Duke Library Hours Novels & Stories

On International Women's Day, I spent twelve hours straight in a live stream, selling $5 million worth of product. When it came time to settle my commission, my aunt and boss, Sandra Holt, quietly transferred my $400,000 cut into her own account and handed me $500, labeled as a meal stipend. She took my hand with a warm, motherly smile. "Sweetheart, you're still an intern. Taking that much money at your age would hurt your career development. Let me hold onto it for you. Put it toward a car someday." I looked at the sharp calculation behind her kind eyes. I didn't argue. I took the money without a word. That night, I deleted my account and vanished, taking my entire product-sourcing system with me. The next morning, Aunt Sandra stared at a live stream with ten viewers and finally started blowing up my phone.

Yesterday she was nobody, but today she had the chance to be the queen of the town.  Yesterday she was just a normal twenty-five-year-old with a lot of responsibility and debt that was greater than the hours she worked, but today the opportunity was right in front of her that would alleviate all of her financial worries. The only thing she needed to do was to say "Yes" to her boss and the world would be on her feet. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that held the power to change her miserable fate. This was her second and last chance to say yes to happiness, life, and love. The only problem was she needed to marry her ruthless, cold, heartless billionaire CEO, whom she loathed more than the one-bedroom trash apartment she was sharing with her sister. Now the decision depends on the next word she was going to say. The next morning, either she would have another world in her palm, or she would continue to have this pathetic life. Only time will tell.

Elijah Collins has exactly forty-eight hours before the loan sharks his late father borrowed come to collect – and they aren’t interested in payment plans. When a stranger in a three-thousand-dollar suit buys out his debt in the middle of a bar, Elijah thinks he’s been saved. He hasn’t. Alexander Reed, CEO of Reed Capital and the most feared dealmaker on Wall Street, does nothing without an agreement. His proposal is stark: Elijah will be his partner for three months, charming investors at high-end galas, dispelling rumors, and the entire debt will be wiped clean. Refuse, and Alexander turns him over to the loan sharks. Elijah agrees. But living in Alexander's frigid, flawless world is far different from what Elijah expected. Because beneath Alexander's icy surface, something is hiding, something that could ruin them both. And Elijah, against every survival instinct he possesses, is falling. The agreement is three months. His heart is already overdue.

Our daughter was diagnosed with a genetic illness. To save her, my husband founded a charity in her name. To raise the funds, he pushed himself to the brink—working three hundred days straight, surviving on three hours of sleep a night. His relentless drive moved countless people. The media hailed him as "Father of the Year." Everyone congratulated me on having such a devoted partner. Then came the day he rallied the entire nation, securing pledges for millions in donations to fund our daughter's cure. At the gala, with over ten million dollars moments from being transferred, I suddenly hit the pause button. "And now, we'll take a brief intermission for a signing," I announced. The room erupted. They shouted at me, called me selfish, a monster. My husband stared at me, utterly stunned. "Have you lost your mind? Children around the world are waiting on this money to survive! What in God's name are you talking about?" I lifted my gaze to meet his. "A divorce agreement."

She never saw it coming. One day, the man she loved was just... gone. All she had left was a single, cryptic letter, received mere hours after he had proposed to her. ​The very next day, she found out the devastating truth: he had married the billionaire's daughter. The pain of his betrayal was almost unbearable, but the deluge of unanswered questions was even worse. Why did he leave? What had she done wrong? ​A month later, he returned—not just as a widowed billionaire, but as her new boss. She was now his secretary, forced to sit across from the man who shattered her world. He was full of regret, practically begging for a second chance. He claimed he had made a terrible mistake and desperately wanted her back. ​But soon, she would learn the truth behind his sudden departure—the real reason he had abandoned her. And that truth? It cut deeper than any betrayal ever could.

During a business trip to Canada, Ethan Thomas is staged by an enemy, accused of raping an underage girl. In order to save Ethan Thomas from the law, Ethan's lawyer came up with a solution, suggesting that Ethan marry the girl he slept with. However, a few hours before the wedding, Mila escaped from the wedding with a huge amount of money that she appropriated from Ethan. Because the amount of money Mila appropriated from Ethan is too large, Mila's family is not able to repay the money to Ethan. So they forced Ula to replace Mila to marry Ethan. In retaliation for the care of her foster parents over the years, Ula has agreed to marry Ethan in order to erase the huge amount of money that Mila has seized. She accepts to marry a stranger she doesn't love. Will this unexpected marriage lead to a good outcome? Or is this marriage just a disguise in exchange for Ethan's freedom? Will the love between Ethan and Ula be born? Or is this just a marriage contract between two people?

A concerned sister… Chloe Madison would do anything to find her missing brother. When she stumbles upon some information that leads her to a nearby military science facility, she doesn’t hesitate to sneak under the barbed wire fence and steal some files. Everything seems to be going to plan. That is, until a handsome soldier finds her with her hands in his filing cabinet. Instead of reporting her, he lets her go. She hurries home, his golden eyes all she can think of. A broken soldier… Captain Jackson Wolfe just returned from a hellish tour of duty in Afghanistan. Scarred and hiding terrible secrets, he is sent to a desk job. He just recently found out the hard way that he was a werewolf. Not only that, as far as he knows, he’s the only one of his kind. He knows he shouldn’t be around people and keeps to himself until he sees Chloe stealing files. He knows he should stop her, but her scent and something in her eyes stops him. A coverup worth killing for… When Wolfe follows Chloe to the library, he discovers that he’s not the only one of his kind. Someone doesn’t like that Chloe has been digging around, threatening to expose the secrets of her brother and the wolf shifters. In fact, they’re willing to kill to stop her. Wolfe knows that he must protect Chloe. After all, she may be the only thing that can save him from himself.

She was back. She is innocent and beautiful. She was intimidated. He was ambitious. He is kind and handsome. He falls in love. In the sultry haze of passion’s fire, Two hearts collided, desire unbridled. Their love, a clandestine affair, Igniting flames that danced and swirled. Amidst tangled sheets and whispered vows, they wove a tale of stolen moments, Each touch a confession, each kiss a plea, To drown in the depths of their shared ecstasy. The moon bore witness to their stolen nights, As they traced constellations on bare skin, Their secrets etched in sweat and sighs, A love forbidden, yet impossible to rescind. But dawn arrived, cruel and unyielding, tearing them apart like fragile petals. Promises whispered, promises broken, Their hearts left bleeding, forever unsettled. And so, they became ghosts of passion, haunted by memories of that steamy affair, Their love a bittersweet ache, a silent confession, In the quiet hours when the world ceased to care. For love, once ignited, never truly dies, It lingers in the shadows, a smoldering flame, A testament to the heat of their stolen nights, A tale of love after a steamy affair, untamed.

We've all had bad days, but when Jayna Mitchell gets dumped by her long term boyfriend AND loses her job in the same 24 hours, she believes she's hit rock bottom. While drowning her sorrows at an unfamiliar bar she meets Ryan Hanson, a handsome man who was also recently dumped by his boyfriend. After a night of drinking, Ryan offers Jayna an opportunity she can't refuse--to escape with him to his family's vacation home in Siesta Key. With nothing to lose, Jayna agrees, looking forward to a drama free vacation away from her worries. However, nothing prepared Jayna for the drama that is the Hanson brothers. What happens when Jayna and Ryan show up to the house at the same time as Ryan's estranged older brother Alec? Can the 3 of them co-exist peacefully, or will the attraction between Alec and Jayna and tension between Ryan and Alec tear apart her newly formed friendship?

On the day billionaire CEO Damian Cole divorces her in favor of his mistress, Elena Reyes loses everything she thought mattered. Humiliated, betrayed, and carrying a secret she hasn’t shared with anyone, Elena walks away from her marriage determined never to look back. But fate has other plans. Within hours, Elena discovers she’s pregnant with twins and inherits her grandfather’s twelve-billion-dollar empire. Overnight, the discarded wife becomes one of the most powerful women in the world—and the owner of a debt that could destroy Damian’s company. As old secrets unravel and hidden betrayals come to light, Elena must decide whether revenge is worth the price of her future. With powerful enemies closing in and the father of her children desperate for a second chance, she finds herself caught between the woman she was and the woman she’s destined to become. This time, Elena Reyes isn’t fighting to save her marriage. She’s fighting to reclaim her life.