First Night With The Duke Novels & Stories

On the night before Christmas, Aria Smith believes she is living the life she built with love, sacrifice, and quiet resilience. Married for eight years, a devoted mother to her eight-year-old daughter, and the primary provider in her household, Aria has learned to carry responsibility with grace. Her marriage may not be glamorous, but it is steady—or so she thinks. One dinner. One toast. One familiar promise. That is all it takes for her world to feel complete. Until a single message dismantles everything. What begins as an anonymous warning becomes undeniable proof that her husband has been living a double life, one funded by her success, hidden behind her trust, and thriving in the shadows of her marriage. As the truth unfolds through videos, transactions, and names she has never heard before, Aria is forced to confront a devastating reality: the man she loved is a stranger, and the life she believed in was built on a lie. With Christmas morning approaching and her daughter watching closely, Aria must decide what comes next: silence or confrontation, survival or transformation. But as the night deepens, it becomes clear that this betrayal is only the beginning, and the choices she makes now will change everything. The Night Before Christmas is a gripping emotional drama about marriage, deception, and the moment a woman realises her strength was never in question, only delayed.

When my sister, Amelia, and I are waiting to be adopted at the orphanage, a man and a woman come to visit. Ambitious as ever, Amelia instantly sets her sights on the elegantly dressed woman named Charlotte Evans, while I end up being chosen by the man in plain, unremarkable clothes. But to my surprise, the man turns out to be a discreet billionaire. After adopting me, he publicly announces my identity for everyone to see. Meanwhile, Amelia is taken in by Charlotte, who's so harsh it borders on cruel. She constantly scolds and punishes her. Moreover, Amelia is bullied at school and even gets doused in dirty water by her classmates. While she stands there trembling and humiliated, I walk away with friends crowding around me. Consumed by jealousy and resentment, Amelia waits for the perfect moment and pushes me off a tall building when I least expect it. The next time I open my eyes, I find myself back on the day we are supposed to be adopted. I watch as Amelia chooses the man without the slightest hesitation. It's obvious she's come back to this day, just like I have. On the day we part ways, Amelia gives me a knowing smile. "From now on, I'm going to live the high life. If you ever go hungry, maybe I'll spare you a bite or two." Outwardly, I look angry, but inside I am over the moon. In this life, Amelia can enjoy her luxurious life, even if it means living comfortably in a gilded cage.

I found out my husband, Logan Atkinson, had quietly added his secretary's number to our family plan. [Dear customer, the number ending in 8848 has been successfully added to your family plan. Effective immediately, all calls between plan members are free.] I held up my phone and looked straight at Logan. "You're treating her like family. What does that make me?" He sounded annoyed. "Regina said staying on the phone with me every night was getting expensive. If she's on the family plan, it doesn't cost anything. She's just used to saving money. Don't read into it." Regina said she had severe depression and couldn't fall asleep, so Logan stayed on the phone with her every night for at least seven hours. I stared at the call logs in the family plan. Even on our wedding anniversary, when I closed my eyes, wishing we would make it through another ten years and grow old side by side… He was still on the phone with Regina Dittman, coaxing her to sleep. When I didn't say anything, Logan looked a little surprised. "Wow. Quiet today? Finally learned how to be the bigger person?" I just didn't feel like arguing with them anymore. All those fights before had only proven one thing: he always chose Regina. After ten years in a broken marriage, it was time to set things straight.

Victoria Calloway is the most pampered and radiant woman in the elite society of Dravenia. She's a gorgeous woman by nature—with just a glance from her alluring eyes, she can easily make heads turn. Everyone claims that the line of suitors attempting to woo Victoria can extend all the way to the moon and back. Unfortunately for them, Victoria never gives them the time of day. That is, until her best friend, Pamela Larkson, decides to place a bet with her. "Vicky, if you can capture the heart of my youngest uncle, Caden Larkson, you can pick any of my cherished cars from my garage!" Caden Larkson is the current head of Larkson Capital. He's known for his glacial personality and his disinterest in women. While he carries himself with a noble air, he's also extremely arrogant. To countless socialites, Caden is the unapproachable man whom they can only admire from afar. Rumors have it that no female lifeforms are capable of approaching him. But Victoria merely chuckles in return. She has never failed in obtaining whatever she wants in her entire life, after all. Alas, things don't progress in the direction she expects them to.

"Mr. Kane, do you have any cucumbers at home? Can I have one?" The hurricane strikes, and my daughter's best friend, Lexie Cooper, is stuck in my home. She comes to ask me for a cucumber late at night with a flushed face. "I'm just a little hungry. I'd like to snack on some cucumber," she says. As I look at the pointy tips peeking from underneath her pajamas, a primal urge surges uncontrollably within me. I say deliberately and slowly, "I have something even better than a cucumber."

She thought it is just one-night stand, why the hell did the doctor tell her that she is pregnant now?!

Maya is twenty four, independent and very good at keeping people at a comfortable distance. After a night she never planned with a stranger she never expected, she does what she always does — she leaves before morning and tells herself it is finished. It is not finished. The stranger is Caleb Reed, her brother Derek's best friend, and he has just moved back to Chicago. He knew who Maya was from the moment he saw her at the party. He said nothing. Now they are forced into the same orbit — family dinners, group hangouts, shared spaces — pretending a night that changed everything never happened at all. The tension between them builds slowly and then all at once. A secret relationship begins. Feelings neither of them planned for take root. But the closer Maya gets to Caleb the more unsettled her world becomes, because Derek is not handling any of it the way a brother should. His anger runs too deep. His protectiveness feels like something else entirely. When Derek finally explodes and the truth comes out, it reshapes everything. Maya was adopted. Derek has known for years. And the feelings he buried under a lifetime of playing the protective older brother were never entirely brotherly at all. Maya is left to grieve an identity she thought she knew, forgive people she loves for lying, and face a love that was built on a secret. In the end she has to decide who she is without the version of her life she always believed in — and whether Caleb, the man who knew her before she knew the truth, is the one she wants to walk into whatever comes next. She chooses him. Not because it is easy. Because one night was never going to be enough.

On my wedding day, my fiance's first love appeared at the wedding ceremony wearing the exact same haute couture gown as mine. I watched them stand together at the entrance, greeting the guests as if they were the bride and groom. Maintaining a calm expression, I complimented them, saying they looked like the perfect couple—beauty and brains, a match made in heaven. She burst into tears and fled the scene. He, however, didn't hesitate to humiliate me in front of everyone, accusing me of being petty and narrow-minded. When the wedding banquet was over, he left for what was supposed to be our honeymoon—with her by his side. I didn't argue or cause a scene. Instead, I quietly booked an appointment for an abortion.

”Please, don't hurt me…” I whimper, ”You are my mate, I could never hurt you…” He whispers, He's the new Lycan-Vampire Hybrid King She's an orphan with a mysterious past Their fates intertwined Their future together uncertain A rival pushing for power Visions of a new war Who will survive??

On the night my dad kicked me out, I drank too much and slept with my “brother” It was a one night mistake. Yet, he proposed and claimed me as his mate, his luna. When I woke up, my mom's body was cold. The color was drained from her half-opened eyes, and I could see no signs of life. My father told me that she purposely drank poison to kill herself. But that was a lie. My mother would never kill herself; she would never leave me. That night imprisoned me. - “It wasn’t a mistake,” “What are you talking about, Jonathan?” I asked him. “Arina, you are my mate. You were born to be my luna,” he said. His face showed no signs of humor. “I wasn’t born to be anybody’s luna,” I shot back. “Arina, I love you…” he spoke softly, still staring into my eyes. I could feel the wolf in me stirring; something that I had never felt before. She was awakening; the fire that burned so deep inside of me was beginning to flare. “Love?” I heard myself saying. “There’s no such thing as love…” After everything I knew about “love”, what my mother went through when she married my father, love didn’t exist. “Give me a chance to prove you wrong. Marry me.”