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"In my world, there is no lovemaking, just plain fucks with no strings attached. I cannot love you, Elna." Grinding my waist against his groin, I cup his face and say, "Then fuck me." * * * When Elna's father first suggests an arranged marriage between her and Brandon Stark-the hot British billionaire-she is reluctant to go on a date with the man. On realising the dire state of their family business and the stress it puts on her beloved parents, Elna makes the bold decision to go ahead with it. Her family comes first. What she expects is a cold, cordial marriage. What she hopes is for their relationship to eventually lead to something more, as was the case with her parents. Ambitious go-getter that she is, Elna takes it upon herself to make her calm, controlling, anti-romance husband fall helplessly in love with her. But what she doesn't expect is to be drawn into Brandon's BDSM world of chains and whips, doms and subs. Will Brandon's love be more than Elna can handle?
"You will be fine, El," Pa starts. "After all, your ma and I never married out of love, but look at us now." His brown eyes take on a dreamy look and my lips curve into a small smile that disappears as soon as his gaze returns to my face. "So in love."
He takes my left hand in his, squeezes it as his way of reassuring me but I am far from reassured. A foreign emotion claws at my throat, tears burn the back of my eyes and I make a sound between a choke and a sob.
Why me? Why us?
I steal a glance at Pa's face, there's no sign of laughter. Instead, I'm met with lines that have etched deep into his forehead, sunken eyes from lack of sleep and cracked lips.
The tiny mole on his nose seems to have grown bigger, maybe it is my imagination. His shoulders are hunched, eyes hold great wisdom like they have seen things he must not voice out. His movements are slower than they should be as if he has thought long and hard before deciding to move.
When did Pa grow this old? He looks to be somewhere around his mid-seventies when he is ten years younger and I wonder if they lied when they said, Black don't crack. Maybe they did. Because Pa has cracked or will crack soon unless I agree to his offer.
A weight settles on my shoulder, the idea in itself makes me shudder involuntarily. This request he asks of me will change my life forever but I know I will do it. I will do anything for my parents to be happy again.
"I'm doing this because I love you." I place a kiss on my father's forehead, towering over him with my 5'11 height, one of the qualities that earned me modelling gigs before I quit. "I hope this works out well."
"I love you too and it will. I won't set you up for this if I wasn't so sure." His eyes water a bit but he doesn't cry. "You know this, El."
Do I? This is a set up, the only option is yes.
For his sake.
Sighing, I sink into the worn-down chair in this dilapidated office with chipping paints and rat-infested ceilings. If I look closely, the mould on the ceiling will have a more definite form. Sometimes, it's a map, other times, it's any shape my mind eye conjures.
"Say hello to ma for me," I say as he stands with a groan, "I'll swing by next week."
He sweeps his coat to one side so he can place a hand on his waist. We stare at each other long enough for me to glimpse the disappointment and hurt brimming in his eyes but he doesn't say anything. I have not been home in days, weeks; it reminds me too much of all we have lost. They might act like all is fine but it isn't and I can't pretend.
Pa finally sighs in defeat, he can already tell they will not be seeing me at home this weekend or next. He blows a kiss in my direction and I return it without looking him in the eyes. I am a bit angry at him, Ma and myself for the things I cannot change.
His fragile footsteps are slow and calculated but the wooden floor still creaks under his weight. Some of the nails of the floorboards are missing, a little misstep and you will be slapped into oblivion by the unforgiving wood. The whole place needs renovations but it guarantees privacy for talks like this.
At the door, Pa turns around to face me, waving lovingly at me as if to say he knows he has asked too much from me already. And I send him a smile that is the opposite of what I feel on the inside. I have to do this for them. They have already done enough.
When he is gone, I locate my black handbag on the floor, the hand-me-down from Ma I have owned for more than three years. My fingers brush the brown envelope and I withdraw them sharply as though it burns. I shove the file deeper into my bag, wishing this is a dream so I can wake up and declare this a nightmare. But it is not; this is real.
I make my way out to the front of this single-storey building, stopping to stare long and hard at what used to be our favourite place in the world. The letters, N PAR hangs precariously from the building, I step back. It used to be ANN PHARMA written in gold letters but the other letters have fallen off.
Pa claims it was named after Ma whose full name is Annika; she is his good luck charm. When Ma got tired of correcting people for mispronouncing her name, she decided to go by Ann instead. Only Pa can pronounce her name correctly, it means grace unlike my name, Elna which means beloved.
I shiver a bit as the cold evening air lashes angrily at everything in sight, pulling my coat tighter to my chest. Ignoring the catcalls that are thrown in my direction, I start the short journey to my apartment.
“Marry me, Leilani.” “What?” “We will have rules. There will be a contract.” Eyes widened in shock, she muttered, “You want me to be your wife? A contract wife?” * * * After her Tinder date goes horribly wrong, Leilani heads off to join her best friend at a wedding. There, she meets a man with the strangest proposal ever. A contract marriage. A normal person would have said no but a lonely person would consider the idea. So, she says yes to this hot, handsome stranger. Marrying a stranger wouldn’t be the worst decision she has taken. Or so she thinks, until she heads to the office the next work day and the head of department tells them the company has experienced a major change. A change as major as getting a new boss, who also happens to be her new husband.
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When the Alpha of Zebulun dies without an heir, the throne automatically falls to his sister, Hadiza, the mateless beta. But there's one problem. Female wolves cannot lead. Desperate to find her mate and keep the throne in her family, she joins a dating site that connects humans and werewolves. One mistake--a matchmake gone wrong leads Hadiza to an unexpected date with her mate, a human besotted by his long term girlfriend.
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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..."Â But Kallie's response was firm and dismissive, cutting through any lingering ties. "Get lost!"
Rosalynn's marriage to Brian wasn't what she envisioned it to be. Her husband, Brian, barely came home. He avoided her like a plague. Worse still, he was always in the news for dating numerous celebrities. Rosalynn persevered until she couldn't take it anymore. She upped and left after filing for a divorce. Everything changed days later. Brian took interest in a designer that worked for his company anonymously. From her profile, he could tell that she was brilliant and dazzling. He pulled the stops to find out her true identity. Little did he know that he was going to receive the greatest shocker of his life. Brian bit his finger with regret when he recalled his past actions and the woman he foolishly let go.
Corinne devoted three years of her life to her boyfriend, only for it to all go to waste. He saw her as nothing more than a country bumpkin and left her at the altar to be with his true love. After getting jilted, Corinne reclaimed her identity as the granddaughter of the town’s richest man, inherited a billion-dollar fortune, and ultimately rose to the top. But her success attracted the envy of others, and people constantly tried to bring her down. As she dealt with these troublemakers one by one, Mr. Hopkins, notorious for his ruthlessness, stood by and cheered her on. “Way to go, honey!”
June Rivera was divorced by her husband after three years of marriage because he wanted to be with her sister who was pregnant for him. Kicked to the curb with a divorce and rejected by her parents,she struggles to make ends meet and get a job until she saves Luis Ambrose from an accident - the only child of Rafael Ambrose, a widowed man and the CEO of Ambrose Corporation. When little Luis asks to have her as a nanny, and Rafael's mother pressures him to get married, they draw a contract. To be Luis's nanny and his fake wife for one year in exchange for 50 million dollars!
Anabel found out she was pregnant and dialed her husband's number to share the good news to him. They have been married for two years without a child. Desmond's mother had been accusing her of being barren and unproductive. When the call was picked, she was flabbergasted and broken. She was hearing a loud moan of feminine voice. "Ohh! Yeah! Don't stop fucking me! Fuck me harder baby!" accompanied with sound of skins slapping against the other. She went home to confront her husband and end up receiving a divorce paper. Desmond divorced him for a lady his mother was rooting. Few months later when he found out that his ex-wife is a billionaire heiress and she is pregnant with twins, he went crazy!