Thought
Flash Marriage to the Tycoon, I'm Spoiled Rotten
Cast out by an "elite" family and mocked by high society, Elena shocked everyone by marrying the most powerful man in town. They assumed it was a temporary arrangement-after all, he had said, "The agreement is for two years. After that, we're done." Yet after the wedding, he refused to let her go. "Elena, you can't leave me." As he doted on her, rumors shattered one by one. A renowned painter, top hacker, and tech mastermind-her true identities stunned the world. When a luxury empire announced their lost heiress, all eyes turned to her. "Why did she look exactly like Elena?"
Chapter 1 A Check Left Behind
When Elena Harvey opened her eyes in a hotel suite, the very first thing that met her eyes was the man stretched out beside her. He was absurdly hot.
A look of embarrassment crossed her face, mixed with something much harder to name.
At the gathering the night before, she had only taken a few sips before sensing that something was terribly off. She had gotten away as quickly as she could, light-headed and losing strength with each step, until she somehow ended up on one of the guest-room levels. One of the doors had been left a crack open, and in her muddled state, she had stumbled inside.
A tall, striking man had come into view.
"Leave."
Those were the first words he had said to her—icy, curt, and clearly laced with anger.
But then, she had felt far too terrible to think clearly about anything. The only thing that had stayed with her was how striking he was—and how, despite the frost in him, she had still been unable to resist drifting closer, wanting to lean into him...
Elena drew her brows together and forced the memory to stop before it went any further.
The man at her side stirred all at once. Her heart gave a violent jolt. She yanked herself back to the moment and fixed her gaze on his beautifully chiseled face, a thread of unease passing over her features.
Several seconds slipped by. Luckily, he stayed asleep.
Only then did she release a soft breath of relief. As carefully as possible, she eased herself out from beneath the blanket, rose from the bed, and ignored the ache running through her body as she hurriedly collected the clothes lying all over the floor.
She had to admit, slipping off without a word after a night together wasn't quite fair.
After getting dressed, Elena remained beside the bed and looked at the man still sleeping there. He truly was outrageously hot. She had seen many good-looking men in her life, but never one who had struck her so sharply at first sight.
There was only one issue—he hadn't been gentle in bed.
A few broken fragments from the night before suddenly flickered through her mind. Warmth rushed straight to her face, and she shut the thought down at once.
After hesitating briefly, she pulled a check from her bag and laid it softly on the bedside table. Then, still feeling as though that was not enough, she found a pen, wrote a short note, and placed it next to the check.
Only after that did she turn and walk away.
The moment she stepped into the elevator, her phone started ringing. She pulled it out and answered. "Hello."
"Uh... what happened to you?" the woman on the other end asked right away, sharp as ever. "Why do you sound utterly drained early in the morning?"
Elena cleared her throat softly and lowered her voice. "I didn't sleep well last night."
"You didn't sleep well? Why?"
"It's nothing." Elena rubbed the bridge of her nose, obviously not wanting to linger on that topic. "Why are you even calling me now?"
"Oh, right. Henry Watson's men showed up at the gallery again. They said they were willing to pay ten times your painting's listed value. Are you planning to think it over again?"
Elena gave no reply right away.
As though terrified she would reject it, the woman quickly kept going. "Sweetheart, do you have any idea who Henry Watson is? He's the one in charge of Genesis Group. That man has power, a vicious streak, and the kind of reputation no one dares challenge. The moment his people walked in, I could tell—he wanted that painting badly. I already turned him down once. If I say no again… I really think my life might be in danger."
People said Henry had taken hold of his family at sixteen and forced the family's internal feud into submission. By the age of eighteen, he was already the true power controlling Genesis from behind the scenes. Now, at only twenty-six, he had driven the company's market value up several times over. His ascent had been so rapid and ruthless that it had turned him into an almost legendary figure in the business world.
No one outside the people closest to him knew what he really looked like, yet the stories surrounding him had never once died down.
After thinking for a brief moment, Elena said yes. "Fine, let him have it."
That painting had been prepared in the first place as a present for the Barnes family. There was no point in that now.
That family had always looked down on her for being ordinary. They'd never meant to keep their promise to her father, either. And Elena? She had no interest in marrying some spoiled rich kid from that family.
The woman on the other end breathed out deeply in relief, her excitement nearly spilling over. "Perfect. Once the sale is completed, I'll send the money over to you."
"You don't need to ask for ten times the price," Elena said. "The original amount is enough."
The woman let out a laugh. "I know. Even if he really was willing to pay that much, I still wouldn't be brave enough to accept it."
Because it was Saturday, Elena's roommates were all gone.
The instant she returned to her dorm at Bramville University, she hurried into the bathroom. She kept her eyes nearly closed through most of the shower, refusing to examine her body too carefully.
Once dressed, she sat down at her desk and quickly broke into the hotel's surveillance system.
As it turned out, the camera inside the private room where the party had taken place had failed the night before and captured nothing whatsoever.
Elena never trusted coincidences that fell into place so cleanly. After reflecting for a moment, her delicate fingers returned to the keyboard. A few minutes later, she stilled. Her gaze, pinned to the screen, went ice-cold.
So the one pulling the strings was exactly who she'd thought it was.
After a short pause, Elena brought up the surveillance from the hotel corridor outside the guest rooms. As she watched herself enter a suite, her brows drew together faintly, but she left the recording intact. The check she had left carried her signature. Deleting the video now would only make the matter look even more suspicious.
She wasn't trying to avoid what had happened. She had only bolted because the entire situation had been painfully embarrassing. If that man was displeased with how she had dealt with it, they could discuss it.
Even so, she hoped he would take the check and leave the matter buried.
Back in the hotel suite, Henry stood beside the bed, looking down at the note in his hand, his eyes impossible to read.
"I'm sorry. I was set up last night. Thank you for helping me. Here's a check. Let's pretend none of this happened."
His face turned frigid. He clenched the note in his fist, then looked at the check, his expression growing even darker.
If the toxin in his body hadn't surged so abruptly and stripped away his self-control, he would never have ended up sleeping with that woman.
She had slept with him, then left as though it meant absolutely nothing—and to make it worse, she had actually dared to leave him a check, as if he were someone she could toss money at and dismiss. The nerve.
He hurled the crushed note aside. As he reached for his phone to call his assistant, his eyes landed on a streak of blood on the bedsheet.
An hour later, Henry's assistant, Ashton Campbell, walked up to him with obvious care. "We've located her."
Henry sat on the sofa with his eyes shut, his striking features hard as carved stone. Even without saying a word, he carried the sort of crushing authority that made people lower their voices without thinking. "Speak."
"Her name is Elena Watson. She's twenty years old, a junior in the computer science department at Bramville University. Top grades. Not well-off. Her father is dead, and her mother remarried. She's living alone in Bramville for college now, and she attended last night's gathering with her classmates."
Ashton hesitated, then went on, "Going by the surveillance footage, she really was out of it at the time. Your door hadn't fully shut, and she wandered in by mistake."
"Not well-off?" Henry opened his eyes at once, doubt flashing through them. "Then what's with the check?"
A seven-figure check was nothing in his eyes, but for an ordinary college student, it was hardly a trivial sum.
"There's a story going around the campus," Ashton said cautiously. "Apparently, her father once did a wealthy family a favor. Before he passed away, he placed his daughter in their care and hoped she would marry into that family. They turned it down, but it seems they gave her a sum of money instead."
Henry turned his gaze to the check on the coffee table, his eyes narrowing a fraction. His face gave away nothing, making it impossible to guess what was on his mind.
Ashton looked at the check. For a man like Henry Watson, that amount was practically pocket change. After spending the night with him, she still had the audacity to slight him like this. She was done for.
"Mr. Watson, should I go to that university and bring her here?"
After a short silence, Henry said, "Not at the school. Bring her to Hartwell Mansion."
"Yes, sir." Then Ashton recalled something else. "Also, sir, the gallery owner agreed to sell Drift's painting. Would you like it delivered to Hartwell or the family estate?"
The mention of the painting he had wanted eased Henry's expression a little. "Send it to the Hartwell. Go in person. Have it framed and put up in the sitting room."
Ashton gave a nod. "Understood. I'll take care of it immediately."
One Night With Blaze
Blaze Arden Vaughn is an heir of a huge empire, an ace student of medical faculty, very handsome, sweet and nice. His name signifies fire but his heart is as cold as ice. Ace Daxton Anderson is a known 'one night stand' guy and a bi. A gang leader who won't back down from a gang fight and is not afraid to be bruised just to prove his point. They are both in the same university but they have their own territory and never knew each other's existence. Until the day that the Ice Prince fixed his cold gaze on the very hot gang leader on the field. "You want me that bad...that your eyes are screaming it out loud..." Blaze announced with his challenging tone and a calm smile, making Ace's jaw clenched while their gazes locked. "I can smell your desire even from afar..." Blaze continued with a very subtle smirk, making Ace grit his teeth. "Who would not...you are Blaze Arden Vaughn...the epitome of perfection...everybody's dream guy" Ace sarcastically responded, a smirk grazed his lips. His jaw clenching in annoyance not with Blaze but with himself. "So Ace Anderson, want to try, a Blaze Arden Vaughn for tonight?" Blaze smirked as he casually ask, making the grim face of the gang leader looked stunned and dumbfounded. A one night stand offered by the cold and distant Blaze Arden Vaughn, just one night of pleasure... one night of curiosity.
Forced Marriage With Adored Superstar
"From today onwards, you are my slave. Don't you dare try to escape from my hands. You will live in my control for the rest of your life." For Pearl, marriage was the greatest prison. She would be imprisoned for the rest of her life. But she may have forgotten that there are actually two people in this "prison". Forced to marry by a big star, she couldn't imagine what such a life would be like.
The Wife You Thought Was Gone
My perfect marriage shattered with an e-vite for my husband's son's first birthday-a son I never knew existed. The true nightmare unfolded at my own birthday party when his mistress, Hayden, had their son run to my husband, Chase, and call him "Daddy" in front of all our friends. In the ensuing chaos, Chase shoved me. I fell, hit my head, and miscarried the baby I had just discovered I was carrying. He left me bleeding on the floor to comfort his mistress and their child. But Hayden wasn't done. To eliminate me for good, she had me kidnapped and thrown off a cliff into a canal, whispering that Chase wanted me gone permanently. I survived. I faked my death and disappeared, channeling my pain into my work. Now, six months later, I'm accepting a prestigious award on international television. I see Chase in the crowd, a broken man rushing toward me, begging for forgiveness. This time, I'm the one who gets to walk away.
He Thought He Wrote My End
On the first anniversary of our reconciliation, I thought my tech mogul husband and I had finally turned a corner. Then I discovered our entire marriage was a spectator sport. It was a cruel, year-long revenge game orchestrated by him and his lover, and I was the punchline. For their amusement, I was poisoned with food contaminated with dog feces, publicly humiliated with a twenty-million-dollar auction scam, and beaten until my ribs broke by his family's private security. I endured it all, playing the part of the clueless, loving wife while they laughed about it in a group chat called "The Jillian Andrews Comedy Hour." But their grand finale was a step too far. I overheard him calmly planning to leave me to die in a remote cabin during a blizzard, a "tragic accident" that would finally set him free to be with his mistress. He thought he was writing the final chapter of my life. He didn't know I was about to use his murder plot as my own perfect escape. I faked my death, vanished into thin air, and left him to explain to the world how his beloved wife disappeared off the face of the earth.
Thought
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On the first anniversary of our reconciliation, I thought my tech mogul husband and I had finally turned a corner. Then I discovered our entire marriage was a spectator sport. It was a cruel, year-long revenge game orchestrated by him and his lover, and I was the punchline. For their amusement, I
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My perfect marriage shattered with an e-vite for my husband's son's first birthday-a son I never knew existed. The true nightmare unfolded at my own birthday party when his mistress, Hayden, had their son run to my husband, Chase, and call him "Daddy" in front of all our friends. In the ensuing ch
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He Thought I Would Silently Endure
On our fifth anniversary, I found my husband's secret USB drive. The password wasn't our wedding date or my birthday. It was his first love's. Inside was a digital shrine to another woman, a meticulous archive of a life he'd lived before me. I searched for my name. Zero results. In five years of ma
Poems of Progress and New Thought Pastels
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