Fred Durst Illness

Nelly and Naomi is a tragic, emotionally charged novel about love, betrayal, and the inescapable weight of the past. Nelly and Naomi are two beautiful, life-loving young women bound by both friendship and family, with Naomi only three years older. Their bond is tested when each is separately violated by the same man, who disguises his crime as love. When Nelly confesses her trauma to Naomi, she discovers that Naomi has endured the same fate. Pregnant and forced to flee her city, Naomi moves to another town and invites Nelly to start anew with her. For a while, they rebuild their lives—until fate turns cruel again. Naomi marries a man she loves but hides her pregnancy from him. Unbeknownst to her, the same man falls in love with Nelly and secretly marries her as well. Living under one roof, the truth remains hidden, allowing betrayal to deepen and wounds to fester. When the truth finally surfaces, Naomi leaves with her young son and begins a new life in another town, eventually marrying a different man. Nelly, meanwhile, betrays her husband emotionally, leaving him torn between love and resentment. Years later, he encounters Naomi again—along with the child Nelly bore—but Naomi refuses even to acknowledge him. Facing death after being diagnosed with a rare illness, Nelly seeks Naomi one last time, begging for forgiveness. Naomi, scarred by the past, refuses. Broken, Nelly returns home only to find another woman in her husband’s bed, mirroring her own betrayal. Life ultimately forces the two women and their husbands back together at a single event, where unresolved love, guilt, friendship, and disappointment collide once more—proving that some stories never truly end, they only change shape.

She died fat, broken, and unloved, but she came back ready to burn it all down. Catherine Vale has one memory seared into her soul from her past life: the feeling of her mother-in-law's hands draining the life from her body while her new husband pretended not to hear her screams. Reborn on her wedding day, Catherine knows that marrying Anderson Vale means death. So she does the unthinkable, she runs from the altar in her wedding dress and boards the honeymoon jet alone. Her destination is Las Vegas and her plan is to get drunk and forget everything. What she gets instead is waking up married to Davis McFanger, the most powerful hybrid alive and her runaway groom's father. Davis doesn't believe in coincidences, and he's convinced Catherine is another trap sent by his manipulative ex-wife to destroy him. But the mating bond doesn't lie, and neither does the heat that forces them together night after night, even when he can barely look at her come morning. Catherine is hiding secrets even she doesn't understand. The pills she's been taking for seven years to keep her stable might be poison designed to suppress her powers. Her so-called mental illness might be a lie fed to her by the same people who killed her and the power trying to claw its way out of her skin, burning her from the inside out might be exactly what they murdered her to steal. As her phoenix abilities violently awaken, Catherine faces an impossible choice: trust the cold, ruthless man who claims her desperately in the dark but refuses to acknowledge her in the light, or face her killers alone and risk dying a third time.

My mom is a retired supermodel. She's added a monitor to the weight scales at home so that she can monitor my and my sister, Abigail Teller's perfect body weight. If my data goes up by 0.1%, Mom will ban me from eating for the next three days. But the thing is, Abigail keeps eating fried chicken every day, yet her monitor's light is always green. Mom claims that Abigail's still going through puberty. I defend myself, saying that I've gained weight because of the bloating caused by my period. As Mom points at the red light emitted by my monitor, she exclaims, "The data is never wrong! If you've gained weight, that means you've been snacking far too much!" After getting punished many times, I begin believing that being fat is a sin. On the night of my 20th birthday, the long-term diet I've been placed on has triggered my kidney failure, which causes me to bloat up everywhere. I kneel on the floor and plead to Mom that I'm seriously ill. But that's when the monitor lets out a shrill alarm. When Mom sees the 5% increase in my body fat data, she puts me through a devillish punishment. I can feel the electric currents jolting through my body. "It's bad enough that you've secretly snacked on cake, but to even lie in my face about your illness? I'd like to see how long you can stay stubborn for!" Having said her piece, Mom locks the door and takes Abigail out to celebrate her birthday. I guess Mom is correct. Monitors never lie. I'm the one who's at the wrong for being a glutton. That's why I've transformed into a monster who doesn't deserve any love at all. I'm sorry, Mom. I'll only drink water in my next life.

CAMILLA As if being used by Rico for his club business wasn’t enough, he sold me to Nighthaven’s billionaire, the untouchable AUGUST CHILDE. August Childe is dangerous in ways money can’t hide. He is intense, possessive, and beautifully broken. He lives with bipolar disorder, a mind that swings between control and care. I should be afraid. Instead, I’m falling. And loving him might cost me the last piece of myself I still own. AUGUST She’s a goddess. That’s the only word that fits. I want her—desperately, irrationally—but how does someone like her survive someone like me? I want her, but I have a fiancée forced on me by my family, and my family would rather destroy this goddess than tarnish our legacy. I want her. And I don’t know how, or if I can stop. Sold into South Nighthaven’s underworld, Camilla survives years of exploitation before being claimed by August Childe—the untouchable billionaire heir whose power hides a dangerous truth: a bipolar disorder he has never learned to control. What begins as captivity ignites into a forbidden, consuming love complicated by his fiancée, a woman forced on him by his family, his family’s ruthless legacy, and a mind constantly on the edge of unraveling. When August chooses reputation and almost marries his fiancée, Camilla walks away carrying his child—only to be dragged back into the darkness she barely escaped. It is only after losing Camilla that August dismantles the empire that owned her, confronts his illness, and abandons the life that taught him love was disposable. Love offers them a second chance—but only if August chooses healing over control, and Camilla decides whether trusting the man who once let her go is worth the risk of losing herself again.

"Marry me," Helena said with a pounding heart. Alexander's eyes darkened, making her legs feel like jelly. "And what do I get in return?" "80% of my shares, plus 2 years of my time." "I don't want your shares, Helena... I want you." ***** They say you only realise what you've lost when it's gone. Helena realised this as she lay dying, killed by her husband and sister. Switched at birth and reclaimed by a family that never wanted her, Helena lived as an outsider in her own home. But when her grandfather left her a fortune, suddenly everyone cared. Especially Michael, her sister's ex-boyfriend, who swept her off her feet with promises of love. But love was a lie. Pregnant and naive, Helena signed away everything before they killed her. In her final moments, she prayed for one impossible thing: a second chance. When Helena opens her eyes to the reading of her grandfather's will, she knows exactly what she has to do. No more being the fool. Now, she'll reclaim what's hers and pursue her dream of becoming a doctor. Then she collides with handsome and powerful Alexander Grant, who looks at her like she's a puzzle he's dying to solve. He harbours dark secrets—including a terminal illness and a solemn promise to her dead grandfather. When Helena proposed a contract marriage, his answer ignited a fire neither of them could control. He remembers their past life, and this time, he'll stop at nothing to protect her, claim her, and make her his, even as his own life is fading. But desire is a dangerous game when your grovelling ex-husband wants you back and enemies circle like vultures. Can Helena save the one man who truly loves her, or will trusting her heart destroy her all over again?

Joyce Stone, the beautiful and rich campus belle, often puts the tab on my account whenever she uses her card on any transactions. When she helps a low-income student with their financial problems, the money I save up from thrifting and working part-time jobs for the month is instantly depleted. When she treats the whole class to lunch, the prize money I won from my physics competition is drained right away. I try to argue with Joyce, only to hear the whole class calling me jealous of her beauty and kindness. Only my boyfriend, Lucas Zimmer, still trusts me. We work together to come up with all sorts of solutions to stop Joyce from using my money. But no matter what I do, my money keeps getting funneled from my account. Before the final exams, Joyce suddenly suggests that we all attend an auction and buy whatever we want there. The million-dollar funds that I've gathered from selling my house in order to treat my mom's illness vanishes from my account immediately. Mom ends up dying from her illness. Since I no longer have money in my account, my life force is the one getting depleted when Joyce keeps spending with her card. In the end, I've died as well. Before I close my eyes, I notice a video of Lucas and Joyce kissing on my phone. He looks at Joyce lovingly before saying, "Melanie gets jealous far too easily. If I don't pretend to trust her, I'm worried that she might go berserk and hurt you." When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day Joyce is about to use her card to pay for everyone's expenses. Before she can open her mouth, I dig out my bank card right away. "Let me treat all of you to whatever you want today."

Dad is famous for being a total simp over Mom in the elite society. Naturally, he views Callie Archer, the stepdaughter whom Mom has brought with her, as his own. But Callie is afflicted with a severe case of walking phobia. Her feet couldn't touch the ground at all. Only when she's stepping on my back can she roam around in the house freely. So, whenever Callie looks in a certain direction, Mom will press my head down and force me to crawl toward Callie to serve as her doormat. The doctor issues a warning to my family that my spine is severely contorted. So when Callie wants to admire the flowers in the yard while wearing a pair of spiked shoes again, I can't endure the pain anymore, so I shiver slightly out of instinct. Callie ends up losing her balance and falling to the ground. She bawls like a baby afterward. Mom rushes over immediately before kicking me in the gut, her high heel lodging into my flesh. "It's extremely rare for Callie to be willing to leave the house! Why must you ruin her mood? Can't you just be more understanding and play your role as a doormat for the sake of your sister's illness?" Meanwhile, Dad scoops Callie into his arms, his heart bleeding for her plight. He coaxes her gently, telling her that he'll buy her new dresses later. I can only curl up on the ground while hacking up blood. But Dad just thinks I'm playing the pity card. He commands his men to throw me into the basement. Apparently, I can only be released once I've learned to stay stationary when I'm supporting Callie. As I clutch my broken ribs, I feel my tears flowing down my face as well as the blood from my injuries. I'm sorry, Dad. Next time, I will definitely not move a muscle, just like a corpse.

Everyone knows that the mafia Don's only son, Antonio Gatti, gets to choose a completely new mistress of his own once every three months. Women who are in dire need of money and have no other option left in life will flock to Antonio's wife, Martina Russo, to apply for the position. If they get to spend a night with Antonio, they'll receive a million dollars. Those who are capable of giving birth to his heir will receive half of his family fortune. There are so many women who want to latch onto Antonio as their ticket to wealth. As for me, Martina, I become the hottest piece of gossip in the entire mafia underworld. "Just what sort of lethal leverage does the Gatti family have over Martina to the point that she can tolerate her husband's whims to this degree?" Everyone is very sure that I will submit to the Gatti family's influence and live a humiliating life for as long as I draw breath. That is, until Antonio brings a young woman named Camilla Ferrara home one day. Camilla is an ordinary woman, and yet she's capable of transforming Antonio, a cold-blooded and violent man, into a completely different person. He gets rid of all his other mistresses for her sake. He cleanses every inch of himself three whole times because she claims that he's filthy. Antonio has become obsessed with Camilla. He tells me, "Camilla is a pure and innocent angel; unlike you, whose hands are completely stained with filthy blood. Your heart is as dirty as the rest of you." He seems to have forgotten that I've done those filthy things just so I can get rid of all the obstacles in his way in order to protect the Gatti family's legacy. On the day Mamma passed away from her illness, Antonio prepared a huge fireworks show that's capable of lighting up the entire sky above New Wis City just to celebrate Camilla's birthday. After that, I find out that Antonio has the gall to dump my mamma's ashes into the fireworks assembly on Camilla's birthday. They end up combusting alongside the rest of the fireworks that night. I toss the divorce agreement in his face with all my might. At the same time, I unlatch the safety on the pistol that's hidden in my sleeve before pointing it at him and Camilla. "I'm giving you two choices right now. Option one—sign the divorce agreement and file for a divorce with me, which entitles me to half of the Gatti family's fortune. Option two—die together with your beloved mistress so that you can go to hell and apologize to Mamma there."

When my best friend and I realized we had been reborn and traveled back several decades, we locked eyes, collapsed into each other's arms, and sobbed, shouting that we wanted to break off our engagements. The entire neighborhood whispered that we had lost our minds. But only we knew the truth. In our past lives, this was the day everything was sealed: she married a battalion commander, Ned Stark, and I became the wife of a high school teacher, Robbie Stark. My husband betrayed me. For the sake of that pretentious whore, Scarlett Wheaton, he stole my university admission letter and let her take my place on campus. The world mocked me as a failure, and Robbie stood by in silence. After we married, every time he touched me, he would immediately write another love letter to Scarlett—atoning for his supposed guilt. "Scarlett, even if I can't be with you in this life, my soul will always belong to you alone." Even my own child despised me, calling me an ignorant village woman, urging me again and again to divorce so that his father could be with his "true love," Scarlett. And my best friend, Rachel Croft—born the daughter of a factory director—was tricked by her husband, Ned, under the pretense of buying a house. He drained her savings and her wages for twenty long years. It wasn't until she fell gravely ill and went to sell the house that she discovered the deed he had given her was a forgery. The real house—the one paid in full—was in Scarlett's name. One of Scarlett's dresses cost more than my friend's entire monthly salary. When Rachel begged to reclaim what rightfully belonged to her, she was met only with contempt from Ned and her child. "All you ever care about is money. You're nothing like Scarlett, who isn't materialistic at all. Your illness is retribution," Ned had said. "Exactly. Only someone as noble and kind as Scarlett deserves to be my mother!" her child had said. Rachel and I both spent our lives working ourselves to the bone, only to end with nothing—dying bitter and broken from the injustice. But this time, fate has given us another chance. I will go to university. Rachel will become a wealthy woman. This time, without us paving the way, those shameless men and that wretched woman think they can still live happily ever after? Dream on.