Scrooge Duck

I was the broke scholarship kid, stuck sharing a room with Sherry, the spoiled heiress. From day one, she was all fake smiles and "let's be besties." She'd take me out for fancy meals. She even introduced me to Kenneth—her rich childhood buddy. It was fine—until Kenneth and I started dating. That's when the claws came out. One day, she "accidentally" dumped hot soup all over herself and claimed I'd done it on purpose. Then she demanded I pay her back. I gave her every cent I had, but it wasn't enough. Next, she accused me of stealing her wallet. The school bought it. I got written up, everyone turned on me, and Kenneth? He dumped me with, "You're just an ugly duckling trying to be a swan." I couldn't fight back. Humiliated, alone, and dragged through online hate, I dropped out. Then I let the river take me. And then—I woke up. Back to the moment Sherry introduced me to Kenneth.

From my earliest memories, my entire family is cold and distant toward me. When my parents look at my younger sister, Claire Lloyd, their eyes fill with warmth and joy. Yet, when they turn to me, only disgust remains. Claire's life is filled with applause and excessive love, while mine is filled with disdain and suffering. When the explosion erupts at the street corner, I save the stranger beside me. Later, I learn he is Byron Whitmore, a mafia family's Don. He begins pursuing me after I rescue him. Later, I quit my job and move to a new place, but he finds me and proposes in 100 different ways. "Why me?" I ask countless times. "Because it's you," he always answers. The wedding causes a sensation throughout the city. I truly seem to have transformed from an ugly duckling into a swan. That is, until I'm five months pregnant, when Claire needs a transfusion of rare Rh-negative blood after a car accident. The blood bank has a shortage. Because of that, my parents knock me unconscious and send me to the hospital. In my daze, the blood extraction machine hums continuously. As two thousand milliliters of blood leave my body, I see Byron. Tears well up in my eyes. I begin thinking he's here to save me. Instead, I hear him say, "We can't take any more. Sharon and the baby will die." "But Claire has lost too much blood. She'll die, too..." My mother pleads. "No one wants Claire safe more than I do." Byron's voice is thick with pain. "She's my first love. I've never forgotten her. I only married Sharon because her face looks so much like Claire's. "But I can't trade her life for Claire's. Trust me—I'll find another way." So, that's his reason for marrying me. The blood extraction machine continues running, but my heart has already stopped beating. The affection I see in his eyes has never been for me. He's always looking through me at someone else. Everyone in the world loves Claire, and Byron is not the exception that I foolishly believe him to be. That grand wedding is nothing but an ugly duckling's self-deceiving fantasy.

Danice left the divorce papers on the bedside table. Ten years. She endured and stayed silent—all for the sake of love. Despite the opposition from those around her, she clung tightly to her position as Julian’s wife, believing that he cared for her. But it was all just her delusion. It had been ten years of a loveless marriage. Danice touched the burn scar on her face. This disfigured face had become both her shame… and her proof of love for him. But what she didn’t realize was that it had also become the chain that bound him to this lifeless marriage. He had married her… out of pity. That realization hurt more than any insult others hurled at her because of her appearance. She had held him back for ten years. And she had suffered enough. It was time to let go. Danice finally realized that her ten-year marriage had been a shackle—for both of them. Just as she found the strength to let go of the love that had never been returned… death came for her. When she thought she had stepped into the afterlife, she opened her eyes— Eleven years in the past. Unmarried. She hadn’t even met Julian yet. Danice believed that a merciful God had taken pity on her and granted her a second chance— A chance to live for herself, to love herself. And so, that’s exactly what she did. She avoided meeting Julian at all costs, and even found a way to escape the accident that had once disfigured her face. Everything seemed to be going smoothly— But... Why was the man who had never once looked her way… suddenly appearing everywhere she went? This… this wasn’t like the past at all!

Since the very first time Hunter Jones laid his eyes on a petite Asian , Mey Wang, he couldn't take his eyes off her. The resident bad boy is willing to duck his nose deep in Harry Potter books and learn every spell known just to get closer to the Potter-head . Mey likes Hunter but not in a romantic way. She thinks they're too different. She's a nerd and he's a bad boy. Of course, there're a lot of books about a bad boy and a nerd falling in and walking to the sunset together but she's not just a nerd, she's also an Asian. Her parents are old-fashioned people, they'd never approve of someone like Hunter. So she tries her best to escape him. But can you really escape ? There's a potion in the spellbook but there's no un- potion, right? QOTD: Don't let fear or insecurity stop you from trying new things. Believe in yourself. Do what you . And most importantly, be kind to others, even if you don't like them. Stacy London. Started: 08.01.18 Completed: 22.02.18

Holly has always loved Christmas, but this year is different. As a school teacher, she’s worried about her students, her dad, and her entire town. All of them are poised for a terrible Christmas, and there’s nothing she can do about it. The only bright spot in her life is the mysterious man she meets at the holiday party. Nathan has always hated Christmas, but this year is different. As a billionaire, he’s excited about his new plans for his company, but as always, it’s all about the money. When he meets the bubbly woman who doesn’t care about his wealth, love blossoms under the mistletoe. It almost seems like magic. But their lives are more intertwined than either of them originally thought. It turns out that Nathan’s plan for the future of his company is the very thing that’s destroying Holly’s community. Holly begins to understand why everyone refers to Nathan as a Scrooge, and she thinks that the wonderful man she shared a passionate weekend with was nothing more than a lie. Will Nathan be able to prove that she saw the real him? Will Christmas magic prevail, or will their love vanish like a kiss under the mistletoe? NYT Bestseller Krista Lakes brings you this brand new heartwarming holiday romance. This standalone novel will convince you that love can make the magic of Christmas real.

Maxine A. K. A Max John's is a senior at St John's. She doesn't believe in love nor in mysteries or fate. Her spiritual being feels threatened. For some reason she sometimes dreams about a mystical girl she has never met. She is abused at home, she fights for survival and dignity, but is oblivious of who she really is and where she comes from, or what she'll become. Her existence was declined eon years ago. What if she has a bigger purpose....what if her past caught up with her long ago but never realized it? Until….. Maya is a known kindergarten teacher, she has to start teaching at St Johns. She is a princess in a land oblivious to mankind. Her people are escapees of descendants of a world one can wish to be part of. A city where no man lives. She was chosen to lead her people but doesn't want to. She runs away to live amongst humans. She always wanted to be free and choose her own life, and lover. She dreams about a young girl. She never questioned why? Until...... All calls they return to their homes, humanity is at stake, and they are the only ones to fight who was coming, what had been going on eons ago? What will they do? Duck, or dive?