Talent Code

In the final stages of a terminal illness, my family abandoned me and threw me into a horror game. [Another one here to die. I bet she won't last the first night.] [Just listen to that cough. I'm scared she'll die right inside my phone.] On the first night, the head nurse made her rounds, prepared to execute any player whose heartbeat was abnormal. My heartbeat remained steady only because my body was too weak to fluctuate—and I even helped her sew up the tear in her uniform. "Miss, your clothes are torn. You'll get cold. If I mend it for you, you won't be cold anymore." On the second night, the surgeon swung his scalpel, determined to cut away anything imperfect. I handed him a wrist guard I'd made myself, watching his trembling hands. "Doctor, your talent shouldn't be buried by pain." … On the final day, the ultimate Boss gave me a choice: leave with a healthy body, or stay and perish with these strange beings. Back in the real world, the parents who had abandoned me were suddenly in tears, begging me to come home and split the money. I smiled and said to the creatures inside the instance, "I choose to trade my life… for a home for all of you." The next second, a burst of golden light erupted from the system. [Congratulations, player. You have triggered the one and only hidden ending—Divine Redemption.]

You need to leave him alone Elena, he’s a married man,” I said, my voice shaking but loud enough to make her spin on her heel with that bored look on her face. "He’s married to a mistake, Lori, and we both know that is just a matter of time until he fixes it," she said, snapping her compact shut and coming toward me, "you think you’re so smart with your little coding hobby, but I’m pretty sure I could give him a run for his money." ‘ “I built his company, Elena. I’m the reason he has anything at all,” I said, moving forward because I wanted her to look me in the eye and see what I mean this time. ********​Liora Vance didn’t just love her husband—she built him. ​For years, Liora was the silent genius in the shadows, writing the code that made Adrian Kade a tech billionaire. She expected a partnership; instead, she got a betrayal that nearly cost her life. Framed for a scandal by Adrian’s ex-girlfriend and discarded by the Kade family during her darkest hour, Liora was left with nothing but a broken heart and a secret pregnancy. ​Adrian thought he had erased her. He was wrong. ​Four years later, the Kade empire is crumbling. Their software is failing, and their only hope is a merger with NOVA//CORE—a global powerhouse led by a mysterious figure known only as “V.” When Adrian walks into the boardroom to beg for salvation, he doesn't find a savior. He finds the wife he called "nothing" sitting at the head of the table. ​

"CODE BLUE!" shouts the nurse at the emergency room accompanied by a flat-line in the cardiac monitor. Clive Aster arrived in his matte black Audi in his all white coat. Upon hearing the wailing sound of the cardiac monitor, he immediately removed his coat and jumped to the patient's location. "I'll start CPR!" as he jumped to the patient's side and started pumping. "Administer Epinephrine now!" he shouted again. Then the cardiac monitor goes tooot-tooot-tooot. There's a heartbeat! The patient was saved. Clive Aster is a well-known doctor. He has mastered multiple specialties which includes Emergency Medicine, Neuro and Cardiac Surgery. Nobody in the City Hospital knows who he was. He just came in today and rushed to the patient immediately. When the commotion was over, the director of the City Hospital, Celeste Klatt, came in and welcomed him. "Welcome Dr. Aster! Welcome to your new home." Celeste shook Clive's hand and gave him a light kiss on the cheeks. "Parting ways seemed like yesterday, Celeste. It's nice seeing you again." "It's lovely seeing you again too, Clive. Come, follow me to my office." When they entered Celeste's office, Celeste ordered Clive to kiss her to which he abode. "Kiss me! I've missed you!" Clive started to kiss Celeste on her cheeks, then to her lips down to her neck and back to her lips again and he stopped! Slap! Celeste's hand landed on Clive's face. "Who told you to stop?!" Celeste angrily asked. "You never changed Celeste." Clive fixed his face and left Celeste's office.

Dr. Alessia Russo's life is spiraling out of control. Drowning in debt and desperate to help her imprisoned brother, the brilliant ER physician makes a decision that will change her life forever. One moonlit rendezvous in a shadowy alley catapults her into the dangerous world of the Bratva, where loyalty is everything and one wrong move could be her last. Enter Nikolai Zhukov, the enigmatic and ruthless boss of the Russian mafia. With eyes that pierce her soul and a touch that sets her skin ablaze, Nikolai offers Alessia an irresistible proposition: become his personal doctor, no questions asked, in exchange for more money than she ever dreamed possible. As Alessia navigates the treacherous waters of the criminal underworld, she finds herself drawn deeper into Nikolai's web. By day, she saves lives in the ER. By night, she tends to bullet wounds and knife fights, all while trying to keep her moral compass intact. But Nikolai is no ordinary crime lord. Behind his cold exterior and calculated moves lies a man with hidden depths and unexpected vulnerabilities. As the heat between them intensifies, Alessia realizes she's not just risking her career and freedom – she's in danger of losing her heart to the very man she should fear most. With enemies closing in and loyalties tested, Alessia must choose between the safe life she's always known and the exhilarating, perilous future Nikolai offers. In a world where passion and danger collide, can their forbidden love survive? Or will the price of entering Nikolai's world prove too high for the good doctor to pay? "Code Black: A Bratva Billionaire Romance" – a heart-pounding tale of love, loyalty, and the thin line between right and wrong.

Venus has a lousy dad and an annoying stepmom. However, that's enough to end there; because her dad (who turned out to be not her real dad) threw her into darkness, which led her to another dimension called Second Earth, a world where the volts, humans with Talent, live. Like someone who feels lucky, she feels like she was given a second, more decent life. It, as it turned out, wasn't quite what she had thought. She had only been there a few days and was sentenced to death. Not to mention the fact about who her real biological parents are. As if that wasn't enough, it was as if her mind was infiltrated by a demon who claimed to be her great-grandfather. Happiness seemed to be eroded little by little from her and she felt that life as a homeless person on First Earth, her original world, would feel better than here. Her heart became more and more shrouded in gloom and she transformed into the image of someone that the people of Second Earth wanted. Being a bad person wasn't her choice in the first place, but hell could handle it, Venus thought. She was tired of being a good person. Then will her ending be as easy as she imagined? Will she be able to turn back into what one would call a good girl? Or is her path to being a sadistic and cruel person the best for her? The destiny of a dark descendant. Will her story be different?

Anna’s life has always been a journey of survival. Born with bipolar disorder and lost as a child, she was taken in by a struggling farmer’s family who never truly accepted her. Ridiculed, unloved, and married off to a man who despised her, Anna’s world seemed destined for hardship. Yet, through it all, she held onto the small kindness shown by her adoptive father, the only beacon of hope in her bleak existence. Fifteen years later, Anna's talent as a dancer catches the eye of a wealthy audience at the Edgewood Group’s annual Christmas party. But it’s not just her performance that turns heads—it’s the birthmark under her arm and the locket around her neck, the very signs her long-lost grandmother has been searching for. Suddenly, Anna is thrust into a life she could have never imagined, reclaiming her true identity as the heir to a powerful empire. As Anna navigates the complexities of her newfound wealth and status, she must confront her painful past, including the toxic marriage she was forced into and the mental health struggles she has battled alone. With the support of her grandmother, Anna begins to forge a new path, discovering her strength and resilience. "Finding Anna" is a poignant tale of identity, redemption, and the enduring power of hope. Follow Anna’s journey from the streets of hardship to the heights of power as she learns to embrace her true self and reclaim the life she was meant to live.

Noah Hayes was supposed to be starting over. A full scholarship and a future built on talent, not survival. As one of the university’s rising ice hockey stars, everything in his life should finally be falling into place, instead, it starts falling apart on day one when Chase Voss notices him. Beautiful. Cruel. Dangerous in a way that doesn’t need to be hidden. But Noah had bigger problems than a campus king’s grudge. Drowning in debt and desperation, Noah takes a job he knows will cost him, but the man he stole from isn’t just powerful, he’s dangerous. Adrian Voss. Now Noah belongs to him, trapped in a world he never wanted. By day, he’s the university’s ice hockey star, by night, he moves product for a man who owns his life. What started as hatred between Chase and Noah turns into obsession. What should be a rivalry turns into something neither of them can control. Chase falls hard and reckless, but Noah knows better than to trust something that feels like a weakness. And if Chase Voss wants him, then Noah will use him. Play him. Survive him. But the deeper they get, the harder it becomes to tell what’s real and what’s manipulation. And in a world built on power and blood, love is the most dangerous mistake of all, because loving the wrong person could destroy everything, but walking away might be even worse.

Lizzie Lee married Nathan Hall, and there were rumors he had a woman he loved deeply for years. He had been the one to hold Lizzie’s hand and take her to city hall to file their marriage license, and he was the one who told her his old flame meant nothing to him anymore. After three years of marriage, she thought that as long as she stayed gentle and compliant, she could warm his heart. Until that day, for the sake of his old flame, Nathan robbed her father of his last chance to survive and even brought his mistress to his father’s funeral. Lizzie looked at him and said, “I’m done. I want a divorce.” After the divorce, everyone waited to see her become a joke. But not long after, she was revealed to be the internationally renowned painter “Rose,” the long-lost daughter of a powerful family, and the lead on a major national art project. Her talent was undeniable, and she gradually became a star he could never reach. The man who once couldn’t even be bothered to look at her knelt in regret. “Liz, I was wrong. Come back, alright? I’ll treat you and your child well.” Yet another arm wrapped around Lizzie’s slender waist, drawing her in as he brushed a kiss against her flushed ear, his voice low with quiet possession. “Who else could be worthy of you but me?”

I'm the only university student in the village. But my entire family praises my cousin, Calvin Meyer, who has graduated from a vocational school, for being a talented person. What I've discovered is that Calvin's so-called talent actually comes from him voicing my thoughts. When I want to recite a poem as a toast to the guests, Calvin quickly says the poem out loud, resulting in everyone applauding for him. Naturally, Calvin takes the initiative to show off his "flair" for poetry in front of Barbara Sullivan, a well-known professor, by reciting the poetry that I've thought up. Because of that, she has taken a fancy to him. My uncle, Gary Meyer, uses the opportunity to insult me for being a dull bookworm who doesn't know how to socialize with others. On my grandpa's 80th birthday, my aunt, Sierra Meyer, who runs a huge business on her own, brings her family back to the village for the occasion. Uncle Gary arranges for me and Calvin to prepare a speech of our own so that we can convince Aunt Sierra to extend a helping hand to the youngsters' careers in the family. At the banquet, Calvin shoots up to his feet with his wine glass raised. He shoots me a smug look at that moment. Meanwhile, I just keep smiling before I begin thinking about the shocking gossip featuring Aunt Sierra and her family.

Ophelia Lane, an emerging singer/songwriter who recently relocated to Nashville to pursue her dreams, found herself ghost-singing for Camila to afford her mother's medical treatment. She endured bullying from Camila and others for her mother and willingly hid her own talent until she met Asher, the Ozarks quarterback. Asher encouraged her singing and Ophelia wondered if she’d found true support in the athlete everyone called playboy. At their next concert, Camila humiliated Ophelia once more in front of everyone, and even prompting extreme fans to publicly assault her. "Loser?" Ophelia wondered, who was the real loser here? "I hope you regret messing with me." Soon, she found herself on stage, exposing the falsehood of Camila, being signed by an agent, receiving flowers, applause, and fortune, and trampling on those who once bullied her. On top of all this, Asher wants to take her on a date! But will Ophelia be able to juggle handling her newfound success alongside trusting him? "I like you," Asher said. Ophelia begins to question if their worlds are too vastly different. Asher comes from a completely different background than her own and while their passion is exciting, is it enough? Can they make it through the pressures of fame, career, and jealous ex-girlfriends? The Pop Star and the Playboy Quarterback is created by Cate Mattison, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.