BAD INFLUENCE
The moment she stepped into the wrong restroom, everything changed.
Hailey had only been at Hillsworth College for a day, a fresh scholarship student, eager yet nervous.
She had simply been looking for the restroom, but fate had other plans.
The thick scent of smoke filled her lungs the second she pushed the door open. The air was dense, intoxicating. Her breath hitched when she saw him.
A dangerously handsome guy.
He leaned lazily against the sink, a cigarette dangling from his lips, his sharp eyes flickering toward her. Tattoos curled around his arms like inked secrets, and silver rings glinted from his eyebrow and tongue. A dangerous smirk lifted his lips as he exhaled a cloud of smoke.
"Lost, princess?" He asked with a smirk, raking her with his eyes from head to toe.
Hailey 's heart pounded. This was the boys' restroom.
And somehow, she had just collided with trouble.
___
Hailey had learned early on that life was rarely fair.
She barely remembered her parents, their faces were blurry images in an old photo album she had once clung to as a child. After their deaths, she was taken in by her uncle, the only family she had left. At first, life had been tolerable-until he died too.
That was when everything changed.
Her uncle's wife, Cecilia, had never truly cared for her, but after his death, the cold indifference turned to outright cruelty. Hailey became the unwanted burden in their home, forced to endure harsh words and extra chores.
Unlike her cousin, Brielle, who lived in luxury and had everything handed to her, Hailey had to fight for the smallest things. When Cecilia refused to pay for her education, she had thought her dreams were over.
But then the scholarship to Hillsworth College came like a miracle.
She studied tirelessly, poured everything into that exam, and when the results came in, she had been one of the few selected. It was her chance at freedom, her chance to escape.
There was just one problem.
Hillsworth was Brielle's school.
And if there was one thing Hailey knew, it was that her cousin would make her life miserable.
But none of that compared to the storm she was about to walk into.
Wanna know what the encounter with the bad boy leads to? Come with me đź«Ł
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Chapter 6
Hailey rushed home immediately, her breath coming in sharp gasps. Her grip tightened around the plastic bag in her hand, the carton of milk and eggs shifting with each hurried step.
She was late. Terribly late.
Cecilia was going to lose it.
She panicked at the thought of what awaited her. She had left something on the fire, and Cecilia had zero patience. If dinner was ruined, if she had kept her waiting-God help her.
The moment she reached the house, she barely took a second to catch her breath before pushing the door open.
And then, she froze.
Cecilia was in the living room, pressed against the couch, her body entangled with someone else's. A guy.
Hailey stared in disgust as she recognized him. He was young, maybe her age, maybe even younger. His hands roamed over Cecilia's waist as she kissed him deeply, not a single ounce of shame in her actions.
It wasn't the first time she had seen this, but it never stopped making her sick. Cecilia slept around and she never cared who saw it.
Hailey had hoped, prayed, that she wouldn't walk in on another one of her...umm activities tonight.
No such luck.
Cecilia must have sensed her presence because she suddenly broke the kiss, turning her head with an irritated glare.
"Look who finally decided to come home" she sneered, wiping her smudged lipstick with the back of her hand.
Hailey swallowed hard, gripping the bag tighter.
"I-I got the milk and eggs" she muttered, avoiding the way the guy was watching her lustfully.
Cecilia scoffed, standing up.
"And you think that makes up for you being this late?!"
"I...I'm sorry, I got-"
"Excuses! I gave you one simple task, and you can't even do that right?"
Cecilia sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes before turning to the boy. She placed a hand on his chest, her nails grazing over his skin.
"Wait here, babe. I need to deal with this little nuisance first"
The boy just chuckled, not bothering to hide the way his gaze lingered on Hailey before he plopped down on the couch, making himself comfortable.
Hailey's stomach churned. She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to remain still as Cecilia stalked toward her.
She knew what was coming.
And no matter how many times it happened...It never hurt any less.
Cecilia landed a stinging slap across her cheek.
The impact sent her staggering back, the bag of groceries slipping from her grasp and hitting the floor with a dull thud.
"You useless little brat!"
Hailey pressed a hand to her burning cheek, blinking rapidly to stop the tears from forming. She wouldn't cry. Not in front of her.
Never.
"I'm sorry. I...I got held up-"
"Excuses! The stew is ruined because of you! Even the plantains are burnt"
The boy sitting on the couch didn't seem the least bit bothered by the scene in front of him. If anything, he looked amused.
Cecilia sighed dramatically, running a hand through her hair.
"Honestly, you're good for nothing. You can't even do a simple errand right"
"Relax, babe" the guy murmured, wrapping an arm around Cecilia's waist and pulling her close.
"She's just a kid" he added while gazing at Hailey.
Cecilia scoffed, turning in his arms and pressing her lips to his in a slow, shameless kiss, as if Hailey wasn't even standing there.
When she finally pulled away, she glanced back at Hailey, her lips curling in disgust.
"Pick that up and get out of my sight. And if dinner isn't ready in thirty minutes, don't bother eating"
Hailey nodded quickly, her head still throbbing from the slap. She bent down, gathering the fallen groceries with shaking hands. As she did, she felt the guy's eyes on her, lingering, watching and it's making her uncomfortable.
When she finally straightened up, he smirked at her.
Hailey swallowed hard and rushed toward the kitchen without another word.
This was her life. And there was no escaping it. Atleast for now.
•••
NEXT MORNING*
Hailey woke up very early the next day, her cheek still ached from last night's slap, but she ignored it.
Silently, she went about her morning routine. sweeping the living room, scrubbing the kitchen counter, and making breakfast. Cecilia wouldn't be awake yet, probably tangled in sheets with last night's boy.
"Good" Hailey muttered.
That meant she could leave without another confrontation.
By the time she was done, the sun had fully risen. Hailey grabbed her worn-out backpack, slinging it over her shoulder as she stepped out of the house.
She walked briskly down the street. The bus station wasn't far, just a few blocks away, and soon, she spotted the old, rattling bus pulling up to the curb.
Climbing in, she made her way toward the back, settling by the window. The seat felt cold against her skin as she hugged her bag to her chest. This was her favorite spot, away from the noise, with a clear view of the city waking up.
She exhaled, resting her head against the window, letting herself relax for the first time that morning.
Phew.
A guy suddenly slid into the seat next to her.
Hailey stiffened slightly, instinctively shifting closer to the window. She didn't turn to look at him, but she could feel his presence and his eyes on her.
"You look familiar, do you attend Hillsworth College?" He asked and that made Hailey to finally look his way.
The guy beside her had a calm, easygoing aura. He was clean-cut and well-dressed.
"Yes" she answered quietly.
"Thought so. We attended the same class yesterday"
"You're a freshman, right?" he continued and Hailey nodded
"Same here. I'm Asher and you are?" he introduced himself, extending a hand.
She hesitated, glancing at his outstretched hand before shaking it lightly.
"Hailey"
"Nice to officially meet you, Hailey" he said warmly and she smiled.
He looks cool.
When the bus finally pulled to a stop near Hillsworth College, Hailey stood up, gripping the straps of her worn-out backpack. Asher stepped aside, allowing her to pass first before following her out.
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9.7
"How do I tell the world that my first orgasm came from my father's son-my brother, and he doesn't know yet?"
Annabel Green, who had caught her first ever lover, James, in bed with Stephanie, her best friend, went on a mission of revenge.
After she found out that the man who she bumped into at the club that night she caught her ex cheating, is actually Stephanie's fiancé-Daniel stroke.
She planned on using him as a tool just to make James regret cheating on her and drive Stephanie insane.
But she had no idea that Daniel was her father's son. By the time she had gotten her revenge, only then did they realize how late it was, because they had both fallen hopelessly in love.
Now the question is who will let each other go? Will Daniel and Annabel agree to part ways just to see their parents happy. Or will their parents actually get a divorce in order to see their children live a happy life?
9.7
Brenda's world ended the night her father sold her to a monster.
To protect his pack from destruction, her father traded her to Alpha Aaron, the cruel ruler of the Northern wolves - a man who never spent more than one night with any woman... because none of them survived.
But Brenda did.
That became her curse.
For three years, she endured his brutality - his control, his obsession, his endless hunger for power. She prayed for rescue, for her father, for anyone. But no one came.
Until one mistake changed everything.
A blindfold. A wrong room. A night with a stranger who touched her with tenderness instead of pain.
That stranger was Alpha Leon, Aaron's business partner and unknowingly, her destined mate.
When Leon discovered the truth, he struck a dangerous bargain to take her away. But by then, Brenda was no longer the girl she once was. She was a shell, numb, broken, and incapable of love.
Now, Leon must battle not only Aaron's shadow but also the darkness inside Brenda herself.
Can love heal what cruelty destroyed?
Or will her pain consume them both?
9.2
For five years, I hid my identity as a legendary White Wolf, swallowing suppressants that tasted like ash just to protect Alpha Grafton.
I played the role of the spineless "Shadow," enduring his pack's ridicule and his cold indifference, all to fulfill a promise I made to his dead twin brother.
But when I finally exposed my powers to save Grafton from a rigged car crash, shattering my leg with liquid silver in the process, he didn't thank me.
Instead, he stepped over my bleeding body to comfort Cherrelle, a socialite who was faking a wrist injury.
He believed her lies over my sacrifice.
When I tried to warn him about the poison in his drink, he forced me to swallow the Wolfsbane myself.
He watched me convulse on the floor, calling me a "drama queen."
He even threw me into a dog kennel, crushing the only photo I had of his brother—the man I actually loved—under his boot.
He thought I was a stalker obsessed with him.
He didn't know I drank black coffee I hated every morning just to be in sync with him, or that the "jealousy" he saw was actually grief for the ghost of his twin.
Broken and done, I stood on the edge of Blackwood Bridge and sent him one final text.
"I'm going to be with the man I actually love."
Then, I rejected him as my mate, severed the bond that linked our souls, and let the dark river wash away five years of lies.
8.9
I was the lead architect for the Pack's billion-dollar tech company, and I was secretly carrying the Alpha's heir.
I thought the merger would finally make Caleb Mark me.
Instead, I walked into my office to find a mistress sitting in my chair.
Caleb didn't just fire me. When I refused to hand over the encryption keys to the system I built, he locked me in a reinforced closet lined with silver mesh.
For a pregnant wolf, silver is poison.
I pounded on the door until my knuckles bled.
"Caleb! Please! It burns! I'm losing the baby!"
I screamed until my voice broke, feeling the life drain from my womb.
But outside the door, his mistress laughed. "Don't listen to her, Caleb. She's just a weak Omega faking it for attention."
And my Fated Mate believed her.
He left me in that dark box while our son died in a pool of my own blood.
He thought he had broken me. He thought I would die a silent death so he could parade his fake heir around.
He forgot one thing: I wrote the code that runs his entire life.
Three days later, I didn't show up to the hospital morgue.
I rolled my wheelchair onto the stage of his global press conference, flanked by the rival Alpha he feared most.
I held up the remote to the main server.
"You killed my son for a lie, Caleb," I smiled into the microphone as the screens behind him broadcast the footage of his crime. "Now, say goodbye to your empire."
9.2
For three years, I was the one scrubbing the scent of blood from his hands and holding him while he screamed in pain. I was the one who taught Coleton Barron how to walk again after the car bomb nearly took his legs.
But the moment he reclaimed his seat as Don, I became invisible.
At his recovery gala, he draped his arm around Charly—the woman who fled when he was crippled—and laughed as he told his inner circle I was "just the hired help."
It didn't stop at insults. When Charly faked a fall, he shoved me aside with enough force to crack my skull against the pool edge.
When a bomb went off in a gallery, he looked me in the eye, saw me trapped under debris, and turned his back to carry her to safety instead.
He even held a gun to my head because she lied about me poisoning his soup.
His mother threw a check at me, telling me that tools go back in the box when the job is done. They thought I would beg to stay. They thought I was weak.
I took the five million and vanished without a word.
Three years later, I returned to New York. Not as his nurse, but as the fiancée of the only man Coleton fears.
And when he saw the diamond on my finger, the King of New York finally realized he had thrown away his only lifeline.
9.6
"Not guilty."
With those two words, my husband, the Alpha, acquitted his mistress of poisoning my mother.
I had the toxicology reports. I had the receipts. But Garrison didn't care.
He looked me in the eye, his hand resting possessively on Keyla's back, and told me to stop making a scene.
That was just the beginning of my hell.
He moved Keyla into our master suite and forced me into the servant's quarters.
"Since you can't give me strong pups," he sneered, "you can serve those who do."
I became the maid in my own home, washing Keyla's silk lingerie while she wore my Luna robes.
When I tried to fight back, he used the Alpha Command to silence me and locked me in a room filled with silver dust that burned my skin like acid.
He even drugged me and offered me to a rival Alpha just to secure a timber deal.
He thought he had broken me. He thought I was just a weak Omega who would eventually fade away.
But he forgot that my mother taught me everything about poisons.
On the night of the yacht party, I didn't just jump into the dark ocean to escape.
I jumped to be reborn.
I flushed my wedding ring, severed the bond, and let the icy water swallow Janette the victim.
Garrison thought I was dead.
He didn't know that the ocean wouldn't kill me. It would awaken my true bloodline.
And when I came back, I wasn't his wife anymore.
I was a White Wolf, and I was going to burn his pack to the ground.