Scared Picture

For years, I’ve shut off my emotions, too scared to bare my heart to someone else. Because the last female I trusted, broke it into pieces and scattered it around for me to pick it up. Work is the only thing that kept my head sane. That is until she walked in. She was no longer a shy teenager, but a beautiful and confident woman. I should’ve known resisting her was impossible. But, it happened too quickly for me to comprehend. Arianna Swanson lights my dark world with a simple smile. I see her and I see hope. My heart doesn’t hurt when I’m around her. But she is off-limits. My cousin's best friend. I should’ve stayed away because she deserved better. I tried and succeeded until one day, her lips whispered my name. I’m not the man she needed while nursing a broken heart, but I am drawn to her like a moth to the flame. Then, I caught the web of deception around her and that brings out my protective instincts at full force. And I realize I’m exactly the man she needs now. This is a standalone HEA romance novel with no cliff-hangers

“Hayden, don’t.” I said. My legs wouldn’t stop trembling as he started to come forward. I shook my head as my tears started to roll down my cheeks and the way he looked at me sent chills down my spine. “Please.” He put his palm on the wall as he moved closer to me and caged me in his strong arms, leaving me no space to escape. “Serena!” he spoke, bringing his lips close to my ear. Everything of his was intimidating including his hoarse voice. After all, he was the devil himself. "Hayden…” I couldn’t take proper breaths as his fingers started to stroke my cheek. He clenched his jaw as he brought his finger close to my lips and his eyes darkened. The next thing he said scared me to the core. “I don’t understand if I should kiss you or KILL YOU.” ______ Serena's life was never exciting, and she never wanted it to be exciting. However, things don't go same when she meets a handsome stranger, who is filled with lies and secrets and his world is filled with guns and knives.

New title: VIP MARRIAGE 1: FABIAN FORBES Dahil sa nag-viral na picture ni Jasmine ay nakatanggap siya ng offer mula sa guwapong CEO na si Fabian Forbes ng Beauty Magazine bilang exclusive model. Akala niya ay sunod-sunod na ang suwerte nang bigla na lang naaksidente ang ama. Mahirap lang si Jasmine at kulang pa ang kita niya sa maliit niyang karinderya para pambayad sa ospital. Hanggang sa nakatanggap siya ng imbitasyon mula sa VIP Marriage, at napabilang siya sa entry level na may signing bonus na isang milyong piso. Ang gagawin niya lang ay makipag-date sa makaka-match niya. Jasmine accepted the offer. Nakipag-date siya sa isang bilyonaryong lalaki pero nang tanggalin na ang maskarang suot ng ka-date niya ay laking gulat niya na lang makita ang mukha ni Fabian. Tila bang nahulog na ang loob nila sa isa’t isa. But, Fabian secretly fell in love with Jasminen because he can’t get over his past relationship. Kamukha kasi ni Jasmine ang namatay niyang girlfriend. Buburahin na lang ba ni Jasmine ang nararamdaman niya dito? O hahayaan na lang dahil mahal niya ito?

After two years abroad in seclusion as I recovered, I received a selfie from my daughter, Lila Ashford. She was sitting on a bike, dressed in a work uniform. "Mom, you’ll be home soon, right? I miss you so much." My heart softened as I thought about how my girl had grown up. She understood that she needed to start from the bottom and work her way up. I was about to praise her when I noticed her skin seemed tanner, and her fitted shirt was the same one I’d bought her three years ago. It was frayed and worn thin, yet she still hadn’t thrown it away. As a child of the wealthiest family, Lila shouldn’t have to live like this, not even for "life experience". I zoomed in on the picture again. Her shoes were falling apart, the front gaping wide open. The more I looked, the more uneasy I became. The next second, I stumbled across Serena Ashford, my adopted daughter’s posts on social media. She was showing off male models, luxury cars, and on her wrist, the global limited-edition diamond bracelet I had given Lila. What shocked me most was the car that appeared in nearly every photo, the very one I had gifted Lila for her college graduation. How the hell had it ended up with her instead?!

*****"""""***** I was there looking into your life and your soul was always mine, but you were reluctant . This was an undeniable Twist of Fate that brought them together, even if they both belonged to two different worlds and were never meant to cross paths, which them got entangled into a series of lives and deaths, reincarnating to end that "Pact". EMERALD AZURE, a would be Alpha king who is not blessed with a 'Destined Mate' by Moon Gooddess, happens to come across an independent, University student SCARLET LOZENGE, who happen to be a weapon Designger and they both got into each other again . But what would happen when they would come to know the past that they shared ? Would Scarlet be able to forgive Emerald ? And Would Emerald be able to protect Scarlet ?? How long they are safe?. But what would happen when her true self is revealed?? Would they again be dancing as puppets in the hands of so called " Destiny" this time too ?? Or This time it's all about the choices they make ?? Whom would they both choose ??? .. .. their lives or the unspoken relationship...!!! *****"""""***** Stay tuned to find out the beautiful journey of reincarnation of these two people who found each other in different Eras and time intervals due to series of twists and turns. ****""""**** [ Note: The cover credit goes to rightful owner. Cover picture is taken from Google and Editing has been done solely by me.] This story is purely a work of my imagination and any resemblance of characters or incidents is just a pure coincidence. ****""""**** Instagram : pooja.bansal.92560 ****""""****

I've always dreamed about finding my true love but falling in love with a handsome vampire was a shocker. He was handsome, dark and mysterious. His eyes were always on mine, but he always acted cold towards me. I don't know what I did to deserve such inhumane treatment from him. But I got my answer the day I sneaked into his strange home with my little puppy Bingo. I grasped a broken photo frame that Bingo had knocked off the table. I cleared off the broken glasses carefully. My eyes widened in shock when I saw the photo. It was a picture of a girl with dark brown hair and brown eyes just like mine. The most weird part was that she looked exactly like me. She was wearing a white sparkling wedding dress and a man with black curly hair had wrapped his arms lovingly around her. It was Hayden. This was a wedding photo taken 18 years ago. Someone snatched the photo from my hands when I turned around, and I met Hayden's angry gaze. “What are you doing here?!” He growled furiously. “ Who is Azalea and why does she look like me?” I demanded furiously. I swallowed hard. Furthermore, I think I might have discovered the biggest secret ever.

They say life begins after 40, but Cassie ain't feelin' it. Divorced and feeling trapped by her job, she wants to let loose for her friend's tropical beach wedding. She decides to let her hair down and get a little unpredictable. That's when she meets a handsome bartender, Wyatt. Despite a few grey hairs, Wyatt's the liveliest man that Cassie has ever met. She knows that there's got to be more to his life story than just being a bartender, but this is just supposed to be a vacation fling. And after sunny days spent breaking all the rules on the beach together, Cassie realizes that nobody has ever listened to her the way that Wyatt does. His carefree life is enviable, his kisses are intoxicating, and she can almost imagine a life with him. But all vacations come to an end. And when Cassie invites him to visit her hometown, Wyatt reveals that he can never go back. Not to her town. Not to America. Not to civilization. Cassie leaves, confused and heartbroken, wondering just who she got herself involved with. Suddenly, her predictable life gets turned upside down when she sees her picture splashed across the Internet. And when the tabloids come looking for the mature woman who found the lost billionaire, she has no idea what to do... ...until he comes back.

As I head to see my boyfriend, Howard Schultz, who is working late, I get into a car accident. I call him dozens of times for help, but he doesn't answer a single one. Staring at his brightly lit office building not far away, I sink into despair. When I wake up in the hospital, I see a post from his subordinate. It's a picture showing the reflection of the two of them in the glass door, standing far closer than they should, with the caption, "What do I do when my boss is scolding me late at night?" Unwilling to believe it, I call him again. This time, he finally answers. My voice trembles. "Howard, I got into a car accident…" "Celine, I'm still working. I'll send my assistant to take care of it, okay? Be good. I'll see you after I come back from my business trip." I try to say more, but his angry shout suddenly cuts through the line. "Crystal Jennings! You're only allowed to bring one suitcase for this trip. Why do you have three? Do you think we're going on vacation?" Crystal Jennings—the new intern Howard just hired. I stare at the disconnected call, tears drying on my cheeks. I then call my parents instead. "I agree to the engagement you arranged."

Valeria wanted nothing more than a good man who would treat her like she deserves. She really thought her boyfriend Sam was the man meant for her and always compared him with other guys even when it was really obvious he wasn't treating her right. Her life almost came to an end when he instantly broke up with her on a Valentine's day, which was also her birthday. This destroyed her career and left her heartbroken and Valerie thought the only way she could get over him was to drink, drink and drink down to stupor. Her life only became worst and it felt like the world was crashing on her when she discovered she was pregnant for an unknown stranger. If felt like everything was going on good when she found the picture of the man who she had spent the night with, and only then did she also find out her baby's daddy is a CEO, owner of an A1 tech company in new York and other companies in different countries. Valeria goes in search of him, but he bluntly denies ever having anything to do with her. Just like that, she leaves and months later meets a young, tall, handsome doctor who takes her in till she finally put to bed. Raising her kids alone with Ares was going on smoothly until the young CEO comes to claim his twins and is ready to do anything to have them back.

Her name was Cathedra. Leave her last name blank, if you will. Where normal people would read, "And they lived happily ever after," at the end of every fairy tale story, she could see something else. Three different things. Three words: Lies, lies, lies. A picture that moves. And a plea: Please tell them the truth. All her life she dedicated herself to becoming a writer and telling the world what was being shown in that moving picture. To expose the lies in the fairy tales everyone in the world has come to know. No one believed her. No one ever did. She was branded as a liar, a freak with too much imagination, and an orphan who only told tall tales to get attention. She was shunned away by society. Loveless. Friendless. As she wrote "The End" to her novels that contained all she knew about the truth inside the fairy tale novels she wrote, she also decided to end her pathetic life and be free from all the burdens she had to bear alone. Instead of dying, she found herself blessed with a second life inside the fairy tale novels she wrote, and living the life she wished she had with the characters she considered as the only friends she had in the world she left behind. Cathedra was happy until she realized that an ominous presence lurks within her stories. One that wanted to kill her to silence the only one who knew the truth.