Novels by Orezi

Ava waited at the small coffee shop they had agreed upon. It was tucked away in a quiet corner of the city. Neutral ground again. She stirred her latte absentmindedly. Her mind raced with the confrontation from Damon’s father the day before. The older man’s words had unsettled her more than she wanted to admit. Shadows. Betrayals. She had promised herself she would let Damon reveal things in his own time but Richard Blackwood had forced the issue. Now she needed answers.Damon arrived exactly on time. He wore a dark sweater and jeans. Casual but still commanding. His expression was serious as he sat across from her. Those stormy blue eyes searched hers immediately. “Ava. I am sorry about my father. He had no right showing up at your office.”She leaned forward. Her feisty attitude clear in the set of her jaw. “Sorry is not enough. He made it sound like you are hiding something dangerous. I deserve to know what I am getting into even if we are keeping this whatever it is low key. No mo

Ava arrived at Emma’s apartment that weekend carrying a bottle of wine and a box of pastries from their favorite bakery. The familiar building felt both comforting and treacherous now. Every step up the stairs reminded her of the secrets she carried. The laughter they had shared over the years. The late night talks where Emma had complained about her brother’s distant lifestyle. Ava plastered on a smile as Emma opened the door and pulled her into a tight hug.“You look amazing,” Emma said. She stepped back and eyed Ava with playful suspicion. “Or maybe a little tired. Late nights working on that big campaign?”Ava forced a laugh and handed over the gifts. “Something like that. Work has been kicking my ass lately. But enough about me. How are you? Still riding the birthday high?”They settled into the living room with snacks and drinks. Emma launched into stories about her own chaotic week at the design firm. Ava listened attentively. Nodding in all the right places. But her mind kept

Ava stared at her computer screen the following afternoon. The office felt stuffier than usual. Her boss had just delivered the news that her biggest campaign was on the chopping block. Budget cuts meant her team was shrinking and she might be next. She rubbed her temples. The stress from work piled on top of the emotional chaos with Damon. She had deleted his number again that morning. Only to add it back before lunch. Her finger hovered over the call button. She set the phone down firmly. No. She had made her decision. Emma deserved better.Her phone buzzed with a message from Emma. Hey girl. Dinner at my place this weekend? I need to vent about work too. Miss your face.Ava smiled despite everything. She replied quickly. Absolutely. Cannot wait. She meant it. Their friendship was the one solid thing in her life right now. The thought of losing it over a man even one as magnetic as Damon made her stomach twist. She threw herself back into work. Drafting proposals and updating report

Ava stood in front of her closet for far too long the next evening. She had changed outfits three times already. The simple black jeans and emerald green blouse finally won. Nothing too revealing. Nothing that screamed she was trying to impress Damon Blackwood. This was supposed to be closure. A final conversation in a public place where she could keep her walls up and her clothes on. She added a light jacket and grabbed her purse. Her reflection in the mirror looked determined. She hoped her racing pulse agreed.The restaurant was a quiet Italian spot tucked away in a neighborhood far from the usual billionaire haunts. Damon had chosen well. Dim lighting, private booths, and no chance of running into Emma or her crowd. When Ava arrived he was already there. Seated at a corner table. Looking unfairly handsome in a dark button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His watch caught the light. Expensive but understated. He stood when he saw her. Those stormy blue eyes softening in a way

Sunlight filtered through the floor to ceiling windows of Damon’s penthouse. Ava stirred slowly. Her body ached in places she had never felt before. A pleasant soreness between her legs reminded her of the long night. She blinked against the brightness and turned her head. Damon lay beside her. His muscular arm draped possessively across her waist. His dark hair was tousled from sleep and their activities. He looked peaceful. Almost vulnerable. But she knew better. This man was a force of nature. And she had let herself get swept up in his storm.Guilt hit her like a cold wave. Emma. Her best friend who had trusted her completely. The one who had shared laughs and secrets for years. Ava had crossed an unforgivable line. Multiple times. In vivid detail. She slipped out from under his arm carefully. Not wanting to wake him yet. She found her dress crumpled on the floor and pulled it on. The fabric felt cheap and wrong in this luxurious space.She padded to the kitchen area. The open lay

The drive to Damon’s penthouse passed in a haze of heated touches and stolen kisses. His fingers stayed buried between Ava’s thighs the entire time. Stroking her slowly. Teasing her swollen clit while the driver navigated the glittering Chicago streets. She bit her lip hard to stay quiet. Her pussy clenched around the two fingers he had pushed inside her. Still slick with their combined releases from the party. The molly continued to pulse through her system. Turning every caress into liquid fire.By the time the private elevator doors opened directly into his top floor sanctuary Ava was trembling with need again. The space took her breath away. Floor to ceiling windows overlooked the sparkling city lights. Modern furniture in deep blacks and silvers. A massive living area that flowed into a bedroom visible through open double doors. Everything screamed wealth and power. Just like the man who owned it.Damon did not give her time to admire it. He lifted her into his arms the moment th

The lake house had become a living thing over the decades, its walls absorbing every secret, every scream, every moment of fragile peace. I drifted through its spaces endlessly, forever bound within its foundation. No matter how hard I pushed against the invisible barriers, I could never step beyond the front door or slip through a window into the open air. The house held me like a jealous lover, refusing to release its grip even as the drama inside its rooms intensified.Lily had turned thirty two by now. Her suspicion had grown into a quiet obsession that colored every interaction with her father. She still lived in the house, partly out of habit and partly because something deeper kept her rooted here. Mark, now firmly in his late seventies, moved with the careful precision of a man who had learned to conserve his strength. He spent more time by the lake these days, staring at the water as if it might offer him answers.One gray morning Lily decided to act. She waited until Mark le

The lake house carried the weight of decades like an old man refusing to rest. I moved through its rooms as the seasons turned once more, watching Lily settle deeper into her thirties. She had taken on more responsibility at the gallery and spoke often about building something meaningful with her art. Mark had reached his late seventies, his frame thinner and his steps more deliberate on the creaky floors, yet he maintained the same unshakable calm that had defined him since the day he ended my life. The basement remained his silent monument, untouched and heavy with secrets. I stayed bound to every shadow, every breath, every hidden corner of their lives.Lily’s suspicions had grown roots after the strange events with the anonymous letter and the rattling basement door. She did not confront Mark directly anymore, but I saw the way she watched him. She began spending quiet hours in the attic again, sorting through old boxes with careful hands. One afternoon she found a faded receipt f

The lake house seemed to breathe with its own dark life as the years pressed forward. I watched from my invisible vantage as Lily approached thirty. She had built a career she loved at the gallery and formed friendships that brought light into her eyes on good days. Mark had grown frail in his late seventies his hands trembling slightly when he poured coffee but his mind remained sharp and his calm demeanor unchanged. The basement stayed sealed like a tomb holding more than just my remains. I remained bound to every corner of the house unable to escape the unfolding drama that my death had set in motion.One crisp autumn afternoon Lily came home early from work her face pale. She had been digging through old family photos for a gallery project on local history. In a dusty box in the attic she found something that made my ghostly form freeze. A small notebook hidden beneath old tax papers. It was mine from the months before my death filled with scribbled thoughts about Victor the guilt

The lake house held onto its secrets tighter with every passing year. I drifted through the rooms like smoke, unable to escape the life that continued without me. Lily reached her mid twenties now. She had a steady job at the gallery and a circle of friends who kept her smiling on most days. Mark had crossed into his early seventies. His movements were slower and his eyesight weaker but that calm mask he wore never slipped. He still lived in the house refusing to leave the place where he had ended my life and buried me in the basement. I remained trapped with them forced to witness every private corner of their existence.Lily had been seeing a man named Ethan for several months. He was kind and attentive with strong hands and a gentle way about him. One evening when Mark had gone to bed early they slipped into her room. I hovered near the ceiling unable to leave. Ethan kissed her slowly at first savoring her mouth while his hands explored her curves over her clothes. Lily responded e

Time folded in on itself within the walls of the lake house. I drifted through the years like a leaf caught in an endless current. Lily turned twenty two. She had grown into a confident young woman with a job at the gallery in town and a social life that kept her busy. Mark had settled into his sixties with a quiet routine. His hair was mostly gray now and his steps slower on the stairs but his presence in the house remained as steady and unnerving as ever. The basement door stayed locked. My body lay undisturbed beneath the dirt while my spirit watched everything unfold above.Lily brought home a new boyfriend named David more often. Their connection ran deeper than the others before him. One rainy afternoon when Mark was out running errands they came back to the house soaked and laughing. I followed them upstairs to her bedroom unable to turn away. The house never allowed me that mercy.They peeled off wet clothes quickly. David kissed her hard against the wall his hands roaming ove

The years kept slipping by in that distorted way only a ghost could experience. Seasons blurred outside the windows overlooking the lake, leaves turning gold and falling, snow blanketing the yard, then melting into spring again. Mark grew older in the house, his hair more silver than dark now, the lines on his face deeper from the weight he carried so calmly. He never left. This lake house remained his kingdom, the place where he raised Lily and buried his secrets. I remained trapped with them, witnessing every private moment the walls refused to hide from me.Lily turned twenty. She had become a beautiful young woman with my eyes and Mark’s quiet intensity. She attended community college nearby, studying art, spending long hours sketching by the lake or in her room. Boyfriends came and went, but one stayed longer than the others. Tyler. Tall, athletic, with an easy laugh that made Lily light up in ways I had not seen since she was small. I watched their relationship deepen with a mix