Novel & Cerita Josh Munroe Ghost In The Machine

Since I can remember, I have been a liar. That is the conclusion my mother made about me. After my twin brother, Daniel Benson, and I are born, she becomes obsessed with a so-called scientific parenting method. So, she puts a lie-detecting collar on each of us. Whenever we lie, the collar lights up in red. The moment it turns red, she presses a remote and shocks me. She says it will help form muscle memory to correct the bad character in me. Daniel's collar is always green. Even when he tears my mom's favorite clothes to shreds and calmly claims a dog does it, the collar still glows green. But I am different. Even if I just say, "Mom, I’m thirsty," The collar would suddenly flash a blinding red light. Then, a current shoots through my neck and into my body, making me tremble in pain. At first, I try to explain. But my mom always says the same thing. "The machine doesn't lie. You have to feel pain to learn. I'm doing this for your own good." After being shocked thousands of times, I slowly start to believe that maybe I am truly born a liar.

On a public holiday, I took Henry's mom, Johanna, to a new salon at Vanderbilt Court for a makeover. Halfway through, she suddenly cried out. I rushed over—burnt smell hit me hard. I yanked the machine off her head. Too late. Her hair was fried. Blisters spread across her scalp. I called the salon manager. She barely looked at us, lips curling. "What a hassle. If you can't afford luxury, don't pretend. I won't charge you. Now get out." I pointed at her. "You burned my mother-in-law. You're paying for her treatment and taking her to the hospital. Or I report this." Her brows shot up. Hands on her hips. "Oh, so now you're faking injuries for money? You even broke our premium equipment. You owe me a hundred grand today. And just so you know—this whole mall? My husband owns it. Pay up, or I'll make you." My heart stuttered. Vanderbilt Court... Johanna had just bought it and handed it to Henry. And he really had a side chick right under our noses.

It's my third day of being a ghost, and I feel like I'm going to starve to death again. The underworld messenger takes pity on me because I'm a child and secretly tells me that people like me, who suffered grievances and died with resentment, have to stay by the sides of the people who loved us most in life. Then, we survive on their "guilt". I lower my head and narrow my eyes. I choke up and say, "You might as well just leave me to starve." My mother hated me to the core. Why would she ever be guilty over my death?

He locked me in his penthouse, a beautiful bird in a gilded cage. Caius Evans, the billionaire who ruined my father, thought he owned me. He wanted to break me, to possess my art and my silence. But as the days turned to nights, the lines between captor and confidant blurred. He started sharing his secrets, his scars, the ghost of a brother he loved and lost. Now, the man I should hate is the only one who sees the real me. And the key to my cage is also the key to his haunted heart. But is this love real, or just another one of his calculated games?

Set in a dystopian world, former soldier — Karina Agafonov, returns home to her town in Russia after being discharged from military service due to a disability that left her right arm amputated. Returning back to Russia was meant to be a joyful thing for Karina, but getting home she was left distraught to what was left of her town. It was now a ghost city. This would lead Karina to contemplate suicide, but before she could, she would be saved by someone mysterious. A lycan prince — a species that was written off as being extinct. Romance would soon spark between them as they both find themselves in an unfortunate circumstances while they also save humanity.

Eighteen years of hope, one night of shattering betrayal. Beta's daughter Maliyla finally finds her fated mate, the powerful Alpha Erick Lopez, only to be publicly rejected just hours later. Humiliated and cast out by her entire pack, she is forced to run, barely escaping a fatal attack. But fate isn't finished. Rescued by a rival pack, Maliyla meets the one man who makes her heart beat again: a powerful second-chance Alpha. Her first mate broke her; her second mate wants to claim her. Can Maliyla heal enough to choose a new life, or will the ghost of her rejection haunt her forever?

Vera is an unloved Omega who is hated by her whole pack and blamed for her mother’s death. Her only source of joy and love is her kind loving boyfriend Alpha Derek , but Vera ’s life suddenly takes a nasty turn when She catches her beloved boyfriend in bed with her cruel step sister. Vera is devastated, but things seem to go from bad to worse when she is abruptly forced to be a sacrificial tribute to the Ruthless, cold and heartless Alpha King Sylvester Vera tries to escape but she quickly discovers something shocking, the evil Alpha king is her mate! And he is determined to have her. The biggest problem now, is that King Sylvester doesn’t even want her as his mate, he wants her as his baby making machine for him and his bitchy fiancée! Vera feels a burning hatred for him but she doesn’t realize just how quickly their hatred for each-other eventually turns into an unexpected love story. Unfortunately, Vera 's deadly hidden Identity is suddenly revealed, and she must escape to protect her hybrid twin children from backstabbers and traitors who want to kill them. But when a loved one is killed and the children are kidnapped, Vera and her mate must unite again to confront the deadly enemy that hide behind the mask.

Celestine “Celine” Navarro has it all—wealth, influence, and a last name tied to a billion-peso coffee empire. But as the heiress of Navarro Coffee, her life feels like a gilded cage of boardrooms, family expectations, and insincere suitors. Longing for freedom, she disguises herself as an ordinary barista in one of her own cafés, determined to live a life where no one knows her name. That’s when she meets Liam Reyes, a talented but debt-stricken architect whose quiet intensity hides a storm of guilt and desperation. To him, Celine is just the clumsy new barista who can barely tame an espresso machine—but her wit and warmth begin to chip away at his walls. For the first time, Celine feels truly seen, not as an heiress but as a woman. But Liam carries a dangerous secret. Crushed under debts and blackmailed by Navarro Coffee’s fiercest rivals, he is forced into sabotage—stealing files and betraying the very company Celine is destined to inherit. What starts as banter over coffee turns into a fragile romance built on lies, one that teeters on collapse the moment truths spill over. When betrayal is uncovered and loyalties tested, Celine and Liam must face an impossible choice: protect the empire and the people they love, or risk everything for a love that was never meant to survive. A story of hidden identities, sabotage, and a love as intoxicating—and as dangerous—as the richest brew.

" Just kill me, Alpha! I can't stand it anymore! " , Ashina growled, wincing in pain. " You know what I call my victory? I can see the hatred in your eyes even when I am f***king you! ", Torvar shouted back, pressing her hard against the desk to claim her for the fifth times in row. __________ Ashina Levitsky was confident about being gifted with a sweet, handsome mate by the moon goddess since she was the most obedient, innocent lady of the pack. Brought up as a princess of her Alpha father, Ashina was praised for her dignity by everyone until the day, she was accused of killing sister who was once mated to the dark Alpha, Torvar Kessler. On his day of getting his revenge on Ashina, moon goddess played a dark twist and Ashina turned out to be his second chance mate. Infamous dark Alpha, Torvar Kessler who was known as a killing machine vowed to kill her slowly after claiming her as his mate. Behind those tortures, pains and revenge, Torvar found himself stuck between the lines of love and hate until he learnt that you can never honestly hate the person whom you love. What more secrets were waiting for them?

Seven years after I lost my wolf, I watched my mate, Alpha Glen, get his heart ripped out and his body torn apart. The pack demanded the killer's name. I bit through my tongue and kept my mouth shut. Lena, Glen's childhood friend, hated me with everything she had. Six-year-old Nick cried and asked why I hadn't saved his father. I shoved them all away. Then the pack broke my leg and cast me out. For fifteen years, I drifted. I barely stayed alive in a dead northern town, wolfsbane buried in my bones, one leg ruined, half-crippled, waiting to die like some rogue. The day the door crashed open, Nick was already Alpha. He grabbed my chin, his eyes burning with pure hate. "You hid the murderer. You don't deserve to be my mother. "Take her back to Thanis. Strap her to the Mindfang Rig. I want the truth—even if that machine kills her." I thought that device would kill me. But when the truth was finally ripped into the open, Nick dropped to his knees and broke down, calling me Mother. Lena wanted to die to beg my forgiveness. And the whole pack lost its mind.