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 7
Julian's voice was low. "Nina, why did the other side set up an ambush in advance during yesterday's negotiation? They even knew our retreat route perfectly."
Nina froze, the color draining from her face. "You… you're asking me?"
He stepped closer, his tone icy. "Who else could it be but you?"
The words struck Nina like lightning, pain tearing through her chest.
He actually suspected she was the traitor.
"I didn't!" Her voice trembled. "You know I've never leaked a single one of your secrets in ten years. How could I possibly betray you?"
"But Aria almost died!" Fury burned in Julian's eyes. "If she hadn't dodged in time, that bullet would have gone straight through her head."
His voice turned glacial. "I didn't expect you to be this vicious."
Vicious?
Aria almost died?
But the one who had nearly died in the shootout and almost lost her life in the ICU after having her blood drawn was her.
Aria leaned against the doorway, her arm wrapped in bandages, tears shimmering in her eyes. "Julian… don't blame Nina. Maybe she just made a foolish mistake."
"A foolish mistake?" One of the elders sneered. "Colluding with enemies and putting Julian in danger is a grave crime. According to family rules, she should be thrown into the sea."
Voices immediately echoed around the room. "Yes! Throw her into the sea!"
Nina looked around the room and suddenly laughed.
She had treated his wounds countless times, yet now she was about to be executed as a traitor.
"Julian." She looked straight into his eyes. "If I told you I was innocent, would you believe me?"
Julian remained silent for three seconds, then slowly removed his glasses. "Family rules allow no mercy. Take her away. Throw her into the sea."
Two bodyguards stepped forward and grabbed her.
All the strength seemed to drain from Nina at once. She didn't even struggle. She only asked softly, "Ten years ago you said, 'As long as I'm here, no one will dare touch you.' What about now?"
Julian's voice remained utterly calm. "That promise was for someone loyal. Not for a traitor."
She was dragged out of the estate and thrown onto a speedboat.
The sea was pitch-black under the midnight sky, waves rising under fierce winds.
The bodyguards tied her hands behind her back, shackled an iron chain to her ankles, and pushed her to the edge of the boat.
The next second, she was shoved into the sea.
Freezing seawater swallowed her whole as the iron chain dragged her rapidly downward.
Saltwater flooded Nina's lungs, her chest bursting with pain as her consciousness quickly faded.
So this was her ending—silent and unseen, buried in the belly of the sea.
Just as she was about to stop struggling, the roar of an engine thundered in the distance.
A black speedboat cut through the waves. A man stood on the deck in a silver-gray suit, dark hair slightly curled, a reckless smile playing at the corner of his lips.
"Well, well. Isn't this Julian's doctor?" He raised his voice. "What happened? Your own boss toss you out here to feed the sharks?"
It was Damon Hale, heir to another major mafia family on the Eastridge Coast—and Julian's sworn enemy.
Nina had never had any personal grudge against him, but because of Julian she had never treated Damon kindly. Every time they met, the two of them clashed head-on.
Under normal circumstances, Nina would have snapped back immediately. But now she felt utterly hollow, and even Damon's mockery no longer meant anything to her.
The next moment, Damon plunged into the sea. He caught Nina's sinking body, unlocked the iron chain around her ankles, and hauled her back to the surface.
Nina spat out seawater and weakly opened her eyes to look at him. "Why… did you save me?"
Damon lifted her onto the boat and wrapped his coat around her. A crooked smile spread across his face. "Because you're valuable. And…"
He glanced toward the distant Blackwell speedboat. "I've been wanting to get under Julian's skin for a long time."
Back at the Hale estate, Nina burned with a relentless fever. Damon stayed by her bedside himself, feeding her medicine.
"Relax. You're under my protection now," he said with a faint chuckle. "If he doesn't want you, I do."
A few hours later, Nina lay in the hospital bed when her phone suddenly lit up.
It was a notification from the bank informing her that fifty million dollars had been deposited into her account from the Blackwell Trust. The note attached read that the contract had been terminated and the money was given as a gift of freedom.
She stared at the ceiling and suddenly laughed.
Damon pushed the door open, holding a cup of hot cocoa. "Awake? Stick with me from now on. I'll make sure you live well."
Nina took the cup and said softly, "Thank you."
"Don't hate Julian anymore?" Damon raised a brow.
She looked toward the dawn outside the window, her eyes calm as the deep sea. "Hate is exhausting. From now on, whether he lives or dies has nothing to do with me."
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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."