How Does Five Years One End?

Claire Hart loved her husband, Fabian Arrow, for seven years with unwavering devotion. She believed their quiet marriage—free of passion but rich in stability—was built on mutual trust and unspoken understanding. Even when affection faded into routine, Claire convinced herself that love did not need to be loud to be real. She was wrong. On the day everything finally fractures, Claire discovers that Fabian has been secretly reconnecting with his first love, Maxine Wells. What begins as emotional distance soon reveals itself as betrayal—but the deepest wound comes from an innocent voice. Claire overhears her young daughter, Susie, wishing that Maxine were her real mother, and Maxine calmly promising to make that wish come true. In that moment, Claire reaches her breaking point. Without confrontation or drama, she walks away from a marriage she fought alone to save. What she leaves behind is not just a husband, but a life built on silent endurance and misplaced hope. As Fabian slowly realizes that love is not something that can be replaced or postponed, regret comes too late. Claire, determined to reclaim herself, crosses paths once more with Aaron White—a man from her past who once loved her deeply and never truly let her go. With Aaron, Claire begins to understand what love looks like when it is patient, present, and chosen every day. Torn between a past that broke her and a future that promises healing, Claire must decide whether love deserves a second chance—or whether the bravest choice is to let go and move forward. After the Breaking Point is a poignant story of betrayal, self-worth, and rediscovering love after loss, proving that sometimes the end of one love story is the beginning of a far greater one.

Evelyn Hayes has spent three years as a “invisible wife” to billionaire Arthur Garrison, living in a marriage that exists only on paper. When she is diagnosed with a terminal illness and told she only has months left, she offers him one final deal: one hundred days of his time in exchange for signing their divorce papers. Arthur agrees, eager to finally be free, completely unaware that he is counting down the days to her death. But as they spend time together, Arthur begins to see Evelyn differently, and the freedom he once wanted no longer feels important. With Evelyn quietly slipping away and time running out, Arthur is forced to face a choice he never expected to make. When the hundred days end, will he still want his freedom—or will it already be too late to save her?

When I was five, Mom and Dad took my little brother to the city for kindergarten and left me in a mountain village with my grandfather, who had dementia. Before they left, Dad told me to take care of Grandpa, watch the house, and protect the yard. Mom said I was the older brother, so I had to be sensible. They said that once they made enough money, they'd bring me to the city too. I didn't want to let go. I clung to Mom's leg and begged through tears, "Mom, please. I don't want to be separated from you." My tears and snot smeared across her expensive dress. She scolded me for being difficult, slapped my bottom until it swelled, and struck my face hard enough to break the skin. In the end, they didn't soften. They left and never came back. Three months later, when I was close to starving, I called Mom and begged her to send me something to eat. She snapped, irritated, "A boy who talks about being hungry every day? Why don't you just starve, then? How can there be nothing to eat in the countryside? "Your father and I are under so much pressure in the city. Can't you be sensible for once?" Her words came true. That winter, I starved to death. Five years later, Mom pushed open the rotten door. "Miles," she called. "Mom's back."

One Year to Lose You Maya Bennett has twelve months left to live. At twenty-one, she has everything: bestselling books, wealth, and a man who loves her enough to kneel with a ring in his hand. So she breaks his heart. On the night he proposes, Maya tells Ray she has fallen out of love. That she wants someone else, she walks away before he can see her fall apart because it’s easier to be hated than mourned. Then she meets Jay, a stranger in sportswear who can’t pay his taxi fare, so she thought… but in the real sense, he is the man the city knows as billionaire Jay Naire. She offers him a deal: pretend to be her boyfriend for one year. Make it convincing for Ray to forget her before she’s gone, and Jay agrees. But the more they fake it, the more real it becomes. And before the year runs out, Maya finds herself trapped between two men, the one she tried to save, and the one who refuses to let her go. Will twelve months be enough to lose both of them? Or will she run out of time first?

When I found out about Kenneth Hale, I didn’t argue with Claire O’Neill. I simply handed her the divorce papers. Her eyes turned red as she sat there. After struggling with the decision for a moment, she tore them up. "Give me ten days. I’ll send Kenneth far away, and he’ll never appear in our lives again." So over the next ten days, Claire went whitewater rafting with him, climbed snow-covered mountains, bungee jumped, and went skydiving. They did every thrilling thing they could think of. They watched the sunrise together by the ocean and went to Silver Pines Retreat to meditate, filling those days with every romantic experience imaginable. Then, on the ninth night, after I had packed all my belongings, I accidentally answered a video call from myself ten years in the past. "You really are me ten years from now! Then Claire and I must already be married with kids, right?" Pain flickered in my eyes. I walked straight onto the balcony and pointed the camera down at Claire and Kenneth, who were holding each other tightly, unable to let go. "This is what happens." Finley Morton looked as if he’d been struck by lightning. "That’s impossible…" My voice was exhausted, as though every last bit of strength had been drained from me. "Finley, please. Don’t marry her."

After five years in a marriage without intimacy, I finally called my wife, Suzanna Jones, the youngest commander in the military, and asked her to spend the night with me. Five hundred and twenty times. That was how many times we had been interrupted over the years. Every time we came close to being together, an urgent call from her widowed brother‑in‑law, Eric Gibson, pulled her away before anything could happen. Then, on our wedding anniversary, Suzanna promised she would finally give me the perfect wedding night we never had. I held her by the waist and was about to cross the final line between us when Eric’s ringtone shattered the moment. “Suzanna… I was injured in an explosion down there. What if I am crippled for life…?” Panic filled her face. She pushed me aside and rushed for the door. I grabbed her wrist and tried to stop her. “Send him to the military hospital first.” She turned on me with anger and slapped me across the face. “Shane! Eric is seriously hurt! How can you be this heartless?” She pulled on her dress and ran out. When I caught up with her, the sight in front of me stopped me cold. The woman who once promised to give me her first night was wrapped around Eric in a position far more intimate than anything she had ever shared with me. When I asked for an explanation, she looked calm and unbothered. “Eric is in critical condition. Was I supposed to stand there and do nothing? It is not that important. If it bothers you that much, I can fix it later.” Something inside me went numb. For five years, I had been the only one trying to hold our marriage together. At that moment, I realized I was exhausted from fighting for something that had ended long ago.