The Abstract Of Her

Modern

Twenty minutes before the "Wedding of the Century" at The Plaza, I stood outside the Presidential Suite in a fifty-thousand-dollar Vera Wang gown. I was the girl from a West Virginia trailer park about to marry Hugh Maxwell, the golden heir to a billion-dollar defense empire. I pushed the door open only to find Hugh pinned against the bed with my own stepsister, Floy. She was wearing my bridal diamond necklace, and the sounds of their laughter scraped against my eardrums like sandpaper. I didn't scream; I listened as Hugh grunted that once the wedding was over and the trust fund unlocked, he'd dump "that hillbilly trash" on a bus back to the mountains. They weren't just cheating; they were planning to steal my family's land deeds and leave me with nothing. When I set off the sprinklers and exposed their naked bodies to the paparazzi, the Maxwell family didn't apologize. They called me a "greedy peasant" and threatened to ruin my life unless I signed a new deal to save their crashing stock. I realized then that I was never a bride to them. I was a transaction, a rounding error in a ledger to be used and discarded. They thought my poverty made me weak and my silence made me a victim. "If we don't have a marriage certificate by midnight, the bank freezes thirty percent of our liquidity," their lawyer warned. So, I gave them exactly what they wanted. I used a loophole in their hundred-year-old family covenant and married the only other direct heir available. I didn't marry Hugh. I walked into the ICU and married his uncle, Fleet Maxwell-the legendary war hero who had been in a vegetative state for months. Now, I am the matriarch of the Maxwell dynasty. I've suspended Hugh's executive powers, exiled my mother-in-law to the Swiss Alps, and taken control of the family vault. They think I'm just a gold-digger waiting for a "corpse" to die so I can collect a fifty-million-dollar widow's payout. But last night, as I lay beside my comatose husband, the man they called a vegetable gripped my hand back.

Romance

Robert was the Prince of the Kingdom of Western Wind. And he had everything. The crown. The adoration of the people. The utmost respect of noblemen inside and out of their borders. But amidst all the riches and privileges given to him by birth, Robert was unhappy with his life. Shackled to an arr

Literature

The Hollow of Her Hand by George Barr McCutcheon

Modern

"Mommy." That single word, uttered by my five-year-old daughter, Lily, should have been a moment of pure joy. Instead, it detonated the fragile peace I' d clung to for five years, ever since Lily' s mother, Sophia, abandoned us to chase after her ex. Sophia froze, her plastered-on smile for her ne

Romance

The Price of Her Heart Avery Monroe, a talented yet struggling artist, has always dreamed of making a name for herself in the world of art. Despite her dedication, her paintings have never gained the recognition they deserve. Faced with mounting debts and the responsibility of caring for her sick m

Romance

For seven years, I poured every ounce of my being-my savings, my career, my very essence-into Olivia Reed' s music career. I was the silent force behind her rise, the architect of her dream, believing her success was ours. Then, at her album launch, the night she finally made it, she publicly decla

Fantasy

The last thing I remembered was a crushing weight in my chest, and the impossibly cruel words about my son not being mine. Then, everything went black. I thought I was dead, a broken man on my own lawn, betrayed by the wife I' d mourned for a decade. But I opened my eyes to the scent of lilies an

Billionaires

The hospital air, cold and sterile, usually a familiar hum, felt wrong that day. My sister, Lily, lay broken and small in that bed, her artist' s hands swollen and bandaged, a machine breathing for her. Someone had done this. The doctor' s words-"blunt force trauma," "critical condition"-blurred i

Modern

Ethan Cole, heir to a formidable dynasty, was hopelessly infatuated with Seraphina Vance. When a devastating explosion nearly claimed her life, he defied all odds, secretly risking his own to fund a clandestine rescue, even letting another man claim his heroic sacrifice. But that man, his security

Modern

Matthew Scott, my fiancé and business partner, looked at me with that serious expression I used to find charming. He told me our architecture firm, our shared dream, was on the verge of bankruptcy. I didn't hesitate when he asked me to invest every dollar of my life savings – the down payment for

Romance

How far is she willing to go to get her twin back in her life? London couldn't answer this question if her life depended on it. The limits to what she's willing to do for her twin doesn't exist. Pretending to be her sister for a dinner party? No big deal. That is, until she finds herself in the ver

Literature

The Adventures of Fleetfoot and Her Fawns by Allen Chaffee

Romance

My passport was in my hand, my bag zipped, when my girlfriend, Sophia, walked in, fresh from a trip with another man. "What are you doing, Ethan?" she asked, her voice airy as she flaunted a high-end jewelry bag. She still thought I was just throwing a tantrum. But when I told her I was leaving her

Romance

He was free and unrestrained, while she was beautiful but not ostentatious. He came from a prominent family, and she was struggling to survive. He seemed to be cynical, while she was cold and ruthless. She swore that she would never marry a rich man, but she fell in love with him. No matter how a

Romance

Anne followed a certain contract: she would get married to Kevin and give birth to his child by the end of the year. Otherwise, she would lose it all. However, it was easier said than done. Faced with humiliation day by day, she had run out of patience. This time, she didn't want to give in. On

Adventure

Zara, a twenty-year-old struggling to make ends meet with two demanding jobs in the city's underbelly, finds solace in a secret sketchbook filled with bold fashion designs. Despite her meager circumstances, her imagination runs wild with dreams of luxury and creativity. That is, until she meets Etha

Short stories

A quiet, brooding seaside town-out of season, filled with gray skies, the scent of salt, and crashing waves. A distant lighthouse watches like a sentry over secrets buried in time. Juliet Johnson returns after eight years-now a solitary, reclusive artist-summoned by a letter from her brother, Jone

Romance

One thing Danielle Frost swore with her life was that she would surely make Jacob Miller pay. After fifteen years of unrequited love, Danielle is humiliated in a grand way by Jake and this scars her for life. Three years later, Danielle and Jacob are forced to work together or face their worst fears

Werewolf

"I'm going to have to f^ck you if you keep this up," he growls. "I'll bend you over and bury my c0ck deep in your needy little pu$$y." Heaven moans. His words only fuel the fire inside her, and the knowledge of her turning him on makes her rock faster, arching her back more until her cl!t drags hard

Young Adult

"Gabrielle? Are you awake?" The whisper cut through the dark, the same saccharine sweetness that had once chilled me to the bone. My eyes snapped open, a breath catching in my throat. I wasn't in the cramped, lonely apartment where I'd taken my own life. I was back in my Boston University dorm, sop