Building Java Programs 5th Edition Ebook Novels & Stories

Damien Sterling is evil. He is so evil he wants me to pretend to be his fiancee before he can help me find my missing sister. The same woman he claimed to be his first love. "Call it what you may. I'll only help you if we work together on something." Me? Work together with Damien Sterling? "What do we work on?" "You mean, what are we working on?" A beat of silence. Then, he spoke. "We are going to get engaged. I mean, you're going to act like we are engaged. For six months." "Ha!" I cackled, face blank of expression. Then, a burst of laughter escaped me. While he watched me like I was crazy, I just kept on laughing. "Are you crazy? I'll be playing house? With you?" "I'm serious." While playing house with the billionaire devil, I must let go of my dream to be the top investigative journalist of Westmore Times and avoid falling for my missing sister's first love. Will this be possible when we are stuck in the same building, filled with heat and forbidden passion crackling between us?

After five years of building a business with my wife, Jane Fletcher, our company finally goes public. Right after I close a big business deal, I head home in high spirits, ready to take her to meet my family. She transfers me 100 dollars with a hint of annoyance and says, "Buy yourself a decent shirt to wear for the financial conference on the day after tomorrow." The next day, Ansel Meyer—the underprivileged student she sponsors—shows up in a custom suit worth two million dollars. He says apologetically, "Mr. Crane, please do not be mad at Ms. Fletcher. She just wants to give me the best. Maybe she thinks you are used to these things, so she only gave you 100 dollars." I call Jane, but she replies impatiently, "It is just a suit. Why are you being so petty?" All of a sudden, I no longer want to continue this marriage. So, I make two calls decisively. "Hey, Mitch. I am not going to go through with that 50-million deal." "Mom, hold on to the 300-million wedding gift you prepared for your daughter-in-law."

An employee blasted me on TikTok, accusing me of not approving her wedding leave. Ainsley Castillo ranted, "Our marriage rates are low; birth rates are low. It's all because of toxic capitalists like you! You won't even approve my wedding leave. In your eyes, am I just a workhorse? Not even a person? I believed your nonsense about building an all-women company and a women-friendly workplace. Now your true bloodsucking capitalist face is showing!" The video blew up instantly, and countless young people empathized with her hardcore. They piled on online, cursing me, even doxxing me and sending razor blades. As the boss, I went live and confronted her head-on. "Sorry, but I can't approve her wedding leave. She can quit and go through labor arbitration, or sue me, but her wedding leave is out of the question." The live stream exploded in views that day. Among the supporters for her, some claimed to be lawyers, offering to sue me pro bono. But Ainsley looked troubled. "I just want my wedding leave. I never thought about quitting, let alone suing her."

Someone has left a message in the parents' group chat. "Whose child is this? The teacher has given her a really brutal beating!" When I tap on the video, I realize that my daughter, Hazel York, is the one getting beaten up by her teacher with a metal rod. Enraged, I rush to the school immediately. That teacher, Elise White, still has the gall to act all arrogant at the school gate. "So what if I'm the one beating her up? That filthy bitch has the guts to tell me that the gift my husband has given me is the gift meant for her mistress mom! "My gift is the one and only item that exists in this world! No amount of money can buy this gift!" As Elise speaks, she reveals a decoration made of building blocks smugly. My company's logo is printed on it. But this is the birthday gift I've given to Hazel! I call my secretary on the spot. "Freeze all of Chester's bank cards and deliver the divorce agreement to him. How dare that live-in son-in-law find himself a mistress! It seems that he truly has a death wish!"

Aria endured a cold marriage to Alpha Julian, running herself ragged to save their sickly twin pups while he publicly doted on his "true love," the actress Kierra. The breaking point? Finding her children building a sacred altar for Kierra while casting a colorless clay figure of "Mommy" into the shadows. When Julian forgets their anniversary to craft a moonstone ring for Kierra, and her own children wish for her to stay away forever, Aria chooses the unthinkable: Forced Severance. She walks away from the Iron Claw pack, leaving her wedding ring behind to reclaim her true identity—not as a "useless" Omega, but as "A," the legendary Master Alchemist whose skills the entire North has been desperate to recruit. As Aria’s absence sends Julian’s household into a spiral of illness and chaos, the Alpha finally realizes his "sweet" wife wasn't just a nanny—she was the pack’s soul. But as he desperately tries to track her down, he discovers the woman who once lived for his call has now disconnected her heart and her number. The hunt is on, but this time, the Alpha is the one begging for mercy.

Silas Vaughn hasn’t touched a man in five years…not since his husband, Emery, died in a mysterious car crash that was never solved. He buried his grief beneath ice, building his empire and locking his heart away. Until one night, at a charity gala, he sees him. Same dimples. Same smile. Same face. But the man isn’t Emery. His name is Julian Reed…a broke artist drowning in debt, hiding secrets he refuses to share. Fascinated and desperate, Silas makes him an outrageous offer: “Marry me for one year. I’ll erase your debts. You’ll never want for anything again.” Julian thinks he’s insane. But against all reason, he accepts. What begins as a cold bargain spirals into dangerous passion, pulling Julian into Silas’s world of obsession, grief, and forbidden desire. For the first time in years, Silas feels alive again. But Julian isn’t just Emery’s lookalike. He knows something about the night Emery died something that could destroy Silas forever.

A love lost to memory. A vow erased with words. A secret worth killing for. Three years ago, Elsie Monroe was Liam Grey's secret wife. Until a suspicious accident stole his memory and erased their love from his life just a day before they were to go public with their relationship, now he’s a cold, untouchable billionaire, engaged to a woman chosen by power and bloodline. And Elsie? She’s returned under a false name, determined to uncover the truth behind the crash that nearly killed him and his family who wanted her gone. Working as his assistant in the empire they once dreamed of building together, Elsie walks a tightrope of forgotten kisses and secret glances. Liam doesn’t remember but his soul does. Every touch lingers. Every look makes him question the life carefully crafted around him. But as Elsie digs deeper, she discovers a darker truth buried in her mother’s past. One that could bring down the Grey family. Someone wants those secrets buried forever, even if it means destroying her again. Now what could be the reason behind the scar on her neck?

*The children of Gaia is the first book in the series Thirteen tribes, forming from the intro book Hybrid.* Rainn is the daughter of alpha Edgar and luna Gabriella of tribe Arcane, they are the royal descended bloodline of and therefor reign over an ancient and powerful tribe of werewolves called the children of Gaia. Rainn and Kai have been best friends since they were born, how could they not be when they share a birthday and he’s the youngest son of the beta. Their eighteenth birthdays are coming up and both of them can’t wait to finally be able to give themselves to one another, becoming mates for life. But things take a drastic turn when both Rainn and Kai discover that they are not fated mates, instead Rainn comes to the shocking discovery that she’s fated to Kai’s older brother, Beau. This sends her life in complete turmoil as she begins to wrestle with emotions building inside for Beau and her loyalty to her best friend, Kai. This won’t end well, someone’s going to get hurt. But as future Luna and queen of Gaia, Rainn’s position will demand that one of the brother’s stand by her side as alpha, except which one?

Welcome to the world of forbidden fantasies. Ryan Parker 35 year old, CEO of the Parker industries, cold hearted, ruthless and reversed. The name that could shake the entire business world. His aim was never to chase love. He hunted for dominance and power. He only made one mistake in his life, hiring the daughter of his best friend, Alina. She was innocent, that had captured his mind since the first time she walked into his office. Alina Spenser 18 year old, sweet, Assistant to Mr Ryan Parker. She had a crush on Mr Parker the first time she met in teens. He was her father's best friend, the man her father talks about. With a sharp jawline and commanding voice he made her burn in places she doesn't understand. But the time blurred and he vanished from their lives without a warning, swallowed by the hunger of building business and ambition. She moved on, at least that's what she thought, only writing her small crush in her diary. Until one day he came back to her father’s funeral. And everything has changed since then.

I was seventeen when I abandoned my Beta family's fortune to love a rogue named Ethan. I gave him everything—my virginity, my pack connections, my wolf's loyalty. I helped him claw his way from nothing to Alpha, building his territory stone by bloody stone. For seven years, I stood beside him as his Luna, his mate, his partner. Then he shoved me off a cliff for a prettier Omega. I should have died. Instead, I woke up at seventeen again, back in that filthy shack where our "love story" began. This time, I know the truth: Ethan doesn't want a partner. He wants a stepping stone. So I'll give him exactly what he deserves—nothing. This time, I'm keeping my mark for an Alpha who actually values his Luna. And when Ethan comes crawling back, begging for the woman he threw away, I'll make sure he knows: some mistakes don't get second chances.