Our Flag Means Death Blackbeard

When the power meter in the house trips, Mom's foster daughter, Juniper Hawthorne, is trapped in the dark for five minutes. Even though I have claustrophobia, Mom locks me in an empty, pitch-black room. "You knew Juniper was terrified of the dark, yet you intentionally shut off the power just to frighten her! I'll teach you how to behave today!" I cry and beg her not to, but all I receive in return is a harsh slap. "Claustrophobia? That's just what happens when a kid grows up too spoiled." Late that night, I sense someone breaking into the house. The first thing I do is to call Mom, a renowned criminal psychologist, for help, only to be yelled at. "You're still really getting into this role just to fight Juniper for attention, aren't you? "Kidnappers, huh? Well, go ahead and die so you'll stop bothering me!" As she wishes, I'm brutally tortured and killed. My body is buried beneath Mom's favorite flowerbed. After I die, my soul is trapped in the body of a cat. All I can do is helplessly circle Mom until five days have passed. The police arrive with a mangled body and request her help in creating a portrait of the killer.

Three years after I died, my mother sent me twenty dollars for living expenses. Three years before that—the first time I ever asked my family for money—she said to me, offhand, "Sometimes I think you're just putting on an act. What's so unsanitary about a thirty-cent boxed meal? And why can't you wear a five-dollar down jacket? Face it, you're just more high-maintenance than your little brother." Later, when I needed twenty dollars to buy some cheap medicine for my stomachache, she blocked me immediately and cut off all contact—along with every relative we had. "Don't contact me anymore. I'm clearly not a good mother. I can't afford to give my son a life of luxury." But for my younger brother, who had just started high school, she spared no expense—renting him a three-bedroom apartment. Even the family dog got its own room. In the end, on the day my brother became the top scorer in the state, she finally remembered me. She took me off her block list and transferred twenty dollars. "It's only twenty dollars. Was it really worth giving your family the silent treatment for three whole years?" What she never knew was this— On the night my stomach ruptured, three years ago, I had already died. I couldn't afford to go to the hospital. I froze to death in the snow.

Rafe Serafin was once the Mafia’s most feared enforcer until a betrayal forced him into hiding behind the quiet life of a bartender. He plans to stay invisible. Until the night he saves billionaire CEO Derek Morgan from a hit and gets pulled back into the world he swore he’d never touch again. Derek is marked for death, hunted by enemies who won’t stop. And the only man capable of keeping him alive is the one who refuses to take the job. Rafe knows what happens to the people he protects; they die and he can’t survive losing someone again. But when multiple Mafia factions close in and the city becomes a hunting ground, Rafe does the one thing he promised himself he’d never do: He steps back into the darkness to save Derek. As bullets fly, feelings grow, and secrets unravel, Rafe learns the truth: Derek is being targeted because of a secret buried in his father’s past. And when Rafe is ordered to betray Derek, the same command that once destroyed his life, he makes his choice…

My adopted sister, Rita Lawson, and I get ambushed by a rival family at the same time. But she pushes me away at the most critical juncture, leading to me getting kidnapped. After my kidnappers feed me poison, they leave me to rot in the wild. When I finally get home, I find out that Rita pretends to be poisoned, so my dad has already given her the only antidote. With tears streaking down her cheeks, Rita tells my parents that she's chosen to ingest poison for me, and yet I abandoned her and fled on my own. Of course, everyone believes her. My parents tell me, "Rita got poisoned just to protect you. You must transfer your businesses to her." My husband, Enrico Fulci, says to me, "Someone needs to take care of Rita. Let's get a divorce, Elisa." Even my own daughter, Ivana Fulci, asks me, "Mamma, when are you going to be as gentle and understanding as Zia Rita?" Faced with everyone's accusations, I drink a serum that I've bought from the black market in order to suppress the poison in my system. It can allow me to live like a regular person. But in return, the poison within me will erupt three days later, causing my instant death. Using the three days I have left, I hand my businesses, my husband, and my daughter over to Rita. Everyone is pleased, thinking that I've finally learned my place. But what they don't know is that Death will come for me after 72 hours.

He was a Kung Fu head trainer, who was framed by his two trainees in a rape and murder case of Clushia, a female trainee, who was obsessed with him. He was convicted and brought to the maximum penal institution called the 'Hellhole', for no prisoner got out of it alive. In one of the prisoners’ riots, he was forced to fight to defend himself but ended up killing another prisoner. He was put to an oubliette. Unknown to him, that oubliette is the door to an underground city, with an arena for the so-called “Game of Fangs and Death” by the Alpha Pharoah. The game is for five nights. If he wins, he will be given a free pass leading to a secret passage, away from the 'Hellhole'. Could there be an escape for him from the 'Hellhole'? Could his heart find an escape from the Alpha Pharoah's daughter, who has a lot of similarities to Clushia? It was like, Clushia had been born again through her. Would suddenly his never known powerful blood and lineage eventually help him escape from his death?

The day my biological family comes to take me home, a car accident occurs. My parents and the fake son who had been living my life all die, but my sister, Kayla Bennett, survives. She despises me completely after that and blames the company's bankruptcy on me too. Desperate to make amends, I work over ten jobs a day, giving her every cent I earn so she can buy back the villa that has all our family memories. The day I finally save enough money, I discover my supposedly dead parents inside that same villa, celebrating Dylan Bennett's birthday. My usually cold sister is laughing warmly with them. As they bring out the cake, Mom mentions me. "Today's Nathan's birthday too. We've been punishing him for eight years now. Maybe we should bring him home?" Kayla cuts her off immediately. "We agreed on ten years to make sure he never suggests sending Dylan away again. Not one year less!" I clutch my medical report and laugh through my tears. But Kayla, I'm dying.

Five years after I broke up with my childhood sweetheart, Jason Thorne, my ALS progressed to its terminal stage. Since I can't receive any treatment for my disease at all, I decide to fly back to my hometown and wait for my death to come. Meanwhile, Jason has been dating a woman named Freya Tyler for five years. In fact, they are about to get married. Freya is even pregnant with Jason's child. We bump into each other in the hospital's garden. When Jason sees the blanket around my shoulders, he scoffs at me. "You're already this weak, and yet you're here all alone. It seems that your doctor boyfriend isn't taking good care of you at all. Then again, you did cheat on me with that guy. It only makes sense that your new relationship won't end well at all." Freya smiles brightly at me. "That's enough, Jason. It's not like everyone is capable of taking care of me very well, just like you do. "Our wedding will be held at the base of a snow mountain in Selvaria. You simply must attend our wedding, Ms. Moyer." As I gaze at Jason's cold and arrogant expression, I do my best to suppress my feelings of longing and guilt. Instead, I reply calmly, "No, thank you. I'm not interested in my ex-boyfriend's life. I'm only staying here for a short while. In the future, I will never come back ever again." Jason merely huffs before turning on his heel and walking away. But when I depart from this world, he loses his will to live too.

It all seemed like a naughty prank at first. You know, the 'disappearing' trick lovers usually pull on each other to see who misses the other most? Yes, that was what Katniss thought at first until months passed and still, Noah was absolutely no where to be found.... Witty, beautiful and bubbly. Just a few adjectives to describe Katniss Costello's interesting and charming character. A young lady who had it all; from affluent parents to wealth and popularity to a quite amazing love life she shared with Noah Rogers, her then soon to be husband. Her life seemed to have come to a shattering halt after reality dawned on her that Noah might never return. She barely talked. Barely smiled. Barely went out, always bed ridden, gloomy and depressed. Void of all emotions. Indeed the shadow of her previous self. Her parents took advantage of the absence of her fiance and deemed it fit to have her married off to a proud, rich and arrogant son of their friend. She strongly opposed to the arranged marriage for few wisps of hope that he might return still laid in her heart. It was the motivation and inspiration she had to wait for him and when he does return, she'd still be here...waiting. When the pressure from her parents was getting too tough and unbearable, she wanted to get rid of it all, get rid of the emotional pain, get rid of the weight that was becoming far to heavy to carry. All she wanted was freedom, but there was only one way to do that... That night, underneath the Blue Moon, standing on the deck above the Ballad River where she wanted to end it all, there she met Asher Holden and that was the onset of her rollercoaster love life.

My Alpha mate thought I didn't know he had two half-breed Omega pups with his Omega mistress, but I had discovered his secret long ago. I threatened him to break up with his mistress, otherwise I would hide their child and make him regret it forever. But I had done absolutely nothing, their pups disappeared. He locked me in a silver cage and even made me watch my son being abused to interrogate me about the whereabouts of their pups. But when my son really died, I completely gave up and left. The powerful Alpha collapsed.

"Let's end this. It can't go on any longer." Those words left my lips just as my heart caved in. Tears dropped from her eyes. She pleaded with me. But my mind was made up. More like 'I had no choice.' She might be my mate. But there are a lot of things keeping us from being together. First, she's an Omega. And I'm an Alpha. A union between an Alpha and an Omega was forbidden. My family will never accept her either. Second, she's from Blueberry Pack. And my pack has been at war with her pack for decades. It's like a vendetta. So I can never be with a girl from her pack. But I loved her so much that I was willing to give it a try. See as long as it goes. Too bad our love story was very short-lived. I rejected her on the spot and we never saw each other again. Four years later, our paths crossed. This time, she looks more radiant than ever and has a son. And I never got over my feelings for her. Being away from her put me through hell. I drowned in regrets and missed her terribly. Now I'm ready to risk it all for her, but how do I make her fall in love with me again? How do I convince her that I can be a great mate to her and a great father to our son and that I'm ready to fight for our love? How do I convince her not to fall in love with another? How do I stop her from falling for the CEO Alpha trying relentlessly to win her heart?