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1,210,175	/src/Template/Ads/index.ctp (line 281) '{"alias":1210209}'	Yes	2024-04-14 13:48	active	515	362045876188432	Continue watching more series 👉👉👉	🚗💔 Collision of Destiny: Estella's Journey from Tragic Accident to Twisted Marriage with Billionaire Bryce	WATCH_MORE	https://d.eavideo.net/w2a?p0=1b562gev&p1={{campaig	190396754167998	Eashort IOS	https://facebook.com/61556887250165	48	12	2,251,943,305,148,731	2024-04-14 02:00	person_profile	eligible	NONE	1	1	0	Watch more	Eashort IOS	120207990477360403	d.eavideo.net	NONE	video		https://d.eavideo.net/w2a?p0=1b562gev&p1={{campaign.name}}&p2={{campaign.id}}&p3={{adset.name}}&p4={{adset.id}}&p5={{ad.name}}&p6={{ad.id}}&p7=1716054102176369&deeplink=esvideo%3A%2F%2Fbook.easou.com%2Fta%2Fesvideo.m%3Fgid%3D300000318%26nid%3D300000318%26sort%3D0%26ch%3D182%26paytype%3Dwwppy7%26pi%3D3%26pa%3D99999	2024-04-14 00:05	https://scontent.forf1-4.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/437529322_1403410523709745_6450686421456565145_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s60x60&_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=ab-I3keOr5QAb4y-5wn&_nc_ht=scontent.forf1-4.fna&oh=00_AfCa5AJvZ80MqiFje7JGIYsbAefg88j8lF3ezVyhepy5WA&oe=6621F484	person_profile	0	Eashort IOS	https://scontent.forf1-4.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/437392658_418497747465452_1849227083441588962_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=AiBw4HSkqAAAb6s0wWM&_nc_ht=scontent.forf1-4.fna&oh=00_AfCn_SGoYDOjbx13Ep_gc2BIqrm-k5VahkrzqNs2Kb4ywQ&oe=6622092A	3	Eashort IOS	2024-04-14 02:00	View Edit Delete
1,209,857	/src/Template/Ads/index.ctp (line 281) '{"alias":1209861}'	Yes	2024-04-14 13:48	active	515	729707252703836	Chuck Norris Approved 💪	Chuck Norris says he feels healthier than he has in years... and ANYBODY can do it! 💪<br /> <br /> Morning Kick can help soothe an upset stomach, slim your belly, give you more energy, AND help your body feel great with:<br /> <br /> ✅ 6 Gut-Boosting Probiotics<br /> ✅ Prebiotic Bloat-Busting Complex<br /> ✅ Green Alkalizing Energy Blend<br /> ✅ "Healthy Aging" Super-Nutrients<br /> <br /> ⭐Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars based on customer reviews<br /> <br /> 🚚 FREE U.S. Shipping <br /> 🎯100% Money-Back Guarantee<br /> 🇺🇸 Manufactured in USA<br /> <br /> Get up to 🔥44% OFF🔥 when you claim your discount now 👉<a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Frebrand.ly%2FARDMK&h=AT0666RInpsT0Zl6vug_G4z0x3yluYg_MvV1Jf1YF6nSyeSqjhzPIRI5BW70ww5ZihDB7eQMlgE3__HhbyWJOnhOjMZAbxwwvqMZU0FF6bfVNPmOrcj_ZkU686OfDakZDUem2M3Zs7gEJmJpALmjSA" rel="nofollow noreferrer" target="_blank" data-lynx-mode="asynclazy">https://rebrand.ly/ARDMK</a><br /> <br /> *results may vary	LEARN_MORE	https://rebrand.ly/ARDMK	109120074943329	Roundhouse Provisions	https://facebook.com/RoundhouseProvisions	38,820	6	939,736,804,543,681	2024-04-14 02:00	person_profile	eligible	NONE	0	1	0	Learn more	Roundhouse Provisions	120207077362530038	americareadysupply.com	NONE	video		https://rebrand.ly/ARDMK	2024-04-14 01:55	https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/436936048_813659990618889_4676219997312125194_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s60x60&_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=6ItgAjw7IcgAb5_lyBn&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-1.xx&oh=00_AfBtQfBpal-8YQRNdKA9UyZNejqgI5OWCNAFKxq1akTcJQ&oe=662205C6	person_profile	0	Roundhouse Provisions	https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/436354671_1114858733178865_8477032394746443251_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=jDKBNeCXL9gAb7Du89r&_nc_oc=AdhFIU8ltxKWLgCEIxOGqWuAEx4yzSQsAYOuPdcxaq6gFM6svsgDJXzTAWAE-Ie9cN0&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-1.xx&oh=00_AfDe4ezIXHGya-UjhHd4TonvyGXwx4qtx2IKuYeqJCUEDw&oe=6621DB02	3	Roundhouse Provisions	2024-04-14 02:00	View Edit Delete
1,209,450	/src/Template/Ads/index.ctp (line 281) '{"alias":1209299}'	Yes	2024-04-14 13:48	active	515	7487190071316745	🔥🔥 Click to Read 👉🏻👉🏻	My heart hardened and I took a deep breath. "How long have you been banging her?"<br /> He swallowed so hard I saw his Adam's apple bobble. "Come on, Layla. None of this will matter. I'll stop. I'll stop and we can get engaged. You want that, right?"<br /> I gagged. "Ew, Matthew. There's not a chance that I'm getting engaged to you! I'd rather stick my papillae in a truck winch and turn it on."<br /> __________<br /> Layla<br /> "Oh, yeah! Eat me, Matty!" The woman screaming for my boyfriend was the lead singer of a moderately popular band called The Homewreckers. It was an aptly named band, apparently. Of course, she sounded amazing as she screamed. I always felt like a choking chimpanzee when I came out loud.<br /> I stood in the doorway of The Homewreckers' dressing room and took a deep breath. Unfortunately, it was scented with weed and intercourse. "Hey, Matthew?"C<br /> Matthew, who'd always told me he hated being called Matty, yanked his head out of Miriam Dark's private part and spun around to face me. It was almost comical how fast he spun and how wide his eyes were. He was white collar handsome. His hair was always perfectly cut, his eyebrows were never too long or bushy, and he shaved his face twice a day. He had nice blue eyes and a nice smile. Nice body, nice shaft, nice guy. Well, maybe not a nice guy. After all, his face was covered in another woman's private part fluids.<br /> "Layla! What are you doing here?" He climbed to his feet and I watched in disgust as he shoved his flaccid shaft back into his nice dress pants. Then, as an afterthought, he wiped his face and stumbled closer to me. "This isn't..."<br /> I rolled my eyes. "It isn't what it looks like? God, Matthew, at least be original."<br /> Miriam took her time closing her legs and gently patted Matthew's shoulder. "Are we done here, Matty? Or do you think you'll be finished soon and want to finish here?"<br /> Laughing, I rolled my shoulders and leveled a hard stare at Matty. "We're done. Whatever we had is over, so feel free to finish playtime with whoever and whatever. I'm on vacation for a few days, so don't call me."<br /> He rushed after me and grabbed my arm. "Wait a second, Layla. I'm sorry. I messed up. Just give me a second to explain."<br /> I yanked my arm free and scowled at him. "Don't touch me."<br /> "Come on, Layla. Don't be like this. Talk to me. I feel bad." He tried to take my hand again. "Please, baby."<br /> I wasn't going to let him see that I was upset. No way. He didn't deserve that. Instead, I stepped away from him and snarled. "Touch me and I'll break every one of your fingers, Matty. Go and finish your client. I believe she's still waiting."<br /> "Jesus. You work for me, Layla! How do you think this is going to go?"<br /> I backed away from him. "I think it's going to go just fine. Like I said, I'm on vacation. Don't call me. Don't message me. Don't think about me. As my ex-boyfriend or my boss."<br /> "People mess up! Maybe not you, the perfect Layla, but normal people mess up. You have to accept that." He followed me. "I messed up. I know that. I shouldn't have started anything with Miriam, but when I'm on the road with the band, it's hard. I miss you and she's there."<br /> My heart hardened and I took a deep breath. "How long have you been sleeping with her?"<br /> He swallowed so hard I saw his Adam's apple bobble. "Come on, Layla. None of this will matter. I'll stop. I'll stop and we can get engaged. You want that, right?"<br /> I gagged. "Ew, Matthew. There's not a chance that I'm getting engaged to you! I'd rather stick my papillae in a truck winch and turn it on."<br /> Miriam sauntered out of her dressing room topless and looked me over. "We've been together for a year. Matty eats private part like a champ."<br /> A real smile stretched my lips. "Now I know you're full of nonsense. He might get an climax, but a champ? Hardly. Anyway, enjoy him. I hope him not having a girlfriend doesn't ruin your lady boner."<br /> "Miriam, go back inside! Layla, just stop and talk to me!"<br /> Miriam and I both answered Matthew in unison. "Piss off!"<br /> I looked at her and shrugged. "Maybe you're not all bad."<br /> Without waiting for either of them to say anything else, I turned around and walked away, ignoring Matthew as he called my name. Eventually he stopped and I walked faster. I needed to get out of there before I cried. I wasn't about to cry backstage at a music festival. Someone would probably jump out and tit punch me as some anti-crying ritual.<br /> As I walked faster, I couldn't fight the way my eyes filled with tears. No matter how lackluster Matthew was, I'd devoted years of my life to him. I'd just wasted my vacation time on him, too. I thought sneaking out to meet him on the road would be fun and lend some much needed excitement to our relationship. Things hadn't been good...ever...but I'd hoped that we could at least get back to a place where I didn't dread seeing him at work every day.<br /> I wiped at my eyes and felt the mascara I'd coated my eyelashes with earlier. Stupid. I swore and stomped my way farther away from Matthew and the ugly end of our relationship. The image of his hip in the air while he happily ate Miriam Dark's hoo-hah like a pig in slop would forever be burned into my memory.<br /> I couldn't wait to get back home to my apartment and destroy everything of Matthew's that he'd left behind. I needed to update my social media. I didn't do much on it anymore, but I couldn't stand the idea of people thinking I was still with the loser. I'd have to call Grandma. That thought made me want to sob. She hated Matthew, but she liked that I wasn't alone in LA. Knowing I was single again was going to worry her. And if she told Jagger, my older brother, about me being single, Jagger would call and demand to know what'd happened. Then, he would try to fly out and kick Matthew's hip. It was just a mess.<br /> Growling out a frustrated sound, I looked down to make sure I stepped over a big mess of cords. I couldn't believe someone had left the stage like that. It was a hazard. Not to mention, it would be so easy to mess up the show if someone tripped over the wrong cord.<br /> I should've been paying attention because when the crowd's wild cheering broke through my self-pitying stupor, I looked up to see how close I'd gotten to the main stage. Unfortunately, a man with a guitar was coming off the stage, looking back at another man behind him. I was moving too fast to stop in time and he wasn't looking. It happened so fast that I didn't even make a sound as I smacked right into the man and felt pain before bouncing off his hard body and going down hard. Those tangled cords.<br /> I heard a deep voice growl above me, but I reached up to feel my forehead and felt something wet. I knew my eyes went as wide as softballs and when I pulled my fingers down and saw red, I groaned. Blood was my kryptonite. My vision darkened and I gagged on my way down.<br /> <br /> Mack<br /> "Well." By the time I realized what was happening, the curvy brunette was flat on the ground. I dropped to my knees next to her and swore when I saw the blood on her forehead. "This is a new form of falling for me."<br /> Xavier squatted on her other side and frowned. "Not really a great time for joking. You knocked her out."<br /> Jones sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "Where'd she come from? Also, maybe look where you're going from now on. You ran the poor thing over. Big time."<br /> I brushed her hair out of her face and had a completely ridiculous moment of feeling like I was staring down at Sleeping Beauty. She was gorgeous. I gently patted her soft cheek. "Ma'am? Hello?"<br /> "Great work. She's jumping right to life." Jones looked over his shoulder. "You've got about thirty seconds to get her on her feet and out of the way before the crowd beats back security and runs back here."<br /> I could hear the commotion he was hearing and ground my teeth. We'd just come off an amazing show. I had planned on going to a bar and getting hammered. Taking care of a Disney princess hadn't been in my plans, but it didn't look like I had an option. I couldn't just leave her on the ground and I didn't know any of the stage hands enough to trust them with an unconscious woman.<br /> "Fine." I stood up and lifted her body over my shoulder. Her head and arms hung limply and bounced off my hip, but I figured it was better for her than getting trampled to death. "Let's get her to our bus and get the medics to check her out. She'll be safe there until she can wake up and go."<br /> Xavier nodded once and charged ahead, clearing a path. He was a giant of a man and no one was dumb enough to stay in his way. They didn't understand what a gentle soul he was. I was thankful for that when they jumped out of our way, though. Especially with a crowd of rabid fans chasing after us.<br /> Jones barked at security to make sure no one followed us out into the artist lot and slammed the heavy metal door shut behind us. He swore and scowled at the door like it was the problem. "What do we even pay security for if they can't keep people away?"<br /> The woman over my shoulder groaned and grabbed my hips. I waited to see if she would say anything else, but she didn't. Her arms fell limp again and I released a breath at not having her scream and freak out while dangling over my shoulder.<br /> "I'll call the medic." Xavier hurried ahead to the bus.<br /> "This puts a damper on my plans." I sighed and glanced over at Jones. "We put on a good show and I was planning on drinking my face off to celebrate."<br /> "The medics are quick. We'll get her taken care of, apologize, and then send her on her way. With the medics, hopefully." He ran his eyes over the full hip over my shoulder. "Too bad you knocked her out before seeing if she wanted to drink with us."<br /> I laughed. "She sure is pretty. I doubt she'll be in a forgiving mood, though. I should've been looking at where I was going."<br /> "Why change now? Forget what I said earlier. We're in our forties. Let's not waste our time. Old dogs and new tricks, you know." He reached the bus before me and opened the door. "You put your guitar down."<br /> I winced. "I'll send a text to Shane as soon as I put her down."<br /> "I'll do it now. They're going to have to chase down whatever fan saw it and took it, probably. I highly doubt it's still sitting where you left it."<br /> I didn't want to think about my baby being in someone else's hands so instead, I focused on the woman in my arms. I climbed the steps and entered the bus, letting the cool AC wash over my overheated skin. The first space on the bus was a living room with four comfortable couches and I eased the unconscious woman down on one of them.<br /> Stretched out on the couch, her curves were even more noticeable. She was wearing tight black jeans and a low-cut top that was black and mostly straps and lace. I didn't get it, but I liked it. It was bad for me to notice her body, but the top curves of her chest were spilling out of the shirt deliciously.<br /> I forced my eyes to her forehead and frowned. The cut was definitely from my baby. It looked like either a cord or a corner of my guitar had hit her just perfectly to leave a small cut. The skin around the cut didn't look too angry and overall, she looked okay. Besides being unconscious. I ran my hands under the back of her head and felt around to see if I found a lump from her hitting her head on the ground, but there was nothing.<br /> "The medics are tied up at another stage." Xavier growled in frustration and stared down at the woman. "Cut looks fine. Anything along the back of her head?"<br /> I shook my head. "No. She seems fine, honestly."<br /> "I don't like that she passed out." He sat down across from her and rested his elbows on his knees. "Go ahead and shower. I'll watch over her until you're back."<br /> Xavier, Jones, and I had served in the military together. We'd each done enough time to know how to take care of basic medical emergencies and several other things we'd never need in civilian life. It'd been a long time since any of us had to do first-aid in the field, but we could still hold our own.<br /> "Sure. I'll be fast." I winced. "I'm the one who plowed her over. I should be the one that has to explain it."<br /> I showered as fast as possible in the small bus bathroom but I still wasn't fast enough. By the time I shut the water off, I could already hear a husky female voice I didn't recognize ranting away. I wrapped a towel around myself and rushed out to apologize and get her to stop chewing out Jones and Xavier.<br /> What I found wasn't her chewing them out, though. She was pacing back and forth in front of where they sat on their own couches with her hands on her hips and fury on her face. She wasn't angry at us, though. Nope. It seemed another man had pissed in her cereal that morning.<br /> "This is just the cherry on the cake. Why not get a scar to memorialize the day I walked in on my boyfriend cheating on me? I'm so angry I could punch him in the shaft."<br /> I swear all three of us males cringed. I also had to rearrange my thinking. She was no Disney princess. She had spunk, to say the least.<br /> "She had the nerve to brag about his oral skills. Please. I literally have had better climax humping my hand. Either her needs are rock bottom, which is great for her if that's the case, or she was just lying to try to hurt me. But I don't care. I'm embarrassed, sure! It's not everyday you walk in on your boyfriend motorboating Miriam Dark's private part, but whatever. I'm just pissed. I came all the way here. I shaved. I put lotion on every inch of my body. Even the backs of my knees. Did I care that they're going to get sweaty faster now? Nope. I wanted to be smooth."<br /> I leaned against the doorway and let myself really look at her. She was taller than I'd thought and had legs that stretched on for miles. The black jeans hugged her full hip and hips in a way that made my mouth water. Her waist clipped in just enough that my hands would fit in the notch perfectly if I was taking her from behind. Her shirt made her full chest look even more delicious while she was standing and I was at half-mast almost immediately.<br /> Her body, as stunning as it was, barely touched on the beauty that was her face. Her big blue eyes were surrounded by dark eyelashes and her pouty mouth was stained red. She had dark brown hair down to her shoulders that curled wildly. If she hadn't been swearing, her creamy skin would've really made her look like a Disney princess. She could've probably gone down to Florida and got a job playing one of them right then. I'd never been attracted to a Disney princess before, though.<br /> "And you want to know the worst part? I work for the stupid prick. And no, before anyone has the jackass assumption that I'm sleeping my way into my position, I'm not. I'm better at his job than he is and I've been sticking around for even longer than I should've because he kept promising that he'd put in a good word with his boss for me. Because I deserve it. I do his work. I can't remember the last time he's had to do a single thing. At least he chose to sleep with Miriam himself. Although, I'm pretty sure I'd be better at that, too."<br /> Jones snorted and held up his hands when the little firecracker spun on him. "I'm not disagreeing with you, honey. I'm just enjoying listening to you bash this prick."<br /> She stared at him and slowly her face darkened and she brought her hand up to cover her mouth. She looked absolutely distressed and I hated it.<br /> "What's wrong?" I made myself known and was rewarded with watching her eyes trail down my chest. The way her eyes got all bedroom heavy and she licked her lips turned that almost solid shaft into a full blown shaft. I had to shift to hide it from her curious eyes.<br /> She glanced back at Jones and then at Xavier. "Oh."<br /> Xavier stood up and inched towards her. "Are you okay? Your head... Is it hurting?"<br /> She looked up at him and I saw the way her body naturally swayed towards my giant of a best friend. Something about that made me want to hug her. Some women treated Xavier and his size like a threat and it hurt him. "Oh. I can't believe I didn't realize before now. You're JAX."<br /> Jones sighed and nodded. "Yep."<br /> She pushed her curls back from her face. "Don't worry. I'm not going to fangirl. I'm just mortified. I work for your record label and this is now the most unprofessional vacation I've ever taken. I have to go. Can you just forget you ever saw me?"	LEARN_MORE	https://a.letsreadnovel.com/ad/bGV0c3JlYWQvMTQ4NjY	103537452734793	Lett011	https://facebook.com/100092011133637	59	1	2,022,939,348,149,418	2024-04-14 02:00	person_profile	eligible	NONE	0	1	0	Learn more	Lett011	120208370703310357	a.letsreadnovel.com	NONE	video		https://a.letsreadnovel.com/ad/bGV0c3JlYWQvMTQ4NjY1LzIwMjQwNDExMTY0NTE0L3BhZ2U=?adid={{ad.id}}	2024-04-11 04:01	https://scontent.ford4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/436280328_799410712060775_2466696527329561791_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s60x60&_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=6K96z0mirfcAb5m3Gcq&_nc_ht=scontent.ford4-1.fna&oh=00_AfCo693RiI03Ik_AcRZicTDb6st5RQ3Ag44kmvHKlOl4KQ&oe=66220744	person_profile	0	Lett011	https://scontent.ford4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/436367403_834233085144668_4677519248295484849_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=R384GAGuUp8Ab5rzYMk&_nc_ht=scontent.ford4-1.fna&oh=00_AfC_lqdf2hEHvio51yUveAj61T9xAihshO9W5tjaB69qBg&oe=6621EE0D	3	Lett011	2024-04-14 02:00	View Edit Delete
1,210,516	/src/Template/Ads/index.ctp (line 281) '{"alias":1210511}'	Yes	2024-04-14 13:48	active	515	1113962429926045	"Innovative Discovery	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ After completing these 7 exercises, each lasting 30 seconds, my back pain vanished. Not only that, but now I can execute any movement effortlessly. I no longer sense any confinement within my body. Additionally, my sleep has notably improved!	LEARN_MORE	https://nuevaenergiavital.online/pv-ing/	112729991258354	Dra Myla	https://facebook.com/myla2024	482	0	358,990,240,315,825	2024-04-14 02:00	person_profile	eligible	NONE	1	1	0	Learn more	Dra Myla	120207736289700507	nuevaenergiavital.online	NONE	video		https://nuevaenergiavital.online/pv-ing/	2024-04-13 21:38	https://scontent-lax3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/437887907_3619986211663293_1325674085117011393_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s60x60&_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=nseKkCBUffYAb4a7AX_&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-2.xx&oh=00_AfAPX7Zss284Yf6L-VxtvaGhJmV1k2-py_YTpSUyiMqI5A&oe=6621D9C2	person_profile	0	Dra Myla	https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/437784226_3561272060853710_8550373138052511094_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=SSsI-d8kpVkAb7LmEdl&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-1.xx&oh=00_AfDPXTth_GVg1ExttziyAn9N2uCS5794lJIVRwWUPpYQkw&oe=6621DE71	3	Dra Myla	2024-04-13 02:00	View Edit Delete
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1,210,838	/src/Template/Ads/index.ctp (line 281) '{"alias":1211072}'	Yes	2024-04-14 13:48	active	515	390824737179220	🔥🔥 Click to Read 👉🏻👉🏻	What’s more embarrassing than a butt dial? Butt dialing your boss… And leaving a dirty voicemail when you’re uhh… “thinking” about them.<br /> Just had a sexual fantasy with my boss. I stand on legs that are just as shaky as he said they’d be. My throat hurts from moaning and I’m sore as all get-out. As I stand, my phone clatters to the floor.<br /> I reach down to pick it up—<br /> And freeze in horror.<br /> Ruslan’s name is lighting up my screen.<br /> And the call is active.<br /> For seven minutes and thirty-two seconds, I’ve been masturbating to the absolute filthiest fantasy I’ve ever had, starring Ruslan Oryolov.<br /> ————————<br /> Emma<br /> If anyone has a reason to cry, it’s me. My boss is an arrogant prick and my sister is dead and her husband is more of a burden than a help and I have three innocent kids I’m doing my best to raise right but I can’t seem to catch a break and I need sleep and food and more coffee and a vacation and a fresh start and—the list just goes on. One reason for each of my thousand tears.<br /> “Auntie Em! Auntie Em, wake up.”<br /> I come to with a start. The sun is slanting in through the blinds and I have absolutely no freaking idea what planet I’m on. I feel a sharp line of pain on my cheek. It takes me a long moment to realize that it’s because I have a shoelace plastered to my skin. I peel it off with a wince and look up to see Josh standing over me.<br /> “Auntie Em, it’s 7:45. We’re late for school.”<br /> The next fifteen minutes are a blur. I get the girls up and dressed in the least coordinated outfits in the history of terrible parenting. I hurl random food into their lunchboxes with no regard for nutritional value. And then we’re all sprinting out the door.<br /> Ben, needless to say, doesn’t so much as lift a finger to help.<br /> I get the evil eye from the receptionist at the kids’ school when I drop them off well into first period. I just pop a peck on each of their foreheads and then turn to Bane.<br /> I get another evil eye from the lobby receptionist there, too, but I don’t quite realize why until I’m in the elevator up to the thirtieth floor and I catch sight of my reflection in the polished bronze.<br /> I look like an absolute shitshow. My hair is a rat’s nest on my head and my blouse is on backwards. The fashionable one-shoulder cutout is framing my frayed bra strap instead of a tasteful slice of arm.<br /> Wet street dogs are more put-together than I am.<br /> It’s way too late to go back now, though. I can already imagine Ruslan’s eyebrow. It’s probably halfway up his scalp by now. His voice is going to be absolutely frigid when he hears me come stumbling in. Something like:<br /> “You have got to be kidding me.”<br /> Wait. That wasn’t my imagination. That was actually his voice.<br /> I open my eyes and turn around to realize that the elevator doors have opened—and who should be standing there but my beloved, benevolent boss?<br /> Sure enough, his eyebrow is locked and loaded and that cruelly sharp jaw of his clenched so tight that I wonder idly if he has a good dentist on speed dial.<br /> I open my mouth to defend myself, but what is there even to say? “I’m sorry,” I blurt. “I fell asleep after—It was a long night and—I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”<br /> He doesn’t so much as blink. “I expect you to dress appropriately for your job, Ms. Carson,” he growls. “Not do the walk of shame through my building.”<br /> I frown. “The walk of—? Hold on. No, that’s not what this is. I didn’t—”<br /> “You’re wearing yesterday’s skirt and flaunting your undergarments like you think you can seduce your way out of being—” He checks his watch. “—two and a half hours late. I’m not sure if you think I’m stupid or easy. I’m also not sure which of those two would offend me more.”<br /> One word snags my attention. “Seduce?” I parrot stupidly.<br /> Out of nowhere, thoughts of what it would look like to seduce Ruslan Oryolov come prancing through my head.<br /> Wrapping his tie around my fist and bringing that smirking snarl down to my lips for a taste.<br /> Lying back on his desk, pencil skirt hiked above my hips, while he shoves my panties to the side and devours me like his last meal.<br /> On my knees on his office carpet as he stands over me and—<br /> “Ms. Carson, I’m not interested in your explanations. Go do your job. Before I find someone else to do it for you.”<br /> With that, he brushes past me and gets on the elevator. I turn and look dumbly at him as the doors close on his face. The last thing I see is the arrogant slant of his mouth.<br /> Then that, too, disappears.<br /> My cheeks are burning red for the rest of the day. Luckily, I have an extra cardigan at my desk, so I’m able to cover up the worst of my wardrobe malfunction.<br /> But my phone keeps pinging all day long with messages from Ruslan. Do this. Send that. Fax this. Email that. He’s as unbearable as ever. Everything from the expiration date on his coffee creamer to the status of the conference room chairs he’s so anal about merits yet another scathing comment from him. And after yesterday’s nightmare, I’m running on fumes.<br /> My only saving grace is that he has a gala tonight, so he’s scheduled to leave the office at 5:00 P.M. sharp. I’m counting down the last ten seconds until the clock strikes five like I’m a Times Square partier on New Year’s Eve.<br /> “Seven… Six… Five… Four… Three… Two… One…”<br /> Ping. Another text. I moan and look down to see the devil’s name pop up on my phone.<br /> RUSLAN: My office. Now.<br /> Goddammit. I was so close.<br /> Sighing, I get up and slink inside.<br /> “Shut the door,” he orders. It’s dark in here. The curtains are sealed tight and the temperature is Arctic. He’s a mass of shadows behind his desk, huge and fragrant. The only thing I can see is the sharp light of his amber eyes.<br /> “Sit.” A shadowy hand points at the chair across from his desk.<br /> I perch at the edge of the seat in question. My nerves are buzzing and frayed. I’m so, so tired. But I can’t show him that. Matter of fact, I refuse to show him that.<br /> I won’t give the smug prick the satisfaction of thinking he’s outlasted me.<br /> “I asked you yesterday if I had your full attention,” he begins. “I’m not so sure I do. So let me say this: if your priorities lie anywhere other than this company, then I will find a new assistant. I’m not a nice man, Ms. Carson. So believe me when I tell you that this is not the kind of place where you get three strikes before something bad happens. You mess up once—you’re gone. Am I making myself clear?”<br /> I swallow. “Yes, sir.”<br /> He nods. “Good. Be here on time tomorrow. Dress like you intend to keep your job. Now, if you’ll excuse me… there’s the door.”<br /> He looks down at his phone and poof, it’s like I don’t exist anymore.<br /> But I. Am. Pissed.<br /> He doesn’t know what I’m going through. He doesn’t know Ben is snoring and farting in my living room, or that three little kids are waiting on me to pick them up from after-school care. He doesn’t know that I buried my sister or that I’m barely keeping my head above water. He doesn’t know anything.<br /> “No.” I blurt it before I can think better of it. “No. No. I’m not some little worm under your shoe, Mr. Oryolov. I’m a—I mean, screw you, I’m a person! I have a life and hobbies and people who depend on me. I’m real! So I’d appreciate it very much if you’d pull your smug head out of your smug prick and treat me with some respect for once.”<br /> Ruslan blinks.<br /> Blinks.<br /> Blinks.<br /> “Is there something else, Ms. Carson?”<br /> That’s when I realize that my whole little tirade took place entirely in my head. It wasn’t real. All imagined. Just a pleasant little detour to a fantasy land where I give him my two cents and then some.<br /> I swallow past the nasty taste in my throat and stand. “No, sir,” I say quietly. “Nothing at all.”<br /> -<br /> I ended the call with my best friend, Phoebe.<br /> Then a face pops up on the black screen of my mind’s eye.<br /> It’s Ruslan because, like I told Pheebs, he haunts me even when I’m off the clock. He’s smiling that smile she described. That come-to-bed-and-let-me-show-you-what-I-can-do-to-you smile. The camera of my imagination pulls back and floats down.<br /> Imaginary Ruslan is wearing an ivory white button-down shirt with the top two buttons undone. Enough to see a dusting of dark chest hair and the edge of a tattoo I can’t quite make out. He flexes his forearms in front of him. Those knuckles crack, louder than I expected, and I let out a surprised little gasp.<br /> I like when you make that noise, he croons. Shall I see if I can make you do it again?<br /> I’m nodding before I’m even realizing what I’m doing. “Make me moan,” I plead.<br /> I’m also touching the inside of my knee before I realize what I’m doing. But it’s not my hands that are doing it—or at least, it doesn’t feel like it’s my hands. It’s Ruslan’s hands, huge and powerful, palming my thigh and drifting up under the edge of my pencil skirt.<br /> You’ve been a naughty assistant, he growls, breath minty in my face where it mingles with the woodsy spice of his cologne. There’s a faint laugh on the edge of his voice, like he knows that this whole thing is crazy but he’s just going with it because it’s hotter than it is ridiculous. You’ve been so very, very bad. Step into my office and shut the door.<br /> The rest of the world disappears like I just followed his orders. Gone is my messy apartment and the lingering smell of burrito cheese. Ruslan is all I smell now.<br /> That cologne.<br /> That breath.<br /> Beneath it, that musk that sets my nerve endings on fire.<br /> “Are you going to punish me, Ruslan?” I whisper.<br /> I’m on the literal edge of my seat, grinding and bucking against my fingers. Imaginary Ruslan has me eating out of the palm of his hand. I’d do anything for him. Say anything. Be anything.<br /> Imaginary Ruslan is every bit the cruel prick that real Ruslan is. He said he’d keep my orgasms to himself, but I feel like I stole this one from him. The euphoria of it rips through me in one endless lightning bolt after the next, until finally, what feels like an hour later, I come back to something like normal consciousness with drool on my lips and my fingers wet and sticky with my own desire.<br /> I stand on legs that are just as shaky as he said they’d be. My throat hurts from moaning and I’m sore as all get-out. As I stand, my phone clatters to the floor.<br /> I reach down to pick it up—<br /> And freeze in horror.<br /> Ruslan’s name is lighting up my screen.<br /> And the call is active.<br /> The reality of what is happening clicks in my gut immediately, but it takes a few delayed moments before my head comes to terms with it.<br /> For seven minutes and thirty-two seconds, I’ve been on a call with Ruslan Oryolov.<br /> For seven minutes and thirty-two seconds, I’ve been masturbating to the absolute filthiest fantasy I’ve ever had, starring Ruslan Oryolov.<br /> For seven minutes and thirty-two seconds, my phone has been recording every last moan and gasp and breath and twitch I made while I begged for his mercy and pleaded for him to make me come.<br /> Did Ruslan hear the whole thing?<br /> -<br /> “It’s over. My life as I know it is over. R.I.P. to me.”<br /> “I’m sorry, who is this?”<br /> “Pheebs!”<br /> She chuckles while I stare at my reflection in the mirror and try not to throw up. My phone is lying on the bathroom counter on speakerphone, mostly because my palms have been sweating since I saw the meeting invite in my calendar for today.<br /> 9:00 A.M. – 09:07:32 A.M.: Emma Carson 1-on-1 with Ruslan Oryolov.<br /> “Sorry. Couldn’t resist. Anyway, rewind, take a deep breath, then tell me what’s going on in your big girl voice. Unburden yourself. Take all the time you need. Just make it quick because I have a 9 o’clock appointment.”<br /> I’m bouncing on the balls of my feet now, the same way that Reagan does when she needs to pee really bad. “Yeah, so do I. With him.”<br /> “Ah. Oh, wait—oh.”<br /> I first called Phoebe last night right after realizing what I’d done. Her reaction was a dizzying mixture of pride and horror. I believe her exact words were, “Sure, it’s mortifying, but I’m glad you got your rocks off. Knew you had it in you.”<br /> She’s a little more reassuring now that things are escalating out of control. “That doesn’t necessarily mean he heard the voicemail, Em. Maybe this is just a standard, no-big-deal, super-boring-business-stuff Thursday morning meeting.”<br /> “It’s scheduled for seven minutes and thirty-two seconds. Precisely.”<br /> “Hm.” There’s a beat of silence. “Doesn’t look good, does it?”<br /> “Seriously? That’s all you’ve got for me? I’m gonna lose my job, Phoebe!”<br /> “You don’t know that for sure. Just take a deep breath and go in there, see what he wants. Play it cool, y’know?”<br /> “And what if what he wants is to kick my arse to the curb with a recommendation letter that claims I’m a dirty bimbo?”<br /> “I mean, there’s probably a market for that.” I moan as Phoebe’s laughter fades into a serious tone. “Listen, boo: whatever happens, you’re a strong, smart, confident woman and you’re gonna land on your feet. And until you do, I’ve got your back.”<br /> Her words mean everything to me, but I know that Phoebe doesn’t have much margin for error in her life, either. She struggles just as hard as I do. If she is able to help, it still wouldn’t put a dent in all the bills and loans looming over me.<br /> “Thanks for the pep talk. I’ve gotta go to my doom now.”<br /> “Keep your pecker up!”<br /> I blink. “Huh?”<br /> “Oklahoma talk. It means, like, ‘break a leg,’ but for Midwesterners.”<br /> If I weren’t worried about losing my job and ending up homeless on the street with three kids, I’d laugh. Instead, I say one more miserable goodbye, then spend a solid three minutes dry-heaving into one of the empty bathroom stalls.<br /> Once I’ve sufficiently bruised my stomach lining, I slink out of the bathroom and waste the remaining two minutes before the meeting standing outside of Ruslan’s door, watching the clock steal my life away one second at a time.<br /> “You okay, Emma?” asks Katie Miller, another of the executive assistants on this floor, as she passes by.<br /> “Dandy,” I mumble. “Just waiting for the noose.”<br /> “What was that?”<br /> “Nothing. I like your earrings. Have a good day.”<br /> She raises her brow a smidge. I’m not usually so dismissive, but I can’t concentrate on small talk right now. Not when I’m T-minus thirty seconds away from the end of my career.<br /> Dear God, I know I don’t pray to you often. Or, well, ever. But please help me out today and I’ll definitely consider starting on a more semi-regular basis.<br /> Great. Now, I’m bargaining with God. New low, Emma. New low.<br /> I take a deep breath and walk into his office. The shades are tight, snuffing out all the light of the Manhattan morning beyond. It’s like a bear cave in here—and the grizzly in question is sitting at his desk, scrolling through his phone. He doesn’t acknowledge me until I’m standing in front of his desk.<br /> “Sit.”<br /> The moment my rear end is parked, he puts his phone down and looks at me. Just looks at me.<br /> In the eighteen months that I’ve worked for him, he’s never once given me the benefit of his full attention. Even during our morning meetings, he’s either on his phone, flipping through files, or typing away on his laptop. I used to be annoyed about it. I’m only now realizing I should have been grateful.<br /> Should I say something?<br /> Maybe he wants me to break the silence. Maybe I’m supposed to give him an explanation, an apology, something. But the more the silence stretches on, the less I’m capable of breaking it.<br /> I decide once again that those amber eyes of his should be outlawed.<br /> “I heard the voicemail,” he says at last.<br /> I can’t place his tone. Amusement? Anger? Disbelief?<br /> “Do you have anything to say, Ms. Carson?”<br /> I launch into the apology I spent most of last night practicing in the mirror. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am, Mr. Oryolov. I have no idea what I was thinking. The whole thing was an accident; I didn’t realize I’d dialed you. I was so tired and out of it and… I can assure you that it will never happen again. I swear.”<br /> My cheeks are flushed with embarrassment, but I try to keep my voice steady. I can’t sound too desperate, although that’s exactly what I am.<br /> “Tell me, Ms. Carson: what would you do in my place?”<br /> “I would give the plucky, hard-working assistant another chance, maybe?” It’s a long shot, but I figure, what the heck? I just wish I’d asked it without my voice rising to an Alvin and the Chipmunks pipsqueak at the end.<br /> His mouth twitches with the promise of a smile, but it’s gone as quick as it came. “I know what you sound like when you climax, Emma. Is that the soundtrack you want running through all our interactions from now on?”<br /> Flushing the brightest of reds, I shake my head. “If we could maybe just forget this whole thing—”<br /> “The way I see it, there are only two options here.”<br /> I hold my breath.<br /> “One, I fire you.”<br /> There it is. I knew it. I’m done for. I’m going to need to call the welfare office and see what—<br /> “Or two… I give you exactly what you want.”<br /> I almost choke on my own saliva. What little is left in my gaping mouth. “W-what?”<br /> Silently, Ruslan offers me the blue folder lying in front of him. I pick it up with shaky hands and open the cover. It takes me a few long moments to figure out what on earth I’m looking at.<br /> A… contract?<br /> I read through the first page, feeling a strange sensation bubble up in my chest.Then, since I’m clearly misunderstanding something, I read through the first page again. And again. And again.<br /> Only then do I look up. “Is this a joke?”<br /> He doesn’t blink. “I never joke.”<br /> “It’s just that, it seems like, from what I read, um—”<br /> “I will offer you money and security in exchange for live encores of the little performance you sent me last night. In addition to meeting my other needs.”<br /> “And by ‘needs,’ you mean…intercourse?”<br /> He tilts his chin down and regards me solemnly. “How explicit would you like me to be, Ms. Carson?”<br /> What.<br /> “So this—” I raise the blue folder in my hand. “—is a sugar daddy contract?”<br /> His brow furrows. “I’d prefer to call it a ‘Friend With Benefits’ contract.”<br /> “But we’re not friends.”<br /> He smirks. “Fair enough. No, we’re not.”<br /> There’s a throbbing in my head that reminds me of the first time I got drunk. Sienna and I had snuck into Dad’s study the eve of my sixteenth birthday and stolen a 1984 Chateau Latour. We passed it back and forth, taking turns sipping from the bottle like it was cheap bagged drink until the whole thing was gone.<br /> For a moment, I think about what Sienna would say if she were here. Would she be outraged or intrigued? Would she slap the smug prick and storm out?<br /> Or would she grin and say, Double the price and I’m in.<br /> What would you do, Si?<br /> And then it hits me, a bolt of lightning straight to the chest, almost like she’s speaking to me herself. I miss her so much, it hurts. But she left little bits of herself behind, in all three of her children. The same kids I’m working off to protect.<br /> That right there is the answer.<br /> Sienna would have done whatever was best for her children.<br /> So I don’t slap him. I don’t storm out. I sit there and stare at my arrogant, prick boss who always gets exactly what he wants.<br /> And what he wants… is me.<br /> I meet Ruslan’s steely gaze. “What happens if I say no?”	LEARN_MORE	https://a.menovels.com/ad/ZmljZnVuLzE0OTU5NC8yMDI0	181066715093574	MeNo001	https://facebook.com/61554251835273	86	1	970,456,084,608,731	2024-04-14 02:00	person_profile	eligible	NONE	0	1	0	Learn more	MeNo001	120207899232610142	a.menovels.com	NONE	video		https://a.menovels.com/ad/ZmljZnVuLzE0OTU5NC8yMDI0MDQxMjE2NDEzNy9wYWdl?adid={{ad.id}}	2024-04-12 04:57	https://scontent-lga3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/437503558_1152763459080273_8719315558786235268_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s60x60&_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=ZA7b6HEAchQAb4l1Jpu&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&oh=00_AfCxeicBiqnO3f9UH5Y680qxNoZXJdu7x1eOXL0JYCsWKA&oe=662206D7	person_profile	0	MeNo001	https://scontent-lga3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/437376765_407972055194570_3315437065255188544_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=7Pq3kUtCKfsAb6FIi2w&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&oh=00_AfC_QArazc3vk_XUbrjbwoJ98Dr49fFLUS55K0Oreb6ZkQ&oe=6621FFE8	3	MeNo001	2024-04-13 02:00	View Edit Delete
1,210,866	/src/Template/Ads/index.ctp (line 281) '{"alias":1211050}'	No	2024-04-14 13:48	active	515	441201191752318	🔥🔥 Click to Read 👉🏻👉🏻	Monday 3rd January<br /> <br /> Star’s POV<br /> <br /> I am woken with a start as I am yanked from my bed by my hair, "Get up, you lazy creep! mum said you have to make us breakfast before school, they are waiting so move your lazy creep."<br /> My cousin Sebastian kicks me hard in the ribs, before leaving my room, when I say room, I mean a draughty attic. Dang, it’s cold. Snow has come through my dang broken window, leaking water under the plastic bag I taped to the frame.<br /> <br /> <br /> Ok, let’s pause a minute and let me introduce myself; cough, cough. <br /> My name is Star Anderson, and I am 17 years, 11 months, 2weeks and 2 days old, (my birthday is in 12 days, in case you can’t do the math),<br /> I am a werewolf. My other half is called Saffron, Saffy for short, and she is AMAZING. She woke up on my 13th birthday, and I love her more than anyone else.<br /> I have lived with my aunt Clementine, uncle Graham and the lovely Sebastian since my parents died when I was ten, and they are SLEAZEBAGS.<br /> We live in our beautiful pack, which is called Ravens Perch. I love my pack. Apart from a small percentage of mess (my family is at the top of that list), it is a great place to live. Our forest home is nestled in a valley in the tranquil Devon countryside, about an hour from Exeter in England. Its got to be one of the best places to live.<br /> And ACTION!! let my dog day continue.......<br /> <br /> <br /> I quickly get dressed and run down to the kitchen, grab ingredients for breakfast, and cook up a storm. <br /> I serve the food and as I am about to eat the small amount of food; they allow me; I hear my aunt’s slurry voice. "What on earth do you think you are doing? You are stealing food now? Who said you could eat here?" Dang, here it comes. She was so drunk she could barely stand. <br /> My head swung to the side as my uncle’s fist connected with my jaw, blood flying from my mouth, the force of the impact sent my plate flying, smashing on the ground. "Stupid creep, look at the mess you have made, clean it up and get out, or I’ll give you another one."<br /> After cleaning up, I run to my room, and cleaned the blood from my face. I can already see the bruise on my jaw turning purple. <br /> Grabbing my books, my coat and boots I rush to the bus. I am so late; if I miss the bus. It’s an hour’s walk to school. <br /> Sebastian got a car for his birthday, so at least I didn’t have to deal with him and his nasty friends on the bus anymore. I hear a nasally voice in the back, screw my life, I see Charlotte Prince and her band of sluts sitting at the back of the bus. I forgot she got stopped by the human police for speeding and drink driving over the Christmas holidays. <br /> Her creep brigade consists of the lovely Charlotte, Sandie Buggins and Billy Strokes (yes, that is her real name, and from what I hear from the football team, her name suits her and she is very good at it). This is turning into a great first day back. <br /> I take my seat at the front of the bus, next to Matty Davis. He is the chess champ of the school. Yes I admit it, I AM A BIG FAT NERD!!! I sit quietly and mind my own business, but the creepes can’t stop themselves.<br /> "OMG, what is that smell? It smells like unwashed, dirty dustbin. When I am Luna, I will make sure trash like that knows their place." The rest of the creep brigade laugh, "Smells more like poor and unwanted to me."<br /> Welcome to the arena Sandy, anything from Billy today? She normally just sniggers because she is stupid and doesn’t have an individual thought in her head.<br /> Matty and the other students at the front of the bus look uncomfortable, and I know Matty wants to say something, but the three witches are the current girlfriends of our future alphas. Yes, I said Alphas, three of them to be exact.<br /> Three identical god like creatures, all tall and brooding and hot, mmmyummy, sorry about that, back to the triplet Alphas, in order of birth, the first in our list of the hottest studs at The Raven Academy, we have the beautiful Ace, then come the gorgeous Alexei, and finally the heart stopping Ashton. <br /> The only children of our beloved Alpha Andrew and Luna Amanda. Yes, they like the letter A (I have already started a list of names for the many children my fantasies tell me I will have with the three hunks).<br /> I have known the triplets my whole life, our mums were best friends. They treat me like an annoying little sister, that needs to be protected. It can get a little annoying, but as we have got older their attention tends to do something to my tummy.<br /> So.... where was I? ..... ah yes, Matty felt guilty about not wanting to get crushed by the Alphas. I wink at Matty, “at least they are leaving the rest of you alone right? I am happy to be of service to the community,” the nerd squad all grin at me, and the bus ride continued.<br /> Once we finally arrive at school, I head straight to my locker. My besties, the wonderful Maxine Durham and the witty, but clever Suzie Hammond, are waiting for me. One look at my face has them both losing their mess. "What the on earth happened to your face, Star?"<br /> "which of the freaks was it this time?"<br /> I look at my best girls and sigh. "I have 12 days left. Let’s see what magic the two of you can do with my face, and get on with our day, shall we? I am meeting with Alpha Andrew tonight to ask if I can move into the pack house, so let’s drop it."<br /> Max gives me her signature. “this isn’t over” look, and grabs her make-up bag.<br /> We are just about to head to the bathroom to “fix my face” when I feel my hair scrunchy being pulled from my head, not again, <br /> I turn to try to grab it back, it’s my last one, I look up to find myself looking into the hot steel-grey eyes of Alexei Ravenwood, <br /> he is holding my poor scrunchy just out of reach, as I go to jump for it, like a freaking puppy jumping for a snack, he pulls back and grabs my face. "What on earth happened to your face, fairy-girl?"<br /> Goddess, I hate that nickname. It’s because I am only 5’1" tall, with very small features. He has called me fairy since we were in primary school. "It’s nothing, Lexi. I fell and landed on my face."<br /> I hear Max grunt behind me. Alexei is still holding both my chin and my poor scrunchy hostage. <br /> Another huge figure comes up behind me, penning me in. I move my eyes to see another pair of hot grey eyes, Ashton. "You are becoming very clumsy, Starlight, last week you fell and cut your head open, this week it’s your jaw. I am starting to think you are lying to us."<br /> I sigh as the eldest triplet comes over, screw my life, we are not really friends, but the triplets have always been protective of me, but since their birthday 2 weeks ago, it had got worse, but so had the beatings at home so they probably notice something is going on.<br /> "What’s going on, Tink? You know you can tell us right." I push Alexei’s hands from my face and jump for my scrunchy, but Ashton grabs my shoulders so I don’t even get near. Alexei pockets my poor scrunchy, lost forever. "Please, Lexi, it’s my last one."<br /> Ace pulls at one of my curls, "you can have it back as soon as you tell us the truth, Tink."<br /> Then the familiar sound of skank ring in my ears, "I thought we would meet at my locker this morning. Why are you wasting time with trash?"<br /> The triplets give me one last stare before Ashton turns me around and pushes me to my friends. "run along starlight and you look better with your hair down."<br /> He smacks my back as I walk away. Wait!!! Did Ashton freaking Ravenwood just spank me? What on earth is going on?<br /> <br /> Monday 3rd January cont......<br /> <br /> <br /> Ashton’s POV<br /> <br /> <br /> First day back after Christmas, I have always liked school, but now it’s even better, at our birthday party 2 weeks ago, we found our mate, and being at school I can see her every day until she has her 18th birthday and we can claim her as ours.<br /> <br /> <br /> FLASHBACK<br /> <br /> <br /> My brothers and I were having a great time. Our Beta Kurtis had found his mate, Sophia, just before school broke up for Christmas and she had brought her friend Natalia, who turned out to be our Gamma Jonah’s mate. Goddess, I hope we find our mate quickly.<br /> "Ash, baby, do you wanna go fool around upstairs? I’ve never been to your bedroom." Goddess she gets on my last nerve, my brothers and I have been dating the three friends for about a month, and I think we all want to get rid, but as it’s our birthday and we didn’t want to come alone, we thought we would wait till after Christmas to break it off.<br /> But I am now regretting that. "Billy, you know we don’t take fandoms to our bedrooms. The only woman we will have in our beds will be our Luna. So if you want to suck my junk, then we can find a quiet corner, but if not, then just stand and look pretty."<br /> her face contorts, oh dang, here we go. "How can you call me a random? I thought we had something special. I am in love with you, Ashton."<br /> And here comes the waterworks, for god’s sake. "You knew the freaking score at the beginning; you knew that we date sure things, girls that will suck our dicks and spread their legs, your time is coming to an end, so either, stay and enjoy the time we have left or piss off, it’s your choice, but try to pull the love card or the waterworks and I’ll kick you out myself, you're just a rank bunny, get over yourself."	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1,209,548	/src/Template/Ads/index.ctp (line 281) '{"alias":1211411}'	No	2024-04-14 13:48	active	515	1448404939103875	🎉 BRYAN, TX HEARING EVENT!	Do you hear, but not always understand? 🤔 Do people seem to mumble? Do you play the TV too loud?<br /> <br /> We offer a simple, 20-minute screening that can determine if you may have nerve damage. If so, you may be eligible to try a new prescription hearing aid for 10 days to measure noticeable improvement.<br /> <br /> 👉 Book by Friday to be eligible. Sign up below to secure a time!	SIGN_UP	http://fb.me/	221793451180088	Audible Hearing Center	https://facebook.com/AudibleHearingCenterLLC	320	0	1,397,686,544,511,969	2024-04-14 02:00	person_profile	eligible	NONE	0	1	0	Sign up	Audible Hearing Center	120207109330610665	fb.me	NONE	image	Space is limited – Sign up now!	http://fb.me/	2024-04-10 11:24	https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/436424458_7560641670649022_3337111343888315338_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s60x60&_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=Ygj5yQOLKZcAb7FPdjU&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-1.xx&oh=00_AfCGWqZCuiJaMCMtM1NdJqKvJ7eqsDbIf96vq0uc-fW3LQ&oe=6621EB37	person_profile	0	Audible Hearing Center	https://scontent-iad3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/436424324_746937947567661_3667719273770074718_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=_ZoEcwm1ni8Ab7JaM9Q&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.xx&oh=00_AfBnEXfHpX81UuSyB39qq19IfC_SovJKbI7l1i7cnfJsxg&oe=662203F1	3	Audible Hearing Center	2024-04-14 02:00	View Edit Delete
1,209,186	/src/Template/Ads/index.ctp (line 281) '{"alias":1209527}'	Yes	2024-04-14 13:48	active	515	2555927617928162	Try Nerve Renew FREE This Week ONLY!	🛑Don't let nerve discomfort steal your joy!<br /> <br /> THIS WEEK ONLY, we're offering an EXCLUSIVE chance to try Nerve Renew for FREE for two weeks!<br /> <br /> ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️<br /> “My feet were burning so bad right under the toes, depriving me of sleep. I now take only one capsule of Nerve Renew, and my life changed for the better. Thank you for this product.” - Helga T. <br /> <br /> Treat your nerves and wallet this holiday season with this incredible deal ➡️ <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fnerverenew.com%2Fpages%2Flander-e005-2024&h=AT3bTqOLhUzwxmph9i7WyIkINJAJmwl1jBc25ltqDPl-DFdWinqagszdKK8X3F10ktgAqDCSLZLjjiynmr8YwTKgbuTLJD0uxCLIX9w_Go5iElgCfP7zfsdAT0lF8uEbCbA_pIgYt5e4XI6OFmY_jhQIPFvrDw" rel="nofollow noreferrer" target="_blank" data-lynx-mode="asynclazy">https://nerverenew.com/pages/lander-e005-2024</a>	LEARN_MORE	https://nerverenew.com/pages/lander-e005-2024	175537252604114	Nerve Renew	https://facebook.com/NerveHealthGroup	102,251	1	1,447,284,185,914,417	2024-04-14 02:00	person_profile	eligible	NONE	0	1	0	Learn more	Nerve Renew	120208359166340303	nerverenew.com	NONE	image	Read Nancy's inspiring journey of finding a new solution for nerve pain treatment after being told to consider retirement. Discover how she overcame nerve health decline and reclaimed her 'golden years'.	https://nerverenew.com/pages/lander-e005-2024	2024-04-05 09:50	https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/435564438_661831556036583_2569737606901927389_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s60x60&_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=4NjR2LRJ9CcAb7gdVsM&_nc_oc=AdjNIca4ssUqLJxlNgdnnau-BqHCLMFmmc8LYGKT8hoGyAJf0mdX9lnJfFTkVTyLK7YewQGbQ5mE0aWGQS6-9sti&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=00_AfCuGmMLEtu1py1N3arMLuQxb0FZixNB0OX_sI5lid_B9g&oe=6621F1B3	person_profile	0	Nerve Renew	https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/435927169_410856404882895_1637799622554232460_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=EakSrduWkPIAb4MCIvO&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=00_AfBC5kra8CVGFmcRbiZceyLoUSo1i5zN2ps8btRCbQZBhg&oe=6621E958	3	Nerve Renew	2024-04-06 02:00	View Edit Delete
1,209,882	/src/Template/Ads/index.ctp (line 281) '{"alias":1210372}'	Yes	2024-04-14 13:48	active	515	932076295267845	28-Years Of Natural Plant-Based Healing In ONE Book	Throwing natural healing plants in the garbage by mistake?<br /> <br /> Yup, many of the weeds that most people pull out and toss away have scientifically proven benefits!<br /> <br /> For the last 28-years, I’ve made it my mission to unearth the BEST plants with natural healing properties...<br /> <br /> Today I’m revealing everything I’ve discovered, including:<br /> <br /> 👉The ‘forgotten’ plants & herbs found in most gardens that support healing<br /> 👉800+ powerful plants & natural remedies<br /> 👉2-4 pictures per plant for easy identification<br /> 👉Expert advice on growing, collecting, and preparing plants to harness their healing power<br /> <br /> 📗Grab a copy of The Lost Book Of Herbs Today📗<br /> <br /> 👉 <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.book-of-herbal-remedies.com%2Fpresentation%2F&h=AT24C1unJ4ekWm29QfoFSyKdiOH-0od9yOS5NxzumgS1bdnvZtYcv1nVEHcWOfvX6XHMLxRw3l15FJF2dsMqGyUZz6u3i5hQVfT-7tCm4sUJzRh9iYx28yq_hFVuAyxSRY1OyLta_Yt61-ls9loIgA" rel="nofollow noreferrer" target="_blank" data-lynx-mode="asynclazy">https://www.book-of-herbal-remedies.com/presentation/</a> 👈	LEARN_MORE	https://www.book-of-herbal-remedies.com/presentati	105801885200108	BookofRemedies	https://facebook.com/BookOfRemedie	259,141	1	1,148,393,926,157,868	2024-04-14 02:00	person_profile	eligible	NONE	0	1	0	Learn more	BookofRemedies	120208029165110601	www.book-of-herbal-remedies.com	NONE	video	It's Like Having A Medicinal Garden In The Backyard	https://www.book-of-herbal-remedies.com/presentation/	2024-04-14 01:58	https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/435891095_958872425506929_1216821543485788308_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s60x60&_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=g06BkFE24YUAb5CM-vS&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-1.xx&oh=00_AfDo-ZduG7BGCYcf7xYsUtmqyk36G0o3k951YoQtcHMu1Q&oe=6621EB6D	person_profile	0	Book of Remedies	https://scontent-iad3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/436205824_963854568581151_4985989192619482460_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=FOz1x476DIMAb57Mgxq&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.xx&oh=00_AfAVlJcQ-Dj2K5rPZUiTX2EtpjN5RDeT0vRnCcGSL5hc6g&oe=6621E6A6	3	BookofRemedies	2024-04-14 02:00	View Edit Delete
1,210,468	/src/Template/Ads/index.ctp (line 281) '{"alias":1210403}'	No	2024-04-14 13:48	active	515	8000697933287357	🔥🔥🔥Download and search book ID: 9792	My sister's boyfriend turned out to be my mate! As he rejected me, I retaliated by cutting off all contact with the pack…<br /> Chapter 1: Ayla <br /> “Ayla, is dinner ready? No more delay. Kylee and Theo will be soon here!”<br /> “Yes, mom.” I sighed hearing my mother's impatient urging.<br /> Kylee is my little sister, and Theo is her mate as well as our future Alpha. It is said that they had been together for over a year, and today is the first Kylee has brought her mate home. I was so happy for her.<br /> Our current Alpha, Alpha Torin, was a good leader, a fair leader, and a good man. I knew he had a son, but I had never met him before.<br /> But I had heard that his son, Theo, was promising to be just as good an Alpha as his father. So I really couldn’t have been more relieved that he was my sister’s mate. She would be properly looked after and taken care of, and she would be happy.<br /> I was pulling the chicken out of the oven when I saw my mother rushing past me, excitedly shouting towards the door, “They're here.”<br /> After my father passed away, my mother had become an alcoholic. But she always managed to look presentable in front of Kylee. For example, today, she was not only dressed neatly, but even used mouthwash.<br /> <br /> I was still transferring the food when I heard the front door open and the squeals of my mother and sister as they embraced. I finished my task and moved the dishes to the dining room table that was already set neatly. I smiled at my presentation and excitedly hurried to the living room. <br /> <br /> I froze at the threshold. A scent overwhelmed my senses, causing my stomach to knot and my heart to race. <br /> <br /> The tall, broad man standing next to my sister turned toward me and we locked eyes. <br /> <br /> Mate.<br /> <br /> I practically gagged trying to stifle the word from slipping from my mouth. <br /> <br /> What was happening?<br /> <br /> This was my sister’s mate. <br /> <br /> Not mine. <br /> <br /> This man was fated to Kylee. <br /> <br /> So why was I having this reaction?<br /> <br /> Better question…<br /> <br /> Why did HE seem to be having the same reaction?<br /> <br /> His eyes were wide, pupils dilated, and they held my gaze with a vice-like grip as he, too, seemed frozen to where he stood. <br /> <br /> Dasha, my wolf, bounced excitedly in my head, recognizing him and his wolf just as I was. It took a minute for her to understand the situation, but once she did, she started whimpering in the back of my mind.<br /> <br /> This couldn’t be happening. <br /> <br /> What was happening?<br /> <br /> I forced myself to address the situation as a whole. Fine, this was happening. Now, what is the best way to handle the situation? I wasn’t going to break my sister’s heart. Absolutely not. I wouldn’t let him either. Not right now. We’ll just get through dinner, and I’ll find a way to speak with him in private later. <br /> <br /> I cleared my throat and plastered a smile on my face.<br /> <br /> “Kylee, I’m so excited you’re home,” I said, opening my arms so she could jump into them like she had since she was little.<br /> <br /> “I’ve missed you, sis,” she said. <br /> <br /> “I’ve missed you, too,” I said quietly. <br /> <br /> We separated, and she turned to the male behind her. “Theo, this is my sister, Ayla. Ayla, this is my mate, Theo.”<br /> <br /> Theo’s hands were clenched into fists, and he forced a tight-jawed smile toward me. At least I was better at faking it them him. Geesh. <br /> <br /> I nodded to him with a broad smile. I knew it didn’t reach my eyes, but at least Ma and Kylee wouldn’t notice. <br /> <br /> “It’s lovely to meet you, Theo,” I said. “Dinner is ready in the dining room. Why don’t you guys go take a seat, and I’ll be right there. I need to tend to dessert first.”<br /> <br /> “Don’t take too long,” Kylee said brightly. “We have some big news, and I don’t think I can wait much longer.”<br /> <br /> “I promise I’ll be right there,” I assured her as I rubbed her shoulder. <br /> <br /> Kylee grabbed Ma by the arm and led her to the dining room. Theo followed a few steps behind. He had to pass me to get through. Right as he approached, I turned my body to ensure we didn’t touch. He paused in front of me for a moment. I looked up to meet his eyes.<br /> <br /> There was anger, confusion, desire, and possibly even hurt reflecting in his eyes that I couldn’t help but notice were the color of honey. He had questions. I subtly shook my head at him. Hoping and silently begging that he knew we couldn’t do this here. <br /> <br /> The sound of Kylee’s laugh from the other room made me jump and then quickly retreat to the kitchen. I grabbed the homemade cheesecake from the fridge and set it on the counter for later. <br /> <br /> I listened to the others conversing in the next room and took several deep breaths. I felt a lump start to form in my throat and quickly pushed it down. This wasn’t the time to cry. <br /> <br /> I was almost to the dining room when I heard the last part of what Kylee was saying, and again, I was left frozen at the threshold.<br /> <br /> “… our mating ceremony is in three months.” Kylee looked up at me. “Oh, Ayla, I’m sorry. I just couldn’t hold back any longer. Aren’t you happy for us?”<br /> <br /> I put the same fake smile back on. “Of course I’m happy for you,” I said. “You deserve the best.”<br /> <br /> I took my seat at the table, ignoring the fact that I was left sitting directly across from Theo. His eyes were boring into me, and my face felt like it was on fire. I started dishing out food and passing plates. I didn’t say much over dinner. Instead, I just listened to Kylee and Ma talk about all the ideas they had for the mating ceremony. Theo didn’t say much either but slowly started to do a better job hiding his discomfort with the situation. <br /> <br /> It took everything to ignore the touches they shared, pushing down the jealousy that kept surging through me. <br /> After dinner, while they were still talking, I made an excuse to slip out through the back door.<br /> <br /> I stood on the porch and took several deep breaths. I released a string of curses.<br /> “What is happening? Why is this happening? This ISN’T happening,” I whispered with the force of a yell. <br /> <br /> ‘Our mate.’ Dasha insisted.<br /> <br /> “No, he’s not,” I said back to her. “He’s Kylee’s. There must be some kind of mistake.”<br /> <br /> All of a sudden, I stiffened as a mouthwatering scent hit my nose. I knew who was standing behind me. <br /> <br /> Chapter 2: Theo<br /> I fought against the urges her scent was influencing as I stalked up to her. But more importantly, the urge to grab her and take her against the nearest tree. My wolf was going crazy about the idea, but he would learn fast that that was never going to happen. <br /> <br /> I wouldn’t accept her. <br /> <br /> Knowing what I knew about her, that would never happen. <br /> <br /> She turned to face me. <br /> <br /> “This won’t happen,” I spat out before she had a chance to speak. <br /> Her jaw clenched, and her silvery-gray eyes stared into mine for a few short moments. But I couldn’t read a thing behind them. <br /> <br /> “I absolutely agree,” she stated evenly. <br /> <br /> My wolf growled and snarled inside me, demanding to know what I was doing. I pushed down the hurt that hit me when she didn’t fight me. Her reaction just proved why this needed to be done. I could never be with someone so cold and self-absorbed as her. There was no way someone like her could ever be my Luna. <br /> <br /> ‘Don’t know her.’ Kieran yelled in my head. <br /> <br /> I knew enough. <br /> <br /> “Kylee is my mate. Not you. I, Theo Arden, future Alpha of the Greytooth Pack, reject you, Ayla Garner, as my mate and Luna.” Kieran was snapping his teeth, pushing to take control to stop this.<br /> <br /> “I, Ayla Garner, accept your rejection and relinquish my claim as your mate and Luna.”<br /> <br /> My wolf howled in pain. A pain that was mirrored within me as it felt like my heart was being ripped apart. It was the bond breaking. Releasing me from the tie that bound us together.<br /> She stood there like nothing happened. <br /> <br /> How could she stand there like nothing had happened?<br /> <br /> She really didn’t feel anything, did she? It was so easy for her to let us go.<br /> <br /> ‘Mate wants me.’<br /> <br /> I grimaced. He meant her wolf. Her wolf wanted mine. He could sense her. She was even denying her wolf. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I needed to get away from her. <br /> <br /> I stormed back into the house, returning to the woman the goddess should have made my mate. I returned to the dining room to find her mother and her still deep in conversation. I was grateful she hadn’t seemed to notice my absence or the change in my mood. It wasn’t surprising. She was excited about seeing her family and sharing the news with them. <br /> <br /> I had been, too, until her sister walked into the room. The scent had engulfed me, driving me to seek out the source like a lifeline. When I saw her, her beauty took my breath away. She was petit but strong, with long legs and perfect curves. She had a mass of caramel-blonde hair that cascaded over her shoulders, framing a face with plump lips and intense gray eyes that shined green in the light. I couldn’t help but want her. I recognized who she was to me immediately. <br /> <br /> But then I noticed her narrow nose and soft jawline were familiar. Her fair skin had a sun-kissed glow that I had always found attractive. Once I realized she had similar features to Kylee, I knew this was her sister, Ayla. <br /> <br /> Kylee had told me on many occasions how her sister had changed after the death of their father. She was there for Kylee at first, but in less than a year, she started spending all her time away from home. She ended up dropping out of the private school her parents had worked so hard to send her to. Eventually, Kylee lost track of what she was doing with her life. <br /> <br /> Kylee was there for her when she was around, trying to be supportive. But she wasn’t the sister she used to love. What bothered her most was Ayla’s treatment of their mother. Ayla still lived in the house with her, but Kylee always got the impression that helping their mother was just a burden. She worried their mother would be left with no one to take care of her, and she wasn’t in the best of health anymore. <br /> <br /> “I have an idea,” I interrupted. They both looked up at me expectantly. “Why doesn’t your mother come to stay with us for a while? At least until the ceremony? We have the room in the packhouse, and I’m sure you and my mother would appreciate the extra input.”<br /> <br /> Both their faces lit up.<br /> <br /> “Really? We can do that?” Kylee said happily. <br /> <br /> “Of course,” I said with a smile. <br /> <br /> “Thank you.”<br /> <br /> Kylee jumped up from the table and threw her arms around me, kissing me sweetly. I ignored the growls coming from Kieran. Seeing their reaction told me I had made the exact right decision. Despite what the burning in my chest told me. <br /> <br /> This was who I was supposed to be with. Not Ayla.<br /> <br /> ‘Keep saying. Maybe believe.’<br /> <br /> I told him to shut up, and he retreated into the back of my mind, cutting himself off from me. <br /> <br /> He would get over it. Once the bond was completely severed, he would understand this was the right thing for us and the pack.<br /> <br /> Chapter 3: Ayla<br /> I had managed to get myself together enough to rejoin my family. The pain that seared through me from Theo’s rejection and my subsequent acceptance almost brought me to my knees. It took all of my strength to keep my body from shaking, praying he didn’t notice the blood coming from my palms. I had clenched my fists so hard trying to stay on my feet that I broke the skin.<br /> <br /> When he finally left, I released the sob that was the only thing capable of coming out of my mouth. But I didn’t let the tears fall. Not yet. They couldn’t know. <br /> <br /> So, I steadied my breathing and went back into my house. I was surprised to find that Kylee and Ma weren’t in the dining room anymore. They weren’t in the living room either. But Theo was. <br /> <br /> “They’re in your mother’s room packing,” he said coldly.<br /> <br /> “Packing?” What was he talking about?<br /> <br /> He stepped closer to me, lowering his voice. “I think it’s best that you keep your distance from Kylee for a while. We don’t want her finding out about this. But I know she’ll want her mother to be a part of the ceremony planning. So she’s coming back with us.”<br /> <br /> I felt like he just slapped me in the face. As if I would ever tell her. That’s why I was doing this. So that I wouldn’t break my baby sister’s heart. I gave him what he wanted, and now he was going to keep me from my family?<br /> <br /> Dasha was confused and in pain, whimpering in my head because she didn’t understand how he could be so cruel to us. <br /> <br /> “If that’s what you think is best,” I said to Theo through gritted teeth. <br /> <br /> “Kylee,” he called out, not breaking eye contact. “Let’s get going.”<br /> <br /> My sister came prancing into the room. “Already?”<br /> <br /> “It’s getting late. Let’s head to the hotel for the night. We’ll swing by in the morning to pick up your mother.”<br /> <br /> “Okay,” she said brightly before turning to me. “What about you, Ayla? You’re coming with, too, right?”<br /> <br /> I opened my mouth to speak, but Theo decided to answer for me. <br /> <br /> “We were just talking about that. Ayla has some things going on with work and can’t get away.”<br /> <br /> I gave her a tight smile. “Yes, I’m sorry. But I will try to come out there as soon as I can.”<br /> <br /> “Oh, okay, I understand. But I’ll make sure we have a room ready for you whenever you can come.”<br /> <br /> “Of course. I can’t wait,” I said, my heart breaking again, knowing Theo wouldn’t allow me to be there with her. <br /> <br /> We all said our goodbyes, and they left. Ma was still standing at the window watching them drive off when I went to clean up the dishes in the kitchen. She finally came in behind me and started opening another bottle of wine. We had gone through four during dinner already. And I barely touched my glass. <br /> <br /> “Ma, you’ve had enough for the night,” I said calmly.<br /> <br /> “Oh, come on. It’s a celebration,” Ma said. “It’s not every day you find out your baby is going to be a Luna.”<br /> <br /> “Ma, you can celebrate more tomorrow. You need to finish packing,” I said, gently taking the bottle from her hand. “I’m sure Kylee and Theo will be here first thing in the morning.”<br /> <br /> “We can celebrate together while you help me pack,” she said, grabbing the bottle back from me. “Then I’ll help you pack.”<br /> <br /> I winced. This wasn’t going to end well. “I’m not coming, Ma.”<br /> <br /> She stopped with the glass halfway to her lips. “What do you mean you’re not coming?” she asked with a pout. “You have to be there. Kylee is going to be mated. I told her we would help pay for the ceremony.”<br /> <br /> I winced again. She meant me. I would be helping pay for the ceremony. Ma didn’t have a penny to her name.<br /> <br /> “This is a big deal. Don’t be so selfish, Ayla.”<br /> <br /> Her words stung, but they weren’t unexpected. This was kind of the norm when she got like this. I know she didn’t really mean it. At least, she wouldn’t mean it when she was sober. I got her into her bedroom and set her on the bed. I changed her into her nightgown and tucked her in. <br /> <br /> She was asleep in seconds. I hurried through the rest of her packing. Stuffing two large suitcases as full as I could before carrying them out to the living room. Then I locked the front door, finished the last of the dishes, and slipped out into the backyard.<br /> <br /> I stripped off my clothes as I headed for the forest, desperate to get under its protective shadows. As soon as I passed the treeline, I shifted, taking off at full speed. I let Dasha feel all the pain. I didn’t try to hold her back anymore. <br /> <br /> We would mourn the loss of our fated mate. The loss of the one person who was supposed to see us for who we were. The one person who was supposed to always put us first, without demands or expectations. We would mourn the loss of never getting to experience that.<br /> But we wouldn’t mourn him.<br /> <br /> We ran until we could barely breathe. Until Dasha stopped at the edge of our pond — our place of solace — and let out a heartwrenching howl into the night air. Shifting at the end as she retreated back into my mind, out of reach to heal her broken heart, while I let the torrent of tears finally fall.<br /> <br /> I walked into the water, curling into myself as the sobs wracked my body, intensifying the burn that was still there from our bond being ripped from my heart.<br /> <br /> I submerged myself completely, washing my body clean of Theo, the mate bond, and every dream of finding my soulmate. <br /> <br /> In the midst of this pain I drifted off to sleep.<br /> The next morning.<br /> When I made it back to the house, there was no one there. My mother had been taken away by them.<br /> I was standing in an empty room in an empty house. The silence was deafening. And it all came crashing down. I sank to my knees, begging the goddess to just let it all go away, just for a little while. I just wanted to feel numb.<br /> <br /> I lost track of how long I sat in that spot, staring without seeing. I didn’t even know Zeff was there until I felt him grip my arms.<br /> <br /> “Ayls, what happened? What’s wrong?” he asked, brushing hair out of my face, forcing me to look at him. “Ayla, what is going on?”<br /> <br /> “I found my mate,” I said, the corner of my mouth tipping up mockingly. “He’s scheduled to be mated to my sister.”<br /> <br /> “What?” Zeff exclaimed, anger and concern twisting his handsome features. <br /> <br /> Zeff was a good man. He had been there for me when no one else was. He was the only person who knew everything I went through. And here he was, listening to me tell him about meeting Theo, the mating ceremony, and my rejection. Why couldn’t he have been my mate? He should have been. <br /> <br /> “Come on,” he said, lifting me up. “You’re coming to stay with me.”<br /> <br /> I didn’t protest. The goddess had given me this one little blessing. I was numb. Zeff held me up by my waist and led me out to his car. He tucked me into the passenger seat and disappeared into the house again, only to emerge a few minutes later with a duffel bag in hand. <br /> <br /> He pulled out and drove us the twenty minutes to his house. Just like before, he helped me inside, this time sitting me on the big, comfy leather couch in his living room.<br /> <br /> He came and sat next to me, putting an arm over my shoulder and pulling me into him. I let myself relax some. This was the first thing since Theo walked into my life that felt normal, felt comfortable. He leaned his head on mine, rubbing his fingers along my arm. <br /> <br /> “Ayla. You’re going to deal with this — we’re going to deal with this together. Screw him, okay. He’s a dirtbag. You deserve so much better than some fool who doesn’t see how incredible you are.”<br /> <br /> I wanted to roll my eyes, but it wasn’t just about him. <br /> <br /> “He took my family, Zeff. I would have gotten over him just rejecting me because of Kylee. At least she would be safe and happy.”<br /> <br /> “No. They either treat you like a servant or a bank. They don’t care what their actions do to you as long as they keep getting what they want."<br /> <br /> “Zeff...But they were my family” I wanted to contradict him, but I knew he was right.<br /> <br /> “Get over him.” He took a step toward me, reaching up to hold my chin. “He’s not the only one who can take care of you, Ayla. He may be foolish enough not to want you, but I’m not.”<br /> <br /> My breath caught in my throat. He had told me about his feelings before, but we both avoided going down that road with each other. We knew we could find our fated mates at any time, and we didn’t want to deny each other that. <br /> <br /> “Move in here with me, Ayls,” Zeff said. “There’s nothing stopping us now.”<br /> <br /> “Zeff, you still have a mate out there somewhere.”<br /> <br /> “Ayla, stop. I’m thirty-four and well-traveled. If I was going to find her, I would have long before now. We both know that.” <br /> <br /> Suddenly his lips were on mine. I was shocked, but mostly because it felt good. I felt wanted. I kissed him back, not wanting to give that feeling up. I leaned into him — until Dasha came charging to the forefront, growling and snarling that someone who wasn’t our mate was touching us. <br /> <br /> I ripped myself from Zeff’s embrace. Breathing heavily, the pain of the severed bond renewed. I clutched my chest. <br /> <br /> “Ayla.” <br /> <br /> “I can’t. The bond. It’s still there. It hasn’t faded yet.”<br /> <br /> Zeff pulled me into his arms. “Okay. It’s okay. We can wait. We’ll take it slow.”<br /> <br /> I rested my head on his chest. “Okay.”<br /> <br /> He squeezed me tighter. I still didn’t know if we could make this work, but I wanted to try. <br /> <br /> I stayed with the Zeff, and it was quiet. Until a week later, when Theo burst in.<br /> <br /> Chapter 4: Theo<br /> It had been a week since I had gone home with Kylee. Seven days and a hundred miles away, and the bond was still there. The burning in my chest wouldn’t go away. I didn’t understand and it was annoying. <br /> <br /> More important is Kieran. He had spent the whole week giving me the silent treatment, except when Kylee was around. Then all he did was growl and snarl. It was getting exhausting. <br /> <br /> I had taken to holing up in my office most of the time. I didn’t want to snap at Kylee, or her mother, which had become hard to avoid by the third day. I was glad I had a good reason for me being so busy all of a sudden. <br /> <br /> Alpha was sick. He was diagnosed with a progressive disease almost a year ago. So, he decided it was time to hand the title down to me. It wasn’t official yet. We were planning on making the change at the same time as Kylee’s and my mating ceremony. Actually, that’s why I decided to make Kylee my official mate. Alpha’s were always stronger with a strong Luna by their side. With the circumstances of my father’s abdication, our pack needed to be as strong as possible. <br /> <br /> But there was still a lot to take care of and a lot I had to learn about being an Alpha before that time. So it wasn’t hard to convince her that it was the stress that was causing me to be distant. <br /> <br /> But this morning, I'm driving myself to Kylee's house. I promised to help her retrieve her mother's necklace, which she wanted to wear during our mating ceremony.<br /> <br /> In addition, if I couldn’t completely sever the bond between me and Ayla, Kieran could end up taking control and stop me from marking Kylee.<br /> So, once I got the necklace, I’d reject Ayla again, making sure it stuck this time, and I’d go back home.<br /> <br /> When I pulled up to the house, something twisted in my gut. When I step into the house, her invigorating scent of oranges and cloves invaded my nostrils, but it wasn’t nearly as strong as it should have been.<br /> I realize Ayla wasn't home.<br /> Instead, there was another smell in Ayla's room.<br /> The scent was male. It was faint, he wasn’t here long, but mixed in with the distinctive scent of my mate, I could pick it out anywhere. From the trail, it seemed as if he was the one who packed up her things.<br /> <br /> I stormed out of the house. Tossing the jewelry box in the passenger seat, I took my phone out and searched for the number for the publishing house Kylee said Ayla worked for.<br /> I got another address that Ayla had added to her personal profile from the receptionist.<br /> <br /> I followed the GPS to the address, pulling into the drive of a large, two-story house in a nice neighborhood. Parking half on the lawn, I didn’t even close the car door before taking the front steps two at a time. <br /> <br /> I banged on the door until I heard movement inside. A man opened it. It was the male I smelled in Ayla’s room. Before he could say anything, I lunged at him, my hands grabbing the front of his shirt and practically lifting him off the ground.<br /> <br /> “What have you done with her? I smell her all over you. Where is she?”<br /> <br /> He pushed me off him, his eyes glaring at me with recognition and disdain.<br /> <br /> “You must be Theo.”<br /> <br /> “What is going on?” Ayla’s voice floated down to me as she ran down the stairs. She froze halfway down the moment she laid eyes on me. “What are you doing here?”<br /> <br /> A silk robe hung open, revealing the shorts and cut-off tank top she wore underneath, her caramel-colored hair flowing loosely around her shoulders. She was gorgeous. And clearly not in distress. I took a step toward her as my rage grew.<br /> <br /> “What are you doing here?” I spat back. <br /> <br /> “That’s none of your concern,” the male interjected.<br /> <br /> I turned on him again, a rumbling growl emanating from my chest, my claws extending. I was ready to rip his throat out. <br /> <br /> “Stop,” Ayla yelled, coming the rest of the way down the stairs and stepping between the two of us. “Zeff, go to work.”<br /> <br /> “Absolutely not. I’m not leaving you here with him. Not in the state he’s in.”<br /> <br /> “I would never hurt her.” Kieran was ready to burst from my skin. How dare this dirtbag think we would ever lay a hand on her.<br /> <br /> “We both know that’s crap.”<br /> <br /> “Zeff, I said go.” Her expression softened a little. “I’ll call you later.”<br /> <br /> She would. <br /> <br /> The Zeff guy shot me another hate-filled look before exiting out the open front door. We stood in silence until the sound of his engine faded. <br /> <br /> “Are you dating him?” <br /> <br /> Her eyes went wide, then narrowed as she took a step forward. “What I do with a male — or anyone for that matter — is none of your business.”<br /> <br /> “It isn’t.” Electricity passed through the air between us. “He has no right to put his hands on you.”<br /> <br /> “He does if I want him to,” she yelled, not only holding her ground against the alpha energy I was exuding but taking another step toward me. “I don’t belong to anyone, remember? I have no mate.”<br /> <br /> I lost it. My hand was around her neck and my mouth was on hers before I even knew what I had done. But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. Sparks of intense electricity shot through me, invigorating all my senses. I pushed her to open for me, my tongue seeking hers. Goddess, she tasted so good. She returned the kiss, her arousal mingling in the air. <br /> <br /> “MINE.” <br /> <br /> She pushed me off her with force.<br /> <br /> I took a step toward her again but she backed away. <br /> <br /> “Don’t you hurt Kylee like this.”<br /> <br /> “Like you care about your sister getting hurt,” I spat, but for some reason, I instantly regretted it. But I couldn’t take it back. I wouldn’t take it back.<br /> <br /> “Excuse me?” Pure rage radiated off of her, her eyes turning an icy blue. <br /> <br /> “You abandoned Kylee a long time ago. You disappeared all the time, leaving her alone with a mother who was struggling to keep everything together.”<br /> <br /> Ayla’s face paled. Every ounce of anger seemed to drain from her instantly, that blue fire fading from her eyes. <br /> <br /> She almost went completely limp in front of me, stumbling until her back hit the wall. Her façade cracked. <br /> <br /> “That’s what she told you? She said that?” her voice was almost a whisper. <br /> <br /> Kieran was going insane in my head, telling me to shut up, to just stop talking. Urging me to stop hurting her. Because I was hurting her. I had struck a nerve, a very deep one, and I wouldn’t stop. She had to break the bond. Once and for all. If it meant I had to break her to do it, I would.<br /> <br /> “She told me everything. She told me how you would keep things from her and your mother. That you would be out at all hours of the night when you were a teenager. How you dropped out of high school, waisting the tuition your parents worked so hard for.”<br /> <br /> “What?” <br /> <br /> “I could never be with someone as cold and heartless as you.”<br /> <br /> Ayla’s head snapped up. Her eyes a steely gray as she resolved herself to something I couldn’t figure out but would soon find out. <br /> <br /> “I, Ayla Garner, reject you, Theo Arden, as my mate. I relinquish my claim as your mate and Luna.”<br /> <br /> I gritted my teeth as Kieran howled in my head, screaming for me not to accept it. <br /> <br /> “I, Theo Arden, accept your rejection.” The pain in my chest amplified, but I could still feel the bond. “We’ve done this before. It’s not working.”<br /> <br /> “Tell your wolf to accept it,” Ayla said with a crack in her voice. <br /> <br /> The muscles in my jaw tightened to a point I thought my teeth would shatter. The noise in my head from Kieran becoming almost unbearable.<br /> <br /> “He won’t.”<br /> <br /> “Make him,” she forced out.<br /> <br /> “I can’t.”<br /> <br /> “He doesn’t have a choice. I’ll never be with him, and neither will she,” Ayla said, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. <br /> <br /> I could feel the pain he felt. It was excruciating. I told him it would end if he just accepted, but he wouldn’t give in. He was an Alpha. He was as strong as me. I’d never overpower him on this. Ayla must have sensed my stalemate. Or her wolf did and told her because she pulled herself from against the wall, standing up straight again.<br /> <br /> “I, Ayla Garner, cut my ties to Alpha Torin…”<br /> <br /> “What are you doing?” There was desperation in my voice. She couldn’t do this. I moved to stop her. <br /> <br /> “And the Greytooth Pack.”<br /> <br /> “No.” I fell to a knee, feeling the invisible tether that united pack members with their Alpha splinter. Kieran was pounding against the barriers of my control, putting all his might into taking over the shift. I knew I was on the verge.<br /> <br /> “From this day forth, I am a rogue.” She took an unsteady step toward me, silent tears rolling freely down her face. “Now get out.”<br /> <br /> She had used my father’s name. Either of our names would have worked in the limbo state we were currently in. But she used my father’s. There was nothing I could do to stop her. Nothing I could do to fight the separation. She knew exactly what she was doing. <br /> <br /> If my wolf wouldn’t sever the mate bond, she would remove herself from any control I had over her. <br /> <br /> With one final, agonizing look, she walked away, disappearing upstairs. <br /> <br /> I took in a ragged breath of air. Ayla now had until midnight to be out of our territory. If I caught her on our land after that, I would have to murder her. Mate bond or not. She was a rogue now. It was our laws. <br /> <br /> Kieran had finally gone still in my mind. <br /> <br /> ‘Mate’s gone.’<br /> <br /> Did he mean Ayla or her wolf?<br /> <br /> ‘Dasha. Mate’s name is Dasha. Dasha’s gone.’<br /> <br /> Realization hit me and panic set in. Her wolf was gone. The pain was too much. She had retreated deep into the recesses of Ayla’s subconscious. Ayla wouldn’t be able to call on her. She wouldn’t be able to shift. She wouldn’t be able to heal.<br /> <br /> She was a rogue without a wolf. She couldn’t protect herself. <br /> <br /> I had to get as far away from her as possible. <br /> <br /> I dragged myself back to my feet, forcing them to walk out the door. <br /> <br /> Chapter 5: Ayla<br /> The moment the door was closed, I sank to the floor. It was no longer sobs that escaped my body but soul-shattering screams. <br /> <br /> She said I abandoned her. <br /> <br /> Theo made it sound like I spent my teen years partying and getting into trouble. She said I dropped out of high school. <br /> <br /> She said I wasn’t a sister to her. <br /> <br /> The betrayal was soul-crushing. <br /> <br /> I had given up everything for them. <br /> <br /> I screamed and let the tears flow freely until my body ached. As soon as it felt like I could breathe without being stabbed by a red-hot dagger, I pulled myself up and started moving. I only had a few hours to get my things and get out of Greytooth territory. <br /> <br /> I had made myself a rogue. I didn’t have a pack anymore. And I had no idea where I was going to go. All the borders on this side of the territory sat right against other pack lands. To get out of one, I’d have to enter another. But it was my only option. Trying to get to unclaimed territory was too risky. I would have better luck on foreign pack land than on the land I just severed ties to. <br /> <br /> After leaving a note for Zeff, I packed up and drove away.<br /> <br /> The Greytooth Pack may not be the largest in population, but they had one of the biggest territories. The closest border crossing was nearly two hours away. And I needed to be far away before Zeff got home. I couldn’t have him tracking me down.<br /> <br /> Especially since I didn’t give him much of an explanation. <br /> <br /> But it was better this way. I wasn’t going to risk him cutting ties and going rogue as well. Because he would. He would hold Theo responsible, and he would never stay in a pack with an alpha he didn’t respect, let alone hate. This way, the note I left would have just made it seem like I got cold feet about us being together. <br /> <br /> I drove to the outskirts of town and got on the highway. From there, it was practically a straight shot to the border. I was grateful at first, but after about an hour, I realized the monotonous ride only left my mind wondering and worrying and thinking about things I didn’t need to think about. <br /> <br /> When Theo found me in the yard that first day, I had no idea what he would say. His initial reaction to our meeting had me thinking he would pursue the pairing. But then his increasingly icy demeanor throughout the evening made it seem like he was thinking along the same lines I was. He wasn’t going to hurt Kylee for someone he didn’t know. <br /> <br /> He loved her. She loved him. I had no idea who he was, nor he I. We could reject each other and just go on our way. Neither one of us would have to break Kylee’s heart. I thought he was keeping me from my family to be cruel. Or maybe to make things easier for both of us. <br /> <br /> But today, his words revealed a different motive. He didn’t reject me for Kylee. He rejected me because of her. Because he believed what she said and painted me as some coldhearted delinquent. But why? I just couldn’t figure that out. <br /> <br /> Dad died in a gas explosion along with my aunt and uncle ten years ago. I was fourteen, and Kylee was nine. Our thirteen-year-old cousin, Mina, came to live with us for a while after their deaths. Ma was hit pretty hard by the loss, so the three of us quickly started taking care of each other. We spent every spare minute with each other. Then our financial situation changed. Kylee was entirely too young, and Mina had been through enough losing both her parents for me to put that on her. So, it was up to me to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads. <br /> <br /> But I was still fourteen. Finding jobs that paid enough to support a family of four at the age of fourteen was non-existent. I would need to work multiple jobs, and there just wasn’t enough time in the day. So, I approached the headmaster at my private high school and confided my situation with him. I was desperate not to drop out or risk my grades dropping and losing my scholarship. My parents didn’t pay a dime of my tuition. <br /> <br /> Headmaster Fordham was a miracle worker. He helped me test out of over eighty percent of my academic requirements by the end of my freshman year. I only had to take four summer classes to graduate a week after my fifteenth birthday. I was even able to broker a deal with him that would set the remaining three years of my scholarship fund aside for Kylee when it came time for her to attend high school. <br /> <br /> I still ended up working multiple jobs for several years. But no matter what, I always tried to be there for Kylee as much as possible. <br /> <br /> Everything I did was for her. <br /> <br /> I completely lost touch with all of my school friends. I never partied. I barely socialized. The jobs I held were really the only place that happened. But I was home to take her to school every morning, and I ensured I had at least an hour to help her with her homework almost every day. <br /> <br /> I didn’t discuss the lengths I went to with Kylee. I didn’t want her to feel bad or that it was her fault. And I didn’t want her to see what Ma was going through. She was struggling to keep any job. She was drinking daily. There were even a couple of times she racked up gambling debts that put us in some scary situations. <br /> <br /> But I never let Kylee see any of that. It was my job to protect them. <br /> <br /> There was so much more that didn’t add up with what Theo had said. But I didn’t get to think about it further. <br /> <br /> A searing pain shot through my chest, making my vision go white at the edges, blinding me to a point I almost missed the figure standing in the road before me. <br /> <br /> My heart jumped into my chest. I turned the wheel as sharp as I could, slamming on the brakes to avoid hitting them head-on. The moment I did it, I felt foolish. Within seconds, I was spinning through the air and sliding down an embankment.<br /> <br /> When the vehicle came to a stop, I was upside down. I registered the smell of blood, but everything was blurry. I didn’t feel significant pain, so I didn’t think the blood was coming from me. <br /> <br /> The person on the road!<br /> <br /> I scrambled out of the car and up the incline. Without Dasha, I couldn’t see well in the dark, but I could see a blurry figure moving toward me.<br /> <br /> “Are you okay?” I called. <br /> <br /> I didn’t catch what they were saying because I suddenly felt the world falling out from beneath my feet, and everything went dark. <br /> <br /> Chapter 6: Theo<br /> I said I would break her if that was what it took.<br /> <br /> And I certainly followed through with that.<br /> <br /> Ayla’s hard exterior had cracked and shattered before me. <br /> <br /> I had driven over an hour, and my stomach was still in knots. So much so that I had to stop to throw up at one point. Guilt tore at me. <br /> <br /> I really had been cruel to her. <br /> <br /> Especially since it turned out it wasn’t even her fault the bond hadn’t broken. She and Dasha had accepted my rejection. They had done what I needed them to do. Ayla had stayed away from Kylee and me. She hadn’t tried to be around them. From what I could tell, she hadn’t even called Kylee like she used to. And how did I repay her? By ripping her apart with every intention of doing as much damage as possible. <br /> <br /> It was my wolf that was still hanging on. It was Kieran who kept us in a constant state of heartache. Kept Ayla in a constant state of pain. <br /> <br /> And then she had to go and do something foolish and cut herself out of the pack. She was completely lost to us now. The only thing I could do was tell myself it was what I wanted. It was the only way to get rid of the temptation and put enough distance between us until Kylee and I were marked and mated and leading our pack. <br /> <br /> Every time I said it, Kieran was there to argue. <br /> <br /> By the time I pulled up to the packhouse, I was so pissed that anyone around instantly took a wide birth. My aura was probably so intense that I was making everyone physically uncomfortable, but I really didn’t care.<br /> <br /> I was going to head to my office but decided against it. Too many people had access to me there, and I really didn’t need anyone coming around. <br /> <br /> What I needed was to work off some of this rage and pent-up energy. <br /> <br /> I made a beeline for the private training room in the wing of the packhouse reserved for ranking members of the pack. I was relieved to find it empty, tugging my shirt over my head and immediately heading to the punching bag in the corner. <br /> <br /> I had worked up a sweat when Briggs entered the room. Walking over to me with his usual swagger, his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the wall close by. He knew something was up. He had been hounding me about it since we got back from Kylee’s house. So had my mother, but I sure wasn’t going down that road.<br /> <br /> Briggs was my Beta. We had been friends since we were eight and had been through everything together since then. I didn’t think there was anything we could hide from each other. But I surely wanted to hide this from him. So I just ignored his presence.<br /> <br /> “You ready to tell me what is going on with you? Or at least, where you were today?” he said loud enough to be heard over the sound of my fists hitting the bag. <br /> <br /> “No.”<br /> <br /> “If you don’t, we’ll sedate you. Your aura is out of control right now, bro. This isn’t about you just being in a pissy mood anymore,” Briggs said with an edge to his voice that meant he was serious.<br /> I yelled as I hit the bag hard one more time. I winced as I forced my fingers through my hair. I hadn’t realized I had been breaking the skin on my knuckles. I fell back against the wall, sliding down to the floor. <br /> <br /> “You know I’m here for you, bro,” my Beta said calmly. “Whatever it is, you can talk to me.”<br /> I nodded. <br /> <br /> ‘Tell him.’<br /> <br /> I winced at Keiran’s demand. But I couldn’t really disagree anymore. <br /> <br /> “I found my mate,” I admitted. I could feel Briggs’ eyes go wide in his head. <br /> <br /> “What do you mean you found your mate?” he took a step closer. “Please tell me you’re talking about Kylee.”<br /> <br /> I shook my head. “No. I found my fated mate.”<br /> <br /> “What. The. Fu-” He had warned me about this when I first got involved with Kylee and again when we announced our mating ceremony. “Where is she? Who is she?”<br /> <br /> “I rejected her. She’s gone.”<br /> <br /> “Theo, man, you’re really scaring me now. Why would you do that? What were you thinking?” Briggs demanded.<br /> <br /> “She’s Kylee’s sister,” I snapped. Briggs tensed up.<br /> <br /> “Ayla? As in the sister that allegedly abandoned Kylee?” <br /> <br /> His use of the word “allegedly” pissed me off and confused me a little. He really liked Kylee. They’ve always gotten along. Even when he was cautioning me about finding my mate, he told me he was happy for me. <br /> <br /> “Are you trying to say Kylee is lying?” I snapped.<br /> <br /> He made a face. “No, but I do think it’s foolish to reject your mate without all the information.”<br /> <br /> “I have all the information I need.”<br /> <br /> “No, you have Kylee’s side of the story,” Briggs said with a worried look.<br /> <br /> “And their mother’s,” I added.<br /> <br /> Briggs scoffed. “Look, Marie Garner is a nice enough lady, but I wouldn’t exactly trust her judgment.”<br /> <br /> “What are you talking about?” I asked, my own concern growing.<br /> <br /> “Bro, she’s a lush,” Briggs said with a shrug. “Not that you’ve been around enough to notice since she’s been here. I can’t tell how bad, and she seems pretty harmless. But these things often have a dark side that no one sees.”<br /> <br /> I couldn’t believe we were having this conversation. The last thing I needed was any kind of doubt in my decision. <br /> <br /> “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done. And Ayla’s reactions to all of this told me all I needed to know from her.” I pushed myself to my feet. <br /> <br /> “What were her reactions?” Briggs asked cautiously, and I realized my choice of words may have given away more than I intended. I knew he wouldn’t let it go unless he was sure I told him everything. <br /> <br /> “Which time?” I said quietly.<br /> <br /> “Excuse me?” He heard exactly what I said. “What happened, Theo?”<br /> <br /> “She never argued or fought the rejection. She agreed and accepted it the first day we met like it was nothing. She had no response, no rebuttal, no explanation,” I told him. “You have to be coldhearted to feel nothing after breaking a mate bond.”<br /> <br /> “Or extremely strong,” Briggs stated. “You said she didn’t argue or fight. Did you even give her a chance to speak or even get to know anything about her before you threw her to the curb? Or did you just walk up to her and say tough words?”<br /> <br /> I grimaced. That’s exactly what happened. “There wasn’t exactly an opportunity for that. Neither one of us wanted Kylee to find out.”<br /> <br /> The muscles in his neck flexed as he tensed. “You said ‘which time.’ When did you see her again?”<br /> <br /> “This morning.” <br /> <br /> “Why?” <br /> <br /> I could tell he was choosing his words carefully. <br /> <br /> “Kylee wanted a necklace of her mother’s that was left at their house for some appointment this week. I went back to get it.”<br /> <br /> “Okay, someone else could have done that. Why did you go?” Briggs pushed, but the words stuck in my throat. “Theo, you’re hurting. There’s no way this is as cut and dry as you’re trying to say it is.”<br /> <br /> “The bond didn’t break. Not completely.”<br /> <br /> “Goddess, Theo. So you both have been walking around with your hearts ripped open for the past week?” Briggs said. “So, what happened today? Why are you still on the edge of ripping half the pack’s throats out?”<br /> <br /> Images of that morning flashed through my head. The fear that something had happened to her when she hadn’t been home. The jealousy and rage at finding her at another male’s house. The way it felt when I kissed her. And sheer pain and anguish of everything that followed. <br /> <br /> “Theo?” Briggs pressed.<br /> <br /> “She cut her ties to the pack,” I said solemnly. “She turned herself rogue.”<br /> <br /> “Theo,” Briggs bellowed, “how could you let that happen? Why didn’t you stop her?”<br /> <br /> “She cut herself from Dad. She used his name. There was nothing I could do. I had no way of fighting it.” I was done with this conversation. “So none of this matters. It’s done. She’s gone. She’s never coming back. Doing so would be a death sentence, and she knew that.”<br /> <br /> “What have you done, Theo?”<br /> <br /> “It doesn’t matter,” I yelled. “Whatever I did or didn’t do, she never wanted me anyway. She’s not my problem anymore. So right now, I’m going to worry about cleaning up the mess she made and figure out how to tell Kylee and Marie that they’ll never see her again. And don’t you dare breathe a word about any of this to them, do you understand me?”<br /> <br /> “Okay. Okay,” Briggs said, raising his hands in the air, trying to calm me down. “You’re right. There’s nothing we can do about her now. If it’s done and over with, then it’s done and over with. We’ll move on.”<br /> <br /> I wasn’t sure he believed it, but I didn’t care. Like I said, she wasn’t my problem anymore. <br /> <br /> I went back to my room. There was a knock on my room door, and Kylee poked her head in before I had a chance to answer.<br /> “There you are, mate,” she cooed, sitting in my lap.<br /> She ran a hand up my chest, leaning in to kiss me. Kieran’s growl started immediately.<br /> I still needed to let off some steam. Anything to get some relief.<br /> I was about to respond to her when blinding pain erupted through my body.	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1,209,660	/src/Template/Ads/index.ctp (line 281) '{"alias":1209659}'	Yes	2024-04-14 13:48	active	515	252186794642213	🔥🔥 Click to Read 👉🏻👉🏻	What’s more embarrassing than a butt dial? Butt dialing your boss… And leaving a dirty voicemail when you’re uhh… “thinking” about them.<br /> Just had a sexual fantasy with my boss. I stand on legs that are just as shaky as he said they’d be. My throat hurts from moaning and I’m sore as all get-out. As I stand, my phone clatters to the floor.<br /> I reach down to pick it up—<br /> And freeze in horror.<br /> Ruslan’s name is lighting up my screen.<br /> And the call is active.<br /> For seven minutes and thirty-two seconds, I’ve been masturbating to the absolute filthiest fantasy I’ve ever had, starring Ruslan Oryolov.<br /> ————————<br /> Emma<br /> If anyone has a reason to cry, it’s me. My boss is an arrogant prick and my sister is dead and her husband is more of a burden than a help and I have three innocent kids I’m doing my best to raise right but I can’t seem to catch a break and I need sleep and food and more coffee and a vacation and a fresh start and—the list just goes on. One reason for each of my thousand tears.<br /> “Auntie Em! Auntie Em, wake up.”<br /> I come to with a start. The sun is slanting in through the blinds and I have absolutely no freaking idea what planet I’m on. I feel a sharp line of pain on my cheek. It takes me a long moment to realize that it’s because I have a shoelace plastered to my skin. I peel it off with a wince and look up to see Josh standing over me.<br /> “Auntie Em, it’s 7:45. We’re late for school.”<br /> The next fifteen minutes are a blur. I get the girls up and dressed in the least coordinated outfits in the history of terrible parenting. I hurl random food into their lunchboxes with no regard for nutritional value. And then we’re all sprinting out the door.<br /> Ben, needless to say, doesn’t so much as lift a finger to help.<br /> I get the evil eye from the receptionist at the kids’ school when I drop them off well into first period. I just pop a peck on each of their foreheads and then turn to Bane.<br /> I get another evil eye from the lobby receptionist there, too, but I don’t quite realize why until I’m in the elevator up to the thirtieth floor and I catch sight of my reflection in the polished bronze.<br /> I look like an absolute shitshow. My hair is a rat’s nest on my head and my blouse is on backwards. The fashionable one-shoulder cutout is framing my frayed bra strap instead of a tasteful slice of arm.<br /> Wet street dogs are more put-together than I am.<br /> It’s way too late to go back now, though. I can already imagine Ruslan’s eyebrow. It’s probably halfway up his scalp by now. His voice is going to be absolutely frigid when he hears me come stumbling in. Something like:<br /> “You have got to be kidding me.”<br /> Wait. That wasn’t my imagination. That was actually his voice.<br /> I open my eyes and turn around to realize that the elevator doors have opened—and who should be standing there but my beloved, benevolent boss?<br /> Sure enough, his eyebrow is locked and loaded and that cruelly sharp jaw of his clenched so tight that I wonder idly if he has a good dentist on speed dial.<br /> I open my mouth to defend myself, but what is there even to say? “I’m sorry,” I blurt. “I fell asleep after—It was a long night and—I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”<br /> He doesn’t so much as blink. “I expect you to dress appropriately for your job, Ms. Carson,” he growls. “Not do the walk of shame through my building.”<br /> I frown. “The walk of—? Hold on. No, that’s not what this is. I didn’t—”<br /> “You’re wearing yesterday’s skirt and flaunting your undergarments like you think you can seduce your way out of being—” He checks his watch. “—two and a half hours late. I’m not sure if you think I’m stupid or easy. I’m also not sure which of those two would offend me more.”<br /> One word snags my attention. “Seduce?” I parrot stupidly.<br /> Out of nowhere, thoughts of what it would look like to seduce Ruslan Oryolov come prancing through my head.<br /> Wrapping his tie around my fist and bringing that smirking snarl down to my lips for a taste.<br /> Lying back on his desk, pencil skirt hiked above my hips, while he shoves my panties to the side and devours me like his last meal.<br /> On my knees on his office carpet as he stands over me and—<br /> “Ms. Carson, I’m not interested in your explanations. Go do your job. Before I find someone else to do it for you.”<br /> With that, he brushes past me and gets on the elevator. I turn and look dumbly at him as the doors close on his face. The last thing I see is the arrogant slant of his mouth.<br /> Then that, too, disappears.<br /> My cheeks are burning red for the rest of the day. Luckily, I have an extra cardigan at my desk, so I’m able to cover up the worst of my wardrobe malfunction.<br /> But my phone keeps pinging all day long with messages from Ruslan. Do this. Send that. Fax this. Email that. He’s as unbearable as ever. Everything from the expiration date on his coffee creamer to the status of the conference room chairs he’s so anal about merits yet another scathing comment from him. And after yesterday’s nightmare, I’m running on fumes.<br /> My only saving grace is that he has a gala tonight, so he’s scheduled to leave the office at 5:00 P.M. sharp. I’m counting down the last ten seconds until the clock strikes five like I’m a Times Square partier on New Year’s Eve.<br /> “Seven… Six… Five… Four… Three… Two… One…”<br /> Ping. Another text. I moan and look down to see the devil’s name pop up on my phone.<br /> RUSLAN: My office. Now.<br /> Goddammit. I was so close.<br /> Sighing, I get up and slink inside.<br /> “Shut the door,” he orders. It’s dark in here. The curtains are sealed tight and the temperature is Arctic. He’s a mass of shadows behind his desk, huge and fragrant. The only thing I can see is the sharp light of his amber eyes.<br /> “Sit.” A shadowy hand points at the chair across from his desk.<br /> I perch at the edge of the seat in question. My nerves are buzzing and frayed. I’m so, so tired. But I can’t show him that. Matter of fact, I refuse to show him that.<br /> I won’t give the smug prick the satisfaction of thinking he’s outlasted me.<br /> “I asked you yesterday if I had your full attention,” he begins. “I’m not so sure I do. So let me say this: if your priorities lie anywhere other than this company, then I will find a new assistant. I’m not a nice man, Ms. Carson. So believe me when I tell you that this is not the kind of place where you get three strikes before something bad happens. You mess up once—you’re gone. Am I making myself clear?”<br /> I swallow. “Yes, sir.”<br /> He nods. “Good. Be here on time tomorrow. Dress like you intend to keep your job. Now, if you’ll excuse me… there’s the door.”<br /> He looks down at his phone and poof, it’s like I don’t exist anymore.<br /> But I. Am. Pissed.<br /> He doesn’t know what I’m going through. He doesn’t know Ben is snoring and farting in my living room, or that three little kids are waiting on me to pick them up from after-school care. He doesn’t know that I buried my sister or that I’m barely keeping my head above water. He doesn’t know anything.<br /> “No.” I blurt it before I can think better of it. “No. No. I’m not some little worm under your shoe, Mr. Oryolov. I’m a—I mean, screw you, I’m a person! I have a life and hobbies and people who depend on me. I’m real! So I’d appreciate it very much if you’d pull your smug head out of your smug prick and treat me with some respect for once.”<br /> Ruslan blinks.<br /> Blinks.<br /> Blinks.<br /> “Is there something else, Ms. Carson?”<br /> That’s when I realize that my whole little tirade took place entirely in my head. It wasn’t real. All imagined. Just a pleasant little detour to a fantasy land where I give him my two cents and then some.<br /> I swallow past the nasty taste in my throat and stand. “No, sir,” I say quietly. “Nothing at all.”<br /> -<br /> I ended the call with my best friend, Phoebe.<br /> Then a face pops up on the black screen of my mind’s eye.<br /> It’s Ruslan because, like I told Pheebs, he haunts me even when I’m off the clock. He’s smiling that smile she described. That come-to-bed-and-let-me-show-you-what-I-can-do-to-you smile. The camera of my imagination pulls back and floats down.<br /> Imaginary Ruslan is wearing an ivory white button-down shirt with the top two buttons undone. Enough to see a dusting of dark chest hair and the edge of a tattoo I can’t quite make out. He flexes his forearms in front of him. Those knuckles crack, louder than I expected, and I let out a surprised little gasp.<br /> I like when you make that noise, he croons. Shall I see if I can make you do it again?<br /> I’m nodding before I’m even realizing what I’m doing. “Make me moan,” I plead.<br /> I’m also touching the inside of my knee before I realize what I’m doing. But it’s not my hands that are doing it—or at least, it doesn’t feel like it’s my hands. It’s Ruslan’s hands, huge and powerful, palming my thigh and drifting up under the edge of my pencil skirt.<br /> You’ve been a naughty assistant, he growls, breath minty in my face where it mingles with the woodsy spice of his cologne. There’s a faint laugh on the edge of his voice, like he knows that this whole thing is crazy but he’s just going with it because it’s hotter than it is ridiculous. You’ve been so very, very bad. Step into my office and shut the door.<br /> The rest of the world disappears like I just followed his orders. Gone is my messy apartment and the lingering smell of burrito cheese. Ruslan is all I smell now.<br /> That cologne.<br /> That breath.<br /> Beneath it, that musk that sets my nerve endings on fire.<br /> “Are you going to punish me, Ruslan?” I whisper.<br /> I’m on the literal edge of my seat, grinding and bucking against my fingers. Imaginary Ruslan has me eating out of the palm of his hand. I’d do anything for him. Say anything. Be anything.<br /> Imaginary Ruslan is every bit the cruel prick that real Ruslan is. He said he’d keep my orgasms to himself, but I feel like I stole this one from him. The euphoria of it rips through me in one endless lightning bolt after the next, until finally, what feels like an hour later, I come back to something like normal consciousness with drool on my lips and my fingers wet and sticky with my own desire.<br /> I stand on legs that are just as shaky as he said they’d be. My throat hurts from moaning and I’m sore as all get-out. As I stand, my phone clatters to the floor.<br /> I reach down to pick it up—<br /> And freeze in horror.<br /> Ruslan’s name is lighting up my screen.<br /> And the call is active.<br /> The reality of what is happening clicks in my gut immediately, but it takes a few delayed moments before my head comes to terms with it.<br /> For seven minutes and thirty-two seconds, I’ve been on a call with Ruslan Oryolov.<br /> For seven minutes and thirty-two seconds, I’ve been masturbating to the absolute filthiest fantasy I’ve ever had, starring Ruslan Oryolov.<br /> For seven minutes and thirty-two seconds, my phone has been recording every last moan and gasp and breath and twitch I made while I begged for his mercy and pleaded for him to make me come.<br /> Did Ruslan hear the whole thing?<br /> -<br /> “It’s over. My life as I know it is over. R.I.P. to me.”<br /> “I’m sorry, who is this?”<br /> “Pheebs!”<br /> She chuckles while I stare at my reflection in the mirror and try not to throw up. My phone is lying on the bathroom counter on speakerphone, mostly because my palms have been sweating since I saw the meeting invite in my calendar for today.<br /> 9:00 A.M. – 09:07:32 A.M.: Emma Carson 1-on-1 with Ruslan Oryolov.<br /> “Sorry. Couldn’t resist. Anyway, rewind, take a deep breath, then tell me what’s going on in your big girl voice. Unburden yourself. Take all the time you need. Just make it quick because I have a 9 o’clock appointment.”<br /> I’m bouncing on the balls of my feet now, the same way that Reagan does when she needs to pee really bad. “Yeah, so do I. With him.”<br /> “Ah. Oh, wait—oh.”<br /> I first called Phoebe last night right after realizing what I’d done. Her reaction was a dizzying mixture of pride and horror. I believe her exact words were, “Sure, it’s mortifying, but I’m glad you got your rocks off. Knew you had it in you.”<br /> She’s a little more reassuring now that things are escalating out of control. “That doesn’t necessarily mean he heard the voicemail, Em. Maybe this is just a standard, no-big-deal, super-boring-business-stuff Thursday morning meeting.”<br /> “It’s scheduled for seven minutes and thirty-two seconds. Precisely.”<br /> “Hm.” There’s a beat of silence. “Doesn’t look good, does it?”<br /> “Seriously? That’s all you’ve got for me? I’m gonna lose my job, Phoebe!”<br /> “You don’t know that for sure. Just take a deep breath and go in there, see what he wants. Play it cool, y’know?”<br /> “And what if what he wants is to kick my arse to the curb with a recommendation letter that claims I’m a dirty bimbo?”<br /> “I mean, there’s probably a market for that.” I moan as Phoebe’s laughter fades into a serious tone. “Listen, boo: whatever happens, you’re a strong, smart, confident woman and you’re gonna land on your feet. And until you do, I’ve got your back.”<br /> Her words mean everything to me, but I know that Phoebe doesn’t have much margin for error in her life, either. She struggles just as hard as I do. If she is able to help, it still wouldn’t put a dent in all the bills and loans looming over me.<br /> “Thanks for the pep talk. I’ve gotta go to my doom now.”<br /> “Keep your pecker up!”<br /> I blink. “Huh?”<br /> “Oklahoma talk. It means, like, ‘break a leg,’ but for Midwesterners.”<br /> If I weren’t worried about losing my job and ending up homeless on the street with three kids, I’d laugh. Instead, I say one more miserable goodbye, then spend a solid three minutes dry-heaving into one of the empty bathroom stalls.<br /> Once I’ve sufficiently bruised my stomach lining, I slink out of the bathroom and waste the remaining two minutes before the meeting standing outside of Ruslan’s door, watching the clock steal my life away one second at a time.<br /> “You okay, Emma?” asks Katie Miller, another of the executive assistants on this floor, as she passes by.<br /> “Dandy,” I mumble. “Just waiting for the noose.”<br /> “What was that?”<br /> “Nothing. I like your earrings. Have a good day.”<br /> She raises her brow a smidge. I’m not usually so dismissive, but I can’t concentrate on small talk right now. Not when I’m T-minus thirty seconds away from the end of my career.<br /> Dear God, I know I don’t pray to you often. Or, well, ever. But please help me out today and I’ll definitely consider starting on a more semi-regular basis.<br /> Great. Now, I’m bargaining with God. New low, Emma. New low.<br /> I take a deep breath and walk into his office. The shades are tight, snuffing out all the light of the Manhattan morning beyond. It’s like a bear cave in here—and the grizzly in question is sitting at his desk, scrolling through his phone. He doesn’t acknowledge me until I’m standing in front of his desk.<br /> “Sit.”<br /> The moment my rear end is parked, he puts his phone down and looks at me. Just looks at me.<br /> In the eighteen months that I’ve worked for him, he’s never once given me the benefit of his full attention. Even during our morning meetings, he’s either on his phone, flipping through files, or typing away on his laptop. I used to be annoyed about it. I’m only now realizing I should have been grateful.<br /> Should I say something?<br /> Maybe he wants me to break the silence. Maybe I’m supposed to give him an explanation, an apology, something. But the more the silence stretches on, the less I’m capable of breaking it.<br /> I decide once again that those amber eyes of his should be outlawed.<br /> “I heard the voicemail,” he says at last.<br /> I can’t place his tone. Amusement? Anger? Disbelief?<br /> “Do you have anything to say, Ms. Carson?”<br /> I launch into the apology I spent most of last night practicing in the mirror. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am, Mr. Oryolov. I have no idea what I was thinking. The whole thing was an accident; I didn’t realize I’d dialed you. I was so tired and out of it and… I can assure you that it will never happen again. I swear.”<br /> My cheeks are flushed with embarrassment, but I try to keep my voice steady. I can’t sound too desperate, although that’s exactly what I am.<br /> “Tell me, Ms. Carson: what would you do in my place?”<br /> “I would give the plucky, hard-working assistant another chance, maybe?” It’s a long shot, but I figure, what the heck? I just wish I’d asked it without my voice rising to an Alvin and the Chipmunks pipsqueak at the end.<br /> His mouth twitches with the promise of a smile, but it’s gone as quick as it came. “I know what you sound like when you climax, Emma. Is that the soundtrack you want running through all our interactions from now on?”<br /> Flushing the brightest of reds, I shake my head. “If we could maybe just forget this whole thing—”<br /> “The way I see it, there are only two options here.”<br /> I hold my breath.<br /> “One, I fire you.”<br /> There it is. I knew it. I’m done for. I’m going to need to call the welfare office and see what—<br /> “Or two… I give you exactly what you want.”<br /> I almost choke on my own saliva. What little is left in my gaping mouth. “W-what?”<br /> Silently, Ruslan offers me the blue folder lying in front of him. I pick it up with shaky hands and open the cover. It takes me a few long moments to figure out what on earth I’m looking at.<br /> A… contract?<br /> I read through the first page, feeling a strange sensation bubble up in my chest.Then, since I’m clearly misunderstanding something, I read through the first page again. And again. And again.<br /> Only then do I look up. “Is this a joke?”<br /> He doesn’t blink. “I never joke.”<br /> “It’s just that, it seems like, from what I read, um—”<br /> “I will offer you money and security in exchange for live encores of the little performance you sent me last night. In addition to meeting my other needs.”<br /> “And by ‘needs,’ you mean…intercourse?”<br /> He tilts his chin down and regards me solemnly. “How explicit would you like me to be, Ms. Carson?”<br /> What.<br /> “So this—” I raise the blue folder in my hand. “—is a sugar daddy contract?”<br /> His brow furrows. “I’d prefer to call it a ‘Friend With Benefits’ contract.”<br /> “But we’re not friends.”<br /> He smirks. “Fair enough. No, we’re not.”<br /> There’s a throbbing in my head that reminds me of the first time I got drunk. Sienna and I had snuck into Dad’s study the eve of my sixteenth birthday and stolen a 1984 Chateau Latour. We passed it back and forth, taking turns sipping from the bottle like it was cheap bagged drink until the whole thing was gone.<br /> For a moment, I think about what Sienna would say if she were here. Would she be outraged or intrigued? Would she slap the smug prick and storm out?<br /> Or would she grin and say, Double the price and I’m in.<br /> What would you do, Si?<br /> And then it hits me, a bolt of lightning straight to the chest, almost like she’s speaking to me herself. I miss her so much, it hurts. But she left little bits of herself behind, in all three of her children. The same kids I’m working off to protect.<br /> That right there is the answer.<br /> Sienna would have done whatever was best for her children.<br /> So I don’t slap him. I don’t storm out. I sit there and stare at my arrogant, prick boss who always gets exactly what he wants.<br /> And what he wants… is me.<br /> I meet Ruslan’s steely gaze. “What happens if I say no?”	LEARN_MORE	https://a.thepopfic.com/ad/UG9wRmljLzE1MDI5MS8yMDI	110620302003689	Pop001	https://facebook.com/100092038763039	377	1	1,838,983,143,246,624	2024-04-14 02:00	person_profile	eligible	NONE	0	1	0	Learn more	Pop001	120210254787130002	a.thepopfic.com	NONE	video		https://a.thepopfic.com/ad/UG9wRmljLzE1MDI5MS8yMDI0MDQxNDE2MjIyNi9wYWdl?adid={{ad.id}}	2024-04-14 05:15	https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/437584276_2105864589786675_8930738796605763328_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s60x60&_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=M8Ta8bMiC44Ab59rkQi&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=00_AfBfQ28jN5pBOI0EiY1dw_pdGt-VoA3swpWc2qNcV5fT3g&oe=6621E13A	person_profile	0	Pop001	https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/437702008_275052812326688_7436732425859872052_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=XyScgPDyQcYAb6eyMvE&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=00_AfBg3DsMwSNQHrINzjuKZ0ax-LeMhsPaN5aQXNhoMftlog&oe=6621E707	3	Pop001	2024-04-14 02:00	View Edit Delete
1,210,974	/src/Template/Ads/index.ctp (line 281) '{"alias":1211490}'	Yes	2024-04-14 13:48	active	515	1101985451016601	🔥🔥 Click to Read 👉🏻👉🏻	"She is a client's assistant. We met a little over two months and it was an accidental hook-up. I swear I didn't plan or thought of it at first. It just happened." He looked away.<br /> "Two months? You've been making a fool out of me for two months, David?!" Her chest rose and fell with rapid breaths.<br /> "Please forgive me, please Babe."<br /> "I want you to tell her that everything is over between you two... in front of me."<br /> ————————<br /> "The moment I saw you, I knew in my heart that I love everything about you. As I spent more time with you, I realized that I have deeply fallen for you. I promised God and myself that I will never hurt you. Every day of my life I will only spend with you. Your happiness will always be my priority. Loving you forever is my greatest promise. My life will be incomplete without you. Avery Jackson, will you marry me?"<br /> "YES! Yes, David, I will marry you!"<br /> For some, whatever they have may seem too good to be true, but for both of them, finding each other is a dream come true. Everything seemed perfect until the unexpected happened.<br /> Avery couldn't find the word to describe the mixed emotions she felt when she read the message that popped on David's phone. She didn't know if her eyes were fast enough to have read it before the notification faded away or it was the heavens that wanted her to read it. Her body froze, her heart stopped, heavy and painful pounding on her chest dominated. She gasped for air. Her whole body stiffened. It was like any second her head will explode. Every inch of her body trembled. Nauseated, her stomach flipped. She begged her mouth not to vomit. When she heard the bathroom door unlocked, she immediately put back the phone where David originally left before he took a shower.<br /> "Are you okay Babe? What's wrong? You are trembling," David asked, his eyes widened.<br /> "Ah... Um... I need to go to the bathroom. I think I'm having diarrhea." Her steps bolted for the bathroom.<br /> She locked the bathroom door and sat on the tiled floor as her trembling body touched the wall. Her eyes welled with tears.<br /> What should I do? Should I confront him? Since when? Who is she? How? Where? Why?<br /> Strong, piercing and poking burned on her head. Her brain asked all the different questions but failed to find answers to any of them. She pressed her chest slowly and hard, hoping her hand can lessen the pain when she heard David from the outside of the door.<br /> "Babe, are you okay? Do you need medicine? How are you feeling?"<br /> "I'm okay," she answered in a soft voice, hiding her silent cries.<br /> "Do you want me to buy you an energy drink or something?"<br /> "Please... Thank you," her voice crackled.<br /> She burst into tears with her hands placed in between her knees and face when she heard the main door shut. Her whole body convulsed like no end. Is this for real? She denied David is cheating on her. My David will never do that. Maybe the message was wrongly sent? The message wasn't for him?<br /> She went out of the bathroom in a swift motion. It crushed her hope not finding David's phone where she placed it back a while ago. Stupid Ave! No cheating prick will leave his phone behind. She had to think of something. Confronting him can be good or bad. How will I do it? Reality hit her. Her woman's instinct activated. Were there signs? Either she had been so dumb, so trusting, or so in love?<br /> How would I have known the signs?<br /> It's not like there's a manual or a guide for her to know if he is cheating on her.<br /> Maybe David was so good at hiding. She started going back to the past days, weeks, and months. Tears fell again, like on cue the same heaviness and poking in her chest got stronger. But she has to brave all the pains to find the answers. Someone other than David might know. Who else knows?<br /> Self-pity struck her. Do people in the firm know? Am I the last one to know? These are just a few of the questions that popped into her mind. This pain sucks! She wanted very much to confront him, but she's also afraid that she might be wrong. She got the urge to ask people, especially those around him, but she doubted if they will tell her. If people who knew about it want her to know, at least someone should have mentioned it to her already.<br /> "Oh, God! I'm so naïve and stupid! David is their boss. Their loyalty is with him of course."<br /> She felt so alone and pitiful. She knew she can get comfort from her family in times like this, but she can't because she still wanted to protect David. What a stupid idea that despite the hurts and pains she still wants him to get on her family's good side.<br /> Am I acting normal right now? She suddenly remembered Shelly, her best friend, when they caught her fiance doing a "mouth-to-mouth" resuscitation with his secretary inside his office. Back then she wanted badly to smack Shelly when instead of telling her parents the truth, she covered the truth to keep the guy's respectable image. Am I being Shelly right now?<br /> What to do, Avery? What to do?<br /> "Babe, are you okay now?" David asked.<br /> "Better I guess."<br /> She didn't realize that he already came back. She watched him as he opened the bottle of energy drink. Her eyes focused on the cellphone that he placed on top of the bedside table. Even without her going near it, she can see that it was on silent mode judging by the number of times the notifications have been lighting on the screen.<br /> "Here Babe drink it. Make sure you don't get dehydrated. Do you need anything else?"<br /> I need you to be honest with me. "Nothing, thanks."<br /> She gulped the drink without taking her sight off David. He looked excited as he grabbed his cellphone from the side table. She watched him as he sat in bed. He was so engrossed in what he was reading; he didn't realize that she glued her eyes to him all along. She felt a lump in her stomach. How his face changed to the same face he had the morning he asked her to be his girlfriend. She saw the same excitement and sweet smile he had for her then. Except that this time she is sure it wasn't for her. Her body trembled again. She placed her hand over her heart. She can't seem to breathe.<br /> NO.<br /> I think my breathing is becoming loud.<br /> Too loud that she unconsciously covered her ears with her hands.<br /> Now I can't seem to hear my heartbeat.<br /> She feels like her heart stopped. She started pressing into her chest. Everything around her blurs. Then there was total darkness and silence.<br /> "Babe! Avery! Wake up!"<br /> David's voice awakened her. Her restless body was in David's arms when she opened her eyes. He was staring at her, worried. She can't find the strength to say anything. She looked into his eyes and silently asked the questions to herself. The questions she can't dare to ask him.<br /> Why David? Why?<br /> "What happened to you? Do you want me to bring you to the hospital?"<br /> I'm fine. I need to be.<br /> "I'll get you water. Stay in bed for now."<br /> Saying nothing, she stood up and trudged to the bed. She saw his cellphone on top of his pillow. It is in silent mode. She sees the call notifications as the phone screen keeps on lighting. The same contact who sent him the message is the same contact calling him right now. She grabbed the phone. 15 missed calls. All from the same contact. She heard footsteps coming near the bedroom door. It's too late. David already saw her holding his phone. He looked at her. She looked at him. They stared at each other.<br /> "Your phone. Someone has been calling you 15 times now."<br /> She looked into his eyes. His eyes avoided hers. He immediately took the phone from her hand. He seemed anxious but didn't look at her.<br /> "It's Jonathan. He's been calling me regarding the recent case. Take a rest, for now, babe. I'll just call Jonathan. Stay here. I'll be back."<br /> She just nodded and watched him as he rushed to get out of their room. The adrenalin and jealousy gave her body the strength to move and run for the door. Quietly, she watched him from the small opening.<br /> His gestures are familiar, bright smile, sparkling eyes.<br /> But one thing is for sure... those sweet gestures, his bright smile, and the sparks in his eyes... this time they're not hers.<br /> Avery was always confident. On top of her class, from elementary to her master's class days. Always gets praised for being young and smart. She knew how to hold an audience of professionals. She was a quick thinker. But this time, this exact moment, she felt like nothing. Worthless. Hopeless. Dumb. Numb.<br /> Her mind overflowed with silent questions. What did I do wrong? Did I lack on something? So many whats and whys. All thoughts that made her doubt herself, her worth.<br /> Sound of footsteps coming awakened her from her thoughts. She immediately went to bed and rested her back on the headboard.<br /> "Babe, will you be alright if I meet up with Jonathan for an hour or two? We badly need to discuss our plan for tomorrow's court hearing."<br /> She looked him in the eye as she wanted very much to ask him.<br /> Why do you have to lie, David?" Do you really have to meet Jonathan at this hour? Where are you really going? Can't you guys just meet early tomorrow instead?"<br /> "You know how is Jonathan, babe. He wouldn't stop calling and texting me unless I meet up with him. That idiot is quite a workaholic and a nerve-wreck!"<br /> Who are you meeting? "Okay," was the only word that came out of her.<br /> She still can't believe that this is happening. That the David who is lying to her face right now is the same David who promised to love her forever. The David for an angel she thought of has turned into a lying monster in front of her. But she can't understand why she's so weak and afraid. Weak to confront him and afraid to get an answer she might not want to hear.<br /> "I have to go, Babe! I'll try to be back as soon as I can."<br /> Like in a dream, everything was floating and blurred. She just realized he already left after hearing his car revving out loud and fast from the garage.<br /> I am not expecting this. It's just six months after we got engaged. We just confirmed a schedule to meet with the wedding planner yesterday.<br /> She stood fast and looked for her phone, and dialed. "Hello! Jonathan speaking."<br /> "Hey, Jonathan! This is Avery. I just wanted to know what you and David have scheduled for tomorrow? I wanted to surprise him for his birthday and secretly work on his schedule with his assistant tomorrow."<br /> "Avery, hey! Oh, we don't have any case right now. The last time we worked together was before your engagement. I wished we have a case together. It's so easy to work on a case with your man Ave!"<br /> "Uh... Oh... I know... How's Izzy? the kids?"<br /> "Well, Izzy is in the province with her mom right now. I'm on leave for three days because I'm stuck here at home babysitting the kids! Daddy duties!"<br /> "So sorry to have bothered you, Jonathan! peck the kids for me and tell Izzy I said hi."<br /> "I will Ave! Send my regards to your man! Goodnight!"<br /> "Goodnight Jonathan!"<br /> In silence, her tears started flowing like waterfalls. Everything in her body ached. Her heart pierced and broke into million pieces. Her imaginations worked. David driving fast, excited to meet his "Jonathan." She suddenly saw their engagement picture. As she holds the heart-shaped frame, she can't help but remember that day. Her heart was full of happiness and love. She and David looked so in love. Their eyes were sparkling, and he was holding her hand, showing the engagement ring, which was an heirloom passed down from his grandmother to his mom and now to David for her.<br /> When Avery felt him slowly getting on his side of the bed, she prayed for him not to notice that she was awake. He went to bed under the impression that she was in a deep sleep. He was unaware that she was just observing him all along. In a matter of fifteen minutes, he cleaned the broken glass, sneaked in a shower, and placed his clothes in the washer.<br /> Avery wanted very much not to cry, knowing that David is just in the other room, but her eyes have a mind of their own. She looked around and saw their engagement picture in a replaced frame the sobbing was a powerful force she can't fight anymore. She wished that one can easily replace broken relationships, like when broken frames were replaced with new ones.<br /> "What is wrong, babe? Why are you crying?"<br /> Avery froze knowing that David is now standing behind her. If he sees her face and she sees his, her tears will betray her. She hoped David will leave her and not insist to get an answer. But maybe, just maybe, or she was hoping against hope that everything is just a misunderstanding and that David is still the same David. The same who promised to love her forever and the same who she still loves despite.<br /> The crying she was trying so hard to keep to herself turned into loud and continuous sobbing. Avery can't control her emotions anymore. When David put his arms around her and then made her slowly face him, she lost it all.<br /> "What is happening Ave? Why are you crying? Did something happen?"<br /> Seeing David's concerned expression made her forget he is looking at the person who has been hurting him for weeks now. She placed her arms around him and cried harder. "I'm so in pain right now David."<br /> "Tell me, Babe, what's going on? Which is hurting? Why?"<br /> "My heart is hurting... in so much pain for weeks now." She told in between sobs and tears.<br /> As he wipes her tears with his fingers, he kept asking her questions, unaware of what she is about to say. "Is there something wrong with your heart? Did the doctor find something?"<br /> "No. But I discovered something. It has been causing me pain, it's been killing me every day."<br /> "You're making me worried now, babe. Tell me, please." He motioned her towards the bedroom bench. As they sat together, he clasped his hand with hers.<br /> Avery, feeling hopeful, felt that this might be her chance to confront him. She decided it's now or never. "We need to talk."<br /> "Okay Babe, talk to me. Tell me everything."<br /> "Who is she?"<br /> "Who? What do you mean she?"<br /> "Please be honest with me, David. At least as a friend. Who is the woman you are cheating on me with?"<br /> David's face fell. His breathing turned heavier and louder. The warmth that his hand was giving hers turned ice cold. And as he removed his hand from hers, he immediately brushed both of his hands through his hair and looked down. Dead silence enveloped the room. Avery knows this is their chance to lay everything down. As painful as it may be, the only way to know the truth is to get answers from him.<br /> "I knew it from the night I blacked out. She didn't ask him a question this time. I unintentionally read the message she sent you. I knew you didn't meet with Jonathan. You didn't have any reason to meet him at all."<br /> "Ave you know I can't lie to you."He looked her in the eye, guilt reflected.<br /> "But you did." If there is one thing that Avery learned as a paralegal that is interrogating without asking. "I called Jonathan right after you left that night. He doesn't have any clue. Izzy was in her province that night, no way for her to tell you to say hi to me."<br /> "Babe, I'm sorry." He cupped her face, looked directly into her eyes. She didn't stop him. The tears and the sobbing stopped. She felt braver, empowered seeing his sorry and admitting face.<br /> "Who is she? Tell me, what did I do wrong? What did I not do?" She removed his hands from her face.<br /> "There is nothing wrong with you, babe. It wasn't you, it was me. I was stupid! I'm sorry Ave."<br /> David lowered his head."I'm sorry Ave." He said the three words she regretted hearing. For the past weeks, she had been agonizing over herself to know the truth. She didn't realize that hearing the truth from him will be a thousand times more painful than how she has been feeling all along.<br /> Truth sucks. Truth hurts. Truth is real. These were the only things that echoed on Avery's mind. She values honesty all her life, but she wished that David should have just lied to her face again. The confirmation she had been longing to get from him didn't just hurt her wounded heart more. It pained, it cut, and it stabbed her already bleeding heart.<br /> "Ave, I'm really sorry. I know there is no excuse for what I did."<br /> She took in a deep breath. "Who is she? Since when?"<br /> "You don't know her. She is a client's assistant. We met a little over two months and it was an accidental hook-up. I swear I didn't plan or thought of it at first. It just happened." He looked away.<br /> "Two months? You've been making a fool out of me for two months, David?!" Her chest rose and fell with rapid breaths.<br /> "No Babe! Believe me. The night I told you I was to meet Jonathan, I went to meet her. I ended everything with her. Please believe me Ave!"<br /> The memory of that night flashed back to Avery. David's sweet gestures, his bright smile, and the sparks in his eyes... she wouldn't forget that picture of him reading messages on his phone. David may lie to her, but not to her heart. His face then didn't show an inch of a man about to end everything with the woman whose message he was reading.<br /> Her mind told her not to believe and not to forgive David is the most reasonable decision. But her heart reminded her he's asking for forgiveness should put her at ease, that he is deserving him a second chance. "After you confirmed David is really cheating, what do you plan to do?" She heard Shelly's voice as if she was just beside her.<br /> "Ave please say something. Please forgive me, please Babe."<br /> What should I do with you, David? Avery felt weak to even say a word. She just stared at David. If only her eyes have sharp arrows flying out of them, she would have surely hit his body bulls-eye slowly but fiercely. And she remembered what she told herself. She wouldn't be in his game without a fight.<br /> "Ave, tell me what I need to do for you to forgive me, please."<br /> "I want you to tell her that everything is over between you two... in front of me."	LEARN_MORE	https://b.mylibapps.com/ad/bm92ZWxXb3JsZC8xNDkwMjU	128522263674865	Libb002	https://facebook.com/61551403614101	43	1	760,773,442,464,309	2024-04-14 02:00	person_profile	eligible	NONE	0	1	0	Learn more	Libb002	120209611304600299	b.mylibapps.com	NONE	video		https://b.mylibapps.com/ad/bm92ZWxXb3JsZC8xNDkwMjUvMjAyNDA0MTEyMTI5MjUvcGFnZQ==?adid={{ad.id}}	2024-04-11 09:24	https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/436805010_2096247814086829_4963314241382787277_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s60x60&_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=UlzBQ6ASKDAAb7-HLuh&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=00_AfCD6VPlME8PndTroE0fBa8TaApr7CZIarooWWYVhqwcWQ&oe=66220935	person_profile	0	Libb002	https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/436440345_1125853201896872_5124935386483258911_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=Ca6h4_VYjkkAb45Xy85&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=00_AfBq374dC5j6WLbEXJ7qqGNSuFWMNCJrYNgHCxPkJ3-G9A&oe=6621E0E5	3	Libb002	2024-04-13 02:00	View Edit Delete
1,210,663	/src/Template/Ads/index.ctp (line 281) '{"alias":1210659}'	Yes	2024-04-14 13:48	active	515	1803058563439389	End Nerve Tingling and Burning Sensations 🔥	🔥 Many have been told Neuropathy is irreversible nerve damage, that's not true... ⤵️<br /> <br /> The root cause is not even in the nerves themselves... <br /> <br /> But in decay of the branches that connect them. <br /> <br /> Meet Benjamin Marsh, a retired sergeant who uncovered the unbelievable truth that's been hidden from you. <br /> <br /> Who had to find for himself that the relentless burning, tingling, and numbness in his hands and feet...<br /> <br /> Was his nerves screaming for help, telling him to do something or give up the limb! <br /> <br /> After the pain relievers made his problem worse, he tried all conventional remedies without success...<br /> <br /> Until, in his desperate search, Benjamin stumbled on an ancient East-Asian secret that changed his life forever.<br /> <br /> Now shown in clinical trials to turn back Neuropathy...<br /> <br /> …and extinguish all nerve discomfort in just a few days by scientists from John Hopkins and California University...<br /> <br /> Some institutes are even calling it the "heal-all fungus".<br /> <br /> This message is reaching you NOW for a reason. <br /> <br /> We're unveiling this secret only to a select few, and today, you're one of them. <br /> <br /> Click the "Learn More" button to unveil the full story behind Benjamin’s discovery and seize the chance to transform your life. <br /> <br /> Learn More: <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Finstituteofneuropathy.com%2Fnerve-solution&h=AT3qIUbXiDcgLuM5rf6b7tbudx_EJN5iiW-RvkFjEMVLLDahi07N8scZLaKbpEz-kFGnru2PbVJEett0gMi53u35Qi6nX27_uwXTQegGuWkIHjnqp-lvh7RgdSx5Z_9IBFpHSTvKHtmZ8gDGlrBrUA" rel="nofollow noreferrer" target="_blank" data-lynx-mode="asynclazy">https://instituteofneuropathy.com/nerve-solution</a><br /> <br /> This isn’t just hope; it's a solution at your fingertips – but only if you act now! ⏱️	LEARN_MORE	https://instituteofneuropathy.com/nerve-solution	100291402430512	Neurology Daily	https://facebook.com/neurologydaily	354	0	976,075,720,893,568	2024-04-14 02:00	regular_page	eligible	NONE	0	1	1	Learn more	Neurology Daily	120208293763640373	instituteofneuropathy.com	NONE	video	Step into a Neuropathy-Free 2024!	https://instituteofneuropathy.com/nerve-solution	2024-04-13 02:57	https://scontent-mia3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/437851634_976251694071843_8341631129824811630_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s60x60&_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=sZROuV9O1QkAb6Nh6IR&_nc_ht=scontent-mia3-1.xx&oh=00_AfC6Qd6xjzqI_bQiU2lJtsmT0ArWeWJG23o_kc2ischtuA&oe=6621EBF8	person_profile	0	Neurology Daily	https://scontent-mia3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/436425689_1840604146368389_4204300438765111116_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=glxVMV0hAkIAb5fkFTH&_nc_ht=scontent-mia3-2.xx&oh=00_AfAn6LTNQF3HKSSa3nUvTg6Oz0kSInUfSvT9ayWfvFaYkA&oe=6621E0C6	3	Neurology Daily	2024-04-13 02:00	View Edit Delete
1,210,557	/src/Template/Ads/index.ctp (line 281) null	Yes	2024-04-14 13:48	active	515	744978804455218	Odoyo Premier\|Regenerative Medicine Methodology \|The Nerve Repair Diet	PT II. Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome Explained - A Comprehensive, Yet Simple Breakdown of the Disease <br /> <br /> I paraphrased quite a bit but first and foremost I credit giving the educational piece of information to VeryWellMind as the majority of this information is directly from them as it brilliantly broke down the peripheral and central nervous system, and allowed me to connect the dots and put it into language the correlation between the nervous system and CRPS. <br /> <br /> CRPS is defined as a neurological disease effecting the brain and peripheral nervous system.<br /> <br /> CRPS causes the brain to misfire the signals the brain sends to the stimuli, thus the body receives an overreaction of excruciating pain, sensitivity, flare-ups, sweating, heart rate and other sensory reactions because the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system are out of whack, uncoordinated, and unable to regulate.<br /> <br /> The peripheral system includes all of the nerves that branch out from the brain and spinal cord and extend to other parts of the body, including muscles and organs. <br /> <br /> This consists of spinal nerves – responsible for transmitting information from the muscles, organs, and glands to the spinal cord. There are 31 spinal nerves that branch out to different areas of the body from the spinal cord. <br /> <br /> There are also the cranial nerves – responsible for the receptors found in the head and neck area. These nerves travel directly to the brain.<br /> <br /> The peripheral system is made up of two divisions; the autonomic and somatic system in which each play a role in how information is communicated throughout the body (information = sensory, symptoms)<br /> <br /> Autonomic – Responsible for regulating involuntary body functions, blood flow, heartbeat, digestion, and breathing <br /> <br /> CRPS Symptoms affected by the autonomic system: Muscle atrophy, muscle weakness and waste as blood-flow isn’t often communicated and getting to the affected limb<br /> <br /> The Somatic – Responsible for carrying sensory and motor information to and from the central nervous system (brain) <br /> <br /> CRPS Symptoms affected by the somatic system: Allodynia (sensitivity to touch, texture, temperature, and sound), neuropathy, needles & pins, numbness, mottled skin.<br /> <br /> Two major neurons function under the somatic system.<br /> <br /> Neurons = A type of cell that receives and sends messages (signals, stimuli) from the body to the brain and back to the body<br /> <br /> Motor neurons – Carry information to the brain and spinal cord to muscle fibers throughout the body.<br /> <br /> Sensory neurons – Carry information from the nerves to the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord)<br /> <br /> The Autonomic System is divided into two systems:<br /> <br /> Parasympathetic – Best known for conserving physical resources and maintaining normal body functionality. Once a threat to the body has passed, this system slows the heart rate, breathing, blood flow to muscles, and constricts the pupils. This allows for the body to return to a normal resting rate. <br /> <br /> Sympathetic – Best known for regulating the “fight or flight reactive response” the sympathetic system prepares the body to respond to environmental threats. When action is needed the sympathetic system triggers a response, by accelerating heart rate, increasing the breathing rate, boosting blood flow to muscles, activating sweat secretion, and dilating the pupils. <br /> <br /> Sound familiar?<br /> <br /> The Sympathetic system is bolded as most of that sounds familiar as to what CRPS patients experience which is why in the peripheral system it is in a haywire state with CRPS. The Sympathetic system is primarily affected, as the body is in a constant state of responding to a threat even when there isn’t one in place. <br /> <br /> The peripheral nervous system is responsible for sending signals to the central nervous system. The PNS primary role is to connect the CNS to the organs, limbs, and the skin hence the spinal nerves. The nerves of PNS extend from the CNS to the outermost parts of the body.<br /> <br /> The central nervous system is made-up of the brain and the spinal cord.<br /> <br /> The central nervous system is responsible for; receiving, processing, and responding to sensory information. “The brain is an organ of nervous tissue that is responsible for responses, sensation, movement, emotions, communication, thought processing, and memory.”<br /> <br /> Up Next: What does a healthy peripheral nervous system look like? How can we prevent nervous cell death? What happens when nerve cells die? What we can do. All addressed in our next series. <br /> <br /> Sources:<br /> <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.verywellmind.com%2Fwhat-is-the-peripheral-nervous-system-2795465&h=AT2E4rPPrkSyokueDngM4nDhyk3Umoq2srqzgJk6MCC1e209i84H2_TgdaZ1XGr92wp4zyAGvWwC36g0LHWIVWbgpVek5gw7uCAtEGuaWaUkc_89_pvCXwkc62L22nIRXViIWIA6bT1OTqJ8MYTd0OVrVVxNiHk-AJY" rel="nofollow noreferrer" target="_blank" data-lynx-mode="async">https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-peripheral-nervous-system-2795465</a><br /> <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fqbi.uq.edu.au%2Fbrain%2Fbrain-anatomy%2Fwhat-neuron&h=AT1DIDCmsW2_LkrQkilloUuwdpnn-H_GKJKFKrpeY35Rq74t2VV4uz9tl_ZlUJpJWJ6xQZePfVhmfUzSIwu_EIqgRVCAiYo9DTF7OobNmAiQmRcA4kI9BkT2uLxdp7sKWdyadsUp1KQf8Ot7pO-0Lg" rel="nofollow noreferrer" target="_blank" data-lynx-mode="asynclazy">https://qbi.uq.edu.au/brain/brain-anatomy/what-neuron</a><br /> <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fbooks%2FNBK542179%2F&h=AT2AEd4rOBnWkGEjVbJX_LPiydyMq7hP47cOxtezPSuGgx9897PEqFMuLs98GhAGhkSzA1IkxlLqgKLfRH19GliGwCvpGW0CfrjEa95zNvFhWcsyAiW9y5K4K8i1h0yTbxPcJYos1L2Q406JeFBk9Eo7PYzdWB-g9r8" rel="nofollow noreferrer" target="_blank" data-lynx-mode="async">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK542179/</a>	LEARN_MORE	http://www.odoyopremier.com/	107918425523701	Odoyo Premier	https://facebook.com/OdoyoPremier	11	1	256,935,540,746,827	2024-04-14 02:00	person_profile	eligible	NONE	0	1	0	Learn more	Odoyo Premier	120210115484600216	odoyopremier.com	NONE	image	Odoyo Premier was found based upon a Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Diagnosis which has successfully gone into remission(asymptomatic status). Our product line is neurological re-engineering using Nutritional Therapy. This is formulated to promote healing in the peripheral nervous system.	http://www.odoyopremier.com/	2024-04-13 18:13	https://scontent-mia3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/437737903_411059908368947_7292978392899304069_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s60x60&_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=Wm_QmMcMqggAb6Kht84&_nc_ht=scontent-mia3-2.xx&oh=00_AfAKhR9OPC7bfI_so-d2BFOvTSdfvn0gUXpAglvV73tEdA&oe=6621E227	person_profile	0	Odoyo Premier	https://scontent-mia3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/437678947_2917354838404262_918629954857299919_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=mKijmYC0zxIAb6n65KI&_nc_ht=scontent-mia3-2.xx&oh=00_AfBIMTHug7Fw_DfM4LNKG2rDdboFFm74BoCgzqOFVycaEg&oe=6621F997	3	Odoyo Premier	2024-04-13 02:00	View Edit Delete
1,209,253	/src/Template/Ads/index.ctp (line 281) '{"alias":1209242}'	Yes	2024-04-14 13:48	active	515	398285042973490	How I Stopped Foot Pain From Controlling My Life...	Ever tried to pick up a cup of coffee and felt like you were grappling with a cactus? That was my morning routine - battling the intense tingling and numbness in my hands that turned every small task into a monumental challenge.<br /> <br /> But rewind a few months, and every step was torture. My feet? Constant pins and needles. My hands? It felt like they were on fire. Doctors handed me prescriptions that did nothing but make me groggy and frustrated. I was trapped in my own body, a prisoner of neuropathy.<br /> <br /> It got to the point where I'd dread evenings the most. The pain seemed to flare up right when I tried to relax. Just sitting down to dinner, I'd feel the burning start, and I knew it would be another long, sleepless night.<br /> <br /> Then, everything changed. My sister, bless her, sent me a link late one night. She had stumbled upon a video online, claiming a simple 5-second morning ritual could tackle the root cause of nerve pain. Skeptical? You bet I was. But desperate too.<br /> <br /> I watched that video, hanging on every word. It talked about something called "nerve plaque" and how this quick routine could clear it up—no meds, just a simple, natural method. I was ready to try anything.<br /> <br /> So, I started the next morning. It felt silly at first, doing this tiny ritual in my kitchen. But by the third day, something shifted. The burning eased. The pins and needles weren’t as sharp. I could sit through a movie without squirming in discomfort.<br /> <br /> Now, three months later, I'm not just walking… I'm hiking. I'm gardening. I'm living. If you're sick of the pain, tired of the numbness, and done with feeling helpless, you need to see this. Trust me, it's worth those few seconds every morning.<br /> <br /> Tap below to discover the 5-second ritual that gave me back my life!	WATCH_MORE	https://lp.myfantasticvibes.club/66192a71d92032000	101566326202697	Tresa A. Lawlor	https://facebook.com/100089983283846	960	2	803,340,091,697,976	2024-04-14 02:00	person_profile	eligible	NONE	0	1	0	Watch more	Tresa A. Lawlor	120207495666520371	myfantasticvibes.club	NONE	video		https://lp.myfantasticvibes.club/66192a71d9203200018e5531?sub1={{ad.id}}&sub2={{adset.id}}&sub3={{campaign.id}}&sub4={{ad.name}}&sub5={{adset.name}}&sub6={{campaign.name}}&sub7={{placement}}&sub8={{site_source_name}}&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid	2024-04-13 11:44	https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/435286843_362040439529864_6929577559695341625_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s60x60&_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=WrR_aKdGpqoAb7oBM_w&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=00_AfAw8U7xkbvXgptwBsXr6DQgIK3dN92rCGrnyxjzUlSIRg&oe=6621E7DF	person_profile	0	Tresa A. Lawlor	https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/436485725_450238530753898_686328235329802248_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=YbXf4Ph-X3cAb5kestS&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=00_AfBWEeSRRFp_5FGQkEyihShPtPlP5vJ2_xK0yv7CDx4NPw&oe=6621D9F8	3	Tresa A. Lawlor	2024-04-14 02:00	View Edit Delete
1,210,961	/src/Template/Ads/index.ctp (line 281) '{"alias":1211490}'	Yes	2024-04-14 13:48	active	515	967746348286086	🔥🔥 Click to Read 👉🏻👉🏻	"She is a client's assistant. We met a little over two months and it was an accidental hook-up. I swear I didn't plan or thought of it at first. It just happened." He looked away.<br /> "Two months? You've been making a fool out of me for two months, David?!" Her chest rose and fell with rapid breaths.<br /> "Please forgive me, please Babe."<br /> "I want you to tell her that everything is over between you two... in front of me."<br /> ————————<br /> "The moment I saw you, I knew in my heart that I love everything about you. As I spent more time with you, I realized that I have deeply fallen for you. I promised God and myself that I will never hurt you. Every day of my life I will only spend with you. Your happiness will always be my priority. Loving you forever is my greatest promise. My life will be incomplete without you. Avery Jackson, will you marry me?"<br /> "YES! Yes, David, I will marry you!"<br /> For some, whatever they have may seem too good to be true, but for both of them, finding each other is a dream come true. Everything seemed perfect until the unexpected happened.<br /> Avery couldn't find the word to describe the mixed emotions she felt when she read the message that popped on David's phone. She didn't know if her eyes were fast enough to have read it before the notification faded away or it was the heavens that wanted her to read it. Her body froze, her heart stopped, heavy and painful pounding on her chest dominated. She gasped for air. Her whole body stiffened. It was like any second her head will explode. Every inch of her body trembled. Nauseated, her stomach flipped. She begged her mouth not to vomit. When she heard the bathroom door unlocked, she immediately put back the phone where David originally left before he took a shower.<br /> "Are you okay Babe? What's wrong? You are trembling," David asked, his eyes widened.<br /> "Ah... Um... I need to go to the bathroom. I think I'm having diarrhea." Her steps bolted for the bathroom.<br /> She locked the bathroom door and sat on the tiled floor as her trembling body touched the wall. Her eyes welled with tears.<br /> What should I do? Should I confront him? Since when? Who is she? How? Where? Why?<br /> Strong, piercing and poking burned on her head. Her brain asked all the different questions but failed to find answers to any of them. She pressed her chest slowly and hard, hoping her hand can lessen the pain when she heard David from the outside of the door.<br /> "Babe, are you okay? Do you need medicine? How are you feeling?"<br /> "I'm okay," she answered in a soft voice, hiding her silent cries.<br /> "Do you want me to buy you an energy drink or something?"<br /> "Please... Thank you," her voice crackled.<br /> She burst into tears with her hands placed in between her knees and face when she heard the main door shut. Her whole body convulsed like no end. Is this for real? She denied David is cheating on her. My David will never do that. Maybe the message was wrongly sent? The message wasn't for him?<br /> She went out of the bathroom in a swift motion. It crushed her hope not finding David's phone where she placed it back a while ago. Stupid Ave! No cheating prick will leave his phone behind. She had to think of something. Confronting him can be good or bad. How will I do it? Reality hit her. Her woman's instinct activated. Were there signs? Either she had been so dumb, so trusting, or so in love?<br /> How would I have known the signs?<br /> It's not like there's a manual or a guide for her to know if he is cheating on her.<br /> Maybe David was so good at hiding. She started going back to the past days, weeks, and months. Tears fell again, like on cue the same heaviness and poking in her chest got stronger. But she has to brave all the pains to find the answers. Someone other than David might know. Who else knows?<br /> Self-pity struck her. Do people in the firm know? Am I the last one to know? These are just a few of the questions that popped into her mind. This pain sucks! She wanted very much to confront him, but she's also afraid that she might be wrong. She got the urge to ask people, especially those around him, but she doubted if they will tell her. If people who knew about it want her to know, at least someone should have mentioned it to her already.<br /> "Oh, God! I'm so naïve and stupid! David is their boss. Their loyalty is with him of course."<br /> She felt so alone and pitiful. She knew she can get comfort from her family in times like this, but she can't because she still wanted to protect David. What a stupid idea that despite the hurts and pains she still wants him to get on her family's good side.<br /> Am I acting normal right now? She suddenly remembered Shelly, her best friend, when they caught her fiance doing a "mouth-to-mouth" resuscitation with his secretary inside his office. Back then she wanted badly to smack Shelly when instead of telling her parents the truth, she covered the truth to keep the guy's respectable image. Am I being Shelly right now?<br /> What to do, Avery? What to do?<br /> "Babe, are you okay now?" David asked.<br /> "Better I guess."<br /> She didn't realize that he already came back. She watched him as he opened the bottle of energy drink. Her eyes focused on the cellphone that he placed on top of the bedside table. Even without her going near it, she can see that it was on silent mode judging by the number of times the notifications have been lighting on the screen.<br /> "Here Babe drink it. Make sure you don't get dehydrated. Do you need anything else?"<br /> I need you to be honest with me. "Nothing, thanks."<br /> She gulped the drink without taking her sight off David. He looked excited as he grabbed his cellphone from the side table. She watched him as he sat in bed. He was so engrossed in what he was reading; he didn't realize that she glued her eyes to him all along. She felt a lump in her stomach. How his face changed to the same face he had the morning he asked her to be his girlfriend. She saw the same excitement and sweet smile he had for her then. Except that this time she is sure it wasn't for her. Her body trembled again. She placed her hand over her heart. She can't seem to breathe.<br /> NO.<br /> I think my breathing is becoming loud.<br /> Too loud that she unconsciously covered her ears with her hands.<br /> Now I can't seem to hear my heartbeat.<br /> She feels like her heart stopped. She started pressing into her chest. Everything around her blurs. Then there was total darkness and silence.<br /> "Babe! Avery! Wake up!"<br /> David's voice awakened her. Her restless body was in David's arms when she opened her eyes. He was staring at her, worried. She can't find the strength to say anything. She looked into his eyes and silently asked the questions to herself. The questions she can't dare to ask him.<br /> Why David? Why?<br /> "What happened to you? Do you want me to bring you to the hospital?"<br /> I'm fine. I need to be.<br /> "I'll get you water. Stay in bed for now."<br /> Saying nothing, she stood up and trudged to the bed. She saw his cellphone on top of his pillow. It is in silent mode. She sees the call notifications as the phone screen keeps on lighting. The same contact who sent him the message is the same contact calling him right now. She grabbed the phone. 15 missed calls. All from the same contact. She heard footsteps coming near the bedroom door. It's too late. David already saw her holding his phone. He looked at her. She looked at him. They stared at each other.<br /> "Your phone. Someone has been calling you 15 times now."<br /> She looked into his eyes. His eyes avoided hers. He immediately took the phone from her hand. He seemed anxious but didn't look at her.<br /> "It's Jonathan. He's been calling me regarding the recent case. Take a rest, for now, babe. I'll just call Jonathan. Stay here. I'll be back."<br /> She just nodded and watched him as he rushed to get out of their room. The adrenalin and jealousy gave her body the strength to move and run for the door. Quietly, she watched him from the small opening.<br /> His gestures are familiar, bright smile, sparkling eyes.<br /> But one thing is for sure... those sweet gestures, his bright smile, and the sparks in his eyes... this time they're not hers.<br /> Avery was always confident. On top of her class, from elementary to her master's class days. Always gets praised for being young and smart. She knew how to hold an audience of professionals. She was a quick thinker. But this time, this exact moment, she felt like nothing. Worthless. Hopeless. Dumb. Numb.<br /> Her mind overflowed with silent questions. What did I do wrong? Did I lack on something? So many whats and whys. All thoughts that made her doubt herself, her worth.<br /> Sound of footsteps coming awakened her from her thoughts. She immediately went to bed and rested her back on the headboard.<br /> "Babe, will you be alright if I meet up with Jonathan for an hour or two? We badly need to discuss our plan for tomorrow's court hearing."<br /> She looked him in the eye as she wanted very much to ask him.<br /> Why do you have to lie, David?" Do you really have to meet Jonathan at this hour? Where are you really going? Can't you guys just meet early tomorrow instead?"<br /> "You know how is Jonathan, babe. He wouldn't stop calling and texting me unless I meet up with him. That idiot is quite a workaholic and a nerve-wreck!"<br /> Who are you meeting? "Okay," was the only word that came out of her.<br /> She still can't believe that this is happening. That the David who is lying to her face right now is the same David who promised to love her forever. The David for an angel she thought of has turned into a lying monster in front of her. But she can't understand why she's so weak and afraid. Weak to confront him and afraid to get an answer she might not want to hear.<br /> "I have to go, Babe! I'll try to be back as soon as I can."<br /> Like in a dream, everything was floating and blurred. She just realized he already left after hearing his car revving out loud and fast from the garage.<br /> I am not expecting this. It's just six months after we got engaged. We just confirmed a schedule to meet with the wedding planner yesterday.<br /> She stood fast and looked for her phone, and dialed. "Hello! Jonathan speaking."<br /> "Hey, Jonathan! This is Avery. I just wanted to know what you and David have scheduled for tomorrow? I wanted to surprise him for his birthday and secretly work on his schedule with his assistant tomorrow."<br /> "Avery, hey! Oh, we don't have any case right now. The last time we worked together was before your engagement. I wished we have a case together. It's so easy to work on a case with your man Ave!"<br /> "Uh... Oh... I know... How's Izzy? the kids?"<br /> "Well, Izzy is in the province with her mom right now. I'm on leave for three days because I'm stuck here at home babysitting the kids! Daddy duties!"<br /> "So sorry to have bothered you, Jonathan! peck the kids for me and tell Izzy I said hi."<br /> "I will Ave! Send my regards to your man! Goodnight!"<br /> "Goodnight Jonathan!"<br /> In silence, her tears started flowing like waterfalls. Everything in her body ached. Her heart pierced and broke into million pieces. Her imaginations worked. David driving fast, excited to meet his "Jonathan." She suddenly saw their engagement picture. As she holds the heart-shaped frame, she can't help but remember that day. Her heart was full of happiness and love. She and David looked so in love. Their eyes were sparkling, and he was holding her hand, showing the engagement ring, which was an heirloom passed down from his grandmother to his mom and now to David for her.<br /> When Avery felt him slowly getting on his side of the bed, she prayed for him not to notice that she was awake. He went to bed under the impression that she was in a deep sleep. He was unaware that she was just observing him all along. In a matter of fifteen minutes, he cleaned the broken glass, sneaked in a shower, and placed his clothes in the washer.<br /> Avery wanted very much not to cry, knowing that David is just in the other room, but her eyes have a mind of their own. She looked around and saw their engagement picture in a replaced frame the sobbing was a powerful force she can't fight anymore. She wished that one can easily replace broken relationships, like when broken frames were replaced with new ones.<br /> "What is wrong, babe? Why are you crying?"<br /> Avery froze knowing that David is now standing behind her. If he sees her face and she sees his, her tears will betray her. She hoped David will leave her and not insist to get an answer. But maybe, just maybe, or she was hoping against hope that everything is just a misunderstanding and that David is still the same David. The same who promised to love her forever and the same who she still loves despite.<br /> The crying she was trying so hard to keep to herself turned into loud and continuous sobbing. Avery can't control her emotions anymore. When David put his arms around her and then made her slowly face him, she lost it all.<br /> "What is happening Ave? Why are you crying? Did something happen?"<br /> Seeing David's concerned expression made her forget he is looking at the person who has been hurting him for weeks now. She placed her arms around him and cried harder. "I'm so in pain right now David."<br /> "Tell me, Babe, what's going on? Which is hurting? Why?"<br /> "My heart is hurting... in so much pain for weeks now." She told in between sobs and tears.<br /> As he wipes her tears with his fingers, he kept asking her questions, unaware of what she is about to say. "Is there something wrong with your heart? Did the doctor find something?"<br /> "No. But I discovered something. It has been causing me pain, it's been killing me every day."<br /> "You're making me worried now, babe. Tell me, please." He motioned her towards the bedroom bench. As they sat together, he clasped his hand with hers.<br /> Avery, feeling hopeful, felt that this might be her chance to confront him. She decided it's now or never. "We need to talk."<br /> "Okay Babe, talk to me. Tell me everything."<br /> "Who is she?"<br /> "Who? What do you mean she?"<br /> "Please be honest with me, David. At least as a friend. Who is the woman you are cheating on me with?"<br /> David's face fell. His breathing turned heavier and louder. The warmth that his hand was giving hers turned ice cold. And as he removed his hand from hers, he immediately brushed both of his hands through his hair and looked down. Dead silence enveloped the room. Avery knows this is their chance to lay everything down. As painful as it may be, the only way to know the truth is to get answers from him.<br /> "I knew it from the night I blacked out. She didn't ask him a question this time. I unintentionally read the message she sent you. I knew you didn't meet with Jonathan. You didn't have any reason to meet him at all."<br /> "Ave you know I can't lie to you."He looked her in the eye, guilt reflected.<br /> "But you did." If there is one thing that Avery learned as a paralegal that is interrogating without asking. "I called Jonathan right after you left that night. He doesn't have any clue. Izzy was in her province that night, no way for her to tell you to say hi to me."<br /> "Babe, I'm sorry." He cupped her face, looked directly into her eyes. She didn't stop him. The tears and the sobbing stopped. She felt braver, empowered seeing his sorry and admitting face.<br /> "Who is she? Tell me, what did I do wrong? What did I not do?" She removed his hands from her face.<br /> "There is nothing wrong with you, babe. It wasn't you, it was me. I was stupid! I'm sorry Ave."<br /> David lowered his head."I'm sorry Ave." He said the three words she regretted hearing. For the past weeks, she had been agonizing over herself to know the truth. She didn't realize that hearing the truth from him will be a thousand times more painful than how she has been feeling all along.<br /> Truth sucks. Truth hurts. Truth is real. These were the only things that echoed on Avery's mind. She values honesty all her life, but she wished that David should have just lied to her face again. The confirmation she had been longing to get from him didn't just hurt her wounded heart more. It pained, it cut, and it stabbed her already bleeding heart.<br /> "Ave, I'm really sorry. I know there is no excuse for what I did."<br /> She took in a deep breath. "Who is she? Since when?"<br /> "You don't know her. She is a client's assistant. We met a little over two months and it was an accidental hook-up. I swear I didn't plan or thought of it at first. It just happened." He looked away.<br /> "Two months? You've been making a fool out of me for two months, David?!" Her chest rose and fell with rapid breaths.<br /> "No Babe! Believe me. The night I told you I was to meet Jonathan, I went to meet her. I ended everything with her. Please believe me Ave!"<br /> The memory of that night flashed back to Avery. David's sweet gestures, his bright smile, and the sparks in his eyes... she wouldn't forget that picture of him reading messages on his phone. David may lie to her, but not to her heart. His face then didn't show an inch of a man about to end everything with the woman whose message he was reading.<br /> Her mind told her not to believe and not to forgive David is the most reasonable decision. But her heart reminded her he's asking for forgiveness should put her at ease, that he is deserving him a second chance. "After you confirmed David is really cheating, what do you plan to do?" She heard Shelly's voice as if she was just beside her.<br /> "Ave please say something. Please forgive me, please Babe."<br /> What should I do with you, David? Avery felt weak to even say a word. She just stared at David. If only her eyes have sharp arrows flying out of them, she would have surely hit his body bulls-eye slowly but fiercely. And she remembered what she told herself. She wouldn't be in his game without a fight.<br /> "Ave, tell me what I need to do for you to forgive me, please."<br /> "I want you to tell her that everything is over between you two... in front of me."	LEARN_MORE	https://b.mylibapps.com/ad/bm92ZWxXb3JsZC8xNDkwMjU	128522263674865	Libb002	https://facebook.com/61551403614101	43	1	956,607,012,330,618	2024-04-14 02:00	person_profile	eligible	NONE	0	1	0	Learn more	Libb002	120209611301050299	b.mylibapps.com	NONE	video		https://b.mylibapps.com/ad/bm92ZWxXb3JsZC8xNDkwMjUvMjAyNDA0MTEyMTI5MjUvcGFnZQ==?adid={{ad.id}}	2024-04-11 08:42	https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/436425792_442718398117760_5427523013026372514_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s60x60&_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=E0HGXWojiiUAb5pwAQr&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=00_AfAlvSFKeZty2Zlz9pYDTEhoGy9xWIDzd6Rds0BTMIADUw&oe=6621E5F6	person_profile	0	Libb002	https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/436426720_1456833908374743_1678079279591402613_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=9BavmHNKi0oAb52RZsK&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=00_AfCSXMoHelGsBGkNYyP09GJyeRVnPXnzXYiGJ0b3Pv4elw&oe=6621D97B	3	Libb002	2024-04-13 02:00	View Edit Delete
1,210,634	/src/Template/Ads/index.ctp (line 281) '{"alias":1210587}'	Yes	2024-04-14 13:48	active	515	348272338247405	Simple Ritual Banished My Wife's Vision Problems	There is one simple Vision ritual anyone can use to improve Vision, so you can say goodbye to your optometrist for good.. <br /> <br /> Do you know anyone with eye or vision problems? My wife was just like you until 3 months ago when everything changed 👇<br /> <br /> 3 months ago, my wife turned 58 and something incredible happened (during her eye appointment with our optometrist) that stunned our eye doctor immediately! <br /> <br /> The first thing Dr. Brewer said was... "WHAT did you do? Your results are incredible!" <br /> <br /> The last time she saw my wife was 6 months ago and back then, her vision was so bad that she couldn't read, see or do anything without her glasses.. <br /> <br /> She had the worst case of floaters, cataracts and blurry vision, which gave her extreme headaches and she was in too much pain all the time.<br /> <br /> She was also having trouble driving and had to continually strain her eyes to clearly see the road and where she was going. <br /> <br /> It was very nerve-racking and I was so scared because I was almost certain she would end up losing her eyesight and the thought of eye surgery was so expensive we couldn't even afford to do that.<br /> <br /> We told Dr. Brewer, how our close friend that works in the National Institute of Vision Research recommended an 'eye opening video’ that showed how an easy routine can help fix my wife's vision issues. <br /> <br /> We were honestly a bit skeptical at first, but we decided to give it a try.<br /> <br /> Soon after my wife implemented this method, her vision issues cleared up and all her blurry vision, floaters and cataracts disappeared. This video literally changed our lives forever. <br /> <br /> Even the nurse, who had done her blood work, asked how she did it! <br /> <br /> Trust me, this is a first for us in a LONG time that we left Dr. Brewer's office, feeling as if a mountain was lifted from our shoulders!”<br /> <br /> Anyway, this video changed our lives, and now we want to pay it forward. <br /> <br /> Tap below 👇 to find out what my close friend shared with me	LEARN_MORE	https://vitalizelovelyclub.com/visi/v01/	553833701352306	Sharon Baker	https://facebook.com/ramdaspalsuleofficial	11,674	5	407,825,435,306,178	2024-04-14 02:00	person_profile	eligible	NONE	0	1	0	Learn more	Sharon Baker	120208896908480118	vitalizelovelyclub.com	NONE	image	Only 1 in 20 Know About This Vision Fix.	https://vitalizelovelyclub.com/visi/v01/	2024-04-13 11:54	https://scontent-ord5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/437528954_1450334455578059_8708643177580565616_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s60x60&_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=xFWtiPnec6YAb45iMDL&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-1.xx&oh=00_AfA0_yRJrENVH29GcThd63GrLDgTY4wkN8ca_EopoQtdcA&oe=662203CD	person_profile	0	Pt. Ramdas Palsule	https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/434469738_302528682716280_7702397490004941582_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=lYZviai-0sUAb4FuiT1&_nc_oc=AdhwV6ILlaEBVGF6J2Juxg7Uy6JXCWS90S2diLSVgQ1Epzyg5a7mYEiIfFR-70g1GacrNuDwg7Ec4HktAs17eaPC&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=00_AfBWuPgRwtPC_QJk3WydUD2PuJsKglwnYyka9eWHCY2FnA&oe=6621FC50	3	Sharon Baker	2024-04-13 02:00	View Edit Delete
1,209,255	/src/Template/Ads/index.ctp (line 281) '{"alias":1209242}'	No	2024-04-14 13:48	active	515	2209753736043537	How I Stopped Foot Pain From Controlling My Life...	Ever tried to pick up a cup of coffee and felt like you were grappling with a cactus? That was my morning routine - battling the intense tingling and numbness in my hands that turned every small task into a monumental challenge.<br /> <br /> But rewind a few months, and every step was torture. My feet? Constant pins and needles. My hands? It felt like they were on fire. Doctors handed me prescriptions that did nothing but make me groggy and frustrated. I was trapped in my own body, a prisoner of neuropathy.<br /> <br /> It got to the point where I'd dread evenings the most. The pain seemed to flare up right when I tried to relax. Just sitting down to dinner, I'd feel the burning start, and I knew it would be another long, sleepless night.<br /> <br /> Then, everything changed. My sister, bless her, sent me a link late one night. She had stumbled upon a video online, claiming a simple 5-second morning ritual could tackle the root cause of nerve pain. Skeptical? You bet I was. But desperate too.<br /> <br /> I watched that video, hanging on every word. It talked about something called "nerve plaque" and how this quick routine could clear it up—no meds, just a simple, natural method. I was ready to try anything.<br /> <br /> So, I started the next morning. It felt silly at first, doing this tiny ritual in my kitchen. But by the third day, something shifted. The burning eased. The pins and needles weren’t as sharp. I could sit through a movie without squirming in discomfort.<br /> <br /> Now, three months later, I'm not just walking… I'm hiking. I'm gardening. I'm living. If you're sick of the pain, tired of the numbness, and done with feeling helpless, you need to see this. Trust me, it's worth those few seconds every morning.<br /> <br /> Tap below to discover the 5-second ritual that gave me back my life!	WATCH_MORE	https://lp.myfantasticvibes.club/66192a71d92032000	101566326202697	Tresa A. Lawlor	https://facebook.com/100089983283846	960	0	803,340,091,697,976	2024-04-14 02:00	person_profile	eligible	NONE	0	1	0	Watch more	Tresa A. Lawlor	120207495666490371	myfantasticvibes.club	NONE	video		https://lp.myfantasticvibes.club/66192a71d9203200018e5531?sub1={{ad.id}}&sub2={{adset.id}}&sub3={{campaign.id}}&sub4={{ad.name}}&sub5={{adset.name}}&sub6={{campaign.name}}&sub7={{placement}}&sub8={{site_source_name}}&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid	2024-04-13 11:44	https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/437584672_3214919528815263_3768904720313954721_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s60x60&_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=pQrR5v_5tPEAb7xYpse&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=00_AfAVDuCzMhdLAX7oUDkEWpX4s5M6o9l8ym67fO7izmvh7g&oe=66220EDE	person_profile	0	Tresa A. Lawlor	https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.35426-6/437569061_427359946612573_8141252329733422805_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c53f8f&_nc_ohc=R6K5wMYbmpEAb4GfRCV&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=00_AfA_CBVi7zA2Z0jnIT6k22bxEnxuTDCpnrA98DLvTgShlA&oe=6621EBD5	3	Tresa A. Lawlor	2024-04-14 02:00	View Edit Delete

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