Ever After

My sister, Laura Ward, died the year we were ten, the year we snuck out of school to play. From that day forward, my mother’s grief turned into a burning hatred for me, convinced that I was the reason my sister was gone. She treated me like a servant, like an unwanted burden, and filled the void by adopting a perfect, obedient daughter to replace my sister. She took everything from me without a second thought — my rights, my freedom, my very existence — and even demanded that I give up a kidney for her precious adopted girl. Alright, Mother, if you want a life, I’ll give you mine! But it was only when my body lay cold, my breath long gone, that she finally turned and looked at me.

Maya Rivers came to Eldridge Falls to disappear — to bury herself in routine, classes, and the quiet anonymity of the library stacks. But secrets don’t stay buried here. Not in the same town where her best friend Lena has already learned how quickly desire can ignite in the shadows. For Maya, it begins as a late-night confession whispered into the glow of her phone. A fantasy shared with a stranger. Harmless, she thought—until the fantasy steps out of the screen and into the library aisles. Now every night draws her deeper into a game of secrets and proximity, where rules are written in whispers and broken with a touch. The man in the shadows knows too much, appears too often, and echoes words she thought no one else could read. As Maya wrestles with temptation, danger, and the thrill of being noticed, her story begins to intertwine with Lena’s. In Eldridge Falls, boundaries blur, shadows stretch long, and desire has a way of pulling you past the lines you swore you’d never cross. Some secrets keep you safe. Others demand to be lived.

I suffer from extreme mental illness. My sister, Ava Monroe, became a facial model to earn money for my expensive medical treatment. She was 5’3” tall but was noticed because of her beauty by a wealthy young man by the name of Dominic Pierce with a leg obsession. He imprisoned her. “This is the most beautiful face I’ve ever seen. If only your legs were a bit longer, I’d die with a smile.” Ava was forced to have leg-lengthening surgery. After the operation, her legs began to rot. Dominic found her disgusting and locked her in the basement. He tortured her until she died. I got kicked out of the mental health institute because I could not pay the medical fees. I found Dominic surrounded by beautiful women with long legs. “Those are the prettiest legs I’ve ever seen. If only your face were a little cuter, I’d die with a smile!” I pointed to the painting of Ava and scoffed, “What if I become her?”

For ten years, Autumn Lewis and Julian Carter were childhood sweethearts. After three years of marriage, all she got in return were injuries, neglect from her brothers, and betrayal from her husband. When Autumn found out she had stage-two stomach cancer, something in her finally let go. She picked herself up and rose from an unnoticed employee to a powerhouse in the tech world. As soon as the divorce cooling-off period ended, she tricked Julian into signing the papers and made a clean break. The next time they met, the ever-calculating Julian’s eyes turned red as he tore up the divorce certificate. “Autumn, I was wrong. We’re not getting divorced. If I could give you my stomach, I would—just please don’t leave me.” Her once-proud brothers now pleaded, “Autumn, forgive us. Your sister-in-law is filing for divorce. Could you spare us some money?” Just then, a man stepped out from behind her, lifted his shirt slightly, and sneered. “Autumn, why waste your time on these jerks? Look at me instead.” Indeed, affection that came too late was worth less than dirt. She didn’t care for it anymore.

Octava is a human married to the Alpha of her pack, she had been married to Alpha Jakeson and had been unable to give him a child for the past five years that they had been married, rejected and left to fend for herself, Octava is rescued by an unknown woman who happened to be her mother, the Lycan Luna.

For twenty years, Kyle and I were each other’s salvation. On the day he confessed his feelings, he promised to give me a warm and loving home. However, everything changed when the Gill family found him and brought him back, naming him the Crown Prince of High Society. Overnight, I went from being his proud fiancée to nothing more than his hidden canary in a gilded cage. With another woman in his arms, his voice was cold and distant, “The eldest young master of the Gill family can’t marry an orphan.” At that moment, my heart shattered completely. I left the capital that very night. Later, I heard I had become the Gill family’s unspoken taboo. That once-proud Young Master Gill ended up confined to a mental institution, clinging to a doll and whispering my name day after day.

After my husband, Brice Decker, gives me a cold shoulder, I end up dying after getting stabbed three times in a row by a robber who tries to rob me. My twin sister, Indigo Humphrey, specifically dresses up as me and gets close to Brice in order to clear her gambling debt. She begins kissing up to Brice like a total simp. No longer does she get jealous over Brice's first love, Amber Warner. Even when Brice and Amber are caught sleeping with each other on our bed, Indigo will deliver them a pack of contraceptives in time. Brice can't take it anymore. He asks Indigo where my jealous side has gone. That's when I laugh. Can't he tell that I'm already dead?

Three days after my boyfriend’s adopted sister died a tragic death, I clutched a so-called "hush money" check in my hand and became an accomplice in everyone’s eyes. My boyfriend once knelt in the pouring rain to beg me, and his sister’s five-year-old daughter cried and begged me to testify, but I refused them both. Ten years later, when I was dying of cancer, my boyfriend had become a billionaire. The first thing he did upon returning to the country was to forcibly extract my memories, even though I would suffer endless pain. "Elara, you vain, heartless monster! Lily and I must have been blind to ever treat you like family!" "Lily has been dead for ten years, and you’ve been walking free with that dirty money the whole time!" "Today, I’m going to find out exactly who paid you off—the person you protected just for money!" My boyfriend held a press conference to publicly crucify me for my crimes. But after seeing the whole truth, he went completely insane.

Genius medical student Chris Green saved Jessica Wilder during a car pileup. Out of gratitude, the Wilder family paid for the medical expenses of Chris’s mother, who had also been injured in the crash. In that moment, two lives that should have remained like parallel lines became unexpectedly intertwined. To repay the Wilders for their kindness—and surrendered to Jessica’s tears—Chris agreed to marry her. Though they shared the same bed for five years, their hearts were never truly close. And their marriage came to an end when Jessica’s first love returned to the country—with his child. After the divorce, Chris believed Jessica was relieved to be free of him. But to his surprise, she began chasing after him—from home to abroad. Jessica didn’t want him to leave. Chris had depleted all his love. But for Jessica, her feelings for him were only just beginning to grow. Life without Chris felt impossible, and she began to pursue him with all her heart. However, after everything had shattered, could they get back together?

Xander Martin is a man with a reputation to uphold. He's handsome, rich, young, smart and... Cassanova. It's no secret that he likes to spend time with rich women. In fact, the whole town knew he didn't want to sleep with the same girl twice. But everything changed when he accidentally had sex with a girl. Frustrated that the girl is not the hired girl he thought he was, Xander accuses her of being a spy sent by his business rival to destroy him. So, is the accusation true? Did Xander succeed in finding the girl? The most important final question, who exactly is that woman?