"I'm wanted, Kimberly. Wanted by the Mafia..." Those were my father's final words before he died in my arms. Moments later, I saw those legs step out of the shadows, marking the beginning of my nightmare. Leonardo Fiore, a cold Mafia Don,who is determined to use Kimberly as a tool in his game for power. His world is cruel and his words are like ice. "There's no love here, Kimberly," he whispered. It's not part of the deal." But Kimberly isn't one to accept whatever fate brings, without a fight. "If your love is not part of the deal, I'll make it mine to claim" she declared, feisty, crashing her lips onto his. As tension arises, Kimberly must decide : will she melt Leonardo's icy heart or lose herself trying to survive in his dangerous world?
Kimberley POV:
"You can't just fire me, sir. I've done so much for this company!" I shouted, my voice shaking with disbelief.
Yes, I'd made a mistake...or so they said, but fire me? Just like that? It didn't make sense.
"Do you even understand what you've done?" My boss's voice dropped, cold and sharp. "Kimberley, you leaked our company's secret formula to our top competitor."!
"What?!" I gasped. "That's not true! I would never! "
"You can deny it all you want," he cut in. "I should've called the police. But considering the years we've worked together, and your past record, I'm offering you an alternative." He shoved a file across the desk.
My eyes flickered to the paper inside, dreading what it might say. The figure on the page stopped my breath. $4,500. Damages.
"I didn't do this!" I protested. "This is a mistake! someone's framing me!"
"Shut your mouth!" a voice rang out.
Magret, my boss's wife, stormed in. Before I could react, she slapped me so hard that my vision blurred.
"You think you can lie your way out of this?" Magret hissed, thrusting a tablet at me.
The footage showed me at a restaurant, talking to a man I didn't know. But the camera didn't care. It only saw me with our competitor's production manager.
"This isn't what it looks like," I stammered. "I didn't know him-I was meeting my friend and colleague, Elicia!"
"Let's bring her in then," my boss said.
A few minutes later, Elicia walked in. Only her could clear this up.
"Eli, tell them," I pleaded. "You invited me to that restaurant."
Elicia blinked. "Yeah... but I also messaged you to change the location. Maybe you didn't check your phone."
"What? No!" I scrambled for my phone, but the messages were gone. Deleted.
Magret sneered. "Pathetic."
My boss leaned back. "Kimberley, either pay the $50,000 or face fifteen years in prison. Your choice."
I couldn't breathe. I had no money. I'd never survive prison.
I got home after what seem like eternity. I met my father on the couch and for the first time, he didn't reek alcohol.
His face, drawn and pitiful, it Reminded me of how hard he had tried to raise me alone since Mom disappeared. Despite his drinking, his gambling, all his failures-he had done everything in his power to make me happy. But none of that mattered now, because here I was: "A failure. A disappointment."
I couldn't bear it.
He didn't even notice my presence, so I simply slipped past him and retreated to my room. As soon as the door clicked shut, I collapsed onto the bed, curling into myself like a child. The weight of the day pressed down on me, suffocating.
I let the tears come, hot and relentless, pouring out every ounce of frustration, and helplessness I had been holding back. I cried until my body was exhausted to feel anything but an empty, aching numbness.
Hours later, My father came into my room and sat on the bed , his face drawn and hollow, like the weight of the world had crushed him beneath it.
"Kimberley, baby..." He called softly.
"Dad..." I whispered back, and to my surprise, the tears came rushing back. I sobbed against his chest like I do when I was little. His hands rubbed my back gently.
"I want you to know, baby," he whispered, "that no matter what happens, everything's gonna be okay."
I pulled back, wiping my face, my heart hammering with the unspoken weight behind his words.
"There's something you need to know..."
He paused, and for a long, dreadful moment, the air between us was suffocatingly thick.
"I'm sorry, Kimberley. I've made mistakes... mistakes that will haunt us for a long time."
I swallowed hard. "What is it, Dad?"
He hesitated, his eyes flickering with a fear I had never seen before.
"I'm wanted," he whispered, so quietly it was almost lost in the silence.
"Wanted?" My voice cracked. "By the police? What did you do?"
"No." He exhaled a long, weary sigh. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this."
Before he could continue, a deafening bang ripped through the air. My father's body jerked. His eyes widened in shock, and a sickening gurgle came from his throat.
I froze. For a second, I didn't understand. Then, I saw it: blood, dark and warm, oozing from his mouth, splattering onto the floor.
"No!" I screamed, my voice ragged as I lunged forward, catching his collapsing body in my arms. His weight sagged against me, and my trembling hands felt the slick warmth of blood spreading across his back.
"Papa, no! Stay with me! You can't leave me all alone." I begged, shaking him.
But his breathing turned shallow.
The wound on his back was a - He has been shot!
As if answering my internal question, a masked figure appeared from the shadows. A man, face covered by a mask, a gun still smoking in his hand.
His eyes locked onto mine, cold and empty. He lowered the gun and moved toward me.
He was close now-too close. My pulse raced, but my feet felt rooted to the floor. Before I could react, pain exploded in my arm. A sharp, stinging sensation.
I gasped, my body jerking back instinctively. My vision blurred as the room began to spin. Panic surged through me, but I couldn't fight it.
I felt his hands on me, lifting me like I weighed nothing, slinging me over his shoulder. My limbs were heavy, useless. I tried to struggle, to resist, but my body wouldn't respond.
I had been injected. Something cold and foreign was coursing through my veins, draining every ounce of strength I had.
As my consciousness slipped away, I realised with chilling certainty that I was completely at the mercy of my father's killer
Cathryn, an orphan with no family ties to Grayson, regarded him only as family. He, however, valued her as a precious jewel. From their very first encounter, Cathryn's destiny was intertwined with his. Once lonely and desiring affection, she was ensnared by his love, unable to break free. Eventually, she managed to escape his emotional clutches. Shockingly, she had fallen for someone else. Grayson confronted her sharply. "How could you feel for another?" Unable to meet his eyes, she whispered, "You're family. I can't..." Looking down, he pressed further. "You can't, or you wouldn’t dare?"
P-please, I beg you. Come let's go tell Christian I had no hand in whatever happened, p-please." I clutched the lapel of his jacket desperately. "Let's go. You need to tell my husband you were paid." "Young lady, you're harassing me." His tone was cold and his stare granite. But I could care less. "You harassed me first! You had sex with me without my consent, my husband knows and now I'm pregnant with this child he doesn't want. You ruined my marriage! I-I hate you!" ************************************ Caught by her husband with another man on their matrimonial bed the morning after her birthday, Hailey Codza could not defend herself. As though it's not enough, she gets pregnant. Her enraged husband decides to pay her back for her infidelity by having an affair with his ex-girlfriend - Denise Kellers, the family Hailey never knew she had. Losing her family's wealth and company to her husband and his ex (now girlfriend), she is devastated, homeless and penniless as all her credit cards are blocked by her husband. She sees the man who is responsible for her pregnancy. The man she has no idea how he'd found his way to her matrimonial bed - Jared Johnson. Jared is annoyed when this strange woman disrupts his meeting and accuses him of ruining her life, marriage and impregnating her. It affects his business deals and having no choice, he marries her to calm the public whilst engaged to someone else. But he loathes her and allows his family treats her badly. Hailey who has fallen in love with Jared is broken when she can no longer take the humiliation. She signs the divorce papers and leaves, only to arrive six years later to the country as a self-made, secret billionaire and a mother of twins. Now her two ex-husbands are begging to have her back...
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?
In the previous life, Maggie Johnson was so cowardly, gullible and stupid that she was coaxed by her fiance and stepsister and then broke her legs and lost everything including her fortune, love and even life. However, she was so lucky that she was reborn in the year before everything happened. Since her life restarted, how could she repeat a previous tragedy? Therefore, in this life, she took the opportunity to improve herself and take revenge on the ones who had ever insulted her. Facing the people who had humiliated her previously, she became smart and experienced to break their frames and tricks that had caused her to hurt in the previous life. Finally, no one could stop her pace to amaze the world any more.
The dream of everyone with regards to marriage is to be able to find that special someone and settle down with them. Even arranged marriages grant you an opportunity to meet your partner briefly before the wedding. How will you feel about waking up in the morning with someone sleeping next to you who is not just anyone but your legally married partner yet with no memory of how that had happened in just a few hours of going out the previous day? This is the story of Jason Haward and Julia Harrison, two strangers trapped in a marriage they never planned. The quest to find out why led to the unfolding of a mystery which made them realize they are both living a lie. To find out more, read this amazing story of love, betrayal, revenge and murder.
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.