LOGIN
SEVEN DAYS BEFORE MY WEDDING, I walked into our bedroom and found my neurosurgeon fiancé cheating with my cousin. Six months later, Oliver and Vanessa are married, my humiliation is office coffee-break gossip, and I've done everything possible to disappear off the face of the earth. Then I find out my grandmother is dying. This birthday might be her last, and I refuse to let my ex take that from me too. Problem is, going means facing my own personal nightmare head-on: Oliver and Vanessa, happy and married, right in front of me, while the rest of my family looks at me like I'm a walking tragedy. That's when Simon Hart—my billionaire boss, arrogant as hell, and the only man who can irritate me, make me laugh, and dismantle every single one of my defenses in the same conversation—makes me an absolutely ridiculous proposal. "Just think about it." He spreads his hands. " You’re tired of everyone pitying you. I’m rich as hell, handsome as hell, and charming as hell. Who's going to feel sorry for you when you show up with Simon Hart on your arm?" The problem is, he's right. I need a boyfriend to survive my grandmother's birthday weekend without turning back into the official family disaster. And Simon needs a serious girlfriend to prove to all of New York that the city's most eligible bachelor has finally settled down. It was supposed to be simple. Fake dating. Two events. Some convincing touching. Absolutely zero feelings. Until we added new terms to the agreement. No-strings s*x. No jealousy. No expectations. Just s*x. And it worked perfectly. Right up until everything went completely off the rails.

“You are my stepbrother,” Viola whispered, her back pressing against the locked mahogany door. “Stepbrother.” The word left Sebastian’s lips like a curse. His shadow swallowed the room, caging her against the wood. He caught her chin, forcing her violet eyes to meet the ruthless amber of his. “A piece of paper doesn’t make us family, Dulzura,” he murmured, his thumb brushing her trembling lower lip. “It just makes you mine.” ************************************* Sebastian Cain Hierro doesn’t do romance. There are no gentle promises, no soft apologies, and absolutely no love games. A man bred in the violence of the cartel only understands one language: absolute, brutal control. For Viola, being dragged into his dark orbit is a terrifying awakening. She is a girl who only ever wanted to be cherished, suddenly trapped in a forbidden reality with a stepbrother who demands her complete surrender. Every touch behind closed doors is a sin. Every whisper is a command. Surviving him means playing by his twisted rules. She can have his protection, his heavy gaze, and his suffocating obsession—but he has made it dangerously clear that she can never, ever have his heart. But a girl like Viola doesn't know how to give her body without giving her soul. And when she inevitably pours all her desperate, unspoken love into a monster who is completely incapable of loving her back... where is her shattered heart supposed to go? *** Follow me on Instagram: @authorpria for exclusive teasers, sneak peeks, and book updates.

***This is 4 books in one!*** “Let’s get this over with, I have things to do. Just so you understand, I need a strong and BEAUTIFUL Luna by my side. I, Alpha Cullen Niles, of the Ironclaw Pack, reject you, Rebel Lawson, as my mate and Luna.” Instantly, my chest feels like it is ripped open and gutted. The pain is the worst I’ve ever felt. But I refuse to show pain in front of Alpha Cullen. I stay rigid and force my face not to react. Roxie is howling in desperation, because she wants her mate and he just rejected us, causing her immense pain too. The sooner I accept, the sooner we can move on. “I, Rebel Lawson, accept your rejection.” It was like a final death blow. I see Alpha Cullen grab his chest, taking deep breaths. Then after a couple of minutes he stood straight up. I still haven’t moved. “You will not mention this to anyone, do you understand?” As much pain as I was in, I couldn’t muster up the strength to say yes, so I just nodded. “Good, I can’t have people knowing I was mated to such a she-wolf.” With that, he turned and walked away. I turned and went back to the lake, sat down next to my guitar and then the barriers crumbled. I held on to my chest and cried for hours. Roxie feeling weak from the rejection, retreated to the back of my mind. She was still talking to me, but it was much quieter. I felt so incredibly alone. Fated mates were supposed to love each other, no matter what. He was supposed to protect, cherish and love me. However, I never felt more unwanted and alone.

Five years ago, I left my husband a note. Three sentences. A returned bracelet. A door closing softly at 4am. He told me to get rid of our baby. I got rid of him instead. Now he’s sitting across my boardroom table in the city I built for myself, looking for the woman he married. She’s gone. What’s left is stronger.

He took away my choice of being marked. “I hate you.” I spit. “You think I want this?” He snickers. “Being mated to you is my worst nightmare come alive, but if you dare run from me? Make sure you can hide well because I will hunt you down, Mate.” ♡ I came back for one day. One stupid day to appease my father but now I’m trapped for life by a bond I never asked for. Alpha Kingston has a girlfriend, she's the Luna he and his pack desire not me. I was once his Bestfriend, the girl he would burn the world for but now I'm the one he’d burn to save her. Everyone says I'm the villian, but every villian has a story right? One they never tried to hear. I don't belong here, not anymore. Mooncrest has done nothing but break me, I want to leave but I'm the Alpha’s mate, and he promises to catch me if I run. Staying in Mooncrest brings back feelings I didn't know I had. Can King and I be as we were before or did I lose him forever without an explanation?

Amber built an empire she was never allowed to claim. Brilliant, strategic, and fiercely loyal, Amber was the mind behind a billion-dollar real estate empire—the woman who identified undervalued properties, structured acquisitions, and designed expansion projects that reshaped skylines. But when betrayal strikes, she’s fired, humiliated, and discarded by the man she helped rise to the top. She walks away with nothing but her intelligence, her dignity… and the projects that were always hers. What her ex-fiancé never expects is his powerful half-brother. A billionaire real estate magnate in his own right, controlled, private, and raising two adopted children on his own, he offers Amber something unexpected: a contractual marriage. No romance. No lies. Just mutual benefit. A public wife to stabilize his corporate image—and a strategic partner who understands the business better than anyone. Amber accepts. She takes her real estate projects with her—developments she sourced, designed, and negotiated from the ground up—and brings them into her new husband’s company. Entire portfolios shift overnight. Investments follow her. For the first time, her name is on the contracts, her voice dominates boardrooms, and her success is undeniable. As Amber rises, the real estate empire she once built in silence begins to crumble. Deals collapse without her leadership. Bad investments surface. And the company her ex-fiancé claimed as his own crashes spectacularly—while Amber thrives, wealthier and more powerful than ever. But what begins as a business arrangement slowly becomes something far more dangerous. Because power is intoxicating. Trust is fragile. And love was never part of the contract.
My husband was cheating on me with my best friend for six months. Six months of roses. Six months of 'you are my everything' while he was secretly betraying me. I trusted him with my whole heart. He handed it to her like a cheap gift. So when Dominic Ford showed up with rage in his eyes and proof in his hands, something in me snapped. And in that broken, dangerous place, a reckless idea was born. "An affair," I told him, meeting his gaze. "We give them exactly what they deserve." He studied me for a long moment. Then he nodded. "When do we start?" This was supposed to be about revenge. It was never supposed to become something more. It was never supposed to feel like home. Now our cheating spouses are on their knees, begging. But Dominic is looking at me like the plan just changed. And God help me, I don't want to walk away either. We agreed. No strings. No feelings. Just revenge. That was the deal. We lied. ___ WARNING: This story contains mature content.
This is Currently an Omnibus! Featuring: Book 1: The Unwanted Luna - Kennedy and Ryker's Story Book 2: The Warrior's Mate - Finn and Greta's Story Book 3: Taming the Alpha's Heir - Ben and Elara's Story Book 1: Kennedy is a human thrown into the unbelievable world of the supernatural when her parents die in a freak car accident and her mother’s best friend steps in to become her guardian. Her mother’s best friend, Beth, is the Luna of the Silver Crescent Pack. Kennedy has known Beth and her husband James and their son Jeremiah her whole life, but thought pack life would be something she would only hear about. The Alpha and Luna keep no secrets about the dangers of their world for a human like Kennedy. Jeremiah takes an interest in keeping Kennedy safe and helps her through the trauma of moving on from the accident. Kennedy is taught pack ways and for the most part is loved by all the pack members, learning the values of the pack bond, the ways of the warriors and respect for the hierarchy of the wolf culture. She becomes a very proficient warrior even with only human strength and senses. Follow Kennedy on her journey of mates, love, friendship and fighting a mate bond she doesn’t want holding her back from her own goals and dreams. __ Ryker is a young, well-known, and feared Alpha of Dark Moon pack. He cares for his pack members through tough love and an iron fist. He's seen what happens when Alphas take their mate. It makes them weak and lose focus. Many have been corrupted by terrible mates. He would rather stay alone than be controlled.
On the fifth anniversary of Rebecca Perry's marriage to Vance Bradford, his first love returned to the country. That night, she caught him in the bathroom, murmuring Catherine's name as he pleasured himself. That was why, for five years, he had never touched her. "Catherine is back; she's all alone. I'm just helping her as a friend." "I understand." "I promised her I'd accompany her to the island for her birthday. I'm just fulfilling it." "Okay." "This banquet requires a capable companion, and Catherine is more suitable than you." "Okay, go ahead." When she stopped getting angry, stopped shedding tears, and stopped making a fuss, he grew puzzled. "Rebecca, why aren't you angry?" Of course, she wasn't angry anymore—because she was preparing to leave. Weary of this stagnant marriage, she had secretly learned a foreign language, taken the proficiency exam, and applied to study abroad. The day her visa was approved, she presented him with the divorce agreement. Vance froze. "No joke. How are you gonna survive without me?" Rebecca turned away, bought a plane ticket, and flew to the European continent, vanishing without a trace. The next time he saw news of her was in a viral video. Dressed in a flowing red gown, she danced against a foreign sky, igniting the internet with her performance. He gritted his teeth. "Rebecca, no matter where you hide, I will find you and bring you back!"

DARK ROMANCE "Sir, I am in a dire need of loan. Its very important, my friends life is at stake. I assure you I'll try my best to return the loan asap." She breathlessly said it all. Her eyes were filled with hope and expectations. He was her last hope. "Miss Sheharzaad," Shehryaar said, while standing up from his chair causing her to instantly stand up. "Yes sir" she replied, her voice troublesome yet confident. He walked towards the other side of the table and sat on the chair parallel to her. "Keep sitting, please." He said, like a gentleman and she sat down. She tightly held her hands together. A life could be saved by his single yes. "Sir please," she pleaded. "I agree. You can have the loan, but I have a condition." "I agree to your every condition sir" she replied with a little smile of victory on her face. "Think before you speak, Miss Sheharzaad." "I trust you." "I want a one night stand with you." He dropped the bomb. ............ "Every women is nothing but a , a and you're also one of them." He said making her wriggling double against the ropes, which tied her. "You're wrong." She replied with a sheer determination in her eyes. He harshly gripped held her chin and bobbed her head up towards him. "Oh, I'll prove it to you then." He spoke with an immense intensity and a promise in his eyes. "You'll now serve me as my personal escort, Sheharzaad." He declared and threaded his fingers into her silky locks, pasting his lips on hers, her brutally. He didn't trust womankind and she was a strong woman. He wanted shatter and break her into pieces so he could satisfy himself.

Vincent Hastings, the ruthless Billionaire and the most fearful Mafia King in New York. He is the boss, he can get everything that he wants whether he does it with bare hands or by force. Just like how he forced Sophie Laurens, youngest daughter of Albert Laurens, one of the richest men in New York who had an agreement with Vincent to have one of his daughters marry him. He willingly offered his youngest one, not minding what the consequences are, not minding what Sophie's future might look like. Will Sophie be able to change the ruthless mafia boss? Or will she just escape from him?

Jenna Nova watched everything taken from her when her father died. Yet, it wasn't as gut drenching as seeing her boyfriend sleeping with her stepmother after being kicked out of her father's multinational company. Getting drunk at the bar and ending up in the wrong room. She woke up in the company of a dying man, saving his life in the process. Everything changed when she found out about his identity. That man was Casper Blade, the newly inaugurated CEO of Blade Towers and ruler of the dark mafia. Not only was he cold and ruthless but it was also rumored that he was the devil disguised as a human. He was attractive to the kill but his heart was as dark as coal. He was everything she feared and before she realized, he got her just where he wanted her. Against his dangerous family and all odds, he broke protocols just for her. Still, Jenna couldn't accept his obsessive love and tried to escape but why couldn't he let her go? He had taken over her mind and when he found her, she begged to be left alone. His lips parted slightly, and he spoke like a demon. "Return my heart, and I will let you go."

To owe Jade Black a debt is to be property. To cross him is to be destroyed. Aria Finner grew up watching her family fall apart. When her father's debt reaches a point of no return, he makes one desperate decision. Offer his daughter as collateral for one year. Jade Black is ruthless, feared, and magnetic. When he sees Aria's photograph something inside him shifts. Something he cannot explain and does not want to. He takes her as a year-long servant in his house. She looks exactly like a woman he lost. He tells himself that has nothing to do with it. Bound to his rules and dressed in clothes meant to tease and torment, Aria fights the pull of the man she should hate. Every command, every touch, every commanding glance tests her will and stirs desires she refuses to name. She is strong and she will not submit. Yet she cannot shake the feeling that she was not brought here simply to pay a debt. As the year unfolds tension twists into passion. Enemies lurk, secrets surface, and both are forced to confront what they cannot escape. The hunger for each other and the dangerous truth that what began as servitude might end in something neither of them planned for. A year of service. A lifetime of consequences. Aria must decide. Resist the devil. Or surrender to the man who sees someone else every time he looks at her.

Five years ago, Lyra was nothing but a disposable pawn to Dante Maroni, a ruthless mafia kingpin who shattered her heart and left her to die in a burning wreckage. Pregnant, broken, and betrayed, she faked her death and disappeared into the shadows. Now, the fragile woman he destroyed is gone. In her place stands Doctor Vesper—an elusive, ice-cold medical genius with lethal charm, an impenetrable guard, and a scalpel that decides life and death without hesitation. When a deadly neurotoxin strikes Dante, his empire is forced to beg the one underground doctor capable of creating an antidote. He has no idea that the masked woman holding his life in her hands is the same woman he abandoned to burn. But Dante isn't the only predator. Silas Vance, a powerful tech billionaire and leader of a rival syndicate locked in a generations-old blood feud with the Maronis, stands beside Lyra. Armed with wealth, technology, and firepower, Silas is ready to help her destroy everything Dante built. When Lyra finally removes her mask, the prey becomes the predator. Crippled by poison and crushed beneath the weight of recognition, Dante is forced to his knees, desperately begging for forgiveness from the woman he thought was dead. Then the stakes explode. A little boy with Dante's unmistakable dark eyes steps into view. Lyra has an empire to build, a dangerous past to bury, and a hidden son to protect at all costs. Dante must decide whether he is willing to tear his kingdom apart to earn another chance with the woman he threw away. But Silas has no intention of letting Dante reclaim her or leave with anything more than his life.

"You thought you could run from me, Vivienne?" Draven growled, his hand pulling my hair back to force my eyes onto his. A hard shiver ran through me as he pinned my hands above my head on the silk sheets, his heavy body trapping me underneath him. "Draven... please..." "Beg me," he demanded, his lips touching my neck as his hand slid up my thigh. "Beg me to forgive you." "Please," I gasped, completely helpless under his touch. "Good girl," he whispered, his dark eyes filled with cold control. "You owe me five million dollars, Vivienne. And you're going to pay back every single cent on your knees." ……………………………………….. Vivienne thought she had successfully escaped Draven five years ago. She was wrong. Forced to return to the dangerous man she left behind, she signs away her freedom to pay off a huge five million dollar debt. Draven pays every penny but he demands her complete obedience in return. Trapped in his home and forced to become his kept woman, Vivienne must obey his every command while hiding a big secret: Her sick boy isn't four years old. He's five. And Draven might be looking at his own son.

One girl with a troubled past who has had enough and two men who want to claim her as theirs. Julie is a shy, sweet, innocent girl whose life gets turned upside down when she meets the new guy in school who has a bad attitude. Jessie embodies everything she hates, but he keeps drawing her in. After letting him in, everything in her life takes a downward turn. Things don't always have a happy ending, even when you think you've found the love of your life. He was her lesson learned, but he still held her heart. After losing everyone she cares about, Julie decides enough is enough. No more being bullied or walked over, and no more looking over her shoulder. After getting arrested for underground street fighting, her new foster parents decide she needs a stricter hand, and she is sent to boarding school. It wasn’t all bad to be sent away. How could it be when she goes to school with the sexy new man who saw her fight and wants to claim her as his?

Synopsis He close the expanse between us and I won't lie I close my eyes for a bit because I don't know how it got so hot and steamy between us. His lips touch my jaw, making me tremble. He continues a line of kisses along my jawline and I nod. I know he is right, I have no idea what this is. As his lips touch the spot just below my ear I moan and he does it again, this time sucking the skin. That electricity between us appears again, this time more wild than ever before. Why is this always happening with him? I shut my mind off from my thoughts and wrap my arms around his neck to steady myself. he rubs his thumb over my bottom lip and in a swift he crash his lips with me and deepen it immediately and all sexual attachment aroused and I felt unsatisfied. His lips move in sync with mine as he eat out my lower lips and I moan out unconsciously. He palm my ass cheek in his hand. He raise me up and I wrap my leg round his torso with no one ready to pull back. He kiss me passionately and it felt like he had always wanted to do this for so long because he poured all his love into it.

Millie Brown is a high school senior who had many suitors in her school, yet, she never went out on a date with anyone in the hopes of winning one boy's heart. Her best friend's older brother, Zack Myers. There was only one problem, Zack only sees her as a little sister! She almost started to give up hope, until one day, his other brother Hayden offered to help her win her dream guy. Millie is reluctant since she couldn't stand Hayden for being a notorious playboy.Should she take his offer or will Hayden mess things up even more?

Oh God… if he keeps staring at me like that, I might actually lose it. Of all the houses they could’ve placed me in… it had to be his. Jace freaking Blackwell.” After a troubled childhood and her father’s arrest, Chloe Bennett is forced to start over when her mother remarries an old friend—Marcus Blackwell, the most powerful man in Blackridge Hills. And the father of the boy she never forgot. Jace Blackwell. They were inseparable once, tangled up in a childhood that felt unbreakable. Now he’s her stepbrother. And he’s nothing like the boy she remembers. Jace is colder. Distant. Like every piece of warmth he once had was stripped away—and he’d rather burn the past than face it. Just when Chloe thinks she’s survived the worst of her life, everything spirals again. A last-minute boarding issue at the Blackridge academy, her new school, forces her into the one place she can’t escape. The Blackwell estate. The same house as Jace. The same boy who looks at her like she’s a memory he wants erased. But the longer she stays, the more the silence between them starts to crack… revealing something deeper and unfinished. Because some pasts don’t stay buried. And some people were never meant to be left behind.

Natalie mistakenly confronts the school golden boy thinking it's her cheating boyfriend. The golden boy turns out to be her step brother snapping out every moral she had in but not just that her secret of writing smut is about to be exposed and he uses it to threaten her just to keep his own secret safe. But then what happens when their touches and eyes mean something more, why does he always snap out the air from his lungs. It's dangerous. We live in the same house and I'm not sure if I will still be the good girl mum thinks I am.

The most popular girl from my high school is getting married. She invites everyone in our class to the wedding. I want to act like I don't see the message, but she deliberately tags me in the group chat. "You kept pretending to be a rich girl like me in high school, but I don't hold it against you. In fact, I'll allow you to attend my wedding tomorrow to see what the rich life is like." The other classmates speak up. "You're so generous, Haley. It's no wonder you can marry someone from the Baumer family. I can't believe you can even forgive someone as materialistic as Emma!" "Does someone like Emma Larkin even deserve to attend Haley's wedding? She's so full of herself." As the insults become worse, Haley Stockwell steps forward to keep the peace. "Come on, let's put this behind us. I'm not bothered by these things since it's been so long. Anyway, let's not bear a grudge against Emma when she's already so poor and ugly." Everyone in the group chat starts singing her praises and calling her kind and innocent. I sneer. Haley is the one who kept pretending to be rich—I'm the true heiress from an affluent family, yet she made me out to be a liar. She turned me into the target of everyone's insults. I check the digital wedding invitation to see that the venue is my villa. The groom looks familiar—isn't he my husband's driver? I smile at the thought of what's going to happen. I reply, "Sure! I have to attend your wedding!"

"Mr. Dawson, about that farmhouse construction project in Hattensburg… I've decided that I'm willing to go there." Gary Dawson, on the other end of the line, sounds fairly surprised. "I've been asking you to go there for ages, yet you refused every time because you said you wanted to be with your boyfriend, Timothy. Why the sudden change of mind?" Madeline Carlton lowers her reddened eyes and pretends to chuckle nonchalantly. "I guess I hit one too many walls and just decided to come to my senses afterward." Hearing this, Gary sighs and says sternly, "This is a highly classified mission. You will be assuming a whole new identity when you start working on this project. Before the mission ends, you will not be allowed to have any contact with the rest of the world. "Madeline, are you sure that you've thought things through?" "Yes. I just want to escape this place as soon as I can." There is a long silence on the phone. However, Gary answers right after the pause. "Alright. I'll send the classified contract to you in a while. It should take about a month for the paperwork to be finalized. Use that opportunity to say goodbye to your friends and family." The call disconnects. An email pops up in Madeline's inbox. Right after reading through the classified contract, she signed her name with a flourish and submitted the file with a click. At the same time, Bloomberg Group's new product launch plays on the television. Timothy Bloomberg, wearing a tailored white suit, slowly leads Lacey Houston up the catwalk stage.

My husband's first love, the woman he had once idolized, had left him for a powerful and influential school bully. Years later, she found herself in the midst of a bitter divorce and in need of a lawyer. And who else but my husband, now an accomplished attorney, ended up back in her orbit? As he moved toward her once more, I decided it was time to step aside. After all, there was no stopping someone determined to chase after a lost cause.

I grew up starved for affection. So when I started dating an insanely controlling boyfriend, I acted scared, resistant, and constantly on edge. But secretly? I loved every second of it. He made me report where I was at all times. Checking my phone was routine. Deleting people from my contacts was practically a habit. Other people would’ve found it suffocating. All I felt was loved. But lately, he’d changed. His instant replies turned into hours of waiting. He used to check up on me three times a day. Then it became once every three days. Eventually, he stopped checking altogether. I felt disappointed. And hurt. Then one day, I suddenly heard his thoughts. [She’s too obedient. It’s boring.] [She wasn’t like this before. She’s getting more and more boring.] I stared blankly at my phone. The screen lit up. A message had just come in from my first love. The dangerously possessive one who had always been completely obsessed with me. 'Baby, I’m back.'

My older sister was suffering from severe hemorrhaging during a traumatic childbirth, and her life was in danger. On her deathbed, she called for me. Looking at her pale face, I wept and swore that I would take good care of her child. However, she shook her head weakly. “I don’t need you to take care of him. Chloe, the baby belongs to your husband.” In an instant, my world fell silent. My husband, Ethan, stepped forward and took my sister’s hand. With bloodshot eyes, he dropped to his knees right in front of me. “We never wanted to hurt you, so we kept it a secret,” he sobbed. “Now that she’s dying, we only ask for your blessing.” Numb with shock, I stiffly picked up a pen and signed the divorce papers. Three days later, I buried my sister, and on her tombstone, the inion read: Wife of Ethan. My parents were furious. They disowned her, cutting her out of the family entirely. They refused to acknowledge the newborn child, choosing instead to stay by my side, devoted to helping me heal. However, over the next five years, my mental health only deteriorated further. On the day I finally decided to end my own life, I brought my sister's favorite lilies and visited her grave. That was when I caught sight of her linking arms with Ethan and holding a young boy with her other arm. My parents stood right beside them, looking sorry for her. “If we hadn’t been worried she might hurt you, we wouldn’t have forced you to fake your death for five years,” my mother said, comforting her. “She’s in a really bad state right now. When we go home, we’ll convince her that her memory is faulty and that you two were married all along. That way, you can finally live together openly.” The bouquet of lilies slipped from my fingers, falling into the dirt and scattering dust across the white petals. I pulled out my phone and changed Ethan’s contact name from “Ex-Husband” to “Ethan.” There was no need to lie anymore. I was letting you go for real.

I'm an orphan, and I spend all my free time volunteering at a nursing home. The elderly residents there feel sorry for me because I have no family, so they all treat me like their own granddaughter. Thanks to them, I have a pretty good life. That all changes when Jenna Olsen, the most popular girl in our department, uses her family's connections to take the spot I'd earned as one of Beyton University's top students. In front of the entire class, she tears my application to shreds and throws the pieces straight into my face. "Do you think an orphan like you can compete with me for this spot?" She pinches her nose and takes two steps back, looking at me with open disgust. "You spend all your time hanging around a bunch of old people who are practically on their deathbeds. You reek of old people! "You'd better know your place. Even if you take this all the way to the dean, no one is going to stand up for you." She folds her arms and gives me a mocking laugh. I bend down and pick up the torn pieces of my application, not bothering to say a word. What she doesn't realize is that the old people she looks down on are far more powerful than she could ever imagine. The old man I play chess with, Mr. Otis Larsson, is a former governor who once wielded enormous influence in the state. The old lady who dances with me, Ms. Nancy Jacoway, is a recently retired senior official at the Department of Education. Even Mr. David Wadsworth, who never stops trying to feed me snacks, is powerful enough to make the entire city of Beyton sit up and take notice.