I Just Want To Be Friends Novels & Stories

For the past three months, I've slept only three hours every day just so my team and I can create an app. Thanks to our hard work, the app goes absolutely viral to the point we've garnered over 100 million registered users on the first week of its launch. At the afterparty, my wife, Stacie Woodward, announces that her godbrother, Tory Frost, who's the PR manager, will be the one receiving the million-dollar bonus. She then tosses me a few 50% discount coupons that can be used in shopping malls as my bonus. "You're just a code monkey—why do you need that much money anyway? You can have these discount coupons. Use them on anything you want. At least buy some nice clothes for yourself. Don't go around wearing these rags. You'll just end up humiliating me more." I plead to her in a low tone, "Have you gone crazy, Stacie? My dad needs the money for the best medication in order to save his life! Can you please stop joking around?" But Stacie clings to Toby's arm, looking high and mighty. "Your dad's dying, isn't he? He might as well stop wasting the public resources! I can always choose him a better grave and hold a nice funeral for him when his time comes!" As I look at Stacie's smug face, I just smile at her instead of getting mad at her. She must have forgotten that the app's core algorithm and the user growth model are built using my private, undisclosed technology stack. That means the copyright is mine and has nothing to do with the company. I just smile while nodding at Stacie. That night, I activate the technology stack's self-destruct and migration protocols.

On the day of my mating ceremony with the Alpha, everyone said the only reason I got to marry Adrian Hawthorne and become Luna was because my face looked so much like my sister's. At the ceremony, the ring engraved with her name and the slip when Adrian instinctively spoke her name during his vows. Every detail was a reminder that I was nothing more than a stand-in. But I had loved Adrian in secret for seven years. Even being his stand-in was enough for me. I told myself that was enough. Twenty years later, I happened to see him standing beneath the Moonlight Tree, praying to the Moon Goddess. "If only Vanessa hadn't died back then." His voice trailed off. A sharp pain shot through my chest. The world went black. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the beginning. Back to when I had just met Adrian for the first time. This had to be a gift from the Moon Goddess. A second chance. This time, I swore I'd never love Adrian Hawthorne again.

I stumbled across an encrypted folder on my husband's phone, filled with photos of a little girl I'd never seen before. From newborn to first steps, sorted by month—two full years' worth. But the child in those photos wasn't our daughter. When I confronted him, he said she was a girl named Rosie from the children's home I sponsored. The director sent growth updates, and he'd been saving them for me. I never imagined that my warm, thoughtful husband would use my charity to spin a lie. Because every single photo was geotagged to the apartment complex next to his office. And the children's home was on the other side of the city. I didn't call him out right then. Because I wanted to know whose child she really was.

After five years together, my fiancée Selene—a surgeon—canceled our wedding forty-nine times. The first time, she was in the middle of makeup when Kaelen, her male intern, messed up a patient’s chart. She rushed back to the hospital and left me waiting at the altar all day. The second time, just as we were about to exchange rings, she heard Kaelen was being bullied by another doctor. She went back to rescue him. I stayed behind, facing a roomful of smirking guests. After that, every time I tried to reschedule, that intern had some new emergency. Always needed her. Always right when the wedding was supposed to happen. I finally decided to end it. The day I left New York, she searched for me like a madwoman. But I was already gone.

Years ago, Elijah’s world shattered the day his husband, Gabe, vanished without a word. They said it was a plane crash. They said there were no survivors. But lies have long wings and now Gabe is back. Alive. Rich. Powerful. And with no memory of the life he shared with Elijah. When Gabe reappears in the arms of another world, Elijah is torn between rage and relief. His husband doesn’t remember the vows, the late-night laughter, or the broken pieces they were trying to heal together. Worse, someone is trying to erase Gabe’s name from his family’s fortune and Elijah might be the only one who can help him uncover the truth. Bound by a fake marriage that once held real love, the two must pretend for the world while battling ghosts of their past. As secrets unravel and the danger grows, so does the pull between them. But this second chance comes with a price and a past neither of them are ready to face. Was Gabe running from something… or someone? And if Elijah helps him remember, will love bring them home or destroy them both? A dark, emotionally raw MM romance about memory, betrayal, and the painful beauty of second chances. .

I spent five years chasing Tyler Watson, only to get kidnapped right in front of him. He just stood there and watched. As a result, I suffered. After I escaped, he acted all high and mighty and proposed to make up for his tiny bit of guilt. The second we got our marriage certificate, the Simp System’s voice rang in my head. “Congrats, host! You’ve completed your mission.” Just like that, my sanity finally returned. While Tyler waited in a hotel for me to bring him contraceptives, I went live to expose his cheating. For good measure, I even called the anti-vice office to report my dear husband for soliciting prostitutes.

I had been married to Derek for six years, and we had a three-year-old son. He was poor, earning only $2,000 a month, but I had no complaints; I took care of everything at home for him. After getting dinner on the table for the whole family, I finally had a minute to check my phone. A video popped up on my feed: a twenty-two-year-old girl from a rural area whose hands, roughened by years of hard labor, looked like they belonged to a sixty-two-year-old woman. I looked down at my own hands, just as worn and scarred, and stared at them blankly before tapping into the comments. I expected people to feel bad for her. However, to my surprise, the comments section was flooded with a single sentiment: "Why would anyone marry a penniless loser?" One of the top-liked comments came from a couple; in their photo, they were pictured holding hands—fingers tightly intertwined—with the girl sporting a massive diamond ring. The accompanying caption read: "A man who truly loves you would never bear to let you suffer." I felt a pang of envy. Given the choice, who wouldn't want a glamorous life? As I was about to close the app, I accidentally tapped on the couple's photo, enlarging it. In the background, previously too blurry to make out, was a face I recognized. It looked exactly like my husband, Derek Sterling. I froze, and almost against my will, I tapped into the account's profile. Post after post of lavish photos of them together flooded my screen. And then I saw him clearly. The scar above his brow, the one he got when a shelf fell on him while protecting me, was still plainly visible. It was my husband. It was Derek.

For a second he couldn't believe it, he stood there staring at her dumbfounded, his emotions went from anger to pain to anger again then back to pain. "Why?". His voice barely came out, he was afraid if it came out loud then it'd be as a roar. "What's your excuse for all this?". "I....I don't want to live anymore, I'm tired". She cried. "I've been tired for a long time now Raysham". Unable to control himself he grabbed her shoulder and backed her against the counter so there was no gap between them. "That is not an excuse!". He almost yelled. "That is not a fucking excuse!". She said nothing, just sobbed and sniffled quietly. "You are a coward Sayya, you lost faith in us, in yourself, Sayya you gave up on everything!". He said. Tears pricked his vision but he forced them back by blinking. "Yes you have been through a lot but you had absolutely no right to do that, you should have spoken to someone, if you hated me so much that you couldn't talk to me then you should have at least told Hytham!". He said. "My life isn't worth living Raysham, you know it!". She cried. "I don't know! All I know is that in months to come I will sit alone and grieve knowing you did this to us, I will grieve knowing you caused the pain". He said.

Five years ago, my girlfriend, Stacie Garcia, got crippled in an attempt to save me. Out of guilt, I stayed by her side and took on all the hardest grunt work so that I could use all of the money I've earned on her. But when I'm in the middle of cleaning a Porsche's dealership, I witness Stacie flirting with another young man there. To my shock, she's even standing without any problems. Stacie tells the man in a generous manner, "Which car do you have your eye on? I'll buy you any car no matter how expensive it is as long as you like it!"

"Two families are here today hoping to adopt. You can choose which one you'd like to go with." In my previous life, I chose the Parkers, who owned a small neighborhood store. Life wasn't particularly comfortable, but they cherished me like their own. They fully supported my writing and helped me become a moderately successful novelist. Meanwhile, Sean Lowe chose the affluent Bennett family. Their home was comfortable, but cold and detached. He spent more than a decade trying to earn their affection, but never truly became part of the family. Now that I'd been given a second chance, the moment I saw the Parkers again, I nearly called them Mom and Dad. But Sean beat me to it. He threw himself forward and said, "Mrs. Harper, I want to go with the family that owns the store! I love snacks the most. I'll be good and listen to everything they say!" He buried himself in Claire Parker's arms like a kitten that had finally found its way home. I stopped behind him and didn't move. If my guess was right, he had been reborn too.