Number Nine

Living with my aunt and her family was meant to be a temporary, quiet arrangement just helping out and keeping to myself. On the first day of the new year, while everyone else was out celebrating, I stayed home, enjoying the rare silence and catching up on sleep. But when we ran out of water, I reluctantly stepped outside to fetch some, and that’s when I saw him. He stood by the gate of the house next door, effortlessly commanding attention with just a glance. A smirk played on his lips, and a flicker of amusement danced in his eyes behind his blue-ray glasses. At that moment, he was impossible to ignore. Meanwhile, I felt disheveled and barely awake, my hair was a mess and still shaking off sleep. But he didn’t seem to mind. There was something about him an air of mystery that made me wonder who he was and why he was there. Before I could look away, he spoke, “Hi.” Caught off guard, I managed a quick, “Hi,” while trying to pull myself together. “Can I know your name?” he asked. I hesitated but replied, “I’m Clara,” and kept walking. “Can I have your number?” he called after me. “Just as friends.” I almost refused but reluctantly agreed, entering my number into his phone. “There,” I said, handing it back. “I’ll call you,” he promised with a smile, as I turned to leave. What began as a chance encounter soon became an inexplicable connection. He had secrets, but there was something about him that saw through me, understanding things no one else did. The man I met next door wasn’t just a fleeting stranger,he became the reason I started questioning everything I thought I wanted.

The things that have to happen in the universe to lead us to a very particular moment in time are often a mystery but for Pearl and Corey, just getting them in the same room isn’t enough. They both fight their attraction to each other for different reasons, but their fire is an eruption in the making. Pearl has a nine to five during the day, but plays the guitar and dreams of making it big at night. Her long time fiance and her best friend have a nasty secret that forever alters her life. Corey is a bass player in the hard rock band Feisty, determined to be a bachelor for life even though two of his best friends have tied the knot. Can these two come together and accept that the universe is determined to win? **This is book three of five, of my Feisty series. This can be read as a stand alone book but you will be better able to follow if you read them in order.**

Lantana Luca is constantly in love; in the nine years since she began dating, sixteen men have broken her heart. Despite the trauma, he continues to love and support Shane. Shane Lafitte is indeed a polite as well as an obedient teenager who believes his parents that everything is for his own good. He defers to his parents in terms of who he dates and meets. He shouldn't fall in love with the girl because his mother didn't want them to. They exchange vows as soon as they escape one another's family, oblivious to the reasons for their parents' displeasure. The ostensibly private honeymoon evolved into a terrible catastrophe that altered their plans for the future. They went from being wonderful husband and wife to a chilly instructor and a student with no recollection of their happy past. Will they still be able to rebuild their broken relationship? Is it possible for the heart to remember what the brain has forgotten? Or have they become victims of people that were meant to fall in love with each other but were not destined to be together?

I had been secretly in love with my childhood friend for nine long years. When we finally got married, my family and friends thought I was the happiest person in the world. After I became pregnant, he used the excuse of "helping an old classmate" and invited the most beautiful girl from our class into our home. During the worst of my pregnancy, when nausea and exhaustion hit hardest, he took her to the hospital, made crafts with her, and watched sunsets with her. He even had the guts to accuse me of being small-minded and petty and acting like a bitter, jealous wife. Only then did I realize that it was just my foolish fantasy that I lived my dream of marrying my childhood sweetheart and had a happy life. I let go of the love I had for him and of the future I thought we would share. Now, however, he was the one who regretted it.

One nude picture and one accidental night with her boss were all it took for Emma's life to turn around completely. Emma Smith, secretary to Jace Sanders, one of the country's most influential business tycoons, thought she had her life going well. Knowing her boss's intolerance, Emma had mastered the art of navigating his demanding and coldhearted nature. Unlike his past secretaries, Emma successfully lasted nine years with him. But everything changed in one night- the night she accidentally sent her nude photos to Jace, her boss. As if that was not horrifying enough, Emma coincidentally had sex with him on the same night! Mortified, Emma decided to flee, but fate had another twist in store for her when she discovered she was pregnant with not one, or two but FOUR BABIES! How can she avoid her boss? Can she hide her babies from a ruthless man like Jace Sanders?

“You, Serafina, will be the price for their sins.” *** A lot of responsibilities comes with being a princess and Serafina has learnt to shoulder all of them until her shoulder wasn’t strong enough to hold them up again. Until she had to pay the price for the sins of her father and his people who had enslaved a species of beasts for years. Until she became the slave to the brutal Lycan king who would do anything to break and ruin her. His condition? That she survives the number of years he and his people suffered as slaves in the hands of humans and he would let her return to her people? Will Serafina ever survive being a slave under the terrifying Lycan when he is bent on breaking her behind repair?

[Warning: Mature Content] The world is aware of creatures that lurk in the dark—at least quite a number of them are. Following the most devastating battle the planet experienced in its history decades ago, rules were set up to keep the supernatural and humanity as a whole at peace. It is one that compels all mythological beings to conceal their presence - an act designed to prevent the masses from being overwhelmed by knowledge of the magical world. But, as we all know, secrets do not remain hidden forever. What happens when a girl who has always been fascinated by the idea of paranormal entities learns they aren't legends? The unexpected happens right when she is digesting this surprising reality. Her life takes a sharp turn, and everything she previously knew is turned upside down.

Bivianne Cordova will do everything just to become a perfect daughter. She'll always aim for the top, no matter who she encounters. Academics? She'll ensure she'll never be defeated by Yeshua Tada for the number one spot in the entire school. Sports? She'll never let Fahrenheit Academy beat her in futsal. And she'll do all that to please her mom. But when Zenith Cordova introduced a guy to her, confusion arose in her heart. She didn't want to date that guy with marriage in mind. Because there's only one person whom she wants to be with and marry. Can she defy her mother for the first time to be with Oxem? Or will she just give up on the challenges they will face?

Alice Warren was the daughter of two famous murderers. Her fate, which was full of bad luck, finally met its end when the Le Blancs adopted her. The Le Blancs were good and kind people; they helped the poor, donated to charities, and built an organization for the orphans called UNITY. Alice was already contented with her life, but all of her beliefs and luck crumbled down when she entered Saint Clair Academy, and the series of accidents and deaths started again. Of course, it did not help that an irritating genius artist, Thomas Saint Clair, was always at her tail. Now that the number of dead bodies increased, Alice had to investigate whether the accidents were just lousy luck full of coincidence or carefully planned-out murders.

Envy, bitterness, and agony, I suddenly felt as I learned about my wrongful decisions. The wife may be the betrayed one, but there is no worse painful feeling than being the mistress. Because you are the half-loved one, and you have no rights to be hurt nor have the right to demand. Falling in love with an attached man is dangerous. Falling in love with Ezekiel Lorenzo Montivano is catastrophic. I'm Amber Josephine Adelantar people call me a homewrecker, a destructive threat, a concubine, his number two, his mistress, and his kept woman. But can you blame me? Is it my fault for falling in love with the right man at the wrong time? "You aren't my mistress, Amber." "I am since you made me become one."