When The Tables Turn Novels & Stories

I thought Mia noticed the way I was stressing out and said “Aliana just calm down, he isn't that bad, just don't cross him, go against him or do anything rash and you'll be fine, now we have to get to work , I can see Lisa coming over, hurry up” I didn't want Lisa shouting at us so I took the tray of drinks from Mia and we both went to serve. We served two tables and they were a group of girls. I guess things were calm , it was going well so far .

"My journal is published. My reputation is shredded. Chen has videos and recordings ready to leak. We're past safe options. The only way through this is forward." I look at the engagement ring on my finger. At the journal excerpts still loading on screens around the world. At the people in this room who refuse to abandon me even when I'm at my most exposed. "Three days," I say. "That's when Richard's Final Phase happens. So we have three days to turn this around. Three days to become the predators instead of the prey." Jordan nods slowly. "I can work with three days." "Then let's get to work."

My stomach dropped—a sickening lurch of gravity. "That's just changing the predator. The hunger remains the same." "It's our turn!" "No," I said firmly. I stepped into his personal space. I felt the heat radiating from his skin. "The cycle is over. The machine is broken. We don't rebuild the Throne, Kaine. We build a Table." "A table?" He sneered. "With the Ensi? With the butchers?" "With everyone who has a pulse and a will to build." Kaine shook his head. His eyes were red-rimmed, the pupils erratic. He realized the crowd was stabilizing. He realized they were tracking my movements, not his words.

"Were you?" Mr. Dallas continued, "Julia?" "Alex? " Julia laid the pressure on me. What was Julia's deal and why did she seem so immersed in a battle that wasn't hers in the first place? "Hmm, " Mr. Dallas adjusted for comfort, "There's something we call 'The Last Card', in cases like this, where the situation seems unclear, we refrain from any form of action until our 'suspect' here isn't proven otherwise. Then we can take action. We can flip the last card. "

Candice waited for me to say something, ready to fight but scoffed when she realized that I had hung my head in shame and looked towards Hayley who pretended like she was not even at the table. The table had become a battleground of emotions, each sentence a weapon. As the tension peaked, I felt the dinner slipping through my fingers, my attempts to maintain control faltering. The tension was a coiled spring, ready to snap at any moment, and I found myself grappling for a lifeline to salvage the situation.

Out here, the game stopped being something I just watched from a distance. Now I sat at the table. Funny how things shift when luck turns. One moment everything feels within reach, then it slips away without warning.

"The Table is rotting, Ava. If it doesn't evolve, it will collapse, and it will take all of us with it." "And you need a 'Subject' to prove your point. You need the girl who survived to tell the Table that the old ways don't work anymore." "Yes." I stood up slowly, my legs feeling like lead. "I don't fracture partnerships, Elena. Rowan and I... we don't work for you." "I'm not asking you to work for me. I'm asking you to save yourselves." I walked toward the door, my heart hammering against my ribs. "If reform fails," I said, pausing with my hand on the heavy brass handle, "what happens to the anomalies?"

Championship. But I was instantly surprised when EL suddenly turned over the table. I was just stunned with fear. I stared at the table, and slowly turned my gaze at EL. I was intimidated because the aura he was giving me was not good. What will I do? Try to act angry too? This guy is just a brat. Apparently, no one will get mad at him for turning over a table. But nonetheless, he still wasted the food. Did he know that there is a lot of people starving outside?!

But I knоw turnіng tаіl won’t make me hарру. And who knоwѕ іf thіѕ is the only wау to gеt Aрrіl back. Thеrе’ѕ also thе арреаlіng рrоѕресt of аn еxроѕé. If I survive pulling іt off, thаt іѕ.

"Well, if everyone's game, I'd hate to be the buzzkill. I'm in." They had no idea that the tables had turned. Now, they weren't the ones setting me up anymore. In this hand, I was going to make every single one of them taste the suffering I had endured in my previous life.