Software Engineering: A Practitioner's Approach

By the time I return home from a business trip, it is past midnight. However, my wife, Celeste Beaumont, isn't home. A man's shirt that isn't mine is lying on the couch. When I call her, she tells me that she's working late at the office. "Whose shirt is it on the couch?" I ask, cutting straight to the point. She playfully scolds, "Who else would it be? It's a gift for you, so hurry up and try it on." I skeptically put it on and immediately feel how tight and uncomfortable it is across my shoulders. "This is an L, babe. I've always worn XL." Celeste runs a clothing company. She's the one who handles all my clothes and even uses my body measurements for her menswear line. There's no way she doesn't know my size. The line goes quiet for half a second before she thoughtfully says, "It's from my new menswear collection. "I had pieces custom-made for you and Felix, so I must've grabbed the wrong piece. I'll swap it tomorrow." A beat later, her voice carries a little sob as she continues, "Babe, I've been so exhausted without you these past few days. I've missed you so much…" It's past midnight. As I listen to the undeniable weariness beneath her affectionate, playful words, my heart aches in distress. I can't help chiding myself for overthinking. However, after hanging up, realization hits me. Her brother, Felix Beaumont, and I are about the same build. He's always worn XL.

Everything started when the oh-so-hot macho entertainer danced in front of the beautifully sizzling Tamara Davis on the night of her best friend's bridal shower. She wasn't the bride, but the man was intent on pleasing her all night! The next thing she knew, the supposed just-for-fun night out with her friends turned out to be a night of the blazing fire she shared with this sexy male stripper when the two of them ended up on the bed, and they brought each other to their own kind of paradise. Tamara thought that whatever was left on that night would remain that night. She was wrong, though. Fate intervened, rekindling their flame when they unexpectedly met again one sunny day. And she discovered that the man she had sex with was about to become her new boss!

The day I find out I only have three days left to live, my mate comes home with a mate termination contract. He wants to break up with me and form a new bond with another she-wolf who's pretending to be dying—just to fulfill her so-called final wish. "Sweetheart, I don't have a choice," Caleb Lowe says, holding me in his arms. "Ruby's been poisoned with silver. She's got about a week left. Her dying wish is to marry me. But don't worry. You're the only one I love," he adds, looking at me with those sincere eyes. "Once the bonding ceremony is over and she's gone, we'll get back together—just like before." I look down and give a small laugh, then sign the termination contract. Forget it. I'm dying anyway. Who he ends up with doesn't matter anymore. I might as well let him have what he wants.

Betrayed. Abandoned. And Avenged with Triumph. When I married Damian Carter, I believed in forever. In loyalty. In love that withstands time, success, and hardship. I was the woman who stood beside him when he was nothing, who helped him build his empire, who sacrificed everything so he could become the man he always wanted to be. And when he finally got there—when he was rich, powerful, untouchable—he threw me away like last night’s mistake. He didn’t just cheat. He rewrote our story, twisting the truth until I was nothing more than a pathetic, useless wife clinging to his fortune. The world believed him. My own family doubted me. I lost everything. But they were all wrong about me. I didn’t break. I didn’t shatter. I rebuilt. With the help of a man who saw me for who I really was, I built my own empire. I exposed Damian’s secrets, stripped away his power, and took back everything they said I never could. And when he came crawling back, whispering apologies, asking for another chance—his voice trembling with regret—I simply smiled. Because I wasn’t that woman anymore. And more than that, I had finally found a man who never needed to lose me to understand my worth.

She was a prostitute, she needed money, and she had to be a substitute to get the money she needed. But, why should she become a substitute for someone else who ran away from her fate? Why should she marry a man she didn't love? Her mother prayed that she would find a man who loved her and give her happiness, but she ended up marrying a man who only knew to torture her and gave her sadness. After all, that was the price she should pay for her mother's life.

Chloe finds out she has been betrothed to the eldest son of the Benjamin’s family, a very influential family in America since she was a child, and it made her extremely angry. She has always been an obedient and dutiful daughter who always put her parents’ wishes before hers since she could remember, and feeling rebellious in her own way, she decides to do something for herself for once. And so, Chloe ends up in a club, which led to her having a one night stand with a hot, dark stranger. Chloe was happy to pretend that night never happened, if she hadn’t realized she was pregnant – a week to the date of her scheduled wedding. Nothing was more shocking for Chloe when fate leads her to her dark stranger once again, and he turns out to be the younger brother of whom she was supposed to be getting married to. That leads to Chloe being forced into a marriage with the father of her child, Nathan– who detests the thought of marriage to begin with. Would the contract marriage and a baby be enough to hold them together?

Storm had hoped for a happy marriage but dragged by his father to an arranged marriage. When he finds out that his wife is just as apathetic as her brother, he stays only to fulfill his duties as a husband in paper for the sake of their deal. When he sees his wife in a TV interview, he discovers a whole new side of Aira, a side he only wished existed. In the midst of family chaos and business rivalries, can these two people find true love? Storm is determined to be more than a billionaire heir husband, but can Aira allow herself to fall for a complete stranger?

In a city plagued by constant terrorist threats, Aqsa Masood, a Pakistani emergency response specialist, encounters Kareem Ali, a captivating Arab security consultant with a dark past. When a series of bombings rocks their world, they are drawn into a dangerous covert operation that ignites a simmering tension between them. As they work side by side, their attraction becomes impossible to resist. A seductive romance unfolds amidst the chaos, tempting them to give in to their desires despite the risks. As danger looms closer, Aqsa and Kareem must confront their commitment to duty and the allure of their passionate connection. Will their forbidden love survive the darkness surrounding them, or will it consume them both?

on hold ~ on hold ~ on hold Two totally different people... complete opposite to each other. He is selfish. She is selfless.

On the day the privileged heiress, Olivia Cruz, and I register our marriage, she leaves me and Mom stranded on a deserted road before running off to her childhood sweetheart, Brad McCoy. Rage triggers Mom's cardiac arrest, so I call Olivia in anxiety, begging her to come back and save Mom. But she just says a cold line before ending the call, "Not this again. Every time I have to step away, your mom suddenly has heart pain. Your family sure knows how to put on a show, huh?" With that, Mom misses her chance at rescue and dies. That night, a mutual friend posts online. "Growing up together is a whole different kind of bond!" The post shows Olivia perched on Brad's lap with his hand resting on her waist. It's the perfect picture of intimacy that leaves little to the imagination. I expressionlessly tap on the like button before typing my comment. "Is this what you meant by 'something important'?" The friend sneers. "Relax, it's just a game of Truth or Dare. I can't believe you're taking it so seriously." Olivia doesn't even bother to explain, but when I walk away without a word, she finally panics.