System Thinking And Design Thinking Novels & Stories

"If I touched you, you’d never go back to him." Arden's words rang in my head. My breath caught. Now that I was out of the palace, nothing stood between us. No gilded cages. No cameras in every corner. No Ivana breathing down my neck. Nothing to stop him from making good on those words. And the worst part? A traitorous part of me was curious. What if he was right? Arden was Richard’s brother. The wrong man. The forbidden man. And yet my body betrayed me. My heart beat harder just thinking about him. My lips tingled at the memory of his voice, his smirk, the way his eyes had lingered on me like he saw everything I tried to hide.

I'm Kate Bamford, and I'm an EA (Executive Assistant), and I've just started a new job with - quite honestly the most gorgeous man I've ever set eyes on. This is a shame because men - gorgeous, sexy, or otherwise are completely off my radar! I can blame my ex for that, he's a controlling, miserable PoS! Weeks of being told what I can and cannot do would drive anyone to murder. Oops! The less said about that the better. No, I didn't stick a knife in his black petrified heart, but I did cause him major humiliation, which, thinking about it might have been even worse. My big worry is I have a secret, and the last thing I need is for my ex or anyone else to find out. Nobody will rescue me if my secret gets out. I'm Darius Graves, CEO of Graves and Son. I have a big problem, it concerns my mother - a matriarchal socialite who lives 3,461 miles away from me in New York. It's not far enough! My 'dearest' mother thinks nothing of getting into her private jet and popping over to see me in London as if she's going to the corner shop for a pint of milk. The thing is, she wants me to get married, but only to a girl she chooses. There is not a snowball's chance in hell of this ever happening. No way. No how. My two best friends are always coming up with various solutions to this problem. i.e. Sell the bank, or keep the bank and work from home in Katmandu. However, their latest idea is a fake marriage. But to whom? I can only think of one person, and that is my new assistant. She's beautiful and thinking about her keeps me awake at night.

My fiancé's childhood sweetheart could eat chili peppers like they were nothing, and she even claimed that they tasted sweet. The truth was, whenever she ate something spicy, the heat multiplied a hundred times in my stomach and shrank to almost nothing in hers. That was how she blew up online doing spicy food challenges, pulling in millions of followers in no time. As for me, I ended up with a wrecked stomach and a face covered in breakouts. I had no choice but to ask my fiancé for help. Not only did he refuse, but he also tried to have me committed. "Who still believes in this kind of nonsense? Either see a therapist or go check yourself into a psych ward!" Later, she entered a national spicy eating competition. After downing ten pounds of ghost peppers, she walked away just fine. Meanwhile, I died on the spot from a ruptured stomach. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the moment Sally Wallaker had just started streaming. I reached out and snatched the utensil from her hand. "I'll take this whole bowl of extra-spicy Cajun wings."

I'm a top healer at the Neutral Territory Sanctuary. The full moon watch had been draining. I'd barely stepped out the Sanctuary's grand doors when my phone blew up. It was the trauma wing. "Cora, get back here. Now. A patient just came in, severe wolfsbane poisoning. The Head Elder wants you leading the team!" My healer's instinct took over. I turned without a second thought. But then, a string of bizarre, floating red words appeared before my eyes—a fatal warning. 【DON'T YOU DARE STEP INTO THE ADVANCED HEALING ROOM! DON'T JOIN THIS RESCUE!】 【THE LUNA IS ALREADY DEAD. IF YOU GO IN NOW, YOU'RE JUST A SCAPEGOAT FOR THE ELDER'S DAUGHTER!】 【THIS PATIENT IS THE IRONCLAW PACK'S LUNA. THE ENRAGED ALPHA WILL TEAR YOU TO SHREDS. YOUR MATE AND FAMILY WILL BE DRAGGED DOWN WITH YOU!】 My feet froze to the spot. After a few seconds of dead silence, panic and a raw will to survive squeezed my heart. I decided to bet my life on those red lines. I was going all in. My Lycan vision scanned the dark street. My eyes locked onto it—an abandoned wolf trap at the corner of the street. The metal grate was gone, leaving it exposed. I clenched my jaw, squeezed my eyes shut, and without a second of hesitation, I leaped into that bottomless black hole.

Amanda was loved by everyone. She was brainy, smart and what's more very good at sports. Her dream was to become a top shot scientist and to achieve that, Amanda knew she had to work towards it. Her parents were her world, she looked up to them for everything. She couldn't quite imagine how lucky she was to have parents like that. They gave her everything she needed and supported her in her dreams and aspirations. Then tragedy struck. A once happy family, bounded by love was severely ruined. Amanda's parents died in a plane crash on their way to an event. At that moment, Amanda knew her life was coming to an end. For several weeks, the star girl was out of school, battling with her mental health. The only succour she had in those trying times were her friends, Emily and Leslie. Gradually, Amanda's life began to take shape again but yet, she knew nothing would ever remain the same. Like a beam of light, under the darkness, Parker came her way. At first, he resulted to bullying her, thinking he could oppress her as a result of the jealousy he had towards her being the school's star girl and all. At the end, he realized that what he felt for her wasn't hatred but love and it was evident in the fact that he found himself being drawn towards her. Amanda, thinking it was all a lie avoided him like the plague. She didn't believe she loved him but yet, there was a nagging feeling within her that he was something more than that. Till then, she was determined to keep her feelings for him in check until they just faded away. But one thing she failed to realize was that true love never dies.

My roommate, Sylvia Colman, is the ultimate overachiever at Southend High School. She sleeps only three hours a day and takes first place in every exam throughout all three years of high school. As for me, I'm known as the "sleepy slacker" in our school. I sleep in class, constantly fail exams, and can even fall asleep while walking. My parents are completely disappointed in me. They say I'm a hopeless mess. My childhood friend, Jeffrey Rivers, also turns his back on me. He claims I've fallen too far and becomes Sylvia's die-hard fan instead. But when the dean of studies summons me for a talk to tell me that I face the possibility of being expelled, I accidentally discover the secret behind Sylvia's inexhaustible energy. It turns out she has been transferring all of her exhaustion and drowsiness onto me. She's the one stealing my energy, my grades, and my life! On the night before the SAT, Sylvia confidently stays up all night doing practice papers for one final push before the real deal. I smile slightly as a plan forms in my mind. Inwardly, I sneer, "You despicable thief who stole my life… I have a wonderful surprise in store for you. Stay tuned and accept my gift to you!"

I'm supposed to become the valedictorian of the state, but I decide to not attend the SATs. After all, in my previous life, my best friend, Bianca Walters, had made a pact with a tenfold transfer system. The three-million-dollar prize money I had obtained from becoming the state valedictorian was transferred into Bianca's account. On top of that, it was increased by ten times as well. Just like that, Bianca moved on from wearing faded old clothes to limited branded apparel. She even muttered, "What's the point of being a top scorer even though you're poor? At the end of the day, you'll still slave away for us rich people!" Enraged, I rushed over and demanded Bianca for answers. But my boyfriend, James Tipps, was quick to shield her from me and yelled at me for being a crazy lady who was jealous of others. Since my mom couldn't get her illness treated due to the lack of money, she ended up dying with resentment in her eyes. Overwhelmed by despair, I took my life by jumping off a building. Beep! When I open my eyes again, I realize that I've gotten reborn. This time, I've also made a pact with the tenfold transfer system.

After getting fired from my company, I returned to the countryside, spending my days playing rummy with my grandmother, but my entire family went insane, searching for me everywhere. It was because my younger sister, the family's prodigy jewelry designer, couldn't come up with a single design after I left. In my previous life, at the National Jewelry Design Competition, she managed to produce designs identical to mine before I even finished mine. Everyone assumed I had copied her work. Even my own family testified in her favor. The company accused me of misconduct and plagiarism, claiming my actions had tarnished their reputation. I was fired on the spot and ordered to pay a huge fine. My family, seeing me as nothing but a burden, threw me out of the house. Crushed by the weight of family betrayal and public judgment, I fell into depression, only to be killed on the street by one of my sister's obsessive fans. As my consciousness faded, I couldn't understand why my sister managed to create the exact same design before I did. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day I just signed up for the National Jewelry Design Competition.

Because of an unfortunate misunderstanding in the past... For a quick promise in the most desperate of times... All this randomness created a tragedy in the contract marriage between Nolan Patrick and Almira. Nolan Patrick married Almira only to get revenge because he believed that Almira was the culprit who caused the death of his fiancée. He devised all sorts of schemes, thinking of ways to make Almira suffer with the sole goal of making her suffer the pain she once caused. Even Almira's days of resignation could not tame his cruel nature. Finally, through many events, Almira cooked up the intention to take revenge on this cruel billionaire. She promised herself, bringing back all the pain he caused her. Will their love story come to an end?

“Please don’t kill me.” She pleaded in a slightly cracked voice. I pursed my lips, thinking hard about what to do with her. “Kill her, and let’s get out of here.” Lorenzo urged but I shook my head and lowered my gun. She was too beautiful to die just like that. ~•~ Ava Martinez’s world is shattered when a mafia boss, Ruiz Giovanni, brutally murders her family and kidnaps her. Ava’s feelings for Ruiz are complicated and her desire to escape is matched by her forbidden attraction to the man who destroyed her life. Will Ava find a way to escape or will she fall in love with the person who murdered her family?