ACHING FOR MY STEPBROTHER
Racheal Angelo never wanted a new life, a new house, or a new family. She just wanted the life she was used to, but when her mother marries the cold, manipulative, powerful attorney Simon Adams to escape financial ruin, Racheal is forced into a mansion she wants no part of.
What she didn't expect was the nightmare waiting at the top of the stairs- Thane Adams, her new stepbrother. The same sinfully irresistible stranger she had a reckless, heartbreak-fueled hookup with the night she caught her boyfriend, Raymond cheating.
What begins as tension and denial soon becomes a desire neither of them can control. But in a house full of secrets, lies, hidden agendas, and a father who will ruin anyone who threatens his legacy and reputation... falling for each other isn't just forbidden. It's dangerous. A love born in the dark may cost them everything, even their family, their future, and each other.
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Chapter 7
THANE
Rachel is stubborn as hell. She'd been following my lead just fine... right up until I said she wasn't going to school today.
Okay, maybe I said it the wrong way, but still. What more does she want after I already explained? I don't trust Joe. Not for one second. My gut says he's already clocked Rachel, and I'm not about to let him start trailing us down to her school like some unhinged creep. It's better she's left out of whatever games he intends to play.
And don't even get me started on the idiot beside me who thought it was smart to bet his car in a game against a cheating psycho like Joe.
"Hello?" Rachel snapped from the back seat. "I'm not talking to myself here, am I?"
Right. She was still raking about school.
At least Noah was in the passenger seat and not her. Small mercies I'm grateful for.
I pressed the gas a little harder, not that the pedal was actually responsible for my headache. "English isn't complicated, sis. I don't need to repeat myself ten times."
"You're seriously testing my patience, Thane," she shot back. "You drag me here without my consent, then I find my best friend's boyfriend in the middle of whatever this is, and he definitely owes Tiara a massive explanation when we see later..."
"Wait, wait-what?" Noah turned fast. "I've done nothing wrong to offend the angry god, so why am I catching strays here?"
"Oh, now you want to talk?" I snapped. If I wasn't driving the damn car, I'd have smacked some sense into him. Maybe knocked his brain back into place. "We agreed to stay away from Joe, but you didn't. Now he's got his eyes on someone who refuses to listen, and she's breathing down my neck because I just saved your ass."
I kept my eyes on the road but threw him a sharp glance. "Take some responsibility, man."
"Responsibility?" Noah scoffed. "Don't start with me, Thane. That loose dog is on me because of you. And now my girlfriend might dump me because you can't even control your step-sister. You don't know how to handle anything."
Oh, so that's how we're doing this now?
I'd just pulled him out of trouble, and suddenly I'm the villain? Yeah, maybe I played a part in Joe coming after him, but I didn't tell him to bet his damn car or cause a scene like an idiot. He never owns up to his mistakes, and he never even stops making new ones.
Like dating a high school girl, Tiara. Someone who's supposed to be under his swimming class training.
At least I have principles. I don't mess with high school kids like him.
And I was about to fire back at him when Rachel exploded.
"Will you both shut the hell up!"
The volume alone nearly cracked the side windows. Apart from being a head strong, she's got a speaker down that small throat of hers.
She leaned forward, her eyes already blazing.
"What are you? children?" she scoffed. "I'm starting to wonder who the adult is here, because the two people who are supposed to be responsible are acting like kids fighting over candy."
I swallowed. "I didn't do anything," I muttered.
"Stop talking until I'm done, Thane."
Wait. Did she really just say that to me?
And the worst part? I didn't even bother interrupting her.
"That's right, Thane. Listen to your new big sis."
I frowned. "What? Big sis?"
"She's the one calling the shots now. You better listen."
Rachel groaned behind me, but I didn't care. I was already done with this guy beside me. If I wasn't in the middle of traffic, I would've thrown Noah out of the car right there. And I won't even bat an eye.
One thing I hate is being talked down to and Noah knows that. Now he's pushing me into petty arguments in front of my step-sister, of all people. That was beyond embarrassing.
"Listen, man." I turned to him. "Forget the car you bet on that stupid game because you're not getting it back, got it?. And while you're at it, you better find yourself a new lawyer. I'm done with you."
"So now you're bailing on me?" he snapped angrily. "Who was just preaching about responsibility? Is this how you show yours?"
I changed lanes hard and shot him a look that could kill. One more word and he was walking.
"You think that's what responsibility is?" I said coldly. "I have a real job. You can't even coach a high school class without getting under a student's skirt."
"We're both guilty, Thane," Noah fired back, and said that one-thing that totally pissed me off. "You slept with your step-sister, and you've been thinking about it ever since..."
"Shut it, Noah!"
Boom! That happened next.
The impact came out of nowhere before the car jerked violently and slammed into something solid. Smoke flooded the front of the windshield.
"Thane!" Rachel leaned forward from the back quickly. "Are you alright?"
Did she just care about me? Something about it felt different but I can't be feeling butterflies now.
I didn't answer right away. I unbuckled my seat belt and pushed the door open.
"I'm fine," I muttered on my way out of the car.
When I stepped out, my stomach dropped. The hood was crushed. One headlight was completely gone. I ran a hand through my hair in frustration.
"Wow," Rachel said behind me. "That's bad."
Then, she went full strong mode, "Are you two happy now? We're stranded in the middle of the road."
I let out a dry laugh. "Can we not do this right now, sis? Another argument won't fix anything and I don't even want to deal with one right now."
"So what's the plan?" she asked. "Should I call my mum?"
My head snapped toward her. "Don't even think about it."
If her mum knew, my dad would know. And if my dad knew, I was dead. This car barely lasted a week. And he's gonna kill me before I form a lie to save myself.
"Just sit in the car," I said flatly. "I'll handle it."
"Don't tell me what to do, Thane."
"Relax," Noah cut in. "While you two were arguing, I already called us a savior."
If help was coming from Noah, it was never the kind that actually helped. Still, I forced myself to hope just a little in him.
"You called a tow truck already?"
I asked thinking that was the highest his brain could think of but he shook his head, that crooked smirk on his lips already spelling trouble.
"The car will survive. But we need to get out of here first."
"For once, you actually thought straight," I said flatly.
Then it suddenly hit me. I didn't ask what mattered.
"...Noah. Who did you call?"
His smirk deepened. "Relax. I called Wendy. She'll be here any minute."
My stomach dropped instantly. No, no. He can't be serious.
"What?" I snapped. "Are you insane?"
"Who's this Wendy girl we're talking about?" Rachel's voice cut in from behind me.
I shot her a look. I thought I told her to stay in the car?
"That," Noah said with a grin, "is Thane's wild pet."
He dodged my glare. "The only ex that refused to let him go."
Rachel slowly turned her eyes on me. And the second she did, I knew I was completely screwed.
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8.3
Imogen Montgomery was the perfect billionaire heiress, deeply in love and ready to marry her fiancé, Clark Ellis.
That all ended the night her cousin Kathleen ripped the sapphire pendant from her neck and pushed her into a pool of toxic chemicals to die.
Two years later, Imogen's eyes snapped open. But she didn't wake up in a hospital. She woke up tied to a stained mattress, trapped in the battered body of Briana, a teenage girl from the slums who had just been sold to a local trafficker.
After violently fighting her way out of a cheap motel, she discovered the horrifying truth. Kathleen had taken over the Montgomery Group. She had locked Imogen's grieving parents away in a psychiatric facility as prisoners.
And worst of all, Kathleen was now flaunting her stolen wealth online, preparing to marry Clark.
A wave of pure, white-hot rage boiled in her blood. Kathleen had murdered her, stolen her family, and was playing the perfect grieving cousin. How was she supposed to fight back? She was just a runaway nobody now. If she tried to expose the truth, Kathleen's security would shoot her dead in the street.
She needed a weapon. She needed a shield. She needed the one man Kathleen feared.
Covered in mud and blood, Briana intercepted Clark's car in the freezing rain. She was going to infiltrate his home as his vulgar, unhinged fake mistress, and she would drag Kathleen straight down to hell.
8.0
For six years, I played the perfect, submissive wife to Wall Street titan Francis Castro. I suffocated my own ambitions to fit into his conservative world.
But while I waited alone at a Michelin restaurant, a news alert popped up. My husband had just dropped millions on an aquamarine diamond necklace for his "muse," Chanelle.
The real nightmare began when I rushed home to find our five-year-old son in severe anaphylactic shock. I frantically called Francis from the ambulance, but he manually rejected my calls. He couldn't leave the bidding war for Chanelle's PR launch.
When he finally arrived at the ER, Chanelle was right beside him, wearing that blinding multi-million-dollar necklace. He didn't ask about our dying son.
"Why weren't you watching him?" he demanded, his voice hard and accusing.
And when my son woke up, hazy from the drugs, he rejected my touch and reached for Chanelle instead. Francis just stood there, praising Chanelle for knowing exactly how to calm him down.
I stared at the three of them looking like a perfect, happy family. Six years of swallowing my pride, only to realize my husband would let our son choke to death just to buy another woman's smile.
The last thread of my heart snapped. I handed him the divorce papers, demanding zero alimony. Then, I drove to a hidden Brooklyn loft, cut off my hair, and unlocked my safe.
It was time to resurrect my true identity—the legendary fashion designer, Ember.J. I am going to burn her empire to the ground.
7.2
"I made you cum three times in one night and how did you repay me? You dumped our newborn on my doorstep and fled for four years.
Now that I've found you, Diana, there's no escaping me."
~~~DIANA~~~
My wedding happened just a few hours ago when I caught my husband in bed, smashing his boss to raise money for our honeymoon.
I got drunk, broke, and angry-then I got kidnapped.
I woke up in a stranger's house in Vegas.
Cairo Arsher's mansion.
He is rich, too handsome for my sanity and dangerously tempting.
But before I could call the cops on him, he took my hand, kissed it softly, and claimed I'm the woman he fell in love with four years ago-
the one who ran away and left him a newborn.
And now he's vowed to never let me go.
But the truth is... I'VE NEVER REALLY MET THIS MAN BEFORE.
7.7
Reborn: Lord of the Undead Dominion
Tagline: When a legendary necromancer returns to his childhood, the world that betrayed him will kneel.
Once a peerless human powerhouse on the cusp of ascending to the 12th Rank, Royan met a brutal end at the hands of treachery during his final transcendence. But fate granted him a second chance-he awakens in his five-year-old body, with a century of arcane wisdom, mastery of necromancy and alchemy, and the burning fire of vengeance in his veins.
In the magical world of Amelia, where races rise and fall by a millennium-old cycle, humans defied destiny to claim dominance. Now reborn, Royan hides his ancient soul behind a child's facade, wielding unmatched spiritual power and forbidden knowledge to rewrite his fate. He'll protect his family from the shadows, gather loyal warriors and fearsome undead companions, and unearth the conspiracy that cut his first life short.
From summoning skeletal legions to forging legendary artifacts, from outwitting scheming nobles to challenging the gods of old-Royan's path is paved with blood, bone, and unyielding ambition. The world thought him fallen, but the Necromancer Lord has returned. This time, he won't just survive-he'll conquer the dominion that was stolen from him, and reign over Amelia as its undead sovereign.
If you crave fast-paced action, epic world-building, and a protagonist who turns weakness into strength with wit and overwhelming power, this dark fantasy saga is for you. Dive in and witness the rise of a rebirthed legend-where death is just the beginning of conquest.
9.2
Swapped at birth, Eileen was returned to her real family on her eighteenth birthday-only to be betrayed by them that very night.
To protect their precious fake sister, her three brothers forced Eileen and sent her to prison.
For four brutal years, she was beaten, humiliated, and abandoned, while not one relative came to see her.
When she finally walked free, her family and fiancé still treated her like a stain. So Eileen cut them off for good.
Then a limited-edition limo stopped at their door, and the man beside her made the whole family tremble.
It turned out Eileen had long since made a name for herself around the world.
"Mess with my woman, and I'll make you fucking regret it."
7.6
"Men will stain your white," a friend once told me during a business trip to Africa. I laughed it off as a joke. I wish I hadn't.
I'm Amelia, a powerful real estate mogul feared across the industry. In my late thirties, I had everything; wealth, beauty, and control. Marriage? Not on my list... until I met him; a struggling fashion designer who turned one night of fun into a lifetime commitment.
They say never trust the loyalty of a broke man. I learned it the hard way. I married him, loved him, even aborted my second child to save our marriage. But love is blind, and mine cost me everything; my womb, my child, my freedom.
He betrayed me with another woman, and in my rage, I killed him. That night destroyed my life; my parents' company collapsed, my best friend died, and I was sentenced to rot in prison.
Until I woke up; three years in the past.
On my best friend's wedding day... to the same man who murdered her.
This time, I stopped the wedding. This time, I'll make them all pay.
But fate plays cruel games.
One night of revenge led me into the arms of a powerful ex-biker; a Trillionaire with a dangerous past.
I ran away with our 5 little secrets.
And now, he won't stop until he has me.