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Apples do not fall far from the tree, were words I heard non-stop growing up. They were not said by kind strangers. These words came with a look of disgust, first at my mother and then down at me as I tried to hide my face in her skirts, away from an angry legal wife, fiancee or even girlfriend. My mother had the reputation of being a homewrecker, and even my birth had a scandalous event surrounding it. So I grew up determined to never be like her. To avoid men in general. Well, until I met Blaine. Blaine was different, mature, kind, attentive. But Blaine turned me into what I had feared most and spent my whole life trying not to be, a homewrecker.
"Father. I cannot believe you are doing this."
The old Takeda-san looked away from his son, down at me, sitting at the end of the table.
He smiled, and then winked. I smiled back.
His son looked at the both of us in horror.
Takeda-san Shin was Japan's Elon Musk, and at least eighty years old.
He finally turned lazy eyes to his son, "Sit, or get out." He spat.
"Gomen, Otõsan." His son bowed deeply in apology, shot me a dirty look and sat beside his father.
The rest of the Takeda clan began to file into the large room, each holding less love in their heart for me, till the woman who downright hated me walked in.
"Who asked the dogs to the master's table?" She looked from me, to my mother sitting beside me in disgust.
I looked away, down at my hands clenched tightly in my lap.
"There is nothing to be ashamed of. Hold your head high," My mother whispered fiercely to me, then she stood up.
"What breed is your favorite nephew then? Only a dog fucks a dog." She spat angrily.
Everyone around the table gasped.
Women never spoke such profanity in public here, unlike the US where I was mostly raised.
But my mother did not give a darn. She had never been one to care.
Blaine's sister-in-law, Aoi Takeda, looked at my mother with a sneer.
"Still as vulgar as ever." She said, "I thought you would feel a little shame after your daughter got pregnant by the same man who you claimed was her father over twenty years ago."
The other family members at the table began to whisper among themselves.
"But I guess I was expecting too much from a classless wh*re." She continued.
"I would feel shame when Blaine does. If he had stuck to women his age, we would not be here." My mother fired back.
I hated this.
I hated this so much.
I did not want to be here. I would have quietly slipped away after I found out I was pregnant.
I would have done so successfully if only I had not told my mother.
She had come down from the US to confront Blaine, my boss, right there in the office.
Even recognizing him as her high school boyfriend, the man who should have been my father, did not make her back down.
Aoi Takeda waved her hand at my mother dismissively.
She bowed deeply to old Takeda-san, the head of the Takeda family, and attempted to sit, but he stopped her.
"Ie. You said you cannot share tables with dogs. Step outside." Takeda-san said.
"Otõsan." Dad. Aoi said in shock.
"Go, your husband will tell you all that was discussed when we are done," he said.
Aoi stared in horror, her face burning in embarrassment.
She finally bowed deeply and left.
On her way out, she walked past Blaine and his fianceé who had just arrived.
I looked away. Blaine was finally here.
We did not look at each other as he bowed to his grandfather and all the older people at the table before he took his seat with Ophelia.
Takeda-san glanced at his lawyer, then turned back to the table, and smiled.
"It has been a while since I saw my whole family gathered in one place. The talk of my money got you all running here, eh." He laughed merrily.
His lawyer smiled politely beside him.
"You are all even actually sitting like you like each other." He laughed again.
No one moved.
I tried to keep my head down, and only occasionally stole glances up.
"Let's not waste more time, so you can all go back to work. Mõshon is currently in the hands of strangers." Takeda-san stretched out his hand to his lawyer.
His lawyer placed a sheet of paper I recognized well in his hand.
"I had a DNA test conducted. I went to the hospital myself with Ariel. The baby is yours Blaine." Takeda-san smiled, and shook his head.
Blaine looked at me from across the table, and I immediately looked down.
My heart was beating fast, and I felt a flutter in my belly. I was not sure if it was the babies in my still flat belly, or the butterflies I still got when Blaine looked at me.
"It was not exactly the safest thing to do, but it had to be done," Takeda-san continued. "For all her troubles, I decided to give her my shares." He said.
The table went silent for one minute, and then there was commotion.
A stranger
Father, how could you
A loose woman
The Takeda name will be ruined
"Shares are never supposed to go outside the family." Blaine's uncle's voice finally broke through the noise.
Takeda-san turned to him.
"That is exactly why I gave it to her. She has my great-grandson in her belly." He said, as the table went silent again to listen to him.
I glanced up at him and wondered how he had not slipped yet.
Only he and I knew there were two babies. That was another thing that had swayed the old man's decisions.
But it was our little secret. He warned me not to tell anyone about it.
"But father," Blaine's uncle started to say.
"I am not done." Takeda-san raised his hand.
The table went silent again, watching him, waiting.
"This afternoon I made her son my legal heir. As soon as he turns six, his guardian will begin to make the company's decisions on his behalf and, at eighteen, he will become the head of the Takeda estate."
This came as a shock to even me.
I had no idea that the old man would do this.
Blaine had been his heir since he lost his father when he was younger. And Blaine still had many uncles, aunties and cousins alive and well.
Blaine was staring at his grandfather in shock.
"So, Ariel Grigor has officially become the lady of the Takeda estate, and you will all treat her as such."
He turned to Blaine.
"It is totally your decision to make her a Takeda, and keep it all in the family or not."
"You would disinherit me?" Blaine looked at his grandfather in disbelief.
"I did not. I simply gave my money to your first son."
"This must be a joke." One of Blaine's cousins laughed.
Takeda-san laughed with him and then turned to his lawyer.
"My grandson thinks it is a joke."
"It is not, Sir."
"He is not even your first great-grandchild." Another woman sitting not very far from me shouted in frustration.
"And we cannot be sure he will survive till term." I clearly heard a whisper.
I looked around me in fright as my blood went cold.
I could not tell who had said that.
Was I imagining things? Even my mother who sat beside me did not look like she had heard. She had all her attention on Takeda-san.
I instinctively placed my hand on my belly.
"Otõsan." I heard Blaine's uncle say, pulling my attention again. "I understand you may be outraged at the scandal this has caused in the last few months. But she is not even of our class. The Soujis may use this opportunity to finally get their hands on our shares."
"That is exactly what I am preventing."
"Otõsan. This is not the best way to go about it."
"What is?" Takeda-san finally exploded. "You expect me to let Tahara's granddaughter get everything?" He pointed angrily at Ophelia sitting beside Blaine.
"You expect me to watch my sweat go to the daughter of the man who said nothing while Souji bullied me and tried to steal my company?"
He stood up shakily.
"There will be no more talks about this. If you don't like it, get Blaine to marry her."
He sighed.
"She deserves it better than you lots, anyway. I found my gift of design in her, the same gift that made the empire you all are now grasping at when not even one of you bothered to inherit or learn the art."
Myra got the shock of her life when she found her fiance in bed with her own father. The pain depended when both men, who were not sorry, tried to gaslight her that it never happened, almost making her believe she was crazy. Her mother did not support her either, and she suddenly found herself floating alone as she tried to come to terms with her new reality that her fiance and father were lovers even though they denied it. All these years she had pandered to her jealous fiance's wishes, devoted her life to pleasing him even when it affected her career, but he had betrayed her without remorse. Unable to come to terms with this evil betrayal, she decided to hit Aiden back where it hurts. She set out on a mission to seduce his widowed father and make him hers. With his wealth, power and political connections, she plans to pull down her own arrogant and powerful father from his golden horse. This story is about revenge, taboo love, crime, passion and lust. Myra Shaw, a beautiful young woman, will go to any length, including marrying a man twice her age to take all her enemies down.
Ever heard of the red string theory? So Romantic. But red string with a ruthless, possessive mafia lord? Tough luck! There is no escape, the red string prevents you both from ever going too far from one another. That was Primrose's reality. Sunshine Prim was hooked by fate to Grumpy Egan, billionaire and Miami's underworld Mafia king. Even when she was all set to marry the love of her life, fate, using her jealous best friend as a tool, managed to ruin the wedding so she and Egan could get married instead. Will the realisation that they were meant to be together help Prim succumb to loving her ruthless mafia husband? Will Egan become a better person and make this marriage the happy one Prim has dreamed to have all her life?
"I'll hate to spoil your makeup." He brushed my hair aside to kiss the delicate skin on my neck. He was my husband, and he was trying to seduce me. The man my father forced me to marry so he could form a political alliance, but also gain access to this enemy family for revenge through me. My name is Racheal, the only legitimate child of one of the world's most influential presidents. As the president's daughter, you would think my life was perfect, but it wasn't. Since my mother's untimely death, my step-mother has maltreated and tortured me relentlessly. My boyfriend betrayed me, and then my father sold me off to be married to a man I did not know, a complete stranger, the billionaire son of a rival president. Now I am forced to make a decision, continue with my father's revenge plan, or let myself fall for my new husband?
When Corynn mustered up the courage to tell Elliot about her pregnancy, she unexpectedly found him gallantly helping another woman from his car. Her heart sank as three years of effort to secure his love crumbled before her eyes, compelling her to leave him behind. Three years later, life had taken Corynn down a new path with someone else, while Elliot was left grappling with regret. Seizing a moment of vulnerability, he pleaded, "Corynn, let's get married." Shaking her head with a faint smile, Corynn gently replied, "Sorry, I'm already engaged."
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.
Five years ago, he upped and left his wife without informing her. He had always felt unworthy. As a result, he decided to go and become a better man. It took him five whole years of daily hard work. When he was satisfied, he returned as a powerful and honorable man. He intended to start a family with his wife. But he got back to meet the greatest shocker of his life. He actually had a daughter!
Amy didn't expect that her husband whom she had loved and trusted earnestly for many years would be cheating on her by having sex with his secretary. When she confronted him, he and his secretary mocked and ridiculed her, they called her barren to her face, afterall, she had not conceived for the past three years that she had been married to her husband, Callan. Terribly Heartbroken, she filed for divorce and left to the club, she picked a random gigolo, had a hot one night stand with him, paid him and dissapeared to a small city. She came back to the country six years later with three identical cute boys and three identical cute girls of the same age. She settled and got a job but soon find out that her CEO was the gigolo she had sex with six years back at the club. Will she be able to hide her six little cuties from her CEO, who happens to be the most powerful man in NorthHill and beleived to be infertile? Can Amy and the most powerful man in NorthHill get along considering the social gap between them.
“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?”
6 years ago, Lydia suffered a brutal betrayal orchestrated by her own husband and step-sister, who drugged her and framed her. In a twist of fate, she ended up having a one-night stand with a stranger. Don't even remember what he looked like. Later, in the throes of death, she discovered the truth about her mother's death all those years ago. In the blink of an eye, she lost everything. 6 years later, Lydia returned with her genius son, vowing to exact revenge on all her enemies! Little did she know, she encountered an incredibly familiar man at the airport! *** The man was briskly pushing open the door to the restroom, heading to the urinal. Even with such a mundane action, he did it with unparalleled elegance and grace. Lydia, following him in a daze, saw his fierce lower body and suddenly snapped back to reality. She let out a high-pitched scream, instinctively covering her eyes with her hands, her cheeks flushed, and stood there stiffly, unsure of what to do. Lambert furrowed his brows slightly but remained calm as he continued to relieve himself. The sound of water hitting the urinal made Lydia's face even redder. She angrily shouted, "You pervert!" Little did Lydia know that Lambert, seeing her in this state, had a flicker of recognition in his eyes. Memories from many years ago flashed through his mind, and his heart couldn't help but stir. It was her!