If He Had Been With Me Book 2

"He was everything I swore never to get close to. He was toxic, possessive, selfish. Without me even realising it. He was older than me. It was wrong. He was wrapped in darkness and mystery. He was sinisterly hot and rich to an extent I couldn't imagine. He made sure to become everything I have. He was anything but the one for me, yet he made me his. He made me fall for him. He got under my skin, penetrated my soul, shattered my heart. And I naively obeyed his will. He made me his but he never was mine. He was the devil himself and I'll burn in hell for ever loving him."

A month before Wendy Johnson and I are set to marry, she tells me she wants to have another man's baby. Following my refusal, she keeps bringing it up daily. Half a month till the wedding, I see her pregnancy report. Just like that, I find out she is almost a month pregnant. It turns out she has no intention of seeking my agreement on this matter. At that very moment, my love for her for so many years dissipates for good. I'm calling off the wedding and destroying all our shared memories. On the day we are supposed to get married, I join a sealed-off research lab without a second thought. From now on, Wendy and I no longer have anything to do with each other!

ARIA VOSS was eighteen years old the night ZAYDEN COLE — Alpha of the Storm Pack, Lord of the Northern Territories — looked her in the eye and told her she was not his mate. He was lying. Or rather, he believed a lie someone else had handed him. His Beta, REEVE, had fed Zayden a carefully constructed falsehood on the night of Aria's coming-of-age ceremony — the night their mate bond should have been formally recognized. Reeve had his own reasons, his own ambitions, and a very clear understanding that a true mate bond between Zayden and the last heir of the Voss bloodline would make Zayden untouchable in ways that would close every door Reeve had been quietly opening for himself. The rejection shattered Aria. She disappeared from the Northern Territories entirely, found shelter in a rival pack, and spent three years doing two things simultaneously: rebuilding herself from the inside out, and very quietly, very patiently, learning everything there was to know about what she actually was. Because the Voss bloodline is not ordinary. The last heirs of the Voss line carry a rare and ancient power — the ability to either anchor or destroy an unraveling Alpha mate bond. When a true bond is severed without consent, it does not simply disconnect. It turns. It begins consuming the Alpha's wolf from the inside, slowly and invisibly, accelerating with each passing moon cycle. The only thing that can stop it — or weaponize it further — is the living heir of the bloodline the bond was broken with. Aria is that heir. She didn't fully understand what that meant until she was twenty. By twenty-one, she had a plan.

Iris never imagined that love could feel so intoxicating… or so dangerous. From the moment she met Adrian, his charming smile and irresistible presence drew her in, making her forget caution and reason. On the surface, he seemed perfect — attentive, flirtatious, and seemingly devoted. But behind that captivating exterior lurked secrets she could never have predicted. What began as stolen glances and playful conversations soon escalated into something far more intense — a forbidden affair neither of them could resist. Every kiss came with a hidden truth, every touch with a lie waiting to be uncovered. As Iris is pulled deeper into Adrian’s world, she discovers that his intentions are far from pure, and that their passionate connection masks a darker, more controlling side. When the truth of his deceptions surfaces, Iris is forced to confront a harsh reality: love can be manipulative, suffocating, and even dangerous. Their entanglement spirals into a toxic dance of desire and betrayal, challenging everything she believed about loyalty, trust, and the boundaries of the heart. Caught between temptation and self-preservation, Iris must decide whether surrendering to Adrian’s magnetic pull is worth the heartbreak it could bring — or if walking away from the man who has consumed her thoughts, her body, and her emotions is the only way to survive. The Lies He Kissed Me With is a gripping, 18+ dark romance about toxic love, hidden agendas, and the fine line between passion and destruction. It is a story of obsession, betrayal, and the dangerous allure of a love built on lies — a story readers will not be able to put down until the very last chapter.

Right after I am done with a meeting, I scroll through social media and come across a warning post with my company's location tagged. The title reads, "Avoid this place! Anyone who comes here is a sucker. The company is so stingy that it can't even provide decent snacks." The photos show the Starbucks drinks and five-star desserts I just asked my assistant to distribute to everyone. I frown and tag everyone in the group chat, asking for suggestions about the teatime snacks. A Gen Z intern, Alice Grimes, immediately sends a voice message, "No offense, Ms. Knox, but these mass-produced desserts are full of trans fats. Even dogs wouldn't eat them. A good company would hire Kitchelin chefs to cook on-site. Now that's called having true respect for employees." I laugh in disbelief. My company spends 50 dollars per person on daily tea time, which is considered top-tier in the industry. So, I reply, "Since it's hard to please everyone, we'll cancel teatime from now on and convert it into a cash allowance for everyone." Less than five minutes later, there is a new update in the social media post. "Guys, you won't believe this. I made a reasonable suggestion, and the petty boss just cut our teatime perk! This is how a typical capitalist behaves. They can't handle any honest feedback."

When Isabella walks in on her husband with another woman, the betrayal shatters the quiet grace she’s built her life upon. But the moment she walks away, leaving divorce papers in her wake, she begins a journey she never saw coming. From the ashes of humiliation rises a woman the world once forgot—one whose name, long buried in secrecy, holds the power to shake empires. In a world where love is a weapon and loyalty a currency, Isabella’s silence becomes her strength—and her return, their reckoning.

Rule one of surviving a werewolf rejection: don't look back. Rule two: definitely don't move into an apartment directly below his human ex-girlfriend. Rule three: under no circumstances allow him to follow you to the human world. I have broken all three rules in under a month. My name is Zoya Fennel, and five weeks ago, Casen Wolfe — Alpha of the Silveroak Pack, certified heartbreaker, and the most beautiful man the Moon Goddess ever put together on a Thursday — stood at the end of the aisle during our bonding ceremony and said, in front of everyone I have ever loved: "She is not my true mate. I reject the bond." And just like that, the life I'd been planning since I was sixteen years old dissolved in front of three hundred witnesses and one very startled officiant. So I did what any self-respecting, moderately devastated she-wolf would do. I walked out. I moved to the city. I got a frankly excellent apartment with a fire escape view and a coffee shop downstairs. I started living my life. What I did not plan for was discovering — three weeks later, via a very confused text from my sister — that Casen has left the pack, abandoned his Alpha title, moved to the same city, and is currently standing outside my building in the rain. He says he made a mistake. He says the woman he thought was his true mate turned out to be nothing of the sort. He says he's been going out of his mind since the rejection ceremony because the bond he severed — the one he publicly destroyed — is the only one he's ever felt. I say: that sounds like a you problem. Except then he gets a job at the coffee shop downstairs.

Right after returning from a business trip, Cecelia Moore held her ultrasound report as she hurried to the private suite at the club. She was eager to surprise her husband, Francis Rivera. Just as she was about to open the door, she caught a few words drifting through the crack that stopped her cold. "…So, Fran, did you really marry Cecelia Moore just to protect Melody Green?" In that instant, every drop of blood in Cecelia's body seemed to freeze—she couldn't move.

I married Eleanor Vance on the very same day her true love was getting married next door. Just as we were about to exchange rings, the man himself stormed into our ceremony. Red-eyed and shaking, he announced that the only woman he'd ever loved was Eleanor and that he couldn't go through with marrying the fiancee waiting for him, the one battling a terminal illness. Eleanor didn't even look at me. She pulled her hand from mine and ran after him. I was left standing there, humiliated, while my mother was so angry she ended up in the hospital. Later, the abandoned bride and I caught each other's eyes for a moment. I asked quietly, "Do you want to switch grooms?" Three years passed before Eleanor came back. She was crying, saying she regretted everything. But I scooped up both kids from the backseat, one in each arm. I stepped aside and said, "Excuse me. I'm in a hurry to pick up my wife from work."

My husband makes me quit my job to care for his deceased friend's wife after she's given birth. Yet, she deliberately breastfeeds to his face. He can't take his eyes off her, yet he has the nerve to call me petty. He even says I'm asking for trouble. Later, I get a divorce and sell the house. I return to my hometown and make it big there. That's when he begs me to take him back.