/0/68863/coverbig.jpg?v=65d19d6cc8fd19ff0990ac7a6a74b941)
Natalie Carter is the daughter of Charles Carter, a powerful real estate tycoon known for his colossal financial empire. She left her family home to live among ordinary people after a humiliating rejection from her fiancé, an influential man she thought was her soul mate. Her escape caused a scandal, bringing shame on her family. Three years later, Natalie leads a discreet life in Manhattan. She lives in a modest apartment in a picturesque neighborhood and works as an executive assistant in a small advertising agency. She is in a relationship with a simple and unremarkable man. All seems peaceful until her neighbor mysteriously disappears. This disappearance is followed by a series of disturbing events, including murders linked to influential figures in high society. Her mother, Elizabeth Carter, contacts her to alert her of an imminent danger linked to their past. Driven by circumstances, Natalie crosses paths with her former fiancé, Alexander Drake, an enigmatic and ruthless billionaire. Faced with plots, betrayals, and shocking revelations, Natalie finds herself forced to return to the world she fled, ending her simple and anonymous life. But can she navigate this whirlwind of lies and power without losing who she has become? And is Alexander an ally or a threat?
Manhattan exuded a deceptive tranquility that morning, shrouding its cobblestone streets in a light mist that softened the contours of the cityscape. Natalie Carter, snuggled up in her gray sweater, savored this rare tranquility while sipping her coffee near the window of her apartment. The walls of her modest home were decorated with minimalist frames and simple objects, echoes of a discreet life that she had carefully built far from her tumultuous past.
The streets below rustled faintly, a sign of the city's gradual awakening. Natalie loved this precise moment of the day, this moment when the world seemed suspended between silence and excitement. As she put down her cup, a loud noise coming from upstairs startled her. It came from Clara's apartment.
Clara was his immediate neighbor, a young woman with delicate features and often feverish manners. Their relationship was limited to brief greetings and a few exchanges of small talk on the landing. Yet there was something intriguing about Clara, a palpable nervousness that suggested she was hiding a secret.
Intrigued, Natalie opened her door and went out onto the landing. She listened. A heavy silence reigned now, as if the noise heard a moment earlier had never existed. She hesitated to knock on Clara's door but thought better of it. Maybe it was nothing, she thought.
A few hours later, while she was writing a report for work, there was a sharp knock at her door. She opened it to find Clara, visibly agitated, with disheveled hair and shifty eyes.
"Natalie, I... I'm sorry to bother you," Clara stammered, out of breath.
"No problem, come in," Natalie replied, surprised.
Clara refused to enter and cast furtive glances around her, as if afraid of being observed. She handed Natalie a small notebook.
"Keep it for me, please." If something happens to me..." She stopped, her voice trembling.
Natalie frowned, confused.
"Clara, what are you talking about? Everything is fine ? »
Clara shook her head, visibly terrified.
"I have to go. Just do what I ask you. Please. »
Before Natalie could ask any more questions, Clara disappeared down the stairs. Natalie stood in the doorway for a moment, notebook in hand. She wanted to open it but held back, respecting her neighbor's strange request.
The next day, Clara's absence became evident. His mailbox was overflowing, and no light was coming from his apartment. Natalie finally decided to knock on his door. No response. Worry rose within her.
She went to the building manager, Mrs. Collins, a woman in her fifties, known for her invasive curiosity.
"Clara? Ah, that girl... I haven't seen her in two days," Mrs. Collins said, shrugging her shoulders. "But she's the discreet type. »
"Two days? Don't you think that's strange? » insisted Natalie.
Mrs. Collins sighed. "Maybe she left without warning. It happens often. »
But Natalie wasn't convinced. That same evening, she decided to enter Clara's apartment. She had a spare key that Clara had given her a few weeks ago, just in case. Her heart was pounding as she unlocked the door and stepped inside.
The apartment was plunged into oppressive darkness. The closed curtains blocked any light from entering. Natalie looked for the switch and turned on the light. What she saw made her blood run cold.
The living room was upside down. Overturned furniture, papers scattered everywhere, and a strange metallic smell hung in the air. A broken lamp groaned beneath his feet. Natalie felt a cold sweat running down her back.
She cautiously walked towards the kitchen, where she found a cup of coffee still half full on the counter. This meant Clara left in a hurry, or worse, was forced to leave.
Natalie noticed a disturbing detail: a hastily scribbled note on a piece of paper hanging on the refrigerator. He simply said: *'They know. »*
She stepped back instinctively, her heart pounding. Who were "they"? And what did they know?
Suddenly, a noise in the hallway startled her. She turned off the light and cowered behind a piece of furniture, holding her breath. The footsteps approached, then moved away. Once silence returned, Natalie ran out of the apartment, her legs trembling.
Back at home, she carefully locked the door and collapsed onto her couch, Clara's notebook still in her hands. This time she decided to open it.
Inside she found a series of messy notes, names, phone numbers, and addresses. Some names were circled or crossed out, but none were familiar. In the middle of the pages, a complex diagram linked nouns to words like "blackmail," "murder," and "secret."
Natalie felt panic growing inside her. Was Clara involved in something dangerous?
The next morning, Natalie went to the police station to report Clara missing. But the welcome she received only added to her discomfort.
"Your neighbor, you say? » asked the officer in charge, visibly not interested.
" Yes. She hasn't given any sign of life for three days, and her apartment... was a mess. It was weird," Natalie explained.
The officer shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe she went on vacation without warning. You know, it's not that rare. »
Natalie felt her irritation rising. "No, you don't understand. She was terrified before she disappeared. She gave me this notebook..."
She took out the notebook to show it, but the officer pushed it away with a nonchalant gesture.
"Look, unless we have evidence of a crime, there's not much we can do. If you have other information, you can come back. »
Frustrated, Natalie left the police station. She felt like she was going in circles, like she was alone in this quest. Yet one thing was certain: Clara had tried to send him a message, and it was her duty to figure out what had happened.
As she was returning home, a black car, parked a few meters from her building, caught her attention. Two men in dark suits seemed to be watching him. When she stopped, they looked away, but she knew they were watching her.
His heart raced. Who were they? And what did they want?
That evening, Natalie did not sleep. She spent hours analyzing Clara's notebook, looking for a clue, an answer. But the more she read, the more the questions multiplied.
The anonymity she had cherished so much seemed to slip through her fingers, replaced by growing worry and invisible danger. Clara had disappeared, but her shadow still loomed, heavy with mysteries and secrets.
Under the gaze of a fallen mafia, Elvie, a young woman with a troubled past and victim of a brutal ex, seeks to rebuild her life. Working as an assistant in the villa of the Corleone, an influential crime family, she tries to avoid conflict with the three Corleone brothers, all as dangerous as each other. But everything changes when Adriano, the eldest brother and heir, breaks his arranged engagement to embrace the war between enemy families and must quickly remarry. Cold and calculating, he sees Elvie as a simple piece in his game. For her, he is just another nightmare to flee. But as they interact, appearances crumble and unexpected bonds are forged. As her ex resurfaces, Elvie will have to choose between her new life, her secrets and the growing violence that threatens everything she has rebuilt.
Alice's life has been devastated by the betrayal of those she believed to be her allies. Five years ago, her fiancé, in the grip of a professional failure, convinced her to sacrifice her dreams to help him get back on his feet. But her best friend, hungry for glory and power, made a decision that would change their friendship forever, by secretly becoming a surrogate mother. When Alice's fiancé, now at the top of his career, left her, claiming that she no longer met his expectations, Alice, broken, accepted the proposal of the mysterious billionaire, Gabriel Hartman. Known for his coldness and indifference, Gabriel seemed to offer Alice an escape. What she didn't know was that he was the one who had orchestrated her best friend's request for maternity... But what if everything she thought she knew was just a decoy? What if, deep down, the price of her redemption is much higher than she imagined? Can the truth really mend broken hearts, or will secrets destroy everything in their path?
Zoe's dreams of marriage are shattered when she catches her fiance in a compromising situation with his best friend. Devastated, she seeks to recover what she has lost. That's when an enigmatic man, a warm billionaire named Maxime Delacroix, offers her an unexpected solution: a loveless marriage, a contractual alliance with the aim of destroying his ex's career. Although reluctant, Zoe accepts, ready to do anything to get revenge. But as their relationship grows, Zoe realizes that the stakes are more complex than she imagined. Between revenge and a budding passion for this distant man, she finds herself torn between her desire for justice and her budding feelings. How far will she be willing to go to get revenge without losing everything in the process?
Lily thought she had a simple life, surrounded by her adoptive parents in a small town. But everything changed the day she learned that her real parents were industrial tycoons and that she had a twin brother, heir to a family empire. Welcomed into a world of luxury, she found herself facing a reality very different from the one she knew. Her brother, a cold and ambitious man, had always hated her. "You're just an intruder, Lily," he told her. But another secret resurfaced: a mysterious businessman claimed that Lily was the rightful heir to a huge hidden fortune. "It's time you knew the truth," he told her. Between betrayals and revelations, Lily must choose between wealth and family loyalty.
Lara Sanders and Ethan Cole had been together for five years, but Lara had never been his priority. Ethan, obsessed with his work, did not see the soul of the woman he had married. Lara had tried to rekindle the flame, but in vain. She had had enough. One day, she left everything: the house, the promises, and Ethan. Years later, Lara reappears. She has become a successful entrepreneur, an icon of the business world, and no one recognizes her anymore as the fragile young woman she once was. Far from the shy and discreet Lara, she is now a queen of industry, admired and respected. At a public event, a journalist asks her: "Lara, you are the most influential businesswoman of the moment. What is the key to your success?" Lara, with a mysterious smile, answers: "Never let a man define you. Take charge of your life. » The next day, to everyone's surprise, Ethan appears at Lara's door. The man she thought had been forgotten, who had let her go without a glance, returns with a surprising proposition: "Lara, I made a mistake. Can we start all over again... Together?"
Luca Moretti, an influential businessman, is forced to marry Amélie Lefevre, a woman he considers a simple family obligation. Already in love with another, he vows to make Amélie's life hell so that she will ask for a divorce. However, he does not know that Amélie is hiding a secret that could change his life forever. Behind her calm facade, Amélie is much more determined and intelligent than he thinks. What will happen when Luca finds himself caught in his own game? Will he succeed in breaking their union or will he succumb to the hidden truth?
When Zora was sick during the early days of her pregnancy, Ezrah was with his first love, Piper. When Zora got into an accident and called Ezrah, he said he was busy, when in actual fact, he was buying shoes for Piper. Zora lost her baby because of the accident, and throughout her stay at the hospital, Ezrah never showed up. She already knew that he didn't love her, but that was the last straw for the camel's back, and her fragile heart could not take it anymore. When Ezrah arrived home a few days after Zora was discharged from the hospital, he no longer met the woman who always greeted him with a smile and cared for him. Zora stood at the top of the stairs and yelled with a cold expression, "Good news, Ezrah! Our baby died in a car accident. There is nothing between us anymore, so let's get a divorce." The man who claimed not to have any feelings for Zora, being cold and distant towards her, and having asked her for a divorce twice, instantly panicked.
"Ahh!" She was in a moaning mess. She did not want to feel anything for this man. She hated him. His hands began to move all over her body. She gasped when he pulled down the back chain of her dress. The chain stopped at her lower waist, so when he zipped it off, her upper back and waist were exposed. "D-Don't touch m-ummm!" His fingers rolled around her bare back, and she pressed her head against the pillow. His touches were giving her goosebumps all over her body. With a deep angry voice, he whispered in her ear, "I am going to make you forget his touches, kisses, and everything. Every time you touch another man, you will only think of me." - - - Ava Adler was a nerdy omega. People bullied her because they thought she was ugly and unattractive. But Ava secretly loved the bad boy, Ian Dawson. He was the future Alpha of the Mystic Shadow Pack. However, he doesn't give a damn about rules and laws, as he only likes to play around with girls. Ava was unaware of Ian's arrogance until her fate intertwined with his. He neglected her and hurt her deeply. What would happen when Ava turned out to be a beautiful girl who could win over any boy, and Ian looked back and regretted his decisions? What if she had a secret identity that she had yet to discover? What if the tables turned and Ian begged her not to leave him?
The whispers said that out of bitter jealousy, Hadley shoved Eric's beloved down the stairs, robbing the unborn child of life. To avenge, Eric forced Hadley abroad and completely cut her off. Years later, she reemerged, and they felt like strangers. When they met again, she was the nightclub's star, with men ready to pay fortunes just to glimpse her elusive performance. Unable to contain himself, Eric blocked her path, asking, "Is this truly how you earn a living now? Why not come back to me?" Hadley's lips curved faintly. "If you’re eager to see me, you’d better join the queue, darling."
Rosalynn's marriage to Brian wasn't what she envisioned it to be. Her husband, Brian, barely came home. He avoided her like a plague. Worse still, he was always in the news for dating numerous celebrities. Rosalynn persevered until she couldn't take it anymore. She upped and left after filing for a divorce. Everything changed days later. Brian took interest in a designer that worked for his company anonymously. From her profile, he could tell that she was brilliant and dazzling. He pulled the stops to find out her true identity. Little did he know that he was going to receive the greatest shocker of his life. Brian bit his finger with regret when he recalled his past actions and the woman he foolishly let go.
Janet was adopted when she was a kid -- a dream come true for orphans. However, her life was anything but happy. Her adoptive mother taunted and bullied her all her life. Janet got the love and affection of a parent from the old maid who raised her. Unfortunately, the old woman fell ill, and Janet had to marry a worthless man in place of her parents' biological daughter to meet the maid's medical expenses. Could this be a Cinderella's tale? But the man was far from a prince, except for his handsome appearance. Ethan was the illegitimate son of a wealthy family who lived a reckless life and barely made ends meet. He got married to fulfill his mother's last wish. However, on his wedding night, he had an inkling that his wife was different from what he had heard about her. Fate had united the two people with deep secrets. Was Ethan truly the man we thought he was? Surprisingly, he bore an uncanny resemblance to the impenetrable wealthiest man in the city. Would he find out that Janet married him in place of her sister? Would their marriage be a romantic tale or an utter disaster? Read on to unravel Janet and Ethan's journey.
As a simple assistant, messaging the CEO in the dead of night to request shares of adult films was a bold move. Bethany, unsurprisingly, didn't receive any films. However, the CEO responded that, while he had no films to share, he could offer a live demonstration. After a night filled with passion, Bethany was certain she'd lose her job. But instead, her boss proposed, "Marry me. Please consider it." "Mr. Bates, you're kidding me, right?"