Handbook Recently Deceased Novels & Stories

On her first day at work, a new colleague uploaded a 500-million-dollar property purchase agreement to the company group chat. The message was accompanied by the caption: “Thanks for the gift for my first day at work, Dad!” She quickly deleted it, following up with, “Sorry, wrong chat!” I frowned, recognizing the contract immediately. It was the same property my father gifted me for my birthday a month ago. Some sharp-eyed colleagues noticed the contract number and chimed in. “I have a relative in real estate. I remember this property. Our chairman bought it recently!” “So, the heiress has joined us to experience life. Forgive your humble servant for not recognizing you!” The chat was soon filled with flattering remarks. Even my stingy and miserly husband joined in. I felt a coldness in my heart and couldn’t help but respond in the group chat, “I recall the president always opposing ostentatious displays of wealth and advocating humility. This heiress seems to veer away from his usual philosophy.” Instead of support, I faced attacks from my husband and others. “Look at you being so poor and petty. How could you ever compare to Grace? Why did I ever marry someone so shortsighted?” “As if you know the president that well! I think you’re just jealous that Grace was born with a silver spoon!” I sneered coldly and, without hesitation, dialed the president’s number right in front of everyone. “Dad, I heard we’re not that close, hmm?”

**Dez** Dezmond woke in a cold sweat. The ache in his heart was worse than ever before. It had been growing more intense over the past few weeks. He got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash his face. He didn't bother looking in the mirror, he knew what he would see. His face would be white and his eyes haunted with the need to find answers. Dezmond needed to know why he was being tormented in his dreams. He was never supposed to dream again. "I can't take this anymore." said Dezmond gloomily. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Ruby** Ruby couldn't focus in class, another night of tossing and turning. Seeing the flames consume her house. Hearing the screams as her family slowly died, knowing there was nothing she could do. It had been almost three years since the incident. The day she lost her family in the fire. She was the only one who wasn't in the house. And she relived that horror every night in her dreams. Though recently her nightmares felt different. More like a warning rather than a memory. "Rough night?" whispered Haven. Haven had been friends with Ruby since they were little kids. "Yeah, they started happening again." Ruby whispered back. They never really stopped. "Have you talked to anyone about it? Ruby, you can't keep it a secret forever." This is the same discussion they had just after the incident.

Soraia was just an ordinary girl until she found herself the plaything of a vampire and a werewolf, but it was into the dark world of passion and blood of the cruel vampire that she sank-and he only wants her for one purpose, to bring his beloved back from the dead and discover what is so valuable hidden in Soraia's blood. But Augustus, the Alpha of the powerful werewolf pack of Lacrimal city knows that Soraia is his true love and with the help of his mother, a wolf gypsy, he is willing to do anything to protect her. Miranda was brought back from the dead for one purpose only - to protect Soraia from the hands of Julio Cesar, the vampire who killed her in the distant past. Amy was also just an ordinary girl and Soraia's best friend until she was bitten by a vampire, but it was not the bite that transformed her but the fire that is running through her veins. Deaths and attacks by beings until recently only heard in folklore are making the police's hair stand on end, even the skepticism of Police Chief Sergio is getting shaken, not to mention that his investigator is hiding something from him. Malvina is facing frequent vampire attacks, but the hardest part is hiding who she really is from her colleagues and the police chief; Lacrimal city and Palaços are two distinct cities but both are suffering from cruel attacks by beings that until then were only in the popular imagination, but now live among us. And if we don't take a stand, accept them or kill them, they will live on after us.

My father suffered a heart attack and collapsed. Emergency treatment required the installation of a cardiac stent. I asked my husband to approve an expense of 10 thousand dollars for the surgery. Cameron Lister, the CEO, refused coldly, "The company and family accounts have been frozen recently because of a major project. Your father has medical insurance, so just use a cost-effective domestic stent for now." He was the sole administrator of all the bank cards in my family. His reply made me sorrowfully realize something. Even though I was a genius architectural designer with an annual income of 600 thousand dollars, I was still not worthy of choosing a better life-saving device for my own father. It was a Twitter post forwarded by a colleague, freshly and gleefully posted by the company intern Wendy. [Cameron is so nice. I just said I liked painting, and he gave me a million dollars to organize an art exhibition. I love him so much!] I looked at my father lying on an extra bed in the hospital corridor, groaning in pain, and then looked at the photo of them sweetly embracing each other. I finally understood that Cameron had perhaps never truly loved me. He had only treated me as a stepping stone for his soaring career, and as a tool for him to exploit without limits. 'If this is what you want, Cameron, then don't blame me for being ruthless,' I said inwardly.

The year Lawrence Scott and I were most in love, he died in a car accident. Everyone thought I would fall apart, but I did not cry, and I did not scream. Two years later, I ran into him at a private lounge: Lawrence was there, holding a young girl in his arms, kissing her passionately. His friends hurried over to explain: "Back then, Lawrence was badly injured in the crash and fell into a coma. He just woke up recently but lost his memory. We didn't tell you because we didn't want you to worry." Lawrence pushed the girl aside, frowned slightly, and looked straight at me. "So you're the fiancée I supposedly forgot? I don't remember you, but since you never gave up on me, I'll honor my promise to marry you." I smiled faintly and said, "They lied to you. We don't know each other." What Lawrence did not know was that on the day he faked his death, I received a video. In it, he was laughing and saying to his friends, "The thought of spending the rest of my life with only Yoana drives me crazy. I'll fake my death, take a few years off to have fun. Just keep her company so she doesn't do anything stupid." He also did not know that during those two years he was 'dead,' I had found someone else.

Ellie is a shy, lanky teenager, thrust into a world she doesn't belong in; a place whose students are worth more than their weight in gold. So Ellie 's plan is simple; keep her head down and focus on her studies. Be invisible. But her plan shatters the moment she spills grape juice on Carter; the school’s golden boy, untouchable because of the power his family name possesses. Ellie 's life implodes. What begins as an accident quickly spirals into a literal nightmare. Carter makes Ellie his target, and the torment rapidly escalates until one evening they reach a humiliating agreement. Over time, lines blur adding a delicious layer of confusion to their twisted dynamic, one that neither of them care for. But just when she thinks he can't take it anymore, salvation comes from an unlikely source; her favorite teacher, one he has secretly admired. As this forbidden relationship blooms and Carter is fended off, Ellie can take a deep breath again. Everything is finally ok. Until it isn't. The ultimate betrayal leaves Ellie shattered, sitting amidst the broken pieces of her recently found happiness. She becomes a shell of her former self, shutting out everyone trying to reach her, which shockingly includes Carter. Why? Why is he suddenly desperate to get in touch with Ellie ? And will he succeed? Or will it not matter anyway because she's too far gone?

Julie thought she had it all: a Husband who loves her, a promise of forever, and a love story born under the Montana sky. But betrayal shattered her world, leaving her a single mother on the run. Adam, the love of her life and the man she trusted, cheated and betrayed her, leaving a trail of lies and a burning past. Four years later, fate intervenes. A chance encounter with their son throws them together again. Adam, consumed by guilt and regret, fights for a second chance. Julie, hardened by hurt, grapples with the ghosts of their past and the constant attacks of the jealous socialite Elena, Adams new Fiance . Adam was laced with Drama, She'd never knew he was the Owner of Delta Tech and A playboy billionaire, that was until she saw the man she recently had divorced announce his new engagement to the world while she wasted away in a jail cell. She had finally started to build again and Adam comes back to flip her world upside down, she needs to protect her child. And although Adam is pleading for a second chance, and promising to right his wrongs she falls deeper and deeper into the whole she struggled so hard to get out of. As the truth unravels, secrets come to light, and a web of deceit threatens to tear them apart. Can they overcome the firestorm of lies and Elena's vengeful fury? Can their ranch love rekindle amidst the opulence of a billionaire's world?

Leah is back on the family farm in Mozambique, where she meets doctor Sergio Martinez whom she immediately feels attracted to. But Leah is certainly not happy to see that her ex-husband Ralph is also back here. Apparently to complete the dream eco-holiday destination he originally planned, when they were married to each other. What is really uncomfortable is the fact that he wants her back as his wife. He still wants to make a baby with her! Leah acquired a little bit of money after selling her grandmother's house in Pretoria. And Ralph knows about it. He is a dangerous man if he believes there is money somewhere that he can get his hands on. But for some or another reason, Ralph Jameson suddenly has money of his own as well. Did he inherit it from the much older deceased woman he briefly married, after divorcing Leah? Or did he steal it from her while she was still alive? Sergio Martinez is happy with the card life dealt him. He is a veterinarian working for an international company dealing with the relocation and breeding of wild animals for National Parks all over Africa. The lion project, wildlife sanctuary and hospital for injured animals is on a farm neighboring Hurters Retreat. He rents a flat from John Hurter, as he got himself a pet now, an African Wild cat. Gato needs to be kept away from the vet's patients and other threats in the bush. Hurters Retreat felt like a safe haven for his cat and his heart. But suddenly he is not that sure anymore. Why does it feel as if Leah was the woman he waited for all his life. And why did her ex-husband follow her there? Is this the day trouble started in his paradise?

Lyra Blackthorne, the daughter of the murdered Alpha of the Moonfang Pack, could never lead the pack because she had a Moon Wolf. Her mate, Rowan, was named Alpha in her place. After assuming the title of Alpha, Lyra was betrayed and brutally rejected, not only by Rowan, but also by her entire pack and her stepsister Calista, with whom Rowan was having a secret affair. “I reject Moon Wolf Lyra as my mate. She was found in bed with a stranger, which means she would betray the pack. The punishment for betrayal is death,” Alpha Rowan announced mercilessly. The chants of the pack members and visiting Alphas, who had come to the Alpha conference, echoed through the trial. No one thought that Alpha Mikail, whose name sent shivers down spines due to his cruelty, would attend the conference. Lyra found hope when she realized that Alpha Mikail was her second-chance mate, but she was painfully rejected once again. The double rejection caused her to lose her wolf, and she was sentenced to death by all the Alphas present. She thought her fate was sealed when Alpha Mikail left and a warrior prepared to execute her. Everyone was stunned when, suddenly, Alpha Mikail turned around. “Stop! The traitorous daughter of a deceased Alpha must not die. More suffering still awaits her,” he declared. Lyra’s heart sank as she saw his dark gaze, deep as an abyss, while she fainted from exhaustion. A few months later, a war broke out among the Alphas, as they began to fight over the Moon who had been rejected twice. With her she-wolf dead, would the Moon Goddess be generous enough to give her another she-wolf? And which Alpha would be able to melt her now-cold heart?

Ophelia Lane, an emerging singer/songwriter who recently relocated to Nashville to pursue her dreams, found herself ghost-singing for Camila to afford her mother's medical treatment. She endured bullying from Camila and others for her mother and willingly hid her own talent until she met Asher, the Ozarks quarterback. Asher encouraged her singing and Ophelia wondered if she’d found true support in the athlete everyone called playboy. At their next concert, Camila humiliated Ophelia once more in front of everyone, and even prompting extreme fans to publicly assault her. "Loser?" Ophelia wondered, who was the real loser here? "I hope you regret messing with me." Soon, she found herself on stage, exposing the falsehood of Camila, being signed by an agent, receiving flowers, applause, and fortune, and trampling on those who once bullied her. On top of all this, Asher wants to take her on a date! But will Ophelia be able to juggle handling her newfound success alongside trusting him? "I like you," Asher said. Ophelia begins to question if their worlds are too vastly different. Asher comes from a completely different background than her own and while their passion is exciting, is it enough? Can they make it through the pressures of fame, career, and jealous ex-girlfriends? The Pop Star and the Playboy Quarterback is created by Cate Mattison, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.