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KEANE GRAY, ruthless, handsome and the CEO of a multinational conglomerate is fueled by hatred for the Whites. He plans to rise victor in the battle of the families as he runs them into bankruptcy and forces the only daughter, Aria White into a contract marriage that dissolves in a strict span of two years. ARIA WHITE in her quest to please her uncaring father finds herself stuck in a messy battle of pride, money and power. She is forced into a contract marriage with a man she likens to the devil himself in hopes of an alliance between the families. What could be the agenda of both families as they clash in a case of POWER AND MONEY.
I wake up drenched in a disgusting amount of sweat still shivering from the nightmare as I search my belly for any marks that weren't there already. This time he'd held a knife over my torso and was carving something on me, I still felt like I could feel the pain of his knife on me. I choke back a sob as I battle to hold back the tears welled up in my eyes
'It's just a dream, it's just a dream'
I repeat the chant in my head till I feel myself calm down, nothing sucks more than a clogged nose from too much crying
Glancing over at my clock, I notice it's 6am? I'd normally wake up from this dreams around 2-3am then stay awake till the sun was fully up.
I reach for my dream journal at the side of my bed and document in details what I'd seen in my dream.
I hurriedly get into the shower after the writing, another boring day with no friends, no siblings and my newly downloaded Seasons of Lucifer. I'm most definitely going to binge watch it all today, I have no idea why I hadn't done that sooner. Could have made my days in the bastard's house seem better, I know Tom Ellis fixes everything. Well most things, somethings just remain broken.
I'm drying off my body in when I hear my phone buzz with a notification, well it's most definitely not a text, friendless and all. I check my phone and it's a push notification on Keane Gray's latest business conquest. My blood boils as I see his face in my notifications, the sadistic son of a bitch. My father was tolerable before Keane bought off major shares to our company, he'd gotten people to buy them, then bought them from those people. He did this till he'd gotten 50 percent of our shares. He stole all the biggest clients and left my father barely holding up the company. White Corp ended up falling apart leaving us close to bankruptcy.
In a way I guess I'd have him to thank, it was the bankruptcy that made Luke break things off with me but then again he'd always put Luke in a foul mood and I'd always end up paying for it with my body. Every mark and bruise, every discoloration on my skin had Keane Gray all over it. I'd kill him if I had the chance to. Already irritated, I drop the phone on my dresser to start getting ready for my day, I put on the short black dress Luke had gifted me for show. He'd bought it off the Dior Fall 2022 show in Seoul, personally I loved the dress and I wouldn't let a horrible man taint my fashion. It worked with my curly red hair and I'd gotten compliments on the way it brought out my grey eyes. We'd probably have to start selling off things so I'd like to wear the beauty more, not every 20 year old gets to have what I have. If it wasn't mocking I'd say I am blessed. The short dress exposes the ugly bruises on my legs, I go through the painstaking stress of having to conceal each mark with makeup. When I'm done I check to make sure there are no marks on my body
I fall back into my bed, ready to start my Luciferthon when I hear a growl from my body, my mouth hangs open in amusement as I realize the only thing I'd had to eat the day before was an orange, one orange. I make my way out of my room and into the hallways, there aren't a lot of helps hanging around anymore, another thing to hate Keane Gray for. My mother hates having to do anything for herself, it makes her 'perfect self' not so perfect. You'd think a stay at home wife would be more resourceful at running a house. All they do around here is get into fights about the most stupid things while skillfully ignoring their only child. Sometimes I think my mother should have been physically unable to have children, I cannot count how many times they'd forgotten they had me when I was younger. I'd been forgotten at places ranging from high class restaurants to fucking school, one time she'd forgotten she'd been walking with me and crossed the street without me in a hurry. I ended up waiting at a police station after I couldn't find her for hours.
Dealing with neglect hurt badly as a child, I'd spend days not talking to anybody, I had to be homeschooled because I acted out at school at every slight opportunity and soiled the family name as I was always told. I'd do anything to make them notice me, make my father notice me. But as always Riccardo White was always going on and on about the Greys.
'You'd never hear that Keane Gray lit his classroom on fire, you'd never hear that Keane Gray kept rows of needles in his teacher's chair, this Keane, that Keane.'
He didn't care that Keane Gray was older than me with a full 10 years. Everything was always about being better than the Greys, I'd cancelled college plans and got engaged at 18 to Luke for my father and all he could think of was that Keane Gray would own a better engagement ring. And now that things are off with Luke my father couldn't act more disappointed in me if he tried. It's humiliating how I act around him even at 20. Once a neglected love sick puppy, always a neglected love sick puppy.
I stop at the grand door of the kitchen as the scent of freshly baked cupcakes I hadn't noticed before, wafts through my nostrils. One of the few staffs of the house left and my favourite, Grace sets a batch of chocolate cupcakes on the counter. At 60, Grace still moves with an agility I can't understand, she is always weirdly bubbly and downright happy. Her small frame shakes as she dances to whatever weird 80s music she's listening to. She shrieks as she does a spin and notices me at the doorway
"Cariño are you trying to get rid of me? I almost died."
She screams, her English thick with a Spanish accent as she whacks me with her mittens. I'm laughing as I put distance between myself and the tiny woman trying to kill me. I grab at the cakes but she pulls it away very swiftly, attacking my fingers with a ladle
"I just want the cakes Grace come on"
I whine as she catches up to me and pushes me out, she smirks and says
"Breakfast's by 7, I'll ring you down"
before slamming the heavy doors in my face with absolutely no stress. I laugh as I munch on one of the cakes I'd managed to get before she threw me out.
'One day I'll be making my own cakes in my own home'
I laugh at the thought knowing I'm never getting married again, I'll stay single and adopt a child or two whenever I feel I'm ready. Nothing is putting me back in a house with a man supposedly my husband.
In the bustling city of Harborbrook, two strangers find their lives intertwined by an unexpected twist of fate. Amelia, a fiercely independent young woman, and Ethan, a pragmatic businessman, enter into a contract marriage for reasons beyond their control. Bound by legalities, they embark on a journey together, navigating the complexities of their arrangement amidst societal expectations and personal dilemmas. As they pretend to be a happily married couple, their lives become a web of emotions, secrets, and unexpected desires. Amelia, with her dreams of independence, clashes with Ethan's practicality and reserved nature. Yet, amidst the charade, genuine feelings begin to surface, challenging the boundaries they've set. "Tied by Fate: The Story of a Contract Marriage" explores the intricate dance between duty and heart, as Amelia and Ethan discover that sometimes, the very thing you're trying to avoid is the one thing you need the most. Will they succumb to the growing attraction and let love rewrite their contract, or will the terms of their agreement bind them forever?
In the enchanting realm of Eldoria, Lady Amelia Everhart and Lord William Thornfield navigate an arranged marriage, unveiling family secrets and enduring trials. Amidst adversity, their love triumphs, uniting their families and kingdom in an eternal bond of love and unity.
Lindsey's fiancé was the devil's first son. Not only did he lie to her but he also slept with her stepmother, conspired to take away her family fortune, and then set her up to have sex with a total stranger. To get her lick back, Lindsey decided to find a man to disrupt her engagement party and humiliate the cheating bastard. Never did she imagine that she would bump into a strikingly handsome stranger who was all that she was currently looking for. At the engagement party, he boldly declared that she was his woman. Lindsey thought he was just a broke man who wanted to leech off her. But once they began their fake relationship, she realized that good luck kept coming her way. She thought they would part ways after the engagement party, but this man kept to her side. "We gotta stick together, Lindsey. Remember, I'm now your fiancé. " "Domenic, you're with me because of my money, aren't you?" Lindsey asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Domenic was taken aback by that accusation. How could he, the heir of the Walsh family and CEO of Vitality Group, be with her for money? He controlled more than half of the city's economy. Money wasn't a problem for him! The two got closer and closer. One day, Lindsey finally realized that Domenic was actually the stranger she had slept with months ago. Would this realization change things between them? For the better or worse?
Veronica is an eighteen-year-old omega who falls into an emotional breakdown when her Mate, who was soon to be the Alpha of the Sun crest pack, turns against her, hurls hurtful words at her, and rejects her on the night of the full moon festival because he and everyone in the pack, including her, thinks she is an omega. As if the pain of rejection, helplessness, and worthlessness wasn't enough, she lost her best and only friend to the cold hands of death when rogue wolves attacked their pack. Right in the presence of her mate, she was tagged as someone who always attracted problems and calamities anywhere she went and he turned a blind eye and watched as she was banished from the pack. With hatred for her life, she runs deep into the woods that were off-limits and jumps off to end her life, but in a turn of events, something else happens. What would her mate do when he finds out that Veronica is not who he thinks she is? Will she be able to forgive him? What fate lies ahead for them?
Her fiance and her best friend worked together and set her up. She lost everything and died in the street. However, she was reborn. The moment she opened her eyes, her husband was trying to strangle her. Luckily, she survived that. She signed the divorce agreement without hesitation and was ready for her miserable life. To her surprise, her mother in this life left her a great deal of money. She turned the tables and avenged herself. Everything went well in her career and love when her ex-husband came to her.
The day Raina gave birth should have been the happiest of her life. Instead, it became her worst nightmare. Moments after delivering their twins, Alexander shattered her heart-divorcing her and forcing her to sign away custody of their son, Liam. With nothing but betrayal and heartbreak to her name, Raina disappeared, raising their daughter, Ava, on her own.Years later, fate comes knocking when Liam falls gravely ill. Desperate to save his son, Alexander is forced to seek out the one person he once cast aside. Alexander finds himself face to face with the woman he underestimated, pleading for a second chance-not just for himself, but for their son. But Raina is no longer the same broken woman who once loved him.No longer the woman he left behind. She has carved out a new life-one built on strength, wealth, and a long-buried legacy she expected to uncover.Raina has spent years learning to live without him.The question is... Will she risk reopening old wounds to save the son she never got to love? or has Alexander lost her forever?
"I've warned you from the beginning. Don't marry him, but you won't listen." Darcy stood close to me and smiled with concern. "You're not a woman worthy of a man as handsome, rich, smart, and virile as Blaze." My whole body trembled at her words. "Have you no shame?" I asked. "Take a good look at yourself, Heather." She stared at me in the mirror. "You can't even glance at your ugly face. Do you think Blaze can endure a lifetime of gazing at that scar?" Heather Bailey got a surprise from her husband: a divorce agreement. After a year of marriage and facing ups and downs, she couldn't believe Blaze intended to divorce her. She was devastated when she saw him gazing lovingly at another woman. After signing the divorce papers, shockwaves caught her up. Her flower shop was burned to the ground. Her father's company collapsed, and her parents blamed her. She struggled to rebuild her life from the ground up and became more successful than ever. Having many customers from influential families, she started her revenge on Blaze. She won the very thing he wanted, but that was just the beginning.
As a simple assistant, messaging the CEO in the dead of night to request shares of adult films was a bold move. Bethany, unsurprisingly, didn't receive any films. However, the CEO responded that, while he had no films to share, he could offer a live demonstration. After a night filled with passion, Bethany was certain she'd lose her job. But instead, her boss proposed, "Marry me. Please consider it." "Mr. Bates, you're kidding me, right?"