The Storyteller Of Casablanca

In my third year working overseas as a war correspondent, a grenade blast left me wounded and stripped me of my memories. The PTSD that followed was severe enough to keep me in a psychiatric hospital for two years. It wasn't until two months ago that I finally remembered who I was. The day I came home, my best friend and my husband met me at the airport, both of them crying harder than I was. Russell Ellison's eyes were red-rimmed, but his voice was as gentle as ever. "The new place is all set up. Move in for now. I'll come keep you company after work." I went back to our old house instead. The moment I pushed the door open, I saw a wedding photo hanging on the wall. The bride in it wasn't me. It was my best friend. A key turned in the lock outside. The man who was supposed to be buried in work at the office walked in, fingers laced with hers. A child was tucked against his chest, calling him "Daddy" in a small, unsteady voice. I stood frozen, too stunned to breathe. We'd only been apart for two years. So how was their child already three?

What happens when your life is just a lie? What happens when you finally find out that none of what you believe to be real is real? What if you met someone who made you question everything? And what happens when your life is nothing but a fiction carved by Mr. Fiction himself? "The truth is rarely pure and never simple." — Oscar Wilde. Disclaimer: this story touches on depression, losing someone, and facing reality instead of taking the easy way out. ( ( ( part of TBNB Series, this is the story of Clarabelle Summers's writers ))

On our fifth wedding anniversary, my wife left me for the man she could never forget. "Winston's raising a child on his own. You know that being a single father isn't easy. Besides, you're both men, can't you cut him some slack?" Not only was I willing to "cut him some slack," but I was also willing to step aside completely. I was willing to be the bigger man so the two of them could raise that child together. I packed my things and left, taking the initiative to apply for an overseas program in architecture. To my confusion, she came running to me, crying and begging me not to go. Still, it was too little, too late.

"Echoes of Forever" is a captivating anthology of love stories that transcends time and space. From ancient Rome to modern-day New York, each story weaves together the threads of love, fate, and destiny, proving that true love can withstand the test of time.

Born into a blended family, Chantelle grew up on the sidelines, raised with love by her grandmother after her mother's death. Shut out by her father Gérard, dominated by his new wife Rhonda, and relegated to the background behind her pretentious stepsister Mégane, she learned to survive in silence. When her grandmother is diagnosed with a terminal illness, Chantelle's world crumbles. With no family support and overwhelmed by medical bills, she accepts a desperate proposition: one hundred nights for one million euros, with a wealthy man whose identity she will never know. The rules are simple. A blindfold over her eyes, a stranger's touch, and silence. He never speaks. She never sees. He leaves her with anonymous bank transfers... and the haunting scent of his perfume as her only memory. Twelve nights pass. Then, forced by her father to attend a family dinner, Chantelle comes face to face with Mégane's fiancé: Collen Wilkerson—the cold, unapproachable CEO of the powerful corporation where she works as a simple employee. He is a man she knows only from a distance. Arrogant. Untouchable. But when he steps closer, a familiar scent wraps around her, and the world stops. It's his perfume. The same as the masked man. She has already spent twelve nights in his arms. And there are still eighty-eight to go.

In a world where different creatures mingled with humans, despite struggling with the world's hardships, fighting for survival, and attempting to escape the clutches of the night creatures, humans, no matter what they did, always ended up as a tool for survival. On their quest to acquire power, freedom, and wealth, this dark power's only source of survival was through one soul; the soul of a freeborn. This soul, being an embodiment of power, could change anything and everything. Kate Warren was this soul. She was a young, spirited woman whose soul was purer than a dove and was sought by different creatures who would do anything to take everything from her. Her soul was a power treasure for the demons and a great source of energy for the witches, while her blood was the life-sustaining elixir for the night creatures. All these things they sought were the keys to unlocking power. Kate was the only survivor in her town when a massacre took place that caused the deaths of her family. Unknown to her, she was the motive behind the massacre. Her bad days changed for the worst when she got abducted by a demon. Facing the chaos surrounding her and building a strong shield around herself Kate found solace in the arms of the night whisper. The whispers of the night had a certain attraction for her. It always drew her to Clarence Roosevelt, whose name shook her very soul and core, and was also death and life to her. Having discovered that the only person who can lead her into and also away from destruction is herself, will she save herself and others from destruction, or will she be the destruction itself? “All she needed to do was listen to the Night Whispers”.