From the moment she was born, Camilla has been bound to Damien Russo, her fate sealed as a peace offering for her parents' hidden sins-a dark secret everyone refuses to reveal. A fierce rebel at heart, Camilla relentlessly seeks to break free from the gilded cage he has created for her. But as she delves deeper into the truth of their union, she uncovers a chilling reality: escape is impossible, and the grip of Damien Russo is inescapable. In a world where love and power collide, can she find a way to reclaim her freedom, or is she forever trapped in his world?
Camilla's POV
"Miss Camilla, Young Master Russo has arrived." Leslie said.
"Let him wait..... I'm busy." I responded to her nonchalantly.
"Your father has requested that you meet with him immediately, Miss. He won't be pleased if the young Master gets upset." She said calmly.
I let out a frustrated sigh, paused my actions and turned towards her.
"Alright Les, I'll be down in a minute."
She bows her head slightly and leaves the room.
Leslie was my personal maid. She's more like a sister to me but always insisted on using formal terms when addressing me.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, I dropped my brush and proceeded to my wardrobe to get an outfit.
I'm almost tempted to go out to meet the asshole in my current outfit just to spite him but I know my father would literally have a stroke if he heard about it.
Angry and feeling defeated, I opted for the dress I had on the last time he was here. I put on my flats and gave my painting one last look before heading out.
The house was lively as usual with everyone going about their respective duties. I headed to the library to pick out a book I would use to keep myself busy and also picked one with the title "The Art of Smiling" for him.
Exchanging pleasantries with some staff on my way down, I headed towards the music room.
He stood by the window at the far end of the room, gazing out of the window with his hands in his pockets.
Damien fucking Russo. My betrothed and worst nightmare.
He's alert of my presence. I know from the way he turns his head slightly from my footsteps.
I don't even know why they force us to do this. Our encounters have never been pleasant.
Deciding against paying him any attention or even bothering to make small talk, I took a seat by the piano and started reading. Seeing as it was the only thing I could do to keep myself company.
No one was allowed near us during these sessions.
I read for about thirty minutes before Damien moved away from the window and settled on the sofa by the wall, making himself comfortable. Looking as stoic and unbothered as usual.
Picking up the book I had picked out earlier, I tossed it at him. It landed on his lap.
"What the fuck is this?"
"A book. It's meant for reading." I casually said.
He took a look at the title and his face contorted even more. He moved his gaze towards me immediately.
"The art of smiling. Do take your time to read it. It'll do you a lot of good." I said smugly.
If looks could kill, I'd be dead, buried and forgotten from the way he looked at me.
"Where did you pick this up?" He asked.
"Uhh, the library?"
His expression changed to a smug one.
"Wasn't there one on hygiene and the importance of wearing clean clothes?"
My jaw dropped.
"Fuck you Russo!"
He didn't say anything but maintained his smug expression.
"You know what? I didn't see one, but, I did happen to see one on sleazy bastards who forcefully claim girls." His demeanor changed.
"Watch your mouth Moretti."
"Watch yours" I threw back.
He let out a sigh, tossed the book aside and leaned back on the sofa.
Feeling frustrated, I dropped my book and started loudly playing off key on the piano.
"Cut it out." He said.
I continued my actions.
"Moretti!"
I kept going.
He stalked towards me and grabbed my arm, pulling me away from the piano and towards him.
"I said cut it out."
"You don't get to tell me what to do. You don't own me." I retorted.
"Not yet but we'll see about that in two years."
"Fuck you."
"Such vile words from pretty lips." He scoffed. I tried to ignore the fact that he called my lips pretty.
"I would never marry you. I'm going to find a way out of this." He scoffed.
"You think I want to look at you, more less marry you?"
Ouch. My pride.
"You disgust me." He said slowly, disgust laced in his tone.
That hurt.
I tried to keep my tears at bay and maintain eye contact with him. I didn't want him to see me cry.
He let go of my arm as if it disgusted him and used the wipes on the table to clean his hand and fingers.
A tear slipped out and soon I was full on crying. I was such a cry baby and I hated it.
He looked unbothered about me and resumed his position by the window.
I pulled myself together and got some wipes to clean my face.
"If you're done with your performance, listen and listen good." He casually said. His gaze trained on the window.
"I would be leaving for Italy for two years."
"What has that got to do with me?" I asked, my voice hoarse from crying.
"I'm giving you your freedom. Go out, learn, have fun, live the life you've always wanted."
"How kind and generous of you." I said sarcastically. He ignored me.
"I would return in time for our wedding after which you would leave with me."
"What part of 'I am not going to marry you' don't you understand?" I asked.
"We both know you don't have a choice." He turned towards me. "I can as well claim you. Leave with you right now to Italy and keep you by my side if I so desired to."
"My father would never allow it."
"Your father doesn't have a say in what I do with you." He replied amusedly.
"I own you Moretti. The sooner you understand that, the better it'll be for you."
That's all I have been told since I was ten. Dad has refused to give me a valid response as to why he had to sign my life away to this monster.
"You're an asshole." I said annoyed.
"I've been called worse." He shrugged.
He walked towards the table at the corner and poured himself a drink.
"Take the opportunity I am giving you Moretti. You're a wise girl."
He downed the liquid at once and set the glass down before glancing at me.
"Two years and then you're mine." He said and walked out of the room.
Sarah's father was accused of treason and executed alongside his wife as punishment, her sister had also mysteriously disappeared and was feared dead. She was shunned, ridiculed, bullied and mistreated by her own kind as punishment for being spared. With her days filled with scornful glares and harsh words, and Lucia, the Alpha's betrothed ensuring she was always on the edge of despair, she longed for a day where she would be free from the pack's cruelty. Fate seemed to smile at her when Alpha Killian, the Alpha King pays a visit to her pack, they end up becoming mates and she leaves her old pack. However, in Alpha Killian's pack, she comes to learn about a shocking truth and revelation about her sister's disappearance and her father's supposed betrayal which leaves her both stunned and devastated.
When Tasha agrees to embark on a vacation with her friend, she doesn't expect that it would end with her getting pregnant for Mathew Williams, a man older than her and whom she barely knows, neither is she prepared for the changes it brings to her life. Her pregnancy leads to her forced marriage with Mathew whom she just met, putting her in a situation she desperately seeks a way out of. How does she navigate her new life? What happens when her sister in law does everything to make sure she loses her baby or worse ends up dead? Would she succeed in her quest for freedom or will she fall for him after learning about the circumstances surrounding her forced marriage?
Lindsey's fiancé was the devil's first son. Not only did he lie to her but he also slept with her stepmother, conspired to take away her family fortune, and then set her up to have sex with a total stranger. To get her lick back, Lindsey decided to find a man to disrupt her engagement party and humiliate the cheating bastard. Never did she imagine that she would bump into a strikingly handsome stranger who was all that she was currently looking for. At the engagement party, he boldly declared that she was his woman. Lindsey thought he was just a broke man who wanted to leech off her. But once they began their fake relationship, she realized that good luck kept coming her way. She thought they would part ways after the engagement party, but this man kept to her side. "We gotta stick together, Lindsey. Remember, I'm now your fiancé. " "Domenic, you're with me because of my money, aren't you?" Lindsey asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Domenic was taken aback by that accusation. How could he, the heir of the Walsh family and CEO of Vitality Group, be with her for money? He controlled more than half of the city's economy. Money wasn't a problem for him! The two got closer and closer. One day, Lindsey finally realized that Domenic was actually the stranger she had slept with months ago. Would this realization change things between them? For the better or worse?
My family was on the poverty line and had no way to support me in college. I had to work part-time every day just to make ends meet and afford to get into the university. That was when I met her—the pretty girl in my class that every boy dreamt of asking out. I was well aware she was out of my league. Nevertheless, I mustered all my courage and bravely told her that I had fallen for her. To my surprise, she agreed to be my girlfriend. With the sweetest smile I had ever seen, she told me that she wanted my first gift for her to be the latest and top-of-the-line iPhone. I worked like a dog and even did my classmates’ laundry to save up. My hard work eventually paid off after a month. I finally got to buy what she wanted. But as I was wrapping my gift, I saw her in the dressing room, making out with the captain of the basketball team. She then heartlessly made fun of my inadequacy and made a fool out of me. To make things worse, the guy whom she cheated on me with even punched me in the face. Desperation washed over me, but there was nothing I could do but lie on the floor as they trampled on my feelings. But then, my father called me out of the blue, and my life turned upside down. It turned out that I was a billionaire's son.
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."
"Ms. Crawford, it’s time for you to divorce Mr. Larsen and come home. You're the only heiress the Master's waiting for.” ~•~ For the sake of love, Amara accepted the arranged marriage with Tobias William Larsen. She did everything to gain her husband’s heart but when his old love returned, she realized that all her effort was all for naught. Tobias demanded a divorce on the night of their wedding anniversary, even at the price of threatening her. Heartbroken, she finally dropped all her illusions about him and returned home to be the heiress. The next time she met Tobias, they were no longer couples but opponents. "Mr. Larsen, should I remind you again? We've divorced." "Amara, that's the stupidest mistake I've ever made. Please come back to me."
“Gabriel Bryce, how can you stand being so shameless?” Leonica asked, staring daggers at her atrocious husband and his mistress. “This is the house gifted to my by grandmother, yet you dare bring another woman into it? Aren’t you afraid that grandmother would be disappointed with you actions…?” Leonica’s words remained unfinished as an enraged Gabriel swung his hand through the air, smacking his palm clean on her left cheek. Leonica held her throbbing cheek, eyes wide and teary as she stared at her husband who glared down at her ferociously. “The nerves of you to mention my grandmother. You have no right to do so!” He spat, taking a step forward and jabbing his index finger painfully into her shoulder, making her take several steps back. “Bare this in mind, Leonica Romero, if not for the wishes of my late grandmother, I’d much rather be dead than associate myself with somebody like you.” *~*~* *~*~* Leonica Romero has always had a long time crush on Gabriel Bryce, CEO of Bryce Empire and Norway’s Business tyrant. Fortunately, at the request of his Ill grandmother, her family’s long time friend, Leonica gets the chance to marry her beloved. Feeling elated, she abandoned her position and dream job in the Romero household and becomes a humble housewife for Gabriel. However, Three years later, on the day of Gabriel’s grandmother’s funeral, Leonica is stunned speechless when he demands for a divorce, as his ex girlfriend Angelina Fernandez had suddenly returned, proclaiming her undying love for him. But that wasn’t the only shock Leonica received that day. Hours after Gabriel’s declaration for a divorce, Leonica wakes up in the hospital to a shocking news. She was two months pregnant. And Gabriel knew nothing about this!
" Don't say anymore word than you already have, don't..." I stuck a finger out at him, sauntering away on my heels when a hand wrapped itself around my arm. Breathlessly he whispered, "You know that I do love you and...fine, what exactly was I supposed to do?" "Protect me and stand up for me. That is what you do for someone who you claim you love!" ************ Out to spite her ex-boyfriend after he had broken up with her on her birthday, Daphne slept with a stranger who turned out to be his uncle while trying to rebuff his words that she was unwanted by others. Was she ready for the wild chase that followed when he found out years later that she had been pregnant with his heirs and that she had been hiding the truth all this while? Faced with the ruthless CEO, known as the beast, who wasn't ready to back down, Daphne does everything possible to make sure her kids wouldn't be taken from her, but what happens when love gets in the mix of it all? Would she be able to conquer these weird feelings and give in her all amidst her scars? And with how deadly he turned out to be? And faced with her ex who still wants her back, what choice is she going to make?