If He Had Been With Me Book

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.

My mother hated me, to the point that she wished I were dead. I knew I deserved to die. Sixteen years ago, if I hadn’t insisted on going out, my brother wouldn’t have died while trying to save me. Eventually, both of us got what we wished for. I got brain cancer. She had become a stranger to me as I forgot everything and went to die in blissful ignorance. Then, she went mad.

A year ago, Aveline Young found a man with amnesia on the side of the road and brought him home. This man was strikingly handsome, with broad shoulders, long legs, and a face that could easily earn a fortune in modeling. Aveline felt an embarrassing flutter in her heart and on a whim, they quickly got married. However, once the man recovered his memory, his first action was to divorce her, claiming he needed to go back and take over his family's business. Aveline was stunned but accepted the divorce, thinking that money was more important and that she shouldn't be tied to one man when there were plenty of younger options available. On the day they finalized their divorce, Aveline shocked everyone in Cloudflare City with a bold statement in the divorce papers: "He’s no good, so I got bored." Post-divorce, Aveline was never short of attention from young, attractive men. At one social event, a friend inquired whether she would ever consider reconciling. Aveline scoffed. "The one who brings up getting back together is a dog!" Late one night, her phone rang. "Who's this?" "Woof!"

I was reborn on the night the Alpha lost control to dark magic, his heat spiraling out of his grasp. This time, I didn't become his remedy. Instead, I called his true love—my own sister. In my past life, I fell in love with Nicholas, the Alpha of our pack. When I learned he'd been cursed by ancient dark magic and couldn't control his heat, I made a choice I shouldn't have. I didn't push him away. A month later, I found out I was pregnant. As an Alpha, Nicholas needed an heir. The Council of Elders forced him to hold a marking ceremony with me. On the day of the ceremony, Leah couldn't accept it. She ran from pack territory. Rogue wolves attacked her. Before she died, Leah sent Nicholas ninety-nine distress signals through the mind-link. But Nicholas was in the middle of the marking ceremony—at my request—and never answered. Not once. Afterward, when the pack brought back what was left of Leah's body, his face remained eerily calm. But on the night of our pup's first full moon, he poisoned me with wolfsbane. Before I died, I heard his voice, cold as ice. "If you hadn't gotten pregnant, I wouldn't have been forced to mark you. I wouldn't have missed Leah's call for help. Her death is on you. And you're going to pay for it." When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the night Nicholas fell victim to the curse.

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.

After five years of playing the perfect Mrs. Prescott, Lucille Sandwell finally woke up on the day of her daughter's one-month milestone. Her husband, Gideon Prescott, reserved all his tenderness and devotion for the woman he truly cared about, yet expected Lucille to remain mature, self-reliant, and endlessly understanding. In front of everyone, she flipped the table and said, "I want a divorce. I've had enough of this marriage." He responded with a cold laugh. "How did you become this vulgar? You throw around the word divorce at the slightest thing." Only after she disappeared did he realize that his world had begun to fall apart. Without her, everything went wrong. Three years later, they met again at an international summit. She returned as a celebrated master architect and stunned the entire room. Under the blaze of camera flashes, he dropped to his knees and begged her to come back. She only smiled and walked past him, another man at her side. Later, he received a gilded wedding invitation. The bride, dressed in white, leaned into the arms of his best friend. With red-rimmed eyes, he crashed the wedding. All he heard was her quiet voice. "Gideon, being the understanding one is exhausting. From now on, I only want to live for myself."

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.

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."