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 4
"I have to go to the restroom."
Essence didn't wait for permission. She grabbed her clutch and practically ran from the table. She felt Fielding's eyes burning a hole between her shoulder blades with every step.
She burst into the ladies' room. Thankfully, it was empty. She locked herself in the handicap stall-the biggest one-and leaned against the door, hyperventilating.
One, two, three. Breathe.
She looked at her hand. The ring looked small and fragile on her finger. Nathan. Sweet, safe, boring Nathan. He loved her. He didn't look at her like she was a corporate asset. He looked at her like she was a person.
"He can't do anything," she whispered. "The prenup... it was just paper. It was supposed to protect me from the FBI, not chain me to him."
But she knew Fielding. Legality was just a suggestion to the Hancock family. They wrote the laws; they didn't follow them.
She stayed in the stall for ten minutes. She splashed cold water on her face, ruining her concealer, but she didn't care. She couldn't go back to that table. She couldn't sit next to him and watch him dissect her life with a steak knife.
She decided to leave. She would sneak out the side exit near the Egyptian Art wing and take the subway home. To hell with Zoe. To hell with the Gala.
Essence opened the bathroom door.
The hallway was dim. The music from the Great Hall was muffled here, a distant thumping bass. The corridor was long and narrow, lined with ancient limestone reliefs.
She took off her heels. The pain was blinding. Holding them in one hand, she walked barefoot on the plush carpet, moving quickly toward the exit sign.
She turned the corner.
And stopped.
A wheelchair was parked in the middle of the hallway. It was blocking the path completely.
Fielding was sitting there, facing away from her. He was looking at a painting of a storm at sea. Smoke curled up from his hand-a cigar.
"You always did have a terrible sense of direction," he said. He didn't turn around.
Essence took a step back. "Move, Fielding."
"No."
He manipulated the joystick. The chair spun around with mechanical precision. He faced her.
In the dim light, he looked even bigger. The wheelchair added bulk, metal and leather framing his broad shoulders. He took a drag of the cigar, the tip glowing cherry-red in the gloom.
"You're trying to sneak out the service entrance," he said. "Like a rat."
"I'm leaving. I'm going home."
"To the doctor?" Fielding rolled forward. The motor hummed. "Does he satisfy you, Essence? Does he buy you vintage dresses and pay your rent?"
"He loves me," Essence spat. "He doesn't treat me like a piece of property."
"Love." Fielding scoffed. He moved closer. Essence backed up until her shoulder blades hit the limestone wall. There was nowhere to go.
Fielding drove the chair right up to her. He didn't stand up. He didn't need to. He drove the footrest of the chair until it pressed painfully against her shins, pinning her to the wall with the weight of the machine. The metal dug into her skin.
He leaned forward slightly, just enough to invade her air, his hands still gripping the armrests as if holding himself back.
"You think this is over because you found some boy to play house with?" His voice was a growl. "You think I crawled out of the hell I was in just to let you walk away?"
"You sent me away!" Essence cried. "You told me to leave!"
"I told you to wait," he corrected. "I told you to wait until I was strong enough to protect you. Instead, you ran. You let them strip you of your name, your money, your inheritance. You let them turn you into a victim."
"I am a survivor, Fielding."
"You are a waitress in a nurse's uniform." He reached out with his other hand and grabbed her left wrist. His grip was iron. He lifted her hand, staring at the engagement ring with undisguised hatred.
"Take it off."
"No."
"Take. It. Off."
"You can't make me."
Fielding stared at her. Then, slowly, he released her wrist. He leaned back in his chair. The violence in his eyes was replaced by a cold, calculating calm.
"I don't have to make you," he said softly. "You'll take it off yourself. Begging me to let you take it off."
"You're insane."
"I'm determined. There's a difference." He exhaled a cloud of smoke. It drifted over her face, smelling of tobacco and danger. "Go home, Essence. Run to your little apartment. Lock the doors. It won't matter."
He moved the joystick. The chair reversed, clearing the path.
"Game on, Mrs. Hancock."
"I'm not Mrs. Hancock! That agreement was never filed!" she screamed at him.
Fielding just smiled. "Are you sure about that?"
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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.