OWNED IN THE DARK
After losing both her parents at a tender age, Ciara experiences coldness despite having her best friend Carlista whose parents chose to raise her, she faces several oppositions from extended family and even outside pressure as a result of her inherited wealth; she falls in love with her best friend's brother who refuses to acknowledge their relationship to the public.
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Chapter 5
CIARA
Maggie's eyes narrowed as she took in our dishevelled state-mud-caked shoes, rain-soaked clothes, and the undeniable scent of sex clinging to us like a second skin. I instinctively stepped back, crossing my arms over my chest as if that could hide the evidence of our encounter.
"Well, isn't this cosy?" Maggie's voice dripped with venom as she smoothed her designer dress, looking utterly out of place in the chaos we'd created. "Matthew darling, you've been playing in the rain without me. Trust you had fun? Hello Ciara"
"Maggie, what are you doing here?" Mathew's voice was tight, and I could see the muscle working in his jaw.
She laughed-a cold, calculated sound that sent shivers down my spine. "I came to check on you after the storm but it seems I interrupted something... intimate." Her gaze flickered to me as she walked towards me "You're soaked darling should I be concerned?"
"Watch your mouth," Mathew warned, stepping between us. "Ciara's not-"
"She's exactly what she looks like," Maggie interrupted, circling us slowly. "The orphaned little rich girl who thinks she can squish her way into our relationship. Do you really think he'd choose you over me?" She stopped before me, her face inches from mine. "If there's anything between you two, he'd use you for his amusement, Ciara. Nothing more."
I wanted to slap her, but Carlista's footsteps approaching from the hallway stopped me.
"Maggie! What a surprise!" Carlista's voice was falsely cheerful as she entered the room. "I didn't know you were stopping by."
Maggie's expression transformed instantly into one of sweet innocence. "Just checking on my fiancé after that dreadful storm." She looped her arm through Mathew's, her nails digging into his bicep. "We were just having a little chat with your... friend."
Carlista's eyes widened slightly as she took in the scene, but she recovered quickly. "Ciara was a bit down when she came over but she decided to work in the garden and got caught in the rain."
"Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" Maggie's laugh was sharp as glass. "Well, I should be going. Matthew, we need to discuss our honeymoon arrangements." She kissed his cheek deliberately, her eyes never leaving mine. "Try not to get muddy again without me."
The door clicked shut behind her, leaving silence thick enough to choke on.
"I'm going to kill her," Carlista muttered, turning to face us fully. "What the hell was that about?"
Mathew ran a hand through his wet hair. "She's just being Maggie."
"No, she was a mean bitch who was unnecessarily disrespectful for no reason at all."
Carlista's gaze shifted between us. " I'm sorry this happened Ciara but do I need to be concerned girl?"
"Carlista, absolutely not-"
"Don't you dare lie to me," she snapped, pointing a finger at Mathew. "I don't know what's happened but keep your fiancées evil eye off my best friend."
"Yes ma'am." Mathew chuckled "You're so protective, won't you also protect me?"
I felt tears pricking the corners of my eyes and turned away. "I need to have a bath and change my clothing, please excuse me."
Carlista approached me, her expression softening. "Ciara, I'm sorry. I had no idea this was going on." She hugged me tightly. "I know my brother has been an absolute nightmare to you.'
I pulled back, wiping my eyes. "I'm fine Carlista thank you."
I walked away and moved to my room then into the bathroom and soaked in a hot bath when I felt his presence before he even spoke "I love you Ciara, you know I do."
"Then why her?" I demanded, my voice cracking. "Why propose to her if you love me?"
"For the investigation," he said quietly. "Her family's involved in my brother's death. I needed to get close to them."
I scoffed. "Then investigate all you want but leave me out of your damned mess."
"I'd solve it soon babe. I swear I will."
The door handle rattled, making me jump.
I tried to stand but Mathew took my hand. "We need to talk about the baby, Ciara. And our future."
I shook my head. "There is no our future, Mathew. Not like this."
I pushed him away and wore my robe as I moved outside the door and found Carlista waiting with a package "This came in for you Ciara."
I took it, my hands trembling as I tore it open. Inside was a photo of me, obviously pregnant, walking outside the university. Below it, typed words chilled me to the bone:
We know about the baby. And we know it's not the only secret you're keeping. Come alone to the old warehouse at Docklands tomorrow at noon if you want to protect what's yours. I thanked Carlista and quickly walked back into the room.
Mathew peered over my shoulder. "What is it?"
I folded the letter quickly. "Nothing important."
His eyes narrowed. "Ciara, don't lie to me. Not now."
"Like you haven't been lying to me?" I snapped back. "I need to go home."
I didn't wait for a response, grabbing my bag and heading for the door, my heart racing with fear I hadn't felt since the night I learned my parents were gone. Someone knew about the baby and they weren't afraid to use it against me.
The door to the room opened after a while and I almost screamed as Carlista eyed me suspiciously "Why are you so jumpy Ciara?" I exhaled as I tried calming my unsteady heart. "I'm fine....I was just lost in thought."
She nodded. "Get dressed babe. Matthew has a big fight tonight, let's go watch."
I chuckled "You don't even like watching him fight Carlista so why are we even going there?"
She shrugged nonchalantly as she moved to the wardrobe and brought out a short black micro mini shirt and tank top with black boots replicating exactly what she wore. "This idiot has been making all sorts of idle noise and I'd just take so much pleasure in Matthew beating him to a pulp plus you look like someone who needs to be cheered up.
I laugh as I changed and we both move out. Matthew left a while ago. As we climbed into the car, my phone alerted me for a message "You can't hide forever Ciara....leave him alone if you don't want to be dead." I shivered uncontrollably.
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9.2
For three years, Rachel lived in a marriage that almost no one knew existed.
To the outside world, Captain Jared Holland-the cold and powerful second son of the influential Holland family-was single.
Only a handful of people knew the truth: Rachel was his legal wife. Their marriage had begun because of a mistake and was bound by a prenuptial agreement that promised it would end quietly after three years.
And in Jared's heart, there had always been someone else-Olivia, his foster sister and first love.
When Rachel returns from a grueling flight and sees a video of Jared desperately carrying Olivia to the hospital, the last illusion she held onto finally shatters. That same night, she signs the divorce papers and walks away with nothing but a suitcase and her dignity.
But when the time comes to finalize the divorce, Jared refuses to sign-always finding excuses to delay it.
The woman he once ignored is now determined to leave.
And the man who never valued her is suddenly unwilling to let her go.
Rachel looked at the man in front of her and frowned: "Jared what are you playing? Sign the divorce papers."
Jared smiled, "Darling, I am sorry, I was wrong. Please, let's not get divorce."
8.3
Imogen Montgomery was the perfect billionaire heiress, deeply in love and ready to marry her fiancé, Clark Ellis.
That all ended the night her cousin Kathleen ripped the sapphire pendant from her neck and pushed her into a pool of toxic chemicals to die.
Two years later, Imogen's eyes snapped open. But she didn't wake up in a hospital. She woke up tied to a stained mattress, trapped in the battered body of Briana, a teenage girl from the slums who had just been sold to a local trafficker.
After violently fighting her way out of a cheap motel, she discovered the horrifying truth. Kathleen had taken over the Montgomery Group. She had locked Imogen's grieving parents away in a psychiatric facility as prisoners.
And worst of all, Kathleen was now flaunting her stolen wealth online, preparing to marry Clark.
A wave of pure, white-hot rage boiled in her blood. Kathleen had murdered her, stolen her family, and was playing the perfect grieving cousin. How was she supposed to fight back? She was just a runaway nobody now. If she tried to expose the truth, Kathleen's security would shoot her dead in the street.
She needed a weapon. She needed a shield. She needed the one man Kathleen feared.
Covered in mud and blood, Briana intercepted Clark's car in the freezing rain. She was going to infiltrate his home as his vulgar, unhinged fake mistress, and she would drag Kathleen straight down to hell.
8.2
When our family empire crumbled, my sister and I were sold off as collateral to the Chicago Outfit.
My fierce sister Frankie was forced to marry Damien Moretti, the terrifying Don. I was shackled to his brother Leo, a notorious, degenerate playboy.
I thought my life was over, but the real nightmare began on our wedding night. A terrified maid handed me the wrong room key. Exhausted and numb, I crawled into a dark honeymoon suite, praying my new husband would be too drunk to find me.
Instead, the heavy door opened, and a man fueled by a drug-laced drink stepped in. He was ruthless, punishing, and entirely stripped away my dignity in the pitch black.
When the morning light finally broke, I turned my head, expecting to see Leo's boyish face. Instead, I saw a profile carved from ice.
Damien Moretti. The Don. My sister's husband.
The very man who had previously called me a "liability" and ruined my life. When he realized who I was, his eyes filled with absolute, chilling disgust. He dragged me out of the ruined sheets, threw me onto the floor of a freezing shower, and demanded to know why I had sneaked into his suite.
"You ruined me. How am I supposed to look at Frankie? You should have just killed me. Kill me now, Damien. It would be a mercy compared to this."
I sobbed, the freezing water mingling with my tears. He just stared down at me with cold, unreadable intent. I was now trapped in a house of monsters, carrying the Don's darkest secret, and I had to figure out how to survive without destroying my sister.
9.6
When a global anomaly awakens dormant powers within them, a neuroscientist, a physicist, and an artist discover they are connected by a force that defies time itself. Mert sees the memories of strangers. Elena witnesses the fabric of reality crack. Kai paints symbols from a past he never knew. Thrown together by fate, they are not alone. Across the globe, others are awakening too-gifted with extraordinary abilities. But they are not the only ones. A powerful cabal-a ruthless financier, a tech mogul, and a charismatic influencer-sees the anomaly not as a warning, but as a weapon. Their ambition shatters the timeline, scattering the group across history: from the smog-choked streets of Victorian London to a transhumanist future, and into a terrifying parallel present. Broken into three teams, the group must hunt their enemies through time itself. To survive, they must master their new powers and forge bonds of love and loyalty strong enough to bend the laws of physics. Their final battle will not be fought in any single era, but at the crossroads of all realities, where the key to existence-the very heart of time-is at stake.
9.3
Candice Luna thought her marriage to Julius Hansen was a lifeline to save her father's struggling company.
She didn't know it was a death sentence until Julius coldly slid divorce papers across his mahogany desk.
His true love, Amina Rowe, was nestled in his arms with a triumphant, mocking smile. The "merger" Julius promised had been a brutal, hostile takeover designed to bleed the Luna Group dry from the inside. Bankrupted and utterly broken, Candice's father stepped off the roof of their corporate tower. Meanwhile, Candice was publicly humiliated, stripped of her dignity, and mocked by all of Wall Street as a discarded stepping stone.
She died in a car accident, her final moments consumed by an agonizing, feral scream. She hated herself for letting her blind devotion destroy the father who had always believed in her.
But when Candice opened her eyes to the harsh fluorescent lights of a hospital room, she realized she wasn't dead.
She was twenty-two again. Three years before the wedding. Three years before her father's suicide.
When Julius's assistant walked in holding a bouquet of blue roses to discuss the preliminary merger, he expected a docile, desperate heiress.
Instead, Candice grabbed a glass of water from the nightstand and flung it directly into his smug face.
"Tell Julius Hansen to never, ever send his dogs to my door again."
This time, there would be no engagement. This time, the Hansen family would choke on her family's legacy.
8.0
Madeline slammed the prenuptial agreement onto the table, forcing Danielle to sign herself away as a "blood bag" bride.
To secure her mother's safety, Danielle was sold to the ruthless, comatose billionaire Deforest Stuart. She kept her head down, perfectly playing the role of a terrified, broken mute.
But on her wedding night, Deforest's sister set a vicious trap, dragging Danielle to a hotel to be ruined by a sleazy investor.
Danielle was prepared to escape, but the hotel door was suddenly smashed open by a massive figure.
It wasn't the investor. It was her comatose husband, Deforest, temporarily awakened by a violent, drug-induced rage.
In the pitch-black room, he pinned her down, mistaking her scent for a ghost from his past, and violently claimed her.
She fled before dawn, only to be blinded by camera flashes.
His sister dragged her back to the Stuart manor, ripping her collar open under the chandelier to expose the dark hickeys on her neck.
"Throw this shameless whore out into the street!" the matriarch ordered.
Danielle's eyes grew cold. If they kicked her out now, her years of planning to tear this rotten family apart would be completely destroyed.
No one believed that the monster who assaulted her was the very man lying perfectly still in the medical wing.
Playing the frantic mute, Danielle dragged the family to his bedroom.
Right as the guards reached for her, she launched herself onto the bed, crushing her weight directly onto Deforest's chest.
A second later, the "comatose" tyrant's eyes snapped open with murderous rage, and her real game of revenge finally began.