/0/66124/coverbig.jpg?v=31a8a59a5239d5adecf691cf0ae427a7)
"You're marrying well, Vera. Ivan's family is influential. Don't embarrass us." - Vera's Mother "But Mother, I don't love him. I don't even know him!" - Vera "Love is a luxury we can't afford. Your duty is to secure our family's future." - Vera's Mother But fate had other plans. "Who are you?" Vera whispered, her voice trembling as a stranger's hands explored her body. "I'm the one who'll change your life forever," he replied, his eyes burning with desire. Little did Vera know, that stranger was Ivan, her future husband. Vera is a young, beautiful and talented girl. Raised by her family she grew to be hardworking and loved by everyone around her. Bored with a kind heart, she treat her Olivia with love despite all the hate she receives from her. Seen as a tool to climb the social ladder, her parents decided to arrange a marriage between her and a young master, Ivan, without her wishes. Luck seemed to deviate from her as she loses her virginity to a stranger a night before her in-laws come to get her. Only to discover later, that her husband was the same man who took away her virginity. Will she be accepted by Ivan? Will she succeed in winning over his heart? This novel embraces the struggles, Vera will encounter, the way she handles and goes through each situation with the blooming romance between her and Ivan.
Vera was woken by the sound of the birds and was dumbstruck at the sight she saw. It seems like she was not the only one awake. Ivan seemed to be awake for long with a lit cigarette in his hand as he stood facing the floor-to-ceiling window.
"You're awake," he puffed smoke from his mouth and through his nostrils. He was shirtless and his belt was loosen around his waist.
"What..... What did you do to me?" Vera questioned as she quickly wrapped the blanket over her body aghast.
"What did I do to you?" Ivan laughed nonchalantly as though he had just heard a joke. He smashed the cigarette to ashes before walking to her. She quickly tightened her grip on the blanket and he unconsciously smirked by her actions. He stared into her eyes for a while before leaning towards her for a kiss but was pushed away by her.
"What's wrong? Is this not what you wanted? Why are you pushing me away?" He asked as he caressed her cheeks.
"Stop it, please. She pushed his hand off her. You have already ruin my life, what else do you still want?" Tears flowed down her cheeks like water in a waterfall as the words left her mouth but Ivan just kept staring at her indifferently.
"Here, sign it." He lit a cigarette and puffed out smoke as he threw the document to her face.
"What...... What is this?"
"A marriage contract!"
"What?"
"I do not have all day to spend with you as I have much more important things to attend to, so don't waste my time any further and sign over there," he gestured, using his fingers to show her the blank space with a subscript 'signature' beneath it.
"I'm not signing it," she contradicted as she threw the document to the other side of the bed.
"How dare you!" He held her shoulders tightly which made Vera daunted by his deadly glare.
"What do you take me for? Do you think I am a fool? You were the one who offered yourself to me last night and now I want to take responsibility for what I have done, you are refusing?" He questioned her with authority in his tone as he pushed her forcibly.
"Ah," she winced out of pain when she hit her head on the edge of the bed.
"I.... I do not agree to marry you. No matter...."
"Are you trying to ruin my reputation?" Vera was interrupted by Ivan's direct question. He glared at her angrily and if glares could kill, then Vera might have been dead by the glare Ivan is giving to her.
"Ruin your reputation? What a joke!" Vera contradicted. "I don't care who or whatever you are but all I know is that you are the one who have ruined my reputation," Vera yelled at him, not minding his dreadful glare.
'Huff,' he puffed out smoke as the temperature in the room fell low and there was a brief silent which filled the room.
"Whatever happened last night was all because of you. You came to me and freely offered yourself without me forcing you. So, why are you now blaming me for your own mess?" Ivan said candidly and his tone was soft and comforting as though he was comforting a baby whose candy was taken away from him.
"Here," he placed a pen besides her. "Take the pen besides you and sign the contract right now. As long as you do it, I promise to bear responsibility for my actions and take good care of you." Ivan said as he lit another stick of cigarette.
Not minding her appearance, Vera stood up and quickly dressed in front of him.
"Take responsibility?" She questioned rhetorically. "You may have ruined me but I will never let you ruin my future. No matter what happened between us last night, I think you should keep your kind offer to yourself because I will never in my life agree to marry a pervert like you." She said nonchalantly as she stamped the marriage contract to his face and left the room immediately without giving him a chance to respond, leaving him completely stunned.
As soon as Vera left the Emperor's Golden Hotel, she booked a cab back to the apartment she lives in but was stopped halfway by her father's men who he instructed to search for her. It seems like they were finally able to track her location. An hour later and Vera was brought back to the Carter's Mansion by her father's men.
Bang! Vera was welcomed by a hard and loud slap as soon as she stepped into the parlour by her mom.
"Mom, I......"
"Shut up! So, you have finally realized that you have a mother right," Mrs. Carter questioned mockingly.
"No mom, I...."
"You...." She raised her hand to hit Vera again but was stopped midway in the air by Mr. Carter.
"Who gave you the right to raise your hand to her?" Mr. Carter asked.
"Me? No, no. I was only welcoming our Vera back. Come in dear," she put on a fake smile as she led Vera to the center of the parlour where her dad was sitting on the single armed sofa with his leg crossed together.
"For this time being, Vera will have to be treated as fragile as an egg to avoid any scares. Who knows, her in-laws may refuse to accept her even if they notice a single scratch on her," he said indifferently not minding what had happened.
"Why do you hate me so much?" Amara asked, her voice shaking. "I've never done anything to you." Where power, passion, and painful memories collide, Amara Denz never imagined the same man who made her life a living hell at Lyons College would be her ruthless, charismatic boss. Now CEO of a thriving tech empire, CEO Leo reigns with cool efficiency-but beneath his shining exterior blazes an undeniable, forbidden desire for the very woman he once tormented. Amara Denz is desperate. Desperate to find employment to pay for the mounting bills, desperate to bury the pain of her abused past, and desperate to preserve her shattered pride in a company where every glance from Leo sends unspoken tension her way. Torn between old wounds and an incendiary attraction that she cannot deny or manage, Amara must navigate a landscape of office politics and personal demons. "Work hard, be loyal, and maybe you'll earn my respect," Leo declares with a provocative smile during their first meeting. But as the day unfolds, every accidental brush, every lingering look, transforms the mundane into a battlefield of raw emotion and sensual challenge. Set against the high-stakes halls of Baze, this scorching dual-perspective story of redemption and revenge tracks two individuals whose entwined destinies compel them to confront a past defined by brutality-and a present filled with desire. Can Leo demonstrate that he's reformed, or will the wounds of their past continue to keep them apart? And will Amara's need to transcend her past enable her to gamble everything on a second chance at love?
"Is this your idea of a blind date, Ms. Alejandro? Crashing your boss's table with that fiery temper of yours?" Luciana froze, her cheeks flushed as she stared at the one man she swore to avoid: Finlay Maverick, her enigmatic and infuriating CEO. Single mother Luciana Alejandro's move from Mexico City to Dublin was supposed to be a fresh start-a chance to provide her young son a better life. Struggling to rebuild her life after years of disappointment, she lands a job at Maverick's Corp, thanks to her best friend, Maddison. But life takes a chaotic turn when a blind date gone wrong entangles her in the orbit of the magnetic yet aloof billionaire, Finlay Maverick. Known for his icy demeanor and aversion to commitment, Finlay finds his world turned upside down when Luciana's fiery wit and quiet resilience ignite a passion he can't ignore. But Luciana has secrets-secrets that could shatter the fragile connection growing between them. As Finlay battles his own fears of love and fatherhood, Luciana must confront the betrayals of her past, the meddling schemes of jealous friends, and the resurfacing of the man who abandoned her and her child. When scandal erupts, threatening to destroy everything they've built, will their love be strong enough to weather the storm?
"Guy why you dey look me like that?" His voice was steady, but the flicker of confusion and heat in his eyes made my chest tighten. "I'm not," I lied, though my gaze refused to move from the water sliding down his neck, tracing the hard lines of his chest before disappearing beneath the towel. " Huh! Really?" he asked, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "Because you're looking at me like I'm some kind of forbidden fruit." I swallowed hard, cursing the way my breath hitched. He wasn't wrong. Something about him-his presence, his confidence, the way he stood there dripping wet like he didn't have a care in the world-had me unraveling. "You're the one standing half-naked," I shot back, though the words lacked bite. "What do you expect?" He laughed, the sound deep and rich, like the rumble of a storm. "I didn't expect you to be so easy to distract." "Distract? I'm not distracted." My words came out too quick, too defensive. He stepped closer, his damp hair falling across his forehead, and for a moment, the space between us felt electric. "Then wati dey make you dey blush?" I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Because he was right-I was blushing, my pulse racing, my thoughts a mess. And then, just as suddenly as he'd appeared, he was gone, leaving nothing but the memory of his smirk and the ache in my chest that told me this wasn't over. --- Can you survive the pull of gravity when it's not just the black hole that's consuming you-but him? Dive into ETHEREAL BLUE, a tale of cursed ghosts, forbidden connections, and the kind of chemistry that stops time itself.
"Mr. Evans, please maintain some dignity. Don't forget I'm your brother's wife!" Having caught her husband and best friend together in the bed, Elena wanted nothing more than to exact revenge on the people she once called family. She refused to be a pitiful divorcee and vowed to make everyone who had once looked down on her beg for forgiveness. And to start with her newfound freedom, Elena indulges in a one-night stand with a stranger. However, what was meant to be a fleeting escape turns into a nightmare when she learns that the stranger is none other than her husband's older brother! Would Elena be free from the shackles of her marriage? Or would the mysterious stranger make her life a living hell since he seemed to have a personal vendetta against his family? [The story is 18+ and involves mature content.]
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!”
After hiding her true identity throughout her three-year marriage to Colton, Allison had committed wholeheartedly, only to find herself neglected and pushed toward divorce. Disheartened, she set out to rediscover her true self-a talented perfumer, the mastermind of a famous intelligence agency, and the heir to a secret hacker network. Realizing his mistakes, Colton expressed his regret. "I know I messed up. Please, give me another chance." Yet, Kellan, a once-disabled tycoon, stood up from his wheelchair, took Allison's hand, and scoffed dismissively, "You think she'll take you back? Dream on."
Janice, the long-forgotten legitimate heiress, made her way back to her family, pouring her heart into winning their hearts. Yet, she had to relinquish her very identity, her academic credentials, and her creative works to her foster sister. In return for her sacrifices, she found no warmth, only deeper neglect. Resolute, Janice vowed to cut off all emotional bonds. Transformed, she now stood as a master of martial arts, adept in eight languages, an esteemed medical expert, and a celebrated designer. With newfound resolve, she declared, "From this day forward, no one in this family shall cross me."
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.
Dear readers, this book has resumed daily updates. It took Sabrina three whole years to realize that her husband, Tyrone didn't have a heart. He was the coldest and most indifferent man she had ever met. He never smiled at her, let alone treated her like his wife. To make matters worse, the return of the woman he had eyes for brought Sabrina nothing but divorce papers. Sabrina's heart broke. Hoping that there was still a chance for them to work on their marriage, she asked, "Quick question,Tyrone. Would you still divorce me if I told you that I was pregnant?" "Absolutely!" he responded. Realizing that she didn't mean shit to him, Sabrina decided to let go. She signed the divorce agreement while lying on her sickbed with a broken heart. Surprisingly, that wasn't the end for the couple. It was as if scales fell off Tyrone's eyes after she signed the divorce agreement. The once so heartless man groveled at her bedside and pleaded, "Sabrina, I made a big mistake. Please don't divorce me. I promise to change." Sabrina smiled weakly, not knowing what to do...