Damaged Like Us Novels & Stories

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.”

Sold to the highest bidder to pay off a blood feud, I never imagined I would be the pawn in my father's fatal game. Still, here I am before Enzo De Luca, the most vicious mafia leader in the city. Though appealing, he is cold, deliberate, and as lethal. Though my heart races just from his proximity, it is his touch that ignites me. My body betrays me and reacts to him in ways I am powerless over. And I melt as he softly, commandingly says my name. Enzo loves neither me nor another. In his deadly kingdom, I am only another bargain, another transaction. But every time we are alone, the conflict between us snaps—desire becomes a terrible addiction. Although I detest him for everything he stands for, I yearn for the way he consumes me, body and soul. He has made it quite evident—our marriage is more about power than love. Still, every angry gaze and every snatched moment in the shadow reveals something different. Benevolent underneath his icy façade lies something broken that appeals to the darkest sides of me. But depending on a man like Enzo may mean losing everything. Bound to him now, for better or worse, I am caught in a world where loyalty is brittle and treachery carries a bullet. Our friendship gets more perilous the more truths about his empire I find. And as the past calls for us, I have to question myself: will our passion be the thing that ruins us both or can I survive loving a guy like Enzo De Luca? Burning in his arms is me. But in his universe, I could roast alive.

When I was six, I spilled hot water, slipped, and burned my face. My face was ruined. My parents learned their lesson and never let my younger sister do housework. To everyone they met, they praised her beauty, her charm. They turned to me with nothing but disdain. When I was ten, I had a high fever. They didn't think much of it and let it drag on until my brain was damaged, leaving me slow and dull. They learned their lesson again. From then on, if my sister so much as coughed, they would rush her to the hospital in the dead of night, showering her with care. I was like a failed experiment. Every mistake they made with me, they corrected for her. I was ugly, silent, dim-witted, unwanted. She was beautiful, sweet-talking, clever, adored by all. When I was diagnosed with depression, I gathered what little courage I had and told them. Mom lashed out, called me sick in the head, and accused me of being petty. If I was so capable, she said, I might as well die. It wasn't until my sister pushed me off a high-rise that they found out, by sheer accident, that she wasn't their child at all. I was their one and only biological child.

“I fled my engagement party and found him on a basketball court at midnight.” I had three months of freedom before I was married off in a business arrangement like it was nothing more than a possession. My escape was Crescent Bay University, a last ditch effort at taking control of my life before it got snatched from me. I wasn’t prepared for a 6’4, amber eyed basketball captain, who was known to be closed off. But if it’s true that he doesn’t do relationships and he has no interes in women, why can’t he take his eyes off me? When his eyes met mine, something electric sparked between us. Something dangerous. Something neither of us could walk away from. Then his eyes flashed gold, and I realized my temporary escape had led me somewhere far more dangerous than I’d ever imagined. He has secrets that could destroy me. I have power I never knew existed. And the men hunting us will burn the world down before they let us be together. Some bonds can’t be broken. Some loves are worth dying—or killing—for

“Swallow my cum, pretty thing,” Lucien growls against my ear, fingers buried deep, “then beg us to knot you until you’re leaking us for days.” 🥵💦 The night the rogues attacked, my world shattered. One moment I was just another “Beta” student hiding my scent at the Royal Academy. The next, I was dragged through blood and smoke, caged, and sold to the three Kings who rule the empire like gods. Dante. Lucien. Kade. They don’t ask. They claim. I came here as their captive. Now I’m dripping for three Alphas who own my body, my heat… and maybe what’s left of my soul. Three ruthless brothers. One Omega. And the kind of obsession that could destroy kingdoms. "Now spread those pretty legs wider, little Omega so I can fuck that tight hole."

He was consumed by hate, while love ripped through me like a storm. We were like two thorns, trapped in a prickly embrace with no escape. We exchanged vows soaked in blood, sealed with a brutal kiss, and bound by bloodied rings, with no happily ever after on the horizon. Marco Costello, my so-called prince, shackled me as his wife, but he was no savior. I used to imagine what our life would have been like if I had said yes all those years ago instead of running away. I'd play Juliette to his brooding Romeo. But fate had a different script for me, casting me as the antagonist, trapped in a cycle of resentment and sadness, like a lost soul wandering through the shadows, unseen and unappreciated. “Till death do us part...” It wasn't a promise of forever, but a sentence to endless torment.

"Stop we can't do this, Levi, it's wrong" I panicked, we were out in the open, and anyone who see us, children of the newlyweds like this would raise an alarm, he towered over me ignoring my protest as he cupped my chin forcing me to look into his alluring green eyes. "You know you want to" His voice was gruff and smoky. He was right. I didn't say anything when he leaned in and claimed my lips, somewhere at the back of my mind I imagined us at the altar just like our parents were earlier. Till death do us part? ~~~~~~ I have always hated how my life was with Mom getting married almost every year, I didn't think this would be any different from the rest. We will be out of here before winter, I would add the Sinclair to the list of families I owe an apology to in the future that's if I don't forget them. Or at least that's what I thought until I met him. Levi Sinclair. He is the one I shouldn't want yet I keep gravitating towards him and the more I tried hating him the more I wanted him. And I wasn't the only one with these feelings. Levi wanted me just as much as I wanted him, even more than I wanted him. But he is my stepbrother and I can't go down that path. Ll// So why can't my body refuse to listen to my brain when I'm alone with him?

A business trip took an unexpected turn when our plane ran into disaster. While everyone else was penning their last words, I, an orphan with nothing to lose, decided to have a little fun with my miserly boss. “Boss, let’s keep this short—I like you.” “I really, really like you.” “Boss, this is a final goodbye.” Just when all hope seemed lost, the captain pulled off a miracle with his years of experience, saving us from the brink of catastrophe. By the time we landed safely, I was still in a daze until I saw my boss, eyes bloodshot, storming toward me, flanked by a wall of black-suited bodyguards.

I was never supposed to be his bride, I was the mistake he couldn’t erase. Killian hated me for breathing and for simply existing. His eyes burned with anger every time they landed on me. There was so much hate and heat between us, I could barely breathe. Then there was Nolan, his brother. Quiet, but dangerous. He didn’t look at me like I was broken. He looked at me like he wanted to take everything I had—body and soul. I didn’t mean for this to happen. But guilt tastes a lot like desire when you’re starving for something real. And now I’m caught between two brothers…one who wants to hurt me, and one who already has. This isn’t just a love triangle. It’s a war. And I’m the weapon.

My best friend Seraphine had not one drop of blood left in her body when they found her. Her skin was translucent. There were two dried trails of blood from the corners of her mouth, like she had wept herself empty long before the end. She left one note. One sentence: "Vera saw his face." From that day forward, I became the Covenant's greatest sinner. Because I knew who did it. But I said nothing. For ten years, I said nothing. Then Lucian came back. He was the one who had turned us, raised us, given us the only home we had ever known. He set the Soul Prism in front of me. "Tonight," he said, "you give me the killer." His eyes hadn't changed. That was the worst part. After ten years of exile, of stones and fire and nights that never got warmer, I looked at him and he was still exactly who he had always been to me. "Or you disappear from this world along with him." He didn't know. The reason I had chosen exile and starvation and a Blood Oath that had been eating my soul core alive for a decade — was him. All of it, always, had been for him.