Eating From Our Roots Novels & Stories

On Aliana Harriman's 20th birthday, she was diagnosed with a terminal illness. A few months later, she died. Unexpectly, Aliana got to wake up in her 7-year-old self. Because of what she had gone through in her previous life as the eldest daughter in the Harriman family, she was determined to get strong and stay away from her three annoying brothers in this life. On the day she told her family that she was leaving, however, her three brothers stopped her and pleaded her not to go. Facing this, Aliana only said, "Thanks. I'll pass." After Aliana left her family, a man who always stood by Aliana hurriedly came to her. "Do you want to go with me?" he asked.

When you are growing up adults usually tell you that you can be whatever you want to be, right?! I was told I would be a starving artist if I became what I wanted to be. I let their words become me. All their words. I let them dictate the person I became. I kept the real me to myself after so many years of their hatred for that person. I let little bits of my soul break away and die to keep their torment to a minimum. I learned to not rock the boat, just keep my head down and do as I was told. I was the party crasher on their life that never left. Until I shocked them when I did. Out on my own, I wasn’t as strong as I thought I was. I settled for the first “nice guy” to come along. That quickly fizzled out after a shotgun wedding. After a year alone I met Prince Charming #2 at a backyard BBQ. I didn’t know my jerk radar was still broken. Then out of nowhere, the one I had always thought was a jerk turned out to surprisingly be my Prince Charming. Being the man, I need in my life. He became everything I needed, and everything I didn’t know I wanted. Allowing me to grow and blossom as a person which inspires him to do the same. And we live happily ever after.

After dating Gabriel Lowe for three years, we finally saved up enough money to buy a villa for ourselves. I personally designed this villa. But what I didn't expect was that the gas line in my villa would explode on the day Gabriel and I were meant to receive the keys. Not only did the entire villa get reduced into ruins, but the explosion also killed the neighboring family of three. On top of that, the fire even destroyed their antique painting that was worth 500 million dollars. Since I took responsibility for the explosion, I faced massive compensation claims. My mother-in-law and Gabriel had tears streaking down their faces as they promised to help me tide over this crisis, even if it meant selling everything under their name. I was touched by their words, so I used all of my assets in compensating the victims. After that, I spent the next 20 years in prison, only to die of severe illness there. But when I was on the verge of dying, I saw Gabriel with his arm around his first love, Jasmine Wade. Apparently, they were here to visit me. They grinned maliciously at me outside the bars. "The truth is, the family didn't die at all. The painting was a cheap imitation, too. I bribed them so that they could fake their deaths and leave the country. That's how I successfully got my hands on all of your assets. "If I didn't do that, how would I be able to marry Jasmine and move her into the villa?" It turned out that my decades of atonement was nothing but a huge scam targeted at my wealth and life staged by others. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day I'm meant to receive my keys. This time, I've personally checked all the pipes, installed seven safety valves, and taken away all the blueprints. Let's see how the explosion will occur now that there aren't any leak points! But at 3:00 pm, the explosion in the villa still occurs…

Since I was a kid, my parents drilled it in—you're gonna be a Corleone girl, Giovanni Corleone's property. "This is just an alliance. Don't expect anything more." That's what he said on our wedding night. So I played the part—quiet, polished, dutiful. Then year three hit, and suddenly Giovanni couldn't keep his hands off me. Every night, something new. I thought maybe—finally—he felt the same way I had all along. Then I caught him kissing his stepmom. Funny. Just the night before, he told me kissing me made him sick. "I've been practicing with her—for your sake." So yeah. All that heat? Just rehearsal for her. So I ran. Took back my life—and our unborn daughter. The Don lost his mind looking for me. Begged me to come back—with the kid. But I would not stop for him anymore. I turned and walked straight toward the stage that was always mine.

The doctor told me I would never have a baby, so we took a fifteen-year-old girl we found on the street out of pity--to adopt her. But as she got older, her wants grew, and by the time she was twenty she wanted my husband. With all the emotional turmoil, should I share my husband with my own adopted daughter?

No one knew that I, the one they called the Angel-Faced Executioner, had been tangled up with the heir of the Grahams more times than I could count. In the latest model sports car, Doug Graham pressed a marriage certificate into my hand, his teeth grazing my lower lip as he murmured, "The Grahams have enemies on both sides of the law. I found a shield, a way to protect you." I was ecstatic and completely swept up in it, giving him whatever he wanted. I never imagined it was the beginning of a nightmare. Doug publicly announced his engagement to the Sowles heiress, making a show of it, and he clarified that I was nothing more than a low-level enforcer in front of everyone. But that night, he left marks all over my body, whispering against my skin, "The less I care about you, the less anyone will suspect you're my real wife." From then on, he and Lindsey Sowle humiliated me at every turn. Only when we were alone would he finally show the truth, his voice strained with pain. "I know this isn't fair to you. Once I'm done using her, I'll kick her out for good." When Lindsey caused me to lose the baby, he dropped to his knees in front of me, slapping himself over and over. "That idiot keeps ending up kidnapped and abused. Serves her right!" Until one day, I was taken in a setup by Doug's rival, Chad Conner. He grabbed me by the throat and forced me to look inside the room. Lindsey was blindfolded and gagged, crying and gasping as Doug lashed her with a pink whip. "They've run this whole kidnapping stunt seven times already. You'd think they'd be tired of it by now." Tears poured down my face. So I was the fool all along, the one who got played by Doug's so-called love.

"Hubby, kiss me. I miss you so much. When are you coming home?" Out of nowhere, I received a text. The sender was the cold, untouchable CEO who was currently scolding us in a meeting, Veronica Starling. What shocked me even more was the timestamp on the message. It was sent five years in the future.

In a cycle of broken plans, Elena asks Marcus, "Why another delay for her?" He insists, "Sophia's just a friend in trouble—you're my priority." Whispers of the past test their bond, while a quiet ally says, "I've cared for you longer than you know." As accusations fly—"You're imagining things!"—Elena questions her path. A final decision sparks chaos, rewriting fates.

Liam and I have been together for five years. We were supposed to become mates in a month. I have been planning our honeymoon because in these five years, we have never left this city. So I prepared a $100,000 trip in advance as a mating gift for Liam. When I mentioned it to him, before I even finished my words, he interrupted me impatiently, “Who asked you to plan it? For our honeymoon, I will only give you a budget of $50. We’ll just go somewhere nearby for a night.” That night, I found out he had transferred his $1 million hunting competition bonus to his childhood friend Stella, letting her use it to buy an apartment of her own. He got really mad at me, when he saw the receipt for the $100,000 I had prepaid for the honeymoon. “Who gave you the right to spend our future money on a trip?” Liam’s parents also yelled at me, “You are just a useless Omega! You can’t even shift into a werewolf form, unlike Stella, you are not good enough for our son.” But every single cent was earned by myself from my herb business. I broke up with him without any hesitation. Liam stole that trip from me and went on it with Stella instead. Seven years later, we ran into each other at the Alpha’s castle. Liam was about to become a Warrior of the pack. Meanwhile, I was on my knees, searching for something on the floor. “Mia, you broke up with me over a $50 honeymoon fund back then. Now, you are working as a maid? You’re in this mess because of your own choices.” In fact, I was looking for my pup’s favorite toy. It had rolled under one of the tables earlier. “Is that so? Don’t you even know who the Luna of this castle is?”

I was forced into an arranged marriage with Brandon Fuller, and he escaped 99 times. The first time, I was left alone at the beach as I waited for the whole night. The second time, he switched places with a homeless man and left me alone on the stage in humiliation. Brandon finally gave in on the 99th time. However, when I went to him with my wedding dress in my arms, I overheard his conversation with his friends. “Brandon, are you really going to marry your true love seven days later? What about your arranged marriage, are you going to escape that?” Brandon snorted. “I must marry Poppy! As for arranged marriage, I’ll just simply host a fake wedding for her! “She’s the one who caused my older sister’s death! Even though I was in love with her for seven years, she deserves to be stood up!” I froze. It turned out his promise was fake. I turned around without any hesitation. Then, I called home. “Mom, I’m still having that wedding, but please find a new husband for me.”