The Count of Monte Cristo

Modern

Twenty minutes before the "Wedding of the Century" at The Plaza, I stood outside the Presidential Suite in a fifty-thousand-dollar Vera Wang gown. I was the girl from a West Virginia trailer park about to marry Hugh Maxwell, the golden heir to a billion-dollar defense empire. I pushed the door open only to find Hugh pinned against the bed with my own stepsister, Floy. She was wearing my bridal diamond necklace, and the sounds of their laughter scraped against my eardrums like sandpaper. I didn't scream; I listened as Hugh grunted that once the wedding was over and the trust fund unlocked, he'd dump "that hillbilly trash" on a bus back to the mountains. They weren't just cheating; they were planning to steal my family's land deeds and leave me with nothing. When I set off the sprinklers and exposed their naked bodies to the paparazzi, the Maxwell family didn't apologize. They called me a "greedy peasant" and threatened to ruin my life unless I signed a new deal to save their crashing stock. I realized then that I was never a bride to them. I was a transaction, a rounding error in a ledger to be used and discarded. They thought my poverty made me weak and my silence made me a victim. "If we don't have a marriage certificate by midnight, the bank freezes thirty percent of our liquidity," their lawyer warned. So, I gave them exactly what they wanted. I used a loophole in their hundred-year-old family covenant and married the only other direct heir available. I didn't marry Hugh. I walked into the ICU and married his uncle, Fleet Maxwell-the legendary war hero who had been in a vegetative state for months. Now, I am the matriarch of the Maxwell dynasty. I've suspended Hugh's executive powers, exiled my mother-in-law to the Swiss Alps, and taken control of the family vault. They think I'm just a gold-digger waiting for a "corpse" to die so I can collect a fifty-million-dollar widow's payout. But last night, as I lay beside my comatose husband, the man they called a vegetable gripped my hand back.

Literature

The story takes place in France, Italy, and islands in the Mediterranean during the historical events of 1815–1839: the era of the Bourbon Restoration through the reign of Louis-Philippe of France. It begins just before the Hundred Days period (when Napoleon returned to power after his exile). The h

Billionaires

My family, the Thompsons, was crumbling, and I was paraded before the powerful elite, the Ashworths, Albrights, and Cartwrights, supposedly to secure a lifeline through a strategic marriage. My childhood friends-Caleb, Leo, and Julian-were the intended targets. But at a humiliating dinner, they di

Literature

Le comte de Monte-Cristo, Tome I by Alexandre Dumas

Literature

The Son of Monte-Cristo, Volume I (of 2) by Alexandre Dumas père

Literature

The Count of Nideck by Ralph Browning Fiske

Literature

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Modern

You and I, my good friend, have often deliberated on the difficulty of writing such a dedication as might gratify the self-complacency of a patron, without exposing the author to the ridicule or censure of the public; and I think we generally agreed that the task was altogether impracticable.—

Literature

In his third novel, Smollett, the master of picaresque comedy, presents a character who Walter Scott called “a complete picture of human depravity." The refined and unrepentantly evil Count Fathom lies, cheats, and philanders his way across England and Europe. Having done so, he makes a return

Literature

Count Brühl by Jo?zef Ignacy Kraszewski

Romance

Years ago, Amanda’s parents died in a car accident and her brother survived but showed no sign of brain activity. She agreed to transfer her father’s stock share to her uncle in exchange for a good medical treatment for her brother. She was even forced to live abroad until her uncle ordered her to c

Literature

This book is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of cl

Romance

Zoe's friend needed her help. Zoe had to help her scare away the blind date she was on. To that end, she wore an insane amount of makeup underneath a wig to disguise herself. However, her plans are derailed when the blind date turns out to be the legendary heart-throb of the campus, Wade. Intrigu

Romance

He was free and unrestrained, while she was beautiful but not ostentatious. He came from a prominent family, and she was struggling to survive. He seemed to be cynical, while she was cold and ruthless. She swore that she would never marry a rich man, but she fell in love with him. No matter how a

Literature

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Fantasy

Traversing back to the ancient Prime Martial World from modern age, Austin finds himself in a younger body as he wakes up. Yet, the young man he possesses was a miserable dimwit, what a bummer! But it doesn’t matter as his mind is sound and clear. Possessing this younger and stronger body, h

Modern

Poverty is a terrible disease. Most humans want to be wealthy. Are you also one of them? Well, I'm one of those few people who don't love money. I believe that there was more to life than money. Money can't buy happiness. At least, that was what I thought until life happened. My mother became term

Modern

"You're useless, so why would I be with you!...it's over, I'm getting married to someone else!" Arthur's wife said. - Everyone looks down on Arthur stark. His in-laws call him trash and useless, they consider him lower than their maids, treat him worse than they would treat an animal. But none of

Modern

I lay on a mildewed mattress in a run-down motel, my body trembling from withdrawal. Once the most feared "Gossip Queen" in Hollywood, I was now a forty-three-year-old ghost staring at a cracked mirror, waiting for the end. The door clicked open, and Brittany Potts stepped in, looking immaculate in

Romance

The worst decision Marilyn had ever made was to sleep late that morning. As a result, she was late for work. She had dashed across the street ignoring the traffic light, which was still red, and out of nowhere, a car had suddenly crashed into her. The first thing she was told after regaining consc