Novels by Joe Bankole

CHAPTER 11 - Thirty Seconds to Ruin· · He looked directly at me. “A second picture. Much clearer. Much more… compelling.”· I felt the blood drain from my face. “You’re lying.”· “Am I? ” he asked casually. “You should check your inbox.”· My phone vibrated at that exact time.· I reached for it with shaking hands.· But he lifted his finger.· “I wouldn’t open it here,” he said. “You might faint.”· “You’re manipulating us,” I whispered.· “Maybe,” he said. “Or maybe I’m warning you.”· He walked toward the door, still smiling.· Before leaving, he stopped and turned slightly.· “Oh, and Ethan? ”· He looked up quickly.· Marcus’s smile disappeared totally.· · “You’re playing a game you don’t understand.”· Then he stepped out and closed the door behind him.· The silence he left behind felt deadly.· I felt myself shaking. “He knows something. He must.”· He approached me quickly. “Adrianlistendon’t panic yet.”· “Don’t panic? ” I whispered. “Marcus doesn’t b

CHAPTER 10 Someone Wants Us Broken· Adrian’s POV· The castle was on fire with whispers.· I felt every stare. Every whisper. Every sharp glance that sliced its way through me. People pretended to· look away when I met their eyes, but the damage was done.· I could hear the words even when no one spoke.· Dangerous.· Reckless.· Unfit to rule.· And all because of one hazy picture.· · My breath shook as I paced in my room, running my hand through my hair, trying to calm the storm inside me.· I kept saying to myself, “This can’t be happening. Not now. Not like this.”· A knock was heard on the door.· My heart jumped.· He walked in before I could answercalm, steady, controlled. Too controlled.· He closed the door behind him.· “We need to talk,” he said.· I tried to hold myself together, but the moment our eyes met, something inside me cracked.· “They’re going to destroy me,” I whispered. “Everything I built. Everything expected of me. One picture and I· l

CHAPTER 9 - The Line We Shouldn’t Cross· Ethan:s POV· “You came all the way here,” I said. “Not as a prince. Not as my boss. You came as a man who panicked· when he realized I was in danger. Why? ”· He didn’t answer.· I watched him swallow hard, and that alone revealed everything he refused to say.· “Ethan,” he mumbled, “I can’t do this with you.”· “Then stop coming back to me,” I mumbled back. “Stop defending me. Stop worrying about me. Stop looking· at me like”· He cut in sharply. “Like what? Say it.”· I shook my head. “You already know.”· · His voice cracked. “I shouldn’t know.”· My chest tightened. “But you do.”· For a moment, neither of us moved. Neither of us moved. The quiet between us felt like a confession.· Then he pulled the crumpled message from his pocket and threw it onto the table.· “Leave the palace, or he loses the crown,” he read aloud, voice shaking with anger. “This is not a joke.”· “I know.”· “No, you don’t.” His voice rose. “You

CHAPTER 8 - “The First Warning”· POV: Adrian· I felt something sharp twist in my chest.· He wasn’t asking because he believed it.· He was asking because someone made him believe it.· “Don’t say that again,” I said.· “You don’t understand.”· “I understand more than you think.”· “Adrian”· “Stop pushing me away.”· His breath faltered.· Seraphina watched us quietly, her face mysterious.· Ethan took one slow step back. “You shouldn’t defend me in public. It puts you at risk.”· · “And letting them insult you puts me at risk too,” I shot back. “Because I won’t stand there and pretend I don’t· care.”· The words slipped out too fast.· Too honestly.· Ethan froze.· Seraphina’s eyes opened sharply and she caught it quickly.· I felt heat rise in my face. “I didn’t mean”· “You did,” Seraphina said softly. “And now you can’t take it back.”· Ethan stared at me like he wasn’t breathing.· Like my words reached a place he kept heavily guarded.· The air tigh

CHAPTER 7 - The Lie Between Us· Adrian’s POV· Ethan scoffed. “You make it sound like I chained him to a chair.”· “Did you?” she asked sweetly.· He glared. “Try again.”· Their tightness made my skin crawl.· “Both of you, stop,” I said. “This isn’t about”· “Yes,” Seraphina answered, “it is. Something is off tonight. I can feel it.”· Ethan crossed his arms. “Maybe mind your business.”· “And maybe stop acting like you own him,” she shot back.· A flare of heat rushed to my face. “Enough. Please. Both of you.”· But Seraphina wasn’t done. She walked straight to me, eyes searching mine, too sharp, too knowing.· “What happened?” she asked softly.· · “Nothing.”· “Adrian,” she whispered. “Your eyes are red. Your hands are shaking.”· I pulled away.· Ethan stepped forward sharply. “Don’t push him.”· “Oh, please,” she snapped. “Someone needs to push him. You baby him too much.”· “I will protect him.”· “I see that,” she said dryly. “A little too much.”· I cur

CHAPTER 6 “The Argument We Didn’t Expect”· Adrian’s POV· He wouldn’t look at me. And that alone made my anger rise like hot water under a locked lid. I stood in the· center of the room, would turn around and explain why he acted like he had the right to rule my life. But Ethan· kept his back to me, hands on his hips, breathing too evenly, too quietly, as if he expected this fight.· “Say something,” I said. My voice was harder than I planned.· He finally faced me, slow and deliberate, like a man planning for war. “Do you want the truth,” he asked, “or· something polite?”· “I want to know why you stopped those reporters. You embarrassed me.”· His laugh was low and sharp. “Embarrassed you? Adrian, they were tearing into you. They were seconds· away from asking about your father.”· “Still not your business,” I snapped.· His eyes narrowed. “Maybe you should stop freezing every time someone says your father’s name.”· The words hit me like a slap.· A clean, forcef