Burning Bright

"So you took advantage of a drunk woman? Why did you sleep with me if you knew so well that I was drunk?" She attempted to defend herself, but the man just gave her a glare and showed no sign of regret, as he kept on with what he was doing.  "Answer me!!!" She yelled.   "Hey, I do not know who the fuck you are and I do not care either, but you better get out of my room right now because my fiance is coming to see me this morning." Furious, his face burning, he got up and headed for the wardrobe, scrawling through the clothes that were hanging up. Nia was shocked by what had happened; she felt her heart start to race as a sharp pain radiated around her stomach. "You want to get rid of me just like that, after sleeping with me." Nia spoke as she tried not to cry while keeping a still gaze on the man in front of her. Nia Reigns lost everything after she had a one night stand with a stranger on her birthday, she was intoxicated, making her unaware of what she was doing. Five years later, she comes back with a set of twins. Determined to start over from the top, she gets a new job, and her twins father was her CEO. Would he recognize her? What will happen if he finds out about the kids? Let's take a ride.

Community Service. Two words I should be thankful for, but I’m not. I resent the hours it’s away from building my business. When they push the little girl into the room, her crazy curls barely held back by the barrette in her hair, and studious glasses on her face, I can tell she’s scared. Something inside of me breaks, and I want this girl to feel wanted again. What I’m unprepared for is meeting her mom. The second our hands touch, there are fireworks, bright lights, and a picture of the future I could one day have. The future I’ve never allowed myself to wish for. Community service becomes more than a chore. In the months that follow, I realize they’re just like me: they’ve been abandoned, left behind by the world, forgotten by those who should love them. Thanks to the one last hope in both our lives - we found the light in the darkness we’d been searching for.Trick is created by Laramie Briscoe, an eGlobal Creative Publishing author.

Ae Doona is a 22-year-old recluse who has given up on her real-life to focus on her online personality as a relationship guru on Rebbit. Doona was a victim of bullying growing up, and this affected her in later years. As a university student in Seoul, Doona is withdrawn, has no close friends and is very antisocial. Her mother (Ae Mishil) thinks Doona can have a fresh start in Busan. The joy of her move is short-lived as she bumps into Sochun the very same day. Sochun was one of the boys that regularly tormented Doona while in middle school. When Doona agreed to relocate, she hoped Sochun had moved out of Busan, better yet, Korea. So their inevitable meeting was just as surprising to her as it was for him. As much as she resented Sochun, she always wondered what she had done to make him despise her. On arriving in Busan, Doona bumps into Chihun on the elevator. Sensitized by years of bullying plus a newfound fear of the opposite forces Doona to cringe and recoil when standing close to a man. She soon comes to trust Chihun, and likewise, he sees her as something more than just a nuisance. The two become close friends by healing one another's wounds. Doona finds out the details of Chihun's past relationship that caused him to lose interest in women and dating. Chihun learns more about Doona's convoluted past. All the while, Minji starts to realize that her grip and control on the men in her life is slipping and she decides to manipulate Doona so she can get what she wants. Doona might not be bright to her ploy, but with the help of her new friends, Doona can stand up for herself against yet another bully.

Cressida, the unloved adopted daughter, marriage is destroyed by her sister. But fate had other plans. A contract marriage brought her together with Alaric, the crippled heir to a business empire. Forced to take her sister's place, she saw an opportunity for revenge and empowerment. With a burning desire to avenge herself, she set her sights on winning Alaric over. But Alaric isn't an easy target; his demon and anger threaten to consume him, so she makes a deal. A deal for the marriage to be their weapon against their enemies. Will she tame the rage in his heart and unlock his true potential? Or will the partnership trap them in a web of calamity and heartache?

My boyfriend is trapped in the mountains, and I head there alone to search for him. However, I don't find him despite a night of searching. Instead, I end up falling off a cliff and passing out due to severe blood loss. When I open my eyes again, I hear laughter coming from outside my hospital ward. "Sonya's such a fool! She fell for it again!" "This is our 99th time tricking her, right?" "When you pretended to fall into the water, she jumped into an icy lake to save you in the middle of winter. When you pretended to be poisoned, she went to dig up the herbs that you'd need for the antidote… "This time, you pretended to be trapped in the mountains, and she ran there without a care for her life! She's truly head over heels for you!" I struggle to sit up. That's when I see my boyfriend, Austin Miller, standing at the ward's door. He stands out among the crowd and has a bright smile on his face. He doesn't look like he's lost his way at all. His friends continue talking. "It's her fault for abandoning Austin when he was down on his luck!" "She deserves to get played like this! When this is all over, we can throw the invitation to Austin and Dion's engagement party in her face!" It turns out Austin is already engaged. Yet, to this day, he has no idea why I broke up with him in the first place.

Ah… Nothing like getting cheated on at a birthday party they personally invited and drove me to, only to get hooked up with my best friend and fight every day to stay alive. Oh, and the icing on the bright blue birthday cake?... my ex-boyfriend was sucking face with the girl he cheated on me with… patient zero… go figure. Now there are zombies everywhere. Buckle up this is going to be a bloody ride.

"I,Raymond Phillips, Alpha of Black Shadow Pack reject Arianna Lenoir as my mate." His words echoed in the air. Sharp pain was felt in my chest. I screamed in pain. That burning pain inside me, I could feel my wolf in agony

In the third year of our marriage, Adrian Jones made me play a game of truth or dare—and when I lost, he told me to take the place of a nightclub hostess and perform a striptease. "Macie's too timid," he said. "You dance for her." Laughter erupted around us. "Adrian's a real sport—letting us watch his wife put on a show!" "Liliana's got a body to die for. I'm burning up just looking at her." Drenched in humiliation, surrounded by crude stares and filth, I finally cracked. My voice shook. "Adrian… I want a divorce." Before I could say more, a glass of red wine hit me square in the face. Adrian scoffed, "The Shaw family's already bankrupt. Where exactly do you think you'll go without me?" However, this time, I meant it. I was done.

It's Thanksgiving, and I'm waiting for Zeke Jones to come home after cooking up an extravagant meal. When Zeke returns, he doesn't even glance at the meal I've prepared for him. Instead, he proceeds to pack a bag. "I can't celebrate Thanksgiving with you this year," he says. I take another bite of my turkey and say nothing. At the stroke of midnight, Zeke's first love posts a new photo on her social media page. In the photo, she's lying on Zeke's back with a bright smile on her face. The moon outside the window is bright. "Happy to spend Thanksgiving with good company," her caption reads. Instead of hysterically questioning Zeke about the post, I just tap on the "like" button without reacting in any way. Zeke calls me. His voice sounds panicked as he tries to explain himself. "Please don't misinterpret the post. I will definitely spend Thanksgiving with you next year…" I freeze for a few moments, letting out a small laugh. I don't offer him a reply. Next time, he says? Oh, Zeke, I'm afraid there won't be a next time.

My mother-in-law, Teresa Hawke, said she was trapped inside her burning villa. I called my husband, Asher Jensen, begging him to save her. But he was too busy at some bar, flirting with his childhood sweetheart, Melanie Lanner. It wasn't until I begged him, over and over, that he finally went to save Teresa. But Melanie was snatched from that same bar, tortured, killed, and dumped. He acted like none of it mattered until I got pregnant. Then out of nowhere, he threw it all back on me, saying it was my fault. Asher pulled every string he could to bankrupt my family, driving Mom and Dad to leap to their deaths. Then he rounded up a gang of violent psychopaths and threw me in with them. I begged again and again, but he just watched me with that dead stare. "You'll suffer like Mel did before she died! She left this world in agony. Why should you get to live? That's not fair." 99 stab wounds—that was how many it took before I finally bled out and died. And then, I woke up, right back on the day Teresa screamed for help from inside that burning villa.