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"I was wrong, Isabelle," Daemon said, his grey eyes boring into hers. "I never should have left you. I never should have let you leave." "What do you want from me, Daemon? Why wouldn't you just let me be?!" Isabelle screamed. "I can't!" He said, running his hand through his dark hair. "I can't leave you, cause... because I'm in love with you!" Tears welled up in his eyes. "I thought I was going to be happy if things finally went my way. If we were no longer together but I was wrong, Isabelle." She stood still. It felt as though time had stopped all of a sudden, and all she could hear were his words and the light beating of her heart in her chest. He stepped closer, finally closing the gap between them. The light from the chandelier above the high ceiling shining in her eyes. "I love you, Isabelle Sanchez," He whispered. "It is you I want," he said , taking her hands in his. His words sent chills throughout her entire body. He was more in love with her than he thought he could. *** When Isabelle Sanchez agrees to the marriage to ruthless billionaire Daemon Royce. She never imagined for it to go nearly as bad as it did. But with her father's life on the line, she had no choice but to marry a man she has never met. And for him, it was just a box to check in order to secure his inheritance. Except, the more they lived together, the more toxic their marriage became. But what happens when Isabelle finds out she had been played all along by her husband and someone she considered a sister and best friend. It felt like the end of the world to her, leaving her with an only choice and forced to walk out of her marriage. Isabelle goes back to living her life, only to cross paths with charming and caring Edward Blanchard, the billionaire and owner of Steels industry. Just when she thought she would be happy, her life becomes haunted by demons from her past and Daemon trying to win her over again. Isabelle is left with a hard decision to make, fight her demons and accept a new beginning or embrace it cause her heart still longed for her first love. Read to find out.
Her hands shook with fear as she frantically dialed her best friend's number, Lena. He had hit her again, this time around, her body was even more bruised with injuries. She ran and hid in the basement while she called her best friend.
The dim, cold basement reeked of dampness and dust, the faint scent of mildew hanging heavily in the stale air.
Isabelle crouched behind the old, cracked shelf, her knees pulled to her chest, fingers trembling as they hovered over her phone. She was sweating, her breath coming in sharp, shallow gasps. Her fingers slicked against the cold screen, barely able to focus on the words through the haze of panic and fear.
The flashlight on her phone cast weak, jittery light against the grimy walls, only making the shadows seem thicker. Everything around her felt too still, too quiet, except for the frantic thud of her heart pounding in her chest. Her thumb finally dialed the number she knew by heart, Lena. She hit the call button, the screen glowing like an omen in the dark. It rang for a while before the familiar voice finally broke through.
"Hello Isabelle?"
The sound of Lena's voice felt like a life line, but Isabelle couldn't find the strength to speak right away. Her throat felt tight, the air in the basement thick, with something more than just dust.
"Isabelle, what's wrong?" Her friend's voice broke through the phone once again. "Where are you?"
Isabelle pressed the phone harder to her ear, eyes darting to the top of the stairs where she heard him moving around, a whisper of movement. She shuddered.
"Lena...it's...it's bad this time" Isabelle gasped, her words tumbling out in a broken, half-sobbed whisper. "I...I don't know what to do. I...I don't think I'm safe. He...he hit me again. My whole body is bruised." She said, wincing from the pain she felt.
There was a long pause on the other end of the call, a heavy silence that made Isabelle's breath catch in her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself not to lose it. She couldn't. Not now. Not when there was no one else to help.
"That's it, I'm calling 911 right now! I just need you to stay hidden and don't move unless you absolutely have to, okay?" Lena finally said
"No...no no no, you can't, Lena" Isabelle said
"Why Isabelle, for fuck's sake?! You can't expect me to sit by and just do nothing. He keeps hitting you for crying out loud. I'm calling the police! That mother fucker is going to jail. What the hell?! Does he think you are some sort of punching bag or what?!" Lena screamed from the other end of the line.
"You can't, please. Lena, please listen to me. He didn't mean to hit me. He just had a rough day at work. I must have upset him, that was why he hit me. That's why he poured his anger out on me. He really didn't mean to." Isabelle said, defending him.
"Oh my God, Isabelle. You really think him having a bad day at work is an excuse for hitting you?!" Lena screamed.
"Lena, please just don't call the cops. If he finds out, he...he w...would kill me." Isabelle said, shuddering.
Just then she heard his footsteps again. He was coming towards the basement.
"Lena, he's here. He is looking for me. I think he found me. I am in the basement...hiding. Oh my God, Lena, what do I do? I'm...so...scared. Please...please help me"
Isabelle said, whimpering.
Lena's voice came back, sharp with urgency now, though still laced with concern.
"Isabelle, listen to me. You need to stay calm. You are going to be okay. Is there a way out of the house?"
"I...I don't know. I don't know...there is no way out. The front door is locked. I couldn't make it. He...he might be downstairs too. I thought I heard him. I don't know if I should try to sneak out or just wait. What if...what if he knows I'm here?"
"You are not thinking straight" Lena interrupted, her voice firm and steady now, the way it always was when she took charge. "You need to focus, Isabelle. Explain to me what happened in details. Explain exactly how it happened in details. What prompted him to hit you?"
Isabelle shuddered, her head swimming fragments of what had occurred only hours earlier. The argument, the brutal punches and slaps. She could still feel them. The dangerous and scary look in his eyes, the sickening blows that made her feel she would lose her life. It all felt like a nightmare, and she couldn't escape it. But the panic was real, so real.
"I don't know. I don't remember... not all of it," Isabelle stammered, her voice cracking. "But he returned home from work and I asked how he was and if he was ready to have his dinner." "But he...he got mad. I don't know what he was talking about. Something about... about me not going to the police to report him, or... or else," Her breath hitched again, her voice small and shaking. "Lena, I don't think he is going to stop. I don't know what to do."
"Isabelle, listen to me. You are not alone. You just need to stay hidden, okay? Just breathe, you are strong. Just stay quiet and stay out of sight. Can you do that for me?"
Isabelle barely managed a nod, her face pressed against her knees, trying to steady her breathing, to steady herself. Every creak of the floor above made her freeze, her pulse quickening. She thought she heard movement... heavy, deliberate steps dragging across the floor above her. She could feel it in her bones. He was coming. He was coming closer.
She nearly screamed as a sudden loud bang echoed from upstairs, the sound like a door slamming open.
"Oh my God," she whispered, her voice thin and strained. "He is coming. Lena, he is coming down here. He is looking for me! "
"Isabelle, stay quiet. Don't make a sound." Lena said
Isabelle's heart was a wild drumbeat in her ears. Her eyes flicked around the dim basement. She was shaking so violently. Isabelle bit her lip until she tasted blood, her heart hammering as the footsteps grew louder, closer, every creak of the floorboards making her muscle tense. She could almost feel him standing directly in front of her, his breath hot and unsteady, like he could sense her fear.
"I'm so scared," Isabelle whispered. Her voice cracked with desperation, but Lena's voice was calm, grounding.
"I know, but I'm here. Just stay quiet. You are not alone, okay? I'm not going anywhere until you are safe. Just hold on, Isabelle."
Isabelle closed her eyes, gripping the phone like it was her only tether to the world. The light from the screen flickered, and for a moment, she could almost feel Lena was there with her, like she wasn't there alone."
And then, the footsteps stopped. A long, tense silence settled over the house, thick with anticipation. Every breath Isabelle took felt like it could be her last. But Lena's voice was there, a life line in the dark.
"Isabelle?" Lena's voice was barely a whisper now. "Are you still there?"
Isabelle barely managed to reply before she heard a loud, heavy knock on the basement door.
She jumped in fear, petrified. Her heart was pounding rapidly, almost like it was about to jump out.
"Isabelle?!" The familiar voice rang out, but this time it wasn't her best friend's. "Isabelle?!" He called out again.
It was the voice of her husband, Daemon. Isabelle's chest was heaving rigorously. Her head spinned, shivers of sweat ran down her spine. Beads of sweat ran across her face. She hurriedly wiped them with the back of her hand and sniffled.
"I know you are in there, so it's better you come out now or I would beat you senseless again!" His voice screamed from the other side of the door. His words were heavy and laced with authority.
Isabelle whimpered in fear
"Isabelle, come out before I have this door torn down!" Daemon demanded.
"Isabelle?!" Lena's voice rang out on the other side of the line, reminding Isabelle she was still on a call with her best friend.
She slowly dropped the call. The dial ringing out loudly as she whimpered.
In the heart of a city where shadows conceal dark secrets, waitress Sofia Ramirez dreams of a life beyond her shifts at the diner. Her world is turned upside down when she encounters the magnetic Luca Moretti, a charismatic figure tangled in the criminal underworld. But as their fiery romance unfolds, betrayal lurks closer than she ever imagined. Secrets unravel and trust shatters, her world ignites with passion and danger. Sofia finds herself caught in a web of deceit that threatens to tear her apart forcing Sofia to confront dark secrets and deadly rivalries. Can Sofia navigate the treacherous waters of loyalty and betrayal, risking everything for a chance at happiness or will the shadows of Luca's life consume them both? In a world of danger, how far will you go for love?
“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?”
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?"
"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.
"Love is blind!" Lucinda abandoned her beautiful and comfortable life because of a man. She married him and slaved off for him for three long years. One day, the scales finally fell off her eyes. She realized that all her efforts were in vain. Her husband, Nathaniel still treated her like shit. All he cared about was his lover. "Enough is enough! I quit wasting my years with an ungrateful man!" Lucinda's heart was shattered into many pieces, but she summoned up the courage to ask for a divorce. The news caused a stir online! A filthy rich young woman recently got divorced? She was a good catch! Countless CEOs and handsome young men immediately swarmed to her like bees to honey! Nathaniel couldn't take it anymore. He held a press conference and begged with teary eyes, "I love you, Lucinda. I can't live without you. Please come back to me." Would Lucinda give him a second chance? Read to find out!
Kaelyn devoted three years tending to her husband after a terrible accident. But once he was fully recovered, he cast her aside and brought his first love back from abroad. Devastated, Kaelyn decided on a divorce as people mocked her for being discarded. She went on to reinvent herself, becoming a highly sought-after doctor, a champion racer, and an internationally renowned architectural designer. Even then, the traitors sneered in disdain, believing Kaelyn would never find someone. But then the ex-husband’s uncle, a powerful warlord, returned with his army to ask for Kaelyn’s hand in marriage.
In order to fulfill her grandfather's last wish, Stella entered into a hasty marriage with an ordinary man she had never met before. However, even after becoming husband and wife on paper, they each led separate lives, barely crossing paths. A year later, Stella returned to Seamarsh City, hoping to finally meet her mysterious husband. To her astonishment, he sent her a text message, unexpectedly pleading for a divorce without ever having met her in person. Gritting her teeth, Stella replied, "So be it. Let’s get a divorce!" Following that, Stella made a bold move and joined the Prosperity Group, where she became a public relations officer that worked directly for the company’s CEO, Matthew. The handsome and enigmatic CEO was already bound in matrimony, and was known to be unwaveringly devoted to his wife in private. Unbeknownst to Stella, her mysterious husband was actually her boss, in his alternate identity! Determined to focus on her career, Stella deliberately kept her distance from the CEO, although she couldn't help but notice his deliberate attempts to get close to her. As time went on, her elusive husband had a change of heart. He suddenly refused to proceed with the divorce. When would his alternate identity be uncovered? Amidst a tumultuous blend of deception and profound love, what destiny awaited them?