Emergent Strategy

**Evelyn Karamazov** I’ve spent all twenty-three years of my life immersed in the world of the mafia, groomed to rule with an iron fist. But power in our world doesn’t come without a price, and that price is marriage—a union built on strategy rather than so-called love. It’s the last thing I want, but in this life, sacrifices are the currency we trade in. And if I have to choose, I’ll sacrifice to the devil I know rather than the angel I don’t. But make no mistake, a sacrifice is still a sacrifice, and it demands its due. **Killian Bandini** Sixteen years—that’s how long I’ve waited to exact my revenge. Sixteen years to drown in nightmares, consumed by guilt and the unyielding desire to set things right. My father is dead, and now the Bandini empire is mine. The time has come to collect what is owed, and God help those who wronged me, because they will pay with blood. ★ What happens when the most lethal, most infuriating man to ever walk the earth crashes your wedding, puts a bullet in your would-be husband’s head, and holds everyone at gunpoint just to ensure you marry him instead? Killian Bandini doesn’t ask; he takes. But if he thinks I’m some meek bride to be bartered and controlled, he’s dead wrong. I may have to marry him, but I sure as hell won’t make it easy. He’s come for blood and power, but he doesn’t know that I’m not just a pawn—I’m a queen, and this game has only just begun.

He looks at me like he already knows the truth I’ve spent a lifetime hiding. Ethan Vance—lawman, predator, believer in a system I learned to outthink before I could drink wine. His eyes don’t burn with hate. They study, measure, almost… understand. They call him incorruptible. Maybe he is. But I’ve seen incorruptible men fall, not to money or power, but to fascination. The kind that crawls under your skin and makes you wonder if the person chasing you might be the only one who truly sees you. He hunts me by the book. I survive by rewriting it. But somewhere between the pursuit and the silence, between his questions and my lies, the line blurred. And now, I can’t decide which is more dangerous, losing to him, or wanting him to catch me. --- He isn’t what I expected. Luca Vitale walks into every room like he owns it, and maybe he does. Calm. Calculated. Dangerous in ways that don’t show up on a rap sheet. He should be just another target, another name I take down and file away. But there’s something about the way he looks at me. Like he already knows I’m not as untouchable as I pretend to be. I tell myself it’s strategy, curiosity, control. It’s not. It’s a problem. Because every time I think I’m closing in, I realise he’s already two steps ahead—and for the first time in my career, I’m not sure if I’m hunting him, or if he’s letting me try.

Charlie Wayne’s life is perfect. Or it was. As a VP who commands boardrooms and a playboy who elegantly ends every date at his door by 3 AM, Charlie’s world is built on control. But lately, his system has a glitch. A streak of bizarre, comically bad luck—flat tires at dawn, mysterious fire alarms, untimely food poisoning—keeps derailing his plans. His flawless exit strategy is in shambles. Carly Dorrington’s life is a lie. But a necessary one. After a blowout fight with her father over their family companies’ merger, Carly needs a place to stay. Where better than with her childhood best friend, Charlie? It’s just temporary. Just two best friends sharing a space. It has nothing to do with the two decades she’s spent loving him from the sidelines, or the quiet hope that maybe, just maybe, proximity will make the world’s most oblivious man finally see her. Now, under his roof, the "coincidences" multiply. Charlie’s chaotic love life grinds to a halt just as Carly’s presence becomes a permanent, comforting fixture. His sacred rules don’t seem to apply to her. His peaceful solitude feels warmer with her in it. As the lines of their friendship blur, Charlie is left to wonder: Is Carly the calm in the center of his storm… or is she the one who’s been stirring it up all along? Note: This is a slow-burn, dual-POV story about best friends, blurred lines, and the long game. If you find yourself wondering"where is this going?" in the early chapters... keep reading. Everything becomes clear in Chapter 4. The foundation is being laid for a reason. Thank you for trusting the process.

Th‍e⁠ir marriage was a transaction.⁠ Th‍eir war was p‍e‌rsonal. T⁠hei‌r pas‌sion was unforeseen. Elara Vega is an⁠ artist whose life i‌s p‌ainted in bold⁠, rebellio‌us colors. When a devastating betrayal by he‌r‍ own family threa‍tens to de⁠stroy everything‍ her⁠ father built, she is‌ given a brut⁠al ch‍oice: sell her‌ freedom to save his le⁠gacy. ⁠Kaelan Sterling is a billionaire fortress of ice and ambit‍ion. To secu⁠re a cruc‌ial merger and shield his empire from a l‌urking threat, he needs‍ one thing: the per⁠fect, unto⁠uchable wife. He doesn't want lo‌ve; he wants a business‍ pa‍rtner. Bound by a cold, clinical contract, they a⁠re‌ enemies from‍ the start. He sees her as a chaotic liability. She sees him as a heartless tycoon. Their for‌ced proximity is a battle of‌ will‍s, fi⁠lled⁠ with sha‌rp word‌s and eve‌n sharper attra‍ction. Bu‍t in t‍he gilded cag⁠es of penthouses⁠ a‌nd high‌-society ga‍la⁠s, a dangerou‍s fire ignites. As a c‍ommon en‍emy closes in, their fa⁠ke r⁠elationship begins to feel terrifyingly real. The lines between strategy and surrender b‍lur. But when hi‍dden truths surface and old‍ wounds are ripped open, their fragile trus⁠t shatt⁠ers. Now, El⁠ara must‌ decide if the man behind th‍e fortune‌ i‍s worth the ultimate risk, and Kaelan must learn that some bonds are too powerful to be broken-even by a billion-dollar contract.

I stand on the brink of a past I've lived and a future I've yet to claim. Five years ago, my world crumbled when Lucan, the Alpha I loved, the man destined to be my mate, chose betrayal over loyalty; my sister over me. His blatant rejection of my love but refusal to reject our bond, kept me on a string for years. Until my sister decided to orchestrate my murder when I fell pregnant with Lucan's child. Fate, it seems, holds a twisted sense of mercy. I find myself back in time, five years before my life turned into a nightmare, on the night my Mate Bond with Lucan snaps into place. But this time, I'm not the same Verena. I refuse to be the victim, the one walked all over. With a resolve forged from pain and betrayal, I stand before our pack, our family, our friends, and I shatter the expectations of fate. I reject Lucan, and the ripple of shock is my first taste of victory. But my plan doesn't stop there. I aim higher, daring to entangle my fate with his enemy, Alpha Niklaus King, a man as dangerous as he is ruthless. It's supposed to be a game, a strategy to topple Lucan from his throne. I didn't anticipate the fire Niklaus would ignite in my soul, a passion fierce and consuming. As I grow closer to him, the lines blur; my heart, once set on revenge, now beats a different rhythm. Torn between the past's shadows and a future that's as uncertain as it is thrilling, I find myself questioning everything. Lucan's betrayal branded me, but Niklaus offers a chance at healing, at power. Yet, can I trust this new bond, or will it become another chain?

Ibsen Maulanza atau Moza adalah seorang remaja tampan rupawan yang salah asuhan, ia hakikatnya hanyalah pemuda biasa yang dalam pencarian jati diri. Namun, karena ia dibesarkan dalam lingkungan orang-orang yang menentang pemerintah dan mengemban misi untuk membuat berbagai kekacauan dan keonaran dalam negeri dengan maksud hilangnya kepercayaan masyarakat pada pemerintah, dan pada saat itulah para pemberontak yang sedang memperjuangkan kemerdekaan muncul sebagai pahlawan, begitulah yang diutarakan pemimpin mereka. Senjata dan peperangan adalah keahliannya, karena sejak dalam asuhan Gandara, ia sudah diajarkan cara merakit dan menggunakan senjata serta berbagai strategy perang hingga ia pun tumbuh sebagai mesin pembunuh. Misi utama Moza bukan hanya memerdekakan wilayahnya, tapi juga ingin mencari tahu siapa sesungguhnya orang yang telah membunuh keluarganya dengan keji. Kekacauan dan keonaran yang ia buat, hakikatnya hanyalah pelampiasan dendam yang bersarang di dadanya. Sebuah Misi hampir saja berhasil jika saja tahanan utama mereka tidak berhasil meloloskan diri, dan lolosnya tahanan mereka mengakibatkan peristiwa fatal. Markas pemberontak dibombardir dan banyak pasukan pemberontak yang tewas. Apalagi setelah peristiwa itu pemerintah mengadakan sapu bersih yang mengakibatkan semakin sempitnya pergerakan pasukan pemberontak. Moza yang masih berusia remaja namun menjadi salah satu yang diperhitungkan oleh pemimpin pergerakan, demi keamanannya, lewat relasi tersembunyi pemimpin pergerakan, Moza akhirnya dimasukan ke sebuah kampus dan menyamar sebagai mahasiswa. Namun, keputusan pemimpinnya itu justru menjadi bumerang bagi pergerakan mereka, karena Moza ternyata hanyut dengan rutinitas barunya. Apalagi setelah ia berjumpa dengan seorang gadis cantik mempesona bernama Zahra Maorrin Ayesha, dan karena gadis itu juga lah Moza berbalik arah memerangi pemberontak, dan para tentara Republik yang penasaran atas aksi heroik Moza yang berhasil menonaktifkan bom di kantor gubernur, kini mencari tahu siapa sesungguhnya Moza. Gerak gerik Moza pun semakin sempit, karena ia kini diburu oleh dua kelompok, pemberontak yang ingin membunuhnya dan tentara Republik yang ingin membongkar jaringan pemberontak.