The Batman Who Laughs

My boy friend Caleb Ford's childhood sweetheart, Julia Leclair, is losing her hair from chemotherapy. So, he orders me to cut mine off and make her a wig. "Julia's allergic to synthetic wigs. You've been growing your hair for ten years—it's perfect." I refuse, but his friends tie me down. Someone shaves my head to the scalp, buzzing through my thick, glossy hair until nothing's left but a butchered mess. Julia sits in her wheelchair and laughs, saying I look like a toad. Caleb smiles and nods in agreement. He adds with a chuckle, "It's just some hair. Was that really necessary?" But back when I was bullied for having uneven, choppy short hair for six straight years, it was he who stood in front of me. He had his arms spread wide as he shielded me from harm. Now he's the one wielding the blade. One by one, their little circle chimes in. They tell me not to hold a grudge against someone who's sick. Caleb snaps impatiently, "Stop trying to talk sense into her. She can get lost! Did you see that fit she threw over a few strands of hair? It's not like they won't grow back." I turn around and walk away. I never look back. Later, I hear that Caleb begs for my forgiveness by kneeling his way up 9000 steps until his knees are ruined.

Vivienne Sinclair married Caden Lawrence, hoping her love would melt his cold heart and that he would accept her as his wife sooner or later. But as they say about the best-laid plans, Caden never fell in love with her, nor did he accept her as his wife in front of the world. Three years later, Vivienne is hurt and broken, wanting nothing more than to break this toxic cycle of betrayal and constant rejection. She wants a divorce. “What gives you the right to ask me for a divorce?” he roars, looking angry. “It was you who seduced me! You who insisted on getting married. And now you want a divorce? I don’t think so.” But Vivi is tired of playing the role of a loving and obedient wife. She wants to live her life and explore other options. She wants to find the happiness and joy she was deprived of in her marriage. With the help of her friends and family, Vivi reveals her other identity as the world-class jewelry designer, Jasper Sterling, a name she had built after years of hard work during her failed marriage. She is strong, confident, and capable of living life on her own terms. And it’s time to let the whole world know. During one of the success parties, when Vivienne walks in with a handsome man by her side, everyone starts whispering. “Who is he?” people want to know. “Is she dating him?” Vivi and her new companion look good together. They make a perfect couple. But when Caden sees her with this mystery man, he can barely contain his rage. He pulls her aside and hisses. “You are making a mistake.” She laughs, kisses his cheek, and says, “No, darling. This is the start of my new life.”

“To defeat scums, you must start early! Yes, I do admit, I was weak in the past, but now that I have been given a second chance to rewrite my story, I will make it worth it!” Paige Adams maintained a malicious grin on her face. Paige Adams, a weak and meek girl suddenly turns into an arrogant, bold, and confident woman when she is reborn to her past timeline life, after dying from a fire fiasco plotted by her wicked family. She is transported six years ago and plots her revenge still taking her meek self to hide her true identity. During her course of revenge, she bumps into the cold, brutal Young Master of the Grays on a blind date, and to save herself from the tragic date, she pulls the young master into a kiss and is locked in a marriage of convenience lasting for two years. What will happen when Paige Adams reveals that she is not from that timeline but from the future and is unable to return to the future? “I am not the weak girl you thought you knew! I am Paige Adams from the year 2022 and not from 2016, and this time, I will make you pay for what you've done to me years ago in TEN FOLDS!” She laughs maniacally while watching him as he bled to death. “This is just the beginning! Get ready to witness who I truly am!”

I take a step back, ready to change course and leave, but the Lycan King closes the distance between us. He’s dangerously close to me now, his body in full display and sending my whole body aflame. The familiar heat between my legs starts to appear. “Where are you going?” he whispers, his breath hot against the top of my head. “Are you really trying to leave?” I don’t say anything. I can’t. All I can think about is how his length would feel like inside me, and that’s not something I want to linger on right now. I need to focus. He laughs softly. “I know you feel it too. There’s no denying it. You’re mine.” * * * Outcast. Freak. Cursed. These are things that Beta heiress Valeria Ross is used to hearing. After all, with her otherwordly appearance, and her cursed white wolf, she’s bound to be set apart from everyone else. So much so that even her mate who promised her eternal love casts her aside, choosing her much better stepsister as a partner. Deciding that things should end on her terms, she decides to flee her pack. Only to run into the arms of the Lycan King, Ares Ryder, who’s spent centuries looking for his mate and finally found it in her. Now Valeria is faced with a hard choice. Will she stay in the shadows of her family, forever tormented with the sight of her mate with her sister? Will she exchange that hell for a softer one, a life with a cruel King who’s known for collecting women like trophies?

After dating in secret for seven years, Mitchell Zahn decides to propose to me on the day his birthday album is officially released. But during the birthday party, he publicly invites Isabella Claxton, a composer and my sister, to work with him. I follow Mitchell to ask him for an explanation. That's when I hear him and his friends chatting and joking inside the lounge. "You're so loyal to your first love, Mitchie. You couldn't wait to ask her to work with you upon her return. What are you going to do about Gabriella, though? Will she accept how your relationship ends when she's written so many songs for you?" After a moment, another person laughs and says, "To Mitchie, Gabriella has always been a replacement for Isabella. Now that Isabella is back, her replacement has to go. Don't you agree, Mitchie?" I wait for a long time before hearing a soft sound of agreement.

SYNOPSIS He has Alexithymia; the inability to identify and describe ones emotions. He doesn’t understand what it means to feel happy or sad or excited neither does he know how to express them. Smiles and laughs are like riddles to him cause all he can understand is pain… nothing else but pain. He is Holden Smith, CEO of the biggest and most successful game company in China. She has Amnesia and Kleptomania ( the recurrent failure to resist the urge to steal). She steals whatever she comes across; gold, silver, wood, paper and even a needle. She also have a big horrible scar on her face which she does everything possible to keep from the world. Her name is Raven Scott. These two crosses part with each other, having one thing in common; they are BROKEN and DEPRESSED. Unknown to them, their lives got ruined due to one same horrible mistake done eighteen years ago… It’s a scar in their hearts enough to kill them…it’s their lethal guilt. But will they be able to heal?...

If hurting me was her aim she surely succeeded. She laughed thrilling at my silent anger. She knows I can do nothing even if I want to. I don't have a wolf and she knows it as she showed me her vicious claws. "Stand up," she ordered. Abandoning my food I scrambled up to my feet. "Very unattractive, I wonder how Krist thinks you are suitable for this job." She eyed me with disdain. I watched her pull out a blood dagger and handed it to me. Bewildered I took it. My eyes shooting a million questions at her. "Participating in the Bride Selection is just a tip in the ice," Amanda laughs enjoying my distress. "What matters is that you must kill the Alpha King Damien as soon as he marks you as his bride." I let the blood dagger fall to the ground in shock. They are sending me to kill the Alpha King Damien. Her words and her laughter rang through my thoughts. "...Kill the Alpha King Damien."

Twenty-year old Harper hasn't had much luck in life so far. Her mother is a drunk and a junkie and a serial dater, her father left them when she was five years old. Harper has never had a father figure, she only has her mother's boyfriends to go by. When her relationship with Dylan comes to an end, she is left devastated, lonely and filled with a longing to have someone who can make her feel whole, loved and protected. Dylan's father, Levi has been divorced for two years, he's hurting badly and wants a woman in his bed to take away the pain and loneliness. Harper is always at his house, the kid that was dating his only son and he can't help looking at her in a way he shouldn't. He knows she is way too young for him, he's thirty-seven and knows better but he can't resist her infectious smile, the way she laughs not to mention the way she looks. Can there be happiness between two people who are nineteen years apart, what will people think, what will his only son think? He must stay away from her at all costs, it could spell trouble for him. Only, Harper can't stay away from Levi he's everything she has dreamt off. He's powerful, strong and protective. He calls her Sunflower and takes care of her. He cooks for her, drives her to college and even buys her clothes. He's gorgeous, handsome, rugged and rides a motorbike. He's dangerous in so many ways but the hand of temptation is too much to resist.

Xavier Bishops and Rain Simmons are an odd pair. Xavier is the quiet rich guy who instigates her bullies and Rain is the girl who finds him hot despite knowing this. They find themselves in a supply closet together on school prank night and they share their first kiss. Xavier's obsession with her increases after this but he still doesn't know how to act towards Rain. They soon enter a secret relationship but Xavier's attitude towards Rain in public doesn't change. He no longer eggs his friends on but he doesn't address her in public either. Rain convinces herself that she's okay with this but her patience continues to wear thin as Xavier's friends keep treating her worse. It all ends when they trash a car her father gave her for her birthday and she exposes her secret relationship with Xavier to everyone. Xavier denies it and laughs at her. Humiliated beyond belief, Rain leaves town for winter break but she doesn't come back and no one knew why. Rain is in a new town, pregnant and alone with grandparents who think she's worthless. They insist she has an abortion and when Rain refuses, they agree to give the baby up for adoption. When Rain changes her mind, they throw her out. She can't go back to her sick father with a baby she can't take care of so she drops the baby with Xavier, promising to come back soon. Twelve years later, Rain is back. She is a military investigator and is investigating a leak in Xavier's company. Her son hates her and his father still wants her. She has a lot on her plate, make her son forgive her, get Xavier to leave her alone and find the person selling government secrets in Xavier's company.

When my body is engulfed in flames, my firefighter father is watching a new movie with my sister. My mother is baking them a cake. I hear laughter in the living room, and I can smell the caramel popcorn in the kitchen. Today is my family's weekly family day—it's a day for my sister and parents to be with each other. The doorbell rings, and the perpetrator gives me a chance to ask for help. My limbs are bound, and stones fill my mouth. I stand at the door and desperately wait for my parents to open it. They don't get up. Instead, they sit on either side of my sister and hug her. "We promised you we'll only be with you on our family days. No one can disturb us." "What if it's Danica?" Ravenna Sutton, my sister, asks. "Her? She hasn't answered her phone in days—who knows where she's off being wild? I'll think of her as dead if she still doesn't return tomorrow!" Ravenna giggles. Mom feeds her some popcorn, and Dad discusses the movie's plot with her. The perpetrator drags me back upstairs and laughs mockingly in my ear. "Looks like I did something unnecessary. They genuinely don't care about you." Smoke permeates every corner upstairs, and the flames start to lick at my body. Mom and Dad protect Ravenna as they run downstairs. They have no idea their birth daughter is screaming in pain amid the blazing fire.