Payoff Chapter 13 Early Novels & Stories

To transfer my sister, Suri Voss, who was 13 years younger than I was, to a new school district, I took 7 days of annual leave and went back to my hometown. I pulled strings, delivered gifts, called in favors, and finally forced a spot for her in the best middle school in the city. At last, when I could pause long enough to catch my breath, I told Mom, who was heading out to buy groceries, that I wanted grilled pork ribs for dinner. Suri walked over with a cold expression, then threw a full glass of icy water straight onto my head and pointed at my face as she exploded. "You country leech, mooching off our family for years, eating our food and living in our house whenever you feel like it. I let all that slide. Now you want to steal my mom too? Do you have any shame at all?! "Listen carefully, Mom only has one child. She will only ever love me!" I stood there, stunned. Suri had no idea I was Mom’s biological daughter, too. All this time, she had treated me as some freeloading relative. I looked toward the doorway, where Mom was changing her shoes to go out. She seemed not to have heard a single word of Suri’s disrespect. She merely said casually, "Suri doesn’t like ribs. Let’s have grilled shrimp instead." She had forgotten that I’ve been severely allergic to seafood since childhood. I lowered my head and let out a quiet, self-mocking laugh. Unbeknownst to them, if I could secure Suri a place in that school, I could just as easily make sure she lost it.

Millan was kicked out of his pack. Now living as a rogue, all he had ever known is rejection and cruelty. One day, he stumbles upon the Blayne Pack, which is quite possibly the kindest he has ever encountered. He starts to desire staying in one place and building a home- things that he can't and shouldn't have because he is a defective omega, much more a rogue one. With only fourteen days allowed for him to stay, will he be able to pick himself up and leave? Or will he give in and give up the life that he was used to have? ***** Weston became the Head Alpha at an early age. One day, a wounded rogue is brought to his pack. He is furious and skeptical. Nonetheless, he still allowed the rogue to rest in his territory for two weeks before making him leave. But upon knowing Millan, he starts to feel things that he shouldn't feel, not towards a rogue anyway. With only fourteen days, will he be able to get past his hatred towards rogues and change his mind? Or will he chase him away? ***** Two people. One grew up being loved. One grew up being abused. Is fourteen days enough to change their lives forever?

"I'm going to be the best architect ever and make my dad real proud of me." Beautiful, smart, ambitious, as well as determined Nadia Campbell had the zeal of being the best at what she dreamt of becoming. She had her life well planned out thus, nothing prepared her for the sudden tough phase of her life — being a young mother and marrying the father of her child, a child she never hoped for this early in her life. Not when she was so close to her goal. " He's a player. I shouldn't get entangled but why does my heart say otherwise?" "There's no way something as feeble as love can ever find a way of getting to me." Playboy Derek Ashford's popular mantra, "NO LOVE, NO PAIN", was his everyday principle of living. Flirt with girls, temporary tango in the sheets, take a walk and never look back on the tears — total show on their parts to bring the toughest man to his knees. It all seemed easy until faced with the toughest price he had to pay for his inheritance — marry the mother of his mistake baby. " I play girls, I dont date them. When and if I do, no marriage or commitment is made clear from the onset so why does my heart argue with my head on this when it comes to her?"

I went into labor at the same time as the woman next door. My husband took me to the hospital, but I delivered a stillborn child. Instead of comforting me, he lashed out, "Did you mess around while you were pregnant? Is that why you gave birth to such a monster?" I lost my baby, my name was dragged through the mud, and I was forced to divorce him and leave with nothing. One day, I happened to overhear my husband speaking to the neighbor: "Good thing we swapped your stillborn baby with May's healthy one. If your in‑laws had looked closely, they would have realized the dead baby was actually ours." That was when I finally understood the truth. They had been involved long before. He pushed me on purpose, causing premature labor, just so they could take my healthy baby and give me her dead one. When I confronted them, they held me down in the bathtub and drowned me. Yet when I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day I went into early labor. This time, I'll make sure she gives birth to that stillborn child. This time, I will expose them both for their affair and for what they did to me.

Elara Blackwood has spent her life in the shadows. As an omega werewolf hiding a perilous secret—she carries both wolf and vampire blood—she learned early that survival meant invisibility. But everything changes when the Moon Goddess chooses her as the fated mate of Alpha King Damon Thornwood. Damon is powerful, devastatingly handsome, and utterly unwilling to accept an omega as his Luna. In front of hundreds of supernatural beings, he rejects her, shattering their mate bond and breaking her heart. Humiliated and alone, Elara flees to the human world, determined to forget the man who destroyed her. Yet fate has other plans. An ancient prophecy stirs in her blood—she is the Chosen One, destined to unite warring species and bring peace to a supernatural world on the brink of destruction. As dark forces rise and enemies close in, Elara must embrace powers she never knew she possessed. Damon never stopped loving her. Now he must fight to win back the woman he rejected, prove his devotion, and shield her from those who would twist her power for evil. But can a broken mate bond be mended? And will Elara ever trust the Alpha who once crushed her? A sweeping saga of rejected love, epic destiny, and the redemptive power of second chances, spanning five generations of Chosen Ones.

Isabella Martinez's father died when she was eighteen years old. She had been separated from her mother at an early age and had no knowledge of the business her mother was involved in with her new husband. After her father's death, she is pushed into her mother's world, where she meets her husband and her husband's son, Alex. Alex is unlike any male she has ever encountered; he is cruel and demanding. He's harsh and intimidating. Alex was known to instill dread in individuals merely by glancing at them. Isabella is unaware that he is the world's most dreaded Mafia Don. Alex claims Isabella is his own the instant his eyes meet hers. Her stepbrother is a womanizer who astonished everyone when he claimed Isabella. Isabella is terrified and despairing; will she learn to accept her stepbrother into her heart? She shouted out, "Y-You can't do that." ❝You are my brother.❞ He chuckled at her as his fingers gripped her tiny lace underwear. ❝I am not your brother, neonata.❞ His lips were on her neck, nibbling her skin and moving down to her breast. ❝ Why are you doing this? She asked, biting her lip as his tongue touched her bud. ❝ Because you are mine.

I came into this world like a queen ascending her throne, flanked by three fierce guardians sworn to defend my reign. My husband is the best lawyer in Ardenfield. Though he's unbeatable in court, he doesn't dare stand up to me when I scold him at home. My childhood sweetheart leads the criminal investigation team and is a genius at solving cases. He even vows to eliminate any threat that surrounds me. Meanwhile, my adoptive brother is a rising star in the business world. Having inherited the Joplin family's business empire at an early age, he spends money on me without hesitation. Today marks both my seventh wedding anniversary and my birthday. I spend the entire day waiting for them at a rooftop restaurant, clutching a pregnancy test report in my hands. But instead of basking in celebration, I receive the heartbreaking news that my five-year-old daughter has drowned. To make matters worse, my husband decides to defend the culprit in court. When I cry out in agony, my childhood sweetheart puts me in handcuffs. My adoptive brother even goes to the extreme of reclaiming everything he has ever given me. "Louise, it was just an unfortunate accident between two children. Will you let Violet's son go now?"

THE UNSEEN HUSBAND Complete Story Synopsis Genre Historical Romance / Family Drama / Political Intrigue Set in a fantasy Mediterranean-inspired kingdom (early 1900s technology level) PREMISE Alessia Castellani Russo (23) receives divorce papers from her husband Sebastian Russo (27) after five years of marriage. They spent only one night together—a traditional ceremony in darkness where neither saw the other clearly—before he left at dawn for military duty and never returned. The divorce papers reveal Sebastian believes there are no children and that Alessia has been unfaithful with a merchant. But Alessia has triplets (Dante, Marco, and Lucia, age 4) from that one night, and she's been faithful despite years of believing she was abandoned. Alessia discovers that Sebastian's mother Helena has been intercepting ALL correspondence between them for five years—keeping Alessia's letters telling Sebastian about the children, and keeping Sebastian's letters asking about Alessia and sending money to support her. Helena embezzled all of Sebastian's money for herself and her biological children (Tomasso, Giuliana, and Catarina) while Alessia and the triplets lived in poverty as servants in Helena's house. Alessia decides to travel to the capital to tell Sebastian the truth before signing the divorce papers—so he'll at least know his children exist.

MOONLIGHT REBORN Synopsis Nova spent six years giving everything to a man who was counting down the days until she was disposable. She built the antidote that made Caden's empire. She raised his son — a child she didn't know belonged to another woman. She lived as Silver Moon's Luna, isolated, grateful, devoted — while her husband and his mistress Sable ran a parallel life behind her back and slowly poisoned her into an early grave. She died in a hospital bed at thirty-one. Caden didn't come to collect her body. Then she woke up. One year earlier. Healthy. Furious. And in possession of every memory of every move they made against her. But the reborn life comes with a revelation that changes everything — Nova was never Silver Moon's forgotten Omega. She is the stolen heir of Moonlight Pack, a bloodline blessed by the moon goddess, and her father has been searching for her for twenty years. Now Nova has one objective: take back everything that was built on her sacrifice, burn down what remains, and claim the life that was always hers. The only complication is Dominic — the most powerful Alpha alive. And the pull between them that neither of them asked for.

After I secured early admission to one of the country's most prestigious universities, my old high school invited me back to sit for the State Scholars Exam and compete for the top statewide score. But just ten minutes into the math paper, the proctor out of nowhere accused me of cheating. "Everyone else starts with the multiple-choice section. You went straight for the proofs. Were you planning to copy someone else's answers later?" Before I could explain a single word, he dragged me into the boys' restroom. Not only was I humiliated and forced to strip, I also had to let him inspect me over and over again to confirm that I had no cheating devices on my body. After I returned to the exam room, I decided it was better not to cause more trouble, so I started from the multiple-choice section like everyone else. But less than five minutes after I sat down, he yanked me up again. "This is even more fake. You didn't even take time to read or think through the questions before writing down the options. If that isn't cheating, what is?" "I suspect you knew the answers in advance. I'm reporting this to the exam board right now and having your exam qualification revoked!"