And Then There Were 5 Novels & Stories

“Five years. It started on our wedding night.” The words landed between us like stones. Alessandro’s face changed as anger flooded his features. He paced beside the bed with short, sharp steps. “Five freaking years, Adriana? You stayed with him for five fucking years while he did this to you? And you got pregnant by him? How could you do that to yourself? What happened to leaving him? Why did you not come to me?”

I couldn't hear the other end. But it wasn't hard to guess what was being said. It wasn't a call to offer blessings. I didn't want to listen. Luca reached out and took my hand. Fingers interlocked. "Don. I'm not a child anymore. I know what I'm doing." "And you don't have the power over me you had five years ago." "Before we talk, I need you to know, I'm not leaving Anna. Not now, not ever."

Julian never came home that night. By the next morning, headlines had spread across all of Cascade City. [The Wife Loses Again—Carter Heir Parties Across the City with Mystery Beauty on His Birthday.] In every entertainment reporter's photo, Julian had one arm protectively wrapped around the woman in his embrace. Everyone around them was laughing, looking relaxed and carefree. Without an expression, I picked up the remote and changed the channel. Apparently, though, they still had not had enough fun. Not long after, Julian came home with a noisy crowd trailing behind him. The moment they saw me, someone paused in surprise before slipping into his usual slick tone.

Only inside what had already become their life. End of Chapter One Hundred and Five

How had Vexx known? I glanced over to where Claire slept. Ash remained at her side, trying unsuccessfully to not doze off. Andre, Damian, and Vee sat in chairs on one side of her bed, while my mates and I occupied the couch across the room. The tension in the air was thick, palpable. No one wanted to bring up what was clearly on all of our minds. I sighed. “That was a shit show.” My gaze fell on Vee. “You told us today, 5th Circle would be wiped from the earth, that we’d have victory. So what went wrong?”

The ones who had touched their ear followed suit. By then, I roughly understood that those gestures were signals for whether to play or fold. The more people that stayed in the round, the higher the payout would climb. When it was my turn, I played right into their trap and pretended to get cocky. "I'm in, too." The cups went up, revealing that Lawrence had rolled four fives. His four of a kind beat me by a hair. But how exactly were they doing it?

I moved to another city and spent half a month trying to stitch myself back together, convincing myself I could start all over again. But the moment I stepped into the real world, I realized how broken I really was because the five years gone had stripped me of everything. From my dignity to my confidence, and even my instincts... They were all gone.

"We partied too hard last night and forgot to use protection—don't forget to buy morning-after pills for your wife." Looking at the woman's smooth bare back and the red mole on her neck in the photo, I felt absolutely nothing. Again. Five years of marriage, and this wasn't the first time. Kathy liked to test me this way. She called it her "little experiment." The first time, she "accidentally" left a receipt for condoms on the nightstand. I got angry and confronted her, but she just smiled with contempt. "Why are you so petty? My girlfriends and I bought that on purpose just to see how you'd react." The second time was on our wedding anniversary. A guy showed up at our door with a bouq

" I could see the hope and longing in his eyes, but it was far too late. I raised my hand, showing him my missing pinky, and I said calmly, "The doctors told me that if I chose to have it reattached back then, I could have recovered, but I refused. Do you know why?" Seeing my severed finger, Sam winced in pain and heartbreak, shaking his head. I continued, "It's because I knew that it wasn't just me severing a finger, but also my love toward you. From the moment I found out the truth, I already decided that no matter in this life or the next, I would leave your side and never look back."

Marcus's thumb hovers over the ventilator power button. "Five. Four. Three..."