After my mate took my liver, I discovered my true identity
At the full moon bash, I endured Wesley's humiliation as he belittled me before the pack.
Discovering he only saw me as the liver donor who saved him-plus a pawn to silence tabloids-cut deep. When Wendy leaked private photos and a traumatic video of my past abuse, I thought it was over.
But Mrs. Leland stepped in, betting the entire Leland fortune on my poker hand.
I won with a straight flush, shocking everyone. Then Mrs. Leland revealed the truth: I was her biological daughter, swapped at birth......
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Chapter 1
At a full moon bash in Jendris Manor, the trust-fund wolves were deep into a game of Texas Hold'em, betting their mates' clothes like it was pocket change.
My mate-to-be, Wesley Leland, threw five hands in a row on purpose, leaving me with barely a stitch to my name.
I slipped into the room next door to catch my breath, trying to shake off the sting, when their taunts echoed through the door-smelling of cheap cologne and malice.
"Wesley, so what if Xandra accidentally knocked over Wendy's meds yesterday? You gotta humiliate her in front of the whole pack? What if she tears up the bond papers?"
Wesley snorted, his voice cold enough to freeze beer.
"That lowlife? She thinks she can mess with my sister before we're even bound? She's asking for it! If she hadn't given me that liver, and if the tabloids weren't up my ass, do you think I'd ever agree to this bond? Bringing her to this game is way more than a poor nobody like her deserves!"
Except yesterday, Wendy smashed her own bowl and blamed me.
I wiped away the tears, squared my shoulders, and walked back to the table.
Wendy, all fake concern, couldn't help a jab.
"Xandra, don't push it if you can't handle it. If you end up running home naked, you'll just embarrass Wes."
I flashed a sharp grin.
"This hand's mine. If I lose, I'll run home butt-naked-you got that?"
The rich wolves froze, then burst into loud, mocking laughter.
I was down to almost nothing, and Wesley hadn't even flinched.
Now, his face went dark.
"Xandra Merrick, I thought you were quiet, but you're just a show-off. A broke college pup working part-time, can't even afford a decent meal, and you think you can play high-stakes blackjack? "
Wendy, his foster sister, covered her mouth, giggling. "No wonder you forced Wes into this bond 'cause you gave him a liver-you're desperate! But if you wanna make a fool of yourself, Wes, let her! It'll be fun!"
I knew what she wanted: me losing everything, stark naked, the whole scandal all over the place.
Then the high-and-mighty Leland f would never let a nobody like me be Wes's mate, and she'd get her way.
The others, loving the drama, egged it on.
My body, barely covered, drew their hungry stares-I could feel it, like a physical thing.
"Let Xandra play! Maybe beginner's luck'll save her-maybe she'll keep her panties!" one wolf hooted.
The she-wolves at the table sneered, their voices full of hate.
"If she wins, we won't get to see her strip! But with her cheap stuff, her underwear's probably from a thrift store-gross!"
Someone smirked and pointed to the far seat.
"You're new, we'll go easy. Take that seat-easier to strip when you lose."
I swallowed hard, ignoring the tears, and sat down through their laughter.
Wesley's grin came back as he tossed me some chips.
"Fine, you wanna act tough? When you lose and my mom tears up the bond, don't come crying to me!"
The dealer passed out the cards, and the first player threw down a bet.
"Xandra's a broke pup with more balls than brains. Can't let her outdo us! I'm betting three pieces-my mate's got plenty." His she-wolf giggled, and the others grinned, all eyes on me and my three lousy garments.
Their gross stares ran over me.
"Hurry up and strip! Let's see what Wes's been into!" The table roared. "You're quick to bet-what else you got? Some secret thing under that underwear?"
I pushed down the shame burning in my chest. "That's nothing. How about private photos? Wanna see those on the table?"
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9.2
Druscilla Hayes thought heartbreak had a limit.
She was wrong.
On the night of her bachelorette party, she survives a shootout - and is rescued by a dangerously irresistible stranger with mismatched eyes and a criminal smile.
Ivanov Rodriguez is everything she shouldn't want.
Everything her perfect fiance is not.
But when Druscilla discovers her fiancé's betrayal, she runs straight into Ivanov's arms - only to learn too late that she was never more than a pawn in his revenge.
Years later, she's rebuilt her life, her heart, and her future.
Until fate drags her back into the orbit of the man who once ruined her.
This time, she has nothing left to lose.
Except the truth that could destroy them both
⚠️ WARNING:
This book contains immorality, forbidden desire, dangerous attraction, and morally questionable characters.
If you believe love should always be pure and choices should always be right...
This story is not for you.
Proceed only if you enjoy chaos, passion, and bad decisions.
8.4
I saved a man bleeding out in the snow. He had no memory, so I called him Ben.
We lived in a cabin, fell in love, and married by firelight with no witnesses but the ghosts of my parents.
Then one day, he disappeared.
Two years later, he returned. Not as my husband, but as Bernard Logan, the ruthless Underboss of the city's most dangerous crime family.
And he didn't remember me.
He brought his cruel new fiancée to my clinic and treated me like a stranger.
When she threw my father’s antique music box into a cactus display, he watched as I tore my hands apart trying to save it.
He called our past a "drug-induced hallucination" and threatened to destroy me if I spoke up.
Worst of all, I found out I was pregnant.
He cornered me in the hospital room, his eyes cold and devoid of the warmth I used to know.
"Is it mine?"
I knew if I said yes, he would turn my child into a killer like him. Or his fiancée would ensure we never survived.
So I looked the love of my life in the eye and lied.
"No," I said. "It's not yours."
I signed his NDA, took his hush money, and vanished to Europe to raise my twins alone.
I thought I was free. I found a good man who actually loved me.
But three years later, at an art gallery in Zurich, the crowd parted.
Bernard was standing there, staring at me with a terrifying hunger.
He had found out the truth.
And he was ready to burn the world down to get us back.
7.2
I was the moral compass of modern media, a journalist with a flawless record and a penthouse life with my husband, Britton.
Then one phone call shattered it all. He blackmailed me, using a dark secret I kept for him, forcing me to retract a story and destroy my own career to protect his intern, Baylee.
The fallout was brutal. My reputation was ruined overnight. Fleeing the city, I was in a horrific car accident and woke up in the hospital to learn I'd had a miscarriage.
The final blow came when I called him for help, only to hear his intern giggling in the background.
The man I loved since we were kids, the one who swore to protect me, had orchestrated my ruin and cost me our child.
He left me for dead at the bottom of a cliff.
But he made one mistake: he didn't make sure I was dead. Pulled from the ocean by a mysterious stranger, I was reborn. Now, I'm coming back to reclaim everything he took-and make him pay.
7.4
On my 21st birthday, my fiancé Chandler and my adoptive sister Brenda drugged me and sold my first night at a secret auction.
Then they framed me for arson, and I spent the next three years in prison learning how to survive.
After my release, I fought in underground clubs, bleeding for the money to buy back my family's brownstone. But Chandler found me, calling me a "common harlot" as he tried to drag me home.
He offered me a "last chance" to apologize to Brenda for the crimes she committed. When I refused, he publicly announced the sale of my home.
All proceeds would be donated to the "Brenda Richardson Philanthropic Foundation."
He didn't just take my money; he took my soul. He took the last tangible piece of my parents, of my identity. Everything was gone.
As I collapsed onto the grimy floor, my world shattered, I fumbled for my phone. There was only one name left, one last hope.
"Brien," I choked out, my voice broken. "Please. I need your help. Get me out of here."
8.3
Six years ago, I was a naive girl sold by my father to the powerful Sanders estate, only to be tossed onto the streets after a brutal assault they labeled "marital infidelity." I fled the country pregnant and broken, hiding from the shadow of a husband I had never even met. Now, I've returned to New York with my triplets to sign the final divorce papers and disappear forever.
But Archibald Sanders-the man I was told was a crippled recluse-intercepted us with the cold precision of a predator. He didn't see the woman his family destroyed; he saw a gold-digger who had shamed his name. His security team hunted us to a grimy motel, using tactical force to snatch my children away and drag me to his glass-walled empire.
In his office, he loomed over me, demanding a DNA test and threatening to throw me in prison while my babies were lost to the foster system. He was convinced I'd cheated, yet he stared at my sons with a haunting confusion, unable to ignore the stormy blue eyes that were a perfect mirror of his own. I stood there, paralyzed by his scent-the sharp tang of rain and expensive leather that triggered the icy dread of my worst nightmares.
How could he accuse me of betrayal when he felt exactly like the monster who had shattered my life in that dark hotel room?
"I'll sign anything," I sobbed, "just give me my kids."
But the game changed when my five-year-old son hacked the tower's security, holding the skyscraper hostage to save me. In the chaos, a fragile, silent boy-Archibald's secret son-wandered into the room and reached for me as if I were his missing soul. Archibald's face turned to stone as he tore up the agreement and locked the doors.
"Until I find out why my son is looking at you like that," he growled, "you aren't going anywhere."
9.4
I woke up in Augustine Haynes’s high-thread-count gray sheets, my head throbbing and my throat dry. I told him last night wasn't just about the alcohol, but he didn't even look at me as he tightened his silk tie, treating me like a piece of displaced furniture.
He thought I was just a girl from the Rust Belt who’d slept her way into his bed to gain leverage after a failed corporate deal. But when I leaned in and whispered the words "Project Chimera" along with the details of his secret offshore accounts, his cold indifference turned into a sharp, dangerous focus.
I forced him into a three-month deal: he would stay out of my way and ignore my moves in the city, or I’d leak the data that would ruin him. To execute my real plan, I transformed into "Siren," a masked singer at the Onyx Room, specifically designed to bait Julian Talley. I even threw myself into the freezing black water of the harbor just to let Julian "save" me, trapping the heir to a corrupt empire in a web of manufactured guilt.
Augustine watched from the shadows, convinced I was just a gold digger with a flair for the dramatic, while Julian showered me with cash and Hermès bags to ease his conscience. They didn't see the shaking hands I hid every time I remembered my mother’s voice screaming through the smoke of our burning home. I wasn't looking for an affair or a career; I was a ghost using their own greed as a noose.
Now, I finally have the invitation to the Talley Family Gala and the encryption keys to their darkest secrets. Julian thinks he’s found a soul to save, and Augustine thinks he’s managing a risky asset. They have no idea that the girl they’ve let into their inner sanctum is about to burn their entire world to ash.