Twenty Thousand Artinya

Drenched in mud, I've just climbed down the scaffolding and started munching on a cold piece of stale bread when a luxury car speeds past me, effectively drenching me in muddy water. The car window on the driver's side is quickly lowered. A sleazy guy hurls a pack of cigarettes in my face the next moment. "Hey, peasant! This is a reward for you! I got really lucky today, after all!" While I pick up the cigarette pack silently, the man happens to be boasting loudly to the woman sitting in the front passenger seat. "My brother-in-law really is an idiot! He seriously thinks that my sister has a terminal disease! He went to the black market last night night just to sell his blood in exchange for 200 thousand dollars' worth of surgical fees! I end up winning double in the casino with that money of his! "My sister told me that once that idiot gets his hands on the work injury compensation, she'll divorce him right away and buy me a new home!" I grip the bread so hard that it crumples in my hand. After all, my wife, Estella Wilson, was just diagnosed with "late-stage stomach cancer" yesterday. Suddenly, I feel my phone buzzing in my pocket. It's a voice message from Estella. "Hubby, it hurts so much going through the chemotherapy! The doctor told me that I'd be eligible for better medication if we could cough up another 200 thousand dollars. Can you please plead to the foreman and borrow some money from him?"

My childhood friend, whom I hadn’t contacted for years, kept calling nonstop during an important meeting. After the meeting, he spoke in a sharp tone. “Do you think you’re too big for your britches? I’m getting engaged and you’re not even coming back to help out. Do I have to invite you?” I was representing my country at an international scientific forum, so I could only decline politely. Unexpectedly, he turned all haughty. “Fine then. If you’re not coming back, then just send me a gift with four circles and I’ll let it slide. Four circles? Thinking he meant ten thousand with four zeroes, I immediately agreed. “Don’t worry, I’ll give you ten thousand dollars as a wedding gift.” “Ten grand? Who the hell are you kidding? “My wife is the eldest daughter of the Jeffersons, the most prestigious family in Cirrus. Only the most distinguished people are on the guest list. Seeing that we’re old friends, I’m letting you attend. It’s your great honor!” He cursed angrily and sent me the invitation. I was struck dumb the moment I opened it. My aloof ice queen of a wife, who kept strangers at bay, was locked in a passionate kiss with her arms wrapped around my childhood friend’s waist. “Four zeroes, huh? How about four wreaths?” My gaze darkened as I clutched my phone. Four funeral wreaths ought to count as four circles, too!

“A human who kisses a wolf will be granted one wish. Now you have no choice, Alpha. I kissed you. You need to grant my wish,” she said sweetly, but he knew she was anything but sweet. She tricked him so he’d be forced to do what she wants. “I will kill you,” he mumbled. Steele, a celestial alpha who had lived more than a thousand years, is on the search for his brother’s mate, Anna’s reincarnation, to fulfill a promise. Then there’s Amber, a homicide detective who’s determined to find the truth behind his parents’ death. As their fates collide, truth starts to unfold, mysteries are unveiled, and love blooms in the midst of chaos and death… But will their love survive if it’s meant to be cursed from the beginning? Amber, a homicide detective, seeks for the truth behind a mysterious plane crash which she survived but killed her family, and the only clue she has: the man who saved her that night. It was Steele, a celestial alpha who had lived more than a thousand years, and is searching for Anna’s reincarnation, his brother’s mate, to fulfill his brother’s last wish by watching over her. But when Steele looked into Amber’s past life, he saw nothing and concluded that she’s not Anna. However, Amber managed to trap him in a deal so he’d help her solve her parents’ case. But what if along the way, Steele would discover that she’s actually Anna’s reincarnation, but in this lifetime, she is his mate?

Slave. Broken. Wolfless. I've always been the perfect toy for pain and pleasure to the ruthless Alpha Jax who owned me. Twenty years, I've lived in abuse, toture and slavery so one night I decided to run away from it all to find freedom, only to discover I had stepped into the pack of our enemy. I'm taken to their cruel and merciless Alpha Ares who fails to recognize me as Jax's slave so I thought I was free, but the only way he lets me stay in his pack is to be a slave once more.His slave.

Orphaned at birth, Lena Warrick spent twenty years locked away in a secluded academy, training to be a warrior. Her heart longed to be free, to escape far away from the village of Lucania! A strange force beckoned her, making her restless to escape! Maybe it was an impossible dream! She was the chosen Luna for Ajax, the future Alpha of the Luceres Pack. His father, Alpha Atticus, promised to divulge her identity only if she gave in. There was no other way than to surrender. However, on the eve of the Luna Ceremony, their pack was attacked by the most powerful group of warriors led by their indomitable Alpha, Zephyrus. In a matter of minutes, he overpowered them, leaving her at his mercy as a war prisoner. After twenty years, Zephyrus Averoff returned to his village, Lucania, to avenge the death of his family and pack at the hands of the ruthless Alpha Atticus. Soon he wiped out the enemy and reclaimed his land, his pack. What about the prisoner he had captured whom his wolf, Zeus, already acknowledged as his mate? To what extent will Lena go to know her true identity? Why couldn’t she accept the mate bond between them? What would Zephyrus do when the dark secrets of her past are out? Would he accept the enemy, reject her, or claim her as his mate? The first book of the Overpowered Series, this story can be read as a standalone book.

Kristen Rose never meant to marry billionaire Max Ethan Anderson. But fate and a cruel twist placed her at the altar. On what was supposed to be Max and Lena’s wedding day, Lena ran off for selfish reasons. When her plan backfired, she returned, accusing Kristen of kidnapping her. In truth, it was Lena who tricked Kristen into wearing her wedding gown and walking down that aisle. Max found out the truth right there on the stage right before the kiss. But instead of stopping the ceremony, he masked his fury. After the wedding, he gave Kristen a cold deal.... Twenty days to divorce Twenty days with a man who resents her for everything she never meant to do. But what Max didn’t expect was Kristen’s heart to be so real. And what Kristen didn’t expect was to start falling for the man behind the icy glare. Just when hope begins to bloom, Max shatters it all. He marries Lena instead, telling the world he’d never choose a "low-life" like Kristen even though he loved her more than anything. Lena, now his wife, sees Kristen as a threat. And she’ll do anything to erase her permanently. When tragedy strikes, the world believes Kristen is dead. Until she returns. Stronger. Smarter. Fearless. And this time, she’s not alone. Kristen is now teaming up with Max’s most powerful enemy. And Max never saw it coming.

Becky Houston, a twenty-three-year-old girl who suffers from kidney problems has always wanted just enough money to buy drugs for herself, not until she sees a juicy offer to become a mother for Mr. Azariah's kids. Her illness is hidden till one day when she is being stroked by bad luck. Will she deem herself fit before the Azariahs or will the love and affection she has already sparked in the Azariah's family be enough to keep her safe from losing fifty thousand dollars? Not when Azariah has already fallen in love with her.

Dr. Jean S Nicole, assistant professor at the Kiiing's University. The person with great thoughts, great personality and the role model for many. One day some backbenchers were smoking cigarettes, and one of them saw something unusual in the back of the main building of the university, Dr. Nicole was hanging from the roof. They called the Chairman and other staff, after a while police came and started to investigate. At first everyone thought it's a suicide case but police get something weird about VC. Dr. Sapphire and Dr. Nicole both were fighting last week, and the result came as murder. Dr. Sapphire killed his colleague by strangling and then he brought him to the back of the building and hanged him by the roof. Dr. Sapphire, VC of the Kiiing's University get arrested in the murder case of his colleague. Everything changed when the postmortem report came in sight of the investigation officer Clark Black. But it was too late because the Vice Chancellor got hanged by the court. People started to protest against the judiciary and lawsuit because VC was not the actual suspect. Then the question is who's the real suspect, who killed Dr. Jean. After two weeks of this case another suicide case came as a mystery. In this case, the victim was killed by thousands of nails. Most interesting thing was there was no mark of blood after getting a thousand holes in the body. Back in the case of Dr. Nicole's murder, investigation officer get to know in postmortem report that there was no blood in the body of victim. It was strange but it wasn't the end, in just ten days there were thousand cases in which the victims were killed in different ways and every case seemed like suicide but it wasn't.

For three consecutive years, Nate Jackel had a wedding dress customized each year and gifted it to the woman he loved most. When reporters asked me how I felt, I looked at the trending headlines filled with this so-called "true love" hype and sneered. “What’s there to praise about an affair between a cheating husband and his mistress?” That night, Nate rented out a rooftop restaurant and had ten thousand drones launched into the sky to celebrate Grace Lawson’s birthday. In his way, he was telling the entire world that he loved her. That was fine by me. As long as I stayed married, Grace would forever be a mistress.

Geneva Stern was no ordinary woman. After being led to a portal, she was transported to the werewolf realm where humans, vampires, sorcerers, and werewolves share the same world. With many creatures in this world, it wasn't long before war occurred that killed the Deity a thousand years ago. Unbeknownst to Geneva, she was the lost Deity of the realm. Now that she's back, everything will fall back into place. Her destiny with two werewolves will unfold, the traitorous vampires will strike, and the underpowered humans of this realm will fight back. The past will unravel, love will blossom, and bloodshed will occur. She, who was living an ordinary life, suddenly turned into something magical.