AT THE PARTY NEXTDOOR BY MELLA
Tyla thought Miami was her fresh start. She didn't expect to become the obsession of the city's most dangerous "Golden Boy," Daniel Thorne. He's untouchable, wealthy beyond measure, and used to getting what he wants. And right now? He wants Tyla-body, soul, and everything in between.
But the heat in Miami isn't just from the sun. While Daniel's magnetic pull draws Tyla into a world of high-stakes parties and whispered promises, a blade is being sharpened in the shadows. Summer, the "best friend" who has lived in Tyla's shadow for years, has finally reached her breaking point.
Summer doesn't just want Daniel; she wants Tyla's life. And she's willing to burn both of them to the ground to get it.
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Chapter 5
The silk of Daniel's blazer felt like lead against my skin. Every stitch of the expensive fabric seemed to whisper Summer's words back to me: A bet. Five grand. Scholarship girl.
I didn't wait for Daniel to speak. I didn't even look at the plush guest suite he had prepared. I shoved my feet into my heels, clutched the oversized blazer around my stained dress, and bolted for the front door. The penthouse was mostly empty now, the air smelling of extinguished cigars and the cold, sharp scent of betrayal.
I reached the elevator bank in the hallway, hitting the 'Down' button with a trembling thumb. Just get to 12A. Just get behind your own door.
"Where do you think you're going?"
The voice was a low crack of thunder. I froze. Daniel was walking toward me, his white shirt unbuttoned halfway down his chest, his face a mask of controlled fury. He didn't look like a protector anymore. He looked like a hunter whose prize was trying to bolt.
"I'm going home, Daniel," I said, my voice cracking. "The party is over. The show is done."
The elevator chimed, the silver doors sliding open like an invitation to freedom. I stepped inside, but before I could hit the button for my floor, a large, tan hand blocked the sensors.
Daniel stepped into the small, mirrored box with me. The space was suddenly too small, too hot, and far too intimate.
"The show?" he repeated, his eyes narrowing into silver slits. "I just cleared my house for you. I just threatened the elite of this city for you. And you're walking away because of a 'show'?"
"How much was it, Daniel?" I lashed out, the tears finally burning my eyes. "Five thousand? Ten? Was I a difficult target, or did you think I'd be easy because I don't have a trust fund?"
Daniel went perfectly still. The confusion on his face lasted only a second before it was replaced by a dark, terrifying realization. "What are you talking about?"
"The bet!" I screamed, the sound echoing off the elevator's gold-trimmed walls. "The bet with Dave. To see how fast you could get the 'scholarship girl' into your bed. Summer told me everything. So stop acting like you care. You won, okay? You got me into your apartment. Now let me go!"
The air in the elevator turned frigid. Daniel's jaw tightened so hard I heard the bone click. He didn't deny it with words. Instead, he took a predatory step forward, forcing me back until my spine hit the mirrored wall.
"Summer told you that?" he asked, his voice dropping to a whisper that was scarier than any shout.
"She's my best friend! Why would she lie?"
"Because she wants what you have," Daniel growled. He slammed both hands onto the wall on either side of my head, pinning me. The sheer power radiating off him was suffocating. "And she knows that once I've marked something as mine, no one else can touch it."
"I'm not yours!"
"You think this is a game?" Daniel leaned in, his nose brushing mine, his breath smelling of dark bourbon and obsession. "You think I'd let just anyone wear my name? You think I'd stand in front of Miami's finest and declare war for a bet?"
He pulled his phone from his pocket with a jagged movement. He swiped the screen and turned it toward me.
It was a map of the building. A glowing red dot was pulsing exactly where we stood.
"I didn't just meet you last night, Tyla," he murmured, his eyes burning into mine. "I've known where you were every second since you moved in. I put a tracker in that 'welcome' gift your landlord left on your counter. I know when you go to class. I know when you're on your balcony. And I know exactly where you're going tonight."
My blood turned to ice. "You... you're insane. Let me out!"
I reached for the buttons, but Daniel caught my wrists in one hand, pinning them above my head with effortless strength. He reached out with his free hand and pressed the button for the PH-the private penthouse roof.
"You're not leaving, Tyla," he whispered, his lips grazing my jawline, sending a traitorous jolt of electricity through my body. "Not tonight. Not tomorrow. Not ever. You wanted to know if the protectiveness was real? It's very real. But so is the cage."
The elevator didn't stop at the 12th floor. It bypassed my apartment entirely, soaring upward toward the clouds.
"Summer can have the lies," Daniel said, his voice thick with a dark, possessive promise. "But I have you. And I keep what belongs to me."
The elevator chimed. The doors opened to his private sanctuary-a world of dark marble, silk sheets, and no escape.
Tyla tried to struggle, but Daniel didn't give her the chance. In one swift motion, he hooked his arm under her knees and lifted her into his arms. He didn't look at her with kindness anymore; he looked at her like a king who had finally brought his queen home to stay.
As he carried her over the threshold and the elevator doors hissed shut behind them, Tyla realized Summer was right about one thing.
Daniel Thorne had won. But the prize was never her heart,it was her entire life.
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9.4
"You are only making things difficult for us." he said. "Just sign the papers and let's get this over with."
As I opened my mouth to speak, I noticed that the wardrobe was slightly opened. Curious, I began to walk towards it.
"Emily, what do you think you're doing?" he asked.
But I ignored him. I lifted a trembling hand, gripped the handle, and opened the wardrobe. My heart sank.
"Abby?"
**********************
Although, she's heard a few times, but Emily has refused to believe that her husband, Marcus has been hanging around with different ladies, and sometimes he brings them home.
Even though she's hurt, but as long she doesn't come across or trade words with any of those ladies, then she's fine with it. And she was, but not until she finds one hiding naked in the wardrobe. Not just any woman, but her own sister, Abby.
Rather than apologizing to Emily, Marcus asks for a divorce and tells her to leave. To make matters worse, Abby is pregnant for him. Feeling betrayed, Emily attempts taking her own life. But fortunately, she survives. A month later, she returns as the wife to a wealthy billionaire.
Now she's ready to get her revenge. Just how far can Emily go to see her ex-husband and sister suffer?
9.1
I stood alone at the marble altar, the silence of the temple pressing against my eardrums.
It was my Mating Ceremony, but the groom was missing.
My phone buzzed with a notification: a livestream of my mate, Alpha Cain, skipping our union to welcome my sister, Eris, home.
In the video, he held her like she was fragile glass, captioning it: "True power recognizes true power."
When I returned to the Pack House, humiliated, I wasn't met with an apology.
I was met with a slap from my mother.
Eris, feigning a powerful "Alpha Aura," claimed my mere scent was poisoning her.
To "save" her, my family locked me in my room.
But the true betrayal came when I overheard their hushed whispers through the door.
"Use Vera," my mother said, her voice chillingly practical.
"She recovers fast. We can drain her blood weekly for Eris. She can stay as a servant to raise Cain and Eris's pups."
My blood ran cold.
They didn't just neglect me; they planned to harvest me like livestock.
They thought I was the weak Omega they exiled to the North years ago to peel potatoes.
They had no idea that in the North, I wasn't a servant.
I was Commander V, a warrior forged in ice and blood.
I reached under my bed and pulled out my black tactical duffel.
"Screw the meatloaf," I whispered.
I wasn't just leaving. I was going to war.
7.8
The moment I saw my husband massaging his dead brother's pregnant mistress's feet, I knew my marriage was over.
He moved her into our home under the guise of "family duty," forcing me to watch as he prioritized her comfort over our vows.
The final betrayal came when she stole and deliberately broke my mother's priceless necklace.
When I slapped her for the desecration, my husband struck me across the face to defend her.
He had violated a sacred honor code by putting his hands on the daughter of another Don-an act of war.
I looked him in the eye and swore on my mother's grave that I would bring a bloody revenge upon his entire family.
Then I made one phone call to my father, and the demolition of his empire began.
7.2
Blurb:
They said loving him would ruin her, and they were right.
Adrianna never meant to fall for Xavier Palmer, the cold, untouchable billionaire whose name alone could silence a room. He was dangerous, controlling, and completely out of her world.
But the moment he claimed her as his, there was no escape.
What started as a forced bond quickly turned into something far more dangerous. Obsession and possession, a love so intense it blurred the line between protection and destruction.
Then everything shattered.
A brutal accident leaves Adrianna fighting for her life... and Xavier drowning in guilt, rage, and a darkness no one has ever seen before. While she lies unconscious, he hunts for the truth behind the attack, unaware that betrayal is closer than he thinks.
When Adrianna finally wakes up, nothing is the same.
Secrets have been buried, a child has been lost, and enemies are closing in.
But Xavier has made one thing clear.
He will destroy anyone who dares touch what belongs to him, even if it means becoming the monster she fears.
Even if it means losing her forever.
8.7
Aria Blackwood grew up as the Alpha's daughter. Everyone expected her to lead. She was taught to stand tall, never bow.
Then came her eighteenth birthday. In front of the whole pack, her mate rejected her.
Rafe Daniels didn't just break her heart-he shattered the bond and turned it into a battlefield.
Five years later, Silver Crest has fallen. Aria's father is gone. Her pack has surrendered. And Aria? He keeps her alive for one thing: to serve in the house of the man who wrecked her world.
Rafe calls it mercy, this humiliation. He thinks she's beaten.
Let him think it.
She drops her gaze, but she catches every whisper. She carries out orders, but she's always plotting. And that mate bond-they both feel it burning, whether they want it or not. Aria just turns that fire into something sharper.
Revenge.
She was never supposed to kneel. She was born to rule. And she's going to take her throne back-even if she has to destroy the man fate chose for her.
8.4
To save her legacy, she'll marry her greatest enemy. To save her life, she'll have to trust his lies.
Aria Hale has only one objective: to destroy the Veridian family. Twenty years ago, they ruined her mother's career and her family's reputation. Now, as Hale Enterprises is about to go out of business, she is forced into a marriage of convenience with the man she dislikes most: Luca Veridian.
Luca is a ruthless, calculating, and cold-hearted man. He doesn't just want the Hale company; he wants proof of their wrongdoings. He makes the deal for the marriage contract for one year for his own purposes: to get close enough to Aria to put her in jail.
The rules are simple: Live together. Act as if you're in love. Don't show your true intentions.
As they play a deadly game of cat and mouse in their shared penthouse apartment, the lines between protection and sabotage get blurred. Luca, the ruthless man, is hiding his own demons, and Aria, the ruthless woman, has a secret that might destroy both their empires.
Yet, when a shadow from their past, the mysterious "Architect," comes back to finish what was started all those years ago, Aria and Luca learn that they are not the players in this game, but the pawns instead.
Betrayed by blood, bound by contract, Aria and Luca must now choose whether to keep their secrets and die, or fall in love and burn the world down together.