Anthony Beal Novels & Stories

This is my first time meeting my partner's family as their future daughter-in-law. A few minutes after taking my seat, my future mother-in-law, Joana Carrell, suddenly speaks up. "I've conducted a premarital test on you, but you've only scored 30 points. You have no right to marry into my family!" I never expect that I'll be tested, to begin with. The results leave me feeling shell-shocked. But Joana continues prattling on and on. "When you walked through the front door, the stool at the doorway was crooked, but you never readjusted it. You got ten points deducted for that. "The trash can in the living room was full, but you ignored it and never took the initiative to empty it. That'll be 20 points deducted. "When you washed the fruits in the kitchen, you saw a pile of dishes in the sink, and yet you didn't wash them. That's 40 points lost! "Altogether, you scored 30 points, which means you've failed the test. Hence, you aren't worthy of becoming a daughter-in-law of the Yarrow family!" I turn to look at my boyfriend, Anthony Yarrow, subconsciously, hoping that he'll defend me. But he keeps his head lowered and pretends to not hear anything. His reaction catches me off guard. But soon, my temper starts flaring. It turns out that the Yarrows have already plotted to put me through a trial that tests my submissiveness as soon as I walk through the front door. That's why Joana has been assessing me like I'm their future maid. Since they care about points that much, then I suppose they can kiss the million-dollar wedding gifts, the marital home located in the city center, as well as the businesses under my family goodbye.

“It won’t be a straight death from where you’re standing.” I blink, turning around. “What?” But he doesn’t give me a reply. At least not yet. Instead, he takes hold of my arms in his large, gloved hands, and pulls me to him so that we are standing toe to toe. “What are you doing?” I whisper. This new position has brought us closer. So close that if I stand on my toes, and he dips his head down a bit, I’d probably have the best kiss… “If you fall from here, the possibility of you dying immediately is 98% at the very least,” He begins as I stare at him with my mouth slightly agape. “Falling from where you stood before is about 35% lesser. You’d die eventually, maybe after a night or two of trying to revive your shattered bones, but not immediately.” Having made his point, he steps back from me and climbs down the somewhat elevated platform. “Did you just make way for me to kill myself?” I murmur, feeling like I’m losing my mind all over again. What kind of a man is this? *** Sonia’s life is going great one minute and then takes a spin for the worse when she is betrayed, gets pregnant and worse, is told that she will be getting married to Italian mafia heir, Anthony Romero, who doesn’t mind raising another man’s child. She abhors the idea, but having also recently been disowned by her father, she has no choice but to accept the marriage proposal if she wants protection for herself and her child. But she has questions. Why would a sane man from her world want to raise a child that isn’t his? Surely they’re ulterior motives in play.

Clara Timothy is a prostitute who is forced to work in prostitution to pay for the treatment of her younger brother, Anthony. One night, she meets Lucas Mark Axton—a ruthless mafia who likes BDSM in sexual relationships. She doesn’t know what happened, but since that night, Lucas has always been looking for her—trying hard to get her. Clara only accepts clients once. She doesn’t want to have sex with the same man a second time. However, due to Lucas’s high offer, Clara accepted his offer—becoming his submissive, where she was only allowed to have sex with Lucas until their agreement expired. At first, Clara only sees their relationship as a job between the boss and slave, but more and more, she falls in love with him. And things get more complicated after Clara finds out that Lucas was the cause of the death of her parents. Her parents’ accident three years ago was caused by an assault car chasing Lucas’ mafia network. So what will Clara do? Will she still choose to continue her life as if nothing happened? Can she save Anthony when she is drowning in her problems? *** “How much money do you need?” Lucas asked while stroking Clara’s naked back who was sleeping beside him. Clara didn’t answer, but Lucas was sure she was listening. “Just stay here tonight and I’ll give you my debit card. You may take as much as you want.” Lucas continued to rub Clara’s back— starting to move lower and lower until he touched her lower abdomen. “Stop it,” Clara muttered under her breath. Lucas raised his eyebrow. Here they go again. “I’ll go home. Call me if you need me. My price is still the same.” She said as she left.

A year ago, my life was simple. I was just Ariel Anthony…a regular college student, cheerleader with decent grades, daughter of a struggling baker, and recently appointed step-sister to a guy I barely knew. Nothing special. Then came the storm. Not just the thunderstorm that trapped me in Professor Grayson's apartment that night, but the storm that followed. The one that's still raging around me, that I created. They don't warn you about men like Luther Grayson in freshman orientation. They don't tell you how a single glance from the right person can make you question everything you thought you knew about yourself. About what you want. About what you'd risk to get it. They also don't warn you about guys like Ethan Cross, with his perfect smile hiding something dark. The kind of guy who's used to getting what he wants and doesn't understand the meaning of the word "no." And no one, absolutely no one…prepares you for what it feels like when the person who's supposed to be your brother looks at you with something else in his eyes. Mom once said I had a gift for making complicated situations worse. If she only knew. My phone buzzed beside me, and I glanced down to see Luther's name on the screen. My heart still jumps every time, even when I'm aware of what could happen if people learned about the two of us. I should ignore it. I should block his number, focus on my classes, help Mom with the bakery, and pretend none of this ever happened. But I'm already reaching for the phone. That's the thing about crossing lines… once you step over them, it's almost impossible to step back. And I've crossed so many lines now, I can't even see where I started.

My mom is a woman who takes frugality very, very seriously. When I suffer from a high fever, she feeds me moldy chicken noodle soup. In fact, I can only wear my older sister's hand-me-downs since I was a little girl. After working hard for so long, I finally qualify for the final interview of a top-500 company. I keep telling my mom repeatedly to not cause any trouble for me. Alas, my monitor winks out when I've reached the most critical point of my interview. At the same time, the router has lost access to the internet. I rush out of my room hurriedly, only to see my mom flipping off the main switch in the darkness. "Why did you leave the lights on at night? Imagine how much money you'll have to pay! I've already calculated everything for you. If we turn off the lights, we get to save a few pennies per night!" Thanks to those pennies, I end up losing my job that can guarantee an annual salary of a million dollars. Later on, my older sister, Andrea Fletcher, is diagnosed with a kidney disease. In order to latch onto Andrea's rich husband, Kirk Herrera, my mom forces me to work overtime at a shady factory just to gather enough money for Andrea's medical bills. Even when I'm about to die, my older brother, Anthony Fletcher, and my dad keep blaming me. "You can't even get hired at a proper factory! You really are useless, Alice! Your mom went through all those frugal nonsense just to raise you for nothing!" When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day I'm about to attend the online interview. I just chuckle coldly as I look at Andrea, who has just found out about her kidney disease and is waiting for me to earn enough money for her kidney transplant. Then, I toss her expensive, specialized medication into the trash can. "What use is there for you to take the medicine, Andrea? What a waste! Mom already stated many times that being frugal is the way of life! "You should drink more water instead. Once your rich husband finds out how good you are at saving money, he'll definitely compliment us for knowing how to balance our finances!"