What Did Marlon Brando Refuse?

The wedding had been postponed ninety-nine times. I called the wedding planner and told them to change the bride's name to Ivy Sterling, Charles Hart's childhood sweetheart. "Donna, are you sure?" the planner asked cautiously. "This time, the Don didn't postpone again." I heard the surprise in his voice. My answer was calm. "Yes. Change it to Ivy Sterling." From the very beginning, Charles gave only one instruction for the wedding: "Adjust the decorations according to Ivy's taste." He explained that Ivy had good taste, that she would only serve as a reference for our wedding. But every choice, the flowers, the favors, the entrance music, was made by Ivy. Even my wedding dress. She had said lightly, "A mermaid silhouette suits her better." So I decided to give the entire wedding, steeped in her presence, to them. And I walked away from this farce completely. From now on, let him keep his old dreams. I will go and enjoy my own boundless sky.

Riley Jordan thought office romance was safe, until she caught her long-term boyfriend with his pants down. Tangled between her boss’s legs. In the company conference room. One wild night meant to drown her heartbreak ends in a hotel suite, with a cold billionaire whose drink, like hers, had been spiked. She wakes up in his bed. He offers her a blank check for a night she can’t even remember. She tears it up and walks away. But Michael Gray doesn’t take rejection lightly. And when the woman who walked out on him turns out to be the marketing genius his empire desperately needs, he makes sure she’s left with no other option. Suddenly, she’s evicted, jobless, and barely surviving. Riley has no choice but to accept his deal. Only this time, she’s not the woman who breaks for anyone. What begins as control slowly turns into obsession. And when secrets finally explode, Riley must choose between her survival and the man who could ruin her.

The second day after I was transferred back to Los Angeles, I ran into someone I used to know on a street corner. She stepped right in front of me, eyes going wide. “Mia? Mia Rossi? Why would you come back now? Dante's marrying Camille at the cathedral in a week.” Dante was my first love, and also the youngest heir to a mafia dynasty on this side of the Atlantic. He'd made me a promise once: that he'd make the entire Moretti family kneel and welcome me in. We had a deal: the day he officially took over as Don would be the day he married me. But his family had other plans. They arranged a match for him: Camille, a princess from one of Sicily's five great families. Pure bloodline, the genuine article. At first, Dante swore up and down she meant nothing to him. Less than nothing. Then I started noticing how he looked at her. Softer every time. Like he was falling. One night, riding home after a shift at the bar, Camille's car came out of nowhere and took me down. The gas tank caught, and half the block reeked of burning rubber and scorched metal. I was pinned under the wreckage, blood seeping from the back of my skull down my neck, warm at first, then cold. Dante was the first one there. He beat the ambulance. The first thing he did was walk past me. He crouched down, lifted Camille out of the passenger seat, and didn't look at me once, just dropped a few words over his shoulder: “I already called an ambulance. Hang tight. Camille's had too much to drink. I need to get her home.” That was the moment I was done with him. Completely, finally done. While he was gone, I discharged myself. I bought the farthest plane ticket I could find that same night and left without looking back. Five years passed. “Mia, you have no idea.” The woman grabbed my wrist, dropping her voice. “Dante spent years turning half of Europe upside down looking for you. You came back at the right time. He still keeps a seat for you every month on his birthday. Camille's too proud for a lot of things,

***The CEO's Second Choice Spin Off*** Cameron 'Cammy' Westwood is the beautiful, cold, hard-as-nails CEO of Westwood Architecture. Every businessman seems to underestimate her since she's a curvy, blonde woman - and she loves proving them wrong. The night before an important merger of her company with Somersett Incorporated, her best friend takes her out for a drink to unwind. Who should she meet but Elijah Somersett, fresh from cutting off his long, blonde hair and looking unrecognizable? The two, unaware of the vital role they would be playing in one another's business lives, get into an argument that culminates in Cammy pouring a glass of wine all over Elijah's head and storming out. What will happen when she walks into the boardroom the following morning and finds out the flirting womanizer is in fact the man who could help save her company... and that he has an irresistible proposal for her?

I’ve got a killer hourglass figure and siren eyes. In Hollywood, I’m the ultimate sex symbol. But after five years in this town, not a single producer would dare lay a finger on me. Because the man in my bed is Don Vincenzo, the most ruthless mafia boss in New York. Seven years together. Every time we finished, he’d hold me close, kiss me, and carry me to the bathroom to clean me up. I naively thought I’d be the only woman by his side. That I'd even be his Donna. Until the night of my 28th birthday. After the family dinner, I heard him sneer to his underboss: "Chloe is fun to play with, but for my Donna, I have other options." In that instant, I ripped out my cheap, pathetic heart. I became exactly what he wanted: a perfect mistress who only cared about his money. But Vincenzo didn't seem to like that. His dark, dangerous eyes locked onto mine. "Besides this Manhattan penthouse, is there really nothing else you want from me?" I wrapped my arms around his neck, letting out a fake gasp of surprise. "You mean I can pick out a Ferrari, too?"

The day after I gave my fiancé, Don Antonio Rossi, the cold shoulder, he took Sofia to Alicante for a romantic getaway. He expected me to explode like I always had before—trash his study, start a fight, maybe even put another bullet through Sofia’s head. After all, my arrogance and temper were infamous in the mafia world. But this time, I did nothing. When he came back a month later, he realized I had changed. He deliberately handed the arms route I managed over to Sofia, and I surrendered it without protest. He publicly criticized my competence to build Sofia’s authority, and I lowered my head and accepted every accusation. Even when he announced at a family meeting that the ports under my control would be transferred to Sofia, I nodded calmly. Sofia smiled at him triumphantly. “See? I told you. A spoiled principessa like Isabelle just needs the cold treatment. Once she’s afraid of losing you, she’ll behave.” Antonio believed her completely. That night, he held me in his arms and promised. “Darling, you finally look like a proper donna now. I’ve already reserved the church. Next month, I’ll give you the lavish wedding you’ve always wanted.” I only smiled at him and said nothing. What that fool didn’t know was that before he left for that trip, the document he signed was an agreement terminating our engagement.