The Heavenly Table

Nora’s tarot readings were never meant to matter. They were simple moments. A card flip. A quiet truth. Nothing that could ever disturb fate itself. Until the night the cards tremble in her hands. Until the air in the café sharpens and chills. Until something impossible steps out of the shadows. He does not belong to the world around him. His presence presses against it, ancient and heavy, unseen by everyone else. People walk past him without noticing a thing. But Nora sees him. And he is not pleased. He came to investigate the force that dared to bend fate. He expected danger. He expected power. He did not expect the girl sitting at the table with trembling cards. Every instinct tells Nora she should fear him. He is not human. Not mortal. He was never created to feel. Yet something in her pulls at him with a gravity he cannot escape. The more he watches her, the more impossible she becomes. And the more he realizes that whatever awakens inside him will not fade quietly. She may have changed someone’s fate. Now she has his attention. A forbidden attraction. A girl with a gift she barely understands. An immortal who was never meant to want. Until her. Once their paths cross, fate doesn’t just unravel. It begins to fight back.

The air in the Parisian haute couture salon smelled like money and fear. I’d waited six months for my wedding dress. Now, it was draped over the shoulders of Sofia Ross—the trending influencer, and my mafia fiancé Vincent Cassio’s god-sister. The salon manager was sweating bullets, his eyes darting between me and the man lounging on the velvet sofa. Vincent Cassio stood up. He adjusted a fold of the diamond-encrusted train on Sofia with a casual flick of his wrist. “Her premiere next week needs a statement piece. She’s borrowing it. Pick something off the rack and stop making a scene.” His tone was flat, final. Under the crystal chandeliers, Sofia admired herself in the full-length mirror, a triumphant smile on her lips. I looked at my reflection in the same mirror, wearing jeans and a soaked trench coat. I looked like a lost tourist. Suddenly, the entire past year of planning felt like a sick joke. I didn’t yell. I just felt cold. Numb. I slipped the five-carat engagement ring off my finger. It hit the glass coffee table with a sharp, final click. “You’re right, Vincent. I don’t need this wedding dress. This wedding… I don’t need it either.”

Abductors bind me in a basement, subjecting me to the torment of dozens. Meanwhile, my husband, Evan Foster, dines by candlelight with his lover, Carmen Locke. My abductors grant me one chance to call for help, and I dial Evan's number. I'm certain he will come for me. I believe Evan would give his life for me, as he once vowed that his future held no meaning without me. Clinging to hope, I call the number etched in my heart. However, Evan scolds me for interrupting their date. "You think I'll come get you? Dream on. Maybe I'll bother to collect your body if you die out there." His words crush me, and I do die. Five days later, Evan stands before the autopsy table, grimacing at the mangled remains before him. Even as the police department's finest forensic expert, having dissected thousands of bodies, he condemns the killer's brutality. Yet, despite his cold dismissal of my desperate plea over the phone, he now wears a look of pity. Evan, if you knew these fragments belonged to me, would you still find me worthy of your compassion?

I’m raising someone else’s kid. My sister’s daughter, and where I thought I’d never make it as a single father bachelor, I was wrong. This little girl has my heart. And only her. Until a stray dog happens upon my place and we’re forced to call a vet. And a beautiful woman showed up. I didn’t believe in fate. But it seems to believe in me. The beautiful woman who helped us out with the dog shows up again later on a blind date across the table from me. And I’m sold out for her before I realize what’s happening. Pulling back is my only hope for survival. After losing my sister, I’m far more protective of me and her little one. But it’s a losing battle. No way I’m going anywhere, until I’m forced to. It would seem I have a kid of my own in the world. Maybe this is the breaking point where I can walk away from the all-consuming passion of my new romance. Because I’m good with giving my time, my body, and all of my money. But to her? I’ve accidentally given all of me.

I died giving birth. I gave George Norris ten children in seven years and died with my last child during childbirth. Everyone said I was unlucky, but no one knew that I saw the comments on the screen as I was dying. [The cannon fodder is pretty pitiful. Now the female lead gets ten healthy babies for free.] [The female lead is so clever. She likes children but doesn't want to give birth to any for the male lead, so she added fertility pills in the cannon fodder's food.] [Tsk, tsk, tsk, the cannon fodder probably won't even know she gave birth to the male lead and female lead's children.] The comments made me so angry that I dropped dead right then and there. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back, right after I had married George. [Tsk, the female lead is so ruthless; she added three fertility pills to the chicken soup.] [Is the female lead not afraid that the cannon fodder will give birth to triplets and die on the operating table?] Watching the chicken soup Cheryl York handed me, I grinned, grabbed her mouth, and poured the soup down her throat. If she liked having children so much, she could have as many as she wanted!

Eric couldn't resist reaching out to touch Katrina's face. Her skin was warm and soft. She smelled like lilac soap and cinnamon, a delightful combination he had only encountered in her. He slid his thumbs slowly across her lips. They opened with a tiny gasp that made them all more tempting. "Kat... " He looked into her eyes and forgot what he had intended to say. God! She was too beautiful. Her eyes were filled with care, love and longing. Longing that sure matched his own. Very slowly, wanting to draw out every moment, Eric brought his lips to hers. He watched her eyes glaze, and heard her ragged moans when his mouth touched hers, then he kissed her passionately. He ran his lips down over the line of her throat. Heavenly warm skin met his lips. Eric inhaled the downy softness, bringing his hands up along her hips, at her waist and upward along her ribs to the front of her blouse, over her breasts. Katrina moaned softly in approval, cupping her hands in his as he undid the buttons on her blouse. Her breasts came spilling into his hands after he unhooked her bra. He filled his palm with her breasts. "God! I want you Kat" he said with a voice laced with deep passion. Katrina Argos aged twenty,set out to take her revenge on Eric Salmadiego, the guy who almost ruined her sister's life. Eric Salmadiego aged twenty four was a well known arrogant and popular billionaire. Not only was he arrogant, he was a full time playboy. To achieve her mission, Katrina moved into Eric's house as a live in maid. The both of them started on a rough note, but as time went by they fell in love with each other.

Lily Evan is a 23 years old ambitious girl who did her graduation in mass media and communication works in Scotland's top news agency. Young Mark Scott is from a Royal Devil family of Scotland. The identities of devils are hidden and now they live in this modern world to maintain balance along with the heavenly angels. Destiny plays a game and makes these two souls meet. Mark who never felt any kind of emotions in his life, started feeling them when he met Lily. But there are some dark secrets behind this man's identity which started revealing as Lily got closer to him. ~~~~~ "Lily, do you love me?" Mark asked which startled Lily. "I do," Lily accepted. "Why do you love me?" Mark asked from her. "I think love doesn't need reasons," Lily replied. "I don't love you," Mark asserted. "Will you still love me if I go away from your life or will you move on?" Mark asked. "What do you mean?" Lily queried Mark worriedly. "Just answer," Mark told Lily. "I don't think I will ever forget you especially your eyes," Lily answered. "I am not going anywhere," Mark stated and averted his gaze from Lily. "Are you saying the truth?" Lily questioned him. "Why do you think I am lying?" Mark asked. "Because I don't want you to go away. I found you after 6 years and if you will again go away then, I might feel sad," Lily truthfully replied. Mark's eyes grew big as this thing he never heard once from anyone. Everyone told him to fulfill his duties but no one said to him that they would feel bad if he would go away. Mark lifted his hand and cupped Lily's face and the next second she was shocked by Mark's move.

"Please teach me to become a better writer!" "Oh?" Joaquin got his glass sipped his whiskey as he looked at me in a condescending manner. "I need something in return," he teased as he put his glass down on the table, making me nod excitingly. "Yes, yes! I would do anything you ask for!" Hearing her feedback, he stood up from his chair then walked towards me, chuckling. "Erm..." I stepped away from him, now bumping my back on the wall behind me. Surprised, I gasped as he did a breathtakingly hot "kabe-don". He then spoke near my ear, sending shivers down my spine. "What if I ask... for a collaboration?" --- Haven Thorne, a young woman who is eager to become a great writer, secretly attended a party that was hosted by a popular and rich top author, Joaquin Greyson. Wanting to learn from the great writer, Haven gathered her courage and visited his home for consecutive days even after the constant rejections. Irritated, Joaquin entertained the persistent woman to stop her. Seeing her determination however, piqued his interest and had agreed to her request—even asking for a collaboration! Will the top author really be willing to teach the newbie, or will he lose his patience? Will she able to meet the demands of her experienced mentor, or will she disappoint him? With that in mind, what will their pen and passion teach them? Love, hate… or something more?

“The contract was only for a year, Mr Gray. I marry you for one year and you stay the fuck away from my properties,” her tone was high-pitched annoyance and anger. “You got it all wrong, sugar. The contract was to quench my thirst for you but all you did was fuel that desire. Now, I want to own you. Your body, heart and fucking soul,” that honeylike baritone was void of its usual teasing now. He meant every word of it. There was no escape for her. ********** As she lay on the operating table, bleeding to death from an abortion her husband, Regal had arranged, Claire saw her life flash before her eyes. Even in her dying state, he refused her a transfusion because donating blood would ‘hurt’ his unborn child. The words pierced through her heart. The man she'd given her world to chose her sister over her without blinking. But then life smiled at her and she was given a second chance to correct her mistakes. What happens when she gambles this chance by stealing from the famous trillionaire, Asher Gray? What will be her fate when he barges into her life and overturns her world with his wicked seduction? When life throws Regal at her feet, begging for a second chance, when old flames ignite, will she let go of the past and forgive or pursue the prospect of a beautiful new love?

My mom treated me like the dirt beneath her shoes but worshiped my cousin like a queen. Since I could walk, I had scrubbed clothes and cooked meals, but I would still be yelled at or smacked if I messed up. On the contrary, my cousin twirled in princess dresses and played the piano. She was cherished by my aunt and uncle like she was the center of their world. Then came the day everything changed. At my cousin's birthday party, my mom got drunk and spilled the secret—she switched me and my cousin at birth. It turned out that I wasn't her daughter; I was my aunt's daughter. I was over the moon. Finally, I thought I'd found my real family, people who might actually care about me. But when I told my aunt, she just smirked. "You think I didn't know? I don't want you. You'll never be my daughter." Her words hit me like a bucket of ice water. I couldn't understand. Why didn't anyone want me? But that day, I made a vow—I'd never beg for anyone's love again. Years later, when I got into Mayward University—the best educational institution in the country—I threw two DNA test reports on the table in front of them. For the first time, they both looked terrified.