Desolate Era Novels & Stories

I sat in the driver's seat as the GPS chimed, "You've arrived at Northpoint Corp. Check-in successful." I looked up. Graves. Nothing but graves. My phone buzzed. My boss tagged me in the group chat: [Zane Zander, system says you checked in ten minutes ago. Where the hell are you? The whole company's waiting. Learned how to spoof your GPS to slack off?] Cold sweat slid down my back. I stared at the fresh headstone outside my window. My photo was on it. My hands shook. I tried to send my boss a video—no signal. Just dead bars. No service. So how did I check in? Worse— In the rearview mirror, someone in my exact outfit rose slowly from behind a dirt mound. Could it be... Was I already "dead"?

On our seventh wedding anniversary, I was straddling my Mafia husband, Lucian, kissing him deeply. My fingers fumbled in the pocket of my expensive silk dress, searching for the pregnancy test I'd hidden there. I wanted to save the news of my unexpected pregnancy for the end of the evening. Lucian's right-hand man, Marco, asked with a suggestive smile in Italian: "Don, your new little canary, Sophia. How does she taste?" Lucian's mocking laughter vibrated through my chest, sending a chill down my spine. He replied, also in Italian: "Like an unripe peach. Fresh and tender." His hand was still caressing my waist, but his gaze was distant. "Just keep this between us. If my Donna finds out, I'm a dead man." His men chuckled knowingly, raising their glasses and swearing their silence. The warmth in my blood turned to ice, inch by inch. The one thing they didn’t know was that my grandmother was from Sicily, so I understood every word. I forced myself to remain calm, keeping the perfect smile of a Donna fixed in place, but the hand holding my champagne flute trembled. Instead of making a scene, I opened my phone, found the invitation I had received a few days ago for a private international medical research project, and tapped "Accept." In three days, I would disappear from Lucian's world completely.

"He forced me to abort our child. He cheated on me and gave me divorce papers." Videl Walker gave a man everything and was repaid with betrayal. For three years, she stood behind Eric Walker, quietly saving his collapsing empire, lifting him into power while the world crowned him a billionaire. In return, he cheated, discarded her, and erased her existence as if she had meant nothing. He thought she was weak. He was wrong. Videl is not just a discarded wife. She is a trained leader, raised in blood and discipline, forged by loss long before Eric ever entered her life. Eight years ago, her parents were murdered, her homeland Goma Island was sealed from the world, and revenge became the only thing keeping her alive. Now she is back. Eric Walker’s success was built on her sacrifice, and she intends to reclaim everything, piece by piece. But Eric is only the beginning. Beyond him lies a greater enemy, a locked island, and a debt written in blood. Videl is done being silent. Done being merciful. Done being invisible. This time, she will not beg. She will not forgive. She will destroy.

"Sir, does the massage require me to take off my pants?" When I'm celebrating the holidays in the village, I suffer from a stomachache after accidentally ingesting spoiled food. There isn't a proper clinic or hospital in the rural village, so I can only ask the local doctor to give me a massage. Unexpectedly, he suddenly tugs my pants off before the massage. He even tells me, "This is so that I can purge the evil energy out of your body." Meanwhile, I'm already soaked down there, so my evidence of arousal is quickly spotted by the doctor as soon as he removes my pants. His lust overtakes his senses at that moment, causing him to pin me down…

My grandfather died on a covert mission, and authorities approved a grand funeral in his honor. Concerned about my grief, my fiancé offered to handle the arrangements. On the day of the funeral, I arrived with my grandfather's ashes, only to find his portrait discarded on the ground, replaced by one of a dog. Furious, I tried to remove it, but my fiancé's adopted sister stopped me. "Hands off that portrait!" Suppressing my fury, I countered, "This is my grandfather's funeral. He was a decorated hero." "So what?" She shrugged, sneering, "Isaac said Luck deserves the grandest send-off. If you've got a problem, take it up with him. Adoring me, he'd cancel your engagement and ditch you in a heartbeat." I laughed incredulously, calling Isaac's family. "You people begged for this engagement. Since when does your adopted daughter get to call it off?"

The company had been losing money for two consecutive years. That year, with our biggest client suddenly going out of business, we lost nearly ten million dollars in receivables. On New Year's Eve, I sent out a company-wide apology email after much deliberation. The email stated, "At this moment, I regret to inform that we can only increase each employee's monthly salary by 20 dollars this year." An intern named Ingrid Little took a screenshot of the email and posted it online. In no time, her post started trending. The entire internet criticized me for being fake and pretending to be poor. They said that my shameless act was a blatant insult to my employees' hard work. "20 dollars doesn't even cover commuting!" "Why hasn't this garbage company gone under yet?" Ingrid replied to each comment with the same line: "I don't care about the money. I just feel insulted. I'm quitting tomorrow." The next day, I walked into the office with bloodshot eyes and turned on the company-wide broadcast. I announced, "Since some people believe I've insulted their dignity, you may submit your resignation immediately. However, you will no longer be entitled to the year-end bonus of 20 thousand dollars." Everyone gasped in disbelief. Ingrid turned completely pale, and some workers even rushed into my office impulsively. "Boss, this has nothing to do with me! I stand with the company!" After all, my company had increased salaries for 37 consecutive years and given an average raise of over 2,000 dollars each time. They wouldn't find a company like mine elsewhere.

Charlene was taken away by Alfredo, a Ruthless Mafia who doesn’t joke with his money on her father’s burial. She was taken away to be sold to get back the money her father owed him but everything changed on the Auction day when Alfredo begins to imagine her in her bed. Alfredo who was supposed to sold her off keeps her for himself and slowly what was meant to be list turn out to be love. Alfredo began to fear loosing her because he had so many enemies but Charlene choose to be with him. Charlene got pregnant but Alfredo wasn’t aware, Alfredo enemies became much and he forced her out of his life even though he had his men watching her. Charlene left with tears but hit kidnapped by Alfredo’s rival in the underworld, Alfredo rival who wanted to use Charlene to get Alfredo sees the charlene’s pregnancy as an opportunity for he and his wife to have their own babies. Will Alfredo rival and his wife take Charlene’s babies away ? Will Alfredo find Charlene? Will Charlene forgive Alfredo?

Lewd videos of my best friend, Katie Anderson, are suddenly leaked online, and I defend her in public. However, Katie ends up accusing me of leaking the videos in the first place. All of a sudden, the entire Internet turns against me. I get blacklisted by the whole entertainment industry and get cyberbullied online as well. Katie's die-hard fans abduct Mom by throwing a sack over her head and record lewd videos of her, driving her to so much shame she jumps off a building and dies. Meanwhile, Dad drinks rat poison and dies next to Mom's grave. After my family is torn apart, I ask Katie why she wants to frame me for everything. She replies, "Samael is the richest heir in the city. This is his fetish. You were the one who made everything into a big fuss. Of course, it's you who'll have to bear the responsibility for everything!" Samael Crews slinks his arm around Katie's waist and looks at me with a mocking smile on his face. "Did you think you were just trying to help out a fellow woman? Sorry, ex-girlfriend, but your precious bestie here is nothing more than an obedient lapdog of mine!" I end up being sold to Meowmar and eventually die from mistreatment. When I open my eyes again, I realize that I am reborn on the day that Katie accuses me of leaking her lewd videos online. This time, I choose to ignore her completely.

Zuleika… Lanvini Alpha-born, dangerously unhinged, and hotter than sin. With eyes that flash gold when his wolf rises and tattoos that feel more like symbols than ink, he’s the kind of male my parents warned me about. The kind bred to conquer. Heir to the Darkfire Pack. Sworn enemy to mine. And the most powerful wolf on campus. I’m Mistborn—descended from the sacred bloodline of Silvermist. My wolf was supposed to awaken under the moon’s blessing, not from a stolen touch in the dark. But the moment Lanvin brushed against me, something ancient stirred in my bones. My wolf chose him. He’s my natural-born enemy. So why does every part of me want to kneel? Lanvin… She doesn’t know what she is. Doesn’t know the power coiled beneath her skin—or the chaos it could bring. Zuleika is Mistborn. The inner-blood of the Silvermist Pack. Sacred. Protected. Forbidden. She’s also my best friend’s sister. And my fated mate. I felt it the second our wolves brushed souls. A connection no Alpha could sever. Not even my father. But a bond between Silvermist and Darkfire? It’s treason. The kind that starts wars. Still, I’d risk exile. I’d burn my title, my pack, the very laws that raised me—because my wolf won’t let her go. And if fate dares stand between us, I’ll tear the moon from the sky to make her mine.

My boss, Patrick Hoffman, has made a bad investment that fails. When the board wants someone to be held accountable for the loss, he makes me the fall guy. Now that I've been fired from the company, I can no longer make my mortgage payments. My wife, Georgia Lowe, ends up falling seriously ill as well. In dire need of money, I ask Patrick for my severance pay. Sitting in his luxury car, he simply tosses me a few hundred dollars, saying, "You expect me to give you severance pay? I lost over a billion dollars because of you, Heath! How dare you ask me for money? "Here. Take these hundred-dollar bills and buy your wife a decent coffin!" My fists clench as I watch him drive off. Later that night, I drop a bombshell in a group chat filled with investors and business owners. "Seeking employment—bringing years of professional experience in cooking the books to the table. My former boss has nothing but praise for my abilities!"