Garden Of Poison

Brielle Hartley swore she’d never return to Willow Creek, the small town packed with too many memories and one infuriating man she hoped to forget. But when her mother needs help, Brielle is forced back home—only to discover that the first person she runs into is the last man she ever wanted to see: Jaxon Reed, the boy who spent their senior year getting under her skin…and apparently still has the talent. Now older, broader, and annoyingly irresistible,Jaxon has become a respected volunteer in the community. But he hasn’t changed his habit of poking at Brielle’s nerves. Their reunion strikes immediate sparks some angry, some dangerously magnetic. What begins as avoidance turns into constant collisions: at the farmers market, around town, and eventually at the community garden project they’re roped into running together. With every stubborn argument and every unexpected moment of softness, the walls between them weaken. Tension turns into chemistry, chemistry into longing, and longing into something neither of them wants to admit. As Brielle fights the pull she feels toward the man she once despised, Jaxon battles with the guilt of the past and the fear that he’s already blown his second chance. What they don’t realize is that the very history that pushed them apart may be the key to bringing them together. Enemies? Absolutely. Attraction? Undeniable. Love? Inevitable…if they’re brave enough to take it.

My breathing rate slowly increased on seeing his outstretched hand, and out of my gritted teeth, I asked, "Did you poison this food?" There was no slight change in his face as he answered me coldly, "I would rather choke you to the bed with my bare hands, Senorita. That way, you'll curse out my name" My eyes dimmed for a moment. Was this devil in an armani suit still talking about murder? "Now, open your mouth!" He commanded and my stomach rumbled in protest. My lips vibrated and I tried to hold the hot tears forming inside of my eyes. I couldn't stay longer with this hunger. As long as I'm not submitting to be his slave then I could come to a compromise. .. .. Her name is Sofia Di Marco; surviving heir of a powerful mob family. After a decade of hiding from the Italian government She finally steps out to start a new life but she bumps that new life into a mystery billionaire man who turns out to be the King of the New York Underground. That was his identity, but to her, he was Mr. Pompous; the raging green-eyed Devil in an Armani suit.....

After I, Rosalie Ricci, was stood up 17 times, the mafia don, Daniel Marino, finally holds the perfect engagement banquet for me. In our second year together, we are ready to get married. But every single time, he has an excuse to hold our engagement off. He says he's busy with work, the timing isn't right yet, or that he isn't quite ready. I never blame him because I love him. I have loved him since our school days. In fact, I have loved him for seven whole years. This is the 18th time. I stand in the banquet hall wearing the gown he personally chose for me and watch as he slips the ring onto my finger. He kisses me with a passionate intensity he has never shown me before. At that moment, I believe that I have finally secured my perfect happiness after waiting seven long years. My happiness only lasts until the guests leave. As I step into the back garden, I see Daniel holding my twin sister, Leah Ricci, in his arms. He says in a hushed voice, "I announced my engagement to Rosalie 18 times. This time, you're finally back." That's when I realize that the engagement banquet that I have longed for is nothing more than a ploy by Daniel to draw Leah back to him. But when I decided to let them be together, Daniel panics.

Hilda Oakley, the charity case Mom and Dad take in, steals my family right out from under me. She slips drugs into me, driving me into a bipolar disorder. She turns me into someone who snaps and screams at Mom and Dad without meaning to. She paints me as someone rotten inside, as the bully at school, and as someone who'd shove her down the stairs at home. And because of that, my whole family turns on me. Mom calls me a bad seed. Dad says I'm no daughter of his. Then, they adopt Hilda and throw me out in the dead of winter. My bipolar flares. Naked, I sprint onto the rooftop and jump to my death. When I'm reborn, I realize I can make the thoughts in other people's heads audible. So, at the dinner table, I let Hilda's thoughts spill right before Mom and Dad. 'I kept that witch Valerie drugged for three years. She finally broke! They still don't suspect that Alex isn't really her brother. He's Susan's son. Once we poison Valerie's parents, the Coopers' fortune will belong to us.'

I was dying of kidney failure. Henry Colombo—the ruthless Mafia heir who once swore he’d burn the world to keep me alive— found me a donor. But the price… was her. Susan Miller, the woman who’d always lingered between us, smiled as she set her terms: “Be mine for one month. Pretend you love me—and I’ll save her life.” He agreed. He said it was just to save me. But every lie, every kiss, every photo she posted online was another nail in my coffin. Each time the surgery drew near, she invented a new delay—a fever, a nightmare, a tender bruise. And Henry believed her. He always believed her. The night my heart flatlined on the operating table, he was across the city, feeding her grapes under candlelight, whispering her name—the name of the woman who had let me die. When he finally learned the truth—that every tear she shed was rehearsed, every promise she made was poison— he destroyed everything. Her lies. Her wealth. Her family name. His own empire. But none of it brought me back.

“I’m not a fool, Jagger.” Jordan’s voice is ice, his walls towering. “Everyone I’ve ever let close has betrayed me.” Jagger steps closer, his gaze locking onto Jordan’s with an intensity that makes his breath hitch. Then, in a voice low and steady, he says, "Then it’s about damn time someone proves you wrong." ******** Betrayed by his wife. Poisoned by his own brother. Killed by the two precious people in his life. But when Jordan opens his eyes, he’s not dead—he’s been reborn three years in the past, back when the poison had only just begun to eat away at him. This time, he won’t be their fool. This time, he’ll make them pay. As he begins his revenge to avoid the future, his only ally is his divorce lawyer, Jagger Walker—a man too dangerous to trust, yet too irresistible to ignore. But when Jagger starts breaking down the walls around his heart, Jordan faces a new dilemma. He came back to take revenge and claim his son. But will he dare to love again? And can he change the unfortunate future ahead of him?

In my previous life, my parents doted on my frail, sickly younger sister. For her sake, they chose a hawk beastman willing to settle in a human city as her husband. Me? They cast me into the deep sea, marrying me off to a giant shark beastman. When the apocalypse came and torrential rains drowned every human city, my parents and sister were left clinging to a rotting plank, adrift on the endless ocean. I couldn't bear to watch them die. With my giant shark husband, I dragged them down into the deep sea to safety. But resentment festered. Seeing me live comfortably while my shark beastman hunted day after day, my parents grew furious that my sister's life paled in comparison to mine. In their jealousy, they laced the fish we ate with poison and killed me. Now, given another chance at life, they've decided my sister should marry the giant shark beastman instead. My biased parents believe she will finally enjoy the blessings they once denied her. But what they don't know is this: after the cataclysm, fish become scarce. And a giant shark… does not survive on scraps. He needs flesh.

When enemies came seeking revenge, my brother was off with his first love, chasing a golden sunrise over the mountains. I didn't beg him to save us. Instead, I dragged my sister-in-law to safety, dodging killers. In my last life, my brother rushed home, but his first love got caught in an avalanche. Before she passed, she texted him, accusing me and my sister-in-law of humiliating her with money and threatening her to leave him. The fateful trip was her final wish. Her death crushed me with guilt, but my brother dismissed it, holding a perfunctory funeral for her before moving on. I thought he had recommitted to his family, but while my sister-in-law recovered from childbirth, he slipped poison into our meal. "How do I have such a vile sister like you?" he spat. "And you... I only married you for family interests. You two killed the love of my life!" He set the house on fire, burning us alive. Even his newborn son wasn't spared. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on that fateful day.

Chen Yi, a young emperor who's under the control of a powerful minister meets Amayah, a princess from a fallen kingdom. She was saved by Minister Ding when she was young and adopts her as his daughter. Ten years later, Minister Ding assigned Amayah to be the emperor's bodyguard. Being grateful to her adopted father and not knowing his real intention, she agrees to be the emperor's bodyguard and protected him with her life. Amayah never thought that she will fall in love with the young emperor so she was torn between her love for Chen Yi and her loyalty to her adopted father especially when her adopted father force her to poison the emperor. But later on, she discovers that Minister Ding was the one behind the incident ten years ago that caused her whole family's death. Together with Chen Yi, they plan to take down the ruthless eunuch. Is Amayah the person that the emperor is waiting for? The person that will help him to be free from being controlled by the evil minister just like what the priestess predicted? How can a fallen princess and now the emperor's bodyguarf can fullfil the priesties prophecy?

On the surface, Aurora Steele lived every woman’s dream, married to the powerful Xavier Steele, mother to a beautiful daughter, her life seemed perfect. But behind closed doors, warmth turned to cold distance, and shadows crept into her home. Her twin sister, Lilith, returned with a son who carried Xavier’s eyes, weaving herself into their lives until Aurora’s world shattered. Poison claimed her daughter. Betrayal silenced her pleas. And just when Aurora thought she had found the cure, death struck her down. But fate was not done with her. Reborn one year earlier before everything went to hell, Aurora steels her heart. No longer the loving wife waiting for scraps of affection, she vows to protect her daughter and expose the lies that once destroyed her. Bound by a contract marriage for one final year, she hides her pain behind a calm smile, even as Xavier grows unsettled by the woman he thought he knew. This time, the betrayed wife will not beg. This time, the forsaken mother will not forgive. And this time, the sister who stole everything… will pay it all back in blood.