Contract With The Devil: Love In Shackles

I watched my husband sign the papers that would end our marriage while he was busy texting the woman he actually loved. He didn't even glance at the header. He just scribbled the sharp, jagged signature that had signed death warrants for half of New York, tossed the file onto the passenger seat, and tapped his screen again. "Done," he said, his voice devoid of emotion. That was Dante Moretti. The Underboss. A man who could smell a lie from a mile away but couldn't see that his wife had just handed him an annulment decree disguised beneath a stack of mundane logistics reports. For three years, I scrubbed his blood out of his shirts. I saved his family's alliance when his ex, Sofia, ran off with a civilian. In return, he treated me like furniture. He left me in the rain to save Sofia from a broken nail. He left me alone on my birthday to drink champagne on a yacht with her. He even handed me a glass of whiskey—her favorite drink—forgetting that I despised the taste. I was merely a placeholder. A ghost in my own home. So, I stopped waiting. I burned our wedding portrait in the fireplace, left my platinum ring in the ashes, and boarded a one-way flight to San Francisco. I thought I was finally free. I thought I had escaped the cage. But I underestimated Dante. When he finally opened that file weeks later and realized he had signed away his wife without looking, the Reaper didn't accept defeat. He burned down the world to find me, obsessed with reclaiming the woman he had already thrown away.

Chapters

Chapter 3

Elena Vitiello POV

The heavy thrum of the music pulsed through the floorboards of the VIP lounge. It was a private club, supposedly neutral ground for the Families, but tonight the Morettis had rented the entire top floor.

I sat next to Dante on the crushed velvet sofa. His arm was draped along the back of the seat behind me-never touching me, but aggressively claiming the space.

It was a territorial display. This is mine. Do not touch.

The room was thick with smoke and the sharp clink of expensive crystal. The Capos were laughing, while the soldiers stood like statues by the doors. It was a celebration of the alliance anniversary.

"Alright, bring it out!" someone shouted over the noise.

A heavy wooden box was heaved onto the central table. The Time Capsule.

Five years ago, during a truce party, the younger generation of the Families had written letters to their future selves. It was a stupid tradition, something Sofia had insisted on back when she was the center of Dante's world.

I felt a prickle of cold sweat break out on my neck. I had forgotten about this.

"Let's see who predicted the future!" Marco, one of Dante's soldiers, laughed as he cracked the seal.

He pulled out a folded piece of paper. "Sofia... wants to be a movie star."

Laughter rippled through the room. Sofia wasn't here yet. She was always late.

Marco reached in and pulled out another one. He unfolded it, and then he froze.

He paused. He looked at me, then at Dante. The drunken grin faded from his face.

"Read it," Dante commanded, taking a slow sip of his whiskey.

Marco cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably. "It's... it's from Elena."

Dante glanced at me. I stared straight ahead, my nails digging crescents into my palms.

"Read it," Dante repeated, his voice lower, leaving no room for argument.

Marco unfolded the paper completely. His voice was hesitant. "I don't know if he will ever see me. I am just a shadow in the corner of the room. But today, he looked at me. He saved me from the riot in the East End. He doesn't know my name, but I know his. I love him. I love Dante Moretti. I pray that one day, I can be the one to wash the blood from his hands, even if he never loves me back."

The silence in the room was absolute. It was heavier than the bass, louder than the shouting had been moments before.

I felt stripped naked. Five years ago, I was a naive girl with a diary. Now, those words hung in the air like a confession of a crime.

Dante slowly set his glass down. He turned his head to look at me. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes were wide, stunned. It was the first time I had ever seen him look truly struck, like he had been punched in the gut.

He opened his mouth to speak. "Elena..."

My phone didn't ring. His did.

It shattered the moment like glass. Dante flinched. He looked at the screen.

He didn't answer it immediately. He looked at me again, searching my face, looking for the girl who wrote that letter.

The phone rang again. And again.

"Boss," Marco whispered, the tension palpable. "It might be urgent."

Dante answered. He put it on speaker.

"Dante! Help me! Please!" Sofia's voice shrieked through the quiet room. "They have guns! I'm at the warehouse district! They're going to kill me!"

The shock vanished from Dante's face. It was replaced instantly by the mask of The Reaper. The beast woke up.

He stood up so fast the table shook. "Marco, get the team. Now."

"Dante," I said, my voice barely a whisper.

He didn't hear me. He was already moving, checking the clip in his handgun. He was a blur of lethal motion.

"Stay here," he barked at me over his shoulder. "Don't move."

He ran out the door, his soldiers swarming after him. The room was suddenly empty, save for a few confused waiters.

I walked to the balcony. The rain had stopped. I looked down at the street.

I saw Dante burst out of the club entrance. I saw him pistol-whip a bouncer who was too slow to get out of his way. He jumped into his car, tires smoking as he peeled out.

I watched him go.

He had heard the depth of my soul, the raw, bleeding truth of my love for him. And the moment another woman cried wolf, he left me in the silence.

He didn't rush out to save family. He rushed out because he couldn't breathe if she wasn't breathing.

I took the letter from the table. I tore it in half. Then in half again.

I dropped the pieces into an ashtray and lit them on fire.

"Goodbye, Dante," I whispered.

Continue to next part

To save my family's dying company, I was forced to marry a billionaire I hadn't seen in fourteen years. But right outside the City Clerk's office, he tossed our marriage certificate at me like a cheap receipt and shoved a four-year-old boy into my arms. "Your new life has begun. You're on babysitting duty now." He sneered and left me stranded on the sidewalk. I realized with absolute horror that my new husband was Ellsworth Marshall, the sickly boy I had relentlessly bullied in middle school. He didn't spend five billion dollars to save the Bradford family. He bought me to execute a slow, suffocating revenge. He used his orphaned nephew as a pawn, explicitly threatening my father that if I failed to play the perfect, compliant nanny, he would instantly destroy our family's legacy. He even had his guards lock me out of his Long Island estate on my first night, forcing me to stand in the cold dark just to prove he owned me. I was trapped in a gilded cage, suffocated by the guilt of my past and the terror of my present. Why did he involve an innocent child in his twisted vendetta? How much humiliation was enough to pay for my childhood cruelty? Looking at the terrified little boy clinging to my skirt, I tightened my grip on my suitcase. If he wanted to destroy my will piece by piece, I had to find a way to survive the monster I created.

Horror Modern Romance

9.2

Claimed By The Cursed Black Snake Alpha

9.2

At the absolute summit of her pop-star career, the stage collapsed beneath Catherine's feet, plunging her into a mechanical black hole. When she opened her eyes, she wasn't in a hospital, but a savage, primitive forest. Before a fire-breathing beast could tear her apart, a massive black snake crushed it with a single strike. The terrifying serpent then transformed into Amon, a towering, heavily scarred man with golden slitted eyes, who swore his life to protect her. He brought her to his tribe, but instead of safety, they were met with ravenous hunger and disgust. The tribe's males stared at Catherine's fragile human body like a rare breeding prize, while treating Amon like garbage. "He's a cursed, cold-blooded freak! His rut will tear you to pieces!" The Chief sneered, pointing a thick, accusing finger at Amon. "By tribal law, you must mate with our strongest tiger and bear shifters to give us powerful cubs!" Humiliated, Amon's broad shoulders slumped, his fists trembling in suffocating shame as he prepared to back away. Catherine's heart pounded with fierce, burning anger. When she was about to be eaten, Amon was the only one who bled for her. Where were these arrogant bullies then? Why should she let them treat her savior like a monster? As the tribe's strongest warriors swarmed forward to claim her, Catherine stepped directly in front of Amon's lethal claws. "I don't need any of you," she declared, her voice cutting through the chaos. "I will mate with Amon and take his beast mark today!"

Fantasy Horror Werewolf

9.0

Claimed by the Damned Alpha King

9.0

"What do you want, Aveline?" The Alpha King's silver eyes burn into mine as he drops to his knees, his hands gripping my thighs like he owns them. His voice is a command, not a request, and I'm trembling, unable to form words. "Say it properly, or I walk away and leave you like this." The night before our wedding, I discover that the man sworn to hate me is also the only one who can bring me to my knees. All Aveline ever wanted was a mate who would protect and cherish her, someone to take her away from a pack that rejected her the moment they discovered she was wolfless. Instead, she gets public humiliation when her fated mate rejects her, then gets sold as a bride to the cursed Alpha King-a man whose hatred runs deeper than she could ever imagine. Alpha King Thorne doesn't just despise weakness. He despises her. The moment he sees her face, he's reminded of the mate who betrayed him, the one who chose death over being his. Her only purpose? To bear his heir. Nothing more. Stripped of her title and thrown into a world of dark politics and ancient prophecies, Aveline must survive not just his cruelty, but the dangerous obsession growing between them. Because the man determined to break her is the same one who makes her body sing with a single touch. "You're mine, Aveline. Tomorrow you become my wife. My Luna. My breeder." What happens when duty becomes desire, hatred transforms into possession, and the girl meant to be broken becomes the only one capable of bringing the most powerful alpha to his knees?

Horror Romance Werewolf

8.2

Falling For My Dead Husband's Ghost

8.2

To save my brother's life, I married a dead billionaire. My new home was a freezing, high-tech mausoleum where I was ordered to hold a year-long vigil beside Byron Hyde's cryogenic pod. But I wasn't alone in the dark. Every night, a terrifying shadow smelling of whiskey and sandalwood pinned me to my narrow bed. It tore my clothes and brutally claimed my body, leaving me bruised and trembling until dawn. When I begged the housekeeper for help, showing her my torn skin, she just smiled cruelly. "It seems the master's spirit has accepted you." I thought I was being haunted by a vengeful ghost, until Byron's arrogant nephew broke into the tomb to assault me. His tampering triggered the life-support system, and the heavy lid of the pod hissed open. Byron Hyde sat up, his eyes lethal and his skin shockingly warm. He was alive. Looking at his broad shoulders, I caught the faint scent of whiskey and sandalwood. The horrific truth hit me like a physical blow. My nightly tormentor wasn't a ghost. It was my living, breathing husband. When I confronted him, his eyes were cold and clinical. "That was a necessary test. I had to know if my wife would break." A white-hot rage choked me, but I didn't scream or run. He slipped the priceless, heavy sapphire of the family matriarch onto my finger, offering me absolute power over the treacherous relatives who wanted us both dead. To fight a monster, you can't be a victim. I looked into his deep, dangerous eyes and accepted the ring. If this was a cage, allying with the keeper was the only way to find the key.

Horror Modern Romance

8.6

FATED TO HIS DARKNESS

8.6

Amara's life has always been predictable-until the shadows start watching her. Footsteps follow her on empty streets, strange chills scrape down her spine, and something ancient tracks her every move from the dark. Everything changes the night a terrifying wolf-like creature lunges out of the darkness and leaves her fighting for her life. Just when all hope slips away, a mysterious man steps in-sleek, powerful, and gone before she can speak his name. Haunted by the memory of his golden eyes, Amara begins to unravel a truth she never imagined. A creature in the night. A man in the shadows. A bond that defies logic. Her search for answers leads her to a hidden library and a forgotten article that exposes a world she was never meant to discover, one of magic, danger, and beings who walk between realms. From the veil of the other world, Kael watches her. Her guardian. Her burden. The one fate bound to her long before she was born. And every day, the pull between them grows stronger... and harder for him to fight. As enemies gather in both realms, Amara must face the darkness hunting her and the bond tying her to Kael. Because when shadow meets destiny, survival demands trust, courage, and a heart willing to walk into the dark.

Action Fantasy Horror

7.8

Framed By My Husband's Love

7.8

I was a star lawyer, undefeated in court. Then my husband and my rival framed me with fabricated evidence, landing me in prison and destroying my name. But the ultimate betrayal came after my release. My own adopted son, the boy I saved and raised, slashed my tires while my husband tampered with the brakes, sending my car flying off a cliff to silence me for good. The world declared me dead. For seven years, I' ve lived as a ghost, scrubbing toilets and hiding in the shadows while they built a perfect life on the ashes of mine. Now, they' ve dragged me back into their glittering world, using my son' s 18th birthday as the stage for their own engagement party-a final, public spectacle to humiliate me. They see a broken cleaner, a ghost they can easily dismiss. They're wrong. Tonight, I' m going live. And I' m bringing seven years of digital receipts that will burn their entire world to the ground.

Horror Modern Romance

Contract With The Devil: Love In Shackles

Chapter 3

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