Twelve Minutes

During the biggest sales day of the year, my fiance's "sweet and clueless" assistant sells a one-carat diamond for one cent. In just 20 minutes, the company loses 200 million dollars. I am so furious that my entire body shakes, yet Hendrick Shaw, my fiance, pulls me into his arms and comforts me, "Don't worry. I'll handle it." However, that same night, Selena Suther posts a screenshot on social media—a transfer of 1,430,000 dollars, with the recipient note saying "I love you." The caption attached to the screenshot is "I made a huge mistake today, but my boss comforted me instead. He even reminded me not to be angry at the 'tigress' and to be good." I comment on her post, "I wish you both happiness forever." Selena instantly deletes the post, but Hendrick abruptly charges in and lands a resounding slap on my cheek. "What's your motive for liking Lena's post? She's now so overcome by guilt and shame that she's about to end her life! "The company only lost 200 million dollars. Do you have to force her into a corner over it?" He sounds so righteous and fearless. Later, why does Hendrick cry when he can't even afford a 20-dollar meal?

My daughter was being slandered at the werewolf aristocratic high school. The other party threatens my daughter, saying that her father, one of the most powerful Alphas in the territory, will soon have my daughter kicked out of school. But the father they called for backup turned out to be my mate, Derek. When I saw Emma, her hair was a mess, her clothes disheveled and torn, with tear stains still fresh on her face. My heart ached. Rage surged through me. Across from us stood a glamorous she-wolf, her chin lifted high with arrogance. "So what if my daughter slandered yours? Look at what you're wearing. You're nothing but poor Omega wolves." The girl who had spread rumors about my daughter was equally brazen. "My father is a major shareholder of this academy. If you dare defy me, I can have trash like you expelled in minutes!" But the father who arrived in a luxury SUV to back them up, dressed in an expensive tailored suit—wasn't that my mate Derek? When Derek saw Emma and me, he frowned, clearly surprised. I let out a cold laugh. "Derek, so you have another family and another daughter now?"

Lucas wakes up three years later in a research lab called Area 51 , kidnapped by an unknown Vampire named Anne, known as The Director. Olivia a bio-geneticist working for Anne helps him escape. He takes her with him, only to find out she's his mate. A human. his fate would never remain the same.. a race against time, and Bringing back together his Pack. "Let's just agree on one thing for fuck's sake.!" Lucas shouted. "He is dying, in the next twenty minutes, he'd be dead, let's just go with Jessie's plan. Take him to blue, get her to heal him, if we get there on time, she should be able to heal him without him turning. I'll call blue, I'll let her know you guys are coming." "Alright Alpha, I'd go with Clyde, but, how do we get him to the car? We need to put pressure on the bleeding neck." She turned back, and continued running. He turned around, but something fast passed, he groaned when he felt a sting on his neck, suddenly, everything became blurred, and he felt his consciousness slowly slipping away from him. He fell to the ground.

Anaya Grace Santillan was a woman deprived of a complete family. Her mother died when she was twelve years old, and her father quickly remarried. She learned early to work hard to survive and finance her college education. She thought her suffering at the hands of her stepmother and father would end after graduation, but she was wrong. After finishing her studies, her father forced her into a marriage with a man she didn't love to settle his and her stepmother's debts. But what if, on her wedding day, she chose instead the man who arrived last at the hotel and pulled him before the altar? Before the man could speak, she demanded he sign the marriage contract so she could escape her torment. Aurelius Kael Quinn Gutierrez, the only child of the Gutierrez family—Asia's wealthiest and most prominent business magnates—owns various companies and will inherit his parents' empire. He never expected to be powerless against the woman who insisted on marrying him, despite her family problems. Nevertheless, he's prepared to be her bodyguard, sugar daddy, and even stalker to ensure her safety. But what if, due to a misunderstanding, she hides their child from him? "Will love and effort be enough when the heart dictates the person you choose?" author by Jelly-Gel

I was born 5 minutes after my brother Ciranda marking the beginning of my misery. My Parents only wanted one son, instead, she got two, not two sons but a daughter, a weakling as what they always describe me to be. My twin brother Ciranda was the prince to my mother and I was what she called the Seranda. That is my name "Seranda". Seranda Copper with no title as princess or prince like my brother who was called crown prince Ciranda Copper. My parents treated me the same as the servants, they would always say “You are just like them, so why not treat you like them?” My brother had sunny golden hair, golden tan skin, bright green eyes, and a body to die for, he was the dream guy of every girl. He had the perfect body, he was the perfect child. I on the other hand had dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, pale skin, and a body not so much to die for, I looked nothing like the misses of wealthy and prestigious families like my own. I was more like the maid starved for weeks by her cruel master. What is worst than being auctioned by your brother as a whore to the human mafia and losing your purity to him. Vengeance is all I want.

Rocco Falcone, who is the Falcone family's Don and my so-called husband, hangs up on me for what feels like the 99th time. Having been diagnosed with leukemia, I haul my ravaged body into the family lawyer's office. "I'm here to file for a divorce," I said. … When Rocco hears about it, he barges in with my family ten minutes later. The moment he enters, he slaps me. "Did you use the emergency line just to ruin Sofia's big night? Are you out of your mind?" Lily Marone, my mom, snatches the diagnosis right out of my hand and skims through it. She chuckles dismissively. "Did you fake being sick just to get attention? How many lies have you told since you were a kid, Claire?" Sofia Moretti holds Rocco's arm with tears in her eyes. "Forgive me, Claire. I shouldn't have taken the position. Please stop hurting yourself and Rocco." I wipe the blood from my mouth and turn back to the lawyer. "I have no family left. Please hurry with the divorce paperwork. I need it settled before my cremation in three days."

The only audible sounds for the next few minutes were the platters of rain against the window and our heavy breathing. I saw him walk his naked ass to the bedside drawer, returning with a document in his hands. "What's this?", I questioned as I reluctantly took it from him. "A contract you need to sign to live." I grew silent as I read through the document. "If you sign that, you're going to be mine and mine alone. I'm going to have you whenever I want, and do with you whatever I please. In return, your father gets to live." *** Sofia's miserable life even darker when she is forced to be the payment for her father's debt to the most ruthless Mafia Lord in the city. Enzo had just one taste of her from a one night stand, and now he can't get her off his head. To keep her close he makes her sign a contract - BE MY SEX DOLL, AND IN RETURN, YOUR FATHER GETS TO LIVE. How long will the lustful contract hold? How will Sofia survive when she's suddenly exposed to the dark rollercoaster of Enzo's underworld? Will she keep being his private prostitute, or will there ever be an unlikely spark of love and desire?

Sapphire's face went covered in sweat as she saw the video. Immediately there popped a message getting her stilled in a matter of seconds. "If you want to see the truth with your own eyes, come to the paradise apartment flat number 505." She scurried to her car and asked the driver to drive, giving him the location. Opening the envelope that was delivered to her, she took out the key with trembling fingers and put it in the keyhole to twist it. The entrance unlocked and her pulse quivered her throat. Tiptoeing, she rubbed her palms to her long skirt to clean the sweat and gingerly open the bedroom door. And..... Few minutes later... "My love, I have been dying not being able to see you. Where did you go without informing anyone? If not for the jammer installed in your mobile..." Carlos shook his head and his lips landed on her neck. He bit her, sucked her there with a yearn of passion making his mark. "Do not do such crazy things." His breath was ragged after the bite, covered with desire but at the same time with a kind of control and power. Moving closer, he shifted her head up and then kissed her in wantonness, lust and most importantly in an undying love. PS This book has two parts in it. (sequel and prequel)

I'm a nationally certified animal trainer running the Lion King, Caesar's final assessment. I've barely stepped into the enclosure corridor when the steel guillotine door slams down behind me. My wife's laughter crackles over the loudspeaker. "Everyone, we're doing the ultimate challenge today! We're locking the so-called number-one animal trainer in the Lion King's enclosure and taking bets on whether he wets himself in ten minutes!" Caesar crouches low and rumbles a warning. I reach for my tranquilizer gun but stop cold. The liquid isn't the right color. In a phony sing-song voice, the veterinarian, Hugh Archer, says, "Lucian, I forgot to mention, I swapped your tranquilizer darts for pepper spray so you won't hurt Caesar by mistake. "You two are so close. Just win him over with love!" I look at Caesar, his eyes bloodshot from the stimulant, and it clicks. Hugh still resents that I stopped him from touching a tiger with his bare hands a few days ago. I tune out the trash blaring over the loudspeaker, pull a remote from my pocket, and hit the button. It's the master switch for the electric fence gates around every predator enclosure in the zoo. If I don't make it out, no one does.

**Perfect Blind** *She pretended to be her blind twin. Then she watched her brother-in-law die. The killer tested her—held the bloody head five inches from her face. She didn't blink.* **But what he didn't know? She's not just pretending. She's hunting him too.** --- Jiang Yan has spent three months learning to be her blind twin sister: the walk, the voice, the empty stare. She breaks into Lin's apartment seeking a diary—evidence of a murder Yan committed ten years ago. Instead, she finds a body. A killer who knows sign language. And a "dead man" who won't stop breathing. Trapped in a locked room with two strangers and one lie, Yan must play the perfect blind woman while uncovering the truth: her sister isn't blind, her father isn't dead, and the murder she confessed to never happened. **In this family, everyone wears a mask. The only way out is to see through them all.** --- **Perfect for fans of:** - *The Silent Patient* (unreliable narrator) - *Gone Girl* (toxic sisterhood) - *Behind Her Eyes* (identity games) **Tags:** #PsychologicalThriller #TwistedFamily #BlindPOV #ShortRead #DarkSecrets --- **Word count:** 10,000 words | **Chapters:** 10 | **Reading time:** 45 minutes *Every chapter ends with a twist. The final page changes everything