Quotes On Public Speaking

When Asher Terrell's family crumbled into bankruptcy, I stood steadfast by his side. We lived in a dank basement, where I toiled through three jobs to help clear their crushing debts. He bounced back and proposed, promising me a true home. Three years into our marriage, I discovered the deed to our house bore the name of his first love. "This is what I owe her," he confessed. Swallowing my pain, I nodded and pushed forward a photo from back when we were crammed in that basement, with a whole table piled high with debt notices. "You've paid your debt to her with our house," I said. "But what about the debt you owe me?"

"Let's play a game." "What game?" "One that involves you not screaming." ★★★★★ I'd been the perfect girlfriend to my star hockey player for two years. Stood in the rain at his practices. Drove hours just to watch him warm benches. Wore his jersey like it meant something. And he repaid me by fucking his way through half of Chicago—including the sister of the one man he's been obsessed with for years. Zane Mercer. The NHL's most dangerous player. My stepfather's worst enemy. And the man who looked at me like I was something worth destroying the world for. One impossible offer. One desperate bet. One night that changed everything. Zane doesn't do fake. He doesn't do half measures. When he tells me I'm his for two months, he means it. In every way that matters. But Zane has secrets buried so deep they connect to my family's past in ways I never imagined. Dark secrets. Deadly ones. What starts as a transaction turns into obsession. What starts as revenge turns into something I can't walk away from. And what starts as a lie might be the only truth that matters. They say some men are too dangerous to love. They're right. But I was never good at following warnings. ********** This book contains explicit sexual content, dominant/possessive behavior, morally gray characters, family conflict, and themes that may be triggering. Intended for mature readers 18+. This isn’t your normal hockey romance. It’s dark, raw, and unrelenting—where obsession, desire, and power collide, and nothing is off-limits.

They destroyed her father. Now she's racing straight into the heart of enemy territory. Mia Chen has one rule, never let them see your face. As the underground racing legend "Ghost Rider," she's untouchable until a rigged race tears off her mask and exposes her identity to the worst possible person. Dax Steele, VP of the Iron Wolves MC, the club that bankrupted her father and drove him to an early grave. Now she owes $50,000 to men who don't accept apologies, and Dax offers her a deal she can't refuse, race for the Iron Wolves in the inter-club championship, and he'll clear her debt. But working for her enemy means living in his world, sleeping under his roof, and discovering that everything she believed about her father's death might be a lie. Dax has secrets of his own, evidence that his father was framed, and the real culprit is still out there. He needs Mia's skills on the track and her mechanical genius in the garage. What he doesn't need is the fire she ignites in his blood every time she defies him. As they dig deeper into the past, attraction sparks into something dangerous. Because in the biker world, loyalty is everything and loving your enemy could get you both killed. She came for revenge. She stayed for the truth. She'll risk everything for him.

This is the story of a girl who’s fantasies and traumas begin to blend with her reality till the lines become so blurred she’s not sure which one is actually the reality

Star forward Alex Thorne lives for the roar of the crowd and the thrill of the rink, but nothing ignites him like his rival, enigmatic defenseman Jake Harlow of the Calgary Flames. When a brutal playoff clash reveals Jake's centuries-old secret—he's a vampire with a hunger only Alex can sate—their hate-fueled rivalry explodes into forbidden passion. As stolen kisses turn to life-or-death stakes, Alex must choose: betray the man who haunts his dreams or embrace eternity in Jake's immortal arms. In a world of slashing blades and shattering ice, can two enemies score the ultimate goal—forever love?

George Sunther doesn't show up on the day we're supposed to get engaged. His family is nowhere to be seen either. Mom's and Dad's faces become increasingly darker as our relatives whisper disapprovingly. I'm about to contact George when I see a social media update from Winona Sunther, the Sunther family's adopted daughter. "From today onward, we're siblings and also spouses." A photo of her and George decked out in wedding attire while holding each other close is attached. Later, I find George, and he says guiltily, "Winnie is pregnant out of wedlock, and her boyfriend has made a run for it. I have to marry her first so that her reputation remains untainted. It's all so she can have the baby without any hitches." I'm stunned. The invitations for our wedding have already been sent out! George wraps an arm around my waist, his tone as gentle as always. "I'll marry you once the baby is born, okay? You're the only woman I'll call my wife, Mary. You have to trust me." I look into his eyes, which I had once loved with all my heart. My heart twists painfully. He's always like this. He always tells me I have to be more tolerant and magnanimous when it comes to Winona because she's his sister. I watch as he leaves in a hurry after answering a call from Winona. Then, I stop hesitating and call my parents. "Mom, is the Zowski family still up for a wedding?"

Lora Jade had always been the kind of woman who gave everything for love. She stood by Jackson through his struggles, supported his dreams, and sacrificed her own happiness to help him succeed. But the moment Jackson finally made it, everything changed. The man she built her life around looked at her like she was nothing. He handed her divorce papers without hesitation, his eyes cold and unfamiliar. “You’re no longer my standard,” he said. As if that wasn’t enough, another woman stepped forward—claiming her place beside him. Together, they mocked Lora, calling her useless, unworthy… disposable. Heartbroken and humiliated, Lora walked away from the marriage with nothing but pain. But life wasn’t done with her yet. Just as she tried to pick up the pieces, she received devastating news, her mother needed urgent surgery. A surgery she couldn’t afford. With no money, no support, and no hope, Lora found herself in a bar, drowning in alcohol and despair. That night, she made a reckless decision. She gave in to the darkness… and ended up in a stranger’s bed. By morning, shame and fear drove her to run without looking back. But what she didn’t know was this— The man she left behind was not someone she could easily escape. And he was determined to find her… no matter the cost.

It all started when my sister made an offhand remark while sponsoring a poor student. She told him it was a coincidence that we were born on the same day, at the exact hour too. That comment made him convince himself that he was the real heir, that we were switched at birth. Soon after, he showed up with two thugs, kidnapped me, and planned to kill me to reclaim his life. I called my fiancée for help in desperation. Instead of saving me, she told me impatiently that I deserved to die for stealing his life. Her friend showed up to save me, but neither of us made it out alive after I was pushed into the river. I was back on the day when I was kidnapped when I opened my eyes again. When the poor student laughed and told me to pick someone to leave my last words to, I did not hesitate to call my sister. Their fates were sealed, with another chance at life, I would make sure to make them pay, and show them who the real heir was.

Is it wrong to want your brother's best friend when he still treats you like a child? Averie does not care anymore. When her boyfriend walked away calling her 'too innocent,' Averie decided boring was a choice she was done making. She reinvented every part of herself, which brought her to a night in the club with a masked stranger whose kiss made her feel alive. Too bad that stranger was Jace Carrington – who now has to face the fact that his best friend's little sister isn't so little anymore. Jace is a billionaire hockey star who can't afford mistakes. His team operates on one sacred rule: personal drama kills team chemistry. Crossing lines with his best friend's sister should be unthinkable, but that kiss changed the math on everything. Now Jace can't be in the same room as Averie without his carefully constructed boundaries crumbling. Averie won't let him retreat into treating her like she's still twelve. She's calling him out on every dodge, every deflection, every attempt to pretend nothing shifted between them. Jace can either keep lying to himself or face what acknowledging her could cost him. The brotherhood comes first – it always has. So why can't he stay away?

"No offense but you are always so grumpy, it's actually kind of cute." I bluntly say to him and watch him throw me a nasty glare, I just giggle at that. "I'm not." he defends himself in a calm yet stern voice keeping his face emotionless. "sure." I find myself saying sarcastically. I think I'm too drunk  because there is no way a sober River will have the courage to hold a conversation with a very grumpy Killian. I expect another scary glare to come towards me but instead I meet with a soft gaze that stares at me with an unreadable expression. "I'm not." This time he says softly, I see him biting back a small smile and , he smiles. I've never seen him smiling before, not this way. Standing on the edge of life, River breathes in and lets himself adjust into a new life, into a new family. After a horrifying past he finds his life wrapped around a shaggy orphanage and several foster homes which makes it hard to believe that he is actually being adopted. Having a family was always a desire of him but to his burnt luck, he doesn't feel like he belongs in his adoptive family. Everyone and everything around him make it clear that he wasn't born to be happy. River is waiting for another push, one last push to end it all and fall from the edge and that's when a grumpy looking Killian Price steps into his life. River can't decide if Killian is the saviour or the devil himself. River's life meets with unexpected secrets mixed with burning desire, adorning the melancholic attire. Soon, he finds out he isn't the only one standing on the edge of the cliff, or he realises he is far from the edge.