A Piece Of Cake

The news that Angelo Rizzo was becoming the new Don of Brucklin District had spread throughout the entire family. Everyone knew except me, Lila Bennett, his fiancee. He had always thought I was childish, like an irritating tail he couldn't shake off, sticking to him wherever he went. "I've only managed to bag Brucklin District all thanks to Cyrus." The study door was ajar as the scent of cigar smoke drifted out along with his voice. "Lila? Why bring her up? She's annoying. Like a piece of gum stuck to your hair." I crouched on the hallway carpet, lost in thought. Before, it was always Angelo leaving first and me realizing it too late. This time, I wanted to surprise him by going to Brucklin ahead of him. When he saw me there first, he'd realize that I was smart. But the next day, at the bus station, when the driver asked where I was going, I mixed Brucklin and Mannattan up. The driver grew impatient. Afraid he'd call me an idiot like Angelo would, I hurriedly shove the money at him. "To Mannattan! I'm going to Mannattan District!"

“Where’s that bastard?” My eyes snapped toward the woman storming into the room like a hurricane. “I couldn’t stop her, Mr. Darian!” I waved the guy away and studied the woman whose hair looked like it had gone through war, clearly fighting her way up here. My brothers looked just as entertained as I did confused. “Which bastard?” “My bastard of a husband! Where is Darian Freeman?” My brothers burst out laughing like they’d just witnessed the world’s finest comedy show. I, however, failed to see the joke. She smoothed her wild hair, fixing those hazel eyes on me. “Tell me where he is. I swear I won’t kill him. I just want to shove these papers down his throat,” she said, waving the papers in my face. “There must be a mistake,” I said, still trying to piece this insanity together. “Oh stop feeding me fairy tales! Where is that son of a bitch?” “Are you insane? There’s clearly a mistake here! I am Darian Freeman and I am one hundred percent sure I am not your husband!”

In the 1860s, Hunter Eldridge is a military veteran with a tumultuous home life and a fraught relationship with his father. When he returns to London, Hunter reluctantly visits the family bookstore, dreading an encounter with his loathsome father. Upon entering he sets eyes on the enchanting Eliza Carlisle. They fall deeply in love—soul mates to the core—and spend fifteen years happily married before tragedy strikes. On Hunter’s birthday, after enjoying a wonderful night with family, he and Eliza are out for a leisurely stroll when a horrific creature of the night attacks them. Eliza is murdered, while Hunter is transformed into a vampire. In this new state, he finds a mentor in his father’s peculiar business partner Garret Wilkins. Hunter also eyes a suspect in his tragic attack and vows revenge. Over the next century, Hunter must rebuild his life as an immortal. He is lucky enough to find love again after years of loneliness and despair. Endless time allows him to unravel the mystery of reincarnation while struggling with a darker side of himself. In Hunter’s continued thirst for vengeance, he realizes death is only the beginning as he reveals a small piece of a bigger event that is about to grip the country.

On a quest for vengeance, Adaliah Carter is coincidentally mated to the son of the Alpha who has a hand in her parents’ and pack’s extinction. Believing it as the work of the moon goddess, she willingly accepts the bond, and her plan to get rid of the whole pack of her mate kicks in, all with the help of another survivor of her pack’s crisis. She tries to blend in with the new pack she has fallen into, gets in a seeming love triangle with her mate and his ex-betrothed, and even builds a good relationship with her mate’s sister whom she eventually uses to get a clue into her past. Over time, all of her discoveries as to what caused her pack’s extinction are all directed to her identity as a hybrid. Secrets are revealed, and what will happen when she finds out she isn’t a threat to the wolves but all part of a piece to cover up a longtime evil deed? ____________ Note to Readers: The story is written in both first and third person point of view. But in order not to be confused, do note that only the lead character will maintain the first person. When it's a scene involving the other characters, it will be in third person.

Seraphine never expected to be payment for her father's debt. Married to Alpha Fael Varyn to settle what was owed, she spent two years trying to be the Luna he refused to acknowledge. When she finally conceived, she thought everything would change. She was wrong. Fael rejected their bond, and left her bleeding in the rain. She should have died that night. Instead, she was saved by Darius Varyn, Fael's banished uncle and sworn enemy. In the forbidden North, Darius offered her something Fael never did, acceptance, protection, and a chance to be the Luna she was always meant to be. Six years later, Seraphina has built a life with Darius and raised her son Aurelian in peace. Until Fael returns with a devastating prophecy. Forced to return to the place of her greatest trauma, Seraphina must navigate political schemes, a mistress bent on destroying her, and two Alphas fighting for the throne. But when a shocking truth about Aurelian's bloodline is revealed and a piece of her past comes back for her, the tides grow thicker. And when her power awakens, the prey becomes the predator.

On a stormy night during the apocalypse, my own mother threw me out of the house while I was burning with fever, along with my husky, so my little brother would have a better chance of surviving. She shouted through the crack in the door, “Take that useless mutt and go die somewhere. Stop wasting your brother’s food!” I huddled in a pile of trash with my dog in my arms, convinced I was going to die. Then my husky suddenly spoke. “Host’s vital signs critically low. Infinite Supply Search System activated.” “Supermarket warehouse one hundred meters ahead. Three thousand freeze-dried meals detected.” “Pharmacy five hundred meters to the left. Five hundred boxes of antibiotics detected.” Three days later, I’d built a fortress with packs of dogs and mountains of supplies. I sat inside eating steak and watching the show. Outside the barbed wire, my mother and brother were on their knees, fighting each other over half a piece of moldy bread. I smiled. “Mom, even dogs wouldn’t eat that. Better savor it.”

After a heart-pounding hunt, the pack gathered under the full moon for a celebration. Because of my contribution, I earned the right to bathe in the Sacred Spring and feast on the Stag King's meat. Just as I was about to take a bite, Emily Carter yanked it from my plate. "This isn't for you!" she snapped. In the pack, our roles were similar, but I outperformed her at every turn. She had been targeting me for months. I ignored her and reached for another piece, sliding it into my mouth. "Are you even listening to me?" she screamed, charging at me. Her hand shot up, ready to slap me. The next second, I grabbed her wrist and tossed her aside. Emily landed on the ground with a growl, her face twisted in fury. "You arrogant little wench! My father is the great Alpha King, Hyde Sullivan! How dare you?" she continued, her voice cracking with rage. "I'm revoking your Sacred Spring privileges!" I pressed a hand to my mouth, letting out a quiet laugh. Hyde was my uncle, and he never had offspring. I was his only successor.

They were my brother’s best friends—the HawkThorne brothers. Wealthy, ruthless, and filthy enough to make the whole city drop to its knees. I was the good girl once. The perfect wife. Until my husband had sex with half my office and shoved me into an open marriage I never asked for. One night at a bar was supposed to be my rebellion—a dirty little secret to make me forget. I never expected to run into them. Six years had made them look harder, darker, and so much hotter. I shouldn’t have let them touch me. Shouldn’t have let them ruin me against a bathroom sink with their filthy mouths and rough hands. Three men. One night. No promises. But the eldest HawkThorne pressed a card into my palm before I could slip away. I thought I could handle them. Thought I could survive their obsession. Now I’m learning there’s no such thing as just sex with the HawkThorne brothers. They don’t share. They claim. They corrupt. And they’re coming for every last filthy piece of me.

My dad is a rich scion who has been kidnapped to a compound. He keeps telling me that he'll escape with me since I was a little kid. When I was six years old, Dad made all the preparations to escape. He planned on leaving the compound with me. But I didn't hesitate to expose Dad's plans to my grandma just for a piece of bread. While I munched on the bread happily, Dad got strung up on a tree and whipped mercilessly by others. He glared at me resentfully while screaming at me for being a bastard. Hearing his cursing made me sad. I couldn't understand why Dad wanted to leave this home. Three days later, Dad killed himself by smashing his head against a boulder. After Mom got drunk, she accidentally beat me to death. As I felt my life slipping away, I finally understood what Dad meant. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day Dad wants to escape. But I choose to expose his plans to Grandma once again.

Ophelia Martins was once the girl everyone wanted to be—charming, magnetic, untouchable. But when betrayal rips through her inner circle and the ones she trusted most reveal their darkest sides, her world shatters. From best friends turned enemies to ex-lovers hiding cruel secrets, Lia is left to rebuild her life from the ruins of public humiliation and heartbreak. As she struggles to find her footing, Tyler Reed, her childhood friend with a mysterious past, steps in. But Tyler’s return isn't just timely… it's calculated. Beneath his easy smile lies a vendetta years in the making, and Lia might be the one piece in a revenge game she doesn’t even know she’s playing. Secrets run deep in Crestwood High. Everyone has something to lose. Everyone has something to hide. And just when Lia thinks she’s taking back control, a buried truth about her identity threatens to unravel everything. Love. Lies. Legacy. In a world where betrayal feels like love and revenge wears a charming face, can Lia survive the truth long enough to reclaim her own story?