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Tales from Many Sources / Vol. V by Various

The Grand Hyatt ballroom glittered with the success of SmithTech's IPO, a company I, Alex Chase, had secretly poured three years of my life into, building its unbreachable cybersecurity. As my wife, Sarah Smith, the celebrated CEO, took the stage, her eyes met mine, chillingly. Then, the hammer fell. "It' s also a night for new beginnings. For cutting away dead weight," she announced, her gaze fixed on me, the "live-in husband." Sarah's assistant, Mark Johnson, smugly presented my termination letter. My "courtesy position" in IT was revoked, my performance "lacking." The cameras, once focused on her triumph, now devoured my public humiliation. Sarah then ordered the destruction of my simple black laptop, calling it "junk," an "eyesore." I watched in silent horror as Mark gleefully smashed it to pieces, scattering the "true core of SmithTech' s security"-my life's work-across the marble floor. They didn't see the truth. They only saw a pathetic husband, discarded. How could they be so blind? This wasn't just a laptop; it was the master key, the quantum core that authenticated their entire system. Without it, SmithTech isn't just vulnerable; it's doomed. Their billions mean nothing. The system I built, the fortress they so carelessly destroyed, will now turn against them. As I walked out into the cool night, leaving behind the laughter and the wreckage, I smiled. My name online wasn't Alex Chase; it was Hades. And their public debut? It just became their public execution. The clock was ticking.

Burdened by her responsibilities to her tribe, Nora desperately tried to find a solution-but fate had a surprise waiting for her. Running from his shame, unable to awaken the wolf inside him, Max thought he was destined to live a life of isolation. But the moment he saw her, everything changed.

This story contains mature themes intended for adult readers. It includes depictions of forbidden relationships, power imbalance, manipulation, emotional abuse, betrayal, jealousy, and grief. Pregnancy loss, infertility fears, and complicated family dynamics are explored. There are references to self-harm and suicide without graphic detail, as well as illness, hospitalization, and death. Scenes may include intense intimacy, obsession, coercive behavior, and psychological distress. Readers may encounter controlling relationships, consent complications, and long-term emotional trauma. If these topics are distressing, please read with care, take breaks, and prioritize your well-being. Support resources are recommended for readers affected by these themes.

“I’m sorry but I can't continue this. We have both gotten what we intended from fooling the world that we were actually a couple. It's time to go our separate ways Jarek… like we said we would, “ Olivia said, hoping the tone of her voice would not betray her and convey her true need…her true desire. “Too late Liv.” Jarek said stunning Olivia. “As a Stark, it’s my duty to uphold the rules of any binding and keep to my end of the bargain but with you… With you, I plan on breaking every rule out there that exists as long as I keep on being yours. I can not bear to see you with another. It will kill me…” Jarek replied and the last clause came out as a whisper as he tilted her chin up to face him properly. “I could go raving mad Miss Forte. Stay with me!” His last words had stolen the other words she had rehearsed earlier, it had snatched the willpower Olivia thought she had perfectly. “Kiss me Mr Stark. My name is Olivia and it feels pleasant to meet you, “ Olivia said as she ran her hands from his chest to his shoulders. He did not have time to react to her sub - introduction before he clasped his lips on hers. She hummed a moan at the familiarity of his lips that she had thought she would never get to experience again and she earned a groan from him as the ‘supposed’ reuniting kiss, intended to be soft and alluring graduated to something ferocious. Hands finding buttons, fingers sinking in hair… ********************* Jarek Stark, the only son to the Stark Empire, was a mystery to the media. They know he exists but no one could tell who exactly he is. He worked as a lawyer in a law firm and got intrigued by a particular woman who wasn't fascinated by any of his charms. Her name, Olivia Forte. A woman with a strong sense of justice for others than herself. She is unaware that in the shadows she has a fan -a stalker - who uses his spare time to keep tabs on her. He makes no advances towards her because he was aware of the love she had for her boyfriend. That was until he cheated on Olivia. Seeing an opportunity to get close to her, he latches on it. Would Olivia still desire to be with Jarek when he becomes her boss and reveals his true identity to her and others? Would their relationship also be able to stand when she finds out his secret and also when he finds out her deleted past?!

A Woman Martyr by Alice M. Diehl

"[...] "Most gladly, sir." The impatient man behind them pushed them on. They heard him begin to plead: "Say, Abe, you know I carried Mattoon for you; I'd like to be Minister to England." Boys and girls always appealed to the President's heart. When there were[...]".

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Deidre went to the clinic and learned she was finally pregnant, but her failing heart meant carrying the baby would kill her. Before she could process the grief, she received an anonymous photo of her husband, Danial, tenderly escorting a heavily pregnant woman into a VIP hospital. The woman was his cousin, Daria. Following them, Deidre overheard Danial call her a "sterile decoration," promising to get rid of her while securing a Cayman trust fund for his illegitimate child. The nightmare only worsened when Daria gloatingly confessed to a horrifying truth. Daria had stolen the credit for saving Danial in a fire—a heroic act that had actually destroyed Deidre's heart. Even more sickening, Daria had bribed a doctor two years ago to fake Deidre's ectopic pregnancy, tricking Danial into authorizing the surgery that murdered their perfectly healthy baby daughter. When a grief-stricken Deidre attacked the murderer, Danial furiously shoved his wife to the ground. Ignoring her heart spasms and gasps for air, he threw her out into a freezing New York blizzard to die. Lying in the snow, Deidre's love turned to pure ash as she realized she had sacrificed her body and her child for a blind monster. But she didn't die that night. Rescued by Danial's biggest Wall Street rival, Deidre marched into her husband's office the next morning alongside New York's most ruthless divorce lawyer. "Sign it, or I'll freeze your offshore trust and burn your empire to the ground."

Elise Carr built her life like a set piece-elegant, precise, untouchable. As a brilliant theater director at an elite New York academy, her days are scripted, her emotions locked behind red velvet and applause. But everything shatters the night she meets Leo. Leo Ruiz is reckless, magnetic, and far too young. A student with a past buried in ash and anger. A man who enters her world with a bruised fist, a cigarette behind his teeth, and eyes that burn too brightly. He shouldn't be in her life. He definitely shouldn't be in her bed. But their chemistry is instant. Explosive. Dangerous. Behind closed doors, their affair is raw, obsessive, electric. Onstage, their connection threatens to burn down every boundary Elise has ever enforced. And when a violent video goes viral, the world comes for them-with claws. Accusations. Lies. A mysterious girl from Leo's past. And Adrien Laurent-Elise's charming, sadistic ex-husband-is pulling the strings behind it all. The man she once loved. The man who tried to ruin her. But Leo has secrets, too. The kind that bleed. The kind that can't stay hidden forever. One name links them all, one name Elise never expected to hear from the lips of the man tangled in her sheets. Adrien Laurent. Because Leo isn't just trouble. He's blood. As the academy threatens to crumble, Elise must decide if their twisted, impossible love is worth the ruin it brings-or if she's falling for a man who was sent to destroy her from the very beginning. And just when Elise thinks the worst is over, a message arrives: "You really don't remember me, do you?" Some ghosts don't stay buried. And some lovers... were never strangers at all.

INDIA RUDÁ LEFT THE FOREST TO CHARM THE WORLD WITH ITS FOOTBALL.

For nine years, I was the perfect mafia wife. I laundered Marcus Thorne’s money through my design firm, smiled at his dinners, and ignored the lipstick stains on his collars. I believed in the Omertà of our marriage. I thought my loyalty was my armor. I was wrong. On the night of our anniversary gala, a car lost control and barreled straight toward us in the parking lot. Marcus didn't look at me. Not once. He lunged for his mistress, Izzy, tackling her to safety behind a concrete pillar. I was left standing in the open. The impact threw me like a ragdoll. I lay bleeding on the cold asphalt, my body broken, watching through the haze as my husband frantically checked his mistress for scratches. "My ankle," she whimpered. Without a backward glance, he picked her up and carried her to his limousine, leaving me to bleed out on the pavement. He didn't leave me because he panicked. He left me because I was just a shield he used to protect what he actually loved. As darkness crept in, a shadow fell over me. It wasn't Marcus. It was Julian Croft, his sworn rival. I looked at the empty spot where my husband should have been and made a choice. "Get me to the hospital," I rasped, staring into the eyes of the enemy. "And then help me burn his empire to the ground."

I had dedicated three relentless years, sixty-hour weeks, and sacrificed countless lunches to single-handedly launch Project Titan, Momentum Corp' s most crucial software release. My life was on track, balanced with a career I built from the ground up and a future planned with my boyfriend, David, who worked in sales at the same company. Then, a seemingly ordinary Friday afternoon was ripped apart by an email landing in my inbox at 4:58 PM, starkly titled: "Team Restructuring." The harsh reality hit: my name was obliterated from the org chart, brazenly supplanted by Jessica Peterson, the unqualified daughter of Mr. Peterson, fresh out of college and totally clueless. My boss, with chilling dismissiveness, then flat-out told me to either wholeheartedly support his incompetent daughter or simply go find employment elsewhere, as "it's a family business." The betrayal spiraled as my boyfriend, David, became increasingly elusive, eventually exposed on Instagram, arm-in-arm with Jessica, brazenly labeled as a "power couple" at a rooftop bar he once deemed too expensive for us. A devastating email from him followed, abruptly ending our five-year relationship, confirming he' d abandoned me for the very person who usurped my career, leaving me with nothing but a churning knot of indignation. Everything - my hard-earned career, my loyal team, and my long-term relationship - was brutally stolen, leaving me standing in the ashes, reeling from an unfathomable injustice that screamed betrayal. But just as despair threatened to consume me, an unexpected call from my father, the head of Miller Real Estate, unveiled a shocking twist: he was gifting me the deed to the very office building Momentum Corp occupied. It was a moment of profound revelation, transforming me from a victim into a landlord with an unprecedented opportunity to reclaim what was mine, and teach those who wronged me an unforgettable, public lesson.

My boyfriend and I made a pact: Stanford first, then the world. But an hour before the deadline, he gave it all up for another girl. He chose to stay at the local state university, for Anisa, a girl who seemed so helpless. He arrogantly assumed I would give up my future to follow him. He didn't know, in that moment, he was the one I was letting go. I vanished from his world. He thought I was overreacting, that I'd come around in a few days. But when I boarded that plane to California, I wasn't just leaving him behind. I was choosing myself, for the first time.

love story that was never supposed to happen… until it did. They were never friends. Not even close. She thought he was arrogant. He thought she was impossible. But one night — one mistake — changed everything. What started as a meaningless fling turned into tangled emotions, sleepless nights, and feelings one of them never meant to catch. As she falls harder, he pulls away, unsure if he’s ready to love or just too afraid to try. Through heartbreak, silence, and stolen glances, their story becomes a delicate mess of one-sided love, unresolved tension, and emotions too big to ignore. But when life forces them together again, they must face the truth they've both been running from. Was it ever just a fling... or were their hearts entangled from the start?

Criminal Types by V. M. Masten

Molly Brown, a 21-year-old woman, previously resided in Las Vegas with her parents and cousin sibling, where she enjoyed a contented existence. She was left at the hands of her avaricious uncle, John Astor, and his manipulative wife, Edith Russell, when she lost her parents in a tragic accident, though. Molly's inheritance, as the only heir to her father's wealth, comes with a clause: she must be married by the time she reaches 23, or else everything falls to her husband. Molly lived under the supervision of her uncle for two years, who plans her marriage with the vicious, power-hungry Jack Dawson. Seeking sanctuary with her childhood friend Eleanor Widener and her boyfriend, George Widener, she runs desperately to California. Here she meets George's best friend and merciless wealthy CEO with a troubled history, Charles Lightoller. Charles suggests a contract marriage to guard Molly against the plans of her uncle. As actual emotions grow between them, what first seems to be a simple arrangement quickly becomes something more. But terrible family secrets surface and treachery lurks in every direction as Molly's birthday draws near. Will the past separate them or will their love survive?

Evelyn Reeve thought she'd buried her past as a werewolf, but when her son's life hangs in the balance, she's forced to confront the world she left behind. Deceived by those she trusted most, Evelyn finds herself embroiled in a dangerous game of revenge, with only one man who can help her – Sebastian Kale, the Alpha who rejected her as his mate and shattered her heart. As rogue werewolves and a powerful witch join forces against them, Evelyn must decide whether to trust Sebastian again, or go it alone to protect her pack. But the truth she uncovers blurs the line between good and evil, loyalty and betrayal. With magic threatening to consume them all, can Evelyn and Sebastian overcome their painful past and rekindle the flames of their forbidden love? Join a dark and suspenseful journey through a world of werewolves, witchcraft, and second chances, where love may be the only force powerful enough to save them.

"Elena, that's not your name, is it?" he teased, sending a shiver down my spine. My breath caught in my throat as I felt his warm breath on my ear, my underwear was wet. ***** Isabella is the daughter of the former Mafia King. her family's downfall was orchestrated by her father's brother's betrayal, resulting in her expulsion. She was compelled to engage in smuggling from Avalia to Rome and eventually fled, assuming the new identity of a young girl. The city is divided into slums and rich areas, and is ruled by 7 mafia bosses. Eight years later, she met a mysterious boxer who always appeared in underground fighting arenas. He was a dangerous and charming man who always appeared when she was in trouble. Is there any secret behind his approach to her?

Zara Night is tired of being the academy's biggest failure. As the only werewolf who can't shift, she's stuck cleaning classrooms while elite students like Kai Storm train for a war she doesn't understand. But when students start disappearing and Zara begins having impossible dreams of flying through space and devouring entire packs, she realizes her biggest weakness might be her greatest weapon. Kai Storm has one mission: earn the werewolves' trust, then lead them to slaughter. But falling for the academy's "broken" omega wasn't part of the plan. As his alien programming fights his growing humanity, Kai must choose between his creators and the girl who's about to become the most powerful being in the universe. When Zara discovers that Earth's werewolves are being bred as soldiers for an alien empire, and that everyone she trusts has been lying to her, she'll have to embrace the monster inside her to save not just her world, but reality itself. Some secrets are worth killing for. Others are worth dying for. But some secrets can end everything.