Reynaldo Davies, the first and only son of The Davies, finds himself in a constricted situation of choosing a wife, a command made clear by his Father, Mr Davies, on turning sixty, otherwise, young Davies would forfeit his inheritance to his younger sister. He makes a business proposal with Mia, his cook, who has no expectation of any kind, coming from the fling Reynaldo is. In desperation, she agrees but only on the condition that certain lines are drawn and rules are kept. All is fair and clear until Celine, Reynaldo's high school friend, comes into the picture. His mother had arranged an engagement for them against Reynaldo's persistence on dating his cook, "acting as his girlfriend". Would this act bloom into something beautiful? What wold be the fate of Mia? Would Celine succeed in her quest for love? Will he gain his inheritance?
The electronic door hummed from the porch, followed by the sound of thick footsteps of loafers, thudding against the marble floor. It was Reynaldo. Mr. Davies had invited him over for dinner, but he had arrived earlier than expected.
"Rey, is that you?" His mum's voice echoed warmly from the top floor.
"Hey, Mum!" Reynaldo responded, tilting his head to see his mum's figure descending the stairs.
"Come on in, son." She smiled, heading towards the large brown dining table. He joined her, following suit. They were seated when the cook began serving dinner, neatly arranged for a table of four. Sabrina soon joined them, coming down the stairs.
"Good Evening, family." She said.
"Good evening, Sabrina, how are you doing today? Her mum asked.
"I'm good, Mom. Hmm... dinner looks so yummy!" Sabrina exclaimed, breathing in the savoury aroma.
"How have you been, bro?" she asked, looking at Reynaldo, whose eyes were fixed on the meal in front of him. Although, Rey and Sabrina were siblings, two years apart, they rarely spoke. They spent most of their time apart, from High-school to college days, attending different schools.
"I'm good, Sis." Rey responded, digging into his appetizer.
They all ate silently and slowly, with just the sound of their cutlery clinking, breaking the silence until they were full.
Sabrina was the first to leave the dining table. She received a call about a package she had ordered yesterday.
"Okay, I'd be on way! Yes... yes." She said this into the phone, pushing her seat back and signalling to her parents with one finger.
"I'd be right back!" She whispered before leaving.
Mrs. Davies was the next to leave.
"I have to go take a warm bath." She said, smiling. The comfort of her Jacuzzi, was that one thing she looked forward to at the end of each day. She left, calling the cook to clear the dishes.
Soon enough, Rey realised it was just him and Dad left on the table. His father was staring at him intensely and he knew there had to be more to it. Rey dropped the phone into the pocket of his blue jeans and waited.
He knew there was something behind the dinner invitation which was unusual.
"Reynaldo, son." He called.
"Yes, Mr Davies." Rey responded.
"How've you been, son?"
"I have been well, Mr. Da..."
"I'd prefer Dad, if you don't mind." Mr Davies interrupted.
"Okay, Daaaad." Rey answered, with a hint of sarcasm.
Mr. Davies sighed and continued, "You know, I invited you over for a reason, of which I'm very much certain you do not care to know but I will say it anyway. I'm turning sixty soon. I'm growing old and so are you. Time waits for no one, son. I'm growing too old to manage business projects, and I need to rest. I have built this fortune for you. You and I understand both understand that.
I need to hand over the company to able hands- hands that would be able to handle the value I have placed in time and hard work. I know you have been doing pretty good, son, but there's more to life than just making money. You need a partner through the ups and downs of life, you know."
Mr Davies paused, watching Reynaldo's stern expression.
"Reynaldo, you're my first son. You are my successor and heir. And to be honest I can see you did a good job working yourself into a better man, I'd commend you for that.
But I want just one thing from you before my sixtieth birthday in a few months."
Rey knew where this was headed, and he absolutely hated it when his father brought up the topic of marriage. It made him distant from his father. It angered him and boiled his patience away.
"I want you to get married." Mr. Davies said. "You can only take over the company and its asset if you find yourself an eligible bride before then." He finished, letting his words delve into the tension filling the room.
"What?" Rey's voice thundered.
His nostrils flared as he fumed; his eyes darkened, holding his father's gaze, unblinkingly. He clenched his jaws and gnashed his teeth.
"Is this some kind of black mail? And why do you think you can decide that for my life? What makes you think, Mr Davies, that you can dictate the terms on which I should live?"
"And right now, I think you should mind the manner of your speech, Reynaldo Davies!" Mr Davies's voice grew annoyed and his eyes grew cold.
"Oh please drop that childish longing in the past! I know you loved Vanessa but that doesn't mean you'd remain bachelor. I need a generation that can carry on my legacy." he continued.
"Did you just call it childish?" Rey asked, his eyes narrowing.
"What else is it called when you can't simply move on from a relationship that ended seven years ago?" Mr. Davies's words cut deeply. They were like acid, burning down Rey's throat.
Mrs. Davies, who had been listening from afar, was teary-eyed but refused to intervene.
"Father, there's is no need to bug me like this. Besides, I'm not even thirty-five yet. Your threats won't change my feelings about women. Except for mum, all they care about is money and that is exactly what Vanessa did. So, you won't determine or teach how to live my life, Mr. Davies!" Rey retorted.
"If that is what you want, then, so be it." He paused searchingly.
"But be ready to watch your sister become the next successor."
Rey felt a chill run down his spine at the ultimatum. He looked away fighting the urge to lash out further. "This isn't fair." He muttered under his breath.
"Life isn't fair, Rey," Mr. Davies replied his voice a little softer now.
"But it is the reality we all must face."
Rey's breath laboured with the urge to hit something. In a swift movement, he bumped his fist into the mirror beside the dinning table; Its pieces splattering, sinking into his skin of his tight fist.
"Rey!" Mr. Davies shook in horror and just then, the door bell rang interrupting them. Who could it have been?
Before the Fall Griffin Vale never wanted the wine business. He respected it, sure. Grew up breathing in the barrel-soaked air of fermenting cellars and shaking hands with tycoons in tailored suits before he could spell Bordeaux. But his real love? Architecture. Spaces. Silence. He had an eye for beauty most billionaires ignored-the crooked beams of old barns, the way light poured through cracked windowpanes. He wanted to restore things, not sell them. But legacy doesn't care about dreams. His father, Thomas Vale, the larger-than-life titan of Vale Vineyards, had always said, "A Vale leads. A Vale does not walk away." So Griffin stayed. Showed up at boardrooms. Designed a few tasting rooms on the side. Smiled for the cameras. Dated women who fit the brand. Laughed at jokes he didn't find funny. And then it all collapsed. Fraud. Embezzlement. Stock manipulation. Words that painted headlines in gold and blood. His father arrested, the company in freefall. Investors turned predators. The press camped outside his penthouse. And Griffin? Griffin vanished. He took his grandfather's old truck and drove until the cell towers faded and the roads turned to dust. He didn't want to clear his name. He didn't care who thought he was guilty. He just wanted to forget. The Vineyard Riverbend was the kind of place that didn't make it on tourist maps. A family-run vineyard clinging to the last edge of harvest season, its tasting room barely functioning, its staff down to three. Thalia was its heart-unpaid manager, grape whisperer, and single mother all rolled into one. She hadn't planned on hiring anyone else. But when she found him-"Chris"-sitting on the edge of the loading dock, sipping gas station coffee and asking for work, something in her said yes. He was too clean. Too careful. But his eyes were quiet. And he said please. She put him on vine duty. Watched him fumble with shears and blisters. Smirked when he cursed under his breath. But day after day, he showed up. Never late. Never loud. And never asked for more than what she gave. Thalia didn't need another complication. She had enough-an autistic son who spoke with his eyes more than words, a mortgage two months late, and the memory of her father's vineyard dying beneath the weight of unpaid taxes. But Chris wasn't a man looking to be needed. He just needed to be. And somehow, in the way he held silence like a prayer, she found room to breathe. What He Didn't Know Thalia's vineyard sat on land once owned by Reyes Cellars-her father's dream. A vineyard that once competed with the likes of Vale. But twenty years ago, when a brutal drought hit and investors pulled out, her father was forced to sell. To the Vales. The sale broke him. The land was his soul, and when it was gone, so was his joy. Thalia watched him wither, bottle by bottle, until there was nothing left but debts and a bitter name. She swore she'd never trust a Vale again. And now, unknowingly, she was feeding one. Letting him walk her rows. Letting him into her son's world. Into her own. If she knew-if she found out who Chris really was-there would be no forgiveness. No future. But love doesn't wait for the perfect truth. It rises like steam from morning soil, unexpected and slow. And by the time it's visible, it's already soaked through the skin. The Breaking Point When the truth finally cracks open-when Chris becomes Griffin Vale again-it's not the betrayal that cuts deepest. It's the shame in his own voice when he says, "I didn't come here to lie. I came here because this is the first place I've ever felt real." Thalia doesn't scream. Doesn't cry. She just stares, like she's watching something precious rot in her hands. And her son-her quiet, sweet Mateo-who had just started calling Chris "Tío," won't look at him at all. Trust, once broken, doesn't rebuild with apologies. It rebuilds with action. With hands in the dirt. With late harvests and second chances. With showing up. And Griffin? For the first time in his life, he's willing to fight for something that can't be bought. Even if it means walking away from the empire he was born to save. Side Stories & Emotional Layers Mateo Reyes, Thalia's son, doesn't speak much. But he paints. His world is made of color and shadow, of silence and shape. Chris-Griffin-doesn't try to fix him. He just listens. Offers brushes. Buys better paints with the last of his hidden savings. It's through Mateo's art that Thalia sees who Chris really is-not the billionaire heir, but the man willing to sit still long enough for a child to trust him. Then there's Rosa, Thalia's grandmother, who suspects the truth before anyone else. Her eyes are sharp, her tongue sharper, but she holds secrets like vines hold memory. She tells Thalia that love doesn't come clean. It comes messy. Tangled. The way roots grow underground before they bloom. Even Diego, the town's gruff mechanic, has a part to play. He once lost his own family to a corporate buyout. He warns Chris: "If you want redempt
Stolen Moments are sweet, always enjoyed and memorable but the aftermath is always complicated. This is a story that revolves around a real estate Billionaire —Mr. Patrick Evans and Daniella Smith. The real estate mogul traveled with his team on a trip from Ohio to Texas to check out a property they wanted to buy and resell for clients. Mr. Patrick and his team lodged in a hotel for three days where he met a Lady in that hotel they Lodged in Texas. The third night an incident occurred, Mr. Patrick stole the moment and had sex with her, Daniella realized she was pregnant but Mr. Patrick had gone back to Ohio. She didn't have his contact and that's how she couldn't reach him. Five years later they met and Daniella tried to convince him that he is the owner of the child. Will Mr. Patrick accept the child when he is married to another Lady? Would he believe Daniella? And what will Daniella do if Mr. Patrick denies the baby?
Bailey seems to be never destined to fit in, a little geeky, but under it all, a hidden beauty that so many seem to miss, but still not what her pack Alpha is looking for in a fated mate... so he is determined to reject her and make her life hell. Bailey, knowing her life will likely never be the same focuses on what she can control, her future, and heads off to study; becoming a teacher. Asher is the Beta of Autumn Valley Pack, a neighbouring pack. A broken man having suffered the loss of his mate after a rogue attack, Asher is slowly crumbling. Falling to pieces. A shadow of his former self, and not a man that anyone wants to be around anymore... Until, Autumn Valley Pack require a new teacher, and Bailey finds herself there and pushed together with the Beta. Is there a connection building or is that in their imaginations? And what will happen when Bailey's mate comes back to claim what is his?
After three loveless years, Neil's betrayal deeply wounded Katelyn. She wasted no time in getting rid of that scoundrel! After the divorce, she devoted herself to career pursuits. Rising to prominence as a top designer, skilled doctor, and brilliant hacker, she became a revered icon. Neil, realizing his grave mistake, tried in vain to win her back, only to witness her magnificent wedding to another. As their vows were broadcast on the world's largest billboard, Vincent slid a ring onto Katelyn's finger and declared, "Katelyn is now my wife, a priceless treasure. Let all who covet her beware!"
P-please, I beg you. Come let's go tell Christian I had no hand in whatever happened, p-please." I clutched the lapel of his jacket desperately. "Let's go. You need to tell my husband you were paid." "Young lady, you're harassing me." His tone was cold and his stare granite. But I could care less. "You harassed me first! You had sex with me without my consent, my husband knows and now I'm pregnant with this child he doesn't want. You ruined my marriage! I-I hate you!" ************************************ Caught by her husband with another man on their matrimonial bed the morning after her birthday, Hailey Codza could not defend herself. As though it's not enough, she gets pregnant. Her enraged husband decides to pay her back for her infidelity by having an affair with his ex-girlfriend - Denise Kellers, the family Hailey never knew she had. Losing her family's wealth and company to her husband and his ex (now girlfriend), she is devastated, homeless and penniless as all her credit cards are blocked by her husband. She sees the man who is responsible for her pregnancy. The man she has no idea how he'd found his way to her matrimonial bed - Jared Johnson. Jared is annoyed when this strange woman disrupts his meeting and accuses him of ruining her life, marriage and impregnating her. It affects his business deals and having no choice, he marries her to calm the public whilst engaged to someone else. But he loathes her and allows his family treats her badly. Hailey who has fallen in love with Jared is broken when she can no longer take the humiliation. She signs the divorce papers and leaves, only to arrive six years later to the country as a self-made, secret billionaire and a mother of twins. Now her two ex-husbands are begging to have her back...
Yelena discovered that she wasn't her parents' biological child. After seeing through their ploy to trade her as a pawn in a business deal, she was sent away to her barren birthplace. There, she stumbled upon her true origins—a lineage of historic opulence. Her real family showered her with love and adoration. In the face of her so-called sister's envy, Yelena conquered every adversity and took her revenge, all while showcasing her talents. She soon caught the attention of the city's most eligible bachelor. He cornered Yelena and pinned her against the wall. “It's time to reveal your true identity, darling.”
After two years of marriage, Kristian dropped a bombshell. "She's back. Let's get divorced. Name your price." Freya didn't argue. She just smiled and made her demands. "I want your most expensive supercar." "Okay." "The villa on the outskirts." "Sure." "And half of the billions we made together." Kristian froze. "Come again?" He thought she was ordinary—but Freya was the genius behind their fortune. And now that she'd gone, he'd do anything to win her back.
There was only one man in Raegan's heart, and it was Mitchel. In the second year of her marriage to him, she got pregnant. Raegan's joy knew no bounds. But before she could break the news to her husband, he served her divorce papers because he wanted to marry his first love. After an accident, Raegan lay in the pool of her own blood and called out to Mitchel for help. Unfortunately, he left with his first love in his arms. Raegan escaped death by the whiskers. Afterward, she decided to get her life back on track. Her name was everywhere years later. Mitchel became very uncomfortable. For some reason, he began to miss her. His heart ached when he saw her all smiles with another man. He crashed her wedding and fell to his knees while she was at the altar. With bloodshot eyes, he queried, "I thought you said your love for me is unbreakable? How come you are getting married to someone else? Come back to me!"