Duke University Libraries Novels & Stories

Everyone believes Aria Vale has everything. Daughter of the elusive billionaire founder of Vale Global, she lives behind quiet luxury and a reputation for kindness. To give back, Aria secretly funds scholarships for underprivileged students at Northbridge University, never revealing that she is the real heiress behind the fortune. One of those students is Lena Ward—a girl Aria rescues from poverty and personally sponsors. But Lena wants more than a scholarship. When Lena discovers who Aria really is, she begins weaving a dangerous lie—slowly convincing everyone at the university that she is the mysterious Vale heiress. Suddenly Aria becomes invisible. Her classmates mock her. Professors doubt her. And the man she thought loved her—Daniel Hart, charming, ambitious, and dangerously opportunistic—abandons her the moment Lena claims the billionaire name. But Lena’s biggest mistake is thinking Aria is weak. Because Aria Vale isn’t just a quiet girl with money. She’s the heir to a business empire built on ruthless strategy—and she’s about to prove that kindness should never be mistaken for helplessness. As secrets unravel and alliances shift, Aria prepares the ultimate revenge. But when Adrian Cross, a cold and powerful rival billionaire, enters her life with his own hidden agenda, Aria realizes something terrifying: The lies surrounding her identity may run far deeper than Lena’s betrayal. And someone might be trying to erase the real heiress entirely.

Anaya shahid is a Muslim girl who is 19 year old.she is university student everyone loves her for her innocence and cherish nature. she is only child of her parents. she lived her life happily . Shehryaar Khan is a famous business tycoon and MAFIA leader who is 25 year old. His parents died by his enemies many years ago when is only 10 year old. He is known as his ruthless and cold-hearted person. he made hurt her and broke her beyond repair ... _____________________ How will fate combine these two?

Leila is a normal girl trying to get through university, except for the fact she dreams of the same man every night. A man that only exists inside her head, but who she cannot stop thinking about. What happens when the man she thought only haunted her dreams, turns out to be real? Not only that, but he's the leader of a terrifying and ruthless gang. Oh and he says he's a werewolf, because those exist right? And he seems to believe she's his fated mate that disappeared only a few short months ago?

Joanne, an 18-year-old high school graduate suddenly woke up one day in an mysterious ancient rainforest. She was saved by a handsome military cadet named Leon who accusing her for trespassing a military exclusion zone. But somehow, she found his turquiose eyes familiar..... This is the Inter-Galaxy Era. She woke up on a strange planet where all men here are stupidly powerful but somehow keep calling themselves as different spieces even though they all look alike under Joanne's eyes. It's alright, self-expression is a basic human right. Joanne couldn't care less; until one day, Leon turns himself into a giant wolf..... O..Okay, no big deal either. Joanne convinces herself. Who cares if it's a dog or a cat or a wolf that saved her? The key point is her life is indeed saved. Then, Leon reveals his true identity as the second to the Throne, Duke of the Empire who is being targeted for assassin this whole time? This is NOT okay anymore! Joanne thought this might be the wrost situation, without knowing one day she will be forced into a marriage with the Heir Apparent, First to the Throne, the top Alpha of the Empire.

"You swear you hate me Ruby, but your eyes tell a different tale. Your body responds to my presence with the promise of the most sinful pleasures of life." "I know you loved him once Ruby, but he's your past. I my dear, I am your future." The alluring Ruby Ferretti is a tempting heiress from the most decorated home in Milan, Italy. If Milan has a royal family, it is the Ferretti’s. She has the face of an angel, but the brains of a demon. The previous year, her elder sister Ethel Ferretti, was forced into an arranged marriage to the duke by their no nonsense father. This year, it is Ruby’s turn to be forced Into an arranged marriage to the heir of the most powerful Greek businessman from a prestigious lineage, Archer Petraki. All hell breaks loose when the arrogant billionaire discovers she's the woman who kidnapped him a few weeks back. He vows to put the sharp-witted beauty in her place, while Ruby plans to defy her father if it meant being stuck in a loveless marriage. A whirlwind of love, betrayal, power, lust, and drama tests the relationship between these two powerful families, leaving losses behind.

“You are driving me crazy” the stranger murmured, his voice low and strained. “I need you right now.” “Then take it, take the wheel and give me a good ride” I whispered with reckless abandon. “It seems your p**sy is also sobbing?” His breath skimmed my neck, slow and deliberate as he slipped a finger into it. “Fuck me already” I begged. This sin tested like everything I vowed not to commit but too late, I've lost control. For five years, Camille Christopher Hayes played the role of the obedient wife to a narcissistic, cheating husband who stripped her of her voice, her dreams, and her freedom. Until the night she snapped. And ended up having a one night stand with a stranger in the dark. A man who turned out to be her husband’s powerful boss. and his secret stepfather. The almighty Duke Smith. Older. Ruthless and devastatingly irresistible—with a sprinkle of scandal, who was also rumored to be impotent. Yet one forbidden night shatters every lie, leaving the allegedly barren Camille pregnant and entangled in a passion powerful enough to destroy empires.

When hedge fund mogul Marcus Hale serves his wife Valentina with divorce papers, he believes he's trading her in for a shinier upgrade. What he doesn't know: the devoted woman he's discarding—the one who overlooked his coldness, his absences, his wandering eye—is the sole heir to the Reyes family's sprawling motorcycle empire, the most powerful MC dynasty on the East Coast. For seven years, Valentina buried her roots, reinventing herself as the perfect society wife while her real world waited back in Blackridge. Now, with her grandfather's health failing and the Reyes empire leaderless, she's forced to return home—straight into the orbit of Duke Callahan, the club VP who built himself from nothing after she left, and who never stopped waiting for her to find her way back. *Some men trade gold for glitter and call it an upgrade. Some women have to lose a husband to remember who they were born to be. In Blackridge, the most dangerous roads don't run on asphalt—they run straight through the heart.*

The day before the SAT, Lewis Sutton, the most popular boy in class, volunteered to help everyone verify their test centers and organize two charter buses for everyone. Just before departure, he suddenly stopped me. "Finley, I just realized your test center is Easthaven. Both buses are headed to Westbrook." Everyone thought it was no big deal. "Just take a cab. We can't risk missing the exam for you." When I asked Lewis for the transportation list, Cerys Moore stepped in front of me. She lowered her voice to insist, "Lewis is already exhausted from coordinating logistics for the whole class. Why are you kicking up such a big fuss over nothing? "If you're this petty now, you're going to give him a harder time in college. "I'm warning you, either don't apply to Northbridge University or Blackwell University, or intentionally skip one of your exam subjects, so you won't end up attending the same school as us. Otherwise, our engagement is over." Too fed up to argue, I simply hailed a cab and headed to my test center alone. When I arrived at the Easthaven test center in the nick of time, our homeroom teacher, Mrs. Leah Williamson, was standing outside, sweating profusely from anxiety. "Why did both buses go to Westbrook? The entire class is supposed to take the exam in Easthaven!"

Selene Morie watches as the world starts crumbling, the stars are falling and people were dying. She was ready to die that moment, or maybe she indeed died that time but then she heard a voice asking her If the world is ending what would she do? She answered consciously and before she knew it, she entered a white blank space and was told that she can redeem her world and past life back if she can successfully finish the mission that will be given to her. It is to prevent a world from collapsing. •• When Selene Morie became Selene Aphelion also known as the Kingdom's moon and the Duke's daughter, she knew things aren't as easy as she expected. The moment she woke up, she appeared in a mysterious world of Immortals, Sorcery, Beasts, and War. She was told that her mission is to prevent the world from collapsing, how can she do that if she can't even save her own world? Furthermore, she became the destined woman of an immortal. Her soulmate is the same man who will declare war in the future. To prevent that tragic end, she must tame and unblackened the notorious Monarch of the Underworld, Azrael.

Elin was supposed to marry the crown prince and become the queen. That's what her father the duke had always told her, and that's what everyone believed. That is until the day the crown prince mysteriously loses his life in a tragic event leaving Elin drowning in grief, anger, and guilt. Fingers point out at her in suspicion as the next in line for the throne. As the conflict between noble parties began she's thrown into a fight for succession with her cousin and childhood friend, Louis. That's when the king interfered, sending Elin to study with her cousin at the royal academy postponing the announcement of the next heir, and giving her the perfect chance to realize her goals. Taking that as her chance, Elin begins to orchestrate her plans to investigate who killed her fiance while looking for a way to let her cousin win the succession battle. If only they would let her step down from the throne. She didn't expect that Louis too had his own plans in all this madness. And that she would meet someone else who would make her reconsider her decision and shake the fragile balance she was standing on.