What We Kept In The Dark
ContemporaryDramaFirst-Person POVProtectiveDecisiveLove-TrianglePregnantBetrayalVictim
What do you do when the only safe place left belongs to the man who’s been lying to you?
I’m twelve weeks pregnant with my abusive ex’s baby.
He's been tracking my phone, controlling my life. And when I finally run, there's only one door left to knock on — his best friend's apartment.
Jeremy took me in. No questions. No judgment. Just his bed, his quiet presence, and one reckless lie: at the hospital, he'll say the baby is his.
For the first time in years, I feel safe.
But I’m starting to realize: the man who saved me might be the reason I needed saving.
Because Jeremy’s been in love with me for three years—and he never said a word.
Because my best friend Reina has been sleeping with Ryan behind my back—and she’s not done destroying me yet.
Because Ryan just found out about the pregnancy—and he’s coming for his child.
The question is: can I survive the truth—or will it destroy me faster than Ryan ever could?
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Chapter: He’s HereThe second I see Ryan standing there in Catherine’s living room with his arms around Jeremy, every instinct in my body screams at me to move.I turn and push through the crowd of people holding paper plates and plastic cups, keeping my head down, moving as fast as I can without running because running would draw attention and attention is the last thing I need right now.My pulse is loud in my ears and I can feel sweat starting to form along my hairline despite the cool air coming through the open windows.I slip past a group of older women talking near the hallway entrance and duck into the first room I find, Catherine’s bedroom, pressing myself against the wall beside the door where I have a clear view of the living room through the narrow opening.Ryan’s still there talking to Jeremy and Jamel, his mouth moving as he gestures with one hand, and beside him is his mother, shorter than I remember with her dark hair pulled back in a neat bun, wearing a black dress and speaking quietly
最後更新: 2026-07-31
Chapter: I Know that VoiceHe stands behind the podium and looks out at everyone gathered there, and for a long moment he doesn’t say anything, just stands there with his jaw working like he’s trying to find the words.Finally he speaks and his voice is rough but steady.“When I was a kid I used to draw my mom every single day,” he says. “I’d sit at the kitchen table with my crayons and my paper and I’d draw her over and over, and she’d look at every single one like it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen, even when it was just stick figures that barely looked like anything.”A few people in the congregation laugh softly through their tears.“She made me feel like I could do anything,” Jeremy continues, and now his voice is starting to shake. “Like I was enough, like I mattered, even when I didn’t believe it myself, she never stopped believing in me.”He pauses and looks at the casket, stares at it for a long moment.“I wasn’t ready to lose her,” he says quietly. “I don’t think I’ll ever be ready.”The
最後更新: 2026-07-27
Chapter: The FuneralThe church is small and old with wooden pews that creak when you sit down and stained glass windows that cast colored light across the floor in shades of blue and gold.It’s fuller than I expected. People packed into every available seat, some standing along the back wall. Catherine was loved by more people than just her sons.I’m sitting in the front row beside Jeremy with Jamel on his other side, and Jeremy hasn’t said a word since we got here, just sits with his hands folded in his lap and his eyes fixed straight ahead on the simple wooden casket at the front of the room.There are flowers everywhere, arrangements sent by people who knew Catherine or heard about her passing, and the smell of lilies is so strong it makes my stomach turn a little.At the front of the church beside the casket there’s a large framed photograph of Catherine, and it must be from years ago because she looks so different from the frail woman I met in the hospital. In this picture she’s smiling wide, her e
最後更新: 2026-07-27
Chapter: Catherine DiesCatherine smiles one more time, this tiny peaceful thing. “I love you both so much.”“We love you too, Mom,” Jamel chokes out.Her breathing is slowing down, each breath coming further apart than the last. Jeremy leans forward and presses his forehead against their joined hands.“Please don’t go,” he whispers. “I’m not ready to lose you.”“You’ll never lose me, baby,” Catherine says, so quiet I almost can’t hear her. “I’m always with you, always, no matter what.”Then her eyes close completely.Her chest rises one more time.Falls.Then—Nothing.The heart monitor lets out a long, steady beep that seems to echo off every wall in the small room.Jeremy’s head snaps up, eyes wide and disbelieving. “Mom?”The beeping continues, flat and endless. Nurses rush into the room, moving quickly and efficiently, and the doctor follows right behind them.They check Catherine’s pulse, check the monitors, and I watch the doctor’s face as he realizes what everyone in this room already knows.He look
最後更新: 2026-07-23
Chapter: The Last WordsJeremy drives like the world is ending.Flying down the empty highway at speeds that make my hands grip the door handle, the streetlights blurring past in streaks of yellow and white.I don’t tell him to slow down because I understand, understand the panic driving his foot down on the accelerator, understand the terror that if he doesn’t get there fast enough he’ll miss his chance to say goodbye.The hospital appears in the distance and Jeremy takes the turn into the parking lot so fast the tires squeal, and he barely gets the car into a spot before he’s out and running toward the entrance.I follow as quickly as I can, my legs not quite keeping up with his longer stride.Inside the hospital is different at this hour, quieter somehow even though it’s never really quiet, the fluorescent lights seeming harsher against the darkness outside.Jamel is standing in the hallway outside Catherine’s room and when he sees us his face crumples with relief.His eyes are red and swollen like he’s b
最後更新: 2026-07-19
Chapter: It’s MomWhen I come back to Jeremy’s room he’s sitting on the floor with his back against the bed, and he’s holding one of the drawings in his hands, the stick-figure family with the three people and no dad.I close the door quietly behind me and walk across the room, sinking down onto the floor beside him without saying anything.He doesn’t look at me, just keeps staring at the drawing with his thumb brushing back and forth over the crayon lines like he’s trying to memorize every detail.The silence stretches out between us but it doesn’t feel uncomfortable or awkward, just heavy with all the emotions he’s feeling that he doesn’t have words for yet.Finally he speaks and his voice comes out rough and quiet. “I used to draw her every single day when I was a kid.”I look at all the portraits covering the walls, Catherine in so many different styles that show Jeremy’s artistic ability growing over the years.“She was my whole world,” he continues, and I can hear his voice starting to shake. “Af
最後更新: 2026-07-15
Blood and Mercy
Dark RomanceContemporaryTragedyHidden IdentityHero/HeroinBetrayalForbidden LoveForgivenessIndependent
I’m caring for the man my brother paralyzed.
Kai Petrova doesn’t know that. He doesn’t know my real last name. Doesn’t know I walked into his mansion with a lie on my lips. Doesn’t know that five years ago, my brother drove drunk and killed his fourteen-year-old sister.
He just knows I’m the only caregiver who didn’t quit.
I needed the money. My mother is dying, and this job pays $135,000 for six months of work. I told myself I could do it.
All I had to do was keep my head down, stay professional, get the money and get out.
But then he started to trust me, he started to look at me. And I made the worst mistake of my life: I fell in love with him.
Now I’m trapped. Because every time he touches me, I think about the reason he’s on a wheelchair. Every time he smiles, I see his dead sister’s face on the walls of his studio.
When the truth comes out—and it will—he’s going to hate me.
But the worst part? The accident that destroyed both our families wasn’t an accident at all.
Someone wanted Kai dead. Someone made sure my brother took the fall. And someone is still out there, watching us get closer, waiting for the perfect moment to destroy us both.
I thought the secret I was keeping would kill me.
I was wrong. It’s going to kill him.
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Chapter: She KnowsMara is staring at me, waiting for me to deny it, to tell her she’s wrong, to say something that makes this make sense. But I can’t. The words are stuck somewhere in my throat and all I can do is stand here on the sidewalk outside her school while the silence between us grows heavier with every second that passes.Her eyes narrow. “Cassie.”It’s not a question. It’s a demand. I grab her arm before she can say anything else, my fingers closing around her elbow harder than I mean to.“Get in the car,” I say quietly. “We’ll talk about this at home.”She yanks away from me but she moves toward the car anyway because what choice does she have. I’m her ride home. I’m the one who showed up when the school called. I’m the only person she’s got right now even if she hates me for it.The back door opens and Mara climbs in, her boots scraping against the doorframe on the way. She glances once at Kai through the gap between the seats, just long enough for me to see her taking him in, filing aw
最後更新: 2026-07-31
Chapter: You’re Working for HimCassiePrincipal Grace is sitting behind her desk and she looks exactly how I remember from the last time I had to come here—a woman in her fifties with graying hair pulled back in a neat bun, wearing a cardigan that’s seen better days and glasses that sit too low on her nose. She looks tired in that particular way people get when they’ve been dealing with teenagers and bureaucracy for too many years.“Ms. Brennan. Thank you for coming so quickly.” She gestures to the chair across from her desk. “Please, sit.”I sit and my hands immediately want to start shaking again so I press them flat against my thighs and wait.“I’m so sorry about this,” I say before she can start. “Whatever Mara did, I—I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”Principal Grace’s expression softens slightly. “I appreciate that. But we need to discuss what happened today.”She folds her hands on top of a file folder on her desk and I see Mara’s name printed on the tab.“Mara was involved in a physical altercation d
最後更新: 2026-07-27
Chapter: Don’t Fall ApartCassieThe car door closes behind me and the sound of it feels final, like I just crossed some invisible line I can’t uncross.I’m in the back seat and Kai is across from me and the driver is pulling away from the mansion, and my brain is still trying to catch up to what just happened. I pull up Mara’s contact, and press call.It rings once.Twice.Three times. VoicemailI hang up and try again immediately because maybe she just didn’t hear it, maybe her phone was in her bag or she had it on silent or—Voicemail again.My fingers are shaking when I lower the phone to my lap and I realize I’m breathing too fast, each breath coming shallow and quick like I can’t quite fill my lungs all the way.What happened? The principal said incident but that could mean anything. Mara could be hurt. She could have hurt someone else. She could be in trouble with the police or expelled or—I press my thumbnail hard into the soft part of my palm and use the sharp sting to anchor myself.Stop spiraling.
最後更新: 2026-07-27
Chapter: Is this Progress…?Cassie The next morning I’m in the library returning a book I finished reading last night when I couldn’t sleep.The library is massive, two stories tall with built-in shelves that stretch all the way to the ceiling and one of those rolling ladders attached to a rail so you can reach the top shelves. There are reading chairs scattered throughout, deep leather things that look like they’ve been here for decades, and tall windows that let in streams of morning light.I’m tucking the book back into its spot on one of the lower shelves when I hear voices coming from deeper in the room, near the reading area by the fireplace.I freeze, my hand still on the book’s spine. Katrina’s voice, measured and controlled like always.“Ethan called again yesterday. He’s worried about the Bradson account. They want to meet with you before they commit to the next phase.”Kai’s response is flat and dismissive. “Tell him to handle it.”“He can’t handle everything alone, Kai. The company needs you. You w
最後更新: 2026-07-23
Chapter: The First StepCassieI’m still standing on the lawn when Mara finally picks up on the second ring, and the second she hears my voice, she starts yelling.“Stop calling me, Cassie. Just stop. We don’t need you checking in every five minutes like you’re some kind of warden keeping tabs on us.”“Mara, I just wanted to—”“I don’t care what you wanted. We’re fine. Jonah’s fine. Everything’s fine without you here, so maybe just leave us alone for once.”“Please, can we just talk about—” The line goes dead before I can finish.I pull the phone away from my ear and stare at the screen for a second, then try Miles again even though I already know he’s not going to answer.Straight to voicemail.I lower the phone and stand there on the lawn with the evening settling in around me, the sky going purple and gray at the edges, and I don’t know what else to do.My throat feels raw, scratchy from crying earlier, and I need water before I can go upstairs and lock myself in my room and pretend today didn’t happen.I
最後更新: 2026-07-19
Chapter: Everyone needs someone Mr KaiKaiI spend most of the afternoon in my studio, but not in front of the easel this time because I’m tired of staring at blank canvases that mock me with their emptiness.Instead I’m going through old sketchbooks, the ones I filled before the accident when drawing was still easy and my hands knew what to do without me having to think about it.There are dozens of them stacked on the shelves, years of work, and I pull one down at random and flip it open.Architectural sketches. Building facades. Interior spaces. All the things I used to design when the company was new and I was working on every project myself instead of just overseeing from a distance.My hands were confident in these drawings. The lines are clean and sure, no hesitation, just pure intention translated onto paper.I don’t know how to do that anymore. A knock on my studio door pulls me out of the sketchbook.“Mr Kai?” Mrs. Rosalind’s voice, practical and no-nonsense as always.“What is it?”“I’m changing your linens toda
最後更新: 2026-07-15
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