We Were The Mulvaneys

Mya Smith thought she had secured her place in a life of luxury when she married billionaire CEO Damon Smith. Instead, she was met with neglect, disdain from his relatives, and a marriage that existed only in name. When Damon brazenly brought his first love, glamorous socialite Sloane Monroe, into their home, Mya finally snapped. She walked into his office, slammed the divorce agreement onto his desk, and left his sneer of “You’ll regret this” behind her. Alone and humiliated, Mya’s world seemed to collapse—until four powerful men appeared: Alexander, Adrian, Cameron, and Casey Cross. To her shock, they revealed she was not an abandoned wife, but their long-lost sister and rightful heiress of the Cross family empire. With Alexander’s wealth, Adrian’s legal brilliance, Cameron’s fame, and Casey’s fierce loyalty, Mya was reborn as Mya Cross, and the world took notice. But Damon would not let her go so easily. Fueled by obsession and wounded pride, he launched a scandal to ruin her—fabricated affairs, forged evidence, and whispered lies meant to destroy her image. Yet his scheme backfired spectacularly. On live television, her brothers dismantled the lies and exposed Damon’s affair with Sloane. Overnight, Damon lost his family, his investors, and his reputation. Now hailed as a wronged but dignified heroine, Mya shines brighter than ever, her name synonymous with power and grace. And when Damon returns, broken and begging for another chance, her brothers deliver the final, cutting verdict: You will never be near our sister again.. The Cross Family is a tale of betrayal, rebirth, and revenge—where one woman learns that losing everything was only the beginning of finding her true self.

That night was supposed to belong to Mia. She had spent a month practicing for her first piano recital. I had cooked all afternoon, set the table, and helped her into the pale blue dress Luca loved. She stood beside the piano, cheeks flushed, fingers trembling with excitement. Then Luca's phone rang. Vivienne was spiraling again. After Luca's older brother died, his widow never really came back from it. On her worst nights, she forgot the difference between the dead husband she had lost and the brother-in-law who kept showing up to save her. And Luca always showed up. Every time Vivienne broke, he left us behind. Every time he came home, he brought apologies, pretty gifts, and promises for next time. And every time, I believed him. Until that night. Before he could make another excuse, I placed the divorce papers in front of him. He signed without reading them, then touched my shoulder like he was the one being generous. "When this is over, I'll make it up to you," he said. "You, me, and Mia. The Maldives. No calls. No interruptions." Then he kissed our daughter's hair and walked out before she played a single note. What Luca didn't know was that Mia's passport was already packed. So was the little suitcase under her bed. I was done waiting for a man who only loved us when no one else needed him. This time, he could come home to an empty house.

When Isla Bennett lost her parents at ten, the Callahans gave her a home and Noah Callahan gave her a reason to stay. For eight years, they’ve been inseparable, an "anchor and ship" navigating life side-by-side. But senior year is changing math. As Noah’s perfect relationship cracks, he’s forced to admit a devastating truth: every girl he’s ever dated was just a substitute for the one he can’t afford to lose. Now, as Isla prepares to leave for Chicago, they must decide if their lifelong bond is worth protecting, or if the love they’ve denied for years is worth risking the only family they have left. Because sometimes the hardest person to fall for is the one who already feels like home.

Before our wedding, my fiancée, Sarah Hargrave—a professor of medieval history—held a private ceremony in a secluded chapel in the countryside. But not with me. Under the glow of candlelight, she cradled Benjamin Wheeler—her first love, his face gaunt from the cancer consuming him—in her arms. Her smile was soft, almost reverent, as she murmured, "In the eyes of God, vows made before the altar are the only ones that matter. Even if the law says I belong to Daniel, my soul was never his." And so, to the faint echo of hymns and the scent of old incense, they drank from the same silver cup, exchanged rings, and stepped together into the dimly lit sacristy—their makeshift bridal chamber. I watched. Silent. Motionless. No outbursts, no demands for explanation. Just the quiet dialing of a clinic to undo the vasectomy I'd gotten for our future. From fifteen to thirty, I had loved Sarah for fifteen long years. But in all that time, there'd never been room for me. That space had always belonged to Benjamin, my stepbrother. So I let her go. Afterward, I joined a geological research team bound for the isolation of Antarctica—a land cut off from the world, quiet and clean. Before I left, I handed Sarah a divorce agreement…and a final gift to mark the end. I never anticipated that Sarah, who'd always met my devotion with frosty detachment, who'd never once glanced back as I walked away, would look ten years older overnight.

The night before my wedding, I was in a terrible car accident. I fell into a coma, and my body was broken and bruised. While I lay unconscious, my fiancé called off the engagement and married his childhood sweetheart instead. My mother went to demand justice on my behalf—but never made it back. She died in a sudden, brutal accident along the way. In that moment of chaos, it was my childhood friend who stepped in. He knelt on one knee outside the hospital with a wedding gift of a hundred thousand dollars and quietly handled my mother's funeral. I was wheeled into surgery. I lived, but was left with a permanent disability. And still, he promised to stay by my side, for life. I was deeply moved. We got married. But five years later, I overheard him talking to his secretary. "Mr. Davidson, you arranged for someone to hit your wife with a car, just so Lucy could marry the one she loved. Aren't you afraid she'll find out?" "For Lucy, there's nothing I wouldn't do. I've already given Ruby the rest of my life. Isn't that enough?" I covered my mouth, holding back a sob. Only then did I realize—the marriage I believed in had been a lie all along. So be it. I'll disappear and let him be with the woman he truly loves.

After fifteen years away, I was finally brought back to the DeLuca family. I thought I was returning to my real home. Instead, I walked into a house where the adopted daughter wanted me dead, my father treated me like a burden, and my brothers would rather watch me bleed than make her cry. On my first day back, she set dogs on me. That night, I was dragged to the top of the observatory and forced to apologize to her. When I fell from the tower covered in blood, they still called me a liar. Because in the DeLuca family, I may have been the real daughter by blood— but she was the daughter they loved. She thought she could bully me, poison me, and freeze me to death without consequence. She was wrong. Because the night I nearly died, my mother finally chose me—and turned a gun on the whole DeLuca family.