Teresa didn't expect her whole world would crumble apart because of a secret she learned. As a happy-go-lucky girl, she returned home solely to participate in a jewelry designing competition. On this unfortunate day, she got targeted by Jerome, the most cunning man she ever met. "What...what...what do you want from me?" Teresa asked as she watched him step closer to her. Seeing the fear in her eyes, a sneer appeared on his handsome face. "Well, you've found out my secrets, so..." he faltered, waiting to get her reaction. "So what?" "I want you to take responsibility!" His voice echoed in the room. "Fo.. for what?" she stammered. In a swift motion, he took out a marriage agreement. Leaning closer, he whispered, "Marry me or I'll see you in court. It's your choice."
"Good morning, passengers. Welcome to the flight. The plane is taking off. Please fasten your seat belt. Don't wander around in the cabin..."
As the pilot droned on about the normal etiquette of being on the air, the plane lifted farther and farther from the ground.
Teresa Gu frowned as she felt the uneasiness drifting over to her. She clutched her stomach, feeling a sense of weightlessness as the plane finally took off.
She was hungry when she was waiting for the plane, so she had to grab something to eat at the airport. Yet, she didn't expect that the food would be so unsanitary. As soon as she stepped into the plane, her stomach started to ache as beads of sweat trailed down her forehead.
After two minutes of the plane taking off, Teresa Gu just couldn't hold it in any longer. She unfastened her seat belt and got up.
Just before she could get out, a stewardess stopped her. "Excuse me, ma'am. The plane has just taken off, and we have not reached the stratosphere yet. Please go back to your seat."
With one hand gripping her stomach, Teresa Gu said hoarsely, "I have a stomach ache. Please, I need to go to the toilet."
As the stewardess looked her up and down, she couldn't help but admit to herself that the woman really wasn't in any good shape at all.
Teresa Gu wore a v-shaped vest with holes in her jeans. Her hair was as disheveled as ever and her face was pale and sweaty from the stomach ache. She looked like a witch ready to take a kid for her next meal.
The stewardess wrinkled her nose, which went unnoticed by Teresa Gu.
"Please be careful then. If you get hurt, Miss, the airline would not be responsible for such damages,"
she snapped, turning away.
Teresa Gu had absolutely no time to make amends with the stewardess as she rushed into the toilet to solve her aching stomach. After a few minutes of groaning, it felt as if she had come back to life again.
As she stood in front of the mirror and adjusted her clothes, Teresa Gu stepped out of the toilet comfortably. However, as she was about to take a few steps, the plane jolted to the side. By instinct, she stumbled over and grabbed the person nearby.
"Ah!" someone yelled.
Once she fixed her footing, she turned sideways to see that an airline stewardess had been caught by her.
However, when her eyes trailed at the glass held in the stewardess's hand, Teresa froze. The glass was empty now, leading a trace of bright yellow at the bottom. That would mean...
As she followed the stewardess's gaze, she found something even more terrible.
There was a man standing next to the stewardess.
He was really tall, about six feet. He had a suit on, and his angular face was out in display. He looked as if he'd just popped out from a painting, like a model ready to strut the runway.
However, right now, the prince she thought he was, was covered in bright yellow from head to toe.
The stewardess quickly came to her senses, bowing her head. "Sir, I completely apologize. She bumped into me, so I lost my balance and I..."
She threw an accusatory glance at Teresa.
Realizing that it was her fault here, Teresa quickly apologized, "Sir, I'm so sorry. The plane just jolted and I lost balance. How about I wipe it for you?"
The man raised an eyebrow, no expression tainting his face. He was like a statue, the ones that you would pay to garner an action from them.
The man didn't lose his temper or anything, but that just made Teresa all the more nervous of what was to come.
"I really am sorry,"
Teresa apologized again, taking a pack of tissues from her pocket and wiping the mango juice from the man's clothes.
Unfortunately, it seemed to have only made the situation worse. The tissues only seemed to have stained the fabric even more just as she was wiping it.
As she did this, Teresa found herself even more loss for words.
She could tell that the man's mood was growing sourer by the minute.
Besides, no matter how good-tempered he was, he wouldn't be in a good mood after being caught up in a situation like this!
And to make matters worse, her stomach, which had just calmed down, started to act up once more.
She went bright red, as her hands gripped on the fabric of her shirt.
Teresa held her breath, a sinking feeling going down her abdomen. The longer she tried to hold it in, the more uncomfortable it was starting to get.
"I really am sorry, but I have to go to the toilet," she uttered out before racing back into the bathroom.
Teresa dealt with her problem once again.
As she walked out the toilet once again, her body froze when she found out who was waiting for her.
It was the man!
Teresa held her breath, keeping her legs from shaking incessantly.
"Hi..." she stuttered out. "Listen, I didn't mean to..." She was already on the verge of crying as her voice shook. "I'll–I'll buy you a new shirt. Please don't follow me."
His eyes underneath the wide rimmed glasses flickered as a gentle smile threaded across his lips.
"I wasn't going to hold you accountable, you know." There was a certain gentleness in his voice.
"I just need to use the toilet."
'What?
So does that mean I'm free to go?'
Her shoulders sagged in relief as she hurriedly stepped aside for him to go in. "If that's the case, please enjoy," she said. "Use it anyway you like."
As long as they were on good terms, he could snort cocaine in the cabin, and she couldn't care less.
The man glanced at her. There was an unreadable emotion that passed in his gaze, but she couldn't really tell what it was.
Unable to tell, Teresa decided to return to her seat.
More than twenty minutes later, her stomach started to act up again. Teresa found that she had no choice but to return to the toilet.
As she was taking care of herself, she found herself glancing at the garbage can beside her. There she spotted a long sleeved shirt in the trash can. It was coated in mango juice, so she was certain it was from the man who she spilled on.
Her eyes narrowed, getting a good look on the brand.
It was Armani! A part of their limited edition!
Teresa's jaw dropped. It must've been so expensive. How could someone throw it away like that?
Thinking back to the way the man acted, it was obvious that he might have come from a very rich background. It'd be reasonable for him to throw away this shirt so easily.
Apart from the looks of it, money didn't seem hard to come by for him.
Teresa looked away. 'It's not right to dwell on this anyway.' She got out of the toilet and sat back on her seat.
A few minutes had passed, and a stewardess came over with a glass of warm water and a pill in her hand.
"Miss, this is the medicine for diarrhea. A gentleman in the first class asked me to bring it here."
'Who?
A gentleman in the first class?'
She furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't know anyone in the plane, except...
'Is he the man I just met?'
Kallie, a mute who had been ignored by her husband for five years since their wedding, also suffered the loss of her pregnancy due to her cruel mother-in-law. After the divorce, she learned that her ex-husband had quickly gotten engaged to the woman he truly loved. Holding her slightly rounded belly, she realized that he had never really cared for her. Determined, she left him behind, treating him as a stranger. Yet, after she left, he scoured the globe in search of her. When their paths crossed once more, Kallie had already found new happiness. For the first time, he pleaded humbly, "Please don't leave me..." But Kallie's response was firm and dismissive, cutting through any lingering ties. "Get lost!"
They don't know I'm a girl. They all look at me and see a boy. A prince. Their kind purchase humans like me for their lustful desires. And, when they stormed into our kingdom to buy my sister, I intervened to protect her. I made them take me too. The plan was to escape with my sister whenever we found a chance. How was I to know our prison would be the most fortified place in their kingdom? I was supposed to be on the sidelines. The one they had no real use for. The one they never meant to buy. But then, the most important person in their savage land-their ruthless beast king-took an interest in the "pretty little prince." How do we survive in this brutal kingdom, where everyone hates our kind and shows us no mercy? And how does someone, with a secret like mine, become a lust slave? . AUTHOR'S NOTE. This is a dark romance-dark, mature content. Highly rated 18+ Expect triggers, expect hardcore. If you're a seasoned reader of this genre, looking for something different, prepared to go in blindly not knowing what to expect at every turn, but eager to know more anyway, then dive in! . From the author of the international bestselling book: "The Alpha King's Hated Slave."
He has all the traits that you wished for your dream man to have. Power, money, perfection, handsomeness and a body like a Greek God. But he's inlove. He's inlove with her. For him, she was the completion of his dream, a perfect wife and a mother to be with his children. He would give her everything including his own life. He would sacrifice his world for her. But she left him. She betrayed him. She broke his heart into pieces. And he turned into a cold, heartless, rude and an arrogant billionaire, who would do everything to show her that she's no longer important into his life. Even though the truth is the opposite of what he is doing. His heart still aching for her. And that's when he met me. I applied as his Personal Assistant to fulfill my bucket list of dreams. To explore my life and experience everything. He offered me a deal. He asked me to marry him just to show his ex that he already moved on. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "She's pregnant." He blurted out and i almost stumbled on where i am standing. I just gripped the backrest of the couch to support my weight. The pain creeping in my heart is unbearable but i managed to stay calm. "Wow! Congratulations!" I said faking my excitement as i remembered him saying... -cheating would not be the reason to break our marriage- of course i couldn't accuse him of this as 'cheating' because she was the real reason why we are pretending as a couple. He still love her. He's still inlove with her. And that's when i made the biggest decision in my life. Taking all my strength and a piece of my heart that still hanging on a thin rope... I left him. Taking also my biggest secret in me... that i've already fallen inlove with him. And somehow i learned a lesson; 'Loving someone who doesn't love you back isn't as hard as loving someone who still inlove with his ex and who only uses you to get her back again into his life..'
Trigger warning!!! Intended for mature readers who enjoy morally complex, slow-burn, poseesive, forbidden, dark romance that pushes boundaries. ***EXCERPT*** Blood everywhere. Trembling hands. "No!" My eyes blurred. His lifeless eyes stared back at me, his blood pooling at my feet. The man I loved-dead. Killed by the one person I could never escape - my stepbrother. *** Kasmine's life was never hers to begin with. Kester, her stepbrother, controlled and monitored her every move. At first, it was all sweet and brotherly until it began to turn into an obsession. Kester was the Alpha, and his word was law. No close friends. No boyfriends. No freedom. The only consolation Kasmine had was her twenty-first birthday, which was supposed to change everything. She dreamt of finding her mate, escaping the sickening control of Kester, and finally claiming her own life. But fate had other plans for her. On the night of her birthday, not only was she disappointed that she wasn't mated to the love of her life, but she found out that her mate was none other than him - Her tormentor. Her stepbrother. She'd rather die than be mated to a man whom she had known as her big brother all her life. A man who would do just anything to make sure she was his. But when love turns to obsession, and obsession turns to blood, how far can one girl run before she realizes there is nowhere else to run to?
Darya spent three years loving Micah, worshipping the ground he walked on. Until his neglect and his family's abuse finally woke her up to the ugly truth-he doesn't love her. Never did, never will. To her, he is a hero, her knight in shining armour. To him, she is an opportunist, a gold digger who schemed her way into his life. Darya accepts the harsh reality, gathers the shattered pieces of her dignity, divorces him, takes back her real name, reclaims her title as the country's youngest billionaire heiress. Their paths cross again at a party. Micah watches his ex-wife sing like an angel, tear up the dance floor, then thwart a lecher with a roundhouse kick. He realises, belatedly, that she's exactly the kind of woman he'd want to marry, if only he had taken the trouble to get to know her. Micah acts promptly to win her back, but discovers she's now surrounded by eligible bachelors: high-powered CEO, genius biochemist, award-winning singer, reformed playboy. Worse, she makes it pretty clear that she's done with him. Micah gears up for an uphill battle. He must prove to her he's still worthy of her love before she falls for someone else. And time is running out.
Two years ago, Ricky found himself coerced into marrying Emma to protect the woman he cherished. From Ricky's perspective, Emma was despicable, resorting to underhanded schemes to ensure their marriage. He maintained a distant and cold attitude toward her, reserving his warmth for another. Yet, Emma remained wholeheartedly dedicated to Ricky for more than ten years. As she grew weary and considered relinquishing her efforts, Ricky was seized by a sudden fear. Only when Emma's life teetered on the edge, pregnant with Ricky's child, did he recognize-the love of his life had always been Emma.