Outer Banks Drew Starkey

On New Year’s Eve, a poolside party was held at the hospital. There, my fiancee Valerie Charlton’s medical prodigy junior colleague, Cyrus Zeigler, drew the wildcard in a party game. His task was to select a woman from the attendees and enact an explicit scene in front of everyone. He scanned the crowd, and his gaze landed on Valerie. “Valerie, you’re about to get married. I know I can’t have you. So let me have this one time. Okay?” Valerie’s eyes welled up, and she was about to nod. I scoffed and tossed the unsigned medical equipment purchase contract onto the table. “You’d better think carefully. Either he gets lost, or your family’s hospital shuts down for good. Your choice.” Cyrus glared at me angrily when he saw that Valerie was torn with indecision. “Is it that Mr. Everest can’t take a joke? He’s already controlling everything you do before the wedding. After you get married, he’ll probably keep you in a cage.” Valerie calmed down. Then, she turned to me and said scornfully, “You are a grown man. Have some grace. What era are we living in? Do you have to flaunt your masculinity all the time?” I watched calmly as they walked toward the pool. Then, I turned and made a phone call. “Since she doesn’t care about this marriage, she can watch the Charlton family crumble.”

My family home accidentally catches on fire, and my father risks his life to save my sister. He ends up with severe burns and urgently needs a blood transfusion to save his life. I'm not in the vicinity, so I ask my fiancé to help. He tells me the hospital doesn't have enough blood stored and mobilizes the city's blood banks—he does it to save my sister, who only has minor burns. Leonard Gallagher shows up when I'm at my most desperate. He takes 600ml of my blood and rushes back to my hometown. Meanwhile, I pass out by the roadside due to severe blood loss. When I wake up, Leonard tells me my father has died due to significant blood loss. I'm disfigured after knocking my head on a sharp rock. He holds my bandaged face tenderly and tells me he'll use his life to make it up to me. After three years of marriage, I'm six months pregnant when I lose consciousness and need to be rescued. That's when I overhear Leonard's conversation with a doctor. "It's been three years. Can we do the skin grafting procedure again? Zoe needs it for her cosmetic surgery." "Mrs. Gallagher has recovered very well, so it's okay to proceed with the procedure. However, even if she's Ms. Lore's sister, there's still a chance of rejection." "Her blood already flows in Zoe's veins—what does the skin matter? It's already the second time, anyway." It turns out the help I've given on the brink of death only leads to Zoe Lore's enhanced beauty. To Leonard, I'm nothing but a source of flesh and blood for Zoe. I'm tired. I think it's time to be reunited with my father.

In the coastal quiet of Baler, a studio is born—not of architecture, but of intention.* Founded by Yam, a poet whose words cradle pain gently, and Franc, an artist who paints tenderness into walls, the studio becomes a refuge for those learning to stay—with grief, love, longing, and themselves. As visitors arrive, they leave behind more than footprints: a sigh recorded in bamboo, a poem tucked into the “Found Letters” shelf, a mural painted in crooked lines. Through zines, tea, silence, and sketchbooks, the studio teaches softness as revolution. Ren creates the *Window of Soft Returns*, an installation of anonymous voice recordings—each whisper forming a community of echoes. Drew builds the *Staircase With No Wrong Turns*, inviting people to walk through emotions without shame. Franc offers brushstrokes as brave work, and Yam curates writing circles that map healing in half sentences. Together, they host festivals that feel like hugs, and they begin traveling their archive, letting softness cross oceans. Even those who once left—like Miguel—return, discovering that some doors never truly close. Others, like Tala, capture the studio’s sound and turn it into a podcast of breath and becoming. Over seventy chapters, the studio transforms into something larger than itself: a mural of memory, a sanctuary for second chances, a place where return is sacred and voice is proof of survival. In the final bloom, the studio stands not as a monument—but as a reminder: > *“Staying isn’t easy. > But chosen together, > it becomes home.”*

It was my honeymoon trip, but my husband's best friend insisted on going into the sea for shark watching despite being on her period. I reasoned against it, as sharks would go amok from the scent of blood, only for Heidi to snap at me, "You're just jealous I have a nice body! That's why you don't want me to have fun with your husband!" My own husband and his other buddies joined in too, brushing me off impatiently. "It's rare for us to hang out! Don't be a buzzkill!" "That's right! Hannah is young and beautiful. She should take pictures with the sharks." With that, they all went down the water despite my earnest protests, and her menstrual bleeding drew schools of sharks toward her right away. When I tried to help, she kicked me in the head, knocking me out and leaving me in the water as the sharks tore me to pieces. While I died under the sea in agonizing despair, Heidi, my husband, and their friends managed to get to safety. Once they returned to civilization, they reported my death as a drowning and pilfered all my wealth. While they rose to the peak of their existence, my parents, devastated by my death, both took their own lives. That was when I opened my eyes again and found myself back on the desert island where they were going for shark watching.

"Why would you try to hurt her?" Victor shouted back. His voice was cold towards me, as he held onto Lily's hand. "So you're just going to believe her over your own wife?!" I fired back. Victor ignored my words and drew his attention to Lily and the broken glass. I watched as he carefully collected the pieces and threw them away. "Are you hurt anywhere? Did the glass get you?" Victor asked softly, giving her hand a light squeeze. "No, no. I'm okay now that you're here." Lily's smile was small. "Please don't leave me alone with her again..." **** I, Emelia Russo, once thought I was a woman who had it all—a successful career, and a loving husband. But when a "childhood friend" by the name of Lily Marino re-enters my husband's life, everything takes a turn for the worse. All of a sudden, my once faithful and loyal Victor was lying for her, favoring her, and trusting her word over mine. I became the outsider in my own marriage. When I finally had enough of his secrets and mistreatment of me and called for a divorce, he begged me to stay. "Please, let's go back to how the way things used to be! I'm begging you! Don't leave me!" Victor pleaded. But what happens when I tell him "It's too late."?

BOOK CURRENTLY ON HOLD Every thousand years Herak and Ara were reborn... Darkness mixed with innocence had never ended well. A fairytale of forbidden love cursed by the stars. Legend has it that they were bound to be separated by a thousand times before they could be together . Zarabeth is a young wild and free young girl She was born into the tribe of healers she had always been fascinated by the legend of Herak and Ara, she always felt that she had a strong bond with the character Herak But how could that be..... He was merely a legend in one of her fictional story Or was he? Allanon....... He drew whispers everywhere... That he was responsible for the continuous horrific deaths of their wing clan A wingless royal child not fit to seat on the throne,to rule over the seven seas. But none could say it to his face, his looks were formidable ,if his great strength and magical powers were anything to go by . From the first moment he saw Zarabeth he became obsessed, he felt like he had known her all his life. He would do anything to obtain her pure untainted soul..... He was the darkness attracted to her like a moth to a flame What happens when there were so many secrets and mysteries to be revealed, would he be able to keep them safe in this lifetime? Or would they face another painful separation .. The curse of another thousand years * NOTE This WILL contain some graphic and mature scenes

The year is 2304 and war has ravaged the world, leaving scattered communities. Keira, a headstrong 25-year-old, has joined the Eagle tribe with the goal of making a difference. Their primary mission is to take back Meraki, a planet that was intended only for the wealthy and privileged. For the past 50 years, raiders seeking riches have taken over Meraki and severed all communication. The Eagle tribe, trained by old war heroes, has been selected to assess the situation and is actively searching for scattered pieces of a space shuttle that was used to travel to Meraki. Keira is one of the few women who joined the force, as most women help out with daily necessities. She has no interest in marriage, but she can't help but react whenever Josh is nearby. Josh, newly appointed as second in command, has a string of women eagerly throwing hints of marriage, and he would stop at nothing to make them sway. His piercing green eyes, sun-kissed blonde hair, dashing dimples, and ripped physique due to excessive training would contribute to the madness. As fate would have it, she found herself crossing paths with Caleb - a master of manipulation with a dashing demeanor. Despite his apparent immunity to emotion, he exuded a commanding presence that was both cold and alluring. There was something dark and mysterious about him that drew her in, and she couldn't help but feel like he had a way of penetrating her guarded thoughts. Meraki is a place for dreams, a meaning to a better future, or maybe where dreams are now scattered by the selfish traits of men for self-gain.

"Daniel... Please help... I'm dying..." "Are you doing this so I'll stop my wedding with Eleanor? Come on, Emma, you're being inconsiderate!" ***** I died, but when I opened my eyes, I was standing before Daniel in a hall packed with prestigious people, holding an engagement ring, and ready to tie the knot with Daniel... I was back to three years ago, when I first got engaged to Daniel. In my past life, I gave my all to the people around me, but still got broken. My adopted parents forced me to absorb the life of their missing daughter... I always wore her favourite dress, eat her favourite meal, learned to act and speak like her, and even answered her name. Still, I didn't complain, but once they finally found her, they abandoned me. I was going to take everything and pretend I was fine, but where I drew the line was when my sister asked my fiancé, Daniel to marry her in order to make her wish come true. He agreed, I threw his ring away, but before I could leave, my sister murdered me in cold blood. I thought it was all over, but here I am, standing before Daniel, ready to get engaged to him again. This time, I won't make the same mistake again...

"You really think you can seduce the Alpha looking like that?" The mischievous grey wolf beside me whispered. He was trying to make me give up, but I had to come out the victor in these games for my pack and my family. He slowly took one clawed finger and slipped the strap of my silk burgundy floor length gown off my shoulder in front of the whole table of wolf royalty. "That's a little more like it," He coaxed, "Look at him with all of those other attractive wolves to choose from. You'll never catch his attention like this." I stared at the end of the table where the Alpha sat. He was dark of hair and broad of chest and always had a smile and was willing to lend a paw to a wolf in need. He was laughing at something the stunning blonde she-wolf beside him had said and that cheerful couple drew a sharp contrast from the unknown man on his other side. I couldn't even be sure that man was a wolf at all, he was pale and lean but his eyes were dark, cold and...and never seemed to leave my face. "Just give up the games now," the grey wolf continues, "fall into my arms instead I can take care of you just as well as some fancy Alpha can. Close your eyes, you won't even notice the difference." I felt his tongue from my collar bone to my jaw.

Everyone in Oceanton knew that mob boss Jared Pierce was deeply in love with me. No one feared my disappearance more than he did. Even if bullets were raining down on him, he'd still find a way to contact me, just to make sure I felt safe. But on the night before our wedding, he didn't come home. When he finally returned, he dropped to his knees, a bruised and weakened woman cradled in his arms. "Rosalia! Melody took the drug just to save me! I can't just watch her die! So I had no choice but to sleep with her." Terrified that I wouldn't forgive him, Jared drew six wounds into his arm. Blood soaked through his shirt in an instant. As soon as the wedding banquet ended, I heard his men chuckling and teasing. "The boss didn't even take off his wedding outfit before rushing to see Melody. Just how seductive is his lover?" Jared’s low, sultry voice followed. "Last time I stayed with her, I didn’t come back for three days and nights. Take a guess." In shock and despair, I called out the system. "I want to leave this world!" The system's cold voice replied, "After your exit, this world will erase all traces of your existence. Counting down… Seven days."