UNFINISHED MISSION and other stories

Modern

For two years, I was the invisible force behind tech billionaire Kieran Douglas, convinced that our "private" romance was his way of protecting us from the tabloid spotlight. I managed his mergers, warmed his bed, and waited for a future that didn't exist. The illusion shattered at 6:00 AM when a Page Six alert debuted Kieran's "real" romance with socialite Aspen Schneider. Before I could even process the betrayal, Kieran sent me a cold, professional text: "Order flowers for Aspen. Pink peonies. Her favorite." When I tried to walk away, my own mother called me a disgrace and threatened to lock my inheritance forever unless I married a sixty-year-old businessman to save her failing estate. At a high-society gala that same night, Aspen intentionally crushed my burned hand in front of the cameras, while Kieran stood by and dismissed me as a "mediocre assistant" who had overstayed her welcome. I stood in the cold New York rain, drenched in champagne and humiliation, realizing that every sacrifice I made for Kieran was a joke. I was a ghost in a penthouse that was never mine, discarded the moment his "soulmate" returned. To the world, I was just a placeholder whose time had run out. But Kieran forgot one thing: my father's multi-million dollar trust fund unlocks the moment I legally marry. I didn't need love; I needed a signature and a shield. I walked into a discreet law firm and signed a marriage contract with a man I believed was the city's most notorious, scandal-ridden playboy. I thought I was marrying a degenerate "beard" to buy my freedom and secure my revenge. I didn't realize the man who signed that paper wasn't a playboy at all, but Gaston Collins-the most powerful and dangerous man on Wall Street-and he had no intention of letting our fake marriage stay fake.

Literature

Mansfield's Bliss, and Other Stories, published in 1920, secured the author's literary reputation. While readers and critics at the time generally lauded the short fiction collection, a few reviewers objected to its controversial subject matter - infidelities, discussions of sexuality, cruel and sup

Literature

Five short stories dealing with the escapades of society women in America and England. CONTENTS: I AFFINITIES II THE FAMILY FRIEND III CLARA'S LITTLE ESCAPADE IV THE BORROWED HOUSE V SAUCE FOR THE GANDER

Romance

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally impor

Literature

Beatrice Boville and Other Stories by Ouida

Literature

Once upon a time, I wrote a little story of a woman who was crushed to death by a python. A day or two after its publication, a friend stopped me in the street. "Charming little story of yours," he said, "that about the woman and the snake; but it's not as funny as some of your things!" The next wee

Literature

Life Is Nothing More Than a Never-Ending Duel"To be in continual ecstasies over nature shows poverty of imagination. In comparison with what my imagination can give me, all these streams and rocks are trash, and nothing else." - Anton Chekhov, The DuelUsing his keen spirit of observation, Anton Chek

Literature

The Preliminaries, and Other Stories by Cornelia A. P. Comer

Literature

Princess Sarah and Other Stories by John Strange Winter

Literature

The Deserter, and Other Stories by Harold Frederic

Literature

The Mantle and Other Stories by Nicholas Gogol

Literature

This is a compilation of stories published by T. Fisher Unwin and J. B. Lippincott in 1904. Chinkie's Flat John Frewen, South Sea Whaler A Memory of the Southern Seas; Some South Sea Notes; "Luck"; Bull-Dogs of the Sea; "Revenge"; Saunderson and the Dynamite; The Stealing of Sa Luia

Literature

AFTER the festive dinner with its eight courses and its endless conversation, Olga Mihalovna, whose husband’s name-day was being celebrated, went out into the garden. The duty of smiling and talking incessantly, the clatter of the crockery, the stupidity of the servants, the long intervals bet

Literature

Rosa Mundi and Other Stories by Ethel M. Dell

Literature

Prince Lazybones and Other Stories by Mrs. W. J. Hays

Short stories

Revenge, rejection, resilience and revival: they’re all represented in this collection of fourteen short stories from author Pauline Wiles. Ranging in length from just 99 words to long-enough-for-a-second-cup-of-tea, these stories feature locations from Switzerland to Seattle and the fictional En

Literature

From the book:When you come to reflect that there are only a few planks between you and the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, it makes you feel sort of pensive. "I beg your pardon?" The stranger, smoking his cigarette in the lee of the deck-cabins, turned his head sharply in the direction of t

Literature

George MacDonald was one of the foremost fantasy writers of the 19th century and influenced just about every writer that came after him. He was a mentor of Lewis Carroll, a friend of Mark Twain's, and a man who helped shape the works of authors like Tolkien.

Literature

Innovative, startlingly perceptive and aglow with colour, these fifteen stories were written towards the end of Katherine Mansfield's tragically short life. Many are set in the author's native New Zealand, others in England and the French Riviera. All are revelations of the unspoken, half-understood

Modern

Pozdnyshev and his wife have a turbulent relationship. When her beauty blossoms after the birth of their children, men begin to flock around her, and he becomes increasingly jealous. Convinced his wife is betraying him with a young musician, his overpowering suspicion drives him to ever more dangero

Literature

The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories by graf Leo Tolstoy