Lori Gottlieb Illness Novels & Stories

The ambulance’s siren blared as it sped toward the hospital. But an obnoxious power-walking mob blocked its path at the entrance of our residential area. As a result, the ambulance could not leave the area. I got out of the car to negotiate with that group of power-walkers. I immediately recognized that the woman who led the mob was none other than my mother-in-law, Miranda White. “Miranda, the illness of someone important to me has flared up. He’s in critical condition! “Please get these people to move and let the ambulance pass! Quick!” I was frantic with worry. But Miranda shot me a sideways glance and jumped to conclusions. “He should’ve died a long time ago! “He’s your father. What gives him the nerve to interfere in Caleb’s marital home?! If he’s sick, he deserves it!” Right after she finished her sentence, she waved her arms and called more people over. The number of people joining the power-walking mob continued to increase. They packed the road so tightly that it was completely blocked. When it became clear the ambulance could not possibly leave the area, Miranda shot me a smug glance. She picked up her phone and said in a coy voice, “Honey, what are you doing at home? Come down and join me for a power walk! Getting some exercise is what matters most for your health.” Inside the ambulance, the phone screen next to the patient lit up for a moment, then went dark again. It was not my father who had collapsed.

"I don't particularly care what you want, Marcelina," Domenico Vitali said flatly. "You walked away carrying something that belongs to me. That makes you mine until I decide otherwise." **** Marcelina never wanted love or marriage. She wanted a baby. After watching her mother disappear piece by piece to a hereditary neurological disorder, she makes a desperate decision. She will have a child before the illness can claim her too. But she will not pass the disorder on. So, she chooses the perfect genetic candidate. Domenico Vitali. Powerful. Untouchable. Dangerous. He was not a man people asked for favors. He was the kind of man they stole from... and prayed they survived. A man Marcelina believed she could use and never see again. One night. One calculated risk. But she was wrong. Because men like Domenico don't just disappear. When he discovers the truth, he calls the shots. "This ends one way," he tells her. "We're getting married." He does not want the baby. He does not want her. But he will rather die than have his blood born a bastard. The longer they are bound together, the more dangerous the truth becomes. Domenico Vitali is not who she thought he was. And as secrets begin to surface, Marcelina starts to question everything. Did she truly trap a devil? Or did she step into a war she never saw coming?

A day before we were about to get married, my fiancée invited my family for a trip on a cruise ship to test my love for her. She pushed my mother off the ship when the waves were strong, and she jumped into the sea as well. I got anxious as I had no idea who to save first. My mother had swallowed a lot of water, but she pushed me away weakly while shouting, "Save Rina first! She's your fiancée!" When I finally dragged Rina to shore and returned for my mother, I found that she was no longer breathing. Rina looked at me coldly as I cried with misery, "Stop putting up that act. Your mother can't be dead. She used to be a professional swimmer when she was young. I can't believe you didn't choose to save me first. Eugene was right. You don't love me enough. "We should postpone our wedding. When you're done reflecting on what you did, bring your mother along and apologize to me. We can discuss our wedding then." With that, Rina put her arm around Eugene's, and they left. Rina had no idea that my mother had stopped swimming since she suffered a major illness several years ago. Pushing my mother off the ship had made her lose her life.

Dean pinned her to the wall, holding her there with his whole body. His cock was throbbing, reaching for her, and he was barely holding it together. She was totally spread to him, completely open, her hips moving in small circles on him. Dean wanted to just rip away the barriers between their bodies, to put his mouth on those lush breasts and that pulsing pussy. He needed her in his bed. Now. ** Emma Cartwright doesn’t cry when she gets devastating medical news. She goes to a bar, and decides to have her first one-night stand. One reckless, anonymous night before real life, treatment, and fear take over. Just one night. What could it hurt? Dean Jessop has built his entire life around that rule. Since returning from Afghanistan, nothing lasts longer than a single night: not desire, not trust, not hope. So when Emma slips out of his bed before dawn, he assumes that’s the end. It isn’t. A month later, fate throws them back together. They make a deal: no strings, no secrets, one safe word to walk away. But rules blur. Feelings grow. And both are hiding truths that could shatter everything – Emma’s illness, Dean’s buried guilt from war. As their connection deepens, the question isn’t whether love is possible. It’s whether honesty will destroy it... and whether two broken people can survive telling the truth.

My father, a lone werewolf, had come all the way from the Obsidian Pack while battling an illness, to attend my union ceremony with Dean Willows, Alpha of the Moonstone pack and CEO of Willows Industries. It was my father's last wish to see me get married before he died. He was elated that his dreams were finally coming alive. Unknown to him, I had arranged a fake marriage with Alpha Dean. I had knelt outside the Willows mansion for many hours with my father's medical records in hand, begging him profusely before he finally agreed to play along in this wedding charade. But when the full moon rose high in the sky, Dean abandoned me, leaving me to face the pack's judgment alone. My father's heart gave out the moment he saw me standing there, all alone without my so-called mate. While taking his final breath at the hospital, he whispered to me in warning: "Arianna , beware of the Moonstone Pack..." and gave up the ghost. My heart was heavy with grief. I then saw Dean's childhood sweetheart, Vivien Cross, post on social media: "Only the unloved one is the third wheel." That was the last straw. I sent Dean a breakup message, severing our union. He responded by bringing the she-wolf, Vivien to our apartment, flaunting his new alliance.

Esmerelda Cooper has always felt like an outsider. Marked by two distinct auras and plagued by an undiagnosed illness, she’s been abandoned by her mother and left to carve out a life tending bar while dreaming of a fresh start at university. But fate has other plans. Jake “Ghost” Thompson, a lone wolf shifter and intelligence gatherer, has spent years tracking a rising wave of brutal murders targeting shifters. When he encounters Esmerelda, he instantly knows she’s his mate—but she’s human… or so she thinks. Drawn together by an unbreakable bond, Ghost fights his instincts while Esmerelda struggles to understand the mysterious forces pulling her toward him. Their worlds collide when a violent confrontation awakens Esmerelda’s latent powers. She is no ordinary woman—she is part witch, part shifter, and destined to become the legendary White Wolf, a being prophesied to tip the balance in the supernatural war. As rival packs, hunters, and witches close in, she must navigate a dangerous path of self-discovery, all while caught in an undeniable pull between Ghost and his enigmatic rival, Magnus. With war brewing and her newfound powers making her both a target and a prize, Esmerelda must embrace her legacy before those who seek to control her tear everything apart. But magic comes at a cost, and love may be the most powerful—and dangerous—force of all.

At the Hunting Festival, Cynthia Whitefang flashes a stack of cash and demands that my mate, Simon Fenwick, become her bodyguard. "Just accept it, Layla." Simon flashes his fangs and tells Cynthia to get lost in a rude tone. Our son, Noah Fenwick, who's chronically poisoned by silver, waves his fists angrily as well to chase Cynthia away. But I just stare at the stack of cash quietly. Memories of a conversation I had overheard last week surge into my mind at that moment. That time, Noah was tugging at the hem of Simon's shirt while standing under a tree. "Daddy, can I keep pretending to be poisoned? That way, Mommy will keep giving me money to treat my poison. I wanna buy gifts for Cynthia!" he said coquettishly. Simon had replied dotingly, "Of course! But you must remember to never tell Mommy that I'm not hurt. Only when she's filled with guilt will she love us forever." It turns out that my husband is faking his injury, while my son is faking being poisoned. They've played me like a fiddle the whole time. I, on the other hand, have to risk my life time and again to earn money just to treat their imaginary illness and wounds. To think that all of my earnings are used on pleasing another she-wolf… I raise my head, soon meeting Cynthia's confident gaze. "Okay. You can have him."

The little boy I had saved when we were kids grew up to be a possessive, obsessive CEO. For ten years, he kept me by his side, using my grandmother's illness as a bargaining chip to force me into marrying him. He tried everything to win my heart, pulling every trick in the book, but no matter what he did, he could never make me love him. In a fit of rage, he found a woman who looked almost exactly like me to take my place. They flaunted their relationship for everyone to see, and people whispered that the CEO had finally found his true love. But that day, the woman, riding on his affection, barged into the villa with her entourage. She broke my fingers one by one, slashed my face with a utility knife, and removed my clothes to humiliate me. "Even though you had surgery to look like me, I'll let that slide. But you even learned to paint like me, too? You really did your homework. Let's see how you try to seduce men now!" Just as I was bleeding out and on the verge of death, the obsessive CEO finally showed up. The stand-in grabbed my hair and dragged me in front of him, smugly reporting, "Honey, this wench was hiding in the villa trying to seduce you. I've made sure she can't succeed!"

My sister had struggled with depression since childhood. The doctor warned that she could not tolerate any kind of stimulation. As a result, my entire life fell silent. To avoid upsetting her, I never dared to laugh at home. I never dared to cry. When I got hurt, I did not even have the right to say it hurt. My parents would hug me with apologetic expressions and say, "You're the good one. Your sister's illness requires the whole family to work together. You're healthy. You're strong. Let her have more, okay?" One day, I accidentally knocked over a cup. The crash sounded enormous in the quiet room, and my sister's emotions shattered at once. My father struck me for the first time. He roared, "Can't you be careful? Do you have to push her until she dies before you're satisfied?" He shoved me to the floor. The back of my head slammed against the corner of the table, and blood poured out. But my whole family rushed to my screaming sister. No one even glanced at me. I lay on the cold floor as my vision blurred and my consciousness began to fade. To them, my sister's feelings were the only emergency. My small injury could wait. They did not know that bleeding inside the skull does not wait.

Elara is not a fighter. She is a healer. Her power is the rarest in the werewolf world. It was meant to protect her Pack and secure her place next to Alpha Kael, her destined mate. However, on the night of their claimed bond, Kael rejected her. He labelled her power a deadly threat. With a brutal and calculated act, he wounded himself with wolfsbane and publicly turned Elara away. She had to choose between saving the man who humiliated her or proving his belief that she was too dangerous to love. She saved him, but that night, the healer inside her died. Banished and broken, Elara sheds the blood-soaked title of healer and retreats into the shadows. She finds an ancient master who teaches her not patience, but poison. Instead of comfort, he shows her retribution. She learns to harness her past pain, using the volatile wolfsbane as her weapon. Five years later, the once-strong Lunar Pack is suffering from a mysterious illness that even their best doctors can't cure. They must look beyond their borders for help. Elara returns with a new name and a clever disguise. She is armed with charm and a dark plan. She is the Pack's only hope, and she will bring about the Alpha's downfall. Her revenge has a careful strategy. The closer she gets to healing his body, the closer she gets to ending his reign. But to destroy the Alpha, she must risk reigniting the very mate bond she vowed to forget.