Booktok Author Arrested Novels & Stories

"Look at us. Planning futures. Not waiting for Victoria to destroy them." "Feels good." "Yeah. It really does." Phone buzzed. Unknown number. We both glanced at it. I answered without fear. "Hello?" "Is this Aria Chen? This is regarding your book manuscript..." It was a publisher. Not Victoria. Never was Victoria and hasn't been in months. I was smiling when I hung up. "Book is being published in August. Right before senior year. Our story. Out in the world. And we'll be free of it."

He clutched a stack of parchment to his chest protectively. “My manuscript,” he said. “Be gentle.” “Your manuscript,” Mara repeated, “is the reason the bakers went on strike.” Lethan gasped. “But they were such compelling side characters.” Warren said, “We’ll read it later.” “We absolutely will not,” Mara snapped. I raised a hand. “Enough. Arrest him—not for treason, but for reckless stupidity.” Kael grinned. “That’s a new category.” “Make it official,” I said.

I filed that information and kept moving. "The arrest record," I said. "How did they get the booking number?" Sam looked at me. "It was sealed," I said. "Marcus had it sealed at the bail hearing. The only people who had access to that number were Marcus, Julian's legal team, and—" I stopped. Sam said nothing. I looked at the wall. The dining room. Delia sitting three feet from me while Julian and I discussed the WEG secure node and the IP traceback. The arrest booking number had been in the documents on Julian's desk. Documents in a house where Delia lived and moved freely except for the biometric-locked study.

But for the first time in a long time, my heart was quiet. Halfway through my meal, my phone rang. It was Maya. “Mrs Brooks!” she burst out before I could say hello. “You won’t believe this — Mrs. Chataway has been arrested in Australia. It’s all over the news!” I blinked, a slow smile curving on my lips. “Arrested?” “Yep. Tax evasion, money laundering, illegal offshore contracts… the whole works.” I sat back on the couch, a laugh slipping out. “Justice finally caught up to her.”

Even though he was only a few inches tall on the desk, he tried to protect her. The woman at the desk—the Author—froze. Her face went pale as a ghost. She glanced at her laptop, then stared at the tiny people beside her coffee cup. Her hand shook so much she almost toppled a pile of books. “I... I was just finishing the chapter,” the Woman gasped. To Maya’s small ears, her voice sounded like thunder. “The ending was not allowed,” the officer said. He didn’t blink. He stepped closer, his heavy black boots making the floorboards creak. “You tried to let them escape the story. You tried to give them a voice in our world. That’s against the rules of the Board.”

Ellen patted me on the shoulder, then passed me by, and entered the stage. The spotlight illuminated her face, she smiled to the audience. “Ladies and gentlemen, today Aurelius Book Publishing is releasing a book written by our newest author, Anastasia Kowalsky. This story has it all, there is a thriller, mystery, drama, and romance. It can easily pull you into the story, it can capture your heart, and let it melt. I'm sure that it will be loved by both, our regular readers, and the critics. Let us welcome our author on the stage. Give a round of applause for Anastasia Kowalsky…” she called me over with a gesture.

I felt a tightness in my stomach, and nausea settled in. "But what, Lisa?!" I asked, yelling at her. "They arrested him. He will be charged for extortion, Solana." What. The. Fuck!!!

More cameras flashed at me, while some were asking if Blake was okay. Blake's eyes met mine, his voice echoed: “You’re done, Eliot.” Before I could react, two men in suits approached from the other side of the room. One of them stepped forward. “Eliot Bennett?” I froze, still pinned between the security. “Yes,” I answered. “You’re under arrest for fraud related to digital document tampering and false accusations of corporate espionage.” My heart stopped. "No..." I spoke softly. "That's not possible." “You’ll have a chance to explain yourself better at the station.”

That’s our business and so it should remain our secret. ‘Not anymore Justin! It’s time to receive the book,’ he said authoritatively. ‘The book is out there, everybody is free to get a copy and read.’ The driver stretched his hand to the back seat, got a copy of Captured in a rucksack, and handed it to the young man. ‘Open page 23,’ he instructed.

AARON The news broke on a Tuesday morning. Not as a whisper. Not as speculation. But as a headline. ANDREA MARLOWE ARRESTED ON CHARGES OF KIDNAPPING, CONSPIRACY, AND UNLAWFUL SURVEILLANCE. By noon, every major outlet had picked it up. By evening, analysts were dissecting it like it was a corporate scandal instead of the unraveling of something far uglier. I stood in my office, the television muted, watching her face flash across the screen.