Pampered By The Assassin Family
I drowned in freezing pool water, the mocking laughter of the elite Savage family echoing in my ears.
When I opened my eyes, I was an eight-year-old orphan again, right on the day those monsters came to adopt me.
Terrified of repeating my hellish past, I ran down the hallway and desperately grabbed the shirt of a random, dumpy IT guy, begging him to take me instead.
I thought I had chosen a weak, boring suburban dad to hide behind.
But I was completely wrong.
My new mom greeted me with a ceramic tactical knife hidden in her apron.
My clumsy dad sliced dinner ribs with the terrifying precision of a seasoned hitman.
My ten-year-old brother was a dead-eyed sociopath who immediately calculated my bone density.
They were a family of lethal underworld monsters, yet they frantically pretended to be a normal, pathetic household just for me.
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Chapter 3
The Dodge minivan rolled smoothly down a quiet, tree-lined street in suburban Illinois.
Ava pressed her face against the cold window. She watched the neat lawns and white picket fences pass by. The absolute normalcy of it all made her chest ache with relief.
The van turned into a cul-de-sac and pulled into the driveway of a plain, two-story house with a double garage.
Jerimiah turned the key, killing the engine. He looked over his shoulder and gave Ava a goofy, wide smile.
Ava grabbed her small, worn backpack. She stepped out of the van and followed him up the concrete steps to the porch.
Jerimiah slid his key into the deadbolt. Before he could turn it, the front door was violently yanked open from the inside.
A beautiful woman with wavy blonde hair and a floral apron stood in the doorway. It was Carrie.
Carrie's eyes bypassed Jerimiah and locked instantly onto Ava. The air around her seemed to drop ten degrees. Her pupils dilated.
Carrie grabbed Jerimiah by the collar of his flannel shirt. With terrifying, unnatural strength, she jerked the large man into the hallway. Ava couldn't even process the movement.
The front door slammed shut behind Ava. Carrie shoved Jerimiah against the wall, her voice a lethal, low hiss.
"Are you out of your mind?" Carrie snarled, her voice dropping to a harsh whisper that barely carried over the threshold. "You brought an unvetted variable directly to our front door? We don't run a daycare for strays!"
Carrie's right hand instinctively dropped to the deep pocket of her apron. The distinct, sharp outline of a ceramic tactical knife pressed against the fabric.
Ava stood frozen on the welcome mat. The harsh, unwelcoming tone hit her ears. Her backpack slipped from her fingers, hitting the hardwood floor with a loud thud.
Jerimiah threw both hands in the air, pressing himself flat against the wallpaper. "It's an adoption! It's legal!" he hissed back, frantic.
He reached into his jacket and pulled out the stamped paperwork, holding it out like a shield.
Carrie snatched the papers. Her eyes darted across the ink, scanning the signatures and the state seal with mechanical precision.
The second she verified the document, the suffocating, murderous aura vanishing completely.
Carrie spun around. Her face broke into a massive, glowing, overly enthusiastic smile.
She lunged forward. Before Ava could flinch, Carrie wrapped her arms around her, crushing her in a bone-snapping hug.
Ava's face was smashed against Carrie's chest. She couldn't breathe, but the intense, radiating warmth of the woman's body made her stomach flutter.
Carrie cupped Ava's cheeks, kissing her forehead repeatedly. "My sweet little angel!" she cooed, her voice dripping with sugar.
Ava's cheeks burned hot. "Mom," she whispered awkwardly.
Carrie let out a high-pitched squeal of pure joy.
Before she could hug Ava again, a faint, almost imperceptible sound came from the stairs.
Ava looked up. A boy, maybe ten years old, stood on the landing. He had pale skin and pitch-black, dead eyes. He casually tossed a heavy steel ball bearing in his hand, catching it without looking.
Carrie turned. "Cody, come down here and say hello to your sister," she ordered. Her tone was soft, but it carried an edge of absolute authority.
Cody walked down the stairs. His footsteps made zero sound. He stopped in front of Ava, his eyes scanning her from head to toe like a barcode reader.
"Her bone density is below average," Cody stated, his voice entirely devoid of emotion. "She is a liability."
Ava blinked, her mouth falling open. She assumed it was just a weird, mean-kid insult.
Carrie's hand shot out and slapped the back of Cody's head with a loud smack. "Stop analyzing her," Carrie scolded, grabbing Ava's hand and pulling her toward the living room.
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9.1
Julian Laurent was known as the most notorious playboy in Rivermont, changing girlfriends as often as he changed his clothes and treating marriage like a joke.
Clara Sterling, on the other hand, had always been the most quiet and obedient daughter of the Sterling family. Raised as the heir since childhood, she had been flawless in every word and every gesture.
A family-arranged marriage forced these two complete opposites into the same life.
On their wedding night, Julian openly made out with a young model at a nightclub.
For the first time, Clara cast aside her propriety, slapping him and demanding a divorce on the spot.
But before the next day was over, their families had forced them to remarry.
This time, Julian managed to stay faithful for a month before he cheated again.
Clara filed for divorce once more, cutting ties with him completely.
However, that very same day, it was revealed that Clara was not the real daughter of the Sterling family, and she was thrown out.
At her lowest point, Julian found her and solemnly promised to protect her from then on.
They remarried again, and from that day forward, the scandals surrounding Julian ceased.
Everyone said Clara was lucky. Even her best friend insisted that Julian had truly settled down, and Clara believed it.
Until she saw him in a hospital corridor, holding her best friend's hand, his voice strained with deep emotion, "I never liked her. You're the one I've always loved!"
It turned out all of his tenderness had been a lie.
This time, she walked away and never looked back.
And the man who had once treated her as disposable only realized after she was gone that he had long since drowned in her quiet love, unable to escape.
7.1
The last thing I remembered was the blinding flash of my starship crashing. But instead of a rescue crew, I woke up tied to a wooden post, surrounded by hostile beastmen.
My universal translator kicked in just in time to hear their priestess, Chelsea, declare that I was a cursed demon who ruined their hunt. To save the clan from winter starvation, I was to be burned alive.
The flames were already blistering my legs, and jagged stones hurled by the crowd gashed my forehead. I barely negotiated a three-day reprieve to find them food, venturing into the deadly primeval forest.
I found a massive supply of wild potatoes and even gained the protection of Bronson, a terrifyingly powerful saber-toothed tiger beastman.
But Chelsea wouldn't stop.
She labeled my food as poisonous, tried to sentence me to starve in a penitent's cave, and when my agricultural knowledge proved her wrong, she invoked an ancient law. She incited the tribe's savage warriors to fight over me, turning me into breeding property.
I was a scientist offering them endless food, yet their primitive ignorance and one woman's vicious jealousy kept pushing me toward a brutal end. I was terrified, completely powerless against their monstrous physical strength.
As five ruthless challengers drew their bone axes to claim me, I begged Bronson to leave me and run.
Instead, he pulled me against his scarred chest and kissed me fiercely in front of the entire clan.
"She is my mate," he roared, unleashing a soul-crushing aura. "Anyone who wants her, come at me together."
8.3
My husband watched as my skin melted, scalded by boiling soup, yet his hands were busy comforting my attacker. Five years of marriage, built on a foundation of my family's power, crumbled with a single, brutal act of betrayal. He bought me off with a penthouse and a trust fund, but I tore out my IV and threw his charity back in his face.
It was our fifth anniversary, but my husband, Ethan, remained distant, avoiding any talk of Chicago or the mafia protection my family once offered him. He then pushed a black velvet box across the table.
Inside was a Separation and Property Division Agreement, not a diamond. He told me to sign for Ilene's security, offering millions. When I refused, Ilene hurled boiling soup. Ethan shielded her, not me, as the scalding liquid melted my dress.
With second-degree burns, he blamed me, ordering me from our home for Ilene’s comfort. My family saved him, yet he sacrificed my body and marriage for another woman.
The love I felt turned to ash. What kind of debt demanded my flesh and marriage?
I ripped the IV from my arm, hurling his "charity" keys back. My diamond ring placed on the agreement, I walked away. From today on, Ethan, you and I are dead to each other.
9.1
He postponed putting my name on the deed 18 times.
Each time, his mentee Ciera had an “emergency.” Each time, he ran to her.
I watched him give her his prized Montblanc pen—the one he wouldn’t even let me borrow. I saw her post their late nights on Instagram. I ate anniversary dinners alone while he “mentored” her.
Then he bought me a necklace—identical to the one she just flaunted online.
That was when I stopped feeling anything.
I didn’t cry. I didn’t fight. I simply packed two suitcases, resigned from our firm, and booked a one-way ticket to London.
He thinks I’m coming back in a week.
He has no idea I’m gone for good.
Nineteen broken promises. One silent goodbye. And a new life waiting across the ocean.
9.4
My retirement was finally approved, and I was supposed to be sipping drinks on a sunny beach.
Instead, a cold system voice forced me into a nightmare scenario: "Cursed Mates Who Want Me Dead." I woke up in a stinking cave, trapped in the body of a psychopathic tribal princess.
The memories that flooded my brain made me sick. The original owner of this body had forcibly marked seven of the continent's most powerful beast-men and reduced them to tortured pets. She had ripped the shimmering scales off Jordi the Merfolk prince, gouged out a proud wolf-man's power crystal, and snapped an eagle-man's magnificent wings.
Now, Jordi was a mutilated, terrified mess hiding in a corner. He was so traumatized that he tried to slit his own throat just to escape me. His sister was actively trying to assassinate me.
To make matters worse, the system warned me that if I didn't heal these seven ticking time bombs, my soul would be erased. Yet the future timeline clearly showed that these men would eventually unite, burn my tribe to the ground, and dismember me alive.
I was paying for a monster's sins. Every time I tried to show mercy, they thought it was a sick new torture method. Words were useless, and my very presence was a trigger.
But I am a Tier-S operative, and I don't play the victim. I forced the system to unlock my powers and strapped on my tactical gear.
"Stay here and don't starve."
I left the trembling Merfolk behind and walked into the deadly primitive forest, heading straight for the powerful Oasis Tribe to take back his stolen scales by force.
8.5
Five years ago, Nina Hale lost everything... her family, her reputation, and the man she once loved. Betrayed by her own sister and abandoned by those she trusted most, she disappeared without a trace.
Now she's back.
With a new identity and a burning determination, Nina is ready to reclaim her life and chase the dream she once gave up: becoming a star actress. But her return awakens old enemies, and her scheming sister Lydia is determined to ruin her again.
Just when Nina thinks things can't get worse, she's caught in another trap... and unexpectedly crosses paths with a quiet, lonely little boy.
Ethan Grant hasn't spoken in years.
Feeling responsible for him, Nina agrees to stay and help the child come out of his shell. But she didn't expect Ethan's dangerously charming father, Lucas Grant, to enter the picture.
Cold, powerful, and impossible to read, Lucas slowly finds himself drawn to the woman who brightens his son's world.
What begins as a simple act of kindness soon turns into something far more complicated, because Nina came back for revenge.
She never planned to fall in love.
**********
"I saw you with him," Lucas said quietly, but the tension in his jaw gave him away.
Nina exhaled, crossing her arms. "You don't get to care."
"Don't I?" He stepped in, close enough that she had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes.
"This is just a contract."
"Then why does it bother me?" His hand hovered near her waist, not touching-yet.
"It shouldn't." Her breath faltered.
His gaze darkened, "And yet it does."