Bittersweet Panic

In my last life, my brother Leo—the heir to the Moretti crime family—stripped our estate bare of every last soldier, all for a Vegas jaunt. All because his new flame, Scarlett, had a jones for the high-roller tables. The Volkovs—our rivals, the very ones Leo had just pissed off—saw their opening and stormed our gates. My mother, Sofia, took a bullet meant for me. Died protecting me. I blew up Leo’s phone, my pleas turning to screams. He didn't answer. He waltzed back in after the shooting stopped, bringing our men home, but far too late for it to matter. Then, the news from Vegas. Scarlett was gone. A suicide note left behind. In it, she painted me as the monster. The one who’d leaked our weaknesses to the Volkovs. The one who'd orchestrated a fake kidnapping and torture plot, all to drive her to despair and lure Leo home. A perfect, tragic lie. Leo read the letter calmly. Then he burned the letter and told me, "Forget it. It's handled." Father tore into Leo for abandoning his post, for leaving his family to die. And me? I was named the new Consigliere. But after the celebration, Leo cornered me in the wine cellar. His face was a mask of cold fury as he pressed the barrel of his gun to my forehead. "This is for family traitors," he hissed, his voice pure venom. "The throne is my birthright, not some backstabbing bitch's prize!" When I opened my eyes again, I was back. Right in the middle of the fire and the blood. This time, I shoved my mother behind me, dragging her toward the panic room. And the bastards who were too blind to believe me? They’ll regret it.

**Synopsis**: When Claire Mason, a successful but emotionally guarded architect, returns to the small coastal town of Seabreeze after nearly a decade away, she expects nothing more than a brief stay to settle her late grandmother’s estate. But as she strolls through the familiar streets, memories of her first love, Ethan Hayes, begin to resurface—along with the pain of their abrupt and unresolved parting. Ethan never left Seabreeze. Now a local business owner, he’s built a quiet life by the sea, haunted by the ghost of the girl who left him behind. When Claire unexpectedly walks back into his life, the old spark between them reignites. However, both have changed in the years apart, and neither is willing to easily trust the other again. As they are drawn together by the memories of their youth, Claire and Ethan must confront the mistakes of their past and the truths they’ve been avoiding. But with the wounds of their old love still fresh, and new challenges threatening to pull them apart once more, they must decide if they can leave the past behind and take a second chance on each other—or if their first love was always destined to remain just a memory. "My First Love" is a heartwarming and bittersweet tale of love, loss, and the enduring power of first love, set against the backdrop of a picturesque coastal town where the past and present collide. ---

Bella Murphy always thought her ex-boyfriend was a sweet, innocent boy who couldn't even hurt a fly. But imagine, Bella's surprise when she bumped into her ex-boyfriend after seven long years to find the sweet, innocent and submissive boy changing into a dark, dangerous and dominant Mafia Leader. Silas Kingsley, a man who shoots a person before thinking was not always a dangerous man. But now he is anything but innocent and weak. And now he is not ready to go to his ex-girlfriend, who is engaged to another person? How will Bella deal with this new possessive side of hex ex-boyfriend, Silas Kingsley, the Mafia Don. ... "Next time I find that so-called fiance of yours anywhere near you, Bella, that will be his last day on earth." Silas said, his fingers holding me from my neck, and my breath hitched at his words. "You.... you won't do it, Silas!" I cried out in panic, but he only smiled at me. "I am no longer the sweet, innocent boy you left seven years ago, Bella. This Silas Kingsley will burn every single man who even dares to look at what's mine." He said, kissing my neck, and my eyes clenched shut at the warmth pooling my stomach. "He is my fiance, Silas." "And you're mine!" He said possessively, and I could only wonder one thing. How the hell did my sweet, innocent and submissive ex-boyfriend changed into a strong, dangerous and dominating mafia boss? And now he is obsessed with me.

On the day of my mate-bonding ceremony, someone threw a corrosive potion at me, leaving my face disfigured. In front of everyone, Oliver Fielding—my fated mate, the one promised to me for eight years—coldly rejected me and claimed the Alpha's younger stepsister, Isabella Dorsey, instead. That same night, Alpha Lucas Dorsey placed a moonstone ring in my hand. "If Oliver won't claim you, then I will. And I'll make sure you get justice." He brushes his fingers over my corroded, scarred cheek and whispers tenderly, "Evelyn, even in such a state, you're more beautiful than anyone else." Since he claimed me, Lucas has treated me like something sacred. He remembers every little thing I love and hate. Even when the painful memories overwhelm me and I lash out in panic, he just presses a kiss to my palm, his pain lingering in the touch. How could I not be completely lost to him? However, three years later, I overhear Lucas speaking with his assassin outside the council chamber. "That silver-laced corrosive potion I had you prepare—was the dosage correct?" The assassin hesitates before replying, "Alpha, if you care about Evelyn so much, why would you—" "Isabella wants Oliver, so I'll help her by removing the obstacle—Evelyn." He runs his thumb over the herbal sachet I made him and murmurs, "It's just… I've grown strangely reluctant to let Evelyn go. She's my pawn, after all." I wipe away my tears. If I'm nothing more than an obstacle to him, I'll save him the trouble and walk away on my own.

My newlywed husband forces me, a late-stage liver cancer patient, to drink hard liquor just to please his secretary. When the secretary later stages a setup, pretending to take a knife for him, she loses too much blood. In a panic, he demands that I give her a blood transfusion. I name my price—ten million dollars. He sneers. "Your blood really is worth its weight in gold, huh?" Of course it is. A liver cancer patient's blood doesn't come cheap. Later, when his precious secretary crashes into my car, he mocks me again. "You caused the accident on purpose, didn't you? Stop pretending—you just want more money. Wendy Yaeger, you disgust me." I'm done. All I want now is to get that divorce certificate before I die, but he looks down at me with disdain. "Don't use such pathetic tricks to get my attention. You're not even qualified to negotiate with me." Fine. Once I'm dead, the marriage will end on its own.

Stephen's beloved Phoebe fell into a coma. To everyone, I became the villain—accused of harming her out of unrequited love for Stephen. Mute, I had no way to defend myself before Stephen locked me away in the basement. He said I would only be freed when Phoebe woke up. Broken and hopeless, I succumbed to fear and starvation, eventually developing amnesia. Day by day, my memories began to slip away. Yet, Stephen, tears in his eyes, begged me not to forget him. But all I wanted was to leave it all behind and keep moving forward.

In the realm of tangled destinies, Liyana found herself ensnared in a bittersweet love affair. Her heart beat fiercely for Ayaan, her college mate, while her parents conspired to bind her to the most loathsome person she had ever encountered, Rayan. As the weight of an arranged marriage bore down upon her, Liyana's fate teetered on the vow she had taken with her true love. Could their forbidden love defy the oppressive forces of the family? Would their solemn promise be the glue that held them together, or would it be the harbinger of their ultimate downfall? This is the story of a love tested by society's expectations, where a single vow becomes the pivotal point between salvation and doom.

"You brought us into this mess, and the only way to fix it is to marry me!" The handsome stranger yelled at me. I felt a wave of panic wash over me. Married? To a stranger? 'A contract marriage, Sia. Two years, and in exchange, I'll give you with a percentage of my wealth. You'll be taken care of, and I'll clear up this scandal around my name." I shut my eyes. "Yes, I'll marry you, Nicholas Winthrop" I said with a half whisper. I had no choice, anyways. ********************. Waking up in the bed of Nicholas Winthrop, the CEO of Prescott Towers, was all it took for Sia Stanton's life to change. Right after breaking up with her cheating boyfriend, Sia runs into a problem that is way bigger than she can handle. Now, she's forced to make a new deal. A contract marriage with a twist: be his trophy wife and get a hefty sum of the billionaire's wealth. What will happen when Sia's past and present collide, and will she be able to confront her demons once and for all? What happens when she discovers that she has been bound to this handsome stranger, for life? Find out in this story! Please, drop a review

A week before the marking ceremony, my fiance, Alpha Mason Wallace, suddenly switches the venue to Firefly Grove. His friends tease him. "You changed the venue just because Serena wants to see fireflies? And you didn't even tell Cora? What if she shows up at an empty site? "Besides, Cora's the one who picked Moonlight Bay. Do you really think she'll go along with this?" Mason says casually, "She burned her skin saving me. She won't fight me over a venue change. Besides, she planned every detail herself. She'll notice the update." I stand outside the doorway, listening in silence. Then, I slip away without a word. When the day finally comes, Mason calls from Firefly Grove, panic in his voice. "The ceremony's about to start. Where are you?" I stare at the shimmer on Moonlight Bay and answer calmly, "I'm already here. My ceremony is about to start too."

I throw myself into cryogenic research so I can keep my only family on this Earth. However, halfway through it, my fiancé embezzles all the funds to propose to Sophia Kensington, his true love. I panic when I see the ice in Mom's brain start to melt. I have no money to continue with the research. I'm in utter despair when Leonard Shaw, a rising star in the biomedical field, comes to me with millions of dollars in funding. The research can continue. Just three days later, something goes wrong with the experiment. Mom explodes in cryogenic chamber. I'm shattered by this, but Leonard stays by my side throughout it all. He helps me move past this and continue with my research. I think he's the light of my life until I overhear his conversation with his secretary. "Is it worth it marrying someone you don't love for Ms. Kensington's sake, Mr. Shaw?" "Sophia is my life. I'm willing to do anything as long as she's healthy and happy." "But will Mrs. Shaw still continue helping Ms. Kensington if she learns you tampered with the data and killed her mother?" "She'll never find out. Besides, I'm already using the rest of my life to make it up to her. That's more than enough…" It turns out Leonard's love is just a conspiracy. My heart turns to ashes in that moment. I sign an agreement to seal my body cryogenically. He'll never find me ever again.