Christmas Karen

Bruce Styles has a thriving career as a field agent in the FBI, a list of women at his beck and call, and great family and friends. His life is perfect until he sets his sights on Margo St. John. After Bruce had ghosted Margo's best friend and stiffed her with an exuberate dinner bill last year, she wanted nothing to do with the playboy. Thinking that if she gives him what he wants he would go away, Margo agrees to go out on a date with him. After dinner – and a one night stand, Margo resumes her life. However, Bruce has other ideas. Margo has a strange effect on him and he can't let it – or her go. When she disappears after Christmas Day, Bruce exploits every resource to locate her. What he finds is more than he bargained for.

His gaze held me. Fine dark eyes. Those eyes… where had I seen them… Then it hit me. The snob at the club. What was he doing in Mr Hendricks house and in the young Master's room? Wait… Was he an old servant I hadn't met or a new man servant? I scanned him. He looked nothing like a servant. The aura from him felt nothing like the one a servant could possess. His eyes pinched and he took a step towards me. "Did you not just hear me? What are you doing in my house?" His tone was icy. His house? There was only one person aside from Mr Hendricks that could say those words... Young master, Jay Adams! I looked at him again and the resemblance struck me. My jaw hung open and for a moment I felt my body go numb. *********** Jay Adams was a perfect man. More like a demigod that commanded both wealth and power. swooned over him and wanted a taste of him but he hated . He does not believe in love. Beneath the tough exterior, beneath his million dollar tuxedo and his coldness were his flaws. And then there was Karen, a complete opposite of him. Poor with a sick father, a sister to cater for and saddled with debts. What will happen when these two cross paths?

Sa isang iglap, nagising si Kyline sa bangungot na hindi kanya, isang silid na madilim, isang lalaking hindi niya kilala, at isang pagkakakilanlang hindi kanya ang isinuksok sa kanyang pagkatao. Sa harap ng malamig at mapanganib na presensiya ni Shawn Constantino, pinilit niyang tanggapin ang kasinungalingang siya si Karen, ang kanyang kambal na kapatid na biglang naglaho. Ngunit higit pa sa takot at poot ang bumabalot kay Kyline. Sa bawat salita ng kanyang ama, unti-unting nalalantad ang masakit na katotohanan na ginamit siya bilang kapalit sa isang kasunduang nakataya ang kapalaran ng buong pamilya nila. Sa ilalim ng mga lihim at panlilinlang, napilitan siyang gampanan ang papel ng isang asawa sa lalaking galit na galit sa kanya, isang lalaking hindi kailanman magtitiwala. Hanggang kailan niya kayang itago ang tunay niyang pagkatao? At kapag natuklasan ni Shawn ang katotohanan, magiging kapatawaran ba o kapahamakan ang kahihinatnan ng kanyang puso? Isang kwento ng pag-ibig, pagtaksil, at kapalarang pilit ipinaglalaban sa gitna ng dilim.

I’d been dead a month before my family even noticed. It wasn’t concern that brought them to that realization. It was my silence after the so-called “dinner” with Adam Rossi, the infamous mafia boss. My father scoffed like always,“She probably shacked up with that bastard. Too busy spreading her legs to pick up the damn phone.” My sister texted me a photo of them smiling under the Christmas tree, ornaments twinkling like nothing was wrong. Bitch, she wrote. You better talk Mr. Rossi into working with Dad, or you might as well be dead already. And my mother—once the softer one—was now colder than the frost on their windows. “I told you, we should’ve sent Gia to charm Mr. Rossi. Serena always screws things up.” They didn’t think I would die. Not until they found my body—broken, rotten, and forgotten—in Adam Rossi’s basement.

During Christmas dinner, my mother-in-law hinted for the umpteenth time that she wanted a grandchild. However, my husband, Zachary Cole, who had insisted on staying child-free in the past decade, only smiled and filled her plate. After dinner, he slipped onto the balcony. "There, there. Daddy will come see you on New Year's Day," he whispered. I stood in the corner of the living room with a glass of water in my hand, feeling cold as the words sank in. I stepped forward and forced a playful tone. "I just heard you say 'Daddy.' Got a secret kid stashed somewhere?" He rubbed his nose, his voice stiff. "You must've misheard. That's… just a friend's kid." My heart sank. I'd been married to him for a decade, so I knew exactly what he looked like when he was lying.

Dad was poor and couldn't afford the kind of lifestyle mum wanted, we had leaking roofs and broken furnitures. Mum got worse when she met her former high school friend who got married to the CEO of a popular company in the city. Few weeks later my mum started keeping late nights, dad would ask why and she would yell at him. How can I forget that beautiful Christmas eve? it was supposed to be a beautiful dinner in our small living room when mum ruined it by announcing that she was getting a divorce. After mum left, dad became a drunk and never looked at my face, he said it reminded him of mum. My mother destroyed our family, my childhood and the little happiness I had as a child, She had another daughter for the billionaire she left dad for and forgot I exist, I became even more heartbroken, after dad died of cancer, I wanted revenge! My name is Sophia Barlowe and this is my story…

My boyfriend, Miles, finally invited me to his family’s Christmas dinner. I passed out on the way there. Half-conscious, I heard him whisper, “Sorry, Eva. Those thugs said you’re just their boss’s type. Too pretty for your own good, babe. Blame that—not me.” “Don’t be scared. If you help me pay off the debt… maybe they’ll let me have you back. I’ll make it up to you. For the rest of your life, I swear.” He wheeled me through the back of a casino. My family’s casino. The boss he was selling me to… was my brother. Ever since our parents died in a crossfire, my brother had taken full responsibility for me. More than a brother, he’d become a father figure—a protector. My stupid boyfriend should be scared—he had no idea how fiercely my brother protected me, or how ruthless he could be to anyone who dared hurt me.

Matt Simpson meets Tess Holloway on a dating app through with the help of his friend Greg. They (Matt and Tess) go out on a coffee date where they bond after which they fall in love. It doesn’t take long before they get married. It doesn’t take long before tragedy strike. Tess dies a few hours after her childbirth throwing Matt into a deep sorrow. This incident leaves Matt totally devasted knowing how heartbroken he has been all his life after he lost his parents at an early age and also a series of heartbreaks. After some time, Matt decides to give Love another shot but after a few dates, he gives up any hope at getting a shot at love and tries to concentrate on raising his son. Just when he thinks he had forgot about the way Love feels, destiny smiles at him in a such a way that he never imagined. Gradually Matt is thrown into the dilemma of coping with stress of being a single Dad and maintaining a relationship with Karen who has just fallen in love with. He has to decided whether to be a father to his son or give up the custody of his son to Joan (Tess’s Mum) just to be with Karen.

Six years have passed since Dr. Hansen, Joseph, Karen and David escaped from the United States and took refuge in Argentina, where they lead a quiet life away from the memory of the violent events in New York. Peace of mind that will no longer be such, since in that city, an important businessman contacts the now private detectives Mark Forney and Doris Ventura with a very specific request: to locate Dr. Hansen and Joseph, under the pretext of protecting the latter and have reliable information that a recognized terrorist group will carry out a violent attack if the clone child of Jesus is not delivered to them to sacrifice him live before the world. Suspicious, they will accept the order without knowing that after that request a dangerous conspiracy is brewing that will put them in the middle of a conflict on a global scale, with the governments of the United States, Israel, Iran, the Vatican (with the first black Pope in its history) and others, and a very powerful secret brotherhood fighting to have the clone boy under their power. Conspiracy that little by little will reveal the dark interests of world domination by those involved in the conflict. Second book of the trilogy, where the author skillfully handles the birth and evolution of the conspiracy around the clone boy, now eleven years old, who is more aware of his origin and of his role in the world, but without being able to avoid that by his cause occurs terrible acts of violence against humanity, as part of that conspiracy.

During Black Friday, the intelligent system I develop helps the company run highly targeted ads and brings in 30 million dollars in revenue. But when I apply for the project bonus, the director rejects it. "The system is just an auxiliary tool. The performance belongs to the sales department." I hold back my frustration and pull up the system logs. "88% of the orders come from the system's targeted pushes. According to company policy, I should receive a 0.5% commission." The director glances at me, twirling his pen. "If the sales commission doesn't go to the sales department, should it go to you? And your lousy system exceeds the API limit and racks up extra fees. You still owe us a hundred thousand dollars. We'll deduct that from your salary." Three days before Christmas sales are set to begin, the system completely shuts down because of API restrictions. Late at night, the director calls me. I stare at my computer screen. "Since the system is just an auxiliary tool, why don't you start with manual targeting?"