Crucial Conversations

Elara Valr has always known independence. Growing up, she navigated life on her own terms, confident, clever, and unafraid to challenge anyone in her way, including her protective older brother, Elias, whom she loves fiercely. Now, in her third year of college, she’s focused on her studies, her ambitions, and the life she’s building for herself, until Adrian Moore arrives. Adrian is new to campus, young, confident, and devastatingly handsome; a professor in his first real position, full of authority and restraint. There’s something magnetic about him, something that draws Elara in from the moment she sees him. What begins as casual conversations and professional exchanges quickly turns into a private, heated, and irresistible connection. one that neither can ignore nor fully understand. Adrian harbors a secret of his own: a twin he never knew existed, a brother he’s desperate to find. When he discovers the truth about his twin’s connection to Elara’s life, everything shifts. Loyalty, trust, and desire collide in ways that neither of them expected. Elara must confront the dangerous pull she feels toward a man who mirrors the brother she grew up with, while Adrian struggles with the boundaries of love, identity, and family. As their passion deepens, the stakes rise. Every choice carries consequences, and every secret threatens to unravel the delicate balance they’ve built. Love and desire are intoxicating, but in a world of mirrors and hidden truths, the cost of giving in may be more than anyone can bear. This is a story of forbidden desire, obsession, and emotional tension, where hearts collide, secrets explode, and the line between love and guilt becomes dangerously thin.

Shantali Mae Cross, a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Ancient Arts, encounters an impossible phenomenon during her night shift—smoke from the heating vents coalesces into the form of a cobra near ancient Egyptian canopic jars, showing her visions of possible futures. She sees herself accepting a promotion, arguing with a dark-haired man in a hospital, wearing a wedding dress, and standing at a graveside in autumn. Shaken by the experience, Shantali becomes obsessed with understanding what she witnessed, diving into research about serpent smoke divination practices. Her investigation reveals that others throughout history have experienced similar visions at crucial crossroads in their lives, but those who became consumed with interpreting and controlling their prophetic glimpses inevitably destroyed the very relationships and opportunities the visions had shown them. As Shantali spirals deeper into her research, she begins shutting out her boyfriend David, a fellow security guard who loves her deeply. When David witnesses the cobra phenomenon himself, he helps ground her in reality rather than obsession. Through her studies, particularly the warnings left by Dr. Amelia Thorne—a researcher who died alone after chasing similar mysteries—Shantali realizes the cobra's true message: choose love over fear, presence over obsession. The visions weren't warnings of tragedy but glimpses of a life fully lived with all its ordinary struggles and profound connections. When David proposes, Shantali chooses their real relationship over her pursuit of supernatural answers. She completes her research by writing a fictional novel about her experience, transforming obsession into art while helping future cobra witnesses understand that some mysteries are meant to guide rather than be solved. The story explores themes of choice versus destiny, the danger of sacrificing present love for future certainty, and the wisdom of embracing life's uncertainties alongside those who love us.

"Look, if I told you I loved you, it would be a lie," I said to him. "But I love you, Anika," he responded, his eyes filled with sadness. "I don't feel the same way. I am content with my life as it is. I don't believe in love, and I value my freedom too much to give it up," I explained to him, hoping he would understand. "Please, just give me a chance. I promise I'll make you happy," he pleaded. "Stop..." I interrupted, feeling exhausted by his continuous pleading. "I'll do whatever you ask, I'll even change-" "Just stop!" I finally yelled, unable to tolerate any more of his words. "Why would you love me when I clearly stated my aversion to relationships?" I screamed in frustration. "I thought we could give our friendship a try, but you ruined it all by falling in love with me. Let's not see each other again," I firmly stated and walked away. *** Anika Rebecca Downs, a 23-year-old woman, appears to have it all. She possesses beauty, a charismatic figure, wealth, popularity, and all the good things one could desire. However, there is one crucial thing missing from her life – love. This absence stems from her past experiences of being used by men who were drawn to her wealth. Fed up with the constant disappointment, Anika vowed to never fall in love again. But what happens when Kelvin Birtch enters the picture? Kelvin was an appealing man who works for her company. At first, she tries to deny the growing attraction she feels towards him. However, how long can she suppress her feelings? And what will happen when her manipulating ex resurfaces in her life? To uncover the answers to these questions and more, delve into the rest of the book... :)

PHOEBE - Holy mother of craps! I had lost my virginity to the college’s bad boy, Asher Gilbert. And, he told me it meant nothing to him. He told me to get lost! ********* ASHER - All my life till now, no one had ever intimidated me. Not anyone. Not my dad, nor the school principal… Not those street gangs… lastly, not the mafia. But this strange girl— a Maserati shows up. Making me urge to brand her, as mine. ********** “Why are you like this to me?” “What do you mean?” “Why are you so dismissive but save me, every time I land in trouble?” He didn’t reply that. Instead, he sighed, crunching the plastic bottle in his hand. He threw it in anger to the other side of the room. Then he approached me. I took three steps back, timidly. His intimidating gaze dropped towards mine. He didn’t stop until the back of my head contacted the wall. Only then did his both hands angle at the sides of my head. My eyes immediately gorged at his hard-on. Flash backs of the night we had together immediately ran through my brain. The only thing I could think of was the way my mouth was wrapped around him. His Adam’s apple swallowed numerous times, making me wonder what he thought of. It was like one of those scenes of movies. Like he was in a battle with himself. But the question was, what was he so protective about? Why didn’t he like making conversations with females? “I’m never gonna change, Phoebe. Remember that,” ********* What is worse than drunken one-night-stand, with the college’s bad boy? Or a cold treatment thereafter? However, one pregnancy changes it all. In this love so wrong, can they ever make things right?

She was nobody but a lowly maid in their mansion who spent her whole life living in their pity. She had no education, no etiquette, and no qualification to be the elder daughter-in-law of the prestigious Morin family. She was just a nobody with a big mouth and an over-friendly personality. But for some unknown reason, they decided to choose her as the bride of their elder son, Roman Morin, also known as the cold and cunning CEO of the Morin Industry who detested her sole existence from the very beginning. _____________________________ _________________ "What the fuck were you doing by fighting with Clara in a room full of people? Are you fucking out of your mind? What if someone else overheard your conversations instead of me? Why are you so fucking hell bound to drag my reputation down?" Roman yelled at her angrily, making her flinch at his words. "Well if you heard our conversation then you already know who started this. So instead of yelling at me, why don't you go to her?" She spat at him angrily. "I don't fucking care who started what. All I care about is my family and my reputation. I have already warned you about this. If you again do anything that harms my image then I'm not going to play nice. Behave yourself and maintain your manner. You are no longer a maid but my wife. So stop behaving like an illiterate maid and start acting like my wife for which I paid you." Roman uttered those words like poison which caused Athena's heartburn.She bit her inside the cheek to stop her tears from falling. She must not cry. She wouldn't let words affect her. She didn't want this humiliation. She didn't want to be here. But she had no choice.

When Olivia moves into her father’s house, she expects discomfort and distance—not the quiet pull she feels toward his son. Adrian is older, already in college, and careful in ways that make him seem unreachable. At first, he treats her like a responsibility, someone he needs to look out for. But closeness has a way of changing things. It begins with small moments. Lingering conversations late into the night. Shared laughter that feels too intimate. The way Adrian always seems to notice when Olivia is overwhelmed, the way his voice softens when he speaks to her. What starts as protection slowly becomes attention—and attention turns into something dangerously close to desire. Olivia feels it first. A flutter in her chest when he enters the room. The way her breath catches when their eyes meet for a second too long. Adrian feels it too, even as he fights it—pulling away one moment, drawn back the next. They never say the words. They don’t have to. Every look holds meaning. Every accidental brush of hands lingers longer than it should. The air between them grows thick with everything they refuse to admit. They know the line they’re standing on. They know crossing it would change everything. Yet the heart doesn’t care about rules. What grows between them is soft but consuming—tender, aching, and forbidden. A love born in restraint, made stronger by everything they deny themselves. When their secret is discovered, it shatters them both. Adrian is sent away without goodbye. Olivia is left behind, clutching memories that feel too precious and too painful to keep. Years later, Olivia has built the life she once dreamed of. But some feelings don’t burn fast and disappear. They smolder. They wait. And they never truly let go.

She’d built two years of walls and he dismantled them in one evening. He didn’t announce himself. He never had to. The last person she expected walked in like he was exactly where he was supposed to be. Halle hadn’t seen Adrian Vale in two years. Two years of carefully avoiding his name in conversations, his face on screens, and the memory of waking up in his bed, fully dressed, completely alone, and somehow disturbed by that, than if anything had actually happened. Then he showed up to her best friend’s wedding like he owned the place. He reached over her shoulder, lifted the glass of champagne from her hand without spilling a single drop, brought it slowly to his lips, held her gaze the entire time and had the absolute nerve to look good doing it. Adrian Vale didn’t do anything halfway. He never needed to raise his voice because the room already belonged to him. He never reached for things…things simply found their way into his hands. Including, apparently, her. On a moonlit dance floor, his hand slid warm and certain up her spine, his forehead dropped to hers in the dark, and he said the thing that short-circuits every rational thought in her head. “You’re the only thing I’d let ruin me.” He pulled her in for a kiss, close enough to feel his breath, close enough to lose her mind completely, and then he pulled away. Leaving her wanting. He calls her starlight like it’s a secret only he gets to keep. And Halle is so embarrassingly, helplessly gone for him. The ones who make you forget your own name? Those are the ones worth ruining yourself for.

After a brutal breakup and one too many whiskies, Arielle Lawson makes the mistake she swore she’d never repeat—she calls her ex. She never saved his number; she memorized it. Heart memory. Muscle memory. Bad-decision memory. But the man who answers isn’t Daniel. He’s calm. Controlled. Amused by the drunken stranger ranting about betrayal, wasted years, and ruined wedding plans. Arielle hangs up, mortified, convinced the mistake ends there. It doesn’t. Because the number she dialed belongs to Kael Virelli, the elusive leader of a multi-million-dollar anti-government underground syndicate known as The Black Ledger—a man feared by politicians, hunted by intelligence agencies, and obeyed without question. Kael should forget the call. He should erase the number. Instead, he calls back. What begins as anonymous late-night conversations becomes a dangerous ritual neither of them can break. Arielle finds comfort in the mysterious stranger who listens without judgment and understands her in ways no one ever has. Kael becomes addicted to the only person who speaks to him like he’s human—not a weapon, not a myth. Then fate intervenes. When Arielle unknowingly witnesses a violent operation tied to The Black Ledger, the voice she trusts becomes the name everyone fears. Overnight, she transforms from a stranger into a liability—a loose end that Kael’s world would normally erase without hesitation. But Arielle isn’t just anyone. She’s the woman who called him at his most human… and made him answer. Now Kael must choose between protecting the empire he built in shadows or protecting the girl who accidentally dialed her way into his life. Because in a world of secrets, betrayal, and blood money, the most dangerous mistake he ever made wasn’t answering the call. It was falling for the girl who made it.

Jessiah is a make-up artist aspiring to break into the modeling and beauty industry. She moves to LA when she lands a job at one of the biggest production companies in Hollywood. On her first week on the job, she meets Jenson Ross, a big-deal actor with a murky past and a dark secret only a privileged few know about. × Genres: Romance, Werewolf, Crime EXCERPT [BOOK I of CALI ALPHAS ] _ _ _ "Dollface," he murmured with a little smirk. He snickered and caressed the back of her head, pulling her closer to his chest. "You're like an antidepressant, in human form." Her breath caught.  Her heart sped up when his hug tightened. His warm face pressed onto her neck, his strong hands lightly squeezing her hips. Moments like this only worsened her attraction to him.  The flirty jokes, the easy conversations, the small smiles, his furtive glances, and his unusually sweet gestures lately... She was in deep trouble. Was he kissing her neck?  Shit. He was no longer thinking straight.  About this. About her. About the consequences. He drew her closer when she tried to pull away. As if he didn't want her out of his sight. While his beard scraped her skin, his thighs touched hers. Her throat ached as he stared into her eyes. "Dammit," he sighed, his thumb tracing the curve of her neck, his touch both gentle and eager.  "Why are you so f-cking beautiful?"  "Joss, I need to g—" "Why now?" he murmured, stroking her cheek. He wasn't acting drunk or playing with her.  Not like this. He wouldn't. Not with her real feelings barely held together by some unspoken truths. Otherwise he wouldn't dare let it get this far.  But why wouldn't he let go? "Just stay. Please. Stay here with me." _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Ma petite sœur et moi avons eu la chance de renaître dans un monde d'Hommes-Bêtes. Leur Dieu nous a laissé choisir notre identité. La première option : devenir une Femme-Bête, dotée d'une force puissante et d'une silhouette robuste et vigoureuse. La deuxième option : devenir une Sainte, bénéficiant de la capacité de procréer entre de différentes races et d'une silhouette élancée et séduisante. Dans notre vie précédente, pour survivre, ma petite sœur avait choisi de devenir Femme-Bête, tandis que j'étais devenue une Sainte, faible et délicate. Et le résultat ? Elle était rejetée par les hommes, jugée pas assez douce et féminine. Moi, en revanche, grâce à mon corps menu et gracieux, j'avais conquis les trois Hommes-Bêtes les plus puissants et les plus beaux de la tribu, devenant leur préférée. Plus tard, ils étaient devenus les rois de la forêt primitive, et moi, leur déesse, rayonnante de gloire. Rongée par une jalousie dévorante, ma sœur m'avait poussée dans un marais empoisonné. De toutes mes forces, j'avais planté un dard toxique dans son corps, l'entraînant avec moi dans la mort. Quand j'ai rouvert les yeux, nous étions de retour au moment crucial où le Dieu nous demandait de choisir. Cette fois-ci, elle s'est précipitée pour s'emparer du rôle de Sainte. « Rosalie, cette fois, c'est moi qui serai la déesse ! Par pitié, je te laisse ces trois hommes infâmes et impotents. » J'ai réprimé à grand-peine la joie qui explosait en moi. Être enfermée pour servir de ventre reproducteur, quel intérêt ? Il fallait savoir que, dans ce monde primitif, c'était la force qui faisait la loi !