Library
Search
Home / Other / The Cross Family / I Will Not Give Up

Share

I Will Not Give Up

Author: Hallie Shoemaker
last update Last Updated: 2025-09-30 05:09:19

Mya sat at the small table in her apartment, the chipped mug of coffee cooling beside her untouched. Her fingers toyed with the corner of yet another application, the paper softening at the edges from being folded and unfolded too many times. The stack was growing—half a dozen here, another pile on the counter, more tucked into her tote bag. She had filled out forms for waitressing jobs, retail shops, even a dry cleaner down the block.

She’d walked to each place, smiled politely, handed over her résumé that had little on it besides “volunteer work” and a few freelance projects. Each time, the manager had promised to “get back to her.” And each time, the phone stayed silent.

It had been weeks now. Her savings—what little she had kept separate before the marriage—was gone. What she hadn’t spent on rent had gone to groceries, bus fare, and laundry. She had stretched every dollar until it tore. Now, the cupboards held only rice, a few cans of soup, and the stale heel of bread she had been
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter
Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Latest chapter

  • The Cross Family   Glass and Thorns

    The Saint James Charity Gala shimmered like a mirage when the Cross SUV rolled to a stop beneath the portico. Cameras exploded in white bursts, catching on crystal chandeliers and the mirrored facade, turning the whole entrance into a kaleidoscope of light. Mya smoothed the front of her emerald gown—the same one from the boutique—and drew a steadying breath. She could feel the eyes already. Not the hungry greed of Damon’s circles, not exactly. This was curiosity wrapped in silk.Alexander stepped out first, tall and composed, then turned to offer Mya his hand as if the whole night had been built around that gesture. Casey flashed a grin so bright it made photographers cheer. Cameron gave a bow that somehow made the crowd gentler, more amused than ravenous. Adrian, last, closed the door with a quiet click that felt like a lock sliding into place.Inside the ballroom, the ceiling arched in a sweep of starlight. A string quartet sang through the opening hour, and the air smelled faintly

  • The Cross Family   Noise and Knives

    It started with a single headline: Sources Claim Mya Cross Hiding a Secret Child.At first, Mya thought it was a joke—one of those bottom-feeder accounts that threw a hundred wild rumors at the wall to see what stuck. But by noon it was everywhere. Faceless “insiders” claimed she’d had a baby in her teens and “abandoned it to chase wealth.” A blurred photo of a toddler with dark hair and big eyes made the rounds, the caption insisting the resemblance was “uncanny.” The child wasn’t even the right age; the photo’s metadata had been scrubbed, the background sloppily blurred. But reason didn’t trend. Outrage did.An hour later, fresh smoke: Financial Fraud? Questions Swirl Around New Heiress’s Sudden Fortune. A panel of talking heads leaned into the insinuation with glossy ease. “We’re not accusing her of anything,” one said, smile sharp. “We’re just asking questions.”By midafternoon, the tabloids were screaming in chorus. A meme—ugly, viral—stitched her face between a dollar-sign emoji

  • The Cross Family   Coffee, Confessions, and Consequences

    The café on Maple and 6th was small, sunlit, and smelled like toasted almonds and espresso. Mya and Trina sat by the window, condensation dripping down their plastic cups of iced coffee. The day outside hummed with warmth, the kind that softened the edges of the world.Trina stirred her drink with a straw, watching the ice swirl. “So,” she said, smiling over the rim of her cup. “Your brother—the lawyer. Adrian. Does he ever smile, or does he just brood professionally?”Mya laughed, the sound light and unguarded. “He smiles. Sometimes. Usually at me, or when Casey trips over his own ego.”“I knew it,” Trina said. “The mysterious ones always have secret soft spots.” She nudged Mya’s elbow playfully. “You know, it’s funny—I can’t stop thinking about him. It’s ridiculous. We barely talked, but I keep hearing his voice in my head. That whole ‘competent, not dangerous’ line? Who says that?”Mya grinned. “That sounds exactly like Adrian.”“He’s infuriating,” Trina continued, “and I love it.”

  • The Cross Family   Hairline Fractures

    Damon watched the video with the sound off.He didn’t need audio to understand the shape of it. The camera phone footage was grainy, a smear of color and bodies under club lights, but the frame kept snapping back to her. Mya—smiling in a way he hadn’t seen in years—moved across the dance floor in the arms of a man he didn’t recognize. Not a client. Not one of the city’s ornamental heirs who cluttered charity galas. A stranger with workman’s shoulders and an easy, infuriating steadiness. They weren’t pressed indecently close, they weren’t putting on a show for the crowd, and somehow that made Damon’s stomach twist harder. It looked effortless, unmanufactured. Real.He replayed the loop again. Again. His jaw ached.Across his office, the floor-to-ceiling windows turned the city into a wall of glittering indifference. His reflection flickered in the glass: precise haircut, immaculate suit, eyes that didn’t match the portrait on the cover of Executive Sphere from six months ago—the one th

  • The Cross Family   Through Lawyer Eyes

    Adrian POVThe first thing Adrian noticed about her was the laugh.Not the volume—she wasn’t loud—but the ease. It came out warm and unworried, the kind of laugh people gave when they weren’t trying to sell anything. In a club where everything was curated—angles, lighting, the ratio of sincerity to spectacle—her laugh refused to be curated. It simply was.She stood at the edge of their booth, one hand braced on the velvet backrest, looking at Mya with open delight. Dark curls spilled over one shoulder; gold hoops caught the light when she tilted her head. A line of highlighter along her cheekbone flashed whenever the spotlight swept their section, but the rest of her was more striking than styled: clear eyes, quick mouth, posture that said she was comfortable in her own skin.“—Trina,” she said, finishing her introduction. “I just wanted to say what you did out there was… wow.”She was looking at Adrian. He had been prepared for a fan of Cameron’s, or someone angling for proximity to

  • The Cross Family   Sparks in the Night

    For the rest of the night, the conversation flowed like honey—smooth, unbroken, and surprisingly easy.Mya sat nestled in the booth between Cameron and Keith, laughter spilling more freely from her lips than it had in years. It amazed her how quickly the walls she’d built around herself began to soften. She had grown so used to suspicion, to second-guessing every kindness, that it felt foreign to simply relax. And yet, in this corner of the club, she felt something close to safety.Trina was a whirlwind of energy. She introduced herself again to Adrian and the rest of the table, in a whole conversation and then ordered us drinks.She leaned forward on her elbows, animated hands painting the air as she told stories about her misadventures trying to land a modeling gig. Every few minutes, her eyes darted sideways toward Adrian, who sat across from her with the stillness of a man carved from marble. He sipped his drink, watching, listening, never giving much away. But Mya caught it—Trina

More Chapters

You may also like

Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status