Dead End Memories

A bet. One scandal cost Alora Harper almost everything. She was a star student. All she ever cared about was working hard to achieve her dreams until Caden Steele popped into her life and almost ruined her. Now, she is determined to never let her guards down again. Caden Steele had always been a self-absorbed playboy but playing with Alora didn’t go as planned. Instead, it made him unable to function without her. Now, he is determined to win her back. But it might just be too late!

Yvonne Xander had three of her ribs broken before she finally managed to escape from the mental asylum. After she escaped, the first thing she did was to sign the agreement to donate her body after her death. “Miss Xander, we must let you know that this is a special donation. Your body will be used to test a new chemical reagent. By then, there might be nothing of you left.” Yvonne pressed down on her aching chest. Her broken ribs made her voice sound like a broken ventilator. With great difficulty, she grimaced. “Just what I want.”

Esme Wynter’s marriage to Lennox Mercer was written like a business plan. He gave her protection and power; she gave him peace and a convenient alliance. She told herself she didn’t need love. He made it clear he didn’t believe in it. But when the test site collapsed, Lennox threw himself over her without hesitation— and Esme’s last memory was his heartbeat against hers before everything went dark. When she opened her eyes again, she was surrounded by blinding white light, unable to move forward, and unable to return. Then a guide told her she and him were not fated, and their connection had become a curse, one that doomed them both whenever they tried to love. And then came the rules: You must not fall in love with him. You must ensure he finds his destined partner in each lifetime. You must not intervene beyond your designated role. Break them, and one—or both—will die. Fail all five lifetimes, and your souls would be erased forever. Each time Esme awakens, she forgets the last. Each time, she meets him again— as a king, a freedom fighter, a general, a mercenary. And each time, her heart betrays her before her mind can remember. And in his own distant eyes, there is the hidden craving for her love, like a man trying to recall a dream he’s not supposed to have. She was never meant to fall for him again. But perhaps… he never stopped loving her.

My best friend, Scarlett Throne, is diagnosed with cancer. After running away from home, she takes her own life. She leaves behind only a testament and a pair of eight-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. "You're the only person I can rely on in this world. I'm not asking you to adopt them, but just make sure they have enough to eat." Out of compassion, I take the siblings in. For the next 20 years, my husband and I have been working hard together to raise them, buying them cars and houses. But one day, my adopted daughter reports my husband for being abusive toward her. Even my supposedly dead best friend suddenly appears and testifies against him. I demand to know why she does such a thing. My best friend, filled with righteous indignation, says, "I see you as my best friend! I've never thought you adopted my children just to serve your husband's perversions!" My husband's reputation is ruined, and he's been thrown in jail. I desperately try to prove his innocence, only to be forcibly sent to a mental hospital by my adopted son. There, I wither away and die. When I open my eyes again, I find myself back on the very day my best friend was diagnosed with cancer.

The day after my Alpha mate's precious childhood sweetheart Sage accused me of sending rogue wolves to attack her, my mate Kael, along with our two sons, suspended my brother above a massive cauldron of boiling silver, threatening to throw him into the molten metal that would burn him alive. I went insane, rushing toward them, but the pack warriors held me back with iron grips. "Do you understand your mistake now?" Kael stood nearby in his perfectly tailored suit, his eyes cold as winter frost, his voice laced with ice. "Will you ever dare to hurt Sage again?" "I didn't attack her!" I cried, struggling against the warriors' hold. "Kael, let my brother go! He's only eighteen! He just got accepted to Harvard!" Five-year-old River crossed his small arms, his face emotionless. "The evidence is clear. Why are you still lying?" Four-year-old Stone nodded along, his tone innocent yet cruel. "Mommy, if you're so scared of Uncle dying, you shouldn't have attacked Aunt Sage. She's our precious one." My heart contracted violently. Sage was their precious one. Then what was I? What did I mean to them? I looked toward Kael, hoping he might spare my brother for the sake of our years as mates. But he only stared at me coldly, his gaze like he was looking at a complete stranger. I suddenly laughed, though tears streamed down my face. They thought it was just a dummy tied up there and they were just trying to scare me. They didn't realize that Sage had someone switch out that dummy. What's frying in the silver now is my dear little brother. In the boiling silver, my brother's body was already burned beyond recognition. But when I completely gave up and left, why did three men kneel down and beg me to come back?

Althea Johnson, a quiet but fiercely determined young woman, marries the man every woman fears yet secretly desires—Dominic Valtieri, an intimidating billionaire known for his ice-cold ruthlessness and dangerous connections. Entering the marriage with sincerity and naïve courage, she hopes that fate might finally plant the seeds of love between them. Instead, her first night as wife becomes a humiliation—Dominic uses her, not loves her. When she discovers she’s pregnant, she clings to the fragile hope that motherhood might soften him. But the truth is crueler than any nightmare: Dom never wanted her—he ONLY needed her womb. For a legacy. For a bloodline. For an heir. A pawn. A vessel. A means to an end. Shattered, she vows that her child will never grow up as a bargaining chip in a billionaire’s—or mafia family’s—dynasty.

Lily at age fifteen wanted to be so many things, but a werewolf was never part of it. Actually, she never thought of it either, because this story isn't about Lily at fifteen, nor is it about any damn werewolves. This story is about 23-year-old Lily Hills, waking up to the dead body of her one-night stand in a motel. The same man, Damien Kalashnikov, was to tie the knot the next morning, and Lily was slated to handle the magazine publishing the glamorous wedding events. Lily who just wanted an adventurous night for once in her life, was now accused of murdering a ruthless Russian Mafia boss. Just as all hope seems lost, Dimitri, Damien's identical twin brother and infamous "Beekeeper," saves her, he proposes a shocking solution: a contract marriage, with conditions for both parties to meet. The wedding, initially intended for Damien and his bride, will proceed as planned – with Lily as the new bride. As Lily and Dimitri navigate their complicated relationship, he commissions her to write his biography. With each passing day, secrets unfold, and shocking truths surface. Their bond deepens, but danger lurks. With a surprise pregnancy raising stakes, it seemed Damien left a souvenir. A Russian Roulette began. Albeit, a typical Russian will say to you: Когда река молчит, шепчет ли она секреты рыбам? (When the river's voice is silent, does it whisper secrets to the fish?) Even in silence, hidden truths may be shared, and secrets can be revealed in unexpected ways. Will Lily, wife to the Omertà Mafia Don ‘The Beekeeper’ eventually find out what happened that night?

A high-profile rape case rocks Corvessa City. During the autopsy, I examine the deceased's private area as part of the standard procedure. My wife, a police captain, blows up in front of the onlookers. "Don't we have a female medical examiner in our unit? Do you realize you're re-victimizing the deceased? And your wife is standing right here. Are you really that desperate?" The crowd turns on me in a heartbeat. Bowing to public pressure, the department suspends me and tells me to keep reporting in at my own expense. I hand in my resignation on the spot. Without me, nobody in Corvessa City is going to crack this case.

My husband has a PhD in medicine. He's fair, just, and kind… until the day his true love kills someone in an accident. He uses all the medical knowledge he has to help her get off scot-free. He turns the corpse into preserved specimens and displays them in his lab. When he's dealing with the corpse, he sees that there's an embryo in the womb. He's always been calm and composed, but he can't stop his heart from racing at the sight. What he doesn't know is that the corpse is mine, and the embryo is his child…

Three months after my husband, Josiah Erikson, disappears in a skiing accident, I spot him in a bar. He's laughing freely with an arm slung casually around his "best friend", Monica Jones' shoulders. "Good thing you came up with the idea. I'd almost forgotten what freedom feels like." One after another, his buddies clink glasses with him and ask about when he plans to reappear. He looks down and thinks about it before saying, "In a week. I'll show up once she's gone completely crazy searching for me." Standing in the shadows, I watch him savor his freedom, then call my friend who works at the state vital records office.