1 Second After Novels & Stories

Five years ago, Evelyn Carter agreed to become Adrian Harrison's contract wife to help him secure control of Harrison Group. Although their marriage was legal, their relationship remained emotionally distant. Evelyn quietly loved Adrian while believing she was merely fulfilling a business arrangement. Everything changes when Evelyn discovers what appears to be Adrian's pregnant lover. The shocking revelation destroys the fragile hope she has carried for years. She files for divorce and leaves. As she rebuilds her life from nothing. Evelyn faces sabotage, humiliation, and betrayal. But she also discovers her own strength. Meanwhile, Adrian slowly realizes that the woman who once filled every corner of his life is gone. The more successful Evelyn becomes, the more Adrian understands what he has lost. When the truth about the pregnancy finally emerges, both must confront years of misunderstandings before deciding whether love deserves a second chance.

My billionaire parents, Gerald Voight and Diane Westwood, were afraid my sister, Claire Voight, and I would grow spoiled if we stayed in luxury, so they pulled us out of the city's best prep school and sent us to study in a remote mountain town. On the way there, locals knocked us unconscious and sold us into a brutal trafficking ring. I found a way to contact my parents and begged them to save us, but they said I was lying. "Being sent to the mountains means you were trafficked? You really were raised too soft. You can't handle even a little hardship." "Kids there get into college by fighting their way out. Learn to do the same. Stop depending on us for everything." They blocked my sister's number and mine before I could explain. To survive, my sister and I escaped after three days without food, but when we tried to buy tickets out of the county, the ticket clerk refused us. "Sorry, miss. We've received instructions from the Voight family. You're not allowed to leave the county by any method, unless it's for college." We couldn't get away. The traffickers dragged us back. Later, my sister died from the tortures in a filthy basement. I was luckier. At my last breath, undercover anti-trafficking officers found me. I held my sister's ashes and fled to the farthest city from home. Then our cousin, Jenna Reed, posted a photo from her overseas school. [Uncle Gerald and Aunt Diane are just like my real parents. They give me the best love.] She tagged me on purpose, the way she always did, hoping I'd be provoked into questioning her. This time, I only liked the post and replied: [If you're willing, they can be your real parents. You can be their only daughter.]

"Rolling my eyes, I turn to see an extremely handsome man with short, styled, black hair staring back at me. His eyes are so dark brown that it appears that they are black. Even though I usually don't like men with a beard and mustache, he looks so hot with it, that I would melt in his hands if he touched me. This man oozes sex from every pore of his body. So much so, that when he accidently brushes my cheek with his hand, goosebumps instantly form on my arms. When I continue to stare at him, I notice that he glances down at my dress and just stares. Realizing why, I try to fold my arms across my chest, but he is standing so close, I can’t move without touching him." Dani as her family calls her lovingly, has always been the quiet mousy type.  She lives her life through books, while everyone else lives their lives to the fullest.  Always watching the world around her, she never quite is able to command the attention of anyone except for her friends and family.  When she finds out that she has to get a job to survive, she goes to the city and ends up working under Mr. knight.  Getting more than she bargains for, in the end is she naughty or nice?

At the birthday banquet of the old Godfather, Salvatore Moretti, the estate was bustling with high-profile guests. Don Marco Moretti arrived late, bringing along his new secretary, Sophie. "Elena, move to the opposite side. It's Sophie's first time at an event like this, and she’s used to sitting next to me." I didn't hesitate for a single second. Picking up my wine glass, I walked straight over and sat down beside Salvatore, whose face was completely grim. Marco raised an eyebrow, seemingly caught off guard by how compliant I was. He then guided a visibly nervous Sophie into the seat that had just been mine. Soon after, my phone buzzed in my hand. 【Are you making a scene again? How many times do I have to tell you? I just brought the girl out to show her the world. Stop throwing these pathetic, jealous tantrums.】 【I’ll fly you to Paris next week to pick out your wedding dress. Stop giving me the cold shoulder, alright?】 I let out a soft laugh. Seeing the smile on my face from across the table, Marco smiled back, thinking he had smoothed things over. What he didn't know—What I was actually laughing at was the fact that we wouldn't be going to Paris at all. Exactly ten minutes before he walked through the door, I had already finalized the dissolution of our engagement with Salvatore. A notification from the airline popped up on my screen: Flight departing in three hours. Marco, after tonight, you and I are completely finished.

The sound of footsteps fell on her ears, forcing her to turn around. Dhruv stood a few inches away, a white towel wrapped around his waist. Water dripped from his hair as he ran a hand through it. When his eyes landed on her, they raked up and down her body and his eyebrow lifted while his lips formed a tiny frown. "What are you wearing?" He said tilting his head. He did not look pleased. "Your t-shirt," said Shanaya and rolled her eyes. "And who gave you the permission to wear it?" "You did yourself when you tore my dress into two pieces." His lips curved in delight at her words but returned back to normal soon enough. "Did I? I don't remember it." He shook his head. "Hmm, blame your rusty mind. What was your intent anyway? To have me walking naked around your house?" He pressed his lips together, attempting but failing to keep the amusement out of his voice. "Maybe. That'd be a nice sight, I must admit." *** Shanaya Arora has lived her life peacefully without any drama, that is until Dhruv Kapoor, her ex decides to make a return after eight years, bringing along with him a storm of desire and a promise of companionship for a lonely soul like hers. Burdened with the weight of her past, Shanaya tries to avoid him, denying Dhruv another chance at breaking her heart. But fate has other plans.

Augustina Darius never planned to marry—especially not a man known for breaking enemies without mercy. But refusing Alpha Kael Dravaryn isn’t an option. It’s a death sentence. Bound by pack law and political necessity, Augustina is forced into a marriage where obedience is survival. In public, she plays the perfect Luna—quiet, graceful, compliant. Behind closed doors, she walks on invisible fault lines, knowing one wrong step could destroy her. Kael Dravaryn is everything the rumors claim: powerful, ruthless, and emotionally untouchable. His mansion is ruled by silence and secrets, and the shadow of his late wife lingers in every corridor. There are rooms Augustina is forbidden to enter. Questions she is warned never to ask. A past that refuses to stay buried. Then Kael’s five-year-old son says something that turns her blood cold. “I still see my mommy at night.” What begins as a child’s whisper becomes a trail of impossible truths—hidden doors, locked memories, and a death that may not have been an accident at all. As Augustina digs deeper into the Obsidian Vale estate, she realizes the greatest danger isn’t her husband’s reputation… It’s what he’s protecting. Because some secrets don’t just ruin marriages. They kill the women who uncover them.

I built my wife’s family business from the ground up, sacrificing everything so that her world could thrive. The night I collapsed from stomach bleeding after too many business drinks, she was out laughing with her childhood sweetheart. She even had the nerve to call me dull and uptight. I smiled when I finally handed her the divorce papers. “I wish you both a happy life together.” But instead of signing it, she tore it to pieces, tears in her eyes. “I’m not letting you go,” she said.

"You will serve me," said the Crown Prince. Bella shook her head in denial. "You will be my Crown Princess!" He carried her in his arms and took her into his bed. He was determined to never let his beautiful Bella go. Not even life after death, he will come looking for her. That he promise, for she was his only love. ....Ten years ago, Bella Li woke up and everyone was gone. Her mother, her father, and her whole Phoenix's clan have disappear. On her own she struggle to survive. Being voiceless, weak, and meek, she was force to be the maid of Crown Prince Wallace Zhang. The Crown Prince hated her. For she brought shame to him. Bella have bruises all over her face, and being a mute, he despise her. He bullies her, whips her, and frames her to leave the palace. Through the hardship and struggle, she grew up to be a beautiful woman. Every men chases her, and every women admires her. The Crown Prince who saw her years later have fallen madly in love with her. Believing that she is his true love, he uses ever trick in the book to make her his.

Nadia escaped her cold marriage to billionaire Julian Ashford, but when his grandmother's will leaves everything to his firstborn child, he discovers she's seven months pregnant. Suddenly the husband who ignored her for six years wants her back, but Nadia has changed, and she's no longer the woman who waited for his attention. As secrets unravel and empires collapse, she must decide if some love stories deserve a second chance, or if they need to be destroyed first.

[THE NEW YORK BACHELORS CLUB, #1] [Formerly known as Healing Mr. Brown] Vincent Brown has a past filled with cuts and bruises. He knows how to transform his pain and rage to bring out the best in him. He has made mistakes big to change, but Joy wasn't one of them. Joyce Gale has grown stronger than ever. After losing the person closest to her, she has done everything she could to feel complete. But nothing could ever make her happy except the man named Vince she met five years ago. When fate brings them together once again, it makes them face the truth that they both have changed and so have their feelings for each other. Their desire for each other has grown into something that neither of them can retract from. The only thing that stands between them is their fear of being too broken to be healed. © 2020 Shreya Sengupta