I Tore Up His Check, Then He Bought My Life
After seven years of scrubbing floors to escape my past, my doctor fiancé convinced me to attend the Met Gala. It was supposed to be a one-night trip back to a world I hated. But then the doors crashed open, and the monster I.d left for dead rolled in on a wheelchair.
Within twenty-four hours, Fielding Hancock.s shadow had poisoned everything. My fiancé, Nathan, saw a photo of Fielding touching my arm and completely shattered. He got me fired, drained our joint bank account of my life savings, and left me homeless on a sidewalk in Queens.
I thought I had hit rock bottom, but then the hospital called. My mother had suffered a stroke, triggered by an envelope Fielding sent her. The insurance Nathan had just reported as fraudulent wouldn.t cover the ICU, and I was broke.
With my mother.s life on the line and two hours to find five thousand dollars, I was out of options. He had systematically destroyed every piece of my new life, cornering me until there was nowhere left to run.
I made the only call I could. Fielding picked up on the first ring.
"You win," I said, my voice dead. "I'm yours."
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Chapter 3
Essence stared straight ahead at the floral centerpiece. "I didn't know I was expected."
"I always expect you," Fielding said. He picked up his fork. "Eat."
"I'm not hungry."
"You look starving. You've lost weight. The nurse's salary doesn't cover groceries?"
The insult was delivered with such casual elegance that it took a second to sting. Essence turned to him. "My salary covers exactly what I need it to. My dignity."
Fielding's lips twitched. It wasn't a smile. It was a micro-expression of amusement. "Dignity. Is that what you call that dress? It looks like it's trying to strangle you."
"It's vintage."
"It's old. Like our history."
The waiter placed an appetizer in front of them-tuna tartare. Essence picked up her fork, her hand trembling slightly. She hated that he could see it. She hated that her body betrayed her fear so openly.
Across the table, Chloie had managed to swap seats to get closer. She was leaning forward, her eyes darting between Fielding and Essence like a spectator at a tennis match.
"Fielding," Chloie called out, her voice dripping with faux sweetness. "We were just saying how... brave it is of you to come out. The Swiss clinics must have done wonders. Is the degeneration... slowing down?"
It was a rude question. A cruel question.
Fielding didn't stop cutting his tuna. "The only thing degenerating in this room, Chloie, is your father's credibility. I heard he's under investigation by the SEC. Again."
Chloie paled. She opened her mouth, then closed it.
She turned her venom on the easier target. "Well, at least some of us are maintaining our standards. Essence was just telling us about her new life. Scrubbing floors and emptying bedpans. Tell Fielding, Essence. Tell him about your career."
Essence gripped her fork until her knuckles turned white. "I am an ER nurse, Chloie. I save lives. I don't just spend money I didn't earn."
"Oh, touché," Chloie laughed nervously. "But you must miss the jet. The Hamptons house. Tell me, is it true you're living in a walk-up in Queens with a roommate? It's such a long way from the penthouse you thought you were entitled to."
The table went quiet. They were waiting for the kill.
Essence felt the shame rise up her neck, hot and suffocating. She reached for her water glass to hide her face.
Her hand shook.
Her fingers brushed the stem of the champagne flute next to the water. It tipped.
Crash.
The sound was explosive in the quiet tension of the high table. The crystal shattered against the china plate. Champagne sprayed across the white tablecloth, soaking into the fabric like a golden bloodstain. Droplets splattered onto Essence's dress.
"Oh!" Essence jumped up, her chair scraping back. "I'm so sorry, I-"
"Look at that," Chloie sneered. "Nurse's hands aren't very steady, are they? I hope you don't drop the patients."
Essence felt tears prick her eyes. It was too much. The exhaustion, the shoes, the hunger, the humiliation. She reached for a napkin, dabbing frantically at the spill.
A hand appeared in her vision.
It was large, pale, and steady. It held a handkerchief made of white Irish linen, embroidered with the initials F.H.
Fielding.
He wasn't looking at Chloie. He was looking at the spill, his expression unreadable.
"Take it," he ordered.
Essence hesitated. She looked at his hand. Then she reached out to take the cloth.
As her fingers closed around the linen, her hand brushed against his.
His skin was ice cold.
The contact sent a jolt of electricity up her arm that was so intense it was painful. She jerked her hand back, clutching the handkerchief.
Fielding's eyes dropped. They didn't look at the spill. They looked at her left hand.
Specifically, at her ring finger.
Essence wasn't wearing the gloves anymore. And there, catching the light of the chandelier, was the ring Nathan had given her three months ago. It was a modest gold band with a small, slightly cloudy diamond. It had cost him two months' salary.
Fielding went still.
The temperature at the table seemed to drop ten degrees. The air grew heavy, charged with ozone.
"What," Fielding said, his voice barely a whisper, "is that?"
Chloie leaned in, squinting. "Oh my god. Is that a ring? A zirconia? Are you engaged?"
Essence covered the ring with her other hand. "It's a diamond. And yes. I'm engaged."
Fielding slowly set down his knife. The silver clinked against the porcelain. He turned his wheelchair slightly, angling his entire body toward her. The indifference was gone. In its place was a cold, focused rage that made her stomach turn over.
"Engaged," he repeated. The word sounded foreign in his mouth. "To whom?"
"His name is Nathan," Essence said. She tried to sound proud, but her voice was thin. "He's a doctor. A resident."
"A doctor," Fielding said. He picked up his steak knife again. He looked at the blade, watching the light reflect off the serrated edge. "How noble. Does he know?"
"Know what?"
Fielding looked up. His eyes were black holes. "Does he know about the contract?"
Essence gasped. "That contract isn't valid, Fielding. I was under duress. And you... you were gone."
Fielding smiled. It was a terrifying, sharp thing. He pressed the tip of the knife into the tablecloth, right into the center of the champagne stain.
"Section 4, Paragraph 2. Absence does not constitute nullification. You signed a two-hundred-page document, Essence. You bound yourself to the Hancock estate in exchange for immunity." He leaned in closer, his voice dropping so only she could hear. "And neither does my patience. But it's running very, very low."
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8.5
I was cheated on by my scumbag boyfriend.
On the night I got blackout drunk, I married a stranger, and when I woke up, I only found a marriage certificate and a black card.
He took care of my scumbag ex for me, gave me a canary diamond ring, but refused to show his face-he only called me baby on video calls.
I ran to my best friend's house to hide, only to find that the billionaire next door, who made my heart skip a beat, had the exact same scent as him.
My best friend cried and begged me: "He's Augustus, a tyrant who eats people alive!"
But only I knew that the man who pressed me against the terrace railing, leaned down to kiss me, and whispered "I'll protect you" softly.
Fifty thousand dollars to sneak photos of his private office? I'll go.
Not for the money, but to ask him to his face-
Gus, how many secrets are you hiding? And how long have you been craving me?
7.5
For six years, Isabella Rossi used her family's immense wealth to save her husband's Mafia empire from bankruptcy while he fought on the front lines.
Her reward? Don Damien Moretti returns with a mistress, a secret son, and a demand: Accept them, and keep paying the bills.
He expects her to swallow her pride. Instead, Isabella closes her checkbook. She demands a divorce, cuts off their funding, and leaves his "glorious" empire to starve.
But a Queen stepping down draws wolves. Enter Giovanni Falcone-the ruthless, untouchable King of the New York Underworld. He doesn't want her money; he wants her.
Now, her ex-husband is begging for her back. But Isabella? She's too busy building her own empire-and watching his burn.
8.8
On the eve of my glamorous Waldorf Astoria wedding, I went to the penthouse to surprise my fiancé, Hugh, wearing my late mother's heirloom pearls.
Instead, I heard my stepsister's familiar laugh and caught them tangled together on the sofa.
Through the cracked door, I heard Hugh slur that he was only marrying me for my family's financial backing.
"As soon as I secure my inheritance, she's the first thing I'm getting rid of," he promised her.
Floy giggled and asked for my mother's pearl necklace, my only legacy. Hugh agreed without hesitation, mocking my dead mother's naivety and my desperate dreams of building a family.
Every sweet word he had ever said was a lie, a knife he had been patiently sliding between my ribs for years. They planned to strip me of everything the moment I signed the prenup.
I didn't cry or scream. The crushing weight of their betrayal hollowed me out, leaving behind a terrifying, absolute calm.
Why should I be the one to lose everything while they stole my future and insulted my mother's memory?
I calmly walked down the hall, set the prenuptial agreement on fire, and vanished into the rainy night.
If Hugh wanted to play dirty for the Maxwell empire, I would play for keeps.
Using a forgotten, century-old family covenant, I was going to marry Hugh's uncle-the comatose, paralyzed war hero, Fleet Maxwell.
I would return not as a naive bride, but as their worst nightmare: his aunt, and the new lady of the house.
8.8
After eleven years in a maximum-security black site, ex-Delta Force operator Alton Combs was paroled and exiled to a toxic Appalachian wasteland.
The corrupt town mayor thought he was bullying a broken man, tricking Alton into trading his family's prime estate for a poisoned, worthless shale field.
The locals treated Alton like a rabid beast, spitting on his shoes and waiting for him to rot in a collapsed cabin. But they had no idea the "worthless" land hid a billion-dollar rare-earth mineral vein. While surviving the town's hostility, Alton found a freezing baby girl dumped in a biohazard bin with needle marks on her tiny arm.
He took her in, named her Eden, and built an electrified fortress guarded by a tamed mountain lion and a rattlesnake. He spent the next seven years quietly extracting the minerals to build a massive mining empire, raising the girl not as a victim, but as a ruthless apex predator.
Hundreds of miles away in Washington D.C., a high-ranking Pentagon official wept over an empty grave, completely unaware that his evil second wife had ordered his infant daughter thrown to the wolves. He also didn't know the baby had been rescued by the most dangerous killing machine alive.
Now, his parole was officially over.
Alton handed his seven-year-old daughter an elite academy acceptance letter.
"If the dogs try to bite you, you tear their throats out. I will handle the bodies."
Stepping into a bulletproof Hummer, the undisputed king of the valley prepared to unleash his little wolf into the human world.
8.2
After two years of love and unwavering commitment to her mate Adrian, Amelia's world shatters when she finds Adrian, cheating on her with his ex-fated mate, Mara. The pain deepens when she is framed for a crime she didn't commit, and forced to leave the pack she once called home. Yet, as time passes and Adrian's regrets grow, he embarks on a desperate quest to find Amelia and win her back.
Years later, Amelia has rebuilt her life as a successful medical doctor, only to find herself drawn to Alex Darlington, a charming and caring doctor who turns out to be none other than Adrian's stepbrother. But when their bond grows undeniable, Amelia must face the shocking truth-Adrian, the man who once betrayed her, is now the one asking for her forgiveness. Torn between her past love and her new feelings for Alex, Amelia's heart is pulled in two directions.
As Adrian fights to reclaim the woman he lost, he must confront his own mistakes and battle the darkness inside. But when Alex's true motives come to light, Amelia must decide who is truly worthy of her love, and whether she can find a future with the man who shattered her heart-or the one who might just heal it.
In a world where loyalty is tested, love is fragile, and betrayal runs deep, will Amelia find peace, or will she be forced to choose between two men who will stop at nothing to claim her heart?
Settings : Moonstone Pack, Present Day, Human World, New York City, Present Day, 21st Century.
7.6
Synopsis:
Diana, a twenty-nine year old brilliant young lady and a successful fashion designer. She was grateful she had been able to achieve everything she had without any support.
But there was a void inside of her. She wanted to get married.
She couldn't bear the fact of entering into the big chapter thirty without a life partner. She met David at a business conference meeting. He asked for her number.
She hesitated thinking he wasn't going to stay like the others. She decided to give him a chance and went on a first date with him only to realise that he was serious and wanted to marry her.
What Diana didn't know was that David was pretending all along. He was never interested in her as a person.
During a public awards ceremony, David brings Eleanor, a celebrity who is his new business partner, onto the stage. He dedicates his award to her, claiming she was the "sole inspiration" for his success.
Later that night, he tells Diana that he has already signed the divorce papers. His cold dismissal shatters her, but in the aftermath, a clear-headed determination sets in.