LOGINEveryone knew that Aria Jackson had loved Larry Spencer for years. The usually obedient Aria got tattoos for him, broke rules for him, and even moved to a foreign city for him. But when she fell into the lake and he rescued her rival instead, leaving her soaking and miserable, her heart finally shattered completely. The man who came after Larry held her protectively in his arms and suggested with a gentle laugh, "Miss Jackson, have you considered teaching your ex-husband a lesson?" She promptly filed for divorce and married Archer Duncan, the heir to the Duncan empire and the powerful CEO of Duncan Industries. That evening, their marriage certificate was posted on social media. The typically aloof Larry finally showed his desperation, begging her not to marry Archer and then turning to threaten him, "You think she loves you? She's just using the Duncan family's wealth and connections!" Archer simply tightened his arm around her waist and replied calmly, "So what? Fortunately, I have both in abundance." What no one knew was that Aria had been Archer's carefully laid plan all along. He had deeply loved this rose from the beginning—he admired her ambition and was eager to support her boldness and independence.
View More"Hey! That's my toy!" I watch as the kid cries for her toy, being bullied by older kids. I stood up from the roof and walked away, I hate seeing such scenarios.
I walked towards the Grymkin's forest, my clan's forest, this is where my clan moved after someone had spread a hideous rumor about us, which is true. Our clan controls fire. The kingdom has given us the title of "Grymkin's Protector" when in fact we can burn this forest down into ashes. As soon as I set my foot on the village's gate, Gran, my childhood friend, came running to me. "Sera! The elder Fyre is looking for you." He said. He guided me towards the elder's house but while walking he kept telling about nonsense and when we were near the elder's house, I got irritated and said, "For the record Gran, you are the noisiest man I've ever met." and walked away, leaving him smiling, don't ask me why that's just how he is. "Sera! Nice timing, the elder just sent me out to get you, she has--" I didn't bother to listen to the elder's assistant and cut her off, "Look, I wouldn't be here if I didn't know, dimwit." I said and again, walked away, and went inside the Elder Fyre's house. I am now standing in front of the door of the Elder's room. I knocked three times and as she gave the authority that I can come in, I went inside. Looking at her looking at me feels kind of weird. We both have these bright red eyes that look like are about to be on fire. She really looks like my mother. "Come sit here Seraphina, my child." She said patting the space beside her. I went closer and sat beside her and as I sat, she held my hand and started to look straight into my eyes, which creeps me off, well, kind of. "Seraphina Agni, my child, my granddaughter, the fated child of Ignatius and Tana, I have dreamt of you." As she spoke, her hand that was holding mine, started to squeeze it hard. She's strong for an old lady, I must say. "My child, who has inherited the fire-like eyes of the Goddess of fire, you will meet eyes with the darkest of green that will take you to nature, eyes with the darkest of blue that will take you to the deepest part of the ocean, eyes with the lightest shade of blue that shall refresh your soul, you are bound to have a journey full of hate, love, happiness, and sadness. Seraphina, remember this, you are the fated child of a God and was given to us. You who will end the misery of our clan, after thousands of years. They finally gave you to us." She said. I don't know how and what to react to this. After my dead response, she sent me back home. My thoughts were filled with questions starting with "what is our clan's misery, to begin with?" As I entered my lifeless house, I said, "I am home..." Oh no! My parents aren't dead, they were sent for a mission, ordered by the kingdom, a mission worth a week. I went up to my room and tossed myself to the bed and buried my face in my fluffy pillow. "What the heck was that?" I shouted in frustration. I am what? The child of who? The Gods? And what the heck is our clan's misery? My goodness! I stood up and went straight to our house's mini-library. As my father is the chief of the village, this is quite normal for us to have such a mini-library in our house. When I got there, a lock was what greeted me. I smirked because father knows that I can easily open this by simply melting the lock. Which is what I did and I got in without a single drop of sweat. I searched for a book, and as far as I know, all books of origin have a peculiar design such as a fancy, weird design. As I was searching for the book, something fell from the shelf. Scared I was, I went closer to the thing that fell. "The Origin" I stared at it for like 5 seconds and quickly returned it to the shelf. My father seriously needs a doctor, why is that this kind of book, a children's book, inside such an important library? I shook my head in disbelief and resumed searching until I heard something fell again. I looked back and it was the same book. Irritated I was, I opened the book, and slowly a magic circle formed underneath me. The book began to shine and a creature was formed, wait, did I just said a creature? A FREAKING CREATURE?! A voice spoke... "Earth with the corporeal word called Assiyah, water with the emotive world called Yetzirah, air with the intellectual and creative world called Beriyah, and fire with the world of the pure spirit called Atzilut." This voice—I recognize this voice. "Grandpapa?" I called out, and an image began to form. "Who dares to open of the treasure of our clan?" He said with an authoritative voice. I was taken aback. Grandpapa is one of the strongest warriors in the kingdom. No one ever dares to talk back to him nor tries to fight him. "I am Seraphina Agni, your granddaughter," I said, trying to regain my confidence and posture, "I am the one who dared to open it." The image of my grandpa started to look down at me. Scared of what will happen, I took one step backward. "My granddaughter wouldn't dare to enter the library of origins.” He said crossing his arms. I stood confidently and also crossed my arms, raising my eyebrow and smirking. "Guess you thought wrong, grandpapa, I dared to enter the library.” The image of my granda smiled and grinned at me. That was sudden. "You truly are my grandchild. I want to tell you something, is that possible?" He asked politely. I nodded and he sat crossing his legs. "I shall tell you a small secret, but I will not tell you all, someone has forbidden me to tell everything. So let's start, starting with four elements that have their own guardians. The Gods have given our clan a special guardian, well they have given all a special one, and they are all compatible with the gifts they bestowed upon the four clans. And as you know, our clan has the power of fire and is said to be the second most powerful among the four. The kingdom where we are in, the Yuklin Kingdom, kept us and treated us with special treatment, because of the king who knows our secret. But some bastard spread the rumor about our ability of fire and thus was sent in this forest to protect us. But before that event, our clan was actually brought into the kingdom, not to be protected but for us to protect the kingdom from other elemental users. But little does the king know that each clan has its own guardian to stop each battle and protect their own elemental users." He paused, taking a deep breath, and looking at me, telling me to get ready for the next information. "When the king learned that the four clans have its own guardians, he called my grandfather and was sent to prison. And was labeled as a traitor who was working with the other clans. He, he was beheaded right in front of me. And ever since that day, the guardian of the fire was nowhere to be found. My grandfather, your great great grandfather was the last one to be ever seen with the guardian of the Fire." He stopped talking as he looked down and his shoulders moving up and down. He must be crying. "*sniff* I must stop there. Seraphina, unleash your power, save our clan. I shall leave this book in your hands, and I will be inside of it. I will, no, Grandpapa will guide you to where you should go. Free our guardian, that is where our clan will be saved. Inher——" He didn't finish what he was saying and suddenly disappeared. I tried opening the book once again but it won't budge. The door opened suddenly and I was surprised to see who opened it. Father. "When did the both of you got home?" I asked. He hugged me. Surprised me, didn't know what to do, just stood. "Phina, save our guardian. That is an order." He whispered in my ear and broke the hug. What is he saying? I looked at him confused and he started to look at me, straight into my eyes and then stroked my hair. I saw my mother crying behind my father. "Seraphina Agni, save our clan and come back safe. We need you, before our clan disappears, please— save the phoenix from crying..."“I’m too much? Fine. I’ll be too much,” Shawn snapped. “This is MY welcome party. I don’t want to see the Luther family here. Get out. Walk out on your own, or I’ll have security drag you out.”“The Xanders don’t need your so-called partnership anyway!”He didn’t spare them a shred of dignity. Michael sipped his drink slowly on the sidelines, watching with a faintly amused expression as his brother let loose.When it looked like things might really blow up, Michael finally stepped forward. “Shawn, don’t get too worked up.”Shawn’s temper flared hotter. And who could blame him? The Luthers had the audacity to think he was the type who could be matched with Wendy. The sheer insult of it made his blood boil.He sneered at Michael. “Oh, so now you step in to play the good guy? Where were you while I was tearing into them? Didn’t you hear these lunatics trying to dump their radioactive waste on me? You’re calm because they didn’t try to stick Wendy on you!”His voice cut like ice. “Th
“This isn’t good faith,” Michael said coolly, the smile wiped clean from his face. “This is you deliberately trying to dump trouble on our family.” His words dripped with scorn.For a split second, Patrick felt like he was right back in that room being mocked by the entire Duncan family.No, he told himself. He was overthinking it. His daughter was perfect. There was no way the Xanders would reject her.Even if Michael turned up his nose, what about Shawn?“Michael, you don’t need to say such harsh things. I’m not here to arrange a match for you, I’m here for Shawn. If anyone has the right to refuse, it should be him—not you stepping in and making decisions on his behalf.”He straightened, pressing on. “Shawn’s been abroad for years. His personality is open, free-spirited—just like my daughter Wendy. They’re a perfect match. Bring him here. He’ll like her, I’m certain of it.”Patrick’s tone all but implied that Michael wasn’t worthy to speak on his brother’s behalf.Micheal gave
Patrick really went ahead and said it out loud.It wasn’t that the Xanders had been careless. They simply didn’t know the full story. Their ties with the Luthers weren’t nearly as close as the Luthers liked to pretend, and certainly not close enough for Marianne to be calling them with complaints about the Luther family’s antics. If the Xanders had known how many times the Luthers had harassed the Duncans with marriage proposals—showing up at their door, calling nonstop—they wouldn’t have entertained Patrick and Lila for even a moment tonight.The moment the words left Patrick’s mouth, Shawn’s grandfather felt the blood drain from his head. Surely he had misheard. Surely no one could be this shameless, this absurd.“What did you just say?” he asked slowly. “I must not have heard clearly.”It wasn’t a question. It was a warning. Think twice before you repeat yourself.Unfortunately, Patrick didn’t catch the hint. He leaned closer, eager to clarify.“I said your grandson has reache
Shawn’s looks weren’t just handsome—they were striking. Rugged and masculine, yet with a streak of wildness that refused to be tamed. With his close-cropped haircut, that rebellious edge only stood out more.Anyone who saw him would immediately think: full of fire and youth.Patrick and Lila exchanged a quick glance. Both were clearly impressed.While Patrick kept chatting politely with Shawn’s grandfather, Lila tugged Wendy aside and whispered, “That was Shawn just now. What do you think?”“You saw him yourself. He’s incredibly good-looking, tall, long-legged, easygoing. And with the Xander family name behind him, you’d never have to worry about society rules and etiquette. Shawn doesn’t care about that. You’d still get to live freely, without him trying to hold you back.”Wendy was still a little dazed, struggling to catch up with everything.When her parents first introduced her, she had only managed a fleeting glance at Shawn. But even that single look left her heart flutte
Aria’s eye twitched. “You’re being dramatic. He’s stuck over there for at least three or four days. He can’t just fly back.”Archer gave a short, sharp laugh. “So what? You act wild the second I’m not around?”Was that what she meant?Aria rubbed her face, exasperated. “I’m not doing this with you right now. Go get some rest. We’ll talk when you’re back.”And before he could say anything else, she hung up.Archer stared at the screen.…She actually hung up on him.He let out a chuckle, more amused than angry. He’d spoiled her, no doubt about it. Now she had the nerve to cut him off mid-call.That little temper of hers… oddly enough, he found it cute.The truth was, they really were made for each other. If Aria ever slapped him, Archer would probably offer her the other cheek just to keep her happy. They were both a little crazy—just crazy in sync.Aria slipped into Ethan’s jacket. He hadn’t smoked that day, so it carried a faintly sweet scent. Probably from the pastries he’d
“What the hell do you mean by that? Why should I give your wife my jacket?” Ethan snapped. “Archer, seriously, are you out of your mind? You’re all the way overseas and you still want to control what your wife wears? That kind of possessiveness is a sickness, you know that? Go get treatment!”He rattled on, words flying like bullets.Archer found him unbearably noisy. “Do you want those cross-dressing photos from our teenage years to go public?”Ethan went dead silent.The truth was, he and Archer had been butting heads since they were kids. Archer had been ridiculously pretty back then, and Ethan—being a loudmouth brat—liked picking on good-looking kids.Archer’s features had been so sharp, so delicate, that Ethan once teased him by calling him “sister.” He barely got the words out before Archer grabbed him by the collar, dragged him into the bathroom, and stripped off his shirt just to prove a point—anything Ethan had, Archer had too.Ethan ended up crying from sheer frustratio












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