Novel & Cerita Shinbi Apartment

Plot Summary: ‘…well, for starters, I think he shouldn’t be here, in my apartment, making me all uncomfortable and squirmy. And I also think he shouldn’t be talking about Ciara’s wedding. Isn’t there some kind of unwritten rule where you should never talk about your ex’s marriage?...’ *** When Ryan Shelby, the hot talk of NYC appears on Tiara James-Lemptons’ doorstep, there is only one thought in her mind. Flight. He is hot, he is dark, he is single – finally –, but he is danger. Like the flame that draws the moth, he burns, and when he makes an offer for her to be his fake girlfriend, like the moth to the flame, she finds it hard to resist. She isn’t the only one doing the resisting, however. Ryan is drawn to Tiara, to the girl that has always been on the side. The girl that has somehow morphed from that lanky college girl to the curvy but slender 23-year old, staring back at him with wide eyes and a luscious mouth. He had always had a thing for her, right from college, it was what brought the fight to his relationship with Ciara almost regularly. But up till now, he has always kept his feelings – and dick – in check. Does he want revenge on Ciara Lemptons? Or does he just want to find a way to deal with his growing feelings for Tiara? And how on earth could he prove to her that he isn’t some two-faced jerk that could play both sisters?

“What is it? You sighed.” Gabriel stared at Rosalind. “I can’t do it ….” She shook her head. “It will be like I’m selling myself to you if I accept your offer. I’m not a whore, you know.” “Rose, I know you aren’t a whore. I don’t need to offer a whore anything, nor will I be interested in one, either.” He took her hand and kissed the knuckles. “I want you, Rose, only you.” “But why?” *** Rosalind Miller (twenty-three years old) is an orphan and poor. She has double jobs because she wants to get a bachelor’s degree to improve her life. It devastates Rosalind when her boyfriend of five years cheats on her. She goes drunk, only to wake up naked the next day beside a naked guy too, her ex’s uncle. Gabriel Da Costa (forty-five years old) is a transportation mogul in the five countries. Listed as one of the most eligible bachelors in the capital, including in the nearest countries, many women want to be with him, but he stays single for years. Knowing his nephew has been cheating on Rosalind for a long time, he feels sorry for her and brings her to his apartment when she is drunk. What will happen later after that night? Will it be a one-night stand only or will their relationship continue afterward? *** This is the second book of the series The Most Eligible Billionaire Bachelors/The Age-Gap Billionaire Series. The first book is My Beloved Billionaire. Despite being a series, readers can read both books as stand-alone.

The new security guard watching over the neighborhood is a university student named Jake Gould, who happens to be sponsored by my wife, Jenna Hudgens. My mother-in-law's illness suddenly gets triggered for no reason. But Jake has the audacity to have my car clamped over the excuse that I've illegally parked it. I'm worried that my mother-in-law's condition will take a turn for the worse, so I quickly call an ambulance. But as soon as I leave the apartment block, I see the ambulance's tires getting clamped down as well. Furious, I yell, "How dare you clamp an ambulance! If anything happens to Mom, I will never let you off the hook! Now unclamp the ambulance right now!" Jake looks at me with an aggrieved expression. "Mitch, I was just doing my job according to the policy. Can you please not make it difficult for me to do my job?" Jenna begins shifting the blame to me coldly. "Jake is a newbie, which means he must be listening to his boss' instructions. Why are you acting like a madman for no reason? "Besides, your mom seems to be in good health. Why does she even need an ambulance, to begin with? From the way I see it, she's just kicking up a fuss!" At that moment, the doctor suddenly yells, "The patient's heart has just stopped! She won't make it if we don't go to the hospital right now!" Jake's expression goes stark white immediately. He then rushes off to remove the clamps.

Seraphina Rowe never wanted a mate. She wanted freedom, a job in the city, her own apartment, and a life far away from the endless traditions of wolf society. But when her father’s sudden illness forces her back to her hometown, she is caught in an ancient custom she can’t refuse: the Marriage Lottery. Every year, unmated wolves from allied towns are bound into arranged unions chosen by the Elders, meant to keep peace among families. Seraphina’s name was never supposed to be drawn. But when it is, she finds herself betrothed to Kaelen Ardyn, the boy who once humiliated her at school, the arrogant son of a respected family, the wolf who made it clear he would never want her. Kaelen rejects her on the night of the ceremony, in front of the entire community. Shattered and desperate, Sera leaves the town, carrying his child in secret. For three years she raises her daughter in silence, building a small, quiet life far from the suffocating traditions of her kind. But fate has its claws. When the Marriage Lottery is threatened by rebellion and the wolves demand accountability for the “failed bond,” Seraphina is summoned back. This time, Kaelen is not allowed to reject her again, he must claim her, or their families will pay the price. Trapped in a marriage neither of them wanted, bound by a child Kaelen doesn’t yet know exists, they must navigate lies, jealousy, betrayal, and the dangerous pull of a bond that refuses to break. And when Kaelen discovers her secret, the rejection that once shattered her may turn into his greatest regret or their only chance at salvation.

On April Fool’s Day, my CEO husband cut out my heart to save his childhood sweetheart's son. After the surgery, he tossed me into a cold rental apartment, where I died in agony. Three days after my death, my five-year-old daughter played in the room as usual. Walking by the sofa, she wrinkled her little nose and mumbled, "Mommy, there's a weird smell in here." She touched my face and murmured, "Mommy, are you pretending to be Snow White? Why are you so pale?" She shook my arm harder and raised her voice, "Mommy, it's my birthday today—get up and blow out the candles!" Confused, she picked up the phone and called her father. “Daddy, did I make Mommy mad? I lit the candles, but no matter how much I call her, she won’t wake up.” On the other end of the call, Patrick Hart’s voice was cold and impatient. “What could possibly be wrong with her? She’s just pretending to be asleep for sympathy. It’s Johnny’s birthday, I’m busy. Don’t bother me! Tell your melodramatic mother to stop playing her little tricks. I don't have time to humor her." My daughter removed the candle from her bun, pinched off a piece of the bun, and fed it to me. "Mommy, I made a secret wish… I really wish you could hold me again, just like before."

I found out my husband of three years had cheated on me and his mistress is the one who told me—because he didn’t have the balls to do it himself. I move out and get a new apartment, a job as a bartender, and try to move on with a broken heart. I wonder where it all went wrong, if I hadn’t been enough for him, if I’d been stupid for marrying him in the first place. I’m at work one night when he walks inside—the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. He sits at the bar and a forest fire burns between us. I was depressed the moment before he entered, but the second I look at his blue eyes, I forget the dumpster fire that my life has become. I invite him back to my place and it’s the most passionate night of my life. I expect to never see him again. I just want him as an anti-depressant—but he wants me all to himself. I just got my heart ripped out of my chest so I want something easy and no-strings-attached, but he wants all the strings because he’s hooked. I don’t get much of a say in the matter, and that’s not surprising when I learn why—because he’s the Butcher. The crime lord of all crime lords, the boss that overshadows all of Paris, that makes everyone abide by his rules—or pay. And now I’m his.

“You call this pathetic fling between us a relationship?” Malric’s voice turned cold, “Are you that desperate, Aluin? Do you really think I owe you anything because you are my mate? I have provided everything to make you comfortable; a roof over your head, clothes, money, everything!” he snapped, his eyes mad with anger, “Are you that delusional? You thought this could ever work out? A man and a man, ruling a pack? Doesn’t that sound stupid to you?” One should feel lucky and blessed to be an Alpha’s mate, but that was never the case for Aluin. As a male omega, his bond with the young alpha was destined to remain a secret—unblessed, unspoken. From the moment they discovered their mate bond, Malric had hidden their love away, locking it inside the apartment he bought for Aluin, along with his promises and sweet words. Though concealed, though treated as a shameful secret, Malric’s burning touch and heated gaze drew Aluin in again and again. He waited silently, hoping for the day Malric would finally be ready to claim him. But instead, news of Malric’s engagement arrived first. Aluin was not even granted a decent closure of their situationship. They crushed his dignity without mercy, and he almost lost his life to their trap. Aluin learnt it the hard way the young alpha was never someone he was meant to desire. Then why, after he has finally moved on and embraced a new life, would Malric come crashing back into it again?

On the day Fiona Starr and Mark Zimmer tied the knot, his childhood friend jumped off the Starr family's thirty-story apartment and was reduced to pieces. The wedding wasn't called off, but in the ensuing three years, Mark's poker face became even more creepy, even though he would do everything Fiona asked. Then, when Fiona was three months pregnant, she was told that her father had gone missing. But instead of taking her to file a police report, Mark took her up the peak of the mountain, where Fiona saw her father. His whole body was swollen and bleeding everywhere, and he was barely alive as he lay on the ground. There were puddles of his blood everywhere, after someone tied him to a car trunk and dragged him up along the mountain road. That was when Mark gave Fiona the same treatment, even though she was pregnant with his child. As his car dragged her up and down the mountain, her legs were reduced to bloody stumps, but she didn't die there. So she locked her up in a basement in the company of rats that nibbled and devoured her legs. She despaired, her mind breaking until she eventually stopped breathing too… But she opened her eyes again and found herself returning to the day before she married Mark, whom everyone called the Starr family's live-in son-in-law. Smiling through her tears, she told herself that she wouldn't choose him again in this life.

At one in the morning, the neighbor upstairs suddenly knocked on my door. He said there was a leak in his apartment and asked if our place had been affected. I was just about to open the door when my vision was flooded with comments. [Open the door, and you're dead! That man outside is not your neighbor!] [Didn't the old man upstairs who lived alone go to Marcasia last week to find his new love interest? There shouldn't be anyone up there at all!] I immediately pulled away from the doorknob. At that moment, an emergency notice popped up in the residential property chat. [Unit 1307 has a burst pipe with severe leakage. Property management will inspect the building's water system.] [Is anyone home in 1207? We need to check whether your ceiling is leaking. Please open the door.] Unit 1207 was my place. The comments flooded my vision again. [What kind of property management does inspections at one in the morning? They're in on it together!] [Bea, stay hidden! Your destined man will descend from the heavens to save you!] I nodded solemnly, as if I was taking them very seriously. I turned around and grabbed my climbing rope. Amid the hysterical screaming of the comments, I leapt straight off the balcony. I'm someone who got a second life. Last time around, my entire life was ruined by listening to these brain-dead comments. This time, I'd rather die from the fall than end up as a breeding machine again.

Nubia has her life planned out. She is working on her master's degree in post colonial studies. She has a quiet apartment and a schedule she sticks to. Every Wednesday night she finishes class at nine thirty, walks to the bus stop, and waits. The bus is always late. There is always a stranger sitting on the bench. He wears headphones and draws in a sketchbook. He never speaks. She calls him Pencil Boy in her phone and does not think much about it. Then one October night the bus is delayed by forty three minutes. Eli studies architecture but he draws people instead of buildings. He has been sketching Nubia for six weeks without ever saying a word. He is quiet and pays close attention to things. He has learned to keep people at a distance because it feels safer that way. But when the cold night gets to Nubia and he gives her his hoodie, the silence between them finally breaks. What begins as pie at a late night diner turns into a Wednesday night tradition. Then a friendship. Then something much deeper. As Nubia and Eli grow closer, they must face the things that make them different. Race. Class. The dreams they are chasing. The families they come from. And the strong pull of a connection neither of them can ignore. Set over one school year, 43 Minutes is a warm and sensual love story about two people learning to truly see each other. It is about letting yourself be seen. And it is about the moments that change your life in less than an hour but stay with you forever.