Novels by praise writes

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

Lyra’s POVThe knock came again, softer this time. “Lyra?”“Lyra, please,” he said again. “Just a minute.”I almost laughed. Just a minute. As though minutes hadn’t already taken years from me.“Come in,” I said finally, my voice calm but detached.The door creaked open.Dorian stepped in, looking very pale under the dim lights, his shirt was still half-open from where the medics had worked on him. He looked tired… no, weak and like a man who could just fall anytime soon.He stopped when our eyes met. For a moment, I could see the disbelief on his face.“You really did sing,” he said quietly, stepping back to lean on the wall.“I did.”“You didn’t have to,” he continued, almost whispering. “They could’ve cancelled.”“I know.”He frowned. “Then why?”I turned back to the mirror. “Because I don’t let anyone decide when my music plays or doesn’t. Not anymore.”He gave a weak laugh. “Still the same fire.”“No,” I corrected softly. “You burned that one out years ago. This is something else

Lyra’s POVI froze immediately on the spot. What could have happened?... Was he suffering from a sickness I wasn't aware of?... Or was that just guilt mercilessly eating him up?. Different thoughts ran through my mind while I stared at the phone, face blank. Interesting how it was just less than 10 minutes ago but it had already made it's way to the headlines on social media.Theo, who had been packing up his cords, froze mid-motion. “He collapsed?”Ava nodded. “Backstage, ten minutes ago. They said he’s conscious, but weak. The organizers are losing their minds. The concert starts in less than 20 minutes from now.”I handed her back the phone. “Who’s taking his place?”“The manager said if he can’t sing, they’ll cancel.”“Cancel?” I echoed whilst Ava swallowed hard, nodding her head at the same time.“No, we can't just cancel the show because of one person.” I said firmly, already moving for the door. “The show goes on.”I walked backstage just to meet a total disaster…. Paramedics r

Lyra’s POV It has been five days since the last scandal was released. The whole media traffic had already died down. Seraphina and her team were able to convince the public that it was just a little misunderstanding between us and we had already ironed things out and we were now at peace. Again… we had another concert which was supposed to start in an hour or so. Though it was a musical tour and back to back concerts in the different cities of France was expected, I was already getting tired and sick of it. I was at a corner backstage trying to fix my makeup. Since I was still undercover I couldn't let any other person handle it.Theo was at the soundboard, quietly testing microphones. Cassian had disappeared into a corner call. That guy…. He was always making calls. Seraphina wasn't here yet. That’s when I felt him.The air shifted. It was familiar.. but unwanted.“Lyra.”I didn’t turn. My name from his mouth still carried too much history.“Don’t,” I said quietly.He moved closer.

Lyra’s POV “What is it again?” I questioned as I entered the empty dressing room. “You have just five minutes”. I added assertively and detached, setting down my mask.Dorian had sent a text, asking that we meet at the dressing room, that he had an important conversation to talk about.His voice came rough but low. “What exactly do you want from us, let's discuss it and stop going through corners”I looked up at him, meeting his eyes through the mirror.“I don't know what you're talking about”He turned towards me this time, his gaze intense. “You can stop the facade Lyra. I know you've been the mastermind behind all this chaos here and there.”“I have no idea why you are laying accusations on me”. I replied instantly,locking a stern gaze with him.“Lyra I'm sorry…. I never stopped thinking about that night… about you” His voice cracked with his eyes pleading. “The memory has always haunted me right from that time”.I looked at him, and for a moment my heart ached. That same ache I t

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