Checkmate Painting

It's hard to tell who has your back, from who has it long enough just to stab you in it.... "Why are you making it so difficult?" I screeched on top of my lungs. God, why does he have to make everything so difficult? "I'm your boss and you're responsible to follow my orders. You have no authority to defy me." He snarled, his hands balled into fists. "Are you even listening to your baseless blabbering?" "Shut the up!" He roared with pure antagonism and fisted his hand on the glass painting that hung by the wall. I gasped at the sight of glasses shattered into tiny pieces, droplets of blood oozing down his knuckles. His jaw was clenched as he shot daggers to my eyes, not because of the pain that was inflicted from the quick punch, but the remembrance of my betrayal. ~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~ Mystery. Romance. Deception. It's a famous saying that, hate is a strong emotion- so is love. You can only hate someone you place in high esteem since you care about what they think. Just when Evelyn Williams thought she could bring some light into her miserable life, destiny played its cruel game again, bringing her back to the place where she started. Five years later, she is forced to work with one and only Xavier Blake Knight, the one who remembers how Evelyn Williams has broken his heart. After what she did to him, would she be able to look into his eyes? Unbearable secrets will be revealed with a mixture of irresistible desires. Desires that Evelyn fears would only deepen her wounds, but somehow heal Xavier's.

"With all the heat coming from his eyes, I'm surprised the garage does not catch fire. I take long gulps of the cold night air when we finally reach the exits. For a moment there, Mr. Dark and Dangerous looked like he wanted to swallow me whole…" ********** Strong, powerful, filthy rich and ruthless are qualities that do not even begin to describe Luca Blackstone, Capo of the American crime syndicate. After suffering unimaginable torture in the hands of Romanov Anton, then Bratva Enforcer, during his time in prison, he has just one agenda. Eliminate the man that destroyed his life and killed off his parents then wipe out every trace of family he has left. Skylar Romanov is at the top of his kill-list. The twenty year old daughter of a Russian monster is fast becoming the object of a very dark obsession–his obsession. He vows to own her completely, body soul and mind. He plans to break her resolve. He craves her total surrender. The little Russian minx proves to be his most difficult conquest. But what belongs to Blackstone forever belongs to Blackstone and she belongs to him. She's mine. Checkmate, baby. Skylar Romanov has been sheltered and protected for all her life. Her entire life comes crashing down and she is forced to live with the one man responsible for the possible death of her father. He wishes to have her surrender but she vows to fight him every step of the way. She vows to make herself immune to the dark, alluring power that practically oozes from Luca Blackstone. Becoming Mrs. Blackstone spins a spellbinding tale of lies, deceit, secrets and passion – very illicit passion. When two arrogant souls collide, sparks are sure to fly. Will she finally give in to Mr. Dark and deadly?

"Dad? Tell me it's not true! You didn't steal the painting from Mr. Miller, did you?" asked Rebecca almost in a whisper, her body trembling violently, she was not ready to hear the answer. "I'm sorry Becky, I'm so sorry..." Rebecca sat limply on the floor, unable to believe what she had just heard. "Okay, that's enough! You've heard it clearly, right, Ms. Beckett? Your father will pawn you to me until he could return the painting that he stole from me! John, take her!" interrupted James Miller, the billionaire whose painting was stolen by William Becket, Rebecca's father. From that day on, Rebecca's life was no longer the same, she had to give up her freedom by living with James Miller and serving all his needs. At first, everything was going fine until one day James Miller found out that William Beckett was collaborating with a Russian mafia in the theft of his painting and had absolutely no intention of returning the painting to him. He became very angry and began to make Rebecca's 'life' a threat. But one drunken night turned things upside down...

I was a sketch artist acting for the police. On a secret mission, I was discovered by a murderer. My eyes were gouged out, and my body was dismembered, unceremoniously dumped in a garbage bin. On the brink of death, I called my boyfriend, a criminal investigator. However, he hung up on me because he was busy accompanying his first love to a prenatal checkup. A few days later, he received a painting that was a vital clue to finding the murderer, but he thought I was playing tricks on him. In his anger, he tore that portrait to shreds. After he found out the truth, he spent the whole night searching through the garbage to piece it back together.

I was five months pregnant when my husband, James Fletcher, allowed his mistress to invade our lives—on the very night of our wedding anniversary. But she didn’t just come to flaunt her presence. She came to take my life. Pregnant and vulnerable, I confronted her, desperately clinging to my dignity. But the fight ended with me tumbling down the staircase, my swollen belly crashing against the cold, hard ground. Blood seeped across the floor, vivid and unrelenting. James only arrived after hearing about his precious mistress’ ordeal. He stood there, staring at the pool of blood, at my broken body. But instead of helping me, he rushed to her side. She had nothing but a few superficial scratches, yet he swept her off to the hospital like she was the one dying. By the time he returned, my child was gone. The doctors barely managed to save me. And what did James do? He struck me in front of everyone, his words sharper than the sting of his hand. "Lisa only wanted to bring you a Christmas gift, and you attacked her out of nowhere! You shameless witch!" “She didn’t force her way in! What nonsense! I gave her the house key ages ago. You just can’t stand that she’s prettier and kinder than you!" “You didn’t just hurt her. You killed my child! You vile, despicable woman. Why couldn’t it have been you instead?” Lisa stood beside him, pretending to comfort him while flashing me a smug, victorious smirk. James’s vicious tirade didn’t stop there. He dragged my name onto the internet, painting me as a monster.

Art Is Beautiful and also enchanting. Camille is a struggling artist trying to survive the expensive world of arts. With rejections from different art galleries because of her painting, Camille believed she was a terrible painter. All her paintings were of a wolf with red glowing eyes. Every time Camille applies for an exhibition in art galleries, she is always rejected but fate smiled on her when she was accepted to exhibit her paintings in the biggest art gallery in the country. There, Camille met her fate. A fate that could lead to her doom. Axel is a popular gallerist in the country and also had a hidden identity. He was a Lycan cursed to live on earth for eternity. Axel's fate changed when he saw Camille's paintings. They were the painting of his Lycan and that's where it's all started, the path to his doom. With the curse on Axel's destiny, his Ex ànd an Alpha who wanted him dead, Axel and Camille must conquer the threats that might ruin their fate.

In my past life, I supported the bankrupt Clark brothers. However, after I became pregnant, they allowed a poor student, Kimberly Scott, to push me down the stairs, where I bled profusely and died while carrying my child. When I opened my eyes again, I was reborn on the day I had brought them into my house. This time, I kicked them out without hesitation. To my surprise, Kimberly had teamed up with my grandmother to pretend to be the real heiress, painting me as the fake heiress who had taken over the family. The butler, Mr. Williams, who had watched me grow up, came forward and accused me of causing my parents’ death. Under the public backlash they had orchestrated, I remained calm and presented my evidence. Not only did I expose Kimberly’s fake identity as the heiress, but I also revealed the true faces of my grandmother and Mr. Williams. I avenged my parents and gave the wrongdoers the punishment they deserved.

Connor Lopez has experienced slight déjà vu for the first time in his life with someone who's stranger to her--Savannah Greene. Since that one strange night, Connor has been experiencing déjà vu often times than the usual, and it's making him feel like there's something wrong with his mental health. Through Savannah, he learned about the possibility of past lives and parallel universe. On the other hand, Savannah is a student of Multimedia Arts, to which, she keeps on experiencing dreams from someone else's life, and unconsciously painting the face of someone she never really know in the first place.

Book 1 in Russo Series. Loud gun shots echoed all around in the huge mansion. Cold bodies lying unalive on the floor as we walked over those bodies to find her. "Damn! She really is a killing machine." I heard Lorenzo's voice ringing in my ear through the earpiece. He is right. She is a killing machine. The amount of dead bodies we crossed and the way blood is splattered on the floor like water proves it. "Nic behind you!" Shawn warned me in urgency and I turned behind to look at the same girl I fell in love with, heading towards me, blood painting her face. --- Nicolas Russo, is the leader of the black market auction. He owns half of the Italy and people quiver in their boots at the mention of his name. But, a swirling storm, with a name Zyra Lavender stole something very precious to him. It was the audacity of her later on, to go and live right in his mansion with him. She overestimated herself when she thought that she can go on after messing with a man like him. Nicolas does not do forgiveness. He chases, catches, kills and cleans. Now, we have to see, how far can Zyra run? Thank You For Reading.

My husband lies to me about working late on Christmas Day. I know he wants to give me a surprise—I saw a jewelry set worth millions of dollars in his pocket. However, all I receive is the news of him pretending to be Santa Claus as he delivers a gift to his female secretary. She flaunts it on social media. "You're the most precious Christmas gift I've gotten." My husband changes the background photo on his social media to a photo of them together. I smile and like the post. Later, the secretary comes to me and smugly says she's pregnant. Meanwhile, I pull out a diagnosis report verifying that my husband is sterile. "Checkmate!" She visibly panics.