The Twelve Novel Novels & Stories

“What’s it about? I can’t remember.” “The novel’s coming along fine,” Eva replied proudly. “In fact, it’s almost done. You can’t remember what it’s about because I didn’t tell you, but nice try.” Tara heaved an impatient sigh and dove into her fare with exaggerated gusto. She hated secrets. Eva consistently refused to divulge the theme of her novels until they were in print. Her way of making it up to her niece and nephew was to present them with autographed first editions. Tara couldn’t understand where Eva came from with her superstitions. Just once she’d like to be able to know the plot before the world did.

Miguel, on the other hand, looked for it on the Internet, in various online stores and auctions. Unfortunately, it turned out that this book had only a few copies and was therefore extremely difficult to find. Most shops either did not know about its existence or never had this book in their collections and only heard legends about it. It could mean two things - either this book simply did not exist, or it was so dangerous that only the initiated had it in their book collections. Maria rejected the first option because she trusted her dreams and gut feelings now even more than before. Therefore, Miguel believed that the second option must be true, and it gave him hope that if they could get

"Once upon a time, there was a wealthy merchant who was not only blessed with riches and fortune but also with twelve children." Miss Yumi flipped to the beginning of the storybook showing six dashing men with muscly, chiseled features that reminded Cathedra of the ancient sculptures of Greek gods she often sees in books. Beside them were five beautiful ladies, clad in gorgeous dresses and excessive jewelry. In contrast to the five extravagant women in the picture, there was one beside them who was dressed in a plain and simple dressed, standing meekly beside her sisters. However, compared to the other five, with their flashy, attention-grabbing garments, sparkling jewelry, and make-up caked

Soren's words were a bullet straight through my heart. That clean future was the one escape we had earned after twelve years of fighting and bleeding, of clinging to each other since our days on the streets. And just like that, he destroyed it. He couldn't even be bothered to tell me to my face. Inside the club, his drunken men continued their discussion. "That Abby would never give up this life of luxury. Without the Boss's protection, she wouldn't last a day out there." "Exactly. After all the good years the Boss gave her? No way she'd walk away from that."

The day I finish my college entrance exam, I drag my suitcase back to my parents' house downtown. When Mom opens the door, the first thing she says is, "Now that your college entrance exam is over, stay home for a while." She says a while, not for good. There are three children in our family. My older brother, Samuel Stroud, and my younger sister, Isabelle Stroud, have always lived with our parents, while I was raised by my grandparents. Samuel has his own study, while Isabelle has her own bedroom. I sleep in the living room. Everything they give me is temporary. My toothbrush is disposable, my slippers are disposable, and even my towel is disposable. I don't even have a key to th

ANAHERA The last time I felt like this was ages ago. The last time I felt…carefree, happy, buzzing with energy. All of a sudden, I was twelve again and on the ice rink, defying my brother by sneaking out to play with the other kids on the frozen pond a few distance away. Except this time, it was with Noel and we were playing hockey. Hard. I sent the puck sliding into the goal again. “That’s…that is foul play. You had me distracted, Hera,” Noel panted, grabbing another puck. “I can’t believe you’re this good.”

** Be advised this chapter contains contents such as nonconsensual moments** The Winters’ great hall was quieter than usual. The fire in the hearth had burned low, but the tension in the air kept the family awake long after the sun rose. Celeste sat at the long table, her brothers flanking her on either side, her parents across.

Sunlight filtered through a thick blue curtain, illuminating a small room located in the attic. Right by the door was a large wooden desk, painted white, and a swivel chair. Under the desk was a trash can filled to the brim with some papers, soda bottles, and salty snack wrappers. On the desk there was a laptop in a silver casing, a pile of notebooks and books, and a tiny lamp. Above the desk there was a large shelf with a lot of books - from textbooks, through readings, to romances. Here and there, there were photos framed in colorful frames and many other ornaments such as jugs, figurines, etc.

“He also said you’re so dirty that you do nothing for him. So he had to come to me. He said that he only wanted a clean body like mine.” I finally snapped. The nightmare from when I was sixteen had taken me twelve full years to heal from. He had used it as a punchline in bed with his mistress. “How dare you bring that up!” I lost all composure. I screamed and raised my hand, then put every ounce of strength I had into slapping her. It made an extremely sharp, crisp sound. The force of the slap made Wendy stumble. Her forehead slammed hard into the corner of the shoe cabinet by the doorway.

My body still hummed from the encounter. Leo’s suspicion was growing. Rafael was circling closer. Adrian and Damien were on edge. And now Dr. Brooks. A baby was coming into this storm and I was already adding more fuel to the fire. The estate waited for me when I returned. But nothing felt the same. My secrets were no longer just affairs. They were multiplying into something that could destroy everyone around me. And the scariest part? I was not sure I wanted to stop.