Novels by BKen

The grand hall of Sky Garden went silent the moment Dante Hale stepped through the doors.Three hundred guests stood frozen in place with champagne glasses halfway to their lips and phones hanging in mid-air as they tried to process what they were seeing. The officiant clutched his leather-bound book against his chest while Damien Blackwood stood at the altar with his face drained of every trace of color. Jasmine Hartwell stood beside him in a white gown that cost more than most people earned in a year, and her eyes were locked on the man who was supposed to be dead.Dante stood ten feet from the altar with his hands loose at his sides and his expression calm and unreadable.Jasmine's lips parted but no sound came out, and her bouquet of white roses trembled in her hands.Dorothy Hartwell sat in the front row with her mouth open in a perfect circle of shock while Nadia beside her had gone pale with her smug smile wiped clean. The silence stretched across the hall like a held breath

Dante stood in the VIP ward and stared at the television screen mounted on the wall, where an anchor spoke with the kind of excitement reserved for events that mattered to people who believed money made meaning."Breaking news," the anchor said, her smile wide and practiced. "The biggest celebrity wedding in town is happening right now at Sky Garden. Jasmine Hartwell, the beauty of Southlake, is marrying Damien Blackwood, heir to the Blackwood empire, in what is being called the wedding of the year."The camera cut to the venue, showing guests in expensive clothes walking through grand doors, champagne glasses already in their hands. Then it shifted to Jasmine, standing in a white wedding dress that caught the light like water, her face beautiful and empty in a way that made Dante's chest tighten.The camera found Dorothy Hartwell next, seated in the front row, her smile so wide it looked like it might crack her face in half. She looked proud, victorious, like she had finally won a wa

The supervisor’s bow had not even fully ended when the hallway changed.People who had been whispering stopped. People who had been smirking turned their faces away. Even the nurse holding a clipboard tightened her grip like she was afraid the paper could betray her.The doctor stood there, frozen, lips parted, eyes wide, and for the first time he looked like a man who understood consequences.The supervisor did not waste time.“Clear the way,” she said.A man in a dark suit walked in behind her, followed by two assistants carrying cases. The moment his face came into view, the air in the hallway shifted again.Someone gasped.“No way,” a woman whispered. “That’s him.”A man near the vending machine leaned forward. “That’s Doctor Nolan.”Another voice, shaking, said, “The one on TV.”The private doctor did not look around. He didn’t need to. He walked like he belonged to a higher floor of the world, one most people never reached.The supervisor turned to him at once.“Doctor Nolan,” s

The hospital corridor stayed loud for a few seconds after the last laugh, but the noise did not feel real anymore, not with her standing there and not with Dante lying still on the bed like he belonged to nobody.“That’s a joke, right?” a man said, smiling too wide. “An Hale in this kind of hospital?”Another voice joined in, sharper. “If she’s an Hale, then I’m the president.”The chuckles came back, eager and messy, and the people who had no part in it still watched like they were scared to leave and miss the punchline.Miss Hale did not move. She did not argue. She did not even look at the ones laughing.The silence from her side made the laughter stumble, because people could handle anger, but they hated calm.The doctor stepped forward, a slight frown on his face, like he was tired of childish games.“Miss,” he said, “you’re only still here because of your fine face.”A few people laughed again, and a woman near the wall whispered, “He’s right, she’s too pretty to be wasting time

The emergency room had seen every kind of drama, but when she walked in, it still went quiet.People stopped talking, nurses slowed down, even the security guard near the entrance straightened like he had been trained for this kind of presence. She was young, tall, and calm in a way that did not come from confidence, but from certainty. Her face was beautiful in the cleanest way, like the world had never dared to treat her badly, and her eyes were sharp enough to make grown men forget what they were about to say.A few heads turned, then more, and the whispers started.“Who is she?”“Is she a model?”“No, look at how they’re reacting.”The doctor stepped forward quickly, as if he had been waiting for someone important to arrive, and he put on the gentlest face he could manage.“Miss, you should not be here,” he said with a soft tone, the kind people used when they wanted to sound humane. “This area is for emergencies, and what we have here is, well, a complicated case.”She did not an

Laughter followed Dante out of the dining room.It wasn’t the polite kind either, the kind people used to save face. This was loud, careless, and proud, the kind that said the room had decided who mattered and who didn’t.Damien Blackwood didn’t even hide his smile.“You hear yourself, right?” someone said, and another voice jumped in quickly, “He’s still acting like he can book Sky Garden.”Jasmine’s cousin, Nadia, tapped her glass with a spoon, like she was calling everyone to enjoy the show.“Let him talk,” she said. “Talking is all he can afford.”Jasmine’s jaw tightened. She looked at Dante, then at the faces around her, and she spoke like she was trying to stop a fire before it got out of control.Then she said, softly, not daring to stare into anyone's eyes.“There’s no need for big words, or making claims at the table. I’m satisfied with a simple wedding.”Damien turned to her, soft and patient, like he was doing her a favor.“Jasmine, a simple wedding is fine, but you don’t m