Just Like Home

It was Christmas Eve. Once again, my parents left me alone at home, chasing triple pay at work. However, after twenty years of the same lonely holiday, I couldn’t take it anymore. I didn’t want to sit in the quiet house by myself again, so I packed up some sandwiches and went to them. What I didn’t expect was to see them stepping out of a luxury car, arms linked with a boy who looked about my age, laughing like they didn’t have a care in the world, heading straight into a five-star hotel. “Mom, Dad, is it okay to leave Suzie all alone at home like that?” My mom waved it off and said, “It’s fine. She’s used to it.” My dad just brushed it off with a chuckle. “She’s nothing like you. You're our real treasure.” Upon hearing that, I turned and walked away. They'd been pretending to be broke all these years, lying to me about working overtime, about scraping by. Well, fine. If they don’t want me, I’m done wanting them, too.

Growing up in a broken home and opposite a married couple who did nothing but fight, Diana Young swore off marriage and everything to do with it. People say that love ends when marriage starts and since marriage is love's destination, it was kind of ironic. But Diana believed it was all the bit true.Everyone's disappointed at the pot of gold that is not found at the end of the rainbow. Love was like that, she thought. A disappointment. Perhaps she just needed the right person to show her the real pot of gold. What is really found at the end of love, because maybe, just maybe, love doesn't end at all.

"Daddy? When are you coming home? Mommy's on the bed, and she won't wake up." Luca's voice shook, breaking up with tiny, hiccuping sobs. "If she's not getting up, wake her. She's just being lazy, " Bill barked. "Look, I'm busy. Go ask your mom if you need something, and stop calling me for every little thing!" Then he hung up, just like that. He was too busy flirting with his secretary to care. Me? Luca? We weren't even on his radar. What he didn't know was that I was already dead. But later, when reality slammed into him like a truck, he clung to my photo, sobbing and begging me not to leave. Too late.

School had just dismissed us for the exam-break when my roommate begged me not to leave her alone in the dorm. She said she was scared and wanted to come home with me. Out of kindness, I brought her back with me. I had no idea that the very first night, she would sneak into my brother's room, and by the next morning, she was screaming that he had assaulted her. Because of that, my brother missed the exam, and his reputation was ruined. When the school board found out, they expelled him. No other school would take him in. To keep me from getting involved in this mess at school, my parents had no choice but to let that roommate live with us. After that, she treated our home like her personal hotel: never lifting a finger, demanding that my parents wait on her every night, and even having them wash her feet. My brother dropped out and took up work at an illegal factory just to support her spending. Then one day, a machine crushed him at that factory. My parents, already exhausted and heartbroken, fell gravely ill and passed away soon after. I was consumed by hatred. In the end, I dragged the roommate who destroyed my family down into the flames with me. Even as I died, I still couldn't understand. What kind of bitter grudge did her family have against mine for her to ruin us like that? But when I opened my eyes again, I was back on the very day she asked to come home with me…

For five years, I was married to Angelo Harmon, who treated me like a queen, earning the envy of everyone around us. But my dream life ended when I discovered he had a second home with a younger woman. When I confronted him, he brushed it off. "It's just a fling for excitement. You’re still my wife. What's the problem?" His callousness repulsed me, pushing me to terminate my pregnancy and walk away.

Betrayed on her birthday by the mate she trusted, Aria Winters watches her world crumble when Marcus publicly claims another woman for power. But when her father is framed and arrested, Aria discovers the betrayal runs deeper than heartbreak. Enter Dimitri Volkov: ruthless Lycan heir with vengeance in his eyes and a dangerous proposition. Marry him for one year, and he'll save her father and destroy her enemies. It's just a contract. Just business. Just revenge. Until his mark on her skin ignites a bond that shouldn't exist. When Marcus escapes custody with murder in his heart and ancient enemies emerge from the shadows, Aria's rare white wolf awakens, revealing she's Moon-blessed, chosen by the goddess herself. But destiny demands a price, and dark forces want her power. Dimitri will burn the world down to protect her. But can their contract marriage become something real before her past destroys their future? A forced marriage. A fated bond. A love worth fighting for.

Blurb After a one night stand with her ex' uncle who looks like a Greek god, Ava goes through a series of misunderstandings that almost got her in trouble. During this time, she managed to get her handsome one night stand's attention and now he wants to bring her home and help her get revenge. “Here, you can call me if the money isn't enough. I don't remember much of last night, but I'm sorry for taking advantage of you,” I said as I handed it to him while trying to avoid the long bulge in his nether regions. Now that I had a better look at his face, he did seem older than me. “As if I would let you go just because you say so. Get dressed, you're coming home with me and stop pretending like you don't know me,” he took a dangerous step close.

“Get on your fucking knees.” Ivy came home broke, bitter, and full of secrets. She never expected her quiet, powerful stepfather to look at her like that. Or speak to her like this. Dominic has rules—strict ones. Eat at the table. Dress right. Don’t talk back. But Ivy? She breaks every rule... just to see how far he’ll go. What starts as heat turns into obsession. And once he claims her, he won’t let go. Dark. Dirty. Addictive. He’s twice her age. She’s off-limits. But some sins feel too good to stop.

Imagine loving someone in secret for a decade, watching them chase the one person who could never truly accept them, believing their wedding would finally free them and you, only to see him drop to his knees in front of everyone, begging her to stay and calling you, his best friend and secret mate, “just friend”. The pain rips through you, you drown it in alcohol, follow a scent that feels like home, and wake up beside a man who looks exactly like him and wants nothing more than to ruin you, strip every ounce of innocence from your bones, and worship the grounds of your sanctuary day and night.

On our wedding anniversary night, my husband, Lucian Moore, comes home with a seven-year-old orphan named Chloe Martin. He even hands her the necklace he bought me for our anniversary and lets her play with it like a toy. Because of her, my son, Ryan Moore, shouts at me for the first time. "You're a bad woman! I don't want you to be my mommy!" I watch the three of them sitting together, warm and cozy, and I say nothing. Instead, I buy a ticket to leave the country. At first, they think I'm just acting out and will come home in a few days. But when they return from Feanland after celebrating Chloe's birthday, they find out I've joined a ten-year classified research project and will not come back again. At that moment, they fall apart.