Since We Fell

I'm bound to a rebound system by nature. Everyone who has come up with rumors about me will receive backlash in return. When I was in high school, a male classmate had spread rumors about me being a prostitute who had intimate relations with a few old men. That very same day, he was taken away by a dozen or so old men and was modified into a gigolo himself. When I was in college, my boyfriend's childhood friend spread rumors about me being the female lead in porno videos. That night, all of the available porno videos on the Internet featured her as the female lead. Since then, no one dares to gossip about me. That is, until I'm reunited with the wealthy Hartley family, which happens to be my biological family. The fake heiress, Claire Hartley, takes my hand while adopting a friendly expression. "Hey Amanda, I heard that you got pregnant out of wedlock and gave birth to a murderer's child. Now that you're back, why didn't you bring the baby home with you? "We're a family, after all. We won't look down on you."

Ever since my CEO husband returned from his business trip, he's been acting strange. His hugs are stiff, and his kisses are empty. Even when we're intimate, something just feels off. When I ask him why, he just smiles and says he's tired from work. But everything falls into place the moment I see his first love stepping out of his Maybach, her body covered in hickeys. That's when I finally give up. I don't argue or cry. I just smile… and tear up the 99th love coupon. Once, he wrote me a hundred love letters. On our wedding day, we made a promise—those letters would become 100 love coupons. As long as there were coupons left, I'd grant him anything he asked. Over the four years of our marriage, every time he left me for his first love, he'd cash in one. But what he doesn't know is that there are only two left.

Not long after human Iris found out about her pregnancy, she realized her Alpha fated mate Arthur had engaged with another woman ever since he was 15 years old. As Arthur prepared to run for the Alpha President position, it became clear that he needed a luna from the Alpha class, just like his fiancée. Realizing her place as nothing more than a human mistress, Iris left, with her child. Five years later, Iris came back as a successful artist, while Arthur already became the Alpha President. Arthur genuinely believed Iris couldn’t thrive without him, but when they met again, his world was turned upside down. A little boy ran to Iris, holding his arms out toward Iris. “Mommy, we missed you so much, so we came with Daddy,” he said. Arthur stared at the child, then looked back at Iris angrily to growl, “Mommy and Daddy?” Before Iris could respond, a handsome Alpha appeared, holding a little girl in his arms. “Iris, sorry to keep you waiting.”

I was a slum kid who fell for Damon Vitale, New York’s most feared Godfather. For five years, I was his. I took nine bullets for him. He’d kiss my scars as I bled out for him. Hold me close. Clasp the queen’s necklace around my throat. Then, once I healed, he’d fuck me senseless, with a passion that felt like forever. I thought we’d spend our lives together. I thought he would marry me. But on our 999th night together, he told me he was engaged. To Bianca, a mafia princess from a rival family. I swallowed my tears. He just grabbed my chin, blew smoke in my face, and laughed. "You didn't really think you could marry me, did you, Nora? Let's be clear. We fuck. That's it. You're not a partner. You're a piece of art I collect. A pet I own." A pet. That’s all he ever wanted for me. Instead, I picked up a burner phone. [I'm taking your offer. Three days. Get me the hell out of New York.]

I didn't kill my asshole ex-boyfriend. I knew I might've said I would countless times in the text I sent before we broke up, and I wasn't the calmest person. But I really didn't kill him. I, however, am the number one and only suspect of his murder since to everyone else he was a sAiNt. But hey, let's not talk ill of the dead. The point is, I was stuck at the station being questioned about something I didn't do. And I thought it was the worst thing that could've possibly happened to me. That is, until I set eyes on the detective of the case. I may just play along for a while. See where this thing goes....

Blurb In a city where power dictates everything, the Romanos and the Jens are known as sworn enemies—and the Romanos are the most feared. When tensions rise to the brink of war, the Jen family makes a desperate move for peace: they offer one of their daughters to the Romanos. “Don Vincent, tell me why Cousin has to be sent as a gesture to the Romano family. Why can’t we face them head-on, since they’re the ones pushing for this?” I asked, struggling to keep my voice steady. “Bella,” my granduncle replied, his tone firm and unyielding, “this is the only way to stop Don Romano from invading our territory and taking what’s ours. You know how ruthless he is.” That’s what they all believe. But I’m about to change everything.

Leonard Burton and I are childhood sweethearts, bound by a family-arranged marriage. After we marry, we live a loving, harmonious life. In a terrible accident, he even gives up his only chance at survival to save me. After Leonard's death, we find a journal among his belongings. In it, he records the three years he was missing after falling off a cliff—years spent with another woman he deeply loved. But his parents had forcibly separated them and arranged our marriage instead. Unbeknownst to anyone, he had continued to protect that woman from afar, silently and faithfully. At the funeral, Leonard's mother, Charlotte Newman, is inconsolable. "Leonard, it's all my fault. Would you still be alive if I'd let you marry Yelena back then?" His father, Samuel Burton, glares at me with hatred. "He fell off that cliff saving you. He died in that crash shielding you. Why do you bring him nothing but harm? Why aren't you the one who's dead?" Yes, why is it not me who's dead? I look at Leonard's familiar, smiling face on his gravestone before running at it and smashing my head on it. When I open my eyes again, I'm taken back to when he just returned from that small fishing village. This time, I choose to let him go and give him what he wants. Finally, I see Leonard again.

My name is Ryan Knox. I thought I was finally free of my past. I left my old life behind, reconnected with my family, and made all the right choices. It was supposed to make me happy until I found out I’m the only one who can save a world I didn’t even know existed. My dreams weren’t just dreams. They were the place I fell for someone I had no right falling for. Now, I need to harness an unknown power inside of me. The objective is clear—save the Fae realm. Secrets will need to be uncovered. Enemies will need to be reasoned with. And my heart will need to stay out of it. There’s just one problem. The evil we need to fight is none other than my twin sister.

I am the lawfully wedded wife of Don Jones—the Donna of the Jones Family—and the founding CEO of his medical empire. I stood by Vincent's side as we built it up from a two-room surgical clinic into the crown jewel of European private healthcare. Then, in my eighth month of pregnancy, dying on the operating table, Vincent pulled every surgeon out of my maternity ward for the sake of his mistress. He killed our child with his own hands. He stripped me of the right to ever be a mother. He thought I was a homeless orphan with nowhere to go. He had no idea I was the sole blood heir of the Belmonte Family. After the divorce, I came home to command a global medical empire. He knelt and begged. I watched, cold-eyed, as he fell into hell.

We had been married for three years, and together, our income was decent at twenty-six grand a month. Yet, we barely had two hundred bucks in savings. My husband was a nice guy, lending practically his entire wages to our next-door widow and her daughter. He covered their expenses when the daughter needed money for school, when the widow needed a little time at the spa, and when they wanted to give their home a new facelift. The moment my father fell ill and needed surgery, I went next door to ask for the money back. However, my neighbors slammed the door in my face. “Your husband chose to give us the money. Why should we pay you back?” Enraged, I sought help from my husband, only to be criticized. “I felt bad for them. Why did you demand payment when they are already struggling? What’s wrong with you?” I smirked. That night, I decided to do a good deed by spending my entire paycheck to help a broke college hunk. The next day, our power was cut off for unpaid bills, and my husband lost an unfinished document he hadn’t saved. Putting his finger up my nose, he gave me a piece of his mind. “Where’s your money? Why didn’t you pay the bills?” I replied with the most innocent look on my face, “I helped a struggling college student. His life was falling apart because he had to deal with a sick mom and a deadbeat dad. His needs should come before the utility bills.”