Chapters
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Every time I go for a job interview, the company’s HR tells me there’s something wrong with me. But honestly, I don’t see it. After being mysteriously fired four times in a row, I’m now at my fifth company. The moment I walk in, I head straight for the executive lounge. A man with gold-rimmed glasses is sitting there. Probably HR. He looks up, startled. I march over, plop myself down on the plush sofa, and frown. “Where’s my tea?” “Uh...right away, ma’am” The…-
4.9 K • Ongoing
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It was no longer the River of Perfumes, but a river of stinks and industrial smells. Tall black factory chimneys in the night; rice mills; moored steam launches, lighters. All slept in the dead of night. Then came a faint tang of salt air, and Barrett quickened his strokes. Lagoons; the lighterage port of Thuan-an; and then, at last, tramp steamers anchored out in the offing. Barrett hailed one: "Ship ahoy! Can you take a couple of passengers?" A gabble of Malay from some serang on watch. "Am waking…-
6.3 K • Ongoing
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"Mawng Shwé!" That piercing silvery voice was no sampan man's. It arrested them all. They glanced back at her. Nanya stood dragging at the dagger within her coolie robe. She was tensed to leap to his help. She had not jumped overboard. Her accents held extreme terror for the life of her love. The raiders grinned diabolically. They had them both now. The Prince would come to... Two faced her way; the rest crouched to close in on Barrett and finish him. "Don't! Keep away, Nanya!" He bared clenched…
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6.3 K • Ongoing
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But his problem bristled with practical difficulties as Barrett explored what he was undertaking. Escape from the house was impossible; Tou Dac's men guarded every exit from the gardens, for white man or house-boy, and Nanya was now dressed as one. There was but one way left open: back to the sampan waiting at the wharf. And that sampan would be swooped upon by another, bearing Tou Dac, hot for his girl and aided by a dozen retainers. Where would Tou Dac attempt the abduction? Somewhere during that…
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6.3 K • Ongoing
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Much later, Barrett's detachment asserted itself. The girl was now content just to sit up and look at him; then a fresh wave of affection would come and she wanted his arms again. She was completely and utterly in love with him. Her eyes danced, sparkled, blazed, invited; repelled in sheer mischief, only to relent and invite again. Her laugh was like music, her voice caressing, wise, merry, deep with feeling as she talked. Barrett wondered when, if ever, she would return to the normal, rather disdainful…
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6.3 K • Ongoing
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She was. Tou Dac moved fast. Within two hours, Barrett saw commotion at the water-gate of the palace along the River of Perfumes. Paper lanterns bobbed agitatedly. An illuminated orchid, rose-violet and pale yellow, came floating swiftly upstream. An enormous orchid of silk on a sampan it was, with its purple tongue curving over from astern as a sunshade and canopy. The swift thumps of its oar betokened haste. Barrett called his boys and hastened to the wharf. The Annamese rower jumped out and looped a…
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6.3 K • Ongoing
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A fairy temple of pearl and rose seemed to float toward him on the dark waters of the River of Perfumes. Dr. James Barrett rose hastily and clapped his hands for his house-boys. The temple undulated and swayed beneath the oar-strokes of the pirogue that carried it, fringed with translucent globes of colored light from its paper lanterns. Lit from within, its silken walls radiated a luminous pearly-white glow. Coming through the scented night, over a black mirror of waters that reflected all the colors from…
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6.3 K • Ongoing
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The plan was simple: Candace, Stern's mistress, was unhappy. She had been his secret for three years, and she was tired of waiting for him to leave his wife. If they could offer her something Stern couldn't—independence, a future—she might be willing to help. Elena volunteered to talk to her. "I know what it's like to be kept in the shadows," she said. "She'll trust me." Julian wanted to argue. He wanted to protect her. "Be careful," he said. "I'm always careful." She went to meet Candace at a…-
12.0 K • Ongoing
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Elena returned to the office at 10:00 AM. She looked exhausted—dark circles under her eyes, her hair pulled back in a hasty ponytail. But her spine was straight, and her gaze was steady. Julian met her in the lobby. "We need to talk," he said. "No. We need to work." She walked past him toward the elevator. "You can explain yourself after you've fixed the mess you helped create." "I didn't—" "You let me fall for you. And all of it was a lie." "Not all of it." "Enough of it." The elevator…
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12.0 K • Ongoing
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The board reconvened at 9:00 AM. Julian attended as himself—Julian Vane, CEO, returned from his "sabbatical." He wore a tailored suit. No glasses. His hair was styled, his face clean-shaven. No one recognized him as Jay. "Mr. Vane," the CFO said, surprised. "We didn't expect you." "I'm aware." Julian took his seat at the head of the table. "I've been following the situation closely. I have concerns about the evidence presented yesterday." Stern shifted in his chair. "With respect, Julian, the…
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12.0 K • Ongoing
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