He was sent to rescue her. Not to care. Not to stay. Definitely not to fall. Leonardo Nico Russo, the youngest heir of one of Europe's most feared crime families, has built his life on discipline, precision, and impossible missions. Loose ends don't exist in his world. Until April Holloway. Three years after he pulls her from the horrors of human trafficking, fate brings them together again. But the girl he rescued is no longer the same-and neither is the man who walked away believing some people were never meant to become more than a mission. As April finds herself pulled closer to the enigmatic man who once saved her, she must decide whether loving him is worth embracing the dangerous world that comes with his name. And when the past returns, determined to destroy everything he holds dear, Leo discovers that there are some wars you don't fight for an empire... You fight them for one person. Set against a world of hidden wars, family loyalty, and impossible choices, In His Arms is a story of rescue, resilience, and a love that refuses to surrender. Because sometimes, the person who saves you... doesn't just change your life. They become your home.

Trapped between a toxic job and a family that took her for granted, Clara Reid never expected for her life to change with a spilled beer, a forgotten phone, and an act of kindness that didn't go overlooked. This is my submission for the ONC 2026 contest. My prompts: 19. When you accidently spill beer on someone, the moment that should've ruined your day, begins the beginning of a surprising and life-changing friendship. 28. Self love often starts small, like planting a single seed. With time, patience and a bit of light, it will blossom. 56. After grabbing the wrong phone at a busy pizzeria, you discover the stranger's life is far more entangled with yours than you ever expected.

Clara Morel arrives at a fashionable Riviera resort after a most determined journey, fully prepared to prevent a wedding she considers both foolish and ill-advised. Unfortunately, she arrives a day too late. The ceremony has already taken place with admirable efficiency. What remains is a nearly empty hotel, a quantity of unused champagne, and a handful of guests whose politeness seems somewhat strained. Each of them appears to have a private grievance, an awkward history, or an inconvenient secret. Clara soon discovers that while she may have missed the wedding, she has arrived in perfect time for something else entirely. After all, in a place where everyone has a reason to resent someone, it rarely takes much for resentment to become murder.

She repairs broken memories - but who will repair the truth? ***** Nova Aurion understands how fragile memory can be - she mends it for a living. In a world where memory is currency and abilities define worth, society is divided into Endowments: cognitive classes established to preserve stability. Every three years, the nation hosts 'Project Elite' - a prestigious competition honoring the finest minds from each Endowment. Within the high-stakes arena, they contend not only for victory, but for the recognition to lead their future. When Nova, a Memory Diver renowned for restoring fractured minds, is selected to compete - she enters the Project, determined to win. However, survival demands more than mere intellect; it requires strategy, perception and sacrifice. As alliances shift and sparks ignite, a forbidden dive into a stranger's memory leaves Nova deeply unsettled, leading to a chilling realisation: what if Project Elite isn't designed to measure brilliance at all - but to harvest something far more dangerous? Caught between a charming rival, a skeptical ally, and a system that predicts every move, she must confront a choice that could reshape humanity itself - Is an unpredictable future worth the risk of chaos... or is controlled stability the safest path to preservation? ************************** ONC prompt (main): 111: With a single touch, you can slip into someone else's memories. But when a stranger shows you a future crime involving you, you must uncover the truth before it comes to pass.

In the coastal town of Grayhaven, disappearances aren't crimes, they're cycles. Every twenty seven years, devoted parents vanish without a trace. Every twenty seven years, a quiet girl named Shanice appears soon after, as if the sea itself has returned something in exchange. Nineteen year old, Lucious Waters has lived with the aftermath of the last cycle. His mother was among those who vanished. Since then, he has carried a secret: when the fog rolls in and emotions run high, he sees something beneath certain people's skin, faint, drifting tendrils like jellyfish suspended in flesh. When the cycle begins again, Lucious realizes the truth is larger than grief, older than the town, and far more deliberate than anyone admits. Grayhaven Town is not cursed. It is protected. And protection always demands payment. PROMPT 38. Everyone sees an ordinary person but you are the only one who can see their true nature, a jellyfish in disguise. Tendrils of Grayhaven is a haunting supernatural mystery about grief, loyalty, and the terrifying cost of safety, where the greatest threat may not be what lurks in the deep, but what happens when it decides to change.

🏆 ONC 2026 ENTRY Main Prompt: 52 🏆 ONC Long List Qualifier 🥇 Winner (Dark Romance): The Rogue Muse Awards 🥇 Best Plot Twist: The Spring Fling Awards 🥇 Winner (Paranormal Romance): The Love Letter Legacy 🥇 Best Plot Twist, Mystery/Thriller & Romance - F.L.A.R.E Awards 🏅 Best Blurb & Character Names: The Fantasy Vortex 🥉 Unique Concept: Best of Wattpad Awards 🥉 Best Horror/Thriller: Inked & Unwritten Awards ⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆ After Dark is supposed to be just another dating app. For Amelia, a museum curator exhausted by one bad date after another, it feels like a final attempt before she gives up on romance entirely. For Alexei, it's never been about dating at all; he's been sent to get close to her because of an artefact tied to something old and dangerous. But as their meetings turn strange and violent, Amelia realises the city she thought she knew is hiding secrets far darker than a failed love life. And somewhere in between, Alexei finds himself losing control of the one thing he was meant to keep in check: His distance from her. ⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆ Tropes: Supernatural/Paranormal Adventure, Slow-Burn Romance, Forced Proximity, Are they or Are They Not Together?, Morally Grey MMC 💋, 1/3 Body Horror, 1/3 Gore and 1/3 Sexually Explicit Inspirations: DMC, JJK, BB, Dante's Inferno Fun things (16/3, 5/5: Ranked #1 on demonology) COVER DONE BY CANVA PRO, ARTWORK BY PINTEREST © 2026 by eleeyjs (EJ Chow). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means-including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods-without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations used in critical reviews or scholarly work.

When Teia Cloto travels to Naples, Italy, hoping to steady a life already quietly unravelling, the last thing she needs is a blind date that turns into an easy, unexpected friendship. Alden instantly makes the city feel strangely familiar in ways Teia didn't know she needed. Drawn deeper into Naples' ancient past and her own unsettling sense of déjà vu, the line between coincidence and destiny begin to blur. Staying friends is simpler. But Teia must confront whether destiny is a story we inherit, or one we choose to rewrite, no matter the cost. Water and Sand is a contemporary love story that reimagines the myth of Theseus and Ariadne, where love is a labyrinth and friendship feels like the safest way out. #ONC2026 contest. Story is complete. Prompt 24: Staying as friends is meant to be safe, but that doesn't mean it's the path you're meant to take; Prompt 28: Self-love often starts small, like planting a seed. With time, patience, and a bit of light, it will grow; and Prompt 29: You meet many people in your life. Many will come and go, but some will leave footprints on your heart.

Open Novella Contest 2026

When everything is stopped with a big old full stop. What would life be? Where there is no birth nor death, simple because everything seemed to be frozen in time. You wake up one day, and this is the reality you face; everything around you is frozen in time. The clouds hang motionless in the sky. Cars are suspended mid-crawl. Birds remain trapped in the air. The world has stopped but you haven't. Or have you? Are you truly the only one still moving... or is your mind playing tricks on you? This is what happens to Penny Chan, an ordinary office worker living an unremarkable life until one she woke up one seemingly normal morning, only to find that time itself has abandoned everyone but her. She was scared, lonely. And most of the time, confused. But as Penny struggles to make sense of her strange new reality, a deeper truth begins to surface: the world hasn't simply stopped, it's waiting. Waiting for her. Because if Penny can't figure out who she truly is, or what it really means to live, the world will never move forward again. With everything hanging in quiet limbo, Penny must confront herself in a way she never has before. Because this motionless world depended on her, Penny must face the one thing that she had been avoiding her whole life: Herself. (First Draft) . Open Novella Contest (ONC 2026) Prompt: 42. One morning, time simple refuses to move forward and you're the only one who can still move while the ret of the world stands frozen. . If you see this elsewhere, please let me know.