"Close your eyes" said a voice. I did exactly that. "What can you see?" the voice asked. "A man, a lonely man" I replied. "This is your calling, Zui. This is your destiny" the voice said. Zui, the daughter of the general of Wailand is made to marry Prince Mbaku, the fourth prince. However, she got caught in the power struggle in the palace after the King's death. She made a lot of sacrifices to secure her family. Out of no where, her long gone lover appears and tries to take her back. Will she go in for her feelings or her family? Will she choose her long gone lover or her husband?
"Close your eyes" a sturdy voice said from behind. "Find it with your mind's eye. Feel it with your heart." the voice continued. "It all depends on you and how you feel. Don't deny it. Relax. Open up. Follow it with your brain, see it with your mind's eye. Feel it with your heart. Listen to its rhythm."
"What can you see?" the voice asked.
" A man" I replied fearlessly and calmly. " A lonely man"
"How far away is he?"
"A few meters away from me"
"This is the break of your dawn. This is your calling" the voice said echoing and diminishing.
"Wake up. You have to meet your father today. Have you forgotten? Get ready to go to him. Don't forget to apply enough oil on your skin and shea butter in your hair. Wear the clothes on the table at the entrance." my grandmother said.
"Ok." I said half asleep.
It was all a dream. Whose voice, was that? Who was the man in her dream? Even though he was just a few meters away from me, he looked blurred. I liked his physique. He was tall and well built. Why was he lonely? And what was he doing in my dream? I wished I could go back to the dream world to find out more. After bathing, I applied lavender oil on my skin and shea butter to my hair. I took the pieces of clothes and wrapped them around my breast and my waist exposing my bare shoulders and tummy. The wrapping cloth for my waist was just a few inches above my knee. I felt the beads around my waist shake as I moved but I ignored them. My dark skin was glowing, even though the sun was not yet up.
"Nana, I am off" I told my grandmother.
"Ok, extend my greetings to your father"
"Ok, Nana".
My father's hut was just a few meters away from my grandmother and my hut. He doesn't live with any of his two wives even though he lives only a few meters away from their huts. His heart is a little bent towards me. My mother died a few months after she gave birth to me. My father and I lost her to a plague. He has been favoring me since then because he loved my mother deeply before she died.
"As early as always" Buka, my father said as he walked towards his hut. "You look more beautiful today. Hurry! Come in"
"Ok, papa" I said while entering his hut.
The sweet aroma of brewed pear and chrysanthemum flower greeted me. As always, his lantern was on but dimmed and his mat was rolled. He smiled at me and I smiled back. My father has proved himself to be tough and stern. He hardly smiles at me even though he was always calm in all his dealings with me. He is the general of the Wailand army and trains very hard even though he is aging.
"Papa, I heard you called for me"
"Yes, I did. Serve me some tea and let's talk."
He kept smiling at me and this made me confused. He hardly smiles let alone as wide as he was smiling now. What was he going to talk about? Why was he smiling broadly? Anyway, it will definitely be good news to have him smile like that. He had already brewed his tea, so i just took a teacup and filled it to its brim.
"Here you are, papa"
"Sit" he said as he took the teacup from me.
I sat down by turning my legs backward and sitting on my heels. I looked at him trying to figure out why he was smiling.
"I just noticed how beautiful you have become. If you want to know how your mother looked like, just stare at your reflection in still and clean water. You just like her. Very beautiful."
"Oh, papa" I said coyly.
"You are now a woman. I don't like the idea of you wielding a sword. I have trained you so that you can be happy. But it's time to move on. You are a woman. The performance of the customary rites and celebration ushering you into womanhood is only seven days from today. Prepare to move into your husband's house after the celebration"
"But papa, i don't want to get married now. You know i love to wield a sword and train with your men. You know me very well. Why now?"
"You're now a woman. You should start thinking of having a family. Don't worry, i won't send you off with just any man. I want the best for you."
"Papa, i said i don't want to marry now. I had my first ever period only last month and you are thinking of getting rid of me already" I said with tears trickling down my face.
"I have found you a wonderful suitor. The king has paid for your bride price for one of the princes" he replied ignoring my earlier comment.
I have been training with the fourteen older princes and we were friends. I even saw them as my brothers! They were handsome, skilled, and well trained. They were the dream men of women in the Wailand but not mine. I didn't know they badly wanted to call me sister-in-law.
"Which of the princes?"
I knew he wouldn't answer me because it was a tradition. I would know the person after the celebration, that's if i am lucky. Most girls don't see the men until the eve of their marriage.
"Is it Diemo? Zima? Ndaka? Mbigu? Shyade?" i asked desperately trying to see if his countenance will soften at the hearing of the name. But it was all in vain. "Go back home and get ready for the ceremony"
"Papa, can you re-think this decision? Kindly think of my interest too. I don't want to marry now. No, not now" i said as i stood up to leave.
I knew he had already made up his mind, nothing i would do will make him change his decision. Whoever it is, I will definitely find out during or after the ceremony. And i won't hesitate to walk to him to cancel our engagement since i don't want to marry now.
Nathan's mother was murdered when he was only 5 years. He is adopted by neighbors and raised as their own child. Nathan falls in love with his guardians' daughter. However, due to his quest and headstrong decision to find the perpetrator behind his mother's death, he deserts his love, family and friends. Nathan finds clues and all the clues pointed at the mother of the woman he loves most,who was also his guardian. Is his guardian the real perpetrator? How will he handle the truth? Nathan choose love over hatred?
Trigger warning!!! Intended for mature readers who enjoy morally complex, slow-burn, poseesive, forbidden, dark romance that pushes boundaries. ***EXCERPT*** Blood everywhere. Trembling hands. "No!" My eyes blurred. His lifeless eyes stared back at me, his blood pooling at my feet. The man I loved-dead. Killed by the one person I could never escape - my stepbrother. *** Kasmine's life was never hers to begin with. Kester, her stepbrother, controlled and monitored her every move. At first, it was all sweet and brotherly until it began to turn into an obsession. Kester was the Alpha, and his word was law. No close friends. No boyfriends. No freedom. The only consolation Kasmine had was her twenty-first birthday, which was supposed to change everything. She dreamt of finding her mate, escaping the sickening control of Kester, and finally claiming her own life. But fate had other plans for her. On the night of her birthday, not only was she disappointed that she wasn't mated to the love of her life, but she found out that her mate was none other than him - Her tormentor. Her stepbrother. She'd rather die than be mated to a man whom she had known as her big brother all her life. A man who would do just anything to make sure she was his. But when love turns to obsession, and obsession turns to blood, how far can one girl run before she realizes there is nowhere else to run to?
Chandler Su who had cheated by her boyfriend then got drunk at a bar. To take revenge, she grabbed a man randomly and took him to the room. After a crazy night, Chandler found the strange man was a super handsome guy the next morning. Shy and shocked Chandler run away after leaving 150 RMB and scorning the man of his poor bed skills. However, she never thought the story would become so dramatic as the next day, she found out that the new coming president of her company was exactly the man she slept the last night! Worse than that, this new boss seemed very narrow-minded as he asked Chandler to come to his office on the first day.
Darya spent three years loving Micah, worshipping the ground he walked on. Until his neglect and his family's abuse finally woke her up to the ugly truth-he doesn't love her. Never did, never will. To her, he is a hero, her knight in shining armour. To him, she is an opportunist, a gold digger who schemed her way into his life. Darya accepts the harsh reality, gathers the shattered pieces of her dignity, divorces him, takes back her real name, reclaims her title as the country's youngest billionaire heiress. Their paths cross again at a party. Micah watches his ex-wife sing like an angel, tear up the dance floor, then thwart a lecher with a roundhouse kick. He realises, belatedly, that she's exactly the kind of woman he'd want to marry, if only he had taken the trouble to get to know her. Micah acts promptly to win her back, but discovers she's now surrounded by eligible bachelors: high-powered CEO, genius biochemist, award-winning singer, reformed playboy. Worse, she makes it pretty clear that she's done with him. Micah gears up for an uphill battle. He must prove to her he's still worthy of her love before she falls for someone else. And time is running out.
She was a world-renowned divine doctor, the CEO of a publicly traded company, the most formidable female mercenary, and a top-tier tech genius. Marissa, a titan with a plethora of secret identities, had hidden her true stature to marry a seemingly impoverished young man. However, on the eve of their wedding, her fiance, who was actually the lost heir to a wealthy dynasty, called off the engagement and subjected her to degradation and mockery. Upon the revelation of her concealed identities, her ex-fiance was left stunned and desperately pleaded for her forgiveness. Standing protectively before Marissa, an incredibly influential and fearsome magnate declared, "This is my wife. Who would dare try to claim her?"
Caught in a web of betrayal, Nicole's life shatters in a single evening when her mother-in-law, Veronica, sets her up in an elaborate scheme. Blindsided, Nicole faces her husband Taylor's cold rage as he casts her out of his life and home, accusing her of infidelity and theft. As she tries to defend herself, her best friend, Sarah, adds another blow by denying their loyalty. "Please, Taylor, you have to believe me!" Nicole pleads, her voice breaking, but his icy response is a dagger to her heart. "I don't hate you, Nicole," he sneers. "I despise you." When Nicole reveals she's pregnant, she hopes for compassion, but it only fuels Veronica's determination to rid the family of her. After signing the divorce papers, a dejected Nicole wanders alone, where a brutal attack leaves her bleeding, helpless, and desperate to protect her unborn child. Six years later, Nicole returns from the ashes to inflict seven times the pains upon those who humiliated her and left her to die. "I'll make them pay so dearly that they'd regret ever been born!" She declares. This is a story of romance and revenge you don't want to miss!
Rena got into an entanglement with a big shot when she was drunk one night. She needed Waylen's help while he was drawn to her youthful beauty. As such, what was supposed to be a one-night stand progressed into something serious. All was well until Rena discovered that Waylen's heart belonged to another woman. When his first love returned, he stopped coming home, leaving Rena all alone for many nights. She put up with it until she received a check and farewell note one day. Contrary to how Waylen expected her to react, Rena had a smile on her face as she bid him farewell. "It was fun while it lasted, Waylen. May our paths never cross. Have a nice life." But as fate would have it, their paths crossed again. This time, Rena had another man by her side. Waylen's eyes burned with jealousy. He spat, "How the hell did you move on? I thought you loved only me!" "Keyword, loved!" Rena flipped her hair back and retorted, "There are plenty of fish in the sea, Waylen. Besides, you were the one who asked for a breakup. Now, if you want to date me, you have to wait in line." The next day, Rena received a credit alert of billions and a diamond ring. Waylen appeared again, got down on one knee, and uttered, "May I cut in line, Rena? I still want you."