Queen Building Her Status

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

The studio lights were blazing, but a different kind of heat spread through me-the fizzing anticipation of finally revealing my four-year secret with Liam, my celebrated architect boyfriend. He was "ArchitectGod," I was "ChefSweetheart," and our in-game mansion, "Evermore Estate," held the truth of

Sci-fi

"You have to give me the administrator keys, Chloe." My father' s voice, once a soothing melody of praise for my genius, now cut through the hum of my life' s work, Nova, like a razor. He stood there, demanding control of the AI I' d poured my soul into, the only friend I' d ever truly connected wit

Sci-fi

The cold seeped into my bones, each beat of the heart monitor a countdown to my end. My name is Ethan Miller, and I was dying, wasted by an illness the doctors couldn't explain. The System, an emotionless voice in my head, confirmed my mission failure: I had refused to play the villain, refused to

LGBT+

Rosa James, known as Hatshepsut, is a young woman with an untold secret. Known in the ballroom circuit, she hides the scars inflicted on her by her mother, Avarice James, a plastic surgeon with mental illness. Rosa navigates her ups and downs with devastating accuracy as she deals with an unloving f

Romance

The Travis County Courthouse air felt thick with possibility, or maybe just anticipation. I stood beside Eleanor, ready to get our marriage license, imagining a new life, our life, about to begin. Then her phone buzzed, an email cracking her perfectly calm facade. Her voice thin, she announced he

Adventure

He had to run away from home in order not to be murdered. Without a penny in his pocket and with the clothes on his back, he had to start from scratch to build his life away from his family and friends, in a rough area of the city. But , with the strength of his fists and with faith in God, his stor

Young Adult

"I..hate you" I croaked out brokenly, struggling and failing to hold back the tears spilling in waves from my eyes. "Awwww, is my fat queen crying?" Brandon jested mockingly, laughing as if he had just said something funny. His friends echoed his laughter, making the tears spill even faster from h

Literature

A fascinating biography of the great Queen Victoria by American author, poet and lecturer Sara Jane Lippincott, better known by her pen-name of Grace Greenwood.

Literature

Legal Status of Women in Iowa by Jennie L. Wilson

Sci-fi

Ava Hayes, daughter of a revered NASA astronaut, felt destiny pulling her toward the stars, just like her hero father who'd sacrificed his life on a mission. A glittering gala was her chance to connect, but the night twisted into a public nightmare when intimate photos of her were auctioned off as a

Werewolf

There prevailed to be six kingdoms consisting of humans, werewolves, vampires, fairies, elves, and dragon kingdoms. A hostile war transpired between the dragons and the werewolves. The very war destroyed a lot of lives and the dragons' kingdom. However, the werewolves were getting defeated and t

Romance

I was Kennedy Hall, the rebellious journalist of a political dynasty. My only escape was a secret, passionate affair with Elliot Solis, a powerful CEO carved from ice and logic. He called me his "beautiful disaster," a storm contained within the walls of his penthouse. But our affair was built on a

Romance

For years, I secretly bankrolled my father's extravagant lifestyle. I was the silent founder of King Ventures, the source of his immense wealth, but I preferred to live in the shadows. But at the opening of a gallery I owned, his fiancée, Kesha, publicly accused me of being a gold-digger trying to

Mafia

I sat in a room waiting for my fiancé to set our wedding date, but instead, I received a video of him bleeding in a clinic. He wasn't there for me; he was paying the price for a blood-diamond purse he’d bought for a Mafia Princess named Lucia. I had spent five years living in the shadow of his unde

Romance

After running away from her abusive father, Jasmine ended up in the wrong territory where she was almost raped by 4 guys until she met Tommy, a well-known mafia who was a heartless monster. Jasmine knew exactly who he was and she had no idea why he had saved her. After he rescued her, Tommy took her

Mafia

On the night of my triumph, my husband chose her. As the champagne flutes toasted my resurrected Renaissance masterpieces, the news channels showed Lorenzo "Enzo" Conti shielding his new business ally—and rumored future bride—from a storm. I stood alone in the glittering gallery, the perfect, neg

Modern

The air around me reeked of gasoline, a sharp tang that somehow mixed with the familiar scent of ancient leather from my family' s priceless library. My phone buzzed, Maria's name flashing on the screen, but I ignored it, focused on the tiny, dancing flame of the lighter in my hand. Then came her t

Billionaires

Camilla's sole desire has always been to experience love and receive fair treatment from her family. However, her world takes a drastic turn when her family arranges a marriage with the seemingly uninterested and arrogantly indifferent Leonardo. Will they defy the odds and make their marriage work,

Modern

Everyone in high society knew Jillian was a doormat-silent, obedient, endlessly tolerant, even as her husband favored another woman. Her home was taken, her wedding ruined, and still she said nothing. Until the day her hard-earned patent was stolen. That was when she finally had enough. "I wil

Literature

The first volume of E.F. Benson's wildly satirical take on the Edwardian English upper class. The books were recently adapted by the BBC into a mini-series starring Sherlock's Mark Gatiss.Emmeline Lucas -- Lucia, to her friends -- is a determined social climber, determined to rise to the top of the