Hidden Dead Ends - Chapter 8

I woke up in my sleep, and a strange door appeared in my home…Behind every door is a strange world.

In the nightmare world, Jiang Cheng added the news from the strong man to the fat man, and he almost cried when he heard the latter, “If you die here, the whole family will stand upside down and bleed?”

“Is such that.”

“Then I don’t think you are too scared?” The fat man widened his eyes.

Jiang Cheng turned his head and said in a very formal tone: “Because I am an orphan.”

- Description from novelbuddy

Ethan Blackwood wasn’t used to being defied. As the CEO of a global empire, he crushed obstacles with a single glance. But when Lily Anderson stood before him, her chin lifted in quiet defiance, and something in him snapped. “Sign the contract,” he said, his voice like ice. “30 days. You’ll obey every command. After that, you’re free.”She hesitated, her fingers trembling as she gripped the pen. “And if I refuse?”His smirk was cold, but his eyes burned. “Then you’ll spend the rest of your life paying off your father’s debts. Your choice.”Trapped, Lily signed. But she vowed one thing: she wouldn’t let him break her.From the first day, their clash was electric. He demanded perfection; she gave him rebellion. “You think you can control me?” she spat, after he criticized her for being late.Ethan stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. “I don’t just control you. Lily, I own you.”But as the days passed, the lines between them blurred. Late nights in his penthouse turned into whispered conversations. His cold demeanor cracked, revealing glimpses of a man haunted by his past. One night, after a heated argument, he pinned her against the wall, his breath hot against her ear. “Why do you fight me so much?”Her voice trembled. “Because I’m afraid if I stop, I’ll lose myself to you.”Their connection deepened, but danger loomed. Secrets from Ethan’s past resurfaced, threatening to destroy everything. When Lily discovered the truth behind his obsession with her, she confronted him. “Was I just a pawn in your game? A way to settle an old score?”His eyes darkened with pain. “You were never just a game, Lily. You’re the only thing that’s ever felt real.”As the final days of their contract approached, their bond was tested like never before. Enemies closed in, and trust hung by a thread. Could they overcome the shadows of their pasts, or would their love crumble under the weight of secrets and pride?

“I, Dominic Cherith, reject you, Inez Sinclair, as my mate. A lying, traitorous tramp like you has no right to become my mate and the Luna of this pack.”As a half shifter, Inez Sinclair had hoped and dreamt of the day when she would meet her mate for the first time. However, the dreamy fantasy turned into her hellish nightmare when her ex-best friend and mate rejected her in front of the pack.To cap it all, he did it with a trash can turned upside down on her head.The reason? She had betrayed him, but Inez had no idea about this unknown betrayal that he spoke of.After years of endless torment, this rejection was the final blow that broke the camel’s back. Inez finally came to face the reality that she had been ignoring for years.Her best friend was gone, and in place of him stood a fiend who looked at her as if she was his worst enemy.But what truly broke her was the last betrayal of her mate.Withholding the last fragments of their mating bond, Dominic slept with another shifter—a shifter she despised and loathed, causing Inez to feel every bit of pleasure he gave the woman. Hear every sigh and moan through their mating bond.The impact broke her and left her wolf half dead.Not wanting to waste any more time with the awful bastard, Inez was prepared to run away from the pack, even if it meant to die as a rogue or live between humans where the fanatics could kill her for being a shifter.Only if she knew that Dominic blamed her for the death of his sister Abertha.And he caught her stealing the Tears of Sirens in the surveillance recording—the magical remedy that could bring the dead back to life!Ironically, Inez was part siren.Something she never relayed to anyone in the pack, not even Dominic for shifters took sirens as their slaves, tormenting them in hope that they would shed Tears of Siren. The endless torment only brought one thing to sirens: Death.She swore to never let anyone find out about the truth—that was until she ran into Killian Sokolov, an Alpha Lycan shifter.A man of sheer masculinity and charm and an unknown anger packed in ice so thick.With his slick lies, he could win the heart of any woman but refuses to leave her alone after finding out that Inez was part siren.But as a part siren, why would Inez steal the Siren’s tears? And if she didn’t steal them, whom did Dominic see in the surveillance recording?As secrets unfolds and boundaries set in stones disappear –Would Inez and Killian give love a second chance, letting go of their past? And to what lengths would Dominic go if he found out the truth?Will Killian be able to heal her broken heart before all is lost?