Novels by Riven Ash

Chapter 5 JoyeThe second the doctor left the room, I grabbed Xavier's sleeve, panic clawing up my throat."Who else knows?" I asked. "Please tell me it's just us."He hesitated, and that hesitation told me everything before he even opened his mouth."Your parents were called when you collapsed. Mine too. They're on their way here now.""No, no, no." I pressed both hands over my face. "Xavier, they can't know. Not like this.""Joye…""Please." I grabbed his hand this time, desperate. "Please don't tell them. I'll do anything. I'll figure this out, I promise, just…not like this, not with them walking in and hearing it from a doctor like it's some kind of headline."He studied me for a long moment, something unreadable moving behind his eyes."This baby isn't mine," he said quietly. It wasn't a question.We both knew that for a fact. My stomach dropped. I opened my mouth, but no excuse came out, because what was there to say?"It's not," I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. "I

Chapter 4 JoyeI woke up on a couch in an unfamiliar living room, a blanket draped over me that I didn't remember pulling on myself. My head throbbed. My mouth tasted like the champagne toast I never got to drink."You're awake."I sat up too fast, and the room tilted. Xavier stood by the window, jacket already off, sleeves rolled to his elbows, watching me with the same unreadable expression he'd worn through the entire ceremony.Again, those eyes. Strangely, they somehow brought memory of the steamy night I had with that stranger at the club. But that was impossible, right?I shook the thought off instantly."What happened?" I asked, clearing my throat."You fainted. The doctor at the courthouse said it was probably stress and low blood sugar. He said to let you rest and get you checked properly if it happens again."He was watching me now, that sense of family still resting in his gaze."Oh." I pressed a hand to my temple. "Where am I?""My house." He said it like it should have

Chapter 3 Joye"Absolutely not," I said, crossing my arms.My mother sighed, the same tired sigh she'd been giving me all week since the video of my canceled wedding had made its rounds online. "Joye, please. Just meet him. That's all we're asking.""I just left the altar two weeks ago, Mom. I'm not exactly in the mood to jump into another engagement."My father set down his newspaper, his voice firm the way it always was when his mind was already made up. "This isn't about mood, this is about damage control. Do you know what people are saying about this family right now?""I know exactly what they're saying, Dad. I was there when I said it.""Then you understand why this matters." He leaned forward. "The Andersons are one of the most respected families in the city. If you marry their son, it shows everyone that you've moved on, that you're thriving, that Stephen's little scandal didn't break you.""And if I don't want to marry a stranger just to save face?""Then the whispers contin

Chapter 2 Joye"Play it," I said to the media head standing by the screen.He hesitated, glancing at my father, who gave a small, confused nod. Then the screen behind the altar flickered to life.The first thing displayed on the screen was photos, photos of Stephen and Marcus at a hotel bar holding hands too intimately in a way that suggested more than friendship. Then a video, dated only three weeks ago, of the two of them laughing together in bed, Stephen's face turned toward the camera, unaware, completely at peace in a way I'd never once seen him with me.Gasps rippled through the congregation like wind through grass. Someone's chair scraped back, a woman near the front pressed a hand to her mouth.I reached out and took the microphone from the stunned pastor."Good afternoon, everyone," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "Thank you all for coming today to celebrate what was supposed to be my wedding."Murmurs and whispers filled the hall. My mother's face, pale as the table

Chapter 1: Joye“What the fuck is going on here.” My voice came out in nothing louder than a whisper, my lips quivering as I watched the gory sight in front of me.My groom. The man I'd loved since university. The man whose ring was sitting on my finger right now was wrapped in another man's arms, knelt to the floor, his back arched perfectly, like he had practiced a thousand arch exercises. His supposed best man knelt behind him, stroking him from behind steadily while he moaned out loud. For a second, my brain refused to process it. It was like watching a scene from a movie that didn't belong to my life. The room began to spin, and my head suddenly began throbbing very badly. “My fiancé is gay. Stephen is gay?” I whispered, my hands flying to my mouth as I watched the way that was supposed to be the happiest day of my life turn into a nightmare.Today was supposed to be my wedding day, but Stephen had showed up late to the altar and I had come here in search of him, but nothing p