Sold for $1 To The Hawthorne Brothers
Three women, three brothers, a single, crumpled dollar bill.
Alina's world shatters the moment she's auctioned off-and claimed by the powerful Hawthorne brothers.
Thrown into Adrian Hawthorne's cold, dangerous world, she becomes his to control... his to protect... and, terrifyingly, his to desire. He's ruthless, possessive, and hiding secrets that could destroy them both. But the deeper she falls into his world, the harder it becomes to tell if she's his prisoner-or something far more dangerous.
Because the Hawthorne brothers don't just take.
They keep.
Viviane has spent her life surviving, so when Julian Hawthorne "buys" her freedom, she knows better than to trust it. Men like him don't save people-they collect them. But Julian isn't as simple as he pretends to be, and the deeper she's pulled into his world, the more dangerous it becomes to walk away.
Especially when she realizes she might be the only thing he's ever been willing to fight for.
Lena doesn't belong to anyone-and she intends to keep it that way. Brilliant, guarded, and hiding more than anyone suspects, she enters Lucien Hawthorne's world on her own terms. But Lucien doesn't play fair, and he doesn't let go.
When her past comes crashing back, Lena is forced to face the one thing she's been running from: trusting someone who could destroy her... or save her.
Three women. Three choices.Stay. Fight.
Or burn it all down.
Because being sold was only the beginning.
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Chapter 7
A black, sleek Mercedes car.
Of course. Adrian Hawthorne, one of New York's finest and wealthiest heirs, wouldn't choose anything less. The car I rode in when he took me from the auction house was more expensive, with plush leather chairs that melted my bones as I touched them. I'd forgotten about my worries for a minute back then.
Just like I forgot about the conversation we had two days ago, in his dining room, when I told him I could take the bus to school.
"You're free to hate me. You're not free to leave as you please."
And then he'd folded his paper aside and walked out of the room without touching a single bite of his food, as if my mere existence were enough to ruin his appetite.
"Miss–" The man standing by the back door, holding it open, prompted me to enter. I dug my heels into the terraced ground for a hot minute. I could defy him-tell the driver, politely, to take a day off.
I'm sure he'll appreciate it.
I don't think Adrian would, though.
His face flashes through my mind: the stern scowl sitting on his lips, his eyes slightly narrowed, and the air of arrogance he always carried around. I shake my head, wrapping my hands around my body with a shiver as goosebumps rise on my arms. "Eugh."
"Thank you," I mutter as I slide into the backseat, tilting my head as the door closes. I sigh as the air, warm and toasty, wraps around me. It's almost winter, which means another round of double layering, because I don't have enough money for a proper winter jacket.
I wonder what Adrian would say, though.
He's bought me a bunch of practical, sensible clothes, including the pair of designer jeans I have on and the frilly, lacy blouse that had me double-checking if he'd hired a woman to do the shopping.
"You're a woman. Who else would I hire?" His response, when I asked.
I open my eyes when the car pulls away from the building, glancing through the tinted window. Something stirs softly in my chest, and I sigh quietly, pressing my hand to the glass. What would happen if I never came back? After all, the Holloways bought me for a dollar. I'm sure I can find a spare, crumpled note somewhere.
And then where would I go? Back to my deadbeat father, so he can trick me again?
The car pulls up outside the hall for my first lecture and the door opens before I can reach for the handle. The same man from before stands behind it. He clears his throat, sweeping a hand out. "We're here, Miss. Your finance class for 9:00 am."
I push my cheeks out into a forced smile. I hate finance. I only took it because I wanted to find a magic way to stretch out the peanuts I was making from my two jobs so I could pay my rent, get groceries and pay my light bill.
And if I was lucky, the water bill and maybe some clothes from the thrift mall.
"Thank you," I mumble all the same as I get out. I swing my bag over my shoulder, walking toward the entrance. I've only gone a few steps when I hear the brisk footsteps behind me. I stop, glancing over my shoulder.
There's two of them now, dressed in identical black suits with wire pieces attached to their ears. It looks almost comical, like something out of a spy movie.
My brows furrow and my nose scrunches in confusion. "Uhm...what is going on?'
"We're following you, Miss." The one on the right, with an early receding hairline, says. There's absolutely no expression on his face.
I purse my lips as my brows scrunch tighter. "Following me? Why would you do that? It's not like I'm going to run away. I need my college degree more than you think," I add, folding my arms across my chest.
It's my only shot at not wallowing and dying in poverty.
"It's Mr. Hawthorne's rules," he replies. "We're your bodyguards, and he's ordered us to go wherever you go."
Adrian's words float above my head, my ears ringing with his disgustingly arrogant, deep voice. "You'll be assigned two bodyguards and a driver. They'll take you to school and bring you back when you're done with your classes."
He did it. He actually-
"Okay," I take a deep breath with my hands half-raised, fighting to keep my cool. "Here's the truth. If you walk into that hall with me, everyone will know you're my bodyguards. Why?" I prop my hands on my hips. "Because you're too up-tightly dressed to pass off as college students. And then they'll be looking at me the entire time. And I'll hate it, because I don't like attention."
"And..." I take a deep breath, pausing for air as the words rush out of me, "I might get so frustrated that I'll drop out of school."
They say nothing, staring at me like I just finished speaking gibberish. I didn't think they were going to be reasonable anyway. Adrian pays them to do exactly as he says-not listen to a random college student.
"Fine." I throw my hands in the air. "Go ahead. You can sit next to me if you'd like. But if anyone asks me why I have two, scary men around me, I'm going to tell them that your boss bought me at an auction for a dollar." I raise my voice at the end, subtly glancing around to see if anyone overheard.
Nobody.
I tilt my chin, taking a step forward. "Let's see how he likes it when his reputation turns to shit because of you."
I hurry into a class full of over fifty students, keeping my head down as I find my way toward the back. There's an empty row behind a boy with a colorful vape and I slide into it noiselessly.
A relieved yet exasperated sigh slips out. It took five minutes of silent stand-off, but they finally agreed to wait in the car until I was done. Or hang around, I don't know. I told them to make themselves scarce.
I slap my bag down on the desk, reaching into it for my notebook, when something buzzes. I stop, glancing around to find the source of the sound. It buzzes again...from inside my bag.
My fingers slip in and I feel something. A phone.
A phone? I lost mine somewhere between trusting my stepfather and getting auctioned off. What is a phone doing in my bag?
My eyes widen slowly as I take it out. It's the latest iphone, with a black solid case. I flip it, and the screen comes on. There's two messages, from a number saved as, "Do not ignore."
I swipe open.
"You shouldn't threaten your bodyguards, Miss Wilson."
I read the second message.
"Unless you're willing to follow up on it. And I assure you, I do know how to take care of my business. Which...if I might jog your memory, includes you."
Freaking Adrian Hawthorne. I roll my eyes hard as my fist clenches, staring daggers at the screen. Then I turn it off and lean over, tapping the guy in front of me. He looks back.
"Here." I stretch my hand out, giving the phone out to him. "It's worth over two thousand bucks and it's new. I'm sure you can sell it to get another vape when that one finishes."
He collects it without a word, flashing a smile with a missing tooth.
My mouth tips with a satisfied grin, and I dust my hands as I lean back into the chair. Take that, Adrian Hawthorne.
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9.7
For three years, I hid my identity as the sole heiress of a multi-billion dollar tech empire to live in a cramped apartment and support my boyfriend, Ben.
But the day before our engagement, I stood outside a meeting room and overheard him talking to his wealthy boss, Haylie.
"She's just a stepping stone," Ben laughed, his voice full of contempt. "A poor, ambitionless distraction while I work my way up to where I really belong."
He mocked the cheap silver ring he gave me, calling it a necessary prop to keep a naive fool happy.
He bragged about the multi-million dollar merger proposal he was presenting, planning to use it to secure his promotion and build a future with her.
He had no idea that I had secretly negotiated that entire deal using my real connections just to give him his big break.
I had sacrificed my family's comfort, my true identity, and my own career just to watch him rise.
I poured my heart and soul into our humble beginnings, only to realize he saw my love as a pathetic joke and me as disposable trash.
I calmly picked up a pen and voided the merger agreement, tearing my hard work into tiny pieces.
I went home, slid the cheap ring off my finger, and dropped it into his mug of cold coffee.
"Soon, you'll find out exactly who is nothing."
Walking out the door, I pulled out my phone and texted my billionaire father.
"I'm in. Announce the merger."
8.6
In my past life, the Cerberus strain leaked, turning the world into a blood-soaked hell of rotting flesh and mutated monsters.
I thought my boyfriend Declan and my best friend Hailee would have my back as we fled the quarantine zone.
Instead, when the surging crowd of the infected cornered us, they didn't hesitate.
They shoved me backward into the horde just to buy themselves three seconds to run.
As I fell into the mud, I saw them fleeing without a single backward glance.
"She's dead weight anyway!" Hailee screamed.
"Just keep running, she'll distract them!" Declan yelled back.
I was torn apart, feeling the agonizing tear of rotting teeth sinking into my neck and the hot spray of my own blood.
Before the apocalypse, my greedy uncle had locked away my ten-million-dollar trust fund, leaving me with nothing but a fake boyfriend who only wanted me for my money.
Until my last breath, I couldn't understand how the people I loved most could trade my life for a head start.
Why did I blindly trust them? Why didn't I see through their perfectly choreographed lies?
Opening my eyes again, the stench of decaying flesh vanished, replaced by the sterile smell of my college dorm room.
Hailee and Declan were standing over my bed, faking tears of concern over my meningitis fever.
I was back exactly seven days before the world ended, and my spatial vault ability had come back with me.
This time, I'm extorting my uncle for every cent, hoarding the city's supplies, and leaving them all to rot.
7.9
After her twin brother's unexplained death at Alpha Academy, Alexandria Hyde takes his place and his name to uncover the truth. Now living as "Alex," she's thrown into a world of hot, testosterone-fueled Alphas who fight to the brink of death... and she has to survive it while hiding who she really is.
But staying hidden isn't easy–
Not when the Alphas start noticing her.
Not when the truth she's chasing might destroy her first.
And definitely not when they start fighting for her instead.
8.3
Half a month into our cold war, I, Claire Parker, found an abortion procedure slip tucked inside Daniel Carter's suit pocket.
The patient's name belonged to the fragile little childhood sweetheart he had always protected so fiercely-Sophie Bennett.
I folded the paper calmly and slipped it back where I had found it.
Daniel noticed the movement immediately. His eyes flicked toward me through the rearview mirror, resignation coloring his voice.
"What are you overthinking now? Sophie was just keeping a friend company at the hospital. She accidentally left it there."
I turned toward the window and said nothing.
This was Sophie declaring war on me, yet the man who could crush competitors without mercy in the business world believed her completely.
The silence inside the car grew suffocating until Daniel finally stopped outside an upscale jewelry boutique.
He reached over and ruffled my hair with easy familiarity, his tone indulgent and affectionate.
"Come on. Pick out a ring. Your birthday's next month anyway, so we might as well register our marriage too."
I bit down hard on my lip as tears fell soundlessly onto the back of my hand.
What he still didn't know was that I wouldn't live long enough to see next month.
9.5
He was born from the void between stars - a being of immense power, forged from cosmic origins.
For thousands of years, he walked among humanity, protecting them and keeping his true strength hidden. After losing the only family he had, grief led him to seek his own end... only to wake up in a world entirely unlike his own.
Here, cultivation is the main path to power. Those who master spirit qi gain superhuman strength, speed, and abilities that place them far above ordinary people. Four great sects rule the land, competing for resources, secrets, and dominance over each other.
Icaros joined the Li Sect, where he found companions he came to trust and care for: the capable and easygoing Li Han, the sharp and composed Su Yan, and the spirited Nelly. For a time, he felt he had found a place to belong, even as he kept his true nature hidden and wondered whether he could ever learn to cultivate like those around him.
Everything changed when their voyage was suddenly attacked. A powerful figure floating in the sky cut their ship apart with sharp, devastating energy strikes, leaving only destruction in his wake. Believing his friends had been lost in the disaster, Icaros chose to stop holding back any longer.
> "I am done hiding!"
He unleashed his full power: golden light blazed from his eyes, he flew at incredible speed, and he broke through every barrier and enemy in his way. On the shores ahead, he tore through hordes of powerful jade monsters, destroying them completely before flying deep into the interior of the island.
Meanwhile, survivors washed up scattered and alone. One young cultivator found himself on the shores of Jade Island - a place most cultivators avoid, as it holds no treasures or useful materials, only danger and endless deposits of ordinary jade. Yet despite the risks, ordinary people have built settlements here, finding safety from the conflicts and power struggles of the outside world.
This island works by different rules. Spirit qi is scarce and unstable, making cultivation far less effective than elsewhere. Instead, the people here rely on advanced technology - weapons and explosives that can injure or even defeat those with great physical strength. Here, skill and preparation can be just as powerful as raw strength, and even the strongest cultivators must move with caution.
Now, Icaros has vanished deep into the island. His companions are lost somewhere across this dangerous land. And the mysterious swordsman who destroyed their ship has already arrived here, searching for an ancient map said to lead to the legacy of a being from another world.
Will they find each other again? And can anyone survive in a place where the usual rules of power no longer hold true?
✅ Chapters 1–19: FREE
🔒 Chapters 20 onwards: PAID
(Continue the journey of power, friendship, and discovery!)
8.2
In our beast world, females are treated as nothing more than precious breeding stock to keep the pack strong. As the pack's best Mender, I spent all my time focusing on my healing herbs, completely ignoring my maturity ritual.
But tonight, the blind pack elder grabbed my wrist and delivered a chilling ultimatum.
If I don't choose my mates by the next Full Moon, the Council of Elders will force a match and assign them to me.
The threat is already suffocating. Arrogant, elite warriors like Caleb Quinn are pacing outside my door like starving wolves, stalking my porch and using pack business to corner me. At home, the reality of multiple mates is even worse. My mother has two mates—my father, the strongest Alpha, and my cold, intellectual step-father. Their toxic, murderous jealousy turns our house into a daily war zone. They literally unleash suffocating killing intent on innocent cubs just for hugging my mother.
I am disgusted by this sick, possessive obsession. I refuse to let my life become a battlefield of jealous males fighting over who gets to guard my door, and I absolutely refuse to be forced into a harem by the Elders.
So, I made a declaration that shocked my entire family and broke every pack tradition.
"I will only ever take one mate."
And to make sure none of those predatory warriors can touch me, I set an impossible trap.
"Whoever wants me must defeat my father first."