He Let Me Drown, Another Man Taught Me Love
Nina had been by Julian's side for ten years, ostensibly as his personal doctor, but in reality, she was his lover.
Whenever he was injured in conflicts, she treated him; during his moments of loneliness, she was there to comfort him.
Nina believed that if she devoted enough, she would eventually win his heart.
That was until his idealized love returned to the country, rendering Nina worthless in his eyes, and he discarded her like yesterday's news.
Even his assistant couldn't bear to see it and advised Julian to appreciate her, but he scoffed at the suggestion. "Nina was never part of my life plan. I kept her around because she bore a slight resemblance to Aria."
In that instant, Nina's infatuation seemed like a joke.
When he wrapped his arm around his idealized love's waist, smiling as he asked her to help plan their wedding, Nina didn't cry or cause a scene; she just smiled through her tears and obediently agreed.
Then she turned around and dialed a number. "There are seven days left in the ten-year commitment. I am applying for termination, and from now on, I will have nothing to do with Julian."
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Chapter 2
On the second morning after deciding to leave, Nina was packing the last few books she owned.
Her phone suddenly vibrated. It was the assistant calling. "Dr. Avery, Mr. Blackwell was injured in a shootout last night. He took a bullet in his left shoulder and lost quite a bit of blood. He's back in his room now."
Her fingers froze.
For ten years, no matter how late it was, how exhausted she felt, or how dangerous the situation might be, the moment he was injured she would grab her medical kit and rush to him.
It was both the contract and instinct.
Without hesitation, she picked up the medical kit and headed toward the east wing of the main building, Julian's private bedroom. She had walked in and out of that room hundreds of times.
But when she reached the door, she stopped.
The door was slightly ajar, leaving a narrow crack.
From inside came Aria's bright laughter. "Julian, don't move! It's going to sting when I disinfect it."
Then Julian's deep voice followed, laced with amusement. "Be gentle… damn, that really hurts."
Nina felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
He said it hurt?
How many wounds had she treated for him over the past ten years?
When bullets lodged in his flesh, he would bite down on a towel without making a sound.
When a blade cut so deep the bone was visible, he could still smile and ask her, "Long day today?"
Even with a fever of 104 degrees, he once held her hand and said, "Don't worry. I'm not dying."
He had never once shown weakness in front of her.
But now, facing Aria, a simple "that hurts" carried a tone almost like a spoiled complaint.
Through the crack in the door, Nina saw Aria sitting on the edge of the bed in a silk nightdress, her long hair falling loosely over her shoulders as she dabbed iodine onto the gunshot wound on Julian's shoulder with a cotton swab.
Julian leaned against the headboard, watching her with gentle eyes. He even lifted a hand to brush a loose strand of hair away from her cheek.
"Aria," he said softly, almost like a sigh. "You're finally back."
Aria's eyes reddened slightly. "I'm sorry for making you wait ten years."
"It was worth it." He took her hand and pressed it against his chest. "As long as you came back, everything was worth it."
Standing outside the door, Nina dug her nails deep into her palm to keep from making a sound.
So this was how he looked at someone he truly loved, warmth in his eyes so deep it seemed ready to swallow the other person whole.
She knew she should leave immediately, yet she remained rooted to the spot, unable to tear her eyes away.
Suddenly, as if sensing something, Aria turned sharply toward the door.
Their eyes met. A flicker of triumph flashed through Aria's gaze. Then she deliberately leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Julian's lips.
"Don't move," she said playfully. "You'll reopen the wound."
Julian didn't avoid her. Instead, he chuckled and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Alright. I'll listen to you."
Nina could no longer stand there. She turned and hurried away.
Tears slipped down her face silently, but she wiped them away with force.
Back in her room, she dropped the medical kit heavily onto the table. The metal instruments clattered loudly.
She remembered a winter night three years ago when Julian burned with a fever and fell unconscious. She had stayed by his side for three days and nights.
When he woke, all he said was a faint, "Thank you for your work, Dr. Avery."
And yet today, he had shown such vulnerability in front of Aria.
At that moment, in the east wing bedroom.
Julian leaned against the headboard, his shoulder wound already treated by Aria.
A bodyguard stood at the door and reported quietly. "Mr. Blackwell, Dr. Avery came by this morning."
Julian paused slightly while holding his glass of water. "She came? Where is she?"
"She stood at the door for a while, didn't knock, then left." The bodyguard hesitated. "She looked… pretty upset."
Julian lowered his gaze, his fingers tracing the rim of the cup. "She's always been sensitive. With Aria back, it's normal for her to feel unsettled."
"But she's packing her luggage," the bodyguard said hesitantly. "I heard she even booked a ride to the airport. Is she really leaving?"
Julian chuckled softly, though his eyes grew colder. "Impossible. She's loved me for ten years. She chose to stay by my side." Besides…"
He set the cup down, his tone firm. "If Aria gets pregnant in the future, the baby must be delivered by someone we trust completely. Nina is an excellent doctor. I wouldn't trust anyone else to deliver Aria's child."
The bodyguard looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end he only nodded and withdrew.
Julian looked out the window. The sunlight was bright and warm.
He believed Nina would remain by his side as she always had.
He had never considered that even a shadow could grow tired of the dark.
That evening, the butler appeared outside Nina's room and handed her a gilded invitation. "Ms. Avery, tomorrow is the Blackwell family's Spring Banquet. Mr. Edmund Blackwell specifically requested your attendance. Please make sure you come."
Nina took the invitation. Her fingertips were cold.
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7.4
I woke up to find that I had lost five years of my memory.
I was told that I had been married to Caspian, the ruthless Godfather of the New York Mafia, for five years.
I had harbored a crush on him for a long time, so marrying him should have been good news.
But the terrible truth was, he didn't seem to love me.
After losing my five years of memory, he felt like nothing more than a stranger to me.
"Break the blood oath, Caspian," I said. "We're getting a divorce."
Yet later, he would pace outside my door late at night, refusing to leave: "Darling, just look at me one more time, please?"
7.2
Every story in this collection is a direct line to your own wanting, each read leaves you drenched, and craving more thighs pressed together, breath caught in your throat.
From a stranger's fingers finding you in a crowded bar to the slow, devastating unraveling of a woman on her knees, these are the moments you'll return to, again and again, until you're trembling.
Warning: "Not for the faint of heart-only for the Dirty Slut-Seekers who crave the filth.
Open the book only when you're ready to be ruined, and consumed by your filthy fantasies.
9.8
Adeline's stepmother had secretly drugged her for years, turning a child genius into a drooling, mentally disabled laughingstock just so her stepsister could steal her life.
But when her greedy father sold her off to Griffin Herring—a violent, untouchable billionaire psychopath—to save his company, things took a deadly turn.
Before the wedding, Griffin attacked her in a dark alley, nearly snapping her neck before stealing her grandfather's silver necklace.
That necklace held a micro-drive with her family's deepest secrets, and without it, she had nothing.
Back at the estate, her situation only worsened. Her stepsister Damaris paraded around in the Herring family's diamond engagement gifts, trying to force-feed Adeline wet dog food on an Instagram live stream.
When Adeline's calculated "clumsiness" ruined the video, her furious father locked her in a damp, rusted basement.
"Give her to the psycho," her stepmother hissed through the door. "Let him lock her away forever."
Listening from the shadows, Adeline's fists clenched until her palms bled.
Her supposed mental fog wasn't a tragedy—it was a calculated assassination of her mind. They had destroyed her childhood and were now throwing her to a monster just to keep the billions.
The dull, empty look in Adeline's eyes vanished instantly, replaced by a razor-sharp, chilling clarity.
She pulled a thin surgical needle from her messy bun and picked the heavy iron padlock in ten seconds. It was time to break into the billionaire's penthouse, take back her necklace, and tear them all apart.
9.2
After his father passes away, Darnell becomes the new heir to King Hotels. But his grandfather-who owns shares of the hotels-wants Darnell to marry to earn his (Grandfather's) shares before his death.
After her father's death, Sasha and her family are left to deal with the burden he leaves behind-a huge debt owed to loan sharks.
Darnell approaches Sasha with a two-month marriage contract for five million dollars-enough to pay off her father's debt and be free from her traditional mother. She accepts.
Things are complicated when grandfather doesn't die after two months, and Sasha is being extorted by loan sharks. She and Darnell must stay married for their benefit, despite their lack of affection for each other. Eventually, they fall in love.
But drama unfolds when family secrets are exposed, old lovers resurface, and unknown families appear. Darnell and Sasha must decide if their love is worth it all.
9.5
One night, I was a girl seeking vengeance in a velvet mask. He was the stranger who took me against a cold stone wall, his touch a silent, lethal promise.
Now, he is Caspian Blackwood-the most feared architecture professor at Aethelgard. When my "perfect" boyfriend, Dominic Calloway, cheats on me and sabotages my degree, Caspian offers a lifeline with a razor-thin edge: Be his silent, nude model for thirty days.
The rules are absolute. I must wear a silk mask and a weighted collar. I must never speak. I must hold the poses he demands until my muscles scream for mercy. In the lecture hall, he ignores me with arctic indifference. In the studio, his gaze is a physical weight, stripping me faster than his hands ever could. But as the charcoal scratches against the paper, I realize the "deal" isn't just for art. It's for the soul I accidentally gave him in the dark. Will the deal destroy his career, or consume me first?
8.0
For ten years, Melanie and Gabriel looked like a fairy tale couple. People envied how he "cherished" her-no one saw the other woman on the side.
When the affair surfaced, Melanie slid divorce papers across the table. "Gabriel, you don't deserve my love anymore."
She walked away, unaware Rhett had watched her for eleven years.
He'd been best man at her wedding, grinning while jealousy chewed him raw.
After the split, Melanie buried herself in work and went global.
Gabriel found her in his best friend's arms, his gaze burning with fury. "Was it him? Is he the reason you left me?"
Rhett stepped in front of her. "You never deserved her. She was meant to be mine."