Can't Run Can't Hide By Lee Williams Novels & Stories

My mom is terrified of being laughed at by others the most. Whenever the holidays are here, she will keep repeating one sentence to me—"Don't go around embarrassing me." When my relatives gather around and chat with each other, I accidentally knock a fruit platter over. Mom drags me over and slaps me on the spot. At the holiday feast, I grab extra pieces of steak for myself. Mom responds by kicking my chair over. When it's time for the holiday gifts to be distributed, my aunt, Gabriella Hall, has miscalculated the number of children present among the family. So, she has prepared one less gift for the occasion. Mom doesn't hesitate to kick me out of the apartment, leaving me shivering in the cold corridor in just my indoor clothes. The icy winds chill me to the bone. I keep slamming my palms on the front door while screaming and crying my apologies at Mom, and yet she remains unmoved and silent. Instead, she turns to face Aunt Gabriella with an apologetic smile on her face. "I'm really sorry. I didn't raise my daughter well. It's only fair that you ridicule me." What Mom doesn't know is that I get triggered whenever I hear the word "ridicule" thanks to her so-called parenting lessons. Whenever I hear that word, I want nothing more than to hurt myself uncontrollably. So when I hear the word "ridicule" coming out of Mom's mouth through the front door, I turn on my heel quietly and begin making my way toward the bridge next to the neighborhood that's plunged into darkness. The moment I jump from the bridge, the only thought I have is, "Mom, no one will ridicule you because of me this time."

As my due date approaches, my husband's precious mistress falls into the water at a banquet. After being rescued, she immediately accuses me of pushing her. To "avenge" her, he throws me into a modified stainless steel water tank. I beg him, pleading for the sake of our unborn children. But he only sneers. "Don't try to use the babies to guilt me! You've still got a week before you're due. I know exactly how vicious you are—any child of yours would be just as rotten. Stay in there and reflect on your behavior. I'll let you out when you finally admit you're wrong!" Five days later, my husband returns home from a night out with his mistress, calling for me to come downstairs and serve them, as always. He doesn't know that my babies and I have already rotted beyond recognition.

On the night before Match Day, it's 2:17 am when I find myself staring at the screenshot on my phone. For a long while, my heart refuses to calm down at all. Ethan Blake: "Let's have a bet, guys. If Leah doesn't get a spot at Redwood General Hospital tomorrow, this will mark the end of our relationship. The starting bet is two thousand dollars. Is anyone following up on this bet?" Already, more than a dozen people have responded to the message with various emojis. Someone even comments, "Count me in!" I feel my nails digging into my palms. "The end of our relationship", he says. To think that Ethan actually used this phrase. We've been dating for four years. This is the very same man who once told me that he wanted to marry me. Is it this easy for him to end a relationship? I take a deep breath and force myself to calm down. There are still other medical interns in the staff room with me. I mustn't lose my composure around them. I know that Ethan is waiting for me to react how I did in the previous times. I'd either spam his phone with missed calls, beg him to delete the message while crying, or apologize to him in an extremely humble manner. But now… Now, I'm really done with this relationship.

Hailey Forge is one of the fiercest warriors in the Wolf Shade Pack, feared across the realm for her deadly skills in seduction and destruction. Confident and untouchable, her world shatters when her fated mate, Argon Grant, betrays her with her own sister. Heartbroken and furious, Hailey vows revenge, determined to make Argon suffer the way she did. Her plan? Seduce Alpha Grant Argon’s powerful father until Argon is wrapped around her finger, begging for forgiveness on his knees. But Hailey doesn’t realize that Alpha Grant, a hardened leader abandoned by his mate years ago, has been watching her for longer than she knows. Drawn into his web of desire, she finds herself in deeper than she ever intended. As the ruthless Alpha refuses to let her go, Hailey’s game of vengeance turns dangerously real. Secrets unravel, and when she discovers her affair with the Alpha has led to an unexpected twist; a child destined to become the next Alpha, Hailey is forced to confront a new reality. Will her seduction strategy lead to her downfall, or is it the start of something she never saw coming?

On the tenth year of my marriage with Adrian Sutton as a replacement, my older sister, Vivian Cavendish, suddenly returns to our lives. The entire family just stares at her silently. Vivian yawns lazily before saying casually, "It's so exhausting, having visited 13 countries in a row. Where's Rowan? He should be studying in grade school by now, right? Why isn't he here to see me, his real mother?" Rowan Sutton is Vivian's actual son. In the past, after Vivian gave birth to Rowan, she faked her death on her wedding day, leaving her newborn and her fiance behind. The Sutton family comes from old money in the elite society. My parents dared not offend them at all, so they decided to force me, a college fresh graduate, to marry Adrian in Vivian's stead. Over the past decade, I've turned into a proper wife and a responsible mother. Upon seeing how righteous Vivian is acting, Mom and Dad turn to look at me. I just smile faintly at them instead. "Rowan and his father are on a vacation in another city right now."

“You’re truly going to get married to Silver?” Liam looked at me with so much sadness which broke my heart the more. “This is the only way out Liam. Move on with your life and forget about me. Our love was doomed right from the onset,” I answered with a poker face even though I was hurting way more than him. This was the only way out. I knew I’d regret it but I had to get married to Silver even though I knew my heart would always belong to Liam and would always yearn for him. ___________________________________________________ Maya Allen, a poor orphan meets Liam Taylor, CEO of the biggest company in their city after breaking up with her ungrateful boyfriend whom she had been taking care of. They eventually fall in love. However, Maya’s life takes a drastic turn after she meets Silver Grey who tries everything possible to win her love even though he knows Liam and Maya are in love. What happens when Maya finds out a shocking truth about the Two men Liam and Taylor who are pining over her?

For four years I was his secretary, and for four years I warmed his bed. I knew everything, from his family business to the secrets he whispered to me at night. But to him, I was nothing more than a toy he could summon whenever he pleased. The moment his first love, Sofia Costa, flew back into the country, he humiliated me without a second thought. He kissed her in a Sicilian church, abandoned me on a rain-soaked road with a gash ten inches long on my calf, and later dismissed me with a cold, cutting line. He said I was someone unimportant, someone he could simply ignore. She waved the tulip plush he'd given her in front of me. "I'm the only one he loves. You were just a stand-in." While I rebuilt my life in Chicago and finally found some peace, this ruthless Mafia don knelt outside my door, eyes red with emotion. "Elena, come back to me." I kicked his hand away with a smile. "Your so-called devotion disgusts me."

On our wedding day, my wife's first love, Hank Scott, threatened to slit his wrists. She ignored him and went through with the ceremony anyway, until news arrived that he was dead, his blood staining the ground. From that moment on, Shirley Lowell withdrew into a convent, becoming the cold, distant woman everyone knew. In the name of atonement, she forced me to copy the Bible a thousand times and kneel in endless prayer, grinding me down until I was crippled. Bound to a wheelchair, I asked her for a divorce. She refused, saying we owed Hank a debt and had to atone for it together. She used my family to threaten me, keeping me by her side and tormenting me for the rest of my life. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on our wedding day. This time, I chose to push her toward Hank. I would become the first love in her heart, the one who led her onto the path of devout faith.

“Get off of me!” I shouted, pushing him as hard as I could. Tristan looked surprised, and the next moment, I saw him glaring at me. “What’s your problem?” he asked, annoyed. I looked at him dangerously. “Trying to kiss me, huh? I won’t let you touch me again! Ever!” ********************************* Elaine Scott, a humble omega maid, unexpectedly finds herself in the spotlight when she marries Tristan Hale, the Alpha heir of the Wolfsilver Pack, as a gesture of gratitude for saving his mother's life. Elaine believes their marriage is based on mutual affection, but Tristan secretly resents her, thinking she has manipulated his parents into marrying him. Tristan's bitterness escalates following the sudden death of his parents, and he directs his anger towards Elaine, subjecting her to misery and isolation. Seeking solace, Tristan turns to Megan Smith, his mistress, further cementing Elaine's plight in a loveless marriage. However, fate intervenes when a tragic car accident wipes Elaine's memory clean, erasing the past five years, including her feelings for Tristan. Initially relieved, Tristan becomes unsettled when Elaine no longer exhibits the deference he expects and begins questioning Elaine’s sudden change. As Elaine tries to move forward, Tristan has a change of heart and wants her back. But Elaine is done with him and is ready to move on. But, is she?

On the Memorial Day weekend, Mason Hayes, the student my wife, Abigail Sullivan, had been sponsoring, insisted on riding with me back to his hometown. My car was small, the drive was long, and the trunk was already packed. There was no way to fit another adult, so I turned him down as politely as I could. That night, Abigail came home and stayed quiet for a long time before finally saying, "He ended up walking along the highway. His feet were torn up." I frowned, trying to make sense of it. "It's a holiday weekend. There are Ubers everywhere. He could've booked one in minutes." She nodded softly, the same gentle expression she always wore, and poured me a glass of water. I drank it. The next thing I knew, everything went black. When I opened my eyes again, I was standing under a brutal midday sun on an empty stretch of highway. Abigail leaned into Mason's shoulder, holding her phone up as she livestreamed. There was a faint smile on her lips, but there was nothing warm about it. "You said getting around was easy, right? Why don't you try walking home yourself?" The livestream was packed. The chat flooded with messages, people placing bets on how far I would make it. I looked straight into the camera, ran my tongue over my cracked lips, and said, "Done enjoying the show? Now come and pick me up."