Chapter 7 Mother-in-law From Hell

Angela Celeste secretly has a crush on her hot and sexy boss, Xander Whithold. He is the dream of every high-class woman in New York. Everyone in New York knows Xander as the god Adonis. As his secretary, Angel doesn't have the guts to cross the line. She will only admire Xander from afar while working as his secretary. But things change so fast when they accidentally run into each other at the club. Xander sees Angel in a different form. She doesn't look like Ms. Celeste, his very formal secretary at the office. Angela shows a different side of herself; wild, passionate, and sexy. He can't control his possessiveness towards Angela when a stranger approaches her. Xander grabs Angela's hand and kisses her. Impulsively, he tells the man that Angela is his girlfriend, while Xander has a fiancée who has been engaged to him since he was a child.

Married off to him to pay a debt that was never mine, my only purpose was to give him an heir. Year after year, my foolish heart fell harder while he shattered it without mercy. When my service ended, my debt paid, and no child to bind us, I chose freedom through divorce. But just when I thought I was free... I was bound to him again. Bound by his child.

I stepped out of the bedroom, sleep having abandoned me. I needed something-anything-to silence the noise inside me. But I wasn't alone. He was there. Standing in the dark, by the window... The top buttons of his shirt undone, a glass of whiskey between his fingers. He turned to me slowly. "Couldn't sleep?" I nodded, my voice barely a whisper. "I don't want to sleep." He took a step. Then another. Until he was right in front of me-close enough for the heat of his body to kiss my skin. He said, "You know you're playing with fire, don't you?" I looked into his eyes-those eyes that shattered all my defenses. And I whispered, voice trembling, "I'd rather burn... than stay this cold." I don't know who moved first. All I know is that suddenly, I was in his arms. Surrounded by his breath. And in that moment-I forgot my name, my marriage... everything. He leaned in, his breath rough against my ear. "I'm your husband's father... this is wrong." Then after a beat, "But I want it to happen." --- I married him to escape the pain. But my heart only beat for one man-his father. I thought marriage would bring peace. A shelter from a bleeding past. But I didn't realize I was stepping straight into the storm. A storm named Leonardo Ricardo. A man who knows no mercy. A man who never accepts defeat. And worst of all? He's my husband's father. His eyes trap me. His voice chains me. And his touch... His touch brands me with sin. What happens when a woman shifts from obedient wife to prey caught between two flames? One gave her his name. The other stole her soul. Forbidden Romance · Age Gap · Family Drama · Steamy · Dark Passion

Isla Hart has one priority: survival. Drowning in bills and personal struggles, she needs money, fast. So when Lucien Cross, a powerful and emotionally distant CEO, offers her a lucrative deal to pose as his fiancée, she accepts. The rules are clear: no emotions, no attachments, and no complications. It's strictly business. Lucien Cross has built his life on control. Wealth, power, and influence are effortless to him-but love is a liability he refuses to entertain. With a critical merger at stake, a fake engagement is just another calculated move. Isla is meant to be temporary, a convincing presence by his side until the deal is secured. But proximity has consequences. As Isla steps into Lucien's world, she begins to see beyond the cold exterior, the loneliness, the pressure of his empire, and the past he keeps buried. And Lucien, despite himself, finds his carefully ordered life unraveling. Isla isn't just playing a role anymore. She challenges him, softens him, and awakens feelings he never planned to have. When the truth behind their engagement starts to surface and old secrets threaten Lucien's empire, the line between contract and reality shatters. Isla is forced to face the one thing she promised herself she'd avoid: love. Now, with everything on the line, reputations, power, and hearts, Isla must decide whether love is worth the risk. Because this time, love was never in the contract. And the fallout could cost them both everything.

(Trigger warning: this book has some elements of dark romance with an unhinged ML) "Would you give me your surname or better take mine then? Will you be the lucky man?" I blurted out having no idea of what I was saying. My head was already in the clouds and blinded by his smile. It calmed the storm in my mind. He laughed. Those dark abysses were truly alluring when they sparkled. His fingers grazed my cheeks, wiping off my tears, before cupping them in his callous palms. "If you love my surname so much." A foolish smile graced my lips, oblivious of the fact that he wasn't joking. "You can't back down now, hubby. You just got a wife." I thought I lost everything when I walked away from Sinclair. I never imagined I'd end up as Alaric Von Duvall's wife. ******* Her life was written in stone. A perfect life one she always dreamt of. Everything Cassandra wanted was within reach until one night revealed the love she'd trusted was a lie. Betrayal and deceit from those she trusted the most made every belief she had crash down. What she didn't expect was to stumble into a stranger's arms, into his bed and wake up married. Alaric gave her what she thought she wanted; now she can't take it back. One reckless mistake became a wedding vow. Now she's trapped inside Alaric's empire of lies. Married to a stranger who knows more than he's letting on He's dangerous. He's charming. And in front of everyone, he claimed her as his . Caught between Sinclair's obsession, Alaric's shadowy intentions, and her family's betrayal, Cassandra doesn't know if this marriage will be her downfall... or her salvation.

His lips crashed into mine like he couldn't stop himself. Like he had been holding something back for too long and it had finally cracked. I didn't think, I didn't breathe. I just kissed him back, because whatever this was, whether wrong, confusing or dangerous, I wanted it just as badly as he did. His hands gripped my waist, pulling me flush against him, our bodies pressed together like we'd done this a hundred times in our dreams but never dared in the light. "I tried to ignore this," he muttered against my lips, voice rough and ragged. "Tried to erase it." His mouth returned to mine, hotter, hungrier, tongue sliding into mine, tasting me like I was something he needed to survive. "But you're everywhere," he breathed, kissing the corner of my mouth, then down to my throat. "In my head, my routine, in my f*cking sleep haunting every dream." I couldn't answer. I could only cling to him, fingers curling in the fabric of his shirt, heart threatening to leap from my chest. "You've broken me," he whispered into my skin, like a secret he never meant to say out loud. "And I can't even bring myself to hate it." My body trembled at the admission. I affected him as much as he affected me and that thought was heavenly. ********* She was the quiet shadow behind his magnificent empire, efficient, obedient, forgettable.He was the billionaire with the Midas touch of gold and power, untouchable, commanding, and always in control. But when Mark Rexona walks into his office and finds his seemingly shy and diligent secretary, Teresa Smith , with her fingers deep in a fantasy that stares something in him, something that destroys his control. Two worlds collide then collided, hers, filled with quiet but intense yearning and hidden heat and his, was ruled by dominance and untamable desire. What starts as one very stupid mistake behind a supposedly locked door spirals into an exciting and intoxicating game of lust, secrets, and power plays. He wants to own her and her pleasure and she is still haunted by the ghosts of her past. In the chaos of boardrooms, blindfolds, and late-night adventures, intense passion turns into a very dangerous game.Because what happens when slight curiosity becomes obsession, and when the billionaire's cold heart starts to crave more than just her body?