Chapter 7 All Quiet On The Western Front

Two months remained until debut evaluation night. Before our unit performance, our main dancer suddenly offered me her center position. I stared at her, confused, "The trainers always praise your stage presence. Why give up your spot?" "You... you deserve center more than I do." Her smile was painfully forced, and she was fidgeting with her practice clothes - obviously not saying what she really felt. Puzzled by her strange behavior, I asked, "Are my moves too big? Am I making it hard for you to perform?" She suddenly started shaking, looking at me with pure fear in her eyes. After what felt like forever, she finally choked out, "Please, just stop. I won't try to compete with you for center anymore!"

In the third year that I've been diagnosed with late-stage bone cancer, Xenia Jensen, the ex-girlfriend whom I have "abandoned" back then, barges into my rented apartment with the rest of her team that she leads as a police captain. Every day, I have to rely on large amounts of morphine just so I can force myself to stand like a regular human being. I can only twitch violently as I try to grab a pill bottle on the table, my skin completely riddled with needle marks. Xenia chuckles icily as she savors how pathetic I look. "Oh? It's been seven years since we last met, and yet I never thought you'd stoop so low as to become a drug addict. "Where did your gusto to get a better, richer girlfriend go? I can't believe you're willing to humiliate yourself just for some so-called medicine!" As soon as Xenia's words fall, I point at the pill bottle with a trembling finger. "Please, officer… Can you please give me my medicine?" Xenia chortles in response. She picks up the bottle before walking toward the bathroom, soon flushing it down the toilet. "You want your medicine? Go ask the peeps at the rehab for it! It seems both your heart and your body are rotten to the core after you left me for another woman!" I'm in so much pain that I'm convulsing violently right now. "Oh… Then… Am I going to die?" I curl up on the floor, hoping to tide over the latest wave of pain by using the method my doctor has taught me. But Xenia merely gazes at me coldly from the side. In fact, she starts recording me, saying that she wants to make me a living negative example.

Nothing can bring two people together like an adorable little pooch! Brady Rogers took the job as the new city planner for Holiday Hills expecting a town rich with Christmas spirit. What he finds is anything but. Due to budget cuts, many of the Christmas activities have been cancelled. When a cute little dog steals his scarf, he's led to a couple of people who want to help Holiday Hills regain the towns reputation for being the place to celebrate. Could it be that little dog has also led him to love? Noelle Snow loves her job running the animal shelter, but she needs more money to keep the no-kill shelter a float. When she meets Brady, thanks to a sweet pup named Pooch, she might just be able to save the shelter, help the town find their Christmas spirit, and fall in love. But when the town's mayor has different ideas about how the budget should be spent, Brady and Noelle's plans might just fall apart and tear a riff between them. Will Pooch be enough to bring them back together?

Nineteen-year-old community college student Maya and her twenty-year-old boyfriend Ethan have their lives mapped out in the vague, dreamy way young couples do. But their "someday" plans are shattered by two unmistakable pink lines on a pregnancy test. Terrified and unprepared, they must navigate the fallout of an unplanned pregnancy, from breaking the news to their disappointed families to facing overwhelming financial stress. "Against All Odds: A Love That Endures" is the story of two kids forced to grow up overnight. It follows their journey as they fight to build a life together, trading romantic dates for sleepless nights and discovering that true love is forged not in idealized plans, but in the shared struggle to survive the unexpected.

The Clan Healer told me that without the vial of Progenitor's Blood, the Blood Blight afflicting me meant I had only seventy-two hours to live. But my husband, Miles, the new Duke of our world, gave the only vial of the precious cure to my adopted sister, Vivienne, the woman I had turned three years ago. "She's in agony from the rejection, Isolde. It's a pain you can't possibly understand." His tone was self-righteous, devoid of any concern for the patch of skin on my collarbone already turning to stone. I nodded, watching as the life-saving, dark red liquid slid down another woman's throat. I accomplished a great deal in the time I had left. As I signed the documents, the lawyer's hand trembled. "Are you certain you want to transfer everything, Your Grace? The territorial rights of a thousand-year-old clan..." I didn't hesitate. "Yes. To Vivienne." My adopted daughter, Lily, the girl I had risked everything to save, who was now forever frozen at the age of eight, cowered in Vivienne's arms, pointing at me and screaming, "Aunt Vivienne is my real mommy! You're the witch who turned us into monsters!" I offered no defense. "Yes, that's right. Be a good girl and listen to your new mother now." The Progenitor's Ring, the symbol of the clan's supreme authority, now rested on Vivienne's hand. "Oh, sister, you're too kind," she sobbed, her sobs a practiced performance. "I'll be sure to protect the family in your stead." I nodded. "You'll run things better than I ever did." I even signed away my control over the Elder Council, a council sustained by my own blood. For the first time in a century, a shadow of complex emotion crossed Miles's face. He stared at me,"Isolde, stop fighting. It's better this way. You need to rest." Yes. On my deathbed, I had finally become the perfect, submissive Isolde they always wanted. An Isolde who was about to turn to dust. The seventy-two-hour countdown had begun. I wondered, when I finally turned to ash,

Vengeance is her's, not God's. Andrea Campbell's world is shattered when Thane, her ruthless CEO husband, divorces her. Left with nothing, she has no family, no money, no identity. But as fate would have it, she is reunited with her billionaire birth father, Mr. Campbell. Five years later, Andrea returns as a stunning, sassy businesswoman, fueled by a burning desire for revenge. She plans to pull Thane into a high-stakes business collaboration and then destroy him. Thane, consumed by his ex-wife's transformation, will stop at nothing to reclaim her. Unaware of their hidden twin children and Andrea's secret game. He becomes increasingly obsessed. As they dance around their explosive past, Andrea struggles to keep her emotions in check. Thane's determination ignites a risky game of cat and mouse, where old feelings resurface and new flames ignite. Will Thane's all-consuming love be enough to quench Andrea's fury, or will her thirst for revenge destroy them both? Can Andrea resist Thane's relentless chase, or will she succumb to the passion that once bound them?

"Hi CEO, I hope karma slaps you in the face before I do" Ashley loved him more than a woman could love a man. But, after a six year relationship CEO Thomas McMahon dumped her on their engagement night to be with his betrothed bride. Ashley is bitter and out for vengeance. Nothing would provoke her ex more than to see her moving on with the one guy he hates the most, so that's exactly what she plans to do! Date Aiden McCurdy, who is obnoxiously hot, successful, a notorious playboy and absolutely not her type. But what happens when Aiden is too hot for her to handle? His every touch... movement...kiss is torment - one she is willing to endure. Will she risk falling in love for the second time? Or will revenge be enough when her ex returns on his knees begging her for a second chance? If you're a fan of steamy romance with a little...or a lot of twists. Then grab your popcorn and start reading!! I love active readers, so please make sure you comment as you read, and support me with your gems too.

Ravenlake Academy is known for training the future Alphas of the strongest packs. It’s brutal, elite, and boys-only. No girl has ever stepped inside its cold, iron-gated walls. Until now. No one suspects that the newest recruit with a sharp tongue and faster fists is not a boy at all, but a runaway Alpha princess, hiding from an arranged marriage with the Rogue King. Disguised behind her dead brother’s name, she just wants to stay hidden. But what happens when she draws the dangerous attention of two rival Alphas, and sworn enemies fated to her blood?

Elena found out her husband was cheating—not from him, but from the headlines. The man didn't even have the decency to keep it in his pants or out of the press. He made her a public joke, expecting her to just sit there and take it. Bad move. Elena didn’t cry. She got busy. She put his mistress in a jumpsuit, took every dime of his money, and handed him the divorce papers with a smile. She was done. Like, officially done with men and their drama. But then, something weird happened. The second she stopped caring, everyone else started obsessing. Now, she’s literally the most wanted woman in the city. We’re talking billionaire heirs, hot surgeons, mysterious bad boys, and even international superstars—all of them tripping over themselves to get her attention. Some have been crushing on her for years, while others are just now realizing what they missed out on. They’re all begging for a chance, but Elena’s not playing the supportive wife anymore. She’s the one holding the remote now, and she’s picky as hell.

The powerful Stratton family, a tech industry titan, claimed I was their long-lost son. They brought me back from my remote mountain sanctuary. However, when I arrived, my father accused me of peddling superstition and called me a fraud. My adopted brother, the false heir, spread rumors that I was practicing dark magic and cursing the family. My uncle sided with him. He put on a serious face as he warned me. “Ethan, the Stratton family built this empire on technology. If you insist on this occult nonsense, you’ll leave us with no choice but to disown you!” Confronted with their ignorant ridicule and malicious setup, I felt the urge to roll my eyes. I thought. “Whoever said I came back to reconnect? I came down from that mountain to save your lives! Are you really too blind to see everything is about to come crashing down in your family?”