Novels by Amarachi Udumma Nwankwo

Mike Powell’s POVLove is a scamThat's the first lesson I learned.Not from cheesy rom-coms or grumpy old exes, but by watching my parents treat their relationship like a failing business partnership. No affection. No tenderness. Just transactions and deals. Secrets behind every closed door and fake smiles that never really reached their eyes.So, naturally, I never bought into the whole soulmate idea.And by the time I started dating, the women that came into my life made sure to stomp that fantasy into dust.Models. Heiresses. Influencers. Each one of them just wanting something—my life, my money, my last name. They wore their desperation like a heavy perfume, pretending to care about me while they really just wanted the story that came with me.And now? Here I was, stuck going to a wedding with a girl I barely remembered meeting. A girl with big eyes, soft words, and a shaky voice that felt way too rehearsed to be genuine.I wasn't falling for it.Not for a second.************

Bree’s POVI was jolted from sleep by an unsettling sort of silence.Not the gentle kind that wraps around you like a warm hug or the serene type that blesses lazy Sunday mornings. No, this was the kind of quiet that closed in on my chest, making it feel impossibly tight, as if I were trapped in a vise, while my brain struggled to process just what was going on.I blinked a few times, my eyes adjusting to the dim light.The steady whir of a ceiling fan drifted lazily above me, and I felt the cool touch of crisp sheets against my skin. There was a velvet curtain drawn halfway open, letting in streaks of gray morning light. But as I took in my surroundings, a sense of confusion washed over me.This was definitely not my cozy little bedroom at home, nor was it even my aunt’s cluttered, stuffy house filled with her meticulously arranged trinkets and suffocatingly cheerful wallpaper.This was—My brain felt like it was spinning, a whirlwind of thoughts and memories colliding as I tried to

Juliet’s POVSometimes I can’t help but think that I’m stuck playing the role of the family glue.While other girls my age were busy trying out makeup or dreaming about weddings, I was running a multimillion-dollar art gallery, cleaning up my brother’s PR messes, and making sure our family name didn’t end up in the tabloids like spoiled food.Spoiler alert: I was totally failing.“Mike’s trending again,” my assistant said, tossing a file onto my desk as if it didn’t come with a hefty emotional weight.“Let me guess,” I replied flatly, “he told another influencer she was boring in bed?”“Worse. This one called him a soulless incubus in a 15-slide Instagram rant. Her followers doubled overnight.”Of course, they did.I closed the folder without even glancing at it. I didn’t need another dose of lowercase Helvetica to remind me that my brother had zero emotional skills when it came to connecting with people.Mike wasn’t intentionally cruel; he just didn’t know how to stick around. He lov

Bree's POV'REJECTED'I should have gotten used to these words by now.I should have known how fast they came.It was either this or an email saying 'YOUR QUALIFICATIONS EXCEED….’Exhausted, I'd accepted my fate because anytime I left for an interview, it was already stamped at the back of my mind that I would be rejected."Where the fuck Is she?" A voice I was all to familiar with came from the hallway. The frown on my face only deepened.My aunt's voice continued to echo throughout the house so loud that I was sure the neighbors two streets away could hear her."Another rejection I see." She said, folding her hands on her chest, legs standing akimbo with a scowl on her wrinkled face.A sigh of irritation escaped from my lips.Aunt Brianna had taken me in when my mother passed away ten years ago. I want to say she had been like a mother to me but I really don't like to lie.You see this woman, while not being like the other horror story kids—Lord have mercy on me for that word—who wa