Beat Around The Bush

At one of the exclusive private casino parties, my eyes landed on a diamond tiara. The catch? It was the prize for a high-stakes blackjack game. Luckily, poker happens to be one of my many sins. A girl named Elara—whom I once pitied enough to introduce to Throne, hoping she’d land a job—has now declared she wants the tiara too. Naïve. Probably thought beginner’s luck was a real thing. I figured, fine. Let the cards decide. If I win, I walk away with the tiara. If I lose, I’ll find another way to soothe my pride. Easy enough. Thorne, my ever-watchful husband, leaned in and murmured, “Go easy on her.” I didn’t. I won. Beat the dealer faster than her and won the tiara. That girl cried at the table. Thorne didn’t look impressed for once. He rather seemed... irritated. I thought it was for Elara’s sake. Turns out, it was for mine. A year later, same party, different stakes. The grand prize? My own sex video. While holding Elara in his arms, my husband said to me, voice almost amusing, “Don’t you like winning prizes? Then go on. Win our sex tape back.”

Anastasia: A silly crush, that's all it took to ruin my entire life because here I was four years later with no family but the man I gave everything up for, the man who now wanted nothing to do with me, the man who was madly in love with someone else, and the sad part of it was I brought a human in it, a human who had to suffer because of my mistake. Well, enough was enough. It was time to reclaim my position and give my daughter a better life, with or without him, but definitely without him, and he wouldn't just walk free; he would pay for every tear my daughter and I shed. William: The marriage was never supposed to happen; she tricked me into it; she ruined my chance at love because now I had to marry her whether I liked it or not. I never loved her, and I did everything to make sure she experienced hell on earth, but when she proposed divorce, I panicked; my heart skipped a beat for the first time in four years. I was afraid to lose her; I couldn't let her go. I had to fight for her; I had to win her back. I couldn't let another man take her and my daughter from me. I had to save my family.

In the modern era, a man aims to fulfill a promise that was made thousand of years ago. Wandering around the world to find the said person, will he be able to fulfill the said promise or would fate get in the way?

On the day I was declared pregnant, I ran into my husband in the ob-gyn. He was with his long-lost love for a prenatal checkup. "I'm not going home tonight. As you can see, I have business to attend to," Lawrence said quietly as he left with an arm wrapped around Melissa. I fell silent and booked an abortion surgery. Everyone around us thought I was a simp for Lawrence. They thought I wouldn't leave, no matter how badly he mistreated me. He had the same thought. No one knew that I only married him to repay a debt. That debt was now repaid. Ten years was up, and I could finally end this abominable marriage.

The story revolves around a waiter, Terry, at the Happy Hill pub. Would he overcome the temptation of money to live his own life? Or would he be like rosehip petals that soon be withered?

Irene Spencer was married to a bridegroom who never showed up to their wedding.Furious, she slept with an unknown stranger on that very night.The man started to follow her around, and she eventually discovered that he was the runaway bridegroom…

“There is no loophole for a contract signed with blood!” She announced and even with the darkness in her eyes, I knew that I had let her go once, but I wasn't ever going to let her leave my side, even if my blood is involved. Laura thought that she had met the love of her life and finally got married to him, abandoning her pack and all of her responsibilities but her world suddenly swirl around when her husband met his mate and she was tossed around as a side piece. Not able to endure the pain and suffering from him any longer, Laura had to take a bold decision and it did not matter to her even if it involved a contract made by blood.

Welcome to Ransom, Texas, where the family ties bind and love runs hot. One of the juciest pieces of gossip around town is what’s happening at The Love Barn, Ransom’s new boutique wedding venue run by the Lively siblings. Word around the tea shop is that Scarlett Lively is getting awfully close to a jilted groom. Then there’s whatever is going on with Benji! We have it on good authority he’s not just teaching his high school crush to play the guitar. And then there’s Garth, who has been noticeably missing from happy hour at The Watering Hole. Will these three break the family curse? Or are they destined to repeat it?The Love Barn is created by Sidney Bristol, an eGlobal Creative Publishing author.

"His body was sin and I was a sinner.To keep myself safe I hide in the world and let life move around me.My new partner, Nathan, isn’t safe. Far from it.The darkness coils around him, hidden by a shield created by a blinding smile. But those who live in shadows see past the façade we create.Even in darkness, there is light. A spark that ignites, then explodes.Every filthy word from his mouth, every possessive touch—I crave them, need them. Violent and passionate and everything I need to fill the void inside me, but one thing is missing.He can never love me.More than my heart is on the line, and I don’t know if I’ll survive our breach."

Every action generates a reaction, every act has its consequence regardless of whether it is good or bad. What goes around comes around and there you go. Nothing was planned and this careless act had a consequence that hit everyone hard. She didn't know what to do and he didn't want someone she didn't love, but think about that before anything else. Both put up with each other, one hates the other, for thinking that one destroyed the other's life. They don't know how to control themselves, she gets hurt and he doesn't know how to go back, maybe it's too late or maybe not. There is still hope, hope that unites them forever and ever.