1 Second After Novels & Stories

After getting fired from my company, I returned to the countryside, spending my days playing rummy with my grandmother, but my entire family went insane, searching for me everywhere. It was because my younger sister, the family's prodigy jewelry designer, couldn't come up with a single design after I left. In my previous life, at the National Jewelry Design Competition, she managed to produce designs identical to mine before I even finished mine. Everyone assumed I had copied her work. Even my own family testified in her favor. The company accused me of misconduct and plagiarism, claiming my actions had tarnished their reputation. I was fired on the spot and ordered to pay a huge fine. My family, seeing me as nothing but a burden, threw me out of the house. Crushed by the weight of family betrayal and public judgment, I fell into depression, only to be killed on the street by one of my sister's obsessive fans. As my consciousness faded, I couldn't understand why my sister managed to create the exact same design before I did. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day I just signed up for the National Jewelry Design Competition.

Love is a painful thing. It causes others to act ridiculous, to take things that they shouldn't, and to trust unconditionally. But what if the love you thought you had truly wasn't what you thought it was and the whole time you were being tricked? Do you stick around or do you break free of that love and move on with your life? And what do you do if you meet your first love again and begin to realize that everything you thought was wrong with your relationship was all a mistunderstanding? What if your first love wants to continue with your love story, but you're too afraid to put yourself in the position to be hurt again? Do you take that step and let yourself drown in the sweetness that you missed so much or do you keep your heart hidden? That is the very choice that Gabrielle has to make when her first love comes crashing back into her life at her high school reunion after a nasty breakup. Of course, she doesn't want to believe that maybe, just maybe, she was wrong and made the wrong choice, but that first love won't allow her to leave that easily. Instead, he chases her relentlessly until she is unable to resist anymore. However, their love isn't simple and there are many obstacles standing in their way. Will they be able to overcome them together or will their resurrected love fall apart at the seams? Read The Heirs Second Chance At Forever to find out!

The night of my first shift at eighteen, my two older brothers brought home a twelve-year-old orphaned Omega. My alpha brother seized the rare healing herb I'd spent all my savings on—herbs meant to ease my first transformation—and gave them to her instead. "You're strong enough," he growled. "You don't need such precious herbs." My beta brother snarled with fury, pointing toward the door. "Get out! Don't come back!" I said nothing more, just grabbed my packed bag and left. They assumed I was merely throwing a tantrum, that I'd return in a few days. My brothers, finally free of my presence, took the orphan girl on an international vacation to the Caribbean islands I'd always dreamed of visiting. Many days later, when they returned to the pack, they were shocked to discover I'd accepted an offer from the neighboring pack's Head Healer. The position required fifteen years of isolated herbal research. I could never return home. That night, they fell apart.

Set up to break her bond with her Alpha mate after the Lycan King passed a decree that no alpha was allowed to reject or break off their bonds with their mates unless the mates did it themselves, Ellie Fowler could hardly believe her luck when by some strange fate, she's immediately bonded to the Lycan King himself, who now thinks she's nothing but a disloyal mate and worse, an Omega. Lycan King, Archer Daalmans, has a year to find his mate to prevent him from losing his strength or worse, dying, and he is determined to find her only for that reason. However, he is disappointed to find his mate is a dirty Omega who doesn't know her place, and he wants nothing to do with her, but he can't seem to keep his eyes off her or stop himself from protecting her.

I woke up, and I was 28 again. I had twin heirs, and my husband was Santino, Veridia's most feared Mafia Don. He sat at the head of the Commission of the Five Families. His sharp profile was a fixture on the cover of the underworld's most exclusive magazine for several consecutive issues. Even the oldest Valerian families were lining up to offer him their daughters. All the women in Altoria envied my good fortune. But the first thing I did after waking up was pick up the divorce papers, the ink still fresh, and handed them to his childhood sweetheart, Jessy. "My lawyer will handle the divorce. The properties and assets are yours. Santino is yours. The children are yours, too." Sitting across from me, Jessy couldn't believe it, her eyes wide with shock. "Are you crazy, Alessia? Is this some kind of trick?" "How could the woman who has been Donna for six years give it all up so easily?" I lowered my gaze, my tone calm. "Since they all prefer you, I figured it was time to step aside." "Just have Santino sign it and press his signet ring into the wax seal." "Once the divorce is final, I'll leave Veridia for good." This time, I would not make the same mistake. I would never again be a Donna in name only.

I was the greediest stand-in in high society, and my motto was simple. As long as cash kept coming, my dignity could take a back seat. For Frederick Jameson, I played the role of his obedient pet, so when his true love accused me of stealing her necklace, I just bowed and apologized. With Samuel York, I served as his lab rat, testing drugs meant for his sweetheart's condition until they left me with a bleeding ulcer. And for Theodore Xander, I acted as a scapegoat, getting pushed out to take the blame of extortion for his crush. They all assumed I was hopelessly in love with them, even forcing me to sign a confession at their joint engagement party. That was when the system's voice chimed in, "Host, the portal home is now open." I wiped the blood from my lips, splashed my wine into their faces, and grinned brightly. "Game over, losers!" Right in front of everyone, I leaped straight into the sea. Later, word spread that the three big shots scoured the entire ocean just to find my body.

Amara is cursed as a second chance mate to her alpha who blames her for getting his first mate killed. Alpha Matteo doesn't want a second chance mate as his first mate was in love with someone else and had to be with him. He's tired of being someone's second choice, but when he gets a second chance mate in the she wolf who is his daughters nanny and the one he pretends to blame for his first mate's death, well what is an Alpha to do? Lana, his daughter, loves Amara and will be thrileld to have her as her mom. The two have a special relationship. As Matteo wrestles with himself to do things better with his second chance mate, he also struggles with his grief. Amara isn't sure how to react to Matteo as she is attracted to him, but loving him is painful as she fears his hate for her will never allow him to love her back. Can the two work past all the challenges they face, can their painful love turn into true love, or are second chance mates really the curse everyone things they are?

A woman who once worked in a casino dreamed of becoming rich, but she fell in love with a billionaire's bad-boy son. He got her pregnant and left her. After giving birth, she vowed never to return to the casino. Desperate to support her child, she became a maid—only to discover she now works in the house of the man she hates, Gabriel Bustamante, whom she hasn’t seen in five years. Gabriel, now engaged to another woman, doesn’t know he has a child. Living under the same roof, emotions resurface as Gabriel persistently tries to reconnect, slowly breaking down Samantha’s anger. One day, he kisses her—just as his fiancée walks in. Things become more complicated as her gilfriend begins to suspect Samantha and Gabriel is hiding something.

WARNING: MATURE CONTENT For Jade Hart, there are no black or white when it comes to saving the life of her high school sweetheart. She goes as far as selling her body for his sake but what happens when it all blows up in her face? A night with the infamous Max Anderson is all it takes for Jade's life to spiral out of control. Betrayal, Passion, Lust, Love; how will Jade and Max deal with these emotions and desires, especially when they have three little angels between them?

When I received the news that my fiancé, Ellison Perez, had postponed our wedding for the 18th time, I happened to be walking out of the hospital, clutching my medical report. Once again, he had delayed our wedding for an entire month, all because of my adopted foster sister, Becky. I thought about what the doctor had told me. After hesitating for a long time, I finally dialed Ellison's number. "I can't wait until next month. If we can't get married tomorrow, there won't be another chance." However, Ellison only took my words as another fit of childish willfulness. "Don't be unreasonable, Lily. Have you forgotten how Becky took your place as the hostage? She was tortured for a whole month before being rescued." "It's because of you that she developed severe trauma. Now you can't even wait one more month for her to recover?" I could hear my parents' voices chiming in over the line. "Becky still suffers from extreme fear of men. Ellison is the only one who can calm her down. Isn't it your fault she ended up like this?" "You're being selfish, Lily. A wedding can wait, but Becky's condition can't!" I had known for a long time that ever since that incident, my entire family had chosen Becky's side. Even so, tears streamed down my face. "Fine," I said softly. "Postpone it." I clenched the medical report tightly in my hand. They did not know that just moments ago, the doctor had told me the truth— I was in the final stage of liver cancer. I only had one month to live.