What Is Year Of The Monkey By Patti Smith About?

She thought divorce would set her free. Instead, it led her straight into hell and the devil himself, Sebastian Sterling. He offered her salvation. What she found was sin. --- An emotional, dark romance about temptation, control, and the price of survival. -- After ending her ten-year marriage to an unfaithful husband, Rosemary Seo wants nothing more than peace. No more manipulation. No more control. Just a chance to start over with her daughter — even if it means living in a cheap motel and scraping together every cent. But when every company in town suddenly rejects her job applications, Rosie realizes she’s trapped once again — not by love, but by power. Her ex-husband’s influence stretches further than she imagined… And her only hope lies in the hands of his estranged younger brother — Sebastian Edward Sterling, a man with a reputation as dangerous as his charm. Sebastian offers her a way out. A job. A chance to rebuild. But his terms come wrapped in silk and sin — and soon, Rosie finds herself drawn into his world of temptation, control, and forbidden pleasure. “You can be my personal assistant,” he said slowly. “Take care of my daily needs.” Then his voice softened further, dangerous and intimate. “Especially in bed.” He calls it a job. She calls it a deal with the devil. Caught between survival and surrender, Rosie must decide — Will she tame the devil who wants to own her, or become his next obsession?

During a family gathering, my daughter drove her rideable toy car straight into me and shattered my leg because she wanted to stand up for her live-in manny, Wilson Smith. As I lay on the ground in agony, she glared at me and said, "You're not my dad! Wilson takes care of me. He's kind to me. Mom and I both like him!" From where I had fallen, I looked up and saw Wilson standing at the center of the crowd, surrounded by smiles and admiration. At that moment, a bitter realization settled over me. I mattered less than a manny to my own family. I soon filed for divorce. Then, I signed up for a community revitalization initiative and spent the next twenty years helping struggling communities build better lives. My family did not need me, but somewhere else in the world, there were people who did.

She died with betrayal in her heart—and vengeance in her soul. Yasmine Morcant gave everything to the man she married and the sister she trusted. When they threw her off a balcony to silence her forever, the last thing she expected was to be saved by a devil. But Azrael is no ordinary demon. Cursed to eternal torment unless he finds a woman who will love him as purely as the one he lost a thousand years ago, he sees in Yasmine a final chance. Now, bound by a pact neither of them fully understands, Yasmine must learn to love the devil who saved her… while destroying the ones who broke her. Revenge is sweet. Love could be salvation. But the truth of who she is might burn them both. A dark, sensual, emotionally intense paranormal romance about vengeance, rebirth, and love that transcends lifetimes. #Paranormalromance #Enemies to Lovers #Betrayal #Revenge #Forbidden Love

During a team-bonding dinner, my colleagues decide to start a challenge. They want to see whose wife will pick up the call the fastest and transfer the biggest amount of money into her husband's account. As expected, I'm the loser who comes in last. "Don't take it to heart, Evan. Ms. Sinclair might be cold and aloof, but she's still rich!" Everyone laughs as they ease the situation with chatter and jokes. They have collectively decided to avoid mentioning the past. For example, they neglect to bring up the fact that my girlfriend, Audrey Sinclair, never talks about marriage despite me having spent the last seven years establishing the company with her. Another example will be the time that I'm the last one to find out about Audrey's decision to give away the shares to all the higher-ups in the company. Even when I get diagnosed with stomach cancer, my best friend, Grant Hadley, is the one accompanying me in the hospital while we wait for the report. I just smile faintly without showing any reaction. That's when my gaze falls onto Micah Brennan, a new intern, who grips his phone tightly with a conflicted look on his face. "I'll pass. She's on a business trip right now, so she's incredibly busy." Sensing that the atmosphere is a little stiff, I just smile and lean over to tap the dial button that comes with a loudspeaker function in order to save him from embarrassment. At first, we think that the phone call will go unanswered. Surprisingly enough, Micah's partner immediately answers the call. The atmosphere in the private room falls eerily silent. After all, the gentle voice drifting out of the loudspeaker belongs to none other than my supposedly cold and aloof girlfriend. "Babe, have you received the surprise gift for your employment anniversary?"

In the glittering world of power, blood money, and deadly secrets, love becomes the most dangerous weapon of all. After her mother’s mysterious murder, Oren Gallamor is dragged into the ruthless empire of billionaire kingpin James Reeves, the cold, obsessive man she believes destroyed her family. Sold by her father and forced into a twisted arrangement that pulls her deeper into his world of violence and control, Oren vows to destroy him from the inside. But the closer she gets to James, the more the truth begins to unravel. Behind the lies stands Harry Vida, a master manipulator who orchestrated everything from the shadows: her mother’s death, her father’s betrayal, and even the toxic obsession binding Oren and James together. What began as revenge soon spirals into a deadly game of deception, desire, and survival. Now trapped between hatred and irresistible attraction, Oren and James must decide whether to kill each other… or burn the world down together. As enemies close in and betrayal lurks behind every promise, one thing becomes terrifyingly clear: Their love story was never meant to save them. It was designed to destroy them both.

Rivergate's most elite social circle had always shared an unspoken rule. Men were free to play the field as they pleased, drifting from one woman to the next. Women, on the other hand, were only allowed a single, discreet indulgence on the day they came of age—a privately hired "life assistant" meant to take care of their physical needs. … On my coming-of-age day, I picked Elliot at first glance from a hundred applicants who came in for interviews. He wore gold-rimmed glasses, looked composed and restrained, and carried himself with a calm maturity that set him apart. He was steady, meticulous, and obsessively clean. The only condition he agreed to was that there would be no bodily contact—hands only. And after every encounter, he would scrub his hands with disinfectant alcohol a hundred times. Over five years, the empty bottles alone were enough to circle the villa seven times. I used to think that one day, I'd help him overcome his barriers and truly make him mine. That illusion shattered the night I got drunk and accidentally wandered into Elliot's room. Hidden beneath his pillow was a DV camera, and inside were several videos of him pleasuring himself. On the screen, the same man who had always been calm and rational with me was staring at the lingerie of the adopted sister who had caused my mother's death, his Adam's apple bobbing as he moaned her name, "Chloe… I love you…" Only then did I realize that every step he had taken toward me had never been about me at all. It had always been a carefully concealed, long-nurtured love for her. So, it was very odd that he cried when I took my adopted sister's place in marrying someone else.