Chapter 4

Brandon Hughes had it all-wealth, status, power-until a single scandal stripped him of everything. Julia Bailey never believed in fairy tales; juggling three jobs just to survive, she had no time for spoiled heirs. When Brandon crashes into her life-literally-she finds herself stuck with a penniless man who knows nothing about survival. But Brandon isn't just another jobless troublemaker. He's the disowned heir of the Hughes Corporation, hiding a secret identity that could change Julia's life forever. Torn between betrayal and desire, Julia must decide: should she trust the disgraced heir who turned her world upside down, or side with James Whitmore, the ambitious lawyer who promises her stability but hides dangerous secrets of his own? A story of love, betrayal, redemption, and the revolution of two hearts.

Her sister is marrying her ex. So she brings her best friend as her fake fiancé. What could possibly go wrong? Savannah Hart thought she was over Dean Archer-until her sister, Chloe announces she's marrying him. The same man Savannah never stopped loving. The man who left her heartbroken... and now belongs to her sister. A weeklong wedding in New Hope. One mansion full of guests. And a very bitter maid of honor. To survive it, Savannah brings a date-her charming, clean-cut best friend, Roman Blackwood. The one man who's always had her back. He owes her a favor, and pretending to be her fiancé? Easy. Until fake kisses start to feel real. Now Savannah's torn between keeping up the act... or risking everything for the one man she was never supposed to fall for.

Lita Martinez has spent her life running from hunger, from heartbreak, from the memory of the girl who once shared stale bread under a streetlight with a boy who swore he'd never let her starve. Now, ten years later, she's marrying wealth instead of love. Marcus Thorne, her billionaire boss turned fiancé, offers safety, status, and the life she once dreamed of. But safety has its price. Damian, the best friend she left behind, is the echo she can't silence. On the morning of her wedding, their forbidden night still burns between them. And when Marcus's glamorous ex returns with whispers of blackmail and blood, Lita's perfect marriage begins to crack. The truth shatters everything: Marcus's hidden past, Damian's unhealed wounds, and the realization that the man who built her future once destroyed her family's past. In a world where survival demands sacrifice, Lita must choose love, revenge, or herself. "Her Best Friend's Wife" is a story of ambition, guilt, and the impossible cost of climbing out of the dark.

"She was mine first," Dimitri whispered, his voice deadly calm. "And you stole her in the dark." Dimitri and Alexei Volkov are twin brothers, mafia kings, bound by blood and loyalty. When one bleeds, both bleed. When one kills, both kill. Nothing has ever come between them. Until her. Irina was Dimitri's maid, his peace in a world of violence. The only woman allowed close enough to touch him, to see the man beneath the monster. He fell for her quietly, deeply, and completely. But one drunken night at a party, Alexei stumbled into his brother's darkened room. He wore Dimitri's robe. She thought he was Dimitri. And in the shadows, a line was crossed that could never be uncrossed. Now Irina carries the child of her master's brother! When Dimitri discovers her pregnancy, rage consumes him. When Alexei claims her as his own with a cruel smirk, something breaks between the brothers. The bond that made them invincible now threatens to destroy them both. Two brothers. One woman. A baby that will crown one king and condemn the other. In the world of the Volkov mafia, betrayal is paid in blood. When this war is over, will any of them survive?

It was June, at the crack of dawn, a beautiful woman woke up with pains wracking her body and a splitting headache in a presidential suite of a five-star hotel, somewhere in the capital city, Nordeny. She felt utterly exhausted. Her head was killing her. It was as if she had woken up in a stranger's body. The young woman was Anya MacMillan. She forced her eyes open and pushed herself up. The sight before her baffled her. A huge bed. Messy sheets with streaks of dried dubious fluids stained. Clothes strewn across the bed and the floor. Clothes that belonged to her and a man. Anya jerked in shock. She whipped her head around and stared at the other side of the bed. On the huge and messy bed slept the man whom she had been secretly in love with forever. Evan Welton, the most sought-after bachelor in the capital city. The Adonis of Nordeny. Exhaustion lined his handsome face. His eyes were tightly shut. He showed no signs of waking up. He was completely naked, His finely sculpted form laid completely bare to Anya's eyes. The pounding in Anya's head worsened. Her breathing quickened. Did she...had she...with Evan...last night? Anya shoved aside the splitting pain in her head and forced herself to recall what had happened last night. Last night...she remembered that she had paid a visit to her stepmother. What had happened after that? Her memories were a blur. Her head felt heavy and her neck was killing her. Amid the fog clouding her head, snippets of memories flashed. She remembered heated touches, naked flesh and then some... There was no doubt about it. They had sex. It must be her stepmother. Her stepmother must have drugged them! Anya couldn't think of anyone else who would do something so vicious to her! Anya felt an alarm sound off in her head. 'She had to get out of here,' she thought. She tried to clamber out of bed immediately. She knew exactly who Evan Welton was. The man set to inherit the vast fortunes of the wealthiest family in Nordeny and the bachelor whom every young woman from any respectable family sought to marry. A man who loathed the advances of women he didn't know. Angering him would mean death. Anya imagined the possibility of Evan waking up right now. What would he think when he saw the mess? There was no way she could talk her way out of this one. She had been secretly in love with the man since she had been a girl. She didn't want the man to detest her. Anya scrambled to get out of bed. Suddenly, something shot towards her from the other side of the bed. He wrapped himself around her slender waist and yanking her back forcefully. The next moment, she was trapped under someone. She heard a husky male voice, rough with anger and through a clenched jaw. "Anya MacMillan...how dare you drug me..." Anya's mind cleared up. The fog that had clouded her head dispelled immediately. She shook her head frantically. "I didn't do it! It wasn't me..." "You didn't? How did you end up in my bed then?" Evan detested such shameless and stealthy means. His fingers tightened around Anya's pale arms. His strong grip nearly crushed her fragile bones. Pain spiked down Anya's arms. Her eyes reddened as she repeated herself. Evan wasn't interested in listening to her denials. In his view, she was just another despicable, loose woman who drugged him so that she could sleep with him. He released his grip on her and shoved her aside roughly. Then, he got out of bed and began to dress himself. "I don't want to see you again. Ever. Appear in my sight again and you're dead." The young man pulled on the rest of his clothes angrily. It was then that Sydney, Anya's stepsister, burst into the room suddenly. The sight of the mess in the room sent her into an instant rage. She had thought that the drug would make them pa** out and put up a deception of them having had sex. They weren't supposed to actually sleep with each other!

On a stormy night, I discovered a painful truth about my husband, and the weight of his secrets were unbearable. "Blake, please say this isn't true," I begged, feeling my heart break more with each passing moment. He stood there, unfeeling, as if my hurt didn't matter to him at all. "Now that you know, I don't need to pretend anymore. It's done. Let's just forget about it," he replied coldly. For seven years, I had devoted myself to caring for him and his family without complaint, believing in his love for me. Yet he chose to betray me. My name is Treasure Delgado, and that night, I stood my ground. "Blake I refuse to overlook your lies any longer. I want a divorce." His anger erupted, revealing a side of him I had never seen before. "Then get out!" he shouted. Penniless and with only the remnants of my belongings, I found myself in a rundown house in a forsaken town. However, instead of sinking deeper into sadness, I promised to rise from the pain of his betrayal. There was something incredible awaiting me in that old house, which brought out a fierce and brilliant side of me that I didn't know I possessed. Though my husband had cast me aside, I was about to learn that what one man considers trash could become another person's treasure. A change in my dealings with men was about to take place. Amid a high-stakes breakup and a scandalous secret love affair emerges, where money talks and love is the battleground, I wouldn't just play the game, I was going to be the one to change it. It's my untold story of how I rise from the ashes, after divorce.