Introduction
When her stepsister goes missing under troubling circumstances, a shadow of suspicion looms over her family, thrusting Sophia into a precarious arranged marriage with Ricci Russo—a billionaire known for his relentless ambition and enigmatic presence. Ironically, Ricci is also the very subject of her next explosive exposé, a fact that complicates matters considerably.
Ricci, a shrewd and calculating financier, strikes a high-stakes deal that involves using the daughter of Gerald Williams as collateral. However, with the intended bride vanishing without a trace, he finds himself shackled to Sophia instead.
Unbeknownst to him, Sophia is not just a reluctant bride; she harbors her own agenda. With her sharp instincts and journalistic skills, she is determined to uncover the dark secrets hidden beneath Ricci's polished exterior.
Trapped in a marriage woven with deception and hidden motives, the two are pulled into a treacherous game filled with power struggles, whispered secrets, and forbidden desires that threaten to consume them both.
As the tension escalates and the lines between truth and deception blur, one looming question remains:
Will their forced union ignite a passion that transcends their circumstances, or will the heavy burden of their secrets lead to their ultimate unraveling?
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About Author
King Emerald
Chapter 1
Sophia
My sister needs help.
I did it! I had finally gotten an achievement to be proud of.
One of the untouchable, corrupt, and monstrous prime ministers in the country was about to go down, thanks to me. The headlines tomorrow would be the very bomb!
After pulling up in the driveway, I practically ran into the building to see my editor and boss. Benjamin King. We had spoken over the phone, and I could literally hear the excitement rolling off him in waves.
I had barely stepped into the office when he pulled me into a hug, taking me by surprise. It also set off a million butterflies in my stomach. I had had the biggest crush on him for a long time.
He gestured for me to sit beside him on the sleek leather couch, and his eyes gleamed. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
He flipped through the pages of my report, eyes shining like he had seen gold. He nodded approvingly before stating, "I always knew you were the very best, Sophia!"
"Thanks, Benjamin," I muttered. Heat crept up my cheeks as he stared at me in admiration.
"You've proven yourself again and I'm so proud of you," he stated.
Walking over to his desk, he pulled out a file and handed it to me. "That's why you're the only one I can trust with this. We need all the information you can get about that billionaire. Sources tipped us off that he has some dirt on his nails. I need you to dig it up."
I glanced through the profile. This was high-class, nothing like before. The world-class billionaire, Ricci Russo.
"It's huge, but the bigger the fish, the bigger the price," he stated, taking a seat close to me again.
"Consider it done," I stated, a smirk crawling across my cheeks.
"As for this victory, will you be chanced for us to have dinner later too—"
My heart leaped but plunged when he was interrupted by the sound of my phone. I had waited for Benjamin to make this move for a long time, only to have it ruined by some annoying caller. Annoyance swirled within me.
"Please, excuse me," I stated to Benjamin ruefully before stepping out to take the call.
Harsh words were on the tip of my tongue until I heard the voice on the other end of the line. "Sophia," a tiny, sniffling voice called from the other end of the line.
I paused, pulling the phone away from my ear to see the caller ID. "Sara?" It couldn't be. How long had it been since she spoke to me.. years?
She burst into tears once I placed the phone back to my ear. Her sobs were heartwrenching.
"Talk to me, Sara. What's the matter? Why are you crying?"
Her words came out, choked and stuttered. "Can you imagine? Dad wants me to get married to a total stranger! He says I have no choice. Can you even believe that he says in getting married in two weeks? Two weeks!!"
My heart skilled a beat. What was Dad up to now? How could he even think of just marrying his daughter off? "I don't understand. Why is he making you get married, and why the rush?"
She sniffled on the other end of the line, sucking in a deep breath before speaking up finally. “His business is in trouble. It has been for a while, but a few weeks ago, it got the final blow. He tried everything to save it. Nothing worked. Then, suddenly, a few days ago, he came home excited, saying he found a way he could finally save his business and his wealth.”
Her voice wavered. “I was so happy for him until he told me the condition. He found an investor… but the deal comes with a price. A marriage alliance.”
I felt my entire body go stiff as the words fell from her mouth. “A marriage alliance? What the hell is this, a Victorian-era drama? We live in the 21st century! Nobody does that anymore!”
Sara fell silent at my outburst but soon spoke up. “Please, Sophia. Help me talk to him. I can’t… I can’t do this. I can't get sold into a marriage. There won't be joy. I won’t survive this marriage. I can't survive the alliance.”
Her desperation was suffocating and already giving me the hitch. I sighed, rubbing my forehead to display my confusion even though I was not quite feeling complete pity.
"Okay, okay. Calm down. I’ll talk to him.”
But in my heart, I already knew this wouldn’t end well. He doesn't like me a single bit, and I believe talking to him is a total waste of everything.
“Who the hell do you think you are...huh?”
My stepfather Gerald's voice thundered through his expansive home office, making me flinch slightly. Crippling fear slithered through my body as he slammed his palm on the mahogany table.
“Coming into my house, telling me what I can and cannot do?”
I swallowed hard but held my ground, even though fright threatened to silence me.
“Father, Sara is miserable already. You can’t force her into this....”
“Enough of your shit!” he roared, his face turning pale red. “Do you think I want this for her? Do you think I enjoy watching my daughter cry? I have tried everything I could ever think of! Every single door slammed in my face. I have a family to take care of! Your mother. Your brother. If the company collapses, we lose everything! Will you provide for us? Your little job, can it take care of this family? Can it pay any bills?”
The sneer in his voice as he spat out the words made my stomach churn in anger.
I had worked my ass off for years, trying to gain even a sliver of his approval. But he never cared about that.
Still, I shoved my emotions aside. Now wasn’t the time for feelings. Now wasn't the time to bring unnecessary issues to the table.
"Who is this investor?” I asked, keeping my voice steady and calm, not trying to display my emotions.
He grabbed his jacket and briefcase, preparing to leave. Then, with one last glance, he said, “Ricci Russo.”
Time seemed to pause. “Ricci Russo? The world’s second richest man?!”
His expression was unreadable at this point, as my heart pounded. “Yes. And in two weeks, Sara will be his wife. That’s final.”
With that, he strode out of the house, leaving me standing there, stunned, helpless, furious, and mostly confused.
Sara’s fate had already been sealed, and there was nothing I could do... or could I?
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“You’re soaking wet, Genevieve. Tell me, was it me that made you this way or him?” his voice told her to be careful with her answer. His knuckles slid down through her folds and she threw her head back as she moaned. “Weakness?”
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Genevieve loses a bet she can’t afford to pay. In a compromise, she agrees to convince any man her opponent chooses to go home with her that night. What she doesn’t realize when her sister’s friend points out the brooding man sitting alone at the bar, is that man won’t be okay with just one night with her. No, Matteo Accardi, Don of one of the largest gangs in New York City doesn’t do one night stands. Not with her anyway.
From Best Friend To Fiancé
I let out a little gasp. His thumb rubbed across my lower lip.
“I don’t just want to fuck you—I want to keep you. You’re my favorite sin, and I’ll commit it again and again until you understand you’re mine.” His lips twitched a little. “You’ve always been mine, Savannah.”
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Her sister is marrying her ex. So she brings her best friend as her fake fiancé. What could possibly go wrong?
Savannah Hart thought she was over Dean Archer—until her sister, Chloe announces she's marrying him. The same man Savannah never stopped loving. The man who left her heartbroken… and now belongs to her sister.
A weeklong wedding in New Hope. One mansion full of guests. And a very bitter maid of honor.
To survive it, Savannah brings a date—her charming, clean-cut best friend, Roman Blackwood. The one man who’s always had her back. He owes her a favor, and pretending to be her fiancé? Easy.
Until fake kisses start to feel real.
Now Savannah’s torn between keeping up the act… or risking everything for the one man she was never supposed to fall for.
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother
"What is wrong with me?
Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?
It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.
He’s my boyfirend’s brother.
This is Tyler’s family.
I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.
**
As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.
Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.
When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.
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**
I hate girls like her.
Entitled.
Delicate.
And still—
Still.
The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.
Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.
I shouldn’t care.
I don’t care.
It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.
It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.
I’m not here to rescue anyone.
Especially not her.
Especially not someone like her.
She’s not my problem.
And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.
But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.
The War God Alpha's Arranged Bride
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The Biker's Fate
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He dragged his hands down his face. "Tell me what's on your mind."
I sighed. "You're everything my parents warned me against. You're secretive, but you're also honest. I feel wholly protected by you, but then you scare me more than anyone I've ever known. You're a bad boy, but when I dated a so-called good one, he turned out to be the devil, so, yeah, I don't get you because you're not what I expected. You drive me crazier than anyone I've ever met, but then you make me feel complete. I'm feeling things I don't quite know how to process and that makes me want to run. I don't want to give up something that might be really, really good, but I also don't want to be stupid and fall for a boy just because he's super pretty and makes me come."
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Will Booker be able to find the source of the threat before it's too late?
Will Dani finally give her heart to a man who's everything she's been warned about?
The Prison Project
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Fresh out of high school and suffocating in her dead-end hometown, Margot longs for her escape. Her reckless best friend, Cara, thinks she's found the perfect way out for them both - The Prisoner Project - a controversial program offering a life-changing sum of money in exchange for time spent with maximum-security inmates.
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Will Coban be capable of bringing something to the table other than just sex?
What starts off as denial may very well grow in to obsession which could then fester in to becoming true love…
A temperamental romance novel.
After One Night with the Alpha
I thought I was waiting for love. Instead, I got fucked by a beast.
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I ran away for my life!
But weeks later, I woke up pregnant with his heir!
They say my heterochromatic eyes mark me as a rare true mate. But I’m no wolf. I’m just Elle, a nobody from the human district, now trapped in Brad's world.
Brad’s cold gaze pins me: “You carry my blood. You’re mine.”
There is no other choice for me but to chose this cage. My body also betrays me, craving the beast who ruined me.
WARNING: Mature Readers Only
Invisible To Her Bully
Goddess Of The Underworld.
When the veil between the Divine, the Living, and the Dead begins to crack, Envy is thrust beneath with a job she can’t drop: keep the worlds from bleeding together, shepherd the lost, and make ordinary into armor, breakfasts, bedtime, battle plans. Peace lasts exactly one lullaby. This is the story of a border pup who became a goddess by choosing her family; of four imperfect alphas learning how to stay; of cake, iron, and daylight negotiations. Steamy, fierce, and full of heart, Goddess of the Underworld is a reverse harem, found-family paranormal romance where love writes the rules and keeps three realms from falling apart.
Crossing Lines
Noah
I was here to prove myself—
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And then I met him.
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From the first command, I wanted to fight him.
From the first Sir, I wanted to kneel.
But this wasn’t just about the game anymore.
He looked at me like he saw through every mask I wore…
And spoke to me in a voice I knew far too well.
The same one that called me baby boy in the darkest corners of the internet.
Now I didn’t know if I wanted to win…
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Aiden
Noah Blake was supposed to be a challenge.
A cocky, reckless quarterback with raw talent and no discipline.
But one message had changed everything.
One night on ObeyNet, a stranger with attitude and submission tangled in his words.
And when I saw Noah in person—his fire, his fear, that ache to be seen—
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But I was already testing him. Pushing him.
Breaking him down until he begged for what he swore he didn’t need.
This was not supposed to get personal, but every second he disobeyed made me want to claim him harder.
And if he crossed the line…
I’d make damn sure he never forgot who he belonged to.
From Substitute To Queen
Heartbroken, Sable discovered Darrell having sex with his ex in their bed, while secretly transferring hundreds of thousands to support that woman.
Even worse was overhearing Darrell laugh to his friends: "She's useful—obedient, doesn't cause trouble, handles housework, and I can fuck her whenever I need relief. She's basically a live-in maid with benefits." He made crude thrusting gestures, sending his friends into laughter.
In despair, Sable left, reclaimed her true identity, and married her childhood neighbor—Lycan King Caelan, nine years her senior and her fated mate. Now Darrell desperately tries to win her back. How will her revenge unfold?
From substitute to queen—her revenge has just begun!
The Delta's Daughter
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But the fates have already mapped out her future.
What happens when a wolf from the Kings past has his eye on Lamia?
Follow this epic tale of Love, tragedy and betrayal as Lamia starts to discover her family heritage. Will her family’s forgotten heritage and secrets become more than she can handle?
Will her Prince become her mate or will she be fated to another?
Will Lamia rise to become the wolf the goddess’ fated her to be?
For a mature audience
About Author
King Emerald
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