Shattered Dreams, Lingering Years
On the day Brett Graham threw his big victory celebration, he held my hand and told everyone I was his destiny.
Even though we were already divorced.
He declared to the whole room that he didn't regret his life-or-death decision, especially since his wife had been among the captives.
Too bad the truth was, on that battlefield, the person he was trying to save wasn't me. It was his mistress.
Just as Brett thought his bright future was finally within reach, the name on the military commendation medal turned out to be mine.
Looking down at Brett from the stage, I spoke frankly to the cameras.
"I believe if a peacekeeping soldier, during a hostage exchange with the enemy, only cares about the safety of his lover, it's a true disgrace to the profession."
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Chapter 2
"Oh, right. We got our marriage license in Eraland, didn't we? I seem to recall a clause stating that if one party is unfaithful, the other can apply to dissolve the marriage."
With that, I turned and got decisively back into the car.
Dominic didn't say a word from the front seat, just drove.
A moment later, I slumped over, a soft sob escaping. I rubbed my palms together.
Truth was, I couldn't for the life of me figure out why Brett had done it.
He was no longer the boy from my memories who used to talk about world peace.
He wasn't the man who held my hand and promised me happiness either.
He'd become a rotten guy who neglected his duty for his own selfish desires!
As for the surveillance footage, he'd tried to destroy it. Unfortunately for him, I had a flash drive on me and managed to copy it.
Not just to expose them, but more importantly, because it contained recordings related to the people who died before.
And he had destroyed it so easily.
I would never give that scumbag another chance.
"Dr. Jenkins, we're here."
Dominic's reminder snapped me out of my thoughts. I must have dozed off.
"Thank you, Dominic."
Dominic frowned slightly, looking like he wanted to say something but hesitated. Finally, he spoke. "Dr. Jenkins, if you need a witness, I can testify."
His words felt like a soft feather brushing over my battered heart.
It felt good to be understood.
"Yeah. I won't hold back." I tilted my head back, looking at the sky, fighting back tears.
Dominic took the cue and said, "I'll head out. Just call if you need anything."
"Okay."
I went into my villa, the one my parents left me.
The marital home with Brett was in Eraland. I hadn't been back there in three years.
But even in this villa, there were traces of our life together, including Brett's suits, shoes, razor.
All stuff that needed to go now.
It was time for a fresh start. I was no longer Colonel Graham's wife.
But Brett was nothing if not persistent. His victory party, for instance—he'd made it clear I had to attend.
My phone rang again.
"Eileen, the domestic research group on genetic editing for hereditary diseases has been trying to reach you. You're not answering calls or checking emails."
"I'm sorry, Sir. I'll check right now."
Hearing my mentor's voice after so long made my nose sting.
"Eileen, I didn't object when you wanted to be a Doctors Without Borders volunteer. But you've done your duty. Isn't it time to come back and contribute to domestic research?"
"I understand."
After hanging up, I replied to the emails in my inbox one by one and finally let out a sigh of relief.
Of course I was going to the victory party.
And I was going to make an entrance they wouldn't forget.
"Ding-dong."
The doorbell rang.
I ignored it, turning on the TV and shoving a spoonful of the curry I'd made into my mouth.
"Eileen! I know you're in there! Come out! Eileen! I didn't cheat! I've always loved you!"
Listening to Brett's annoying voice, I opted for my noise-canceling headphones.
But it was past midnight, I was about to sleep, and Brett was still relentlessly knocking.
He finally annoyed me enough to open the door.
"So a peacekeeper's strength is only good for rescuing his mistress and knocking on doors?"
Faced with my sarcasm, Brett seemed less agitated.
He grabbed my hand and slid a diamond ring onto my ring finger. "Eileen, look. This is a South African diamond I bought for you. It suits you."
I looked at the sparkling ring on my right hand, a smirk forming on my face.
"What's the point of giving this to me now?"
Besides, I'd seen this ring before. On Yolanda's ring finger.
"I want to make it up to you. I was wrong on this mission. I hope you can forgive me."
"You shouldn't be asking for my forgiveness! You should ask every hostage who almost died because of you!"
"Eileen! Isn't the outcome good? Didn't I work hard to rescue the hostages?" Brett's temper flared now too. "And aren't you just jealous because I saved Yolanda first?"
Hearing his shameless words, I clenched my fist again. I'd never really seen him for who he was.
This cold, ruthless, unscrupulous man!
"Brett, you are my husband. I was terrified in the hands of the enemy, waiting for my husband to save me! And after I shot my way to survival, what did I see? You holding your mistress, all lovey-dovey! Do you know why they only took me hostage? Because I told them I'd once saved one of their men! I'm a doctor! And you! How did you treat me?"
My voice was raw, my throat nearly torn from shouting.
Brett suddenly froze. A flicker of genuine pain finally appeared in his eyes.
"Sorry. I didn't know they'd drag you out like that."
"Enough! A colonel who neglects his duty like you... I don't think Ariland needs that."
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8.6
I was the untouchable Mafia Queen, but my reign ended in the blood-soaked depths of a damp dungeon.
My half-sister, Kelsey, drove a rusted, sharpened spoon into my chest, screaming about the unfairness of fate.
In my past life, my father sold me to the ruthless Don Dante Blackwell as collateral to pay off his debts.
To survive, I took a black-market fertility drug, birthed his heir, and clawed my way to the throne through sheer ruthlessness.
But in the mafia world, a pregnant woman isn't a queen; she's a walking target.
I survived countless bombings and poisonings, only to be betrayed and slaughtered by my own family.
Until my last breath, I couldn't understand. I had sacrificed everything to secure our survival in the empire. Why did my blood and tears only earn me a rusted spoon to the heart?
Opening my eyes again, I am seventeen, sitting in my father's drawing room.
Two black velvet boxes sit on the mahogany table.
Kelsey greedily snatches the box containing the fertility drug, her eyes gleaming with feverish triumph.
"I'll take this one, Papa."
She thinks she is stealing my golden ticket to the crown, completely unaware that she just chose a death sentence.
I lower my gaze, letting my eyelashes mask the cold, lethal amusement pooling in my eyes as I take the remaining box.
Inside is the detailed psychological profile of the Don's dead fiancée.
This time, I won't be a breeding mare fighting off assassins. I will dissect the devil himself.
9.3
After a brutal humiliation turns Aria Collins into the campus joke, she decides revenge isn't enough-she wants power. And the fastest way to get it is by stealing the one thing her enemy wants most.
Zane Parker.
The problem? Aria has no idea how to make a guy like him notice her.
So she makes a reckless offer to the four most dangerous boys on campus-the Steel brothers... who are now her stepbrothers.
At dinner, she slides a paper across the table.
"I want sex education."
Reed's slow grin spreads across his face. "You want us to teach you?"
"Yes," Aria says calmly.
"Oh, little sister, you are being naughty." Cole's hands smoothed down my back, over the curve of my ass. "Naughty girls get punished before they get taught." His palm connected with my right cheek in a sharp, stinging slap.
"Suck it, Aria," Kai ordered, his grip tightening on her cock while he gave inside my mouth. "Get it nice and wet. That's your only job right now."
"She's gonna come," Reed announced as he fingered my cunt. "Look at her. Gonna squirt all over the fucking table. Do it, Aria. Come on, your stepbrothers' hands."
Jasper finally released my hair, letting my head fall forward.
He leaned down, his lips brushing my ear. "Well, Aria? Did you like your first sex education lesson?"
I was wrecked, used, humiliated. And utterly, completely owned.
My voice was hoarse from screaming and sucking.
"Yes, Daddy."
9.6
She was sold as a broodmare. He was a warrior with no memory. Together, they'll burn down the world.
Lyra has been called many things: half-blood, mongrel, dirty blood. Rejected by every pack she's approached, she's given one final chance-as a bride to Ronan, the cruel Alpha of Red River Pack. But when her wedding night becomes a nightmare, she stabs her new husband and flees into the frozen wilderness.
Stellan remembers nothing. Not his name, not his past, not the ancient tattoos covering his body. He only knows that when he sees a terrified woman falling from a cliff into an icy river, he must save her-even if it kills him.
On the run from a vengeful Alpha and his army of hunters, Lyra and Stellan discover an impossible bond growing between them. The moon has chosen them as mates. But Stellan's memories are returning, and with them, a devastating truth: he's not just any wolf. He's the Alpha of the North Star Pack. And a half-blood can never be his Luna.
Now Ronan's brother has sworn revenge, an ancient prophecy awakens, and three packs prepare for war. Lyra must prove that bloodlines mean nothing-and that the most powerful bond of all is forged in ice and fire.
He lost his memory. She lost her freedom. Together, they'll find everything.
8.3
"Strangers in the dark can change your life in the light."
Evelyn never meant to uncover the truth.
But one question won't leave her mind
What's really on those tapes?
What begins as curiosity drags her into a world of secrets, danger, and a man who is everything she should fear.
Lucas is darkness wrapped in temptation.
Ruthless. Dangerous. Untouchable.
He warns her away.
He gives her a chance to run.
But Evelyn doesn't.
Because there's something about him that pulls her closer even when every instinct scream to escape.
He's the villain everyone fears.
And the one she can't stop craving.
In a world where nothing is safe and desire is a weapon, Evelyn must decide:
Run from the monster...
or fall straight into his arms.
Because something can be both delicate and violent.
And loving Lucas might be the most dangerous choice she'll ever make.
8.5
I woke up in the tangled black silk sheets of the Mafia Don's bed, my skin still burning from his ruthless touch in the dark.
The heavy door burst open, and his pristine wife, Bianca, looked at my bruised collarbones with visceral hatred.
Instead of having me killed for soiling her husband's bed, she offered a devil's bargain.
"You will take my place in his bed. You will be a shadow in the dark."
In my past life, I foolishly accepted, thinking her money would pay for my dying mother's hospital bills. I didn't realize the untouchable Mafia Queen was barren and just needed a disposable incubator. After I endured the Don's violent possession and birthed the Moretti heir, they cut off my mother's medicine. Then, they dragged me to a remote warehouse and suffocated me with a wet mattress to bury their dirty secret forever.
Until my last agonizing breath, I didn't understand why my absolute submission and suffering were rewarded with such a brutal, meaningless death.
Opening my eyes again, I was back on the morning after the Don first claimed me.
I knelt on the Persian rug, weeping tears of fake gratitude as Bianca handed me the cash. But the moment my escort looked away, I didn't take her fertility herbs. I bought a bitter root from an alley witch to keep my womb empty. This time, I won't give the Don a child. I'll become his darkest obsession, and use his lethal power to burn this entire family to the ground.
8.1
Alice Monroe has always lived quietly. Between the late nights diner shifts and early morning classes,her world is small, ordinary, and safe. She doesn't have time for distractions especially not the kind that comes wrapped in tailored suits and gray eyes.
Brian carter is used to getting everything he wants as the ruthless billionaire CEO of cross enterprises, people fear him ,envy him and obey him. But the moment he locks eyes with an innocent diner waitress whose innocent eyes disarm him, Brian finds himself craving something he's never had , someone untouchable .
She wants nothing to do with men like him powerful, dangerous ,the kind who burn everything they touch. Yet fate keeps pulling them together. His world is full of secrets and ruthless,hers is fragile and simple. They should never collide.
But he can't stay away .
And she can't deny the fire he awakens in her.