My Last Innocent Year Novels & Stories

“Do you know who it was?” A laugh slipped out of me, dry and hollow. Trouble… That was one way to describe it. I lifted my gaze slightly, just enough to glance at him. “Victor,” I said, my tone sharpening, “five years ago, you knew I was innocent.” The words tasted like iron. “You knew who was guilty.” My wolf stirred again, restless now, agitated by the memories clawing their way to the surface… the accusations, the cold, suffocating weight of betrayal.

Multiple voices asked at once. But I couldn’t answer. My knees buckled as fifteen years of blocked memories crashed through the walls I’d built. The last thing I saw was Nick lunging to catch me. The last thing I heard was Ethan shouting my name. The last thing I felt was my phone slipping from my fingers, screen still showing that damning message: “The children of the rich never learn. But their parents will. Starting with the ones who buried the truth fifteen years ago.” Then darkness took me, and with it came the memories I’d spent fifteen years trying to forget:

KANE’S POV I didn’t sleep. I lay on top of the covers fully dressed until about 2 AM, staring at the ceiling with the laptop open beside me, rereading Cynthia’s document like the words might rearrange themselves into something less catastrophic if I looked long enough. They didn’t. Lucious Grant. Twelve years ago. A buried case, a resigned prosecutor, and a clean paper trail that had stayed clean for over a decade because my father was exceptionally good at the things he was good at.

Every year and nobody ever spoke of it. Every year a girl was brutally murdered and Smiths Hollow went about its business as if nothing happened at all. Except for last year. Last year there hadn’t been a girl. It had been a man—Joe diMucci. But there had still been a dead body. Was there no outcry because people didn’t know? Or—and this was much, much worse—because they did know but somehow accepted it as a part of life here? Alex rubbed his eyes. You’re getting tired. The whole town isn’t part of a vast conspiracy to . . .

I chuckled deeply and the crowd watched me in awe. "I plead. . ." I stopped and made sure I stole the spotlight from Hecate. "Not guilty!" I stated. Hecate scoffed. "So you decide to keep lying till your death?" She demanded. I smirked and decided to stay silent. "Any last words?" She demanded. I resumed chuckling again. "Oh, my revenge is coming. On this day, you prosecute and kill an innocent person, you think that you will know peace?" I asked and a strange feeling swept past the crowd.

Roderick's side and shook his head at his naive sibling "I don't blame you for your honesty the father, for I could never lie to him myself." can embrace Darren and slapped his back to reassure him. "There's nothing to forgive. Come, let's sit and have a toast to my upcoming wedding. I might as well accept the inevitable and wed the chit." They went back to the respective seats and shared a toast. they spent the rest of the afternoon drinking companionably and catching up with one another. ************************************************************ Angie didn't want to remember the events of the night before, all she wanted to do was curl up into a tight and forget the terrible violation of

ZAROON DURANI’S POV: I’ve been waiting for her since she had gone missing after the massacre that happened ten years ago. There was a time in between those years when I lost hope and I thought she would never come back but then I got to know she had been getting prepared to ruin me. How can she ruin me?

Both rich, both sophisticated, both part of glamorous high society. I didn’t fit into their world, so I had to be happy they let me be part of it. I lied to myself that it was enough. But eight years ago, on a camping trip, everything changed. I remembered the cold night air, the scent of damp earth, the distant sound of crickets filling the silence. We had wandered too close to the ledge, and our flashlight batteries were close to dead. “I can’t believe you talked me into this,” Jade had laughed. “What if we’re found by, like, a bear? Or a murderer?”

“ Forgive you? After what your incompetence has caused me?” She swallowed through her dry throat. “ Pathetic.” The word landed like a blade. Fiona's fingers curled into fists on her sides. “ I..” “ Ten years “ he cut in smoothly. “ Ten years of building your reputation, and today.. You let a half-dead princess turn you into a spectacle.” Each word was calm, controlled, and cruel. “ I did not lose “ Fiona said, forcing the words out. “ If not for the bell that rang, she would have been d..”

Mili whispered doubtfully. "You don't know what you've signed?" Jess tried to suppress her mocking tone at Mili's utter stupidity, keeping her voice calm, "Did Daniel say those papers make you his wife?" "A dummy wife," Mili answered in her soft voice. .... And a satisfied grin emerged on Jessica's face. Damn! She just pulled one card and that turned out to be this wild. ••• Innocence can be captivating, innocence can be dangerous at times, but in the devil's very own tale, it can become dangerously captivating.