Hardin From After Novels & Stories

After confirming that her eyes were filled with genuine concern for me, I blacked out. … When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in a soft, comfortable bed. Nearby, I could hear Caroline speaking to the family doctor. "Ms. Davis, upon examination, we discovered that Mr. Holden is missing his left kidney. And aside from the missing fingers on both hands, he also has several fractures throughout his body. They're old injuries that left permanent damage."

“Okay.” The rest of the night went on without incident. We watched the bands and hung out with our friends. Z and I hung out and talked a little bit throughout the night, but mostly did our own thing. Once the last band finished, we were all finishing up our drinks and planning on what to do after. Hannah had shown up about 30 minutes into the first bands set. I had noticed her hanging around or all over Z a few times tonight. I tried not to think much of it, but I could barely contain my eyerolls at her overly friendly behavior. “You are heading home Ash?”

"Dad is sorry. What I said that day was anger. I never thought about sending you back. You are my daughter. You always will be." He paused, trying to swallow the sob caught in his throat. "If you're willing to forgive Dad, come back to me in the next life, okay? I promise I'll treat you well." After he said that, he turned his face away. His shoulders were shaking, but he made no sound. Noah had been quiet in Aunt Megan's arms. He looked at Mom, then Dad, as if trying to understand something much bigger than he was. Then he wriggled down, walked to the memorial table, and stood on tiptoe because he was too short to reach my photo.

Even after walking away, Liesel and Elijah could hear the quiet discussions among the researchers. "Is that Mr. Hardin?" "I remember hearing that Liesel's lover is the former CEO of Hardin Group, the second son of the Hardin family. Apparently, Mr. Hardin's legs were crippled in a car accident. Otherwise, Ms. Sharp wouldn't have taken over as the CEO." "Mr. Hardin is truly lovesick. He'd left all of his assets and shares to her." "So what if he loves her? He's crippled now. For the rest of his life, he'll never be normal again. Ms. Sharp can take care of him for a few years, but will she be able to keep it up as time passes?"

Right in front of me, there were rows after rows of MREs and a small armory from AR to melee weapons. I jumped up and down, proud of my finding, and went back to get Alice. I found her climbing down. I waited until she was on her feet and slapped the back of her head. “I told you to stay for my signal.” She winced, then shrugged. ‘You were taking so long, I got worried.’ I growled and climbed to close the hatch and went back to the open area and found Al excitedly humming while checking an AK-47. “Hey be careful with that, you might hurt yourself.” She rolled her eyes but put the gun on its stand.

I growled at her but she probably didn't hear me seeing that she had resumed flirting with the 'hot white guy'. I can't believe this whole place is still choked up by paparazzi after two hours! I really need to go home and rest, hiding from paparazzi won't work as they are ready to wait. So I waited for Tania to finish with the payment so we can leave but she was taking so much time which made me go back to check on her. I was amazed at the sight of Tania and the hot sales guy hugging each other as the hot guy took a selfie of them with his phone. "Is it even ethical?" I wondered, I just stood there with my bodyguard Jack who didn't seem to care about what Tania was doing as he kept looking

Happy Ever After One evening, as the sun set over their lavishing garden, Olivia and Victor sat on the swing, watching Ava play with little Alexan. “I never thought we’d get here,” Olivia said softly, resting her head on Victor’s shoulder. Victor kissed her deeply. “We fought for this, Olivia. And I’d fight for it all over again.” As the stars began to dot the sky, Victor wrapped an arm around Olivia, pulling her closer. Their children’s laughter filled the air, a sweet melody of peace and happiness. For the first time in what felt like forever, they were free. Free to love, free to live, and free to dream of a future untouched by fear.

Inside: one pair of jeans, a faded hoodie, a bus pass, seventy-six dollars in cash, and a letter from her daughter—crumpled, worn, read too many times. She changed in the bathroom by the visitor entrance, staring into the scratched mirror. The woman who looked back wasn’t the same woman who walked in here at twenty-seven. Her eyes had hardened. Hair shot through with strands of gray. A scar on her wrist from a fight in the yard. She'd survived prison. But what was waiting for her out there? The sun hit her face for the first time without a schedule. She blinked against the light, shielding her eyes as she took her first real steps into a world that had moved on without her.

[EIRA] She carefully wiped the blood that had trickled down to the sides of his face. The piece of wood had penetrated deep inside Nate's head, knocking him unconscious. She never thought that a spell like the once she had performed could have such harsh consequence. If the wood had pierce his heart instead...

She woke up with a headache. She opened her eyes and saw the ceiling from her old room - the one she shared with Albert before their divorce. She felt a pain from her lower body and immediately knew what happened, and she slowly turned her head, fearing that she's in an endless dream in the afterlife. Is this the afterlife or was she reborn, she didn't know. Her tears immediately flowed down when she saw him lying beside her, Albert Matthews, her once and forever love, and the man who swore to protect her from wind and rain -- who actually did, even after everything that happened to them.