Nine Puzzle

When Jake Gavingstone, CEO of the GS chain of department stores, lost his wife in a car accident planned for him, he shuts down focusing his energy on work and his twin sons. Now, after seven years, he is being pressured by his grandmother, who worries he would remain alone, to get a wife. He agrees to go on ten dates which she would arrange, in a bid to get an inheritance he had always wanted. Alice Singer is twenty nine year old young lady engaged to a resident doctor. She comes from a family where she is not wanted and his constantly bullied, despite trying her best to pay off the debts from her father's liver transplant surgery. She works two jobs and is still not able to pay off her debt. She decides to take a job as a nanny, even though she has a police record thanks to her stepbrother because of theft while working her last nanny job. She is hired in Jake's household as the nanny of the twins after the last nanny tried to seduce the twins father. The condition for hiring: You must be married or engaged. She gets the job as she is engaged and the twins opened up to her during the interview, and then some months down the line, she becomes unengaged. To pay off her debts and to finally be free of her family, she keeps pretending to be engaged, even when feelings awake between the boss and her.

"My professor gave me my first D. Now my next assignment is due...in nine months. You know when you meet your new professor, and he ends up being the same man you had a one-night stand with three months ago? Okay, maybe not. Let me explain. I hadn’t intended to sleep with my professor. I might be known as the impulsive, prankster daughter in my family, but I’m not insane. I just wanted to have some fun in Ireland at my sister’s wedding, and maybe lose my virginity, too. When I met Lochlann Gallagher at a pub one night, I couldn’t resist him. He was hot, Irish, and entirely set on seducing me. One unforgettable night under the sheets with him, and my V-card went up in smoke. Well, that night had one itty bitty consequence because Lochlann totally made my eggo preggo. And if this story isn’t crazy enough, Lochlann is not just my baby daddy: he’s now my professor and my advisor for grad school. Somehow we have to figure out a way not to reveal this rapidly gestating secret while resisting the explosive attraction between us. Except there’s just one more complication to this story: I think I’m totally falling for my baby daddy. Oopsie daisy."

“How long have we been mates?” Aidan barked. “Four weeks,” I cried, tears rolling down my face and neck. “And how many times were we intimate, Tara?” My lungs tightened in my chest as I whispered. “Once.” “And we were being safe, so why do you think this lie would stick?” Venom dripped from his next words. “Get out of my life because the next time you show up, I will kill you.” ***** It wasn’t exactly a one-night stand, but the possibility of a pregnancy was almost non-existent even though he was my mate. When I mustered the courage to break the news to Aidan Graham, the father, he denied me. He severed our bond and plotted my death, and my only option was to run. Nine years later, my daughter walks into my office with a man, and the scent I recognize all too well fills my lungs. She says. “Mommy! I found you this handsome man!” The match my baby girl just made for me…is to my ex Alpha mate. I have been broken in the past, so how do I make this work for my daughter? Can I still try even when Aidan ropes us into a web of secrets, deceit, and brings me to a past I wished to bury forever? The plot twists are bound to make you ask… “Wait…What. The. Heck??” So, read on!!

At nine months pregnant, I suffered an unexpected miscarriage. My husband, Graham Pearson, fought back his own grief as he comforted me. He would whisper to me every day, trying to soothe my shattered heart, "Whitney, we will have children again someday. Our little angel was here for a while, and next time, we'll make sure we hold onto them..." Under Graham's careful care, I slowly began to pull myself out of the numb fog I'd been trapped in. But then, a month later, I overheard him talking to one of his friends. "If Whitney finds out the baby didn't actually die and that you've let Cassidy raise him, don't you think she'll flip out? You've worked so hard to get where you are; you can't let this mess it all up." Graham casually flicked his cigarette, his voice almost detached as he waved a hand dismissively. "Cassidy can't have kids, but she loves children. If this baby brings her joy, it's a blessing for the child, too. "I might never get the chance to be with Cassidy, but letting her raise my son, in some way, feels like a kind of fulfillment..." The truth hit me like a frozen wave, paralyzing me in place. It turned out this whole ordeal had been part of Graham's plan from the start.

a heavy burden that I carried for nine long years. It was hard to admit to myself that Carlos Sky never really loved me, despite all the efforts I made to win him over. I even tried to use the divorce and the company he owned, Sky Corporation, as a way to bargain for him to give me attention and love. But he remained indifferent, insensitive to my feelings and my desperate attempts to win him over. It was a moment of great sadness and disappointment when I realized that he never cared about me in the same way that I cared about him. After the divorce, I had time to reflect on what happened and finally realized that the so-called "love" I felt for Carlos Sky was one-sided. I had deluded myself for years, believing that he loved me, when in reality he never showed this feeling for me. The hardest thing was to admit to myself that I loved someone who never loved me back. It was painful to face the reality that all the time, effort, and energy I put into this relationship was for nothing. Learning to let go of this unrequited love and move on with my life was a difficult journey, but necessary for my own emotional health and well-being. Today, I look back with a mixture of sadness and relief. It was a difficult experience, but I also learned a lot about myself and the true meaning of love. I learned that true love is mutual, it involves reciprocity and respect. It is not something that can be forced or won through negotiations.

Samantha Brooks had it all: a promising career and a passionate romance with her boss, Ethan Blake. Their whirlwind affair reached its peak when Ethan proposed to her in a moment of undeniable passion, slipping a dazzling ring onto her finger. Elated and carrying their unborn child, Samantha was on cloud nine, eager to share the joyous news. But the next day, Samantha's world shattered. She arrived at the office only to be blindsided by the announcement of Ethan's impending wedding—to another woman. Confused and heartbroken, she received a cold termination letter, purportedly signed by Ethan himself. Desperate for answers, Samantha confronted him, only to be met with a chilling denial and a feigned ignorance of their relationship. Devastated but resilient, Samantha rebuilt her life and gave birth to a beautiful daughter. Six years later, she returns, not as the vulnerable woman Ethan discarded, but as a strong, determined mother. With her daughter by her side, Samantha steps back into Ethan's world, ready to uncover the truth, confront old wounds, and face a love that never truly died. In this gripping tale of betrayal, love, and redemption, Samantha's return will ignite a series of events that neither she nor Ethan could have ever anticipated. What dark secrets lie beneath Ethan's betrayal? And what will happen when the past and present collide in an explosive reunion? Prepare for a story that will leave you breathless, as Samantha and Ethan's destinies intertwine in the most unexpected ways.

"At seventeen, Lizzie Thornton left her hometown of Fair Haven to pursue her musical dreams—and to run from Trent Younger, the boy who broke her heart. Now a successful singer, Lizzie returns to Fair Haven nine years later. When she runs into Trent at her brother’s wedding, she discovers he’s no longer the shy boy she left behind. He’s a sexy, confident man who knows what he wants—and what he wants is her. When a night of passion results in unexpected consequences, Lizzie must grapple with prior heartbreak and with accepting that she still loves the one man she could never forget. Trent Younger grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, and he fought tooth and nail to establish himself as one of the most successful restaurateurs in Fair Haven. Yet he’s never forgotten Lizzie Thornton, the girl he adored, the same girl who left him to pick up the pieces of his life after tragedy struck them both. As Trent uncovers the layers of Lizzie’s guarded heart, he realizes that he doesn’t just want her in his bed. He wants her in his life—forever. Yet even as love rekindles, their pasts threaten to drive them apart. Unless they confront their demons, Lizzie and Trent may jeopardize a love that has already withstood the test of time."

Giselle Beckett, also known as Aiden trains herself to be a hacker and all her life, she has terrorized the Alpha Brothers by hacking into their systems despite them having the best hacking team ever. She not only hacks the Alpha Brothers systems for information, she also hacks into their banking systems and swindles them a whole lot of money, something that pulls them back and down financially. However, both Giselle and the Alpha Brothers have one thing in common; they are yet to meet their mates despite them being way past the mate searching age, twenty nine years and thirty years respectfully. Tired of being mateless and single, Giselle Beckett seeks the services of a witch who summons the moon goddess for her. She meets the moon goddess in the temple and upon stating her wishes, the moon goddess promises to grant them but not without her own conditions; Giselle has to accept her mate no matter what! She's not supposed to reject him at all costs. Well, she has also stated her unimaginable conditions for a mate and the moon goddess does nothing but grant her her innermost heart desires. Shock on her, the Alpha Brothers are her fated mates. Will they accept each other or they'll end up rejecting each other? Will the Alpha brothers discover that Giselle is the hacker they've been looking for so as to execute her for being their worst nightmare?

HER A mystery. So very complicated. An enigma. A puzzle with so many missing pieces. Add one of the above ingredients into my plate and call me intrigued. Enter him. He is all of them and more...much more. He claims to be a monster. He doesn't believe in redemption. He is too vague and too dark for me to read. But it's my job now. To help him, figure him out, to find all of his missing pieces, arrange them together and finally obtain the final picture. It's my job, to find his deepest darkest secret. It's my job, to unravel the beast he claims to be and finally see the man behind. HIM Lost. I've been lost for way too many years. I thought it was over. I wanted it to be over. I had nothing to live for anymore. I've killed, I've destroyed and obliterated. It was enough. My role in the story should've ended there. I was too big of a monster to be tamed. Too dangerous to be kept alive. Enter her. Too loud. Too obnoxious. Too naive. Innocent, so very innocent. So intent on aiding me, redeeming me. She is unaware, she is opening a door that was shut down with a broken lock. I am scared. Terrified even. She is too white against my inner darkness. Too pure to be tangled with the devil living within me. We don't mix. We should never mix. Instead of pulling me out of that room, she might just get herself stuck inside as well. She wants to unravel the beast and meet the man behind, but I am scared that if she succeeded, she'll find nothing behind.

Aria's life was chillingly quiet until a True Mate came along in the form of Relaz. He was noisy, extremely talkative, and especially annoying. Once allowed, there was no end to his gabbling. But when Aria realizes that Relaz is more than he seems, much more than just a carefree, always smiling and talkative man, he is something much more ruthless, will their relationship be put in jeopardy or will they try to work together irrespective of their misunderstandings and solve a puzzle, when they realize that the people around them are planning their destruction? Teaser... " You aren't my Relaz. That's right. I should get lost? Then no problem. All this while, you've been seeing me as nothing more than baggage, an extra load, right?" "I-i" Relaz stuttered. But he still didn't end up saying anything nor did he turn to look back at her. Aria laughed mockingly, "You're right. I'm so stupid. How could I have blamed the mood goddess all this while when she had given me such a treasure like Relaz as my mate. Now that he is no longer here, nor can I see the ghost of him, I've realized, how much the moon goddess had loved me. But it's a pity, I'm so stupid. Stupid, stupid..." She raised her hands and started slapping her cheeks with each 'stupid' she said and backed away slowly with tears on her face, desperately hoping that she could see the trace of the mate who once held, and loved her like no other. It was a pity she left too early and didn't manage to capture the tear that had managed to escape his tightly closed eyes, nor did she see the cold expression he wore all along, cracking and revealing immense grief. For what is love? Pain. Sacrifice.