An Elegant Defense

On the day of my daughter Eleanor Baldwin's second birthday party, my entire family stood nervously by the banquet hall entrance. They were not there to greet guests, but rather to keep me from showing up and causing a scene. Mom's face was written all over with anxiety. "Lucas wouldn't actually crash the party, would he?" Dad's brow stayed tightly furrowed. "Who knows? That disgrace of a son is capable of anything." My younger brother, Cody Baldwin, had his arm wrapped gently around my wife, Kendra Clarkson, trying to reassure her. "Don't worry. If Lucas dares to show up, I'll keep you and Ellie safe." Kendra nodded slowly. "If it really comes to that... maybe we should just let Ellie be his goddaughter. At least then, we're still family..." However, the party came and went, and I never appeared. I had already made up my mind to join a classified national defense research program. Only this time, it was for good.

Excerpt: “You were mine from the start but you just had to go back to that son of a bitch, what is so good about that asshole that you can’t let him go? I love you Cara, can’t you see that?” Forced into a cold, loveless contract marriage with ruthless billionaire Damien Zoric, Cara never expected happiness but she didn’t expect betrayal either. But just when she started falling for him, her world collapsed. Accused of infidelity, divorced without a word of defense, disowned by her family and destroyed by the media, she disappeared.... carrying the weight of abandonment. When the truth about the betrayal surfaced, he’s left shattered, desperate to earn her forgiveness, and willing to do anything to win her back but it was already too late. Three years later, she returns successful, stronger and now sharper version of the woman they once destroyed, she’s no longer the silent wife. She’s a mother now, with three beautiful children and no intention of letting the man who ruined her life anywhere near her heart. But he wants her back. But she isn't the same woman he abandoned. She doesn’t want apologies. She doesn’t want revenge. She just wants to be left alone. With an obsessed rival determined to have her for himself. Her vengeful sister wanting what she had and will stop at nothing to take it. And between tangled loyalties, mutual rivalry, and three little children caught in the middle, Cara must protect the life she built even if it means watching her ex-husband suffer the heartbreak he once gave her. Because this time, she isn't giving in easily.

Aubrey's twin sister doesn't want to leave her singing career to go work for her father's billionaire bachelor best friend across the country. Aubrey takes her place with their father's blessing and escapes torment for long term bully and the mate who rejected sweet Aubrey. Aubrey arrives in LA and is given an apartment in the elegant packhouse of the most prominent werewolf pack on the West Coast, but when Aubrey starts work as the Alpha's Personal Assistant the last thing the little fox shifter expects is to fall in love with the boss. Adonis lost his mate just hours before they had planned to commence the date they planned before officially mating and marking one another. That was over two decades ago and while he has had lovers, none are suitable to stand by his side as Luna and the wife of a billionaire CEO. After the gold digging Personal Assistants of his past he asks his college best friend to send one of his twenty four year old twins to be his Personal Assistant. He needs a Personal Assistant he can trust. What he doesn't expect is to find love with his best friend's child who is more than half his age. Will his best friend approve? How will his pack members take it? Or the West Coast Shifter Council? What about the snakes hidden in his company trying to undermine his business success?

On the eve of the National Robotics Championship, I smashed my carefully designed bot to pieces and announced my withdrawal. Everyone said I was a fraud who was quitting out of fear of being exposed. Online, the netizens mocked me relentlessly. Only one person, Adrian Cross, the so-called genius of the century, spoke up in my defense, his voice dripping with false sincerity, "I believe in River Lowell’s skills. Only he deserves to be my opponent. No matter what setbacks he’s facing, I hope he comes back to the arena and proves himself." In my previous life, the robot I built was identical to his. No matter how I tried to prove he had copied me, Adrian stood before the cameras, wearing his benevolent mask, and said, "It’s fine. This robot can go to River. I can always build something even better." His fans swarmed me, tearing me apart online, and no one believed in my talent. I swallowed the humiliation and vowed to rebuild my robot from scratch. However, when I was assembling it, the Power Core in my kit exploded, shattering my skull. That same night, I was rushed into the ICU. Netizens clapped and cheered, saying I got exactly what I deserved. That night, my girlfriend, Lila Hart, signed the hospital’s DNR consent form without hesitation. Until the day I died, I never understood how Adrian had gotten my robot’s data or why Lila had joined forces with him. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the very day of the competition.

After I got pregnant, I witnessed my boyfriend's grandmother's death. She left behind a secret, and now, everyone who knows that secret is dead. First, it was my boyfriend's father who died. My boyfriend's mother followed soon after. Lastly, my boyfriend died too. He ended his life by overdosing right before my eyes. The media went wild. They dug obsessively for the truth. Again and again, the police summoned me for questioning. Online hate toward me was overwhelming. Everyone wants to know what the secret is. People claim I cursed my boyfriend's entire family to death, just to keep the secret to myself. I stay silent, never saying a word in defense of myself. On the seventh day after my boyfriend had passed, I spot someone at his funeral. At that moment, I place my hand on my swollen belly. I am utterly calm and at peace. It is time for me and my child to die too.

Ever thought you were different from the world, that no matter how you tried, you just never fit in? That no body would accept the real you? Things felt the same for Ariana Bliss. It never got better after she realized the head agent of her defense academy that everyone answered to was the most annoying schoolmate she could ever come across. ******************************. "It's gonna be like this for a month." He smiled. Punch him. Break his nose or finger, dislocate his leg, shove a book in his mouth, stuff a pen into his nostrils. Ari's mind kept thinking of several possible ways to hurt him. "You don't know how much I wanna hurt you." She mumbled truthfully. "You can't, cos I'm gonna beat you again. Just like earlier today." He smirked. Arrrgh! "Just ignore. I'm just gonna ignore you for the rest of my life. " She said and the teacher walked in.....

Like every princess in fairy tales, one must be elegant and prudent. Not Elizabeth after she sneaked out of her room in the middle of the night, only to attend a masquerade ball. One blink and she woke up in the arms of the ruthless General Kius, naked and under the white sheets. What will she do when one rebellious night will result in a child?

Jason Peters was a fifteen year old boy in high school. He was a victim of severe bullying by his mates in school. Unknown to him, he had hidden werewolf powers that first manifested when he tried to defend himself from a bully known as Jones Hardy. Jones Hardy was immediately hospitalised after the incident. Two more defense fights led to the expulsion of Jason Peters. He finally became aware of his strange powers and began to unravel facts about himself. In the long run, he got into another school and got involved in a full blown out fight with a boy over a classmate of Jason's whom the both were crushing on at the same time. The boy finally got hospitalised just like Jones Hardy. Jason Peters got expelled again leaving his parents distraught about the whole situation. But unknowingly his dad gave out a hint about the family's long werewolf history. Jason decided to find the truth about his superpowers. He found out and confronted his father about it. Mr George Peters succumbed and told his son everything. Jason was persuaded by his father to take an antidote that would help relieve him of the remaining werewolf curse, but he was not having it. He found out about a school for werewolves in an old city and ran off with his father's credit card to the school to get himself enrolled. He was not going to hide who he was, rather he would use his powers for the good of his society. He wanted to create a world where humans and werewolves could coexist. A new adventure began in his new school. He began life afresh, and worked hand in hand with law enforcement agents to fish out criminals, which led to the fulfillment of his dreams.

What do a charming vampire professor and an intimidating alpha werewolf have in common? Nothing. Except a forbidden desire for a forbidden girl. *** When Layla Dele is invited to Nox-Luminis Academy, a prestigious school for supernaturals, she thinks she could finally have an escape from her terrible life. But all of her hopes are dashed when her powers, which she had no idea existed, are unleashed and her real evil nature emerges. Now she has two options: learn to harness her untamed powers to fight in a war she knows nothing about, or die. Dejected but not willing to give up her life, she chooses to study but is determined to prove she isn't a beacon of evil. But how can she focus when distraction comes in the form of a strange, magnetising connection with two extremely handsome men? The elegant vampire professor, the reason for her current predicament, whose innocent yet sensual touch and genuine assurance that he would protect her make her knees weak. And the gruff alpha, who rejected her as his mate in front of the whole student body but is extremely protective and shows his tender side only to her. Her heart feels like it knows them. Why does she feel so strongly for men she knows she can't have? And is she really the malevolent, evil creature everyone keeps calling her? Is there more than meets the eye? If there is, what is her role in the scheme of things?    

"I would do anything to have you back, even if it means fighting the Gods" Armando Russo, a name that struck fear into the hearts of many who crossed his path. He strode into the room with an air of confidence that demanded attention, his sharp Italian-cut suit exuding power and authority. His dark, piercing eyes were windows into a calculating mind, a mind that had made him a force to be reckoned with in the world of business and beyond. Weakness? He had none. Until she came into his life- the daughter of his business rival whom he despises the most. Aurora Vero, a name that conjured a different kind of aura in the world of high-profile events. She entered any room with a grace that was both captivating and commanding. Dressed in elegant couture, she wore her status as a badge of honour, but it was her charisma that truly set her apart. With a smile that could light up the darkest corners of a room, she exuded a warmth that belied the fierce spirit within. What happens when such two different personalities are forced to tie a knot? Will Armando accept Aurora as his wife or keep his resentment towards her forever ?