The Gilded Tarot

For the past two weeks, my best friend, Matthew Douglas, had been dodging me. While scrolling, I came across a tarot livestream and decided to use it to check whether something had gone wrong between us. I had barely sent two gifts into the stream when an anonymous male account unmuted himself. His voice was deliberately disguised, but he spoke with barely concealed glee. "Tarot master, I'm about to run off to Sanyara with my best friend's fiancée. Read my cards. Will he catch us?" I recognized the cadence, the pauses. I was still frowning at my screen when the tarot reader flipped a card and said, "The cards show some risk. My advice? Lay a smokescreen first. Tell him your company is sending you on a business trip. Stagger the timing, and you'll be in the clear." A second later, my phone lit up. A message from Matthew appeared. Matthew: [Sorry, man. I can't make it to your suit fitting this week. An investor just sprung a last-minute site visit on me in Sanyara. My bad!]

The golden boy of high society once stopped a plane for me. And I? I once ran away while pregnant, disappearing for three years. We got married. Nine years later, a younger, stunning woman appeared by his side. She was vibrant and fearless, joining him in all his wild adventures. Meanwhile, I had become a stay-at-home mom, spending my days making sure our daughter didn’t eat junk food. My husband said in disappointment, “Elaine, you’re not the woman you used to be.” Even our daughter complained. “Miss Snow is smart, gorgeous, and makes her own money. But you? You just rely on my dad.” The next morning, I grabbed my ID and filed for divorce. They must have forgotten that at twenty-two, I had the guts to jump off a cliff into the ocean just to break free, and at thirty-five, I would still have the strength to start over.

Sophia Rivera couldn't possibly be further away from his universe. Coming from a middle-class family and after the death of her father, Sophia built herself up brick by brick. She doesn't want or need saving and certainly didn't need any spoiled billionaire to validate her worth. Success for Sophia, is earned, not handed down. Damian Hayes has it all; money, charm, and scandals. As the golden grandson of a formidable business mogul, Damian is renowned for hosting wild parties, charming beautiful women, and an utter disinterest in taking anything seriously. To him, love is just a game; loyalty is a joke, and reputation is just one more weapon in his glittered world. Their worlds collide when Damian's grandfather enacts an ultimatum to Damien, marry Sophia or lose the empire. What was to be a quick solution to tame Damian's recklessness erupts into an all out war under one roof. Where Damian sees Sophia as an ugly burden, ordinary, obstinate, and "Beneath His Standards," Sophia sees him as an entitle brat, arrogant, and reckless. Their marriage isn't constructed on love but is developed on defiance. Every glance is a challenge, every conversation a battle, every touch is uncomfortable sparks neither wants to acknowledge is there.

When Nyx Calder enrolls at Briarcrest Academy, she has no intention of climbing its gilded social hierarchy. The school is built on legacy, power, and unspoken rules, and Nyx is there only to survive it. But survival becomes impossible when she collides with Alaric Moore. Briarcrest’s most untouchable student, the unchallenged ruler of its academic and social elite… and the stepbrother she never asked for. Alaric thrives on control. Nyx thrives on defiance. Their rivalry ignites in classrooms and spills into whispered confrontations after hours, each encounter sharpening the tension between them. Forced into constant competition by the academy’s ruthless merit system, they become obsessed with outdoing one another, until hatred begins to feel dangerously like something else. Something forbidden. Something that could destroy them both. Behind Briarcrest’s pristine halls lies a system designed to crush anyone who threatens its order. As Nyx uncovers how deeply the academy manipulates its students, Alaric is forced to choose between the future he was raised for and the girl who refuses to kneel, and when the rules say she should. At Briarcrest, love is forbidden, rebellion is costly, and bloodlines matter more than truth. But how far does the academy’s power really reach? What happens when loyalty to legacy collides with forbidden desire? And when the system demands one of them fall… who will it be? At Briarcrest, breaking the rules could cost them everything, but not breaking them might cost even more.

We had agreed to spend the New Year with our own families, but at the last minute, my husband, Drake Murrell, changed his mind and insisted I go back with him this year. I agreed, planning to take this opportunity to finally tell him the truth about who I really was. When we first got married, my parents told me to keep a low profile so that Drake, who came from a single-parent household, wouldn’t feel pressured. So I hid the fact that I was the daughter of the richest family in the capital, the Thorntons. When we returned to his hometown, I specifically bought my mother-in-law, Diana Murrell, a pair of gold bangles. She accepted them with a beaming smile, praising me again and again for being such a thoughtful daughter-in-law. However, the next day, as I passed by the old oak tree at the edge of Willow Creek, I overheard her talking about me with a group of people. "Oh, you have no idea. My daughter-in-law is absolutely ridiculous!" My hand froze midair, still holding my phone, as I instinctively ducked behind a haystack. I heard her continue loudly, "She bought me a pair of gold bangles this year. The moment I touched them, I knew they were fake! I’m telling you, they’re probably those cheap online knockoffs, like the kind that cost next to nothing and start fading the moment you wear them!" I was stunned with anger. She called pure gold fake? Looks like the million-dollar New Year gift I had prepared for her wasn’t necessary anymore.

My fiance's childhood friend, Tori Kerr, calls him 999 times, begging him to cancel the wedding. "I see it in the tarot cards. You can't get married this year. Cancel the wedding right now." Mikael Jardine hesitates and says, "Tori's tarot readings are always accurate. Let's just listen to her." My temper flares up immediately. The invitations are already sent, and the venue is booked. How can we just cancel it? Seeing that I'm angry, Mikael ultimately decides not to listen to her. In a fit of rage, Tori blocks him. I thought that was the end of it. But on the wedding day, Tori suddenly storms onto the stage. The first thing she does is shout at my mom and ask her to leave in front of the guests. Tori says, "I read it in the tarot cards last night. Your mom's rising sign clashes with Mikael's. She can't attend the wedding. Besides, your mom's just a cleaning lady. She doesn't deserve to be here!"