SUBMISSIVE TO MY BROTHER'S BESTFRIEND
I'm Karima Heart, and I basically live a double life. In school, I'm the quiet, nerdy bookworm. At night, I'm the seductive, high-demand stripper every one screams for.
But everything's about to change. My perfect secret is on the verge of exposure because my brother's best friend just caught me. Now, to keep him quiet, I have to play his little obedient girl... and with him living under our roof, it's getting harder to resist the pull between us...
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Chapter 9
OWAIN LUTHER
I staggered away from Malcom, my fingers threading through my hair in frustration.
Malcom wouldn't lift his head, guilt branded on his face, not because Yasmin caught us mid-fight, but because Karima just witnessed it all.
I strolled up to Yasmin, draping an arm around her waist. "Yasmin, you didn't mention you'd be flying in." I met her gaze.
Karima had already stepped in, pulling Malcom to his feet, though he still avoided her eyes.
Yasmin? She brushed my arm off like I was contaminated.
I would be lying if I said that little stunt could actually shrug off the scene she just witnessed.
"I asked you a question, Owain. What the hell happened?" She snapped. Her eyes flicked to my swollen, bloodied lip.
"It's nothing, alright? Can we focus on why you're here?" I insisted.
D*mn. Wrong move. Her eyes narrowed, sharp as daggers.
"Seriously? That's what's important now, huh?" She shot a glance at Karima who instantly avoided her gaze. "Because you sure aren't thrilled to see me. All you care about is why I'm here. Well, guess what, honey... I came to clean up your mess."
That was all she said then, spun on her heel and stormed off.
That's Yasmin for you. What was I expecting? An honest conversation? Not when she's this p*ss*d.
And now, her unexpected arrival in New York has thrown my plans into turmoil.
She was supposed to wait for me to return to Thailand-not just hop on a flight and show up here like this.
"You know I don't know my way around here, Owain. Why are you dragging behind?" Her voice cut through the silence.
Right. I snapped out of my head and picked up my pace, leading her toward my room.
I didn't bother glancing back... but I didn't need to. I could feel Karima's eyes burning into my back, watching me walk away.
***
KARIMA HEART
The moment Owain strutted off with his sassy handbag of a girlfriend, I turned to Malcom.
He was staring down at his palm like it held some invisible secret, like it could somehow shield him from what I was about to say.
Owain picking a fight? That was expected. But Malcom? He'd never been the type. Always the level-headed one, always preaching self-control and keeping your cool.So whatever led him to throw hands with Owain had to be serious.
But... He was obviously not ready to talk about it so I'd cut him a slack.
"I should get you some ice pack for that lip," I said, already getting up.
He didn't answer. Just stayed still until he caught my wrist and gently tugged me back down.
"I'm sorry, Karry," he muttered, his voice low with guilt. "I'm sorry you had to see that."
I gave a soft nod, forcing a small smile. "It's okay. I'm sure Owain started it anyway. But what I really want to know is... what the hell did he say to get you so riled up? You've been best friends forever. He's a pain in the *ss, yeah, but you've always handled him. Why snap now?"
Malcom looked away, his jaw tightened. I was actually expecting him to spill it. Maybe the part I really needed him to clarify. "He thinks I'm too protective... as a brother."
I narrowed my eyes. That was it?
His expression said he was done talking, but mine said I wasn't buying it.
But I still waited for him to probably add to it... But his silence said it all... That was all to it.
"Seriously? You two threw punches over that?" I asked, giving him my best I-know-you're-lying stare.
He sighed, catching it. "That look tells me you don't believe me."
"You're right. Because it doesn't make any d*mn sense, Malcom."
"I told you the truth."
"Okay, fine. Can I go get the ice now?"
"You still don't believe me?"
"It's not that. It's just... I don't care if you fought him. I care that you're lying to me. You're holding something back, and I can feel it. I'm sure of it."
"There's nothing else to say! You're blowing this out of proportion." His voice rose sharper now. "Just say what you really want to ask."
"Fine." I shifted on the bed, my voice slicing through the room. "What was he talking about?"
He blinked, confused.
"I heard it," I said, slower now. "That you're in love with me and definitely keeping a secret too. I heard it, Malcom. So start explaining because none of this is making any d*mn sense."
His expression twisted into genuine confusion.
"Silly," he said, a faint, unconvincing smile tugging at his lips. "You're my sister... who else would I love?"
He wouldn't meet my eyes.
"Don't make me feel like I'm crazy for asking this, Malcom."
"But you are," he said quickly. "This is ridiculous. I don't even know what you think you heard."
I let out a sharp breath, my patience thinning. "Fine. I'll just go ask Owain. He seemed pretty sure about it."
I turned to leave, and that's when his voice came harder, way too sharper than the last.
"You need to stay away from Owain. He's a bad guy, Karima. I don't want you near him."
I spun around, narrowing my eyes. "And now he's the villain? Really?"
"Since when do you question me like this?"
"Since you started lying to my face. I'm not stupid, Malcom."
He clenched his jaw. "I told you the truth."
"No, you told me what you thought would shut me up."
I stepped back, every part of me burning. "I don't care if you fought Owain. But I do care that you're hiding something from me. Something big."
"There's nothing else to say." He murmured.
"Fine," I bit out. "Keep your secrets. Just don't expect me to stick around while you lie to me."
And with that, I walked out the door, not waiting for whatever excuse he was still holding onto.
But deep down... I couldn't lie to myself... maybe I'd pushed too far.
After all, I had my own secret too. One I hadn't told him either.
I felt guilty.
But even with the guilt weighing on me, I still needed the truth.
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8.2
I was trapped in a velvet booth at Le Bernardin, Arthur Sterling’s hand crawling up my knee as he whispered that my father would be in handcuffs by morning if I didn't spend the night with him.
Desperate to escape, I lunged at the only man more dangerous than Arthur—Gunnar Kirk, the "Butcher of Wall Street"—and kissed him in front of every camera in the room, thinking I was choosing the lesser of two evils.
I was wrong; Gunnar didn't just play along, he took possession, forcing me into a cold-blooded contract to be his fake fiancée to save his corporate image from an SEC investigation. While my greedy stepmother and sister were busy fighting over the diamonds he sent, I was living in terror, trying to hide the one thing that truly mattered: my infant son, hidden away with a nanny in a cramped Queens apartment. When my baby suffered a febrile seizure and I rushed to the ER, I looked up to see Gunnar standing in the doorway, his glacial eyes boring into me as he realized the "ruined" socialite was hiding a child from her past.
I tried to sabotage the wedding, setting up my fame-hungry stepsister as a decoy bride so I could flee to Switzerland with my son, but Gunnar caught me on the fire escape before I could take a single step toward freedom. He threw me over his shoulder like a sack of flour and told me that if I didn't walk down that aisle, he would personally ensure my father rotted in prison.
We stood at the altar and exchanged vows in a ceremony built on blackmail and lies, but as we walked out as husband and wife, Gunnar didn't look at me with affection; he turned to his assistant and ordered a total deep dive into the medical records I had spent a year trying to erase.
"Find out exactly what happened during those nine months in Switzerland, and tell me who that baby really belongs to."
8.7
My fiancé plunged our SUV into an icy river during a blizzard. He had a choice: save me, or save his childhood sweetheart, Kianna.
He didn't hesitate. He left me to drown.
This wasn't the first time. In my last life, he' d "saved" me after Kianna drowned, only to trap me in a loveless marriage. He blamed me for her death, his silent accusations a constant torment. My own parents didn't care, forcing the wedding to secure a corporate merger. I was nothing more than a pawn.
He married me not for love, but as penance, making me his living scapegoat for the woman he truly lost.
But when I opened my eyes again, I was back in the sinking car, the icy water rising around me.
This time, I smiled and pushed him toward her.
"Save Kianna," I commanded. "She needs you more."
8.7
For years, I was Faron Blackwell' s "whipping post." A cruel pact with his mother forced me to endure one hundred public humiliations for his affairs, a living tally of his conquests. I was a joke to high society, the wife who couldn't keep her husband.
After the final scandal, I discovered I was pregnant. But Faron, repulsed by the scars his family' s punishments left on my body, hadn't touched me in months. He was convinced the child wasn't his.
He ordered his mistress, a doctor, to terminate the pregnancy.
"Make sure she feels every bit of it," he said. "No anesthesia."
To force a confession about a lover who never existed, he trapped me and the children from my non-profit in a building and set off a bomb. As the inferno raged, I heard him screaming my name.
I ran straight into the flames, ready to end the nightmare.
But Faron didn't know his own mother had a different escape plan for me all along.
8.0
After divorcing my cheating husband, I thought I had found my savior in his powerful business partner, Cole.
For three years, he pampered me like a queen, building a perfect, golden cage of devotion.
But on the day I happily discovered I was pregnant, I overheard him talking to my ex-husband's mistress.
"Elinor is just a convenient tool. If she gets pregnant, I'll fake a paternity test and annul the marriage so she leaves with nothing."
My entire marriage was a meticulously crafted lie to secure his position and protect the woman he truly cared about.
Before I could quietly escape, Cole orchestrated a brutal attack.
I was dragged into a dark alley, beaten until my ribs fractured, and my unborn child was violently ripped away from me.
As I lay bleeding out in the freezing rain, my heart shattered into dust.
I didn't understand how the man who kissed me every morning could coldly order his thugs to beat me to death just to appease his real lover.
They left me there to rot, thinking they had finally erased the naive fool who got in their way.
Three years later, the world still believes Elinor Marsh died in a tragic car accident.
But when Cole and his elite circle attend a high-profile Interpol reception, they don't expect the new Chief Liaison Officer to step onto the stage.
I am Helena Fu now, and I have returned to burn their empire to the ground.
7.5
Natalie Brooks, the young lady of the Brooks family, hid her identity to marry Samuel Morgan for love. The three-year cold marriage ended with a divorce when his first love, Lily, returned. Natalie left proudly, returning to her home, the most powerful Brooks family in New York, with her four talented brothers.
Natalie gradually transformed into a strong businesswoman. Samuel was surprised because Natalie was completely different from the image of the weak wife she had been before. He began to waver, remembering the years of living together, but was still surrounded by Lily's weak pretense.
Although Natalie was divorced, she still had lingering feelings, but she chose to strongly confront him, determined to prove her worth. From here, she continuously confronted Samuel and Lily, both to regain what she had lost and to force them to regret ever looking down on her. Meanwhile, Lily always played the role of the "weak girl", taking advantage of Samuel's pity, but she increasingly revealed her jealousy and hypocrisy. Natalie's brothers – especially Nathaniel Brooks and Henry Brooks – were fiercely protective of their sister and wanted Samuel to repent for what he had done to Natalie.
7.1
To survive a forced one-year marriage contract with the ultra-wealthy Chavez family, Averi Marsh disguised herself as a pathetic, ugly duckling.
She caked her flawless skin in muddy yellow foundation, wore thick glasses, and played the part of a trembling, uneducated orphan.
The entire family treated her like literal garbage.
The youngest brother publicly swore he would rather cut off his own hand than marry a piece of trailer park trash.
Her nominal fiancé, Clarke, looked at her with cold disdain, allowing his glamorous companion to humiliate Averi by forcing her into a neon pink clown dress.
At a high-society party, a socialite shoved her into an infinity pool, laughing as the heavy fabric dragged her to the bottom.
They all wanted to see the poor girl broken, humiliated, and driven out of their pristine world.
What they didn't know was that beneath the hideous sweaters was a breathtaking, lethal predator.
They had no idea she was 'Spectre', the undefeated underground racing god who had just humiliated the arrogant Clarke on the track.
They didn't know she could shatter a bully's wrist in seconds or bankrupt their wealthy friends with a single text message.
But when the chlorinated pool water washed away her ugly makeup, the family's ambitious second son caught a glimpse of her true, flawless face.
The game of hide-and-seek was officially over.
The Chavez family thought they were torturing a helpless sheep, but they were about to realize they had locked themselves in a cage with a wolf.