Novels by Pwemi

CHOSENCrystal’s POVI don’t remember how we made it to the bed.Only that Alejandro wouldn’t let go of my hand for even a second.As though he feared that if he loosened his grip, I would disappear again.The suitcase still sat near the door, abandoned and half-zipped, but neither of us looked at it anymore.Nothing else existed.Not the house.Not the past.Not the years we had wasted fighting ourselves.Just him.Just us.Alejandro stood in front of me, both hands framing my face, his forehead pressed against mine while we struggled to breathe normally again.His eyes were red.Not from anger.From emotion.From finally breaking.“I almost lost you,” he whispered.The ache in his voice nearly shattered me all over again.“You did lose me,” I said softly. “Over and over.”Pain flashed across his face instantly.Not defensive.Not offended.Just devastated.“I know,” he rasped.The honesty of it hurt worse than excuses ever could.My fingers trembled as I touched his jaw. “Why was lov

Chapter 117 — When Daughters BreakCrystal’s POVRunning back to my room, I didn’t realize I was crying at first.It started quietly, tears slipping down my face, landing on the clothes in my hand, blurring my vision as I packed pieces of my life into a suitcase that suddenly felt too small for all this pain.Every breath hurt.Alejandro’s face wouldn’t leave my mind. His restraint, his distance. The way love sat so clearly in his eyes… and yet he walked away from me again.I folded another dress with shaking hands.“Enough,” I whispered to myself. “I am done begging fate.”That was when the door creaked open.I didn’t turn.I didn’t have the strength to pretend I was fine.“Crystal?” Giovanni’s… my father’s voice called softly.My shoulders shook as several emotions fought to dominate me. Grateful that such a man as Giovanni is my father. The way we would bond and talk about everything that happened to us, while we were separated. Then pain, knowing I was leaving and wouldn't experie

Crystal’s POVI didn’t sleep.I lay there staring at the ceiling, listening to the house breathe around me. Every little sound felt louder than it should be. My phone was on the bedside table, screen facing up, like it could ring at any moment.Tomorrow.The word kept playing in my head until my eyes finally closed.Morning light crept through the curtains, thin and pale. It didn’t warm the room, it pressed against my skin like a warning for me to wake up.The shower ran too hot, then too cold. I stood under it anyway, counting the cracks in the wall as steam gathered and slid down the tiles. My reflection in the mirror looked unfamiliar—eyes dull, mouth set too tight. I brushed my hair in short, uneven strokes. The brush slipped once, clattered into the sink. I didn’t bend to pick it up right away.My fingers refused to stay still. They trembled as I buttoned my blouse, missed a button, and tried again. The clock ticked louder than it should have. Each sound felt final, like it was t

Chapter 115The Truth in StrandsCrystal’s POVFor a moment, Gabrielle’s words just hung in the air. The meaning of what she had said was heavy in my heart.Giovanni.The name alone made my heartbeat quicken. Not from fear… but from something deeper, something I didn’t yet have the courage to name or confront, yet it made me excited. Luna was already sealing the last paper packet when she looked up, her expression was unreadable.What could she be thinking about?“Then we finish it,” she said, breaking me out of my thoughts. “We can’t stop halfway.”I nodded, even though my palms had begun to sweat. “How are we going to get his hair?”Gabrielle smirked mischievously. “Leave that to me.”“Gabrielle!!!” I sighed while rolling my eyes.“What do you have in mind?”“Just follow me.” She said smiling like a child about to cause havoc.Laughing out loud, I followed. We moved quietly through the hallway, the air humming with tension and excitement. Giovanni was in the study, sitting by the

Chapter 114 – Echoes of HeartsCrystal’s POVAlejandro’s gaze lingered on me for a moment longer before he finally shifted his attention to Giovanni. His voice was calm yet firm.“Giovanni, I would like to talk to you about the company—and the upcoming crowning ceremony. There are things we need to discuss.”Giovanni’s brows rose and he smiled, but he nodded. “Of course.”The two of them exchanged a silent gaze, then stepped out together. I listened as their steps grew faint as they walked away. I didn’t know whether to feel happy or scared.Luna let out a slow breath, her eyes still fixed on the men as they walked away. Then she turned to Gabrielle and I, with urgency in her voice.“With what we saw today,” she looked at my face smiling, “we should not waste any more time. Come with me.”Gabrielle and I looked at each other and quickly followed her.In her room, Luna dropped to her knees in front of a chest tucked neatly in the corner. She lifted the lid like it held something fragil

Chapter 113 – Whispers of BloodlinesCrystal’s POVThe garden was too quiet, the kind that made my skin crawl. Gabrielle’s grip on my hands was tight, her eyes shining like she was holding something she couldn’t say out loud.“What is it?” I asked again, tense. My voice already showed how worried I was—I couldn’t hide it.She smiled through her tears and brushed her thumb against my hand. “Relax,” she whispered. “It’s good news… at least, I think it is.”I looked at her confused. “Good news?”Her eyes flickered with something I hadn’t seen in her for days—excitement. “Nana told me something before she died. She said… there is a possibility you could be Giovanni’s child, not Alpha Rossi’s.”I froze. My heart tripped, skipped, stumbled… everything. “Wait—what?”“Yes.” Gabrielle’s voice was tender but she sounded very sure. “I wasn’t going to tell you because Nana wasn’t sure herself, and she didn’t want to give you false hope. But last night…” She pressed her lips together, her breath

Tilting his head backwards in shock, as a result of her response. "Because you walked into that interrogation room looking like someone who needed protecting and I—" He stopped, pressing his lips together, he shook his head in what looked like defeat. "It doesn't matter.""It does matter," she said quietly. "Say it."He looked at her for a long moment. The lamp light caught the line of his jaw, the tension still held there and the yearning in his eyes. When he spoke again his voice was different. "I have spent ten years watching you build something extraordinary from nothing," he said. "I watched you put yourself through medical school while dealing with everything he put you through. I watched you open that hospital and name it Save the needy and I knew — I always knew — exactly why you chose that name." He paused. "You have spent your entire adult life protecting children and helpless adults that no one else was protecting. And he walked back into your life and I—" Another pause. "

Noah lived on the third floor of a building that had no doorman and no intercom that worked properly. Karma had been here twice before — once for a small gathering he hosted after a promotion, once when she brought soup and paracetamol during a bad flu three winters ago. Both times, she had stood in this same hallway and thought that the building suited him. No pretense. No performance. Just solid walls and a door that opened when you knocked.She knocked.He opened it almost immediately, as though he had been standing on the other side waiting. He was out of uniform — dark trousers, a plain grey shirt with the sleeves rolled to the elbows. She noticed his forearms before she could stop herself. Strong and lean, with veins running beneath his skin as he moved, disappearing beneath the sleeves he had pushed up carelessly reminding her of ummmm. Shamelessly salivating and feeling the flow of her juices running down, she looked away immediately as he stepped back to let her in.The way

Chapter 7Karma turned to look out the window. The city moved past — shops opening, people starting their days, the ordinary machinery of ordinary life grinding forward without interruption."No," she said. "There is nothing."He wrote something on his legal pad. She didn't ask what.Sandra was waiting in the hospital lobby.She had been Karma's assistant for four years — efficient, discreet, with a talent for appearing calm in every situation. But today, that talent was being tested. Her eyes were red, her usually perfect blazer slightly creased, as though she had slept in it or hadn't slept at all.She walked toward Karma the moment the doors opened and fell into step beside her without preamble."The board called twice more," Sandra said, her voice low. "The chair wants an emergency meeting this afternoon. The head of PR is asking for a statement. Three members of staff have already spoken to journalists — two of them to say they believe in you completely, one of them said—" She st

Chapter 6Noah Adler stepped into the room, and for a moment neither of them spoke. He looked the same as he always did—broad-shouldered, jaw set, eyes that held too much thought behind them. But there were shadows under those eyes that hadn't been there the last time she saw him. He had not slept either.He pulled out the chair across from her and sat down. Set his hands flat on the table."Off the record," he said quietly.Karma said nothing."Did you do it?"The question sat between them like something alive. She looked at him—really looked. The way his eyes blinked rapidly when he was unsettled, the way he was holding himself together the same way she was. At the fact that he had come into this room alone, without Brennan, without the woman with the tight ponytail.Off the record."I went to the club," she said. "I went home, and I went to sleep."Noah closed his eyes briefly. Then opened them. "I told them you called me last night. That you sounded distressed, asking about your f

Chapter 5The police car smelled like stale coffee and leather.Karma sat in the back seat, hands folded in her lap, watching the city pass through the tinted window. Buildings blurred into each other. Traffic lights, people walking in a hurry, an old woman walking a dog almost like she was crawling and the dog was frustrated with her, everything moved at its normal pace, as though the world was carrying on without her. “Noah knows. Shit!” She whispered under her breath. The thought sat heavy in her chest, pressing down like a hand around her throat. Not squeezing, just resting there. Reminding her she was in trouble. She replayed the phone conversation she had with Noah in her head. Which strip club? What kind of grieving daughter asks which strip club? She had been so focused on getting the information that she had not thought about how the question would sound later. How it would sound when a man as sharp as Noah replayed it in his own head at 3 AM, staring at the ceiling, pu

Rosa's cleaning supplies fell to the floor and scattered. The spray bottle rolled across the carpet, leaving a trail of blue liquid running through the blood.The sound tore from her chest, echoing everywhere, filling the hallway as the once rowdy, loud and dirty hotel became empty that morning. She stumbled backward and hit the cart, which sent it crashing into the doorframe. Towels fell off the cart and scattered everywhere.Her hands shook as she fumbled in her apron looking for her phone. Still in shock and panicking, the phone fell off her hands. Shivering uncontrollably, she picked it up only to drop it again. Finally she decided it was better to punch the digits, whilst the phone was still on the floor."Nine—" Her voice cracked. She tried again. "Nine-one-one. I need—there's a—oh God, oh God—"The operator's voice came through, calm and distant. "What's your emergency?""Hotel Belvedere. Fourth floor. Room 447." Rosa couldn't look away from the body. She couldn't breathe eit