Sunshine in Asheville

After my parents stripped me of the last cent I had, stolen in the name of buying my brother a house, and my boyfriend-no, the man I once thought would stand by me forever-betrayed me with an affair, I left everything behind. With nothing but the weight of my own despair, I found myself in Asheville, a city that promised nothing but the possibility of something new. This was where my journey began, and I swore to myself: I wouldn't just survive. I would flourish.

Chapters

Chapter 2

Knock knock knock.

There was a knock at the door. I looked up and saw a tall, slender man standing outside.

"Miss, are you okay? Do you need help?" The man appeared to be in his thirties, wearing casual athletic clothes, his posture tall and straight.

I propped myself up and stood, reminding myself that this was a public place, and I shouldn't delay the normal flow of things.

I shook my head and said, "I'm fine, sorry to take up your time." I turned to leave.

A few seconds later, I heard the man calling from behind, "Miss, you dropped your card!"

I waved my hand, not turning around.

What use could he have for the card? To remind me that I'm a complete fool? To remind me that I've been living in lies all this time?

I walked aimlessly down the street, surrounded by bustling crowds and the endless flow of cars, but I felt completely detached from it all.

Just then, my phone vibrated.

Since I started working, my phone had never been set to ringtone mode.

The caller ID displayed "Manager Jason."

It might be the result of the year-end evaluations.

I had worked diligently all year, taking no more than 30 days off, with countless overtime hours. Manager Jason had promised to help me apply for the year-end evaluation and possibly earn me a bonus.

Considering my empty wallet now, any bonus would at least provide some comfort.

I took a deep breath to steady myself and answered the call, "Hello, Manager Jason."

"Amelia, there's something I need to tell you," Manager Jason's voice was calm, but I had a bad feeling.

"What is it, Manager Jason?" I feigned calmness.

"About the evaluation. you didn't make it," Manager Jason sighed. "The boss's nephew got selected."

"Amelia, we can see your effort, but unfortunately, it didn't work out this time. Keep at it, and next year's evaluation will definitely be yours."

"Okay, Manager Jason. I'll work hard," I said, calmly hanging up the phone.

What else could I say? Argue with Manager Jason? What difference would it make?

It was just... a little sad.

Family was a disappointment, and now work was a disappointment too.

Thinking about how I'd have to go back to work tomorrow, I felt an overwhelming sense of frustration. I decided to indulge myself for a moment and pulled out my phone to send Manager Jason a message:

"Manager Jason, I've finished all the work I had on hand. I'm thinking of taking my annual leave. Do you think that would be alright?"

Within three minutes, Manager Jason replied: "Amelia, take a good rest. When you come back, we'll get back to work. I have high hopes for you."

I gave a bitter smile and quickly submitted a leave request through the company system. Despite many overtime hours going unapproved, I found that I had 15 days of leave plus compensatory time off.

I clicked submit without hesitation.

Three minutes later, the notification popped up: Manager Jason had approved the request.

For a moment, I wasn't sure whether to feel happy or sad.

Happy that I now had so many days off. Sad because it became clear that I wasn't as indispensable as I thought.

The reason I hadn't taken leave earlier was because I had always believed that the company wouldn't run without me. But now, I realized it didn't really matter.

I suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for the version of myself who had worked tirelessly.

At that moment, I didn't know yet that this wasn't the worst of it.

Continue to next part

My family called me a cold, controlling workaholic. My husband, my sister, even the brother I raised-they all lived in the architectural empire I built, yet they resented me for it. Then, the doctor gave me a few months to live. But before I could even process my own death sentence, my husband was already asking me to give up my only chance at survival-a spot in a life-saving trial-for my "sick" sister, Cayla. They took everything. My company, my fortune, my home. At a lavish party celebrating my "generosity," my own son looked me in the eye and told me he hated me. They praised my selflessness as they stripped me of my life's work. But I knew Cayla wasn't sick. I knew they were just waiting for me to die. So I smiled and gave them the perfect woman they always wanted. But my real gift wasn't my fortune or my life. It was the truth I left behind, a final act designed to trap them in a prison of guilt they could never escape.

Adventure Modern Romance

7.5

Bitten By The Billionaire: My Darkest Night

7.5

I spent three weeks scrubbing carbonized grease off woks at the Jade Garden, hiding my elite tactical training behind raw knuckles and a practiced, submissive stutter. My mission was the only thing keeping me sane: finding my sister, Elena, who vanished into thin air after her phone last pinged near the city’s Restricted Sector. The breakthrough came when my boss, a bully named Uncle Wong, forced me to take a delivery to 101 Blackwood Drive—a high-security fortress where the drivers whispered that people went in and never came back right. It was a geographic match for Elena's last known location, but as I rode my battered scooter toward the massive steel gates, I realized I wasn't just investigating a lead; I was walking into a spider's web. The mansion was a monolith of cold concrete and military-grade surveillance, owned by Hugh Bradford, a billionaire who controlled the city’s elite like puppets. During my delivery, the magnetic locks hissed shut, the lights died, and I was plunged into absolute darkness with a predator who didn't want my money. Bradford pinned me against a stainless steel counter and did something unthinkable: he sank his teeth into my shoulder, using the rhythm of my frantic pulse to anchor his own fractured mind. I escaped with a bruised neck and a thousand-dollar "tip," feeling the crushing weight of his violation and the terrifying realization that my "clumsy immigrant" act hadn't fooled him for a second. I didn't understand why a man of his power would treat a delivery girl like a biological drug, or what he had done to the other girls who had vanished behind those black glass walls. My heart hammered against my ribs as I realized I was being hunted by a man who could buy and sell my life a thousand times over. "You're terrified," he had whispered in the dark, and for the first time in years, I wasn't faking it. Back in my apartment, I found a note tucked inside the cash that confirmed my worst fears: "For the inconvenience. See you Tuesday." He thinks he’s found a new toy to play with, but he just gave me the one thing I needed to find my sister—an invitation to go back inside and finish what I started.

Adventure Billionaire Modern

8.6

Bound To The Silent Laborer's Bed

8.6

I was the youngest Paladin in history, the absolute pride of the Azure Blade. But after a disastrous mission in the snow, I was falsely accused of slaughtering my own squad. Grand Master Bernardo Rowe didn't just exile me; he surgically severed my connection to the magic Aether, turning me into a crippled mortal. Desperate to survive, I tried to climb the Holy Stairs to reclaim my legendary sword, "Rebellion." Instead of answering my call, my own blade shrieked in absolute rejection and blasted me down the thousand stone steps. My bones snapped like dry twigs, and I was left in a pool of my own blood. The pilgrims laughed at me. The guards declared me a lost cause and left me to rot in the dirt. I should have died there, betrayed by the Order and the holy magic I once served. But a silent, massive laborer named Cato Sims dragged my mangled body into the shadows. He healed my shattered skeleton in mere days with impossible skill, yet he allowed lowly servants to spit on him and beat him just to keep my presence hidden. I didn't understand why my holy sword had abandoned me, and I understood even less why this stranger was protecting a condemned criminal. When I finally snapped and demanded to know his price for saving my life, he didn't ask for money or my body. "The mountain does not forget its debts. I am reclaiming what was taken from it." Staring into his unyielding eyes, I realized my exile wasn't the end, but the beginning of a terrifying truth.

Adventure Fantasy LGBT+

7.5

His wife was never meant to survive

7.5

Arthur Lucas is a billionaire who survives by control, not love. When a scandal threatens to destroy his empire, he needs a wife fast. Someone clean, respectable, and silent. Kiah Taylor needs money to save her brother from prison. Their contract marriage is supposed to be simple. But the scandal isn't about Arthur. It's about Kiah. The moment she becomes his wife, enemies close in. Secrets surface. Lives are threatened. Love becomes dangerous. And survival is no longer guaranteed.

Adventure Modern Romance

7.1

ICE- The Alpha's Unwanted OMEGA

7.1

The captain is dead to the world. And I'm the only one holding the kill switch. Ethan Carter, the "Glacier of Silvercrest," was the most feared Alpha to ever step onto the ice. Now, he's nothing but a shell-a broken, comatose legend trapped in his own body. My life? It was supposed to be simple. Graduate, survive the pack's bottom-tier status, and pay off my father's ruinous blood-debts. Instead, the pack elders handed me a contract soaked in cold, hard malice: I am the designated "Stabilizer." My only job is to touch him, scent him, and keep his wolf from flatlining. I thought I was just a glorified nurse. I didn't realize the Alpha was listening. When Ethan finally wakes, he isn't the hero the Kingdom of Valeria remembers. He's a starving predator with amber eyes that burn holes through my defenses and a temperament that makes the frost in the mansion seem warm. He hates the bargain, he hates the pack, and-most dangerously-he hates the way his scent turns wild whenever I'm near. He wants me out of his sight. I want to be out of his reach. But in a pack built on secrets, someone is still trying to finish the job they started on his life. Now, the man who wants me gone is the only one who can protect me. And as the rink turns into a battlefield, I'm realizing the most dangerous thing about the Alpha isn't his temper... it's the fact that once he claims a mate, he doesn't know how to let go. Frozen hearts are meant to shatter. But in the fire of this pack, we're both going to burn.

Adventure Fantasy LGBT+Werewolf

7.6

Jilted By Nephew, Claimed By King

7.6

I was kneeling on the cold concrete of an abandoned warehouse, staring at a ticking timer while a masked man held a knife to my throat. My fiancé's nephew, Preston, finally burst through the door, but he wasn't alone. He was clutching my stepsister, Felicia, both of them looking frantic. The kidnapper gave Preston a brutal choice: the bomb was rigged to the door, and he could only take one woman with him. The other would stay behind to burn. Without a single second of hesitation, Preston grabbed Felicia's hand and turned his back on me. "I'm sorry, Annelise," he said, his voice flat and devoid of any real regret. He slammed the heavy iron door shut, leaving me to scream in the darkness as the flames began to roar. He didn't just leave me to die; he did it to protect his inheritance, treating me like a piece of trash that was finally being cleared from his path. Later, in the hospital, he didn't even offer an apology. Instead, he raised his hand to strike me, threatening to finish what the fire started if I dared to speak a word about his cowardice. His stepsister laughed, trying to pour scalding coffee on my face while calling me a pathetic loser who should have stayed in the warehouse. I sat there, cowering and shaking like a broken girl, letting them believe they had won. I watched their cruelty with wide, watery eyes, wondering how they could be so blind to the monster they were provoking. What Preston didn't know was that the entire kidnapping was a performance I had choreographed myself, and every second of his betrayal was recorded in 4K. Now, I've successfully moved into the manor of the real king-his uncle, Francesco Lancaster. He thinks he's rescued a wounded bird, but he's actually invited a world-class predator into his home. The game is no longer about survival; it's about total destruction.

Action Adventure Romance

Sunshine in Asheville

Chapter 2

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