A vow of Violence

THE KING IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE MONSTER. Five years ago, Julian Thorne was the golden heir to London's most powerful banking dynasty. Then, his own brother paid to have him murdered. The world mourned. The family moved on. And his brother claimed everything Julian left behind-including Isolde Sterling, the icy, breathtaking heiress to the shipping empire. But Julian didn't die. He survived hell, forged in the brutal underground fighting pits of the East, and now... the ghost has returned home. He crashes his brother's engagement party with a scar on his face, violence in his veins, and a single vow: Burn it all down. He will strip his family of their fortune. He will expose the dark conspiracy that rules the city. But his sweetest revenge? Stealing the bride. Isolde knows she should run. The man who returned is a predator-cold, lethal, and terrifyingly seductive. But when he looks at her with those dark, possessive eyes, she realizes the terrifying truth: she doesn't want to be saved. She wants to burn with him. Revenge is a dish best served hot.

Chapters

Chapter 10

The Whispers of the Syndicate

The fashion show was chaos-a mixture of art, noise, and power brokers exchanging whispers. Julian hated it. Too many people, too many distractions.

He guided Isolde through the crowd, never letting go of her waist. She felt perfect against him-sharp angles and soft curves, responding to his grip with a subtle, electric tension. She was a professional weapon, and he was the one holding the trigger.

"There," Isolde murmured, nodding toward a corner booth. "The man with the silver hair. That's Reginald Vance. He controls the majority of the Sterling debt."

Reginald Vance was a ghost-a financial fixer with hands in every shadowy enterprise in London. He was known to be a key lieutenant for the shadowy "Syndicate" that backed Lord Alistair.

Julian walked Isolde directly to his table.

"Mr. Vance," Julian greeted, his voice polite, yet dangerous. "Julian Thorne. And my fiancée, Isolde Sterling."

Vance's eyes-cold, reptilian-swept over Isolde's exposed figure before landing on Julian's scar. "I understood you were indisposed, Mr. Thorne."

"I took a short sabbatical. Turns out, death is overrated." Julian smiled, a hollow, terrifying expression. He didn't ask to sit; he pulled the chair out for Isolde, positioning her with her back to the wall, and took the seat next to her, completely surrounding her.

"My sincerest condolences for your brother," Vance continued smoothly. "Harrison is... a disappointment."

"A shame," Julian agreed, sipping a glass of water. "I wanted to kill him myself. Now, let's talk business. The Sterling debt. You hold twenty million in floating notes."

"They mature next month. With the instability, I may call them in early." Vance's voice was pure blackmail.

"If you do," Julian countered, leaning close, his voice a low threat. "I will call in the fifteen years of tax evasion you filed through your Macau shell corporation-the same one that operates the fighting pits I just escaped."

Vance's face didn't move, but his eyes narrowed to slits. Isolde's elbow twitched against Julian's ribs. She was taking everything in.

"Blackmail, Mr. Thorne? Crude."

"Survival, Mr. Vance. And a proposition. Sell me the Sterling debt for ten percent under market value, and I'll ensure the Macau file vanishes. If you don't, I will sell the full ledger to the Daily Mail before midnight, and you can explain Project Aether to Parliament from a jail cell."

Vance stared at him. The reference to 'Project Aether'-the hidden item from Jax's report-was a perfect, calculated strike. It showed Julian knew the Syndicate's deepest secrets.

After a long, agonizing silence, Vance nodded once, curtly. "My solicitor will be in touch tomorrow morning."

Julian stood up, pulling Isolde up with him. He didn't look at Vance again.

"You should get a gun license, Isolde," Julian whispered in her ear as they walked away. "The game just got real."

Continue to next part

He shattered her. A stranger awakened her. Now she'll burn the world for her own redemption. Lila was a wolfless omega-obedient, unseen, and promised to an Alpha who shattered her with one cruel betrayal. One night with a stranger changes everything. Elliot is vengeance in a tailored suit. Cold. Unforgiving. And Lila is the daughter of the man he's sworn to destroy. She was never meant to matter-until the mate bond snaps into place, and hatred turns to hunger. Then there's Julian. Gentle. Steady. Safe. In his arms, Lila glimpses a life untouched by pain. But even the kindest hearts carry shadows. Caught between the fire and the calm, between a love that burns and a love that heals, Lila must face the truth of her bloodline, the secrets that bind her to both men-and the power growing inside her. She's done being obedient. She's done being silent. And she won't just survive-she'll rise from the ashes.

Action Mystery Werewolf

7.5

BAD INFLUENCE

7.5

The moment she stepped into the wrong restroom, everything changed. Hailey had only been at Hillsworth College for a day, a fresh scholarship student, eager yet nervous. She had simply been looking for the restroom, but fate had other plans. The thick scent of smoke filled her lungs the second she pushed the door open. The air was dense, intoxicating. Her breath hitched when she saw him. A dangerously handsome guy. He leaned lazily against the sink, a cigarette dangling from his lips, his sharp eyes flickering toward her. Tattoos curled around his arms like inked secrets, and silver rings glinted from his eyebrow and tongue. A dangerous smirk lifted his lips as he exhaled a cloud of smoke. "Lost, princess?" He asked with a smirk, raking her with his eyes from head to toe. Hailey 's heart pounded. This was the boys' restroom. And somehow, she had just collided with trouble. ___ Hailey had learned early on that life was rarely fair. She barely remembered her parents, their faces were blurry images in an old photo album she had once clung to as a child. After their deaths, she was taken in by her uncle, the only family she had left. At first, life had been tolerable-until he died too. That was when everything changed. Her uncle's wife, Cecilia, had never truly cared for her, but after his death, the cold indifference turned to outright cruelty. Hailey became the unwanted burden in their home, forced to endure harsh words and extra chores. Unlike her cousin, Brielle, who lived in luxury and had everything handed to her, Hailey had to fight for the smallest things. When Cecilia refused to pay for her education, she had thought her dreams were over. But then the scholarship to Hillsworth College came like a miracle. She studied tirelessly, poured everything into that exam, and when the results came in, she had been one of the few selected. It was her chance at freedom, her chance to escape. There was just one problem. Hillsworth was Brielle's school. And if there was one thing Hailey knew, it was that her cousin would make her life miserable. But none of that compared to the storm she was about to walk into. Wanna know what the encounter with the bad boy leads to? Come with me 🫣

Action Modern Young Adult

7.8

Escaping The Cheater For My Hitman Stepbrother

7.8

After catching her fiancé in the act of betrayal, a devastated woman turns to the one person she was always told to avoid: her dangerous stepbrother. As a lethal hitman for the mafia, he offers her a dark sanctuary from her heartbreak. Their reunion ignites a forbidden attraction that blurs the lines of family and loyalty. Trapped between a cheating ex and a cold-blooded killer, she must navigate a world of violence to find true devotion.

Action Mafia Romance

8.9

Ex-Fiancé's Greed vs. Doctor's Justice

8.9

Dr. Elena Vance’s life is upended when her ex-fiancé, a ruthless corporate heir, attempts to seize her family’s medical research for profit. Refusing to let his greed destroy her father’s legacy, Elena partners with a mysterious security expert to protect her clinic. As legal battles turn into dangerous physical confrontations, she must navigate a web of betrayal and hidden agendas to secure justice and find a love built on true integrity, not power.

Action Modern Romance

9.4

HIS TO DESTROY

9.4

For years, Elena has lived in the shadow of the Italian mafia, bound by a debt she never chose. When she is handed over to the ruthless Dante Moretti to settle her family's sins, her world turns into a gilded cage. Dante is a man driven by vengeance, intending to break the girl who represents his enemy. However, as blood spills and secrets emerge, the line between hatred and obsession blurs, sparking a dangerous fire that may consume them both.

Action Mafia Romance

9.7

Rejected No More: The Genius's Revenge

9.7

I was sitting in a Starbucks, staring at a cold Americano, while the girl I thought was the love of my life looked at me with pure disgust. Hailee Baxter slammed her latte down and told me we were done, claiming she couldn’t start her career at City Hall with a "diner kid" dragging her down. She wasn't just breaking my heart; she was trading me in for Kyler Craft, the son of a powerful politician who could buy her the future she craved. In my past life, this was the moment I shattered, beginning a twenty-year spiral into alcoholism, poverty, and watching my parents work themselves into an early grave while I failed at everything. I vividly remembered the smell of cheap whiskey and the obituary of my father that I was too broke to even attend. But as I looked down at my hands, they weren't the calloused, shaking hands of a forty-year-old failure; they were smooth, young, and steady. The silver Motorola flip phone in my pocket felt like a relic from a museum, and the girl in front of me looked like a shallow stranger rather than the woman of my dreams. The crushing pain in my chest wasn't a heart attack—it was forty years of bitter regret colliding with a twenty-two-year-old body. Hailee was waiting for me to beg for another chance, her napkin ready to wipe away the pathetic tears she expected, but all I felt was a cold, clinical clarity. How could I have been so blind to her greed, and why did I let one failed exam and a rich boy’s bullying destroy my entire family’s legacy? I glanced at the newspaper on the table: May 12, 2005. This was the day I supposedly lost the City Hall fellowship, but I remembered a secret about the "Supplemental Candidate Protocol" that no one else would know for another week. I stood up, ignored Hailee's insults, and dialed the number etched into my soul. "Mom," I whispered into the flip phone, "I'm coming home. And this time, I’m going to take back everything we lost."

Action Modern Romance

A vow of Violence

Chapter 10

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