Fake Slackers

He was born a traitor’s son. The academy branded him a failure. But an ancient king’s soul calls him Master. Seventeen year old Kael Ashford arrives at the prestigious Dragonspire Academy with nothing but a patched tunic and the heavy burden of his family's disgraced name. Branded as the son of the kingdom’s ultimate traitor, he expects to be rejected during the public Bonding Ceremony. He expects to return to his starving border village in shame. He does not expect a legendary, midnight-scaled black dragon,a beast thought to be dead for centuries,to crash through the glass dome, bow in absolute submission, and call him "Your Majesty." Before Kael can claim his destiny, a cloaked assassin slits the dragon's throat, and a forbidden royal crest burns itself permanently into Kael's chest. Sentenced to the damp, rotten Discard Dorms with the academy’s lowest failures, Kael quickly realizes the dragon isn’t completely gone,its powerful consciousness is alive inside his mind, acting as a secret mentor. To survive the murderous gaze of Headmaster Vance and the cold, vengeful blade of the brilliant Lyra Voss, Kael must fake his weakness while secretly siphoning forbidden magic. But as he uses a stolen silver key to unlock the ancient, hidden ruins built directly beneath the school, he uncovers a dark laboratory that shatters the history of the kingdom. Deep within the academy's forbidden underbelly stands a cage of pure magical energy. And resting inside it, is a boy who shares his exact face,a perfect duplicate whose pitch-black eyes are wide awake, whispering a dark warning that will change everything.

She thought she was using him. He'd been searching for her for twelve years. "Listen carefully," Diana Morrison's voice cuts through the study like ice. "These are the terms of our marriage arrangement, and they are non-negotiable." Marcus Hayes sits across from her in his worn suit, agreeing to every humiliating condition without protest. Separate bedrooms. No physical contact. Divorce after one year. "Do you have any backbone at all?" Diana demands, frustrated by his compliance. What she doesn't know: Marcus is the Supreme God of War of West America, commander of armies, controller of trillion-dollar empires. Twelve years ago, a starving orphan boy received kindness from a young girl who shared her meager lunch. He never forgot her. Now that girl stands before him—cold, calculating, believing she's trapped a desperate nobody in a fake marriage to escape her family's control. "Perhaps I am desperate," Marcus admits softly. "But not in the way you think." When the Romano and Bennett families attack, when her business crumbles, when assassins lurk in shadows—Marcus moves like the warrior he is, leaving enemies broken and allies in awe. "Who are you?" Diana whispers, watching him dismantle threats with surgical precision. Marcus's slight smile holds secrets that could reshape nations. "I'm your husband." She thought their contract marriage had an expiration date. She has no idea the Supreme God of War never lets go of what's his. He spent twelve years building an empire to be worthy of protecting her. Now he'll spend a lifetime proving she was always meant to be his.

He watched his family die through a crack in the kitchen wall. At seventeen, Miguel Ramirez learned that survival and innocence never leave the same room together. By sunrise, he buried his parents, his sister, and the boy he used to be. He crossed the border into America with fake papers, borrowed hope, and one promise carved into his bones: one day, he would find the man responsible. Twenty-five years later, Miguel is no longer the boy who hid. He is Michael Reyes, billionaire developer, political donor, husband, father, one of LA's most respected men. But behind the tailored suits and charity galas, he is El Fantasma: the ghost, the invisible architect of an empire powerful enough to move money, governments, and men without leaving fingerprints. Then, at a gala in London, he sees him. Julian Vane. The man who stood in his childhood home and gave the order that destroyed his family is alive, smiling beside ministers and central bank officials like murder was just another investment. Miguel should kill him. Instead, he starts digging and finds something worse than revenge. The massacre in Chiapas wasn't random. His entire life was designed. His rise inside the criminal empire known as The Circle was engineered before he crossed the border. His closest friend, Diego, wasn't sent to save him, he was sent to deliver him. And the man who built him into a weapon was not just his mentor. He was his father. Now Miguel is hunted by the network that made him, betrayed by everyone he trusted, and forced to ask whether the life he built was ever truly his,especially with Elena Vega, sent to watch him, who stayed because she chose him. He survived his enemies. He may not survive his family.