Nora Daniels Novels & Stories

Emily Warner The loud knocking and my cat meowing in my face woke me up. What the damn hell? “Emily Anne Warner, if you don’t open this damned door in a minute, I swear to god I will knock it down with a bulldozer. I am not kidding you. You haven’t replied to any texts or calls in a week. At least before that you answered my texts. I am not going to leave you alone now.” I sat up straight in my bed as I could hear Danika yelling.

I exclaimed, right before she started to d******d the file. "All right, let's use your-" she came to a halt, her eyes widening as she looked over my hair.Her eyelashes started to wiggle out of nowhere, and she seemed shy. I narrowed my eyes, not understanding what was going on as she continued flipping her long hair in a flirty way, still staring at the top of my head. I slowly turned my head toward the open door and I was stunned. Daniel was standing there, holding a laptop in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. That explains why Linda was suddenly acting like that.

The connected call only carried the sounds of Jaime Walter and Derek Surrey’s pleasure. She did not seem to hear what I said. After an impatient click of her tongue, she hung up. I lowered my arms and stared at my mother’s decomposed body. My strength felt completely drained. Derek then sent me a series of messages. When I opened them, I saw videos of the two of them having sex that night. Their intimate sounds filled the room. Derek smiled in the video and asked Jaime, “You really are not giving him the miracle drug?”

NARRATOR In a gorgeous private restaurant with an incredible view of the city, two people were having lunch at an elegant table for two as they chatted mainly about business. Opposite Rock was a glamorous looking woman, who seemed to be in her early forties. She was no other person but Nora Jones. She was a famous renowned actress and the CEO of Nora cosmetics. She was also the author of Hidden Secrets; The Heart of Man. This is a book that was as widely known as its author.

She gave herself ten more seconds of it, which she recognized was a negotiation with herself that she was losing, and then she opened her eyes and set the phone face down on the mattress beside her. Nora was very clear-eyed about this, in the way that people who spend a lot of time living inside their own heads learn to be. She knew exactly where she stood in the landscape of Benjamin Damien’s world. She had observed enough, listened enough, paid enough quiet attention to know the shape of the girls he moved through. They were the kinds of girls who took up space easily, who laughed loudly without checking first whether it was appropriate, who wore the right things without appearing to try.

Nora asked, as she rushed up to the hospital bed to meet me. Nora wore a pink dress that fell past her knees; it was a loose-fitting dress, featuring a pair of black shoes. She was carrying a brown bag and also wearing a brown pair of slippers. Her long brown hair was styled into a ponytail, as she was a chubby, brown-skinned girl of 17. "Nora," I wiped off my tears, my heart aching painfully after learning that Alpha Xander and Quincy had been intimate. 'What am I expecting of them?'

Chloe watched her friend, unable to find the words to comfort her. Among their circle—Chloe, Lyra, and Summer (who was currently abroad)—Nora had always been the strongest, the most grounded. A top graduate from the National Military Academy, Nora had been a rising star with a brilliant career ahead of her. She had given all of that up to marry Nicholas and become a full-time mother. Everything Chloe knew about self-defense, marksmanship, and racing, she had learned from Nora. Seeing this warrior-woman reduced to tears over a cheating husband felt like watching a monument crumble.

He wasn’t in the mood for games. The woman tilted her head, an amused smirk forming on her lips. "I thought I made that clear over the phone," she said. Her voice was low but steady, carrying a weight of confidence. "You want Audrey, don’t you?" Frank said nothing, his silence an invitation for her to continue. She took a slow step toward him, her boots clicking softly against the concrete floor. "Well, your situation and mine aren’t so different," she said, her tone measured. "My name’s Nora. I used to work as your uncle’s assistant—until Audrey had me kicked out."

Rita replied, sorting out the plates. “ That’s Rita, my cook. Rita, meet my eldest daughter, Alyona,” Xara introduced. “ Nice to meet you,” they both said at the same time. “ The pleasure’s mine, Rita; the food smells so good! I can't wait to dig in.” Alyona added “ I’ll soon be done,” “ How’s work and being in the spotlight?’ Xara teased her daughter as they left the kitchen. “ Work is good, and being in the spotlight is somewhat stressful. She groaned.

44 ANNALISE I woke up gasping for breath, my heart racing as if I had been running for hours. The nightmare again. The same one that had haunted my sleep for as long as I could remember. But this time, the faces were clearer, the betrayal more vivid. A name lingered on my lips—Spencer—though I couldn’t recall why. My body trembled, drenched in sweat, as I tried to piece together the fragments of what I had just seen.