A Heart Misplaced, A Love Bone-Deep
Julian Laurent was known as the most notorious playboy in Rivermont, changing girlfriends as often as he changed his clothes and treating marriage like a joke.
Clara Sterling, on the other hand, had always been the most quiet and obedient daughter of the Sterling family. Raised as the heir since childhood, she had been flawless in every word and every gesture.
A family-arranged marriage forced these two complete opposites into the same life.
On their wedding night, Julian openly made out with a young model at a nightclub.
For the first time, Clara cast aside her propriety, slapping him and demanding a divorce on the spot.
But before the next day was over, their families had forced them to remarry.
This time, Julian managed to stay faithful for a month before he cheated again.
Clara filed for divorce once more, cutting ties with him completely.
However, that very same day, it was revealed that Clara was not the real daughter of the Sterling family, and she was thrown out.
At her lowest point, Julian found her and solemnly promised to protect her from then on.
They remarried again, and from that day forward, the scandals surrounding Julian ceased.
Everyone said Clara was lucky. Even her best friend insisted that Julian had truly settled down, and Clara believed it.
Until she saw him in a hospital corridor, holding her best friend's hand, his voice strained with deep emotion, "I never liked her. You're the one I've always loved!"
It turned out all of his tenderness had been a lie.
This time, she walked away and never looked back.
And the man who had once treated her as disposable only realized after she was gone that he had long since drowned in her quiet love, unable to escape.
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Chapter 6
On the third day after Clara left, Julian booked out an entire VIP floor at a bar.
Champagne towers rose nearly to the ceiling, and the women's laughter on the dance floor was sharp and grating.
"Another drink, Mr. Laurent?" someone offered him a glass of whiskey.
He tilted his head back and downed it in one go.
Clara used to stop him after two drinks, saying his stomach couldn't handle more.
Now that no one was stopping him, he drank as much as he pleased.
"Mr. Laurent, I heard Clara left the country. Does that mean you and Vivian can finally go public?"
Julian narrowed his eyes and smiled. "Yeah. No one's in the way anymore."
He pulled out his phone and sent Vivian a message.
It didn't take long before Vivian arrived at the bar.
At a glance, she saw Julian with two girls in his arms, his shirt unbuttoned at the collar, his gaze unfocused.
"Julian." She walked over, frowning. "You've had too much to drink. If Clara sees this, she'll be hurt."
"I'm not drunk." He pushed the girls aside and pulled Vivian down to sit. "Clara's gone, you know that? She wants a divorce. She's already moved out."
Vivian froze, her eyes widening in disbelief. "When did that happen?"
"Three days ago." He grinned, careless and bold. "Now it's perfect. No more sneaking around. I'll take you to meet my parents tomorrow. We'll tell them we've been together all along."
Vivian shot to her feet. "Have you lost your mind?"
Julian blinked, confused. "What? She's the one who asked for a divorce. I didn't force her. Isn't this what you've been waiting for?"
"Waiting for what?" Her voice rose sharply. "Waiting for you to push Clara out? For her to be alone in another country with no one to rely on?"
The room fell silent.
Julian frowned. "She has money. The Sterling family gave her plenty. What could happen to her?"
"Money?" Vivian's voice trembled with anger. "Did you forget she's not their real daughter? Yes, they offered her money when she left, but she didn't take it. Not a single dollar! She left Rivermont without the Sterling family or the Laurent family behind her. How do you expect her to survive?"
Julian's smile froze.
He suddenly remembered how quickly she had packed that day… how light her suitcase had been.
But he dismissed the thought just as quickly. She was only acting out. In a few days, she would call him, asking him to take her back. He could just bring her home then.
After all, the last two times they divorced, she hadn't lasted three days before returning.
"She'll come back," he said with certainty. "She always does."
"This time is different!" Vivian shouted. "You don't know her! She looks calm and gentle, but she's more stubborn than anyone. If she says she's leaving, she means it!"
She grabbed her bag and rushed toward the door. "I have to find her. What if something happens to her… what if—"
Julian grabbed her. "Why are you panicking? She's not a child."
"She's my friend!" Vivian shook him off, her anger rising as she looked at his stubborn expression. "She's my best friend! And you…"
She took a deep breath and stared at him, speaking each word slowly. "Julian, what we have is wrong. And if anything happens to Clara, I will never forgive you."
Julian stood there, stunned.
He had never seen Vivian like this.
In his mind, she had always been gentle and considerate, smoothing things over for him, even telling Clara to be more understanding when they argued.
"Vivian!" Panic crept into his voice. "Just listen to me—"
"No need." She picked up her bag and stood. "Don't come looking for me again."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean this," she said, meeting his eyes. "Between you and Clara, I will always choose Clara."
The door slammed shut.
Vivian returned to her apartment and sank to the floor, having no idea where to find Clara. Anxiety twisted inside her, leaving her unable to sit still.
She remembered college, when Clara had a 39-degree fever and still stayed up with her until dawn, helping revise her thesis.
She remembered her surgery, when Clara had stayed by her bedside for three days and nights, collapsing from exhaustion.
"I'm sorry… Clara…" she whispered, burying her face in her knees. "I should've cut things off with Julian a long time ago…"
She pulled out her phone and called Clara again. But all she heard was the same cold message. "The number you are trying to reach is currently unavailable."
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7.7
Not only was I drugged, blinded and assaulted. I was deceived into carrying a baby by a stranger I never knew. Then he appeared and took my child away.
I was sent to a militia by the father of my child. I thought I was rescued but I was recruited to be a weapon for killing. Who was manipulating me, I didn't know. The answers were far from what I knew.
Forced to blend into the world that I could never believe I would be to, a place where brutality reigned, kill or be killed was the only language. I have survived but he has to pay for everything he did to me, because I believed every phase of my life was set by him and him alone. Have I really survived?
Who would have thought, he existed twice in the same world? Do I really know who I should take revenge on? Him or the person I would sacrifice everything for?
Was my mother the one who orchestrated everything? What kind of pawn am I?
7.4
In a city where data is power and truth is a weapon, some secrets are worth killing for.
Mara Quinn is a ghost in the system, an underground journalist known only as Cipher, feared by corporations and hunted by those with everything to lose. When she breaches a classified network inside Axiom Industries, she uncovers something no one was meant to see: ORACLE, a predictive AI capable of shaping human behavior on a global scale.
She expects retaliation. She doesn't expect Kael Draven.
Cold, brilliant, and untouchable, Kael is the architect behind Axiom's empire, and a man who doesn't make threats he can't execute. Instead of silencing Mara, he offers her a choice: work under his watch, or disappear from existence entirely. Trapped inside his glass fortress known as The Spire, Mara is pulled deeper into a world of surveillance, manipulation, and power plays that stretch far beyond anything she imagined.
But ORACLE isn't just a tool, it's already been used. Governments have fallen. Empires have shifted. And someone else is pulling the strings.
As a rival syndicate closes in and a hidden war erupts across the city, Mara and Kael are forced into an uneasy alliance, one built on intellect, suspicion, and a dangerous, undeniable pull neither of them can ignore.
Because in a world where every move is predicted...
the only thing more dangerous than control is feeling.
And the system is already watching.
7.7
Rory stood on the witness stand, forced by her father into an impossible choice: secure her dying mother's medical funding, or save her innocent boyfriend.
She looked Corbin right in his trusting eyes and lied to the court, testifying that he was the one driving the car during the fatal hit-and-run, sending him to a maximum-security prison for ten years.
The betrayal destroyed him. Corbin's father died of a heart attack upon hearing the guilty verdict. Six years later, Corbin returned as a ruthless billionaire and systematically blacklisted Rory from every job in the city. He cornered her into singing at his private club, humiliating her by forcing her to drink scotch—knowing she was severely allergic—and making her throw away his promise ring just to earn a stack of cash.
"Remember this moment. This is only the beginning."
She endured his cruel revenge because she was hiding a desperate secret: she was raising his five-year-old daughter, Willa. But when Willa's congenital heart defect suddenly worsened, requiring an impossible one-million-dollar surgery, Rory realized Corbin's calculated blockade had left her completely trapped with no way to save their child.
Staring at the sterile hospital walls, the last shred of her guilt burned away, replaced by a cold, hard resolve. He had destroyed her career and backed her into a corner, but he was the only one with the money. Wiping her tears, Rory turned and headed straight for Vance Tower.
8.5
Amelia, an artist struggling to live a life full of dreams and hardships, finds herself caught in an unexpected vortex after a wild night at a masquerade ball. She wakes up with a hazy memory of piercing blue eyes and a powerful presence, without knowing who the man was or what happened? A few weeks later, Amelia's life changed forever when she realized she was pregnant. The baby's father? None other than the Lycan King, a powerful and dangerous creature who rules the hidden world of werewolves. Forced into a world of magic, danger, and forbidden love, Amelia must adapt to a new life. He must navigate the dangerous politics of the Lycan Kingdom, learn to control the new powers that arise within him, and face the wrath of the King's jealous couple. In the midst of this chaos, Amelia must choose: accept her fate as the Lycan King's mate, or fight for her freedom and the life she lives.
9.8
Three women, three brothers, a single, crumpled dollar bill.
Alina's world shatters the moment she's auctioned off-and claimed by the powerful Hawthorne brothers.
Thrown into Adrian Hawthorne's cold, dangerous world, she becomes his to control... his to protect... and, terrifyingly, his to desire. He's ruthless, possessive, and hiding secrets that could destroy them both. But the deeper she falls into his world, the harder it becomes to tell if she's his prisoner-or something far more dangerous.
Because the Hawthorne brothers don't just take.
They keep.
Viviane has spent her life surviving, so when Julian Hawthorne "buys" her freedom, she knows better than to trust it. Men like him don't save people-they collect them. But Julian isn't as simple as he pretends to be, and the deeper she's pulled into his world, the more dangerous it becomes to walk away.
Especially when she realizes she might be the only thing he's ever been willing to fight for.
Lena doesn't belong to anyone-and she intends to keep it that way. Brilliant, guarded, and hiding more than anyone suspects, she enters Lucien Hawthorne's world on her own terms. But Lucien doesn't play fair, and he doesn't let go.
When her past comes crashing back, Lena is forced to face the one thing she's been running from: trusting someone who could destroy her... or save her.
Three women. Three choices.Stay. Fight.
Or burn it all down.
Because being sold was only the beginning.
8.0
Twenty-one-year-old Hazel has always lived in a safe, comfortable bubble, meticulously guarded by her fiercely protective older brother. Her life is predictable, quiet, and perfectly ordinary. Until he steps into it.
Silas is twenty-four, dangerously captivating, and her brother's best friend. He brings with him an aura of dark secrets, ink-stained skin, and a predatory gaze that strips away all her carefully built defenses. He is everything she has been taught to avoid, yet living under the same roof makes him impossible to escape.
What starts as a temporary living arrangement quickly spirals into a suffocating web of stolen glances, unspoken desires, and a dangerous obsession. Silas isn't just looking for a place to crash; he's looking at her. And once he pins her in his sights, the thorns of their forbidden attraction will bind them together in ways that could destroy them both.
In a house where walls have ears and her brother is always watching, giving in to the madness is a risk. But Silas is a temptation she might not survive.