Divorce Unleashed Her: The Mafia Empress Awakens
She was the heir of a criminal syndicate, bred to command the underworld.
For seven years she loved the wrong man, serving his family and building their fortune. Her payment was betrayal-his affair with her best friend.
During her three-year coma, he hissed, "Don't wake up."
They carried on at her bedside, then plotted her death to steal the company. She woke anyway and shattered them, rattling high society as a mafia heir and lethal fighter who ran the black-market economy.
He begged. She kicked him aside and chose the man who'd waited a decade-the world's top arms dealer. "I'm yours."
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Chapter 4
Three days slipped by in the blink of an eye, and the long-awaited day of the press conference finally dawned.
That morning, Ashlyn remained reclined in her hospital bed, much as she had for days, idly scrolling through the latest news on the phone.
She was already fully aware of Carl's machinations. How he had skillfully swayed the shareholders into placing their trust in him, and how, at the press conference scheduled for that very morning, he intended to formally supplant her as the next CEO of Hughes Group.
If Carl coveted the position so desperately, she resolved silently, then she would grant him precisely what he desired.
As she gazed at the bold headlines blazing across the screen, a glint of something cold and perilous flashed through Ashlyn's eyes.
At that moment, a gentle knock echoed from the door.
"Ashie, it's me." Carl's voice sounded from the corridor, laced with practiced warmth.
"Come in," Ashlyn replied evenly.
With flawless composure, she slid the phone beneath the covers, concealing it from view.
The door swung open, and Carl entered bearing a steaming cup of broth, his demeanor solicitously calm.
"Ashie, these past three years must have taken such a toll on you. A few days of recovery simply isn't enough," Carl murmured, his tone measured and considerate as he extended the cup toward Ashlyn. "I prepared this myself—it should help restore your strength."
"It does smell wonderful. Thank you," Ashlyn answered, accepting the cup with a serene smile that never quite warmed her eyes.
The press conference was mere hours away; she harbored no illusions that Carl's sudden attentiveness sprang from genuine concern—especially not when he had found the time and patience to deliver this cup of soup personally.
She did not need even a moment's reflection to know the truth. The broth was heavily laced with sedatives—enough in a single cup to plunge an ordinary person into unconsciousness for days.
"After all we've shared, caring for you is the very least I can do. Go on, drink it. It will make you feel so much better," Carl continued smoothly.
Right before his watchful gaze, Ashlyn raised the cup to her lips and drained its contents without the slightest hesitation.
"Mmm… Carl," she said softly a few moments later, pressing a hand to her temple, "perhaps I'm still not fully recovered. I'm already beginning to feel drowsy."
Carl recognized the cue instantly; the sedative was taking hold. Rising promptly, he adopted an expression of tender concern. "Then rest, darling. You truly need it. I'll return to check on you later."
Before departing, he paused at the threshold for a prolonged moment, listening intently until Ashlyn's breathing slowed and deepened into the steady rhythm of sleep. Only when he was utterly convinced of her unconsciousness did he hurry away toward the press conference venue.
...
At ten o'clock that morning, the Hughes Group press conference commenced amid great pomp and grandeur.
The venue brimmed with formality and spectacle, drawing nearly every prominent figure in Giphis's commercial circles.
By the end of the day, Hughes Group would welcome a new leader.
Reporters and media representatives streamed into the hall in waves, cameras flashing and microphones at the ready.
"Congratulations, Mr. Hughes! After today, you'll be the youngest chief executive in all of Giphis!"
"Indeed—a CEO at such a young age. Truly remarkable. One can't help but admire the achievement."
"If truth be told, Mr. Hughes has earned it. While Ms. Marsh lay in a coma, he remained at her side yet still managed to keep the company steady."
"In my view, having a husband like Mr. Hughes is Ms. Marsh's greatest blessing. Even if she were to awaken this very instant, she would surely rejoice for him."
Impeccably dressed in a bespoke suit, Carl stood at the epicenter of adulation, Paulina radiant beside him in an exquisite gown, as influential business leaders encircled them with effusive praise.
Never before had Carl experienced such intoxicating pride.
In years past, these same luminaries had orbited solely around Ashlyn. He had trailed quietly in her shadow, overlooked and insignificant.
Having basked in the adulation long enough, Carl at last turned toward Oliver. "Mr. Hall," he said with a confident smile, "the moment has come. Shall we proceed with signing the agreement?"
Oliver nodded solemnly and leaned toward the microphone. "With the media fully assembled and the most prominent leaders of Giphis's business community bearing witness, I wish to make an official announcement. Owing to ongoing health concerns, Ms. Ashlyn Marsh is regrettably unable to continue fulfilling her responsibilities. By unanimous decision of the board, Mr. Hughes has been appointed to succeed her as the new Chief Executive Officer of Hughes Group."
Thunderous applause swept through the grand hall, a wave of approval that seemed to lift Carl even higher.
"Mr. Hughes, please join me on stage to sign the equity transfer agreement," Oliver added, extending a courteous gesture.
To the accompaniment of enthusiastic cheers and sustained clapping, Carl ascended the steps with barely contained exhilaration. His pulse raced as he grasped the pen, the weight of imminent triumph thrumming in his veins.
The company was mere seconds from becoming his irrevocably.
He poised the pen above the signature line, ready to commit his name to the document… almost there…
Just as the tip of the pen hovered over the paper, a woman's voice—cool, composed, and laced with a subtle, chilling amusement—cut through the hall from the main entrance.
"An equity transfer agreement? How curious. Why was I not informed of this press conference concerning Hughes Group?"
Every head in the venue swiveled toward the source of the interruption.
Carl, halted at the very cusp of victory, felt a flare of sharp irritation.
Who would dare disrupt such a pivotal moment? And since when did the Hughes Group owe anyone outside the inner circle advance notice of its proceedings?
His anger began to rise—until a sudden, profound hush descended over the entire assembly.
Following the collective gaze, Carl turned toward the entrance. The instant he recognized the woman framed in the doorway, his body went rigid, as though struck by lightning.
A cold sheen of sweat prickled across his back.
"Ashie?" he whispered, voice cracking with disbelief. "How… how could you possibly be here?"
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9.3
He is power, control, and consequence.
She is everything he never planned for.
Lucien Blackwell rules his world through silence and precision, dismantling threats before they speak his name. When betrayal from his own family forces him to tighten his grip, the last thing he expects is her-a florist whose calm presence unsettles him more than any enemy ever has.
As unseen eyes close in and his shadow stretches across her life, she refuses to be protected through ignorance or distance. Instead, she chooses awareness, agency, and a place beside the danger.
Because some things don't survive darkness.
They bloom within it.
Blooming Under His Shadow is a slow-burn romantic suspense about power, choice, and the risk of loving a man whose world was never built for light.
9.2
I stood on the tarmac clutching white magnolias, watching the man I loved hand his loyalty to the woman born to destroy me.
Dante Cavallaro, the Ruthless Underboss, didn't just leave me for Sofia Moretti.
He revealed that for two years, I wasn't his lover. I was a human shield.
The heavy iron bangle he forced me to wear wasn't a gift for my protection.
"It's a Malocchio anchor," he sneered as I lay paralyzed on the floor. "It drains the wearer's luck to keep Sofia healthy. You are just the filter."
My body began to rot from the inside out, my nerves dying one by one.
When I was finally on my deathbed, unable to move or speak, Dante didn't cry for me.
He cried because his tool was broken.
He forced the cursed bangle onto his own wrist, begging the universe to keep me alive so I could continue to suffer in Sofia's place.
"Please," he sobbed into my sheets. "Don't leave me alone with the bad luck."
I used my last breath to make a wish—not for him, but for my freedom.
I closed my eyes and died.
Exactly one hour later, Dante's phone rang.
It was his father.
"Sofia just collapsed," he said. "Her heart just stopped."
I was the vessel.
And now that I was gone, the poison had come home to the King.
9.2
I discovered the dark secret my stepmother Beatrice had been hiding for years.
When I threatened to expose the truth to the mafia, my half-brother Angelo and step-sister Carmella locked me in an abandoned Brooklyn warehouse.
Carmella stood there in my mother's expensive silk dress, her voice sweet and venomous as she confessed how she had meticulously stolen my life and my father's love.
Angelo looked at me with cold indifference, pouring gasoline over my feet before striking a match.
"You're insane for threatening to break the code of silence," they laughed, leaving me to burn alive to protect their stolen thrones.
My own father turned a blind eye, letting his trueborn daughter turn to ash just to maintain the illusion of his perfect family.
The smell of charred flesh filled my throat. Until I died, I didn't understand. I had bled for our survival, even taking a bullet for the terrifying Moretti Matriarch.
Why did my father let the bastard children of a Chicago bootlegger steal my inheritance and murder me?
Opening my eyes again, the phantom heat of the inferno faded into a cool New York afternoon.
I was seventeen again, sitting in the backseat of a Cadillac, just returning from my three-year exile in Switzerland.
This time, I wouldn't just scream. I would marry the terrifying Prince of New York and watch my stepmother's entire bloodline burn.
8.4
For seven years, I have been the submissive commoner wife of Julian, the New York Mafia boss.
When he finally realized what he had ruined and stabbed himself with a dagger, begging for my forgiveness, I simply turned and walked away.
I endured his endless betrayals and cruelty for only one reason: he paid for my grandmother's life-sustaining treatment.
But while he was busy buying diamonds for his new mistress, the pressure of his emotional abuse caused me to lose our child.
His mistress broke into my grandmother's hospital room and threw explicit photos of her and Julian in my grandmother's face. My grandmother died from shock.
Julian knew nothing about this.
“Go home, Sienna. You’re pregnant. Stop making a scene, or I’ll cut off your grandmother’s medical bills tomorrow.”
When I found him, he arrogantly thought I was just throwing a tantrum.
He didn't know our child was gone.
He didn't know that my grandmother had passed away.
In front of all his men, I poured a glass of whiskey over his head, left the signed divorce papers on his table, and then boarded a one-way flight to Germany.
I will leave him forever.
8.1
Warning 🔞
"So wet for the enemy", he taunted, scissoring inside me and stretching my walls.
I moaned, throwing my head back and riding his hand. When he withdrew his fingers, I moaned at the loss. Adrian took his fingers to his mouth and wiped off my juices.
Fuck!
_______
EROTICA COLLECTION!!!
Sinful Desires (Volume 1)
Ten dangerously addictive steamy romances that will leave you breathless.
From enemies to lovers, bodyguard protectors, CEO obsessions, mafia claims, and passionate vacation affair, Sinful Desires Volume 1 brings together ten standalone romances filled with steam and unforgettable Passion.
You'll meet...
A bodyguard who can't stay professional.
A CEO who risks his empire for an intern.
A mafia boss who softens only for one woman
A firefighter who turns healing into desire.
And more.
In the next collection, temptation becomes even more forbidden, desires become more dangerous, and love crosses lines it was never supposed to touch.
If you thought Volume 1 was sinful, you're not ready for what comes next so get ready because the sins only grow darker from here...
Stay tuned for Sinful Desires (Volume 2)
9.8
Three women, three brothers, a single, crumpled dollar bill.
Alina's world shatters the moment she's auctioned off-and claimed by the powerful Hawthorne brothers.
Thrown into Adrian Hawthorne's cold, dangerous world, she becomes his to control... his to protect... and, terrifyingly, his to desire. He's ruthless, possessive, and hiding secrets that could destroy them both. But the deeper she falls into his world, the harder it becomes to tell if she's his prisoner-or something far more dangerous.
Because the Hawthorne brothers don't just take.
They keep.
Viviane has spent her life surviving, so when Julian Hawthorne "buys" her freedom, she knows better than to trust it. Men like him don't save people-they collect them. But Julian isn't as simple as he pretends to be, and the deeper she's pulled into his world, the more dangerous it becomes to walk away.
Especially when she realizes she might be the only thing he's ever been willing to fight for.
Lena doesn't belong to anyone-and she intends to keep it that way. Brilliant, guarded, and hiding more than anyone suspects, she enters Lucien Hawthorne's world on her own terms. But Lucien doesn't play fair, and he doesn't let go.
When her past comes crashing back, Lena is forced to face the one thing she's been running from: trusting someone who could destroy her... or save her.
Three women. Three choices.Stay. Fight.
Or burn it all down.
Because being sold was only the beginning.