Why Did I Become the Villainess? - Chapter 17 - Music Box

The Fears of a Billionaire: SynopsisDominic Hayes, a self made billionaire and CEO of one of the world’s most powerful tech conglomerates, lives a life most could only dream of. From his towering penthouse in New York City, he commands vast empires of wealth and influence, controlling everything from global markets to cutting edge technologies. To the outside world, he is the embodiment of success a man who has it all.But beneath the surface, Dominic's carefully constructed world is starting to crack. When he receives a cryptic message .“I know what you did”—he is thrust into a psychological game that threatens to unravel everything he has built. The message brings back memories of Andrew Cole, a former rival whose tech startup Dominic crushed in his ruthless climb to the top. Andrew disappeared after his company was destroyed, but now, it seems, he has returned.As Dominic digs deeper into his past, he begins to uncover the possibility that Andrew Cole isn’t the only one who has a score to settle. Mysterious forces seem to be working against him, targeting not just his empire but his sanity. His corporate deals start to collapse, his closest confidants turn against him, and strange occurrences lead him to question who he can trust even his wife, Alyssa, and his most loyal employees.The deeper Dominic falls into this web of paranoia and fear, the more he realizes that the threats against him are not just external. The guilt from his past actions begins to eat away at his mind, slowly eroding the steely confidence that once defined him. The higher he climbed, the further he has to fall, and now, as his enemies close in.

The Year 1766

Disowned by her own family for their own reasons, she was taken in by a maid at the age of seven to work at the Carmichael's household. The Carmichael's were one of the respectable pureblooded family in Bonelake and like any other household, there were rules. Rules that needed to be followed by the servants and maids.

Like everyone else, she was reminded not to disobey the rules. But before she learns to walk in the shadows like the rest without a whisper, the Duke's young son calls her 'Bambi' and everything breaks loose.

Book cover credit: complxmars

“Who is the football GOAT?”A question that has been asked countless times in the last decade.Is it Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi?To be fair, the question actually depended on what one wanted from a player as they were two different people and they played differently from the other.This was also the case with every other legendary player to grace the game.As a diehard fan of the game, Jason Bolu also had someone he thought to be the goat, but unlike most people, he harbored the desire to not only become as great as them, but even greater than any legend that ever graced the game.He wanted to become the Greatest Of All Legends… the GOAL.Unfortunately, fate has never cared about people’s hopes and dreams, and just like every other unfortunate human, she hit him hard across the face with a broken reality and sent him flying in another direction from his goal, yet he didn’t give up and continually persevered but, in the end, he didn’t ever make it.He wasn’t even halfway near his goal.He thought it was over… but it wasn’t.He got another chance at his dreams, and this time he was going to do more than his best to achieve his dream.

For the ten years she was the adopted daughter of the Lockwood Family, Isla Prescott had always been well-behaved.The only time she stepped out of line was to have a secret relationship with Silas Lockwood, whom she'd had a crush on for years.Because of their vast difference in status, the relationship came to a messy end.After Isla Prescott and Silas Lockwood broke up, she was pursued by Silas Lockwood's good friend, Shane Sterling.“He doesn't know how to cherish you. Why not consider me instead?”In Isla Prescott's eyes, Shane Sterlingwas mischievous, cunning, and full of nonsense, yet he was an even more unattainable figure than Silas Lockwood.Isla Prescott was sure she had never provoked him, but he cornered her by the bedside when he was drunk,caressing her red lips again and again, pleading with her over and over, “Isla Prescott, won't you give me a kiss?”What she didn't know was that, in places she couldn't see, he had been waiting with deep affection for a very, very long time.