Novels by praise writes

Dorian's POV It was already the second week of our tour and so far, sleep had already found its way to being my worst enemy. I spent most of the nights restless, either rolling from one side to the other on the bed or sitting by the wine cellar drowning myself in alcohol as I thought of how fast life could just change in the blink of an eye.Lyra was an entirely different person now and our collaboration felt more like torture than a tour. It felt like walking on broken bottles on an endless journey.I was still deep in thoughts and didn't realize when Seraphina had come.“Dorian?” She called, hitting my left shoulder to get my attention.“Huh?” I replied, jolting back to reality.“What have you been thinking about?”“Nothing important”, I replied tiredly with my voice low.“Nothing important, but you didn't see me walk in neither did you hear any of the things I said?” she asked, raising her brows.“Common Dorian, don't tell me you're still sulking over that Lyra girl. The more weak

Lyra's POV I arrived at the rehearsal hall which was busy with sound engineers and technicians working on the speakers, lights and every other instrument in preparation for our concert which was meant to be held this evening and was still about 8 hours away.Cassian was already there, sitting on a chair at one corner, swiping through the pages of some files, with that aura of authority he naturally carried.“Right on time, ” he said looking up as we shared a light hug.“I always am”, I teased, setting my bag on the table that was just right behind his seat.He nodded towards two figures standing near the control booth. “So Lyra, two more people have been added to our team. Meet Ava, she's a professional Journalist. She handles everything media and publicity. And Theo, a professional sound engineer and system analyst. Together, I believe you guys will make a great team.Ava extended her hand for a handshake. “You have nothing to worry about, we'll control the narrative. The world will

Dorian's POV Tonight was far longer than usual.Maybe it was because I was so restless and couldn't sleep.Her voice re-echoed in my head over and over again.“No Dorian, I simply evolved into what you made me”.I never expected in a thousand years that I would ever see her again.My mind replayed the scene again.How the mask fell..How she looked at me with a knowing smirk..I saw her eyes.That was clearly and without doubt the same Lyra. Just one who had grown to be more confident and fierce. The Almighty Phoenix had been her all along.My hands shook as I poured myself another drink. I was too engulfed in sorrow to even taste the whiskey. I just needed something to drown the memory, the sound of her voice, the look on her face, the new contact we had to sign and the whole chaos I knew would start to unfold.Then immediately, the door burst open.“You knew it was her, didn't you?”. Seraphina stormed in, her voice raged with fury.Her hair and makeup was a mess like she was just

Lyra's POV Dorian's voice came out broken “L… Lyra?” His lips shook as he stammered my name struggling to believe it was all reality and not a dream.Seraphina’s voice broke the silent tension as she forced out a laugh. “Oh please. What kind of cheap trick is this?”. She turned to Dorian, letting out a scoff. “That's obviously not her. She can't be”.A small and steady smile escaped my lips. “What's the matter, Sera?. You don't recognize the voice you tried to destroy?”She pressed her lips tightly against each other, “you were dead”, she spat, her voice trembling.“Almost”. I added immediately. “You really thought that was enough to end me?... you two actually really liked to underestimate me”.Dorian stepped forward with his eyes locked on mine and searching them like there was a piece he was trying to find.“It can't be…. You… ““I'm the one, you idiot!”. I cut in with my voice steady and firm. “The wife you left bleeding in the rain. The voice you worked with her to silence”.Dor

(Five years later)Lyra’s POV I leaned against the dark tinted window of my limousine as it drove past the City. My reflection stared back at me, my face covered with a Phoenix shaped mask that only allowed my eyes and mouth to be seen, it was my Trademark. The world now knew me as The Phoenix, the name wasn't just branding. It was my story. I had risen from destruction, rebuilt by hands that should never have held me together, and now the very fire that consumed me was now my fuel and weapon.Fans thought the mask was just my persona. They never knew it was my armour and behind it still lied that Lyra whom they had all turned their back on. Whom they had all betrayed.A smile tugged at my lips, amused at how fast things just turned around. My fans had reached far and wide that even Dorian's empire, the same empire he built from my stolen songs, had to acknowledge me; they were asking for a collab.I chuckled at the irony of it. My eye caught a small drawing at the foot of my dress

Lyra's POV I woke up to the sound of the machine beeping steadily beside me. The sterile smell of antiseptic and disinfectant choked me… this is one reason I never liked hospitals. My head banged, my body ached, the emotional pain adding its own weight as well.The door creaked open, a nurse stepped in, her face soft, yet unreadable. Behind her came a doctor with a clipboard in his hand. His expression was professional… calm but there was something in his eyes that portrayed pity or something like that. “Mrs Lyra,” he began carefully, approaching the bed. “You're awake. That's good. You collapsed due to shock and some internal strain..”.“My baby. Tell me about my baby”. I cut him off desperately, clutching my stomach… panic already setting in.The nurse looked away. The doctor's lips pressed against themselves before he finally spoke. “I'm sorry. We did everything we could. But…. You lost the pregnancy”. The words sliced through me. I screamed in horror as the realization hit me a

Nichole's POVThe videos from Vincent's tablet changed everything.Within hours of Jennifer sending copies to every major news station in the city, Lydia's carefully constructed victim narrative completely fell apart. The footage of her discussing Vincent's psychological conditioning, her plans to manipulate his memories, and her detailed instructions for his revenge campaign was undeniable proof of her true role.I watched from my office as the news reports played over and over again. Lydia's face on every channel, but not as the sympathetic victim she had tried to portray herself as. Now she was being called a mastermind, a manipulator, someone who had weaponized a mentally ill man for her own purposes."Former model Lydia Carson has been arrested on charges of conspiracy, psychological manipulation, and accessory to multiple murders," the news anchor was saying. "Carson allegedly used experimental psychological conditioning techniques to control convicted criminal Vincent Reeves, d

Nichole's POVJennifer had her laptop open on the small table beside Marcus's hospital bed, downloading the audio files from his tiny recording device. We all waited anxiously as the files transferred, hoping we finally had the evidence we needed to expose Blake and Lydia's lies."Okay, let me play the first recording," Jennifer said, clicking on one of the files.Vincent's voice came through the laptop speakers, clear and confident as he bragged to Marcus about his elaborate plan. We listened to him describe the fake police station, his surveillance network, his partnership with Blake and Lydia."This is perfect," I said, feeling hopeful for the first time since seeing Lydia on television. "Vincent is admitting everything."But as we listened to more of the recordings, my hope started to fade. Vincent talked about using Blake and Lydia, about manipulating them, but he also mentioned their fear and reluctance to help him."He's making it sound like they were scared victims," Adrian sa

Nichole's POVThe hospital waiting room smelled like disinfectant and anxiety. I had been sitting in those uncomfortable plastic chairs for two hours, staring at the doors that led to the emergency department, waiting for someone to tell us we could see Marcus.Adrian sat next to me, holding my hand and occasionally squeezing it when he noticed me getting too tense. Jennifer was across from us, her laptop balanced on her knees as she continued monitoring what was left of Vincent's surveillance network."Any update from the nurses?" I asked Adrian for probably the twentieth time."They said the doctor would come talk to us as soon as Marcus was stable," Adrian replied patiently. "He lost a lot of blood, so they need to make sure he's okay before they allow visitors."I knew Adrian was just repeating what we had already been told, but I couldn't help asking the same questions over and over. I felt helpless sitting here while Marcus was somewhere behind those doors, fighting for his life

Nichole's POVI had been pacing back and forth in my living room for what felt like hours. Every few minutes, I would stop and look at my phone, hoping for some kind of update from Adrian or the tactical team. But the silence was driving me crazy.Jennifer was still at her laptop, monitoring what she could of Vincent's surveillance network while keeping his cameras locked on false footage at the warehouse site. She had told me the disruption would last about an hour, but I had no idea how much of that time had already passed."Any word from them?" I asked for probably the tenth time."Not yet," Jennifer replied without looking up from her screen. "But that's probably good news. If something had gone wrong, we would have heard about it by now."I walked over to the window and looked out at the street. Everything looked so normal out there. People walking their dogs, kids riding bikes, neighbors chatting over fences. It was hard to believe that somewhere across the city, my friends were

Adrian's POVWe had been searching through the industrial complex for almost fifty minutes, and we still hadn't found Vincent or Marcus. Agent Rodriguez, Agent Thompson, and I had checked every building that Jennifer had identified as a possible location, but they were all empty."Ten more minutes," Agent Rodriguez said, checking her watch. "Then Vincent's surveillance comes back online and he'll be able to see us."I wiped sweat from my forehead and looked around at the maze of abandoned buildings that made up the old steel mill complex. There had to be dozens of structures here, ranging from small maintenance sheds to massive factory buildings."We're running out of time," Agent Thompson said. "Maybe we should call for backup.""No," I said firmly. "If we bring more people, Vincent will definitely spot us. Our only advantage right now is that he doesn't know we're here.""But we can't search this entire complex with just three people."I pulled out my phone and called Jennifer."Any

Adrian's POVI was sitting on a piece of concrete rubble, trying to clean the blood from cuts on my face with what was left of my torn shirt, when my phone started ringing. The screen was cracked from the explosion, but I could still see it was Nichole calling.My heart jumped. After that massive explosion, after being thrown across the parking lot by the blast, I hadn't been able to contact her to let her know I was alive. She was probably terrified, thinking that Vincent had killed all of us."Nichole," I said as soon as I answered."Adrian! Thank God!" Her voice came through clearly, filled with relief and tears. "Are you okay? We heard that explosion and then all our communications went dead. I thought... I thought you were all killed.""I'm alive. Hurt, but alive. Most of the tactical team made it out too.""What happened? Was it a trap like we thought?"I looked around at the destroyed warehouse, at Commander Stevens lying nearby with his broken leg, at the other team members nu