Falling From Cloud Nine

To save up for my wife’s expensive asthma medication, I worked the dangerous high-rise job around our apartment complex, even on a day with winds strong enough to knock someone off their feet. However, that was when I accidentally witnessed my wife cheating on me with her ex-boyfriend, and to entertain him, she picked up a fruit knife and slowly cut through my safety rope. My body slammed into the ground so hard that the impact shattered the bones in my leg. Only later did I learn the truth: the one with asthma wasn’t my wife at all—it was her first love. All the money I’d been saving for her? She had been giving him every cent. Eventually, the same cold, proud woman I once married ended up on her knees in front of me, begging for help. I called the building security over and had them drag her out. “Get that filth out of here,” I said. “It’s hurting my eyes.”

Nora, a quiet and talented artist, has always kept to herself, letting her creativity speak louder than words. Life takes an unexpected turn when she crosses paths with Jaden, a charming and irresistible basketball star whose reputation for heartbreak precedes him. What starts as a casual connection soon spirals into a passionate and consuming romance, filled with stolen glances, secret moments, and undeniable chemistry. But love is never simple. Betrayal, heartbreak, and jealousy test the strength of their bond, forcing both Nora and Jaden to confront their deepest fears and desires. As they navigate the turbulence of young love, they must decide whether their hearts are strong enough to endure the storms—or if falling in love means falling apart. Tender, raw, and unforgettably intense, “The Art of Falling” is a story about love’s power to heal, transform, and sometimes, break us completely.

On the day of my wedding, my fiance, Don James Colombo, left me at the altar again. "Angelina is in the ICU," he said. "The ceremony will have to wait." It was the ninth time he had abandoned me for his terminally ill childhood sweetheart. The first time, she had run away from home, and he could not rest easy. "Angelina is missing, yet you want me to stand here toasting at the wedding? Don't be so selfish, Leticia." The third time, he said Angelina was in a terrible state and threatening to take her own life — he had to go comfort her. By the eighth time, James had stopped explaining and simply had the butler notify me the wedding was off. For him, postponing a wedding was nothing. For me, the Buono Principessa left standing in a chapel, it meant ridicule and one hundred lashes from my furious father. The lashes split open my skin and left me running a fever that would not break. James would hold me afterward, apologize helplessly, and promise he would make it up to me after we married. He promised nine times. He kept none of them. So when he left me again for Angelina, I did not cry or make a scene. I packed my bags alone and in silence. It would be the last time he ever postponed our wedding. One month later, he would never be able to find me again.

I jump off the seventh floor on my wedding day. Why? Because everyone has abandoned me to pick up a fake heiress from the airport, my fiancé included. I expect to see them riddled with heartbreak and regret after my death. However, my father merely shakes his head stoically and looks at my body while saying I was too willful. My mother bites her lip and sighs in relief. My fiancé, Magnus Gilmore, shields the fake heiress. He's afraid she'll see the horrible state of my body. The fake heiress is scared to tears at this, and everyone crowds around her to console her. No one cares whether I'm still breathing while lying in a pool of blood. I'm stunned when I see this, but I soon laugh self-deprecatingly. When I open my eyes again, I've been brought back seven years in the past. It's the day I've just stepped foot at home.

While packing Ethan's flight bag, I found a custom solo wings pin. The engraving on the back read: For Lark, to celebrate your first solo. Beneath the box sat the receipt for Skyler's flight school tuition, paid in full by Ethan, along with a photograph. In the photo, she was sitting in the pilot's seat. Ethan's gloved hand rested over hers on the control yoke. Seven years ago, I had sat in that same seat. Back then, I was one step away from my first solo flight, but Ethan talked me out of it again and again, always claiming it was "for my own good." He said flying was dangerous, that someone had to stay home and take care of things. I put down my logbook, pressed the wrinkles out of every one of his captain's uniforms, and spent seven years living by his flight schedule. Only now did I finally understand. It wasn't that he didn't want to take anyone flying. He just didn't want to take me. What made it even more absurd was that the night Skyler first flew through the clouds, I was alone in a hospital, losing our baby. I called him over a dozen times. At three in the morning, he finally called back, his voice flat and indifferent. "I just took Lark through the clouds. Next time something comes up, give me a heads-up." I put the wings pin back exactly where I found it, then pulled the crumpled ultrasound printout from the bottom of the drawer and tucked it inside the logbook that had been gathering dust for seven years. This time, I wasn't going to wait for him to look back. He convinced me to leave the pilot's seat, then turned around and put another woman in the sky. So I would leave him and take back the sky that had always been mine.

“Flame burns brighter than love, but when the spotlight fades, only the scars remain… and sometimes, the heart chooses the very flame that destroys it.” . . . . . Evanya Martel never imagined her life would entwine with Ryan Williams - the dazzling movie star, adored singer, and every girl’s dream. Yet fate, manipulation, and betrayal pulled her into his orbit, binding her to a marriage that was never meant to be. What should have been a fairytale quickly turned into a battlefield of chaos, misunderstandings, and heartbreak. Between Ryan’s intoxicating charm and destructive flaws, Evanya is forced to confront not only the cracks in their marriage but the shadows of her own fears. As friendships fracture, scandals erupt, and love is tested against fame’s cruel spotlight, Evanya must decide: will she remain the meek woman everyone underestimates, or rise into the strong, independent soul she was always meant to be? In a world where desire collides with betrayal, and hope flickers even in the darkest corners, her journey will leave you breathless. A story of resilience, passion, and the courage to reclaim one’s destiny, **Kiss of a Fallen Star** is a gripping tale that will captivate your heart. *Book 2 in the spin-off series of Kiss of His Betrayal.*