Great Expectations Project Gutenberg Novels & Stories

I give up on my position as a higher-up in a listed company just so I can accompany my wife, Jennifer Hurley, to a rural area to carry out a cultural tourism project. I even help her secure subsidies from the government and transform that project into a state-recognized exemplary project. But the first thing Jennifer does right after becoming the main person in charge of the project is force me to quit. "I want to tender an application for this project to be recognized nationally. Unfortunately, as the main person in charge, my spouse isn't allowed to take on any roles in the business aspect. "Either you quit your job or get divorced. You should make your choice." I don't hesitate to quit my job on the spot. But after that, Jennifer has her assistant, Maurice Gould, take over my position immediately. Her reasoning is, "Young people know more about coming up with creative ways to promote cultural projects. Our project needs new blood." At the afterparty, Jennifer raises her wine glass and gives a grand speech on the project's success. It turns out that I'm the only one who gets kicked out after everything I've done.

The Moon Goddess never chose me. At least, that’s what I thought. Abandoned as a baby, raised as Ridge Storm Pack’s pity project, I learned to fight for every grade, every scrap of respect, every breath inside Silver Ridge Academy’s walls. A place built on the Great Accord where wolves, fae, witches, and dragon-blooded heirs train together under wards older than memory. A place where dominance is currency, and I’ve always been bankrupt. Then they found me. Callum. Jaxon. Rory. Seth.
The Ridge Storm Quadruplets. Thirty-five years old, untouchable, infamous. Alphas without a Luna, warriors feared across Lycandra, second only to the Supreme Alphas who oversee the realm for the triplet Lycan Kings themselves. They say no wolf has ever been chosen by four Alphas. The bond resonance that detonated between us has never happened in history—ten out of ten on the wards. Unprecedented. Impossible. And yet, here we are. Their storm, their blaze, their rogue, their prince.
My shadows. My chains. My undoing. Every touch sparks like lightning. Every glance feels like a promise I’m terrified to believe. Because if the Goddess gave me to them, She can take it back. And I don’t know what’s more dangerous—fighting this bond, or surrendering to it. One thing is certain: the closer my birthday—and my first shift—draws, the more the power inside me rises. Something none of us understand. Something even the Supreme Alphas are watching. And when the truth comes out, not even the Great Accord will save me.

Hunter is an Alpha of the North with a lot of expectations and standards with regards to his future mate. He doesn't want one but he needed one regardless of what he wants. So before he could meet his future luna, he decides to not fall into her easily and would need to pass his test before he will commit himself into a relationship. "Intimate relationship is not just for fun, or for the sake of having a so-called 'relationship'. It is a lifetime commitment that one should treasure. A lifetime commitment that one should die for." Crest on the other hand, is a daugther of the Alpha in the South, she has been trained for years to be an Alpha Female. She is kind and a joy to her own pack. The Goddess had great joy in her so she made her her successor and blessed her with a purest blood of all. A blood that is a mystery to everyone. Will they accept one another? Will they be able to forgive those who wronged them? Will she be able to make him fall in-love? Or other way around?

During the year-end review, Shirley Johnson, Chris Kennedy’s childhood friend, said she wanted to take over as the project lead so she could get promoted to deputy general manager. For the sake of the company, I turned her down. Shirley, furious, quit on the spot and went to get married. Under my lead, the project brought in billions, and the company went public in one leap. Later, I married Chris. During our honeymoon, I was kidnapped and dragged into an underground compound in Morandia. I was about to call for help when I heard Chris say, "Do whatever you want with this vile woman." I desperately demanded to know why. Chris kicked me in the stomach. "If you hadn’t forced your way into the project lead position back then, Shirley wouldn’t have been pushed into that marriage! She wouldn’t have been abused to death. You owe her." When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day Shirley demanded to be the project lead.

I worked tirelessly to secure a major project with the design institute, but my husband fabricated lies out of nowhere, claiming I was dragging the company down. He handed the credit for my work to his first love. Instead of getting angry, I laughed and gave my position as the company's Design Director to his precious first love too. "Working on projects all the time is exhausting. Why don't I just make you the company's Design Director instead?" Every single colleague thought I'd lost my mind, but nobody knew the project could only succeed because of my unique design style and my connections. Without me, the project would not just fail. The entire company would collapse.

My CEO wife, Gianna Richmond, plans on finally publicly announcing our marriage after our company successfully secures funding. However, Shane Jagger, a junior colleague that she recently hired, suddenly takes the mic from her and bashfully says, "Ms. Richmond, I really didn't think that you would be making our relationship public so quickly. Aren't you spoiling me a little too much?" Gianna doesn't refute that. Instead, she arranges for him to work on a very important project to help him fast-track his growth. At once, all of her employees erupt in cheer and applause, praising them for being a match made in heaven. A long-time colleague, Henry Danson, notices that I'm not saying anything in response, so he whispers to me, "Hey, Brandon, aren't you usually really good at pleasantries and networking? Hurry up and show some support!" I decide not to make a fuss. Instead, I take off my project manager work badge and push it toward Shane instead, declaring, "I don't think just being part of the project is good enough for your status. You should be the project manager as well. Think of it as my gift to you for making your relationship public!"

The night before the tender meeting, my own brother suddenly kicked me out of the project team. "You don't need to attend the tender meeting tomorrow. Give the opportunity to Jenna. I specifically turned down the Wetland Project so I could personally accompany her to the meeting." I froze. Then I rushed off to argue with him, only to run into my fiancé in the corridor as he handed a USB drive to the intern. When he saw me, he spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "I've already handed the proposal you prepared to Jenna. She'll handle it just fine. You're the CEO's daughter—you don't need this one achievement. Jenna's just an intern. She needs the results more than you do." The two of them stood on either side of the intern, looking at me like I was nothing. The project I had poured a full month of effort into had just been handed over to someone else to claim. Just then, I received a message from my father's secretary. 'Ms. Cladwell, the chairman wants you to take over your brother's Wetland Project. If you perform well on this project, you'll become the company's heir.'

The new project was short on staff. Over everyone's objections, I pulled three former colleagues out of an overlooked department where they'd been warming the bench for years. The four of us became the project's core team. The bonus was generous, the workload light. They all said I was their lucky charm. Three months later, with delivery just around the corner, I passed the break room and overheard them talking. "The biggest credit for this project belongs to the three of us. Why should Chloe get an equal share of the bonus just because she recommended us? She barely did any real work." "Exactly. Let's talk to the director. We'll say all the core work was done by us, that she's not up to the task. We'll apply to have her removed from the contributors list." "Just thinking about not having to split those tens of thousands with her—it feels amazing." I pushed the door open. They stared at me, stunned. I smiled. They wanted to kick me out? Too bad. I was the director who parachuted in to evaluate them.

My husband, Keaton Smyth, CEO of Orion Corp, ran the company under strict rules. I brought in a $10 million investment. But I clocked in one second late, so bye-bye VP promotion. I got accused of disrespecting company policy, demoted, and slapped with a pay cut. Then there was Evie Larsen, his shiny new assistant. She ditched work on the day of a huge contract signing and trashed Orion's only shot with a public company. Keaton's response? No punishment. No write-up. He called it "personality," promoted her right there, gave her a raise, and tossed her a river-view apartment as company housing. Evie still wanted more. She pushed to take over Orion's core project, all so she could "prove herself." I shut her down. That same day, she marched into Keaton's office and accused me of power-tripping, insulting her, and refusing to train her. I thought Keaton would see through it. The next morning, my name was gone from the project team. My file access was revoked, too. "Since you're too senior to mentor new hires, you're starting over. Entry-level sales rep. Same level as them." Everyone waited for me to snap. I just smiled and handed over the flash drive with the project data. Keaton nodded, pleased. "Don't let it happen again." What he didn't know? That data wasn't complete. The second they uploaded it, the errors would tank the project—and trigger a breach-of-contract penalty big enough to bury them.

"Anna, are you sure you want to recommend Riley for the Kentran Top-Secret Research Project? It lasts a decade, and you two will be separated for a long time," the person in charge of the project looked at me with shock and doubt in his eyes. Riley and I were known to be the model couple in the company. The story of how he had almost drained all his blood to save me was still something our colleagues talked about here. I looked at the footage from the security camera on my phone, where Riley and Nelly were sleeping together. I nodded resolutely. "Of course. I want the separation." Since Riley had chosen to betray me, he had to pay the price of losing me.