0
TOP UP
Reading History
Sign out
Get the APPAlmost Strangers
/1/129475/coverorgin.jpg?v=7cffc475e4bbe7e23904a63fe7cd1bf2&imageMogr2/format/webp)
Jilted Girlfriend? I Am The Tycoon's Wife
Cara Lewis sat quietly as her boyfriend of three years pushed a plate of dessert across the table, wearing a rehearsed mask of sorrow. He claimed he had to break up with her for her own good, blaming his lack of connections on Wall Street and insisting he couldn't give her the life she deserved. He acted like a martyr making a tragic sacrifice, waiting for her desperate tears and trembling denial. Instead, Cara calmly pulled out a stack of glossy photos and an elegant engagement invitation. She exposed his secret affair with the wealthy Hailie Lewis, completely dismantling his hypocritical social climb. Leaving the cheating narcissist pale and humiliated, Cara paid the bill and walked out, thinking the trash had finally been taken out. But her newly single evening took a chaotic turn when a teenage gaming partner called in a panic. He begged her to crash his elite prep school and pose as his aunt to save him from expulsion. Cara agreed, flawlessly playing the role of the secret new wife to his uncle, a notoriously ruthless Wall Street titan. She was thoroughly dominating the snobby school board when the office doors suddenly swung open. The real billionaire uncle, Beck Greer, walked into the room. Cara's heart dropped into her stomach as his glacial eyes locked onto her, knowing her social existence in New York was about to end. Caught in a terrifying, inescapable lie, Cara made an insane calculation. She stepped forward, firmly hooked her arm through the billionaire's, and smiled sweetly. "Honey, what took you so long? Julian and I were being bullied." She waited for the executioner's axe to fall, but the untouchable tycoon simply covered her hand with his and played along.Across the white tablecloth of Serafina, Bradyn Hubbard—Cara Lewis's boyfriend of three years—set his wine down and leaned forward. He pulled a thick, cream-colored envelope from his jacket and slid it across the table until it rested in front of her.
Cara looked down. The gold foil lettering was fresh from the press.
Engagement Gala
Groom: Bradyn Hubbard
Bride: Hailie Lewis
Venue: The Lewis Estate, Long Island. Next Saturday.
"Cara, let's be realistic," Bradyn said, his voice dropping into a conspiratorial whisper. "Hailie is my ticket to the top. Marrying her is the only shortcut for a guy like me to get a seat on the board. I don't love her—she's just the ladder I have to climb for my career."
Cara stared at the card, then lifted her cold amber eyes to meet his. "So you're proposing what, exactly?"
Bradyn gave a smug, self-satisfied smile.
"We break up publicly. But in private? Nothing has to change. You funded my MBA and paid my rent for three years—I haven't forgotten that. Stay quiet, be my little secret on the side, and once I secure the Lewis assets, I'll make sure you're taken care of in luxury."
Cara stared at his shameless face, her voice dropping into a dangerous, silky calm. "You sold yourself as a kept man to my stepsister, and you expect me to be your dirty little secret?"
"Don't make it sound so ugly, Cara," Bradyn scoffed, waving a dismissive hand. "That's how men get ahead in Manhattan. Be realistic, Cara. You're broke and you have no one. Who else is going to take care of you? Don't be stupid. Just take the deal."
Cara looked at him for one quiet second, her lips curving into a razor-sharp smile.
"In your wildest dreams, Bradyn."
Without a second's hesitation, Cara picked up her crystal tumbler and threw the cold bourbon and ice straight into his face.
The freezing liquor drenched his styled hair and soaked the collar of his designer shirt. Bradyn gasped, shooting up from the velvet booth in sheer shock, frantically wiping his stinging eyes.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" he snarled, glaring at her as neighboring tables turned to stare.
Cara set the empty glass down with a quiet, deliberate tap.
Without breaking eye contact, she reached into her Saint Laurent bag, pulled out a thick manila folder, and dropped it heavily onto his soaked lap.
"Open it, parasite," Cara said calmly.
Bradyn's hands shook as he ripped the folder open.
A thick stack of forensic-grade photographs spilled across the table. His breath caught in his throat—the photos showed him and Hailie completely naked, tangled in the satin sheets of a suite at the Baccarat Hotel.
Taped right behind the prints was a notarized invoice.
Columbia MBA Tuition & Fees: $186,000.00
Tribeca Penthouse Lease Subsidies: $94,000.00
Bespoke Wardrobe & Networking Tabs: $62,000.00
TOTAL REIMBURSEMENT DUE: $342,000.00
Bradyn's face turned an ashen, sickly gray. "You... you tracked me?"
"Three hundred and forty-two grand," Cara said, tapping the total with a manicured nail. "Wire it back to my account by Monday morning. If you don't, these photos go directly to Hailie's father and the Lewis board."
The shock on Bradyn's face instantly curdled into ugly fury. He slammed both hands on the table, leaning in with a desperate hiss. "You crazy bitch! You gave me that money willingly—that was trust money! You can't sue me for gifts!"
"I invested in a partner, Bradyn, not a freeloader," Cara said coldly. "You lived off my money for three years just to become my stepsister's leashed lapdog. Pay back every cent by Monday, or wear the collar in public."
"You fucking bitch—" Bradyn lunged forward, grabbing for her wrist.
Cara smoothly stepped back, out of his reach. She stood tall, smoothing the front of her tailored coat, looking down at him with absolute disgust.
Slowly, deliberately, she raised her hand and flipped him a clean, effortless middle finger.
"Congratulations on the engagement, Bradyn," Cara said softly. "You and Hailie deserve each other."
/1/127968/coverorgin.jpg?v=1a9ef56507cc7586be1c8a67b68e851c&imageMogr2/format/webp)
Almost Strangers
I never expected my past to become my boss. Fifteen years ago, Morgan Aries was my best friend. Then an accident took his mother, my mother went to prison, and our families were torn apart. I never saw him again. Now, at 26, I finally have a stable job at Morgan Technologies. I should be celebratin/0/1903/coverorgin.jpg?v=20171123180121&imageMogr2/format/webp)
/0/78850/coverorgin.jpg?v=24d43a73a1d252698af17c97b5f1a322&imageMogr2/format/webp)
ALMOST MINE, ALREADY HIS
Gregory William, a charming playboy billionaire, had never grasped the true meaning of life-until he met Camila. She isn't as beautiful or classy as the women revolving around him. But Camila has something none of them do: an effortless ability to make him laugh, even in his darkest moments. To Greg/0/74546/coverorgin.jpg?v=d7d3ae3c281ae666a4aed62d5c72211c&imageMogr2/format/webp)
Strangers In Matrimony
Ava Waverly never expected her blind date to turn into a marriage proposal, much less on the same day she showed up with nothing but her luggage and six months of unpaid rent haunting her. Married to a man she barely knew, Ava was shocked to find her life taking a complete 180. Her husband had the/0/48064/coverorgin.jpg?v=3ccb1a3eacacb77f56c3462246061240&imageMogr2/format/webp)
ONE NIGHT WITH STRANGERS
He tied my two hands up to a pole. Even my two feet. He even covered my eyes with a white cloth. My breathing quickened because he did that. Sweat was dripping from my forehead to my shoulders. I'm Fucking Nervous! I moved a little when I felt his finger on my neck against my chest. I really feel t/0/61190/coverorgin.jpg?v=e97ec097127f2deb7d4259c26947d4eb&imageMogr2/format/webp)
Married But Strangers
Rebecca has nothing left in her life, no one to help her with her mother's declining health. She decides to meet her step father for help and he offers to help her but then she was going to have to marry Killian Edwards, the son of his business partner who was rumoured to be the poorest man in the c/0/74410/coverorgin.jpg?v=18f89046f2a4d97f56df0dedc9530a0e&imageMogr2/format/webp)
Strangers to Spouses
Wiltspoon's hot weather in October was a killer. Still, the mornings and evenings were eased by the late autumn breeze. Serenity Hunt got up first thing in the morning to make breakfast for her sister's family of three before grabbing her birth certificate and slipping away ... Serenity had believe/0/75782/coverorgin.jpg?v=abc9df6977ae5eeb0de67fa61764442f&imageMogr2/format/webp)
Strangers In Vow
Blurb: A marriage born out of duty. A love neither of them expected. And a rival determined to tear them apart. Mira Lawson never imagined marrying a cold, wealthy businessman like Nathan Cole. But with her father's health failing and her family drowning in debt, she has no choice but to say yes. F/0/27416/coverorgin.jpg?v=7ea8ab0d60df724669fd068f757ccab3&imageMogr2/format/webp)
The Familiar Strangers
Running through the woods with logs laid everywhere and because it was getting darker by the minute, made it so hard for Laura to seek refuge. The only source of light was the full moon and even the moon didn't give clearer light because of the trees. Laura could feel she was running out of breath/0/99062/coverorgin.jpg?v=8972c798a2911be862f59b59e3f1997d&imageMogr2/format/webp)
The things we almost were
"Kaelin, this feels wrong... we shouldn't be doing this," he muttered, his voice shaky, eyes darting away like he wasn't sure if he should even be here. "Relax... just trust me," I said quietly, trying to ease the tension in his shoulders. He sighed, still looking conflicted. "But I'm not gay," he/0/82384/coverorgin.jpg?v=1072e5d08064f0c698e2fb10decf35c1&imageMogr2/format/webp)
When Best Friends Become Strangers
I spent my entire childhood as one-third of an inseparable trio: "EOM Forever." That meant a built-in future, headed to UCLA with my best friends, Olivia and Maya. And by college, I was supposed to choose which of them I' d pledge my heart to. But as my cursor hovered over the UCLA "Submit" butto/0/83138/coverorgin.jpg?v=40eea7c1b366dbddc45d9ef6a28dcc64&imageMogr2/format/webp)
The Malice of the Almost-In-Laws
A romantic getaway, a beautiful Texas hotel, my fiancé Kevin by my side—it should have been perfect. I thought our future was set. Then searing pain hit. A ruptured ovarian cyst, internal bleeding. I was dying. Kevin? He ignored my pleas, focused on a non-refundable hotel, dismissing my agony/1/102297/coverorgin.jpg?v=44d29525e0fea1f93432ef922c92f05e&imageMogr2/format/webp)
The Woman He Almost Killed Lives
I spent three years as the perfect girlfriend to Silicon Valley's "Ice King," August Armstrong, only to overhear him call our entire relationship a "training exercise" to win back my estranged stepsister, Caroline. He used me, then cast me aside, framing me for attacking Caroline at their engagemen/0/99655/coverorgin.jpg?v=4bfd563373f3d23740276c2744a96e6b&imageMogr2/format/webp)
The Toxic Love That Almost Destroyed Me
For five years, I was Broadway's golden girl, and my powerful CEO boyfriend, Brennan, was my anchor. Our love felt invincible, a modern fairytale written across city marquees. Then he met Aimee, a struggling musician he claimed saved his life in a car crash. He gave her the vintage guitar he'd pro/1/106927/coverorgin.jpg?v=de13db828942ff2147de846f6aad7087&imageMogr2/format/webp)
Forever Yours, Almost. Whitmere Family Legacy Book 1
A Whitmere Family Romance Ten years ago, Sloane Hart ran from the only man she ever loved. Not because she stopped loving him- but because loving Rhett Whitmere meant risking everything. Now she's back in Whitmere County, standing inside the luxury hotel he built from heartbreak, legacy, and a lo/1/125327/coverorgin.jpg?v=1858f53a9e079df4a8a2a4fd4df44295&imageMogr2/format/webp)
