Lori Gottlieb Illness Novels & Stories

I decide to not have anything to do with Holden Gunning anymore. Since he claims that he's busy with work at his company, I don't hesitate to pack my belongings at home. As soon as Holden brings his first love, Leah Linton, home with him, I tell him that I want a divorce immediately. In my previous life, I had given my all to this family. Even my own money was on the brink of running dry just to patch up every problem in life. But on my 40th birthday, my children knelt before me simultaneously. They wanted me to accept Leah, who was diagnosed with a terminal illness, into our family. I could only stare at Holden. "You told me that you'd only love me in this lifetime! Have you forgotten all about your vow?" But Holden glared at me with bloodshot eyes. "I'll definitely spend the rest of my life with you! All Leah wants is a proper title anyway! Why are you being petty when it comes to a dying woman's business, anyway?" When I open my eyes, I realize that I'm 25 years old again. In this lifetime, I shall grant their wish and let them stay together. At the same time, I'm also setting myself free.

Alina Cole has only a few months left to live. Since childhood, she has suffered from a mysterious illness that no doctor has been able to cure. But her life takes a dark turn on her twentieth birthday when she is kidnapped. The kidnappers demand a huge ransom from her father, Mr. Cole. Desperate to save his only daughter, he borrows a large sum of money from the bank to pay them.Months later, Mr. Cole is unable to repay the debt, and the bank threatens to take everything he owns, his company, and even their home. With no other choice, he turns to the most powerful and feared man in the country, a man people call “The Devil.”The Devil agrees to help… but only on one condition.Mr. Cole must give him his only daughter.Horrified, Mr. Cole refuses. But Alina makes a shocking decision. Since she only has a few months left to live anyway, she agrees to go with the Devil.Her father knowing how dangerous the Devil is, refuse to let his daughter go live with him afraid she might not even survive it to her remaining months. But Alina plead with him to let her go with the Devil.After all, if death is already waiting for her…What difference does it make if she spends her final days with the most dangerous man alive?

Seven years ago, my husband, the King of the Humans, banished me to the Everfrost Plains, where my life came to a tragic end. Seven years later, a grave illness befalls the Queen of the Humans, and blood spills endlessly from her lips. The clerics claim that I have cursed her. Only the blood taken from my heart can cure her fully. Gareth Lancaster, my former husband, comforts his new wife, the queen, and says, "You have nothing to fear. To think she's still trying to harm you, her older sister, even when she has been exiled! "I'll march to the Everfrost Plains right away and carve her heart out to use as your cure. Then, I'll have her soul sent to hell to suffer in torment for all eternity." Sword in hand, Gareth heads to the Everfrost Plains. He finds a Serpentkin, one who should've died in the Great War of the Beasts and Men seven years ago. The Serpentkin has frozen solid, standing before my grave with his hands clasped together as if in prayer. In front of my grave sits a young girl. She says, "You won't be able to take my mother's heart. She died many years ago. I stayed here to let the truth be known to all…"

When I picked up the final course of my antidepressants and was about to leave, I ran into my biological parents, who were at the hospital to give a lecture. Five years had passed since we'd last seen each other, yet my father recognized me at a glance. Disbelief flickered across his face. "Your illness... still isn't better?" I said nothing and continued walking toward my room. "How did your life end up like this?" My father looked at me with obvious anguish, his eyes reddening. "Julian, your mother and brother miss you. Come home with me." I stopped in my tracks and slowly rolled up the sleeves I wore year-round, no matter the season. "That's your home," I said quietly. "It stopped being mine a long time ago." Hundreds of scars crisscrossed both of my arms. Countless emergency rescues. Countless nights spent fighting through unbearable pain. Long ago, all of it had worn away every trace of love and resentment I once felt toward my parents. Now, I was finally leaving the illness behind, and I had a new family. For the rest of my life, all I wanted was to live well.

Charlotte Hawkins had everything—a powerful family legacy, a loving husband, and a best friend she trusted with her life. But on her birthday, her world collapses. After years of mysterious illness, Charlotte finally discovers the horrifying truth. The man she married, Vance Vardern, has been poisoning her slowly, waiting for the moment he secures control of her family’s company. And he isn’t alone. Standing beside him is the person Charlotte trusted most—her best friend. Betrayed by the two people she loved most, Charlotte dies knowing everything she built was stolen from her. But fate gives her a second chance. Charlotte wakes up three years in the past, before the poison destroyed her body and before she handed her future to the people who would kill her. This time she remembers everything. The lies. The manipulation. The betrayal. And this time, Charlotte refuses to be the naive woman they once deceived. Armed with knowledge of the future, she begins to rewrite her fate—protecting her family’s empire while carefully setting traps for those who betrayed her. They believe she is still weak. Still blind. But they are about to learn the truth. Charlotte Hawkins has been reborn. And this time, she will make them pay.

After my grandpa receives a critical notice regarding his illness, he takes my boyfriend, Layne Harper, by the hand and pleads with him. "Layne, please marry Aleah while I'm still alive this month. I want to see her live happily ever after." Everyone sheds tears in the hospital room, thinking that Layne will heed Grandpa's words right away by getting down on one knee and proposing to me. After all, I have been waiting for him for the past ten years. With tears brimming in my eyes, I wait for Layne's response eagerly. But he covers the speaker of his phone out of worry that he might awaken his childhood friend, Ruby Martin, whom he has spent the last five hours coaxing to sleep. Finally, Layne replies gently, "Don't worry, Grandpa. I will give Aleah the happiness she deserves. Even if we don't get married in the end, I'll stick with my promise." My relatives stop cheering Layne on immediately. Then, they turn to look at me sympathetically. But I just smile and go with the flow. "I'll still be happy even if I don't marry Layne, Grandpa." After all, in two hours, I will accept another man's marriage proposal.

My parents were renowned educators, celebrated as top-tier teachers who mentored countless high achievers. Yet, I was the black sheep of the family, consistently bringing home failing grades. After yet another gentle reminder from my homeroom teacher, my mom erupted in frustration. "How could I have given birth to such a foolish child? You only exist to torture me!" She disappeared for three days. When she returned, she brought a girl with her. "From today on, Cora is my real daughter. You are forbidden to call us Mom or Dad ever again. Get out. Only when you can pass your exams will you be worthy of being my daughter!" Our next encounter was at the hospital, during the school staff's annual physical check. The dean spotted me, speaking. "Renee, isn't this your daughter? Sherry works here now! That means Cora's illness can be treated. Ask her to introduce you to the new director!" My mother's gaze landed on my white coat and shifted from shock to irritation. "She changed jobs and didn't even bother to tell me?" I discreetly covered the badge pinned to my chest, trying to conceal my status. I was now Evie Coffey, the director of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The notice of my mother's layoff sat on the kitchen table. Rent was due in three days. My younger brother's tutoring fees were already two weeks late. And my little sister, Stephanie, clutched her acceptance letter to the local public arts high school like she'd done something wrong. None of this would be happening if it weren't for me. My illness had taken everything our family had saved. I stayed in my room, leaning against the door, wanting to tell them I'd drop out of treatment—but I couldn't bring myself to open it. "Why did he have to fall sick?" My mother was crying, her voice low and tight, like the words were being forced out of her. "If it were just you both, Stephanie and Jamie, we'd be fine by now." "Mom, please don't say that." My brother and sister held her, barely holding back their own tears. "He's a burden… but he's still my son." Her voice cracked. "I just… I can't do this anymore…" I stepped back and sank into my chair. It wasn't an accusation. It was a verdict.

Five years ago, Kamarah Ruse spent one forbidden night in the arms of Zephyr Kane — the ruthless Mafia Don who ruled the city’s most dangerous casinos. She ran the next morning, carrying a secret she swore he would never discover. Now, with her four-year-old son Nevan battling a life-threatening illness and mountains of medical debt crushing her, Kamarah has no choice but to return to the one place she vowed never to step foot in again: Zephyr’s empire. She takes the stage as a singer at his flagship casino, praying the lights and crowds will keep her hidden. They don’t. The moment Zephyr’s cold, possessive gaze finds her under the spotlight, her world collapses. He never forgave the woman who disappeared after one night in his bed. But when he discovers the sick little boy with his eyes is his son and heir — obsession turns into something far more dangerous. Kamarah belongs to him now. Her body. Her future. His child. Zephyr will stop at nothing to claim the family that was stolen from him. Even if it means binding the only woman he’s ever wanted to his side, forcing her to pay for every lost year in pleasure and pain. She ran from the devil once. This time, he won’t let her go.

For twenty years, Adriano De Santis has carried the pain of the betrayal that destroyed his family. His father, Samuel De Santis, betrayed his wife, Isabella, with Silvia and secretly conspired with her behind his wife's back. Together, they stole everything Isabella owned, leaving her with nothing but the clothes on her back. For two decades, she carried the heartbreak and emotional devastation caused by that betrayal, and her health slowly deteriorated, eventually leading to her death. After losing his mother, Adriano returns to Milan with only one goal in mind: revenge. But this time, he returns under a fake identity: Marcello Romano, a professional bodyguard. The key to his revenge is Monica De Rossi, Silvia's daughter from a previous marriage and the CEO of the company that once belonged to his mother. By getting close to her as her new personal bodyguard, Adriano plans to deceive her by pretending to love her, gain her trust, then reclaim everything that was stolen from his mother and destroy her family. But executing his plan is not as easy as he expected. Monica is strong, independent, sharp-minded, and impossible to tame. Moreover, she is already engaged to Sam Conti, her childhood friend, which makes his plan even harder to carry out. What begins as a calculated act of revenge soon becomes a battle between the hatred that has consumed him for twenty years and an unexpected love that threatens to destroy everything he has planned.