon hates to be interrupted. You must wait until he speaks to you before you speak." His man, the one that led me in had told me right at the door before we walked in.
My eyes darted across the large room. It was the VIP section of the nightclub. Only the elites dared to step foot into the place.
Somehow it was worth it.
The atmosphere was calm and light music played in the stereo from one corner of the room unlike in the other section where I had passed that had the music loud.
There were a few other men in the places. They all looked wealthy. A few of them were smoking and drinking while others had ladies in between their thighs smooching away. Some of the men looked really older than the girls.
I noticed a hint of discomfort from one of the girls.
The man was particularly large in size in contrast to her tiny self and was squeezing her breasts very aggressively, with a satisfied mischief grin plastered in his fat face. Like one that hadn't been opportuned to see a firm breast in his entire life. Men like this disgusted me a lot.
Then I wondered why she couldn't say no, and why exactly she was there instead of landing a slap on the geezer's face and stomping away.
But I knew better than to judge her. Sometime ago, I almost found myself in her position.
Something bitter stirred in the walls of my stomach and my teeth gritted in my jaw.
Moments like this had my blood boiling but then I remembered I had my own worries to face. I pulled my gaze away from them and back to Capon.
His fingers were adorned with different kinds of rings. I wondered how much each of them cost. Maybe one of it could even afford one of father's medicine.
If only I could have just one of it...
"Miss, did you bring my money?"
Capon's voice came halting my thoughts.
I blinked and my eyes settled on him. My lips had become too heavy, and my throat dried up. But my knees didn't as I quickly fell on them.
"Please sir, give me one more chance. I promise to get the money and bring to you...just one more chance is all I ask..."
Capon scoffed with irritation. "One more chance...you all always ask for one more chance but you never do anything with the chance."
"No sir, I promise I will bring the money to you..."
"Or maybe you wouldn't need to..." he said and sipped slowly from his glass of drink.
I looked up with wide eyes to meet his own, unsure of what I just heard him say. Was he going to let off father's debt? My heart started to beat fast.
"What do you mean sir?"
He dropped his glass of wine back on the table and faced me.
"You are not a kid. You know what I'm saying..."
I forced a thick swallow down my throat and bit down on my lower lip. I would have wondered if he was suddenly possessed. I have heard stories about Capon and he had never, ever let off a debt. Never. The only time as I heard he ever let off a debt was when he wanted a sex mate. More like a slave mate.
"I'm sorry, sir but I don't understand you," I said, keeping my voice as calm as I could.
I watched as his face formed into a thick frown. He lifted his glass and began to sip from it again. He made sure to down the entire content before he started to speak again. His man rushed over and refilled his glass.
"Look here, I am a businessman and I don't have time for this. Pay up your father's debt if you still wish him to be alive."
His tone was hostile.
"I will pay you sir, just give me a little time...please..." I pleaded.
He glanced at me and tapped the seat beside him.
I looked at him in confusion.
"Come and sit here," he said.
I stood up from the floor and slowly I made my way to he spot he had tapped. I sat two inches away from him. I was aware of myself, of my short gown.
For the first time since I stepped into the room, my body felt the impact of the air conditioner even when it actually had been there all along. The coldness struck the bareness of my flesh, my exposed laps. I immediately regretted not listening to my inner self. I held my two legs tight against each other.
He patted on the seat again, closer to him and nodded a smile at me.
I felt myself getting jittery. I wanted to get on my feet and walk out of that place without another glance behind me. But I knew I couldn't.
I pushed myself closer to him, still making sure to give a little distance between us.
"What if you don't have to pay your father's debt anymore?" He asked, glancing at me.
My heart started to beat fast again. The excitement came bubbling inside me again and I imagined what it would be like to not have to pay up father's debt anymore. It would be an impossible wish come true. I would have loved to use the money to get myself and Lilly new clothes and then we would go somewhere fun with father and have fun... but that was a luxury we couldn't afford even if Capon scraped off father's debt.
"You are young and beautiful and you shouldn't let your old man's debt pull you down. You like nice clothes huh? You know, nice shoes, nice things. I could even get you a nice house. Yeah?"
His hand started to move, towards me, slowly as he spoke and finally it rested on my lap.
"You like nice stuff, don't you?"
I nodded slowly, stifling down the bitter bile of anger that had started to surge through me.
My fist curled up tightly and gripped the fabric of the sofa hard.
"Yeah, all of them nice things. I can get it all for you... I know you will like them and you won't have to worry about your old man's debt. I will take care of you..."
He was slowly touching my laps as he spoke. I felt my body hot from anger. My eyes fixed on the bottles and glasses on the table. A stretch and I would reach any of it and smash it on his head.
But each time I tried to reach any of it, father's face flashed before me. His face when he was in pain and agony. His face when he needed a new set of drugs. His face when it was time for his monthly medical checkup.
The door of the Vip section flung open and a woman marched in looking really furious.
I watched as Capon's hands flew away from my laps and he scrambled to his feet.
"What...how...I mean what..." he stuttered facing the woman.
I regarded the woman. The woman that had the power to bring Capon to his feet and trembling. I was surprised.
She looked classic and just like Capon, she adorned her neck and fingers with a little too much jewellery. Different kinds of bangles dangled in her wrists that I imagined the clank clank sound coming out each time she moved her hands. Her face was masked with a heavy makeup that looked cakey and uneven. I couldn't let myself imagine what it would look like if she mistakenly got drenched in rain. It would be a disaster.
But that was the least of my worries as she had turned towards me now and was shooting me a glare.
"I'm sorry, boss, I tried to stop her..." Capon's man was saying but was shut up almost immediately as Capon shut him a deadly glare.
"You didn't tell me..." Capon started to say.
The woman shoved him away and walked past him stopping before me.
"You, isn't it enough that your miserable self can't pay up a debt. Now you choose to seduce my husband?"
What? Husband? His wife?
I looked at the woman and then at Capon and back at the woman again and it immediately sank in. The famous Capon's wife that even the Capon himself dreaded.
I got to my feet realising the danger I had fallen into.
"I'm sorry, ma'am...I only came here to ask for another chance to..."
She lifted a glass of drink on the table, tried emptying the content on me but stopped halfway.
"I will write off your debt if you can do anything I ask you to..."
I didn't let myself get excited. The only thing I smelt from her offer was danger.
Tiffany let out an exasperated breath. She was right. She had been right about him all along. He was nothing but a rich arrogant prat. Unfortunately she wasn't about to waste her energy on people like him. "How about we pretend we never met and just work?" She said to him, keeping her tone cold and eyes firm. Ronald made a face. "Wait, don't tell me you are thinking I came here for something other than work?" Tiffany's eyes widened. "What?" He approached her, closing up the distance between them. "Earlier on, you seem to have so much interest in my face," he said, lowering his lips to whisper the words into her ears. "Don't tell me you are already thinking of something else to do with me other than work...perhaps..." Tiffany gulped roughly and bit down on her lower lip. "..." ********* Ronald Ryker is the heir of a well-known conglomerate and was constantly surrounded by women. But none of them moved him. Not until he met Tiffany, a single mother and older woman who immediately captured his attention. But Tiffany had no interest in him. Not in his wealth and definitely not his hot look.
“People afraid of death are greedy for life.” That was the belief of Alessandro Angelo, the Italian mafia billionaire. The one who fears no one, not even death. He lived his life everyday as if it was his last. Trained only to obey orders and keep no emotions. But what happens when he comes across a cheerful, bubbly Isabella Marco, the girl whose charm could lit up even the darkest portion of the coldest heart. Slowly and unknowingly for Alessandro, he started to want more; getting greedy for life, gradually going against his life principle. One day an order came in: “kill her or you die” Will he allow his cold self be smitten by her infectious personality or end her life as he was ordered?
Two people with different agendas are forced into an arranged marriage. For Veronica Nicholas, it is to save her family's business that has been saddled with debt and on the verge of slipping into bankruptcy and for Lawrence Williams, it is to hold onto his inheritance as the only son and heir of a conglomerate family. Veronica could never leave her darling boyfriend for the infamous national playboy nor does Lawrence wish to leave her long time crush who finally accepted his feelings after many months of rejection for a stranger he barely knows. Together the two must sign a secret contract that lets them live their desired lives while being in their arranged marriage. But how long does the life they thought was best for them last? Stuck together, Veronica and Lawrence must find a way to work together to get past the struggles of their everyday lives from their never ending enemies. Hatred at first but being in the same place where they see all the good and bad sides of each other, how long would they go on before the wave of love hit them? Or would they find a reason to go their separate ways once their different agendas have been fulfilled?
Two people, different circumstances yet love found them! Losing his wife turned his heart dark, turned him an alien to love and he swore to never love again, remain celibate and only care about his two daughters the remaining days of his life. Getting pregnant for a man that loved other women but her rendered her almost never wanted by another man because of her child but no matter what, Tessa would never have anything to do with a man that wouldn't want her child. And when Eric finally came to accept only her child but not her, she thought she could venture into marriage for the sake of her son who always craved for a father figure but deep down she wanted more. She craved to be loved and she wanted to love but that is not the same with Eric. But when love came knocking in their hearts, not even aunty Stella, the one that disliked Tessa, not even Eric's past could stop their love. The flame became unquenchable! Though it had seemed impossible and in fact never considered, Tessa and Eric found love with each other again!
Candles were lighted, beautiful scented flowers were well decorated in my house and even ribbons were tied at various places on that day. Soft music played in the stereo whilst people drank, ate and made merry. Sounds of laughter rang and everyone's faces were filled with smiles until tragedy struck like lightning that before I could realize what was happening, I became the youngest cursed teen werewolf in my pack accused of killing her mother. But then I hoped for my eighteenth birthday because it is only then that I would be free to live my life and have my mate but once again tragedy came knocking... And once again, Lily's life turned around... The rejected Alpha's mate....
The whispers said that out of bitter jealousy, Hadley shoved Eric's beloved down the stairs, robbing the unborn child of life. To avenge, Eric forced Hadley abroad and completely cut her off. Years later, she reemerged, and they felt like strangers. When they met again, she was the nightclub's star, with men ready to pay fortunes just to glimpse her elusive performance. Unable to contain himself, Eric blocked her path, asking, "Is this truly how you earn a living now? Why not come back to me?" Hadley's lips curved faintly. "If you’re eager to see me, you’d better join the queue, darling."
Iris grew from an orphaned child to the adopted daughter of the Stewart family at age ten, finding warmth in her nominal uncle Vincent's kindness. Seven years later, she became his secret lover. When Vincent's engagement was announced, gossip spread about the notorious playboy CEO finally settling down. But only Iris knew the extent of his cold, two-faced nature. Iris fell for Vincent and, through tears, begged, "Marry me," only to be met with his frosty refusal. Defeated, she accepted a lawyer's proposal, sparking public excitement. Then, on her wedding day, Vincent pleaded desperately, "Don't marry him…"
"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?"
Mia's life is spiraling out of control. Abandoned by her mother, bullied mercilessly at school, and thrown into a household of four dangerously attractive stepbrothers, she's desperate to find her footing. "You look absolutely edible," Sean growled, his eyes devouring her. Mia felt a rush of heat between her thighs "Oh, you think so?" she purred, turning to face him. She reached out and traced her fingers along the ribbon that wrapped around his waist. "Well, I've been waiting for this all day. And I'm starving." Sean's smile grew into a predatory grin. "Then let us feast," he said, and in a flash, the ribbon fell away, exposing his rock-hard length. He stepped closer, and Mia felt the warmth of his breath on her face as he whispered, "You're going to take every inch of us tonight, aren't you?" With Rolex's teasing smirk and Sean's quiet, hot stares, Mia doesn't know where to turn-or who to trust. Every glance, every touch leaves her breathless, confused, and craving more than she should. Will Mia survive their games, or will she lose herself in a dangerous world of secrets, seduction, and forbidden desire? One house. Four brothers. Endless temptation.
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!"
“You need a bride, I need a groom. Why don’t we get married?” Both abandoned at the altar, Elyse decided to tie the knot with the disabled stranger from the venue next door. Pitying his state, she vowed to spoil him once they were married. Little did she know that he was actually a powerful tycoon. Jayden thought Elyse only married him for his money, and planned to divorce her when she was no longer of use to him. But after becoming her husband, he was faced with a new dilemma. “She keeps asking for a divorce, but I don’t want that! What should I do?”