I pursued a boy for five years but never succeeded. Then one day, while I was at KTV spending seven hundred yuan on drinks, I ran into him.
I had been chasing after a guy for five years, but never managed to catch him.
Then, one day, while I was at a karaoke bar, spending seven hundred on drinks, I ran into him.
1
Actually, that day was my friend Gwen Thomas's single release party, celebrating that she'd finally shaken off her toxic ex and was embracing her golden singlehood at 25. By the time our group arrived at the karaoke bar, it was already the second round, and I was pretty much drunk out of my mind.
"Fuck it, let's spend it all tonight!" Gwen kicked the table and, holding a bottle of booze in her hand, shouted with a slur, "Everyone, order a bottle. Davina, you get two!"
"Isn't that a bit much...?" I was already so drunk I couldn't tell how much I had in me. "How much does this even cost?"
"One bottle is seven hundred, or you can get two for a bundled deal at fifteen hundred!"
I didn't even process the discount logic before I saw a guy walking in with the drinks. He was so good-looking that I immediately pointed at him. "I'll have a bottle, but make him open it for me."
Just then, the lights in the room dimmed, and a handsome young man stood beside everyone. But the guy I'd pointed out seemed particularly aloof – he wasn't even saying anything.
Handsome guys always have their moods. His cold attitude was somehow... so charming.
"Hey, you're really good-looking," I decided to be a little more forward, grinning as I reached out to touch his face. "You look just like someone I liked back in college... his name was... oh, Cory Sharpe."
"I am Cory Sharpe."
Well, shit.
2
"So, you... slept with Cory?"
"No," I muttered, feeling a little defeated as I fiddled with the fabric pattern on the blanket. "He said that would cost extra, then mocked me for being so poor that I had to scrape together enough money just to pay."
"..." Gwen fell silent for a moment, chewing on her lips as she asked cautiously, "You don't even have two thousand? Surely you have that, right?"
"Forget two thousand, I had to scrape together seven hundred from several of my cards." I sniffled, my head spinning. "I was already heartbroken thinking, Cory Sharpe, this hot guy, is only worth seven hundred now, and then he gave me this disgusted look, calling me a worthless girl who couldn't even scrape together seven hundred..."
"...Stop, you're making me want to cry too."
I'd just finished talking to Gwen on the phone and was about to get out of bed to grab some breakfast when a message popped up from someone saved as "Top Creditor" in my contacts. It was a picture.
I opened it to find a dry-cleaning bill for two hundred bucks.
"Davina, you threw up on me. You're paying."
I felt my vision blur, and just as I was processing the shock, a voice message came through that startled me so much I almost dropped my phone.
"Cory, what the hell? You're just going to say I threw up? You're extorting me! I'll report you to the cops."
"If you call the cops, I'll tell your dad you were out drinking at the karaoke bar."
"..."
Oh, by the way, Cory was my childhood friend.
"I don't have any money," I admitted, completely broke. "I'm broke. I've got nothing to my name. Go ahead and report me."
A few minutes later, the situation took an unexpected turn.
Who got arrested? Oh, it was me.
Cory sneered, his voice calm but dripping with amusement. "Well then, how about you pay with... something else?"
"...What the hell, Cory, I've liked you for five years, but you really can't look down on me like this. You think I'm worth only two hundred? What the hell do you think I am?"
"...You're going to come over to my place and cook for me," Cory snapped, clearly irritated. "Davina, what the hell is going on in that head of yours?"
The moment he mentioned "cooking," all the fight in me deflated. I held my phone, kneeling at the edge of the bed, listening to Cory's lectures in earnest. I accidentally bumped my head on the bedboard and yelped.
"Davina, what the hell are you doing?"
"...I hit my head..."
"Did all the alcohol go straight to your head?"
3
I woke up still half-drunk, only to find out I owed Cory two hundred bucks.
I was planning on asking Gwen for a loan, but then I remembered how she'd carelessly racked up a five thousand bill on drinks yesterday. I felt a pang for her and swallowed the words before they could leave my mouth.
Following the address Cory had given me, I made my way quickly to his fancy apartment.
A 70-square-meter loft, fully furnished with smart home features, and the view of the bustling city through the floor-to-ceiling windows screamed one thing: Cory Sharpe was rich.
Turns out he was the real deal – an actual rich kid, while I was just a broke wannabe socialite.
"What are you staring at? You here to cook?" Cory, wearing a navy-blue loungewear set, leaned against the kitchen counter, sipping coffee. He adjusted his glasses with his long fingers, and despite his handsome face, his words were cold as ice. "Two hundred bucks, a hundred per meal – four dishes and a soup. The fridge has ingredients. Help yourself."
"...Okay."
His kitchen was fully stocked, and I managed to finish cooking just in time for dinner.
"Cory, dinner's ready." I carefully peeked my head around the door, trying to look as meek as possible.
Cory closed the book in his hand and put his glasses away.
Apparently, even people working at karaoke bar were reading books now. The competition was getting real.
"What are you thinking?"
"Nothing... nothing at all."
He glanced at me sideways.
I stood up straight, trailing behind Cory as he went downstairs. The four dishes and soup on the table looked delicious. Cory sat down on his own, and before I could ask him why he didn't invite me to sit down and eat with him, my stomach growled loudly.
Silence. A brief, uncomfortable silence.
"Go eat."
Just as Cory spoke, I got up to serve myself some food. Before I even reached the table, I heard him lazily add from behind me, "You can go eat out."
I turned around and shot him a glare, but my lips trembled and I almost burst into tears.
"No crying." Cory looked up, gesturing at the food in front of him. "You can eat, but the food's mine. Two hundred a meal."
"Two hundred for this?" I pointed at the eggs and vegetables on the table. "You're ripping me off."
"It's priced fair, market price, take it or leave it." Cory leaned back, eyeing me lazily. "Or you can go eat out. There's nothing here you can afford."
I wanted to cry.
So, basically, I had come all the way here, slaving away to cook for Cory, and now I owed him an additional hundred bucks.
"Are you eating or not?"
"I'll eat."
I rushed into the kitchen, found the largest plate I could find, and served myself a heaping portion of food. I sat down opposite Cory.
Cory was so good-looking, and like most beautiful people, he didn't have much of an appetite. The food on the table was almost entirely finished by me.
"Wash the dishes."
"Dishwashing is two hundred." I leaned back in my chair, certain Cory – looking all neat and polished – wouldn't wash the dishes. I held up two fingers and waved them. "If it's any less, I'm not washing."
"... I have a dishwasher."
"Still two hundred." I quickly adapted to Cory's pricing style. "If you haggle, it'll be three hundred."
"...Fine, you win."
4
"You're a creepy bastard." His eyes smolder me and his answering grin is nothing short of beautiful. Deadly. "Yet you hunger for me. Tell me, this appetite of yours, does it always tend toward 'creepy bastards'?" **** Widower and ex-boss to the Mafia, Zefiro Della Rocca, has an unhealthy fixation on the woman nextdoor. It began as a coincidence, growing into mere curiosity, and soon, it was an itch he couldn't ignore, like a quick fix of crack for an addict. He didn't know her name, but he knew every inch of her skin, how it flushed when she climaxed, her favourite novel and that every night she contemplated suicide. He didn't want to care, despising his rapt fascination of the woman. She was in love with her abusive husband. She was married, bound by a contract to the Bratva's hitman. She was off-limits. But when Zefiro wanted something, it was with an intensity that bordered on madness. He obsessed, possessed, owned. There'd be bloodshed if he touched her, but the sight of blood always did fascinate him. * When Susanna flees from her husband, she stumbles right into the arms of her devilishly handsome neighbour with a brooding glare. He couldn't stand her, but she needed him, if she was ever going to escape her husband who now wanted her dead. Better the devil you know than the angel you don't. She should have recalled that before hopping into Zefiro's car and letting him whisk her away to Italy. Maybe then, she wouldn't have started an affair with him. He was the only man who touched her right, and the crazy man took no small pains in ensuring he would be the last.
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."
Everyone was shocked to the bones when the news of Rupert Benton's engagement broke out. It was surprising because the lucky girl was said to be a plain Jane, who grew up in the countryside and had nothing to her name. One evening, she showed up at a banquet, stunning everyone present. "Wow, she's so beautiful!" All the men drooled, and the women got so jealous. What they didn't know was that this so-called country girl was actually an heiress to a billion-dollar empire. It wasn't long before her secrets came to light one after the other. The elites couldn't stop talking about her. "Holy smokes! So, her father is the richest man in the world?" "She's also that excellent, but mysterious designer who many people adore! Who would have guessed?" Nonetheless, people thought that Rupert didn't love her. But they were in for another surprise. Rupert released a statement, silencing all the naysayers. "I'm very much in love with my beautiful fiancee. We will be getting married soon." Two questions were on everyone's minds: "Why did she hide her identity? And why was Rupert in love with her all of a sudden?"
"I've warned you from the beginning. Don't marry him, but you won't listen." She stood close to me and smiled with concern. "You are not a woman worthy of a man as handsome, rich, smart, and virile as Blaze." My whole body trembled at her words. "Have you no shame?" I asked in a quivering voice. "Take a good look at yourself, Heather." She looked at me in the mirror. "You can't even look at your ugly face. Do you think Blaze can endure a lifetime of looking at that face?" Heather Bailey had a surprise from her husband that night: a divorce agreement. After a year of marriage and facing ups and downs, she couldn't believe Blaze intended to divorce her. But she was devastated when she saw him gazing lovingly at another woman because that person was closest to her. Shortly after she put her signature on their divorce papers, shock waves caught her up. Her flower shop was severely burnt, beyond repair. Her father's company collapsed, and her parents blamed her. She struggled to rebuild her life from the ground up and became more successful than ever. Having many customers who came from influential families, she started her action against Blaze. She won the very thing he wanted. But that was just the beginning.
COALESCENCE OF THE FIVE SERIES BOOK ONE: THE 5-TIME REJECTED GAMMA & THE LYCAN KING BOOK TWO: THE ROGUES WHO WENT ROGUE BOOK THREE: THE INDOMITABLE HUNTRESS & THE HARDENED DUKE *** BOOK ONE: After being rejected by 5 mates, Gamma Lucianne pleaded with the Moon Goddess to spare her from any further mate-bonds. To her dismay, she is being bonded for the sixth time. What’s worse is that her sixth-chance mate is the most powerful creature ruling over all werewolves and Lycans - the Lycan King himself. She is certain, dead certain, that a rejection would come sooner or later, though she hopes for it to be sooner. King Alexandar was ecstatic to meet his bonded mate, and couldn’t thank their Goddess enough for gifting him someone so perfect. However, he soon realizes that this gift is reluctant to accept him, and more than willing to sever their bond. He tries to connect with her but she seems so far away. He is desperate to get intimate with her but she seems reluctant to open up to him. He tries to tell her that he is willing to commit to her for the rest of his life but she doesn’t seem to believe him. He is pleading for a chance: a chance to get to know her; a chance to show her that he’s different; and a chance to love her. But when not-so-subtle crushes, jealous suitors, self-entitled Queen-wannabes, an old flame, a silent protector and a past wedding engagement threaten to jeopardize their relationship, will Lucianne and Xandar still choose to be together? Is their love strong enough to overcome everything and everyone? Or will Lucianne resort to enduring a sixth rejection from the one person she thought she could entrust her heart with?
Three years ago, Cecilia was left battered and alone by the man she loved most, Alston, yet she bravely completed the wedding ceremony while pregnant. Three years later, although they were married, they grew apart over time. Cecilia focused on her career, no longer foolishly believing in love. But her transformation instantly threw Alston into a panic... And what is the secret from 11 years ago that Cecilia has always been reluctant to reveal? *** "She went to a law firm, met with a lawyer..." A lawyer? Is Cecilia suing someone? Who? Is there any recent litigation against the company? Alston suddenly chuckled coldly, "Who could she sue? I'm the CEO of this company. How come such a matter doesn't come to me first?" The assistant swallowed nervously, speaking softly, "Sir, there's no litigation against the company. She met with... a divorce lawyer."