Before We Drowned Novels & Stories

I laid there unmoving, my hands shivered, my legs twitched as if rooted to the floor, tears rolled down my cheeks as I came to a realization. There laying a few metres away from me laid dad, whose eyes were closed as he drowned in his pool of blood, a deep hole in his heart while he laid unwavering. "Dad...wake up dad, dad please wake up." I squealed and then shook dad severally, but he was long gone, there was no coming back for him anymore, I growl and cried in silence, everything happened too fast.

My boyfriend came from a wealthy family. We had been together for seven years, yet he had never given me a single gift. When he proposed, he even asked for the diamond ring back so he could return it for a refund. Later, when we were about to register our marriage, he complained that the paperwork fee was too expensive and said it wasn’t necessary. However, not long after that, he registered his marriage with his childhood sweetheart instead. He even booked the most luxurious hotel in the entire city, eager to throw a grand engagement party. The shock was too much for my grandmother, and she suffered a heart attack. I dropped to my knees and begged my boyfriend to return the salary I had entrusted to him over the years, as I needed the money to pay for my grandmother’s surgery. He simply wrapped his arm around his childhood sweetheart and pretended not to know me. He said he would never help a lazy beggar who only knew how to freeload. Then, he ordered the security guards to throw me out. Later, my grandmother died on New Year’s Eve, her final breaths drowned out by the sound of fireworks outside. While everyone else celebrated the holiday season, I handled my grandmother’s funeral alone. At the same time, I accepted a job offer from a major overseas company. When I returned home to get my passport, the man—who had just finished introducing his sweetheart to his parents and was clearly in a good mood—saw me and assumed I was still throwing a tantrum. For the first time, he spoke generously. “Alright. What could possibly have happened to your grandmother? At worst, I’ll make it up to you with a luxurious wedding.” What he didn’t know was that from the moment my grandmother took her last breath, I no longer wanted to marry him.

My husband, Lucas Gabriel, and I were on our way to sell paintings when we got robbed. I used all my strength to fight off the robbers. I wanted to keep Lucas’s hands safe so that he could keep painting. However, he failed to escape. He threw his paintings on the ground and yelled at me, “This is all your fault, Aria! “If I had married Chloe instead of you, I would be the leader of the Lenza Group in Ros Aegeles by now! I wouldn’t be some poor, helpless painter!” Right before the robbers killed me, I finally realized that he never got over his childhood sweetheart, Chloe Lionel. That was why he never wanted to have children with me while we were married. When I opened my eyes again, we had both returned to a time before our marriage. This time, we went our separate ways. I cut ties with him and left Ros Angeles to focus on medical research. Seven years later, I returned. Lucas was already the boss of Cosa. He had Chloe in his arms and mocked me. “I know you’ve loved me in both lives, but did you really have to stay single for me?” I ignored him and held my son’s hand. He lost it. His eyes turned red with anger as he demanded, “Whose child is that?! Didn’t you say you would only have my children?!”

Tall, dark, and gorgeous with cobalt-blue eyes. It doesn’t hurt that he’s the billionaire owner of the resort we’re staying at. And all of it is just what I needed for my celebration weekend after graduating with my master’s. It’s our last girls’ weekend before my friends and I go our separate ways, and it’s going to happen with a bang. Literally. Hopefully. It would be a first. The desire was to keep things casual, but our connection is far too deep for that. Him being ex-military and me being an Army brat. The rules we each set up are shattered thanks to the raging passion between us. But eventually, I have to go home. What I never expected in a million years was that he might follow me. Enough swimming in the shallow end of the pool. We’re diving in deep.

Hey, everyone! My name is Jessblue. Well, I come from the world of Bamptillia and you all know me as Cristina's sister/best friend. This story is about my life before I met Cristina or became this fierce badass Bampire warrior. Overall, my life consisted of slavery and abuse, but my heart also lost the only love that it knew. Why? Well, for you to love and understand my character, JessBlue, from Bamptillia, I must take you to the beginning, where it all started for me on the Crite of Bluestoria. I must go back to where everything changed one day and my world took a turn, but did it take a turn for the best or did it take a turn for the worst?! We shall see in this journey I will take you on; sometimes life is unfair, and we need to embrace every moment we live and breathe. Trigger warning: This has extremely mature erotic scenes and dark erotic scenes. May include rape, rough sex, abuse, assault, death and other forms of torture. So, please, be aware before reading. If you believe any of these topics may upset you, please, do not read this book. It has not been written to trigger or upset anyone, so I would rather you not read it if you think any of these topics will have this result for you.

“We didn’t say a word before we both crashed into each other’s arms and started making out. I jumped on him, and he grabbed me. We barely made it to the bed before we started tearing each other apart. It was wild. It was intense. And I didn’t want it to end. For about twenty minutes, he did things to me that had me screaming until my voice gave out, and I passed out. The next time I opened my eyes, it was morning. I was sober again... but I had no idea what a naked stranger was doing in my bed!” Viola Sterling is a billionaire heiress whose life suddenly takes a hit when her family goes bankrupt. She becomes homeless, and as if that isn't enough, she catches her boyfriend cheating the very same day. Heartbroken and drunk, she tries to numb the pain… only to wake up the next morning with a naked stranger in her bed. Turns out, he’s a billionaire who couldn’t afford a scandal. He arrogantly pays her for her silence and disappears, leaving her embarrassed. She thinks that’s the end of it until she turns up at her new guardian’s house and gets the shock of her life. The naked stranger? He’s their son. They vow to remain strangers. But when Viola discovers she’s pregnant, everything changes. To protect their families' reputations, they agree to marry. To their families, it’s an arranged marriage. To them, it’s a contract, strictly business. And it comes with just a rule… Never to fall in love!

On my 20th birthday, my father hosts a dinner for our allied families. He lifts his glass with a smile and turns to his old friend, saying, "It's time my principessa chooses a husband from your sons." Without hesitation, I choose the youngest—Salvatore Carlo. Everyone is stunned. After all, I'm Estella Vinci, the eldest daughter of the Vinci family. I was born into wealth and power, with a father from a long-established Virellian mafia family and a mother from Montavira's ruthless DeNucci bloodline. And yet, I was hopelessly in love with Giovanni Carlo, third son of the Carlo family. In my past life, I got exactly what I wished for. I became his wife. He got what he wanted too. With my father's power, he became the heir of the Carlo family. But after we got married, my adopted sister Eleanor Vinci became his mistress. When my father found out, he was furious. He sent her far away in marriage to Norland. From that day on, Giovanni hated me with everything he had. He drowned himself in nightclubs, night after night, always bringing home women who looked just like Eleanor. He let them mock me and humiliate me. On my birthday, one of them poisoned my cake. I died with hatred in my heart at eight months pregnant. Now that I am reborn, I decide to let them have each other. But the moment I choose Salvatore, Giovanni loses his mind.

I went through 100 hormone shots for him—just to finally get pregnant. Five years begging those shots to work—all for Rafe Morello. The Don with ice in his veins... but also the guy who used to wipe sweat off my forehead in the middle of the night. Everyone thought we were goals. Then I handed over my lab results, and the nurse paused, blinking up at me. "Sorry, what's your relationship to Rafe Morello? There's already a pregnancy under his wife's name." I froze. Carmela Vitale. His dead brother's wife. Spouse listed: Rafe Morello. Breathing? Suddenly optional. No tears. No drama. I just slid off my ring and tucked it into my bag. Then I called the number buried at the bottom of my drawer. My voice? Freakishly calm. "Yeah. Three days. Pick me up." It wasn't about revenge. I left because I finally got it—some people, you gotta cut loose if you ever wanna stop bleeding. Three days later, he walked into a silent bedroom. On the nightstand: my wedding ring, the signed divorce papers, and a copy of the ultrasound. He sat on the floor and just... kept rubbing that ring. Regret doesn't knock. It floods. And that night, it drowned every lie he thought he could get away with. That was when he finally figured it out—love could wreck a person worse than hate ever could.

It's my first time celebrating the holidays with my biological parents after I get reunited with them. The fake heiress, Stella Knight, suggests that we spend the holidays on an overseas vacation. But as soon as we arrive in the foreign country, Stella burns my passport while my parents are away getting a massage. Before I can even fight back, I find myself getting pushed into a scamming den. With a twisted smile on Stella's face, she spits out, "Trash like you don't even deserve to fight with me!" As I gaze at the people who are approaching me, I suddenly find them familiar-looking. I found the emblem of my adoptive parents' company. I've spent the last 20 years being pampered by my adoptive parents before I finally made up my mind to reunite with my biological parents in order to fulfill my wish. I never expect to be sent right back into my adoptive parents' territory.

My mom is critically ill. Before she passes away, she wants to see me married. It takes 27 days of pleading before my boyfriend, Kyle Grayson, says yes. I wait at the city hall until the doors close, but he never shows up. That same day, his childhood sweetheart, Ruby Callahan, posts their marriage certificate online. "Time flies. Three days more and we'll be a month in." Only then does it hit me. The very first day I begged, Kyle was already Ruby's husband. Right then, a text from Kyle lights up my phone. "Holly, Ruby's family was pushing her into marriage. I couldn't stand by and watch her marry just anyone and ruin her life. We'll be divorced in three days. I'll marry you then." Three days later, he shows up at the city hall in a suit. But all he gets is a text from me. "Goodbye for good, Kyle."