Night Of January 16th

On New Year's Eve, my own brother slapped me three times. He stood there, full of himself, and spat at me in disgust. "This is my house. Who do you think you are, coming in here and telling me what to do? Get out. You're nothing but bad luck. If you dare stay, I'll hit you again." He seemed to have forgotten something. The house he was living in was the one I had bought for Mom. The jewelry his wife wore was all paid for by me. The money in his children's hands was the generous allowance I had just given them. My face still burning, I looked around at the others. My sister-in-law curled her lips into a mocking smile and let out an icy snort. The two children stared at me with open hostility. Mom, who had called me there tonight for my birthday, stood silently in the corner. Just like always, her eyes were red, yet she said nothing. At that moment, something in me snapped.

On Christmas Eve, Adrian Moretti left my father and me on an icy lakeside road because Lucia Vale called and said she was sick. The defibrillator that could have saved my father was in his armored SUV, driven away by the man my father had trusted for seven years. I called Adrian until my fingers went numb. When he finally answered, Lucia was crying on the other end, and his voice held only impatience. “Elena, stop making this dramatic. Wait for the escort car. Lucia needs me right now.” By the time the Moretti men arrived, my father was already gone. An hour later, Lucia posted a photo from the Moretti estate. She stood beneath the Christmas tree in Adrian’s coat, pale and fragile, with his hand resting on her shoulder. The caption read: Christmas feels like home when he is here. I looked at that photo for a long time. Then I liked it and left a comment. Merry Christmas. I wish you both a lifetime together.

One night of passion. One ring. Two brothers It was meant to be one last night of freedom before a lifetime commitment to a man she knew nothing about. One night to forget all her sorrows and have fun. But a night of fun turned into a mistake she could never undo. It turned into a night of sin. Because the man who set her body on fire last night was her soon to be brother-in-law. And he’s not done with her. Now, she wore his brother’s ring, but he wore her secret like a crown. If she won’t come to him willingly, he’d gladly make her remember who made her scream.

Maya woke up feeling sore all over her body, she sat upright on the strange bed trying to figure out what happened. She turned to see an unfamiliar figure on the other side of the bed sleeping soundly, she gasped and quickly had a flashback of what happened what will be the fate of Maya after finding out the strange man she had a nightstand with?

Some nights are meant to break you. Others change your life forever. Running from hunger, cruelty, and a past that refused to let her breathe, Ivy thought her life would end on a rain-soaked night. Trapped, terrified, and out of strength, she had nowhere left to go... until he found her. Powerful, emotionally guarded and dangerously composed, he pulled her from the storm and into a world she never belonged to. One night of rescue turns into obsession, protection, and a connection that moves too fast to escape. Who is the man who saved her? And what happens when the night that rescued her becomes the beginning of everything she was never prepared for? One night. One stranger. No turning back.

One night, my family sat together watching the New Year’s Eve Live on television. My little sister, Stella Larson, said she had to pee and hurried to the washroom. Half an hour later, she still had not returned. When I went to check on her, the washroom was empty. “When did Stella leave the washroom?” I asked my parents. Both of them were stunned for a moment before feeling my forehead and saying, “What are you talking about? You’re an only child. Who is Stella?” They forcibly pulled me back to my seat. My mind went blank. Did the three of them just pull a prank on me? After finishing his drink, my father clutched his stomach and rushed into the washroom. I stared fixedly at the washroom door. A long time passed, but no one came out. My father had vanished, too. My hand trembled as I pointed at the bathroom. My mother stepped forward to go in. “Don’t go in! Dad and Luna disappeared in there!” My mother looked grief-stricken as she said, “Sweetie, it’s been just the two of us for the past twenty-plus years, remember?” Her words hit me hard. I was in total disbelief. I explained myself frantically, but the more I spoke, the more confused my mother became. She finally shook me off and said, “Why are you doing this to me? I’ve raised you your whole life! Why do you have to ruin New Year’s Eve?” She walked straight into the washroom, and the house soon fell into a dead silence. Terrified, I called my best friend, Kathy Scott, who lived nearby. I rambled incoherently as I begged her for help. But her words utterly crushed me. “What family members? You’re an orphan.” I hung up the phone, rushed out, and pounded frantically on the neighbors’ door.