Lovesick Fool

My sister, Bella, had a baby in a back-alley shithole. Then she disappeared. A midwife tracked me down using an address Bella left behind. She shoved the newborn at me like a sack of garbage. My parents fell to their knees. Crying. Begging me to take her bastard. Just like that, my future as a promising artist was gone. The neighbors, the priest, my landlord… they all called me a whore. A sinner who had disgraced God. They ran me out of the neighborhood . My life was over. Eighteen years later, Bella waltzed back into my life. A cheap thug with a fake Rolex dangled from her arm. She held my son, crocodile tears streaming down her face. She called me jealous. Accused me of stealing her flesh and blood. Of keeping a mother from her child. And my son? The one I bled myself dry for? The son I poured every last cent into, turning him into a brilliant painter? The son I starved for, so much that I ended up in a hospital bed? The moment he saw his "real" mother, he cast me aside without a second thought. "You pathetic, broke bitch!" he spat. "You stole everything from us! All the happiness that was supposed to be ours!" My parents threw me out like a dog. Bella's thug husband had his men corner me in the red-light district. They pinned me against a wall, their threats vile and clear: Never come back. I had no way out. I threw myself off the Brooklyn Bridge. Then, I opened my eyes. I was back. Eighteen years in the past. Then came the knock. Hell had found my door. I wasn’t going to be the fool who gave everything and got nothing. This time, I took control.

I vow to never love you, Nora. Not in sickness, and never in health.” Those were Liam’s words at our wedding, and I had foolishly believed I could make him fall in love with me. The day I told him I was pregnant, his cold eyes met mine, and he muttered, “Abort it.” But the moment his ex-lover returned, he followed her blindly. I watched, tears clouding my vision, as he twirled her in the middle of a lavish party he threw for her—on my birthday all the while proclaiming his love for her to the entire world while I stood there like a fool. My parents’ faces twisted in disgust as they looked at me. “How can you be so ungrateful, Nora? We’ve given you everything for twenty-three years! Now we’ve found our biological daughter. She is the real heir, so let her take over the company. Don’t be selfish!” And just like that, they handed her the inheritance I had worked for all my life to Elena Three years. Three years I devoted to Liam. I gave him my heart, my body, even a kidney when he was on the brink of death. And still, he abandoned me like trash. I fled that night, leaving behind our signed divorce papers and a fake abortion report. But five years later, I returned. But not as the woman they discarded, but as the most successful actress in the nation, with my twin children . And now… they came back begging. “Nora… we were blind. Please forgive us,” my parents whispered. “I was a fool,” Liam fell to his knees. “I made a mistake. Come back to me. I still love you.” I rolled my eyes, my voice icy. “You are five years too late, ex-husband “

I'm Viper. I had a drunken one night stand. Or so I thought until I got served divorce papers after a meeting gone bad and my wife was the potential client. That meeting almost destroyed my club because I was a fool. I have two choices sign the papers and let her walk away forever but I also fix my mistakes. Or work my ass off to fix my mistakes and make my wife fall in love with me. I chose option two. But there is someone else that wants my wife for himself. I will fix my club and get my wife and this other guy better stay out of my way. I'm not going to stop until I get what is mine. I'm Sabine, everyone calls me Pixie because of my size. I'm barely over five feet tall. I made the mistake and married a man I barely knew during a weekend of fun. He left me the next morning and I didn't see him for months until I went to a meeting about hiring a body guard with the Reckless Renegades. Imagine my surprise when I see my long lost husband with a skank on his arm. I fired him and had him served papers the next week. I cut off anything to do with the club. Business, friends, you name it. I wasn't going to be made a fool of. He left me so he should have just signed and let me move on with my life. I'm a champion ice skater but I need more. I want love and a family of my own. I thought I found it. Boy was I wrong. Now he is back and says he wants to win my heart.

Ernesta, the daughter of a wealthy family, had lived like an orphan for over a decade after being separated from her parents as a young child. At sixteen, she was finally found and brought home. Ernesta believed her life was starting anew, that she would finally be surrounded by her family's love. But she had no idea what awaited her: her brother's judgmental gaze, her father's disdain, and her mother's feigned affection. This was because someone had completely usurped her place in the family. Her foster sister, Kiera, though unrelated by blood to the Merediths, had been raised in luxury and had become a true lady. Ernesta, the real daughter raised in a less fortunate environment, wasn't considered noble enough, elegant enough, and was treated like an outsider. On the night of Ernesta's 20th birthday, also the night her engagement to Ryder was announced, he coldly stated, “The only one I've ever loved is Kiera.” Why hadn't he said it sooner? Why did he have to say it today, in front of so many guests, making her look like a fool? To make matters worse, her father, mother, and brother all turned their backs on her to protect the deceitful Kiera. Ernesta turned and walked away. This time, she was determined to let go of the family love she had always craved. She wanted to prove to the Merediths and Ryder that her life would be even better without them. But a serious car accident nearly claimed Ernesta's life. When she awoke, a mechanical voice echoed in her ears, “Ding! Congratulations, master, on successfully installing the Life-Altering System. Your brain is severely damaged, and your body is in a vegetative state. If you want a chance to wake up, you need to complete the mission assigned by the Life-Altering System.”

Looking at the divorce papers my lips curled up into a mocking smile. ‘How big fool I am? How can I think that he will give a chance to this marriage? How can I forget that I was nothing more a tool in his eyes to vent his anger until his beloved Tara is back. Since, she was back, how can he let me stay there?’ “After you will sign these papers, you will receive 100 million dollars as alimony.” the lawyer added. Because of his words, I came back to my senses took the pen from him, and signed the name. After taking the papers from my hand, the lawyer gave me the bank card, turned around, and was about to leave when he paused at the door. He then turned around and added, “Mr. Carter said that he hoped that you won’t pester him, or you have to bear the consequences.” The lawyer's words were like a knife stabbing in my heart, but I still nodded. Anyway, I also don’t plan to have anything to do with him anymore. I just want to live a good life with my children. After the lawyer left, the ward fell into silence. I placed my hand on my belly and said to my children, “Baby, I am sorry, Mommy can’t give you a complete family! But I promise you, I will do my best to give the love of both mother and father.” ‘As for giving one of my child, I will never do that. They are my babies and my alone. I and I will give birth to all of them and raise them no matter what…’ Four Years Later... Anya came back to the country with her three kids, to inherit the company left by his grandfather...

After Noah's death, what greeted him was an AI system calling itself Black, offering him a job working for the World and Soul Management Bureau.  He has to travel to many different worlds, taking over an identity of some unfortunate soon-to-be-dead dude, and live out the remainder of his new life there however he wanted. Easy-peasy! ...Right? ...Ok, sure, there are a few small kinks here and there... like terrorist attacks, murder plots, zombie apocalypses, and the like... but one should always look at the bright side! Noah: "...Blackie, is it just me, or is this good brother of mine looking at me like a hungry wolf seeing a juicy piece of meat?" (°△°|||) Black: "Don't worry, host. He is just a bit excited due to nearly losing his life back there. You know, adrenaline." (¬‿¬) Noah: "…are you sure that's what's really going on here?" (っ °Д °;)っ Black: "Absolutely!" (≖‿≖) … ~ Many worlds later ~ Noah: "This secret mission that you can't tell me about… it can't possibly be to get fucked by the least appropriate target?!" (°ㅂ°╬) Black: "Of-of course not! Ho-how could that possibly be, eh?" (; ﾟ 3ﾟ )~♪ ML: Right, right, that's just a very (not so) coincidental bonus. Ψ(╹ڡ╹ )Ψ 💠 Author Note 💠 * SSC has long arcs. Each world is a fully-fledged novel on its own. * Don't let the summary (or the cover) fool you! While SSC does have an occasional explicit smut, it is primarily a fluffy and hilarious romance! * Pairings are one-on-one and taboo-ish. (E.g. hired assassin and his target, monster tamer and his tamed beast, master and disciple, siblings, brothers-in-law, etc.) * More info in the info chapter Author website: lucypandora.com Support the author on ko-fi: ko-fi.com/lucypandora Discord: lucypandora.com/discord

The Falcon Ridge Series Book 3 Six months after the Battle for Black Lake Luke Jackson: Having been with the unit for six years and after the mess in Black Lake, I'm tired. I need to retire. Go home to Red Rock. I haven't been back there since I joined. But my dad tells me the crime there is getting bad and he needs my help with a biker gang called The Lycans. After staying home for six months and seeing nothing being done, I decide I'm headed to California. I don't want my pack. Before I leave, I have one last party. By the time I head home, I'm so drunk I can't see straight. When I see a guy getting beat up, I try to be a hero, but it only ends with me getting beat too. The only thing I remember is a pair of gorgeous green eyes. Alexi Torrent: I am the daughter of the notorious Draco Torrent. Alpha of the Dragons. After my father was murdered and my home destroyed by the Alliance, I vow revenge. I have a plan to enact my vengence on the woman who killed my father. I need resources so I join with The Lycans. I was just about to get what I needed from a contact when the drunk Alpha stumbled upon me. He called me out and my contact ran away. I was angry. I was going to make him pay. That was until I saw his hazel eyes. He may have been a drunk fool, but there was something different about him. So I spare his life. It turns out to be a big mistake for my plans.

> “Stay still, Little Thorn… I want to taste you slowly.” His voice was velvet and ruin. His mouth, a weapon. And I—fool that I was—leaned closer. Before death wore a suit and called itself a lover, I used to believe in beauty. Before the blood. Before the runes. Before I painted the image that killed my parents—I believed my art could save me. Now I know better. I was just weeks from graduating when the painting came to me like a fever. I didn’t choose it. I didn’t plan it. My hands moved, possessed, dragging symbols I’d never seen and a face I’d never forgotten—his. Eyes red as wine. A crown pierced with thorns. And a girl in the center… me. Offering herself. I signed it with a mark I didn’t recognize. I sold it to a stranger. And days later, my parents were dead—no wounds, no reason, just... gone. The police said stress. I say fate. Now I’m being hunted by a world I didn’t know existed. Vampires with ancient courts and older grudges. Symbols that whisper in my blood. And Lucien D’Aragon—the vampire who says I summoned him with my brushstroke. That I belong to him. He says I’m his prophecy. His ruin. His Little Thorn. But I’m not just prey. Something is waking in me. Something hungry. Something I was never meant to survive. If I give in, I lose everything. If I fight, I might finally learn the truth. About my art. About my bloodline. About what really happened that night. And why he keeps whispering that I was painted for ruin... but made for him.

As my due date approached, a massive discrepancy surfaced in the Galante family's arms accounts. The leadership made a swift decision. They sent me, Sophia Vitale, the Don's wife, the woman everyone claimed had nothing better to do, to personally inspect the armory and verify the inventory. I believed it was a routine check. I never imagined my husband's godsister, Monica Leone, would use it as cover to blow up the entire armory. The explosion was deafening. Fire ripped through the sky. Concrete collapsed around me, crushing my body as a searing pain tore through my abdomen. I did not call my husband on his highest-priority private line. Instead, I sent a distress signal to my father. In my previous life, the moment the explosion occurred, I had used that same priority channel to call my husband. The child had survived. Monica had been obliterated in the blast. My husband had claimed he did not blame me. He had said Monica was an outsider and that an heir mattered more. He had spared no expense, hiring elite obstetric specialists to monitor me day and night. He had told me to stay calm and wait for delivery. Then, on the day I went into labor, he personally locked me and the baby inside an abandoned warehouse drenched in gasoline and burned us alive. "If you hadn't deliberately delayed, she wouldn't have died. Do you really think playing the innocent victim could fool me? Dream on," he said. "You like playing with fire so much? Fine. I'll let you experience her despair yourself." When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the armory, at the exact moment of the explosion.

"Whether you like it or not! You need to abort the baby! I don't need your fucking mercy Iris! You don't have to project yourself as a victim!" Lucas's eyes were flares as he stared at me deadly. He wants to slay me from his sight. He treats me as a trash. An unclean wife. "After you got everything? This is what you do? You'll abort the child? You're ruthless Lucas. You're a monster." I hardly hits him on his chest with my hands. I'm angry with him. He cheated on me. He made such a fool. He plays my heart. My eyes watered with tears as I hits him on his chest with my hands constantly. He wants to hurt him with all my might. I wants hurt with my hands to make him realize the truth. I couldn't help but hit him on his chest as I cried. What he did was painful. He thinks of me as a thing, that after he used and got everything from me, he just throws me away. My femininity meant nothing to him. He ruthlessly restrained my hands. My tears just fell down. I feels like my heart is being stabbed at this moment. I thought he was my happily ever after? But I was wrong! The man I adored was hurting me. He broke my heart after all. "Stop being a fool Iris. Nothing can blame but you. Because you wanted what happened to us. You are the only one that wants," His eyes widened at me with anger. His heart feels hatred for me. He ruthlessly choked me at my neck. I just looked up at him, catching my breathe. My tears are falling. "You need to abort the baby. You will do it to protect my identity Iris."