Our Missing Hearts: A Novel Novels & Stories

That night was supposed to belong to Mia. She had spent a month practicing for her first piano recital. I had cooked all afternoon, set the table, and helped her into the pale blue dress Luca loved. She stood beside the piano, cheeks flushed, fingers trembling with excitement. Then Luca's phone rang. Vivienne was spiraling again. After Luca's older brother died, his widow never really came back from it. On her worst nights, she forgot the difference between the dead husband she had lost and the brother-in-law who kept showing up to save her. And Luca always showed up. Every time Vivienne broke, he left us behind. Every time he came home, he brought apologies, pretty gifts, and promises for next time. And every time, I believed him. Until that night. Before he could make another excuse, I placed the divorce papers in front of him. He signed without reading them, then touched my shoulder like he was the one being generous. "When this is over, I'll make it up to you," he said. "You, me, and Mia. The Maldives. No calls. No interruptions." Then he kissed our daughter's hair and walked out before she played a single note. What Luca didn't know was that Mia's passport was already packed. So was the little suitcase under her bed. I was done waiting for a man who only loved us when no one else needed him. This time, he could come home to an empty house.

It was the day of our marriage. We were supposed to meet up at the City Hall, but my fiancee stood me up. I waited for her the whole day, and the only answer I got was a picture from her assistant. My girlfriend sat astride on his lap, and her arms were wrapped around his neck while they were locked in a deep kiss. "Sorry, Mr. Terraton. Sophie insisted on comforting me. You don't mind, do you?" I demanded answers from my girlfriend, but that only made her impatient. "He donated his blood to me. Yeah, I was with him, but so what? Man up, will you?" That killed any love I had for her, and I called my soon-to-be ex-girlfriend's sister. "Hey, Sylvie. Yeah, about your proposal. So will you marry me?"

BLURB Married at the age of 18, Mila Throndsen gave up everything including her dreams and family prestige for the sake of her childhood sweetheart, Killian. But her husband who once loved her no longer wants to spare her even the simplest glance. Mila did everything she could, even enduring her husband's abuses just so she can rekindle their dying love but it was all in vain. Two months after a passionate one-night stand with a stranger, Mila ended up pregnant. Her husband furiously threw a divorce paper to her face and accused her of cheating Her family disowned and threw her out of their lives too. Devasted and angry, Mila left her hometown, Westwood, for a smaller city, swearing to make everyone who abandoned her pay dearly. Six years later, Mila became a charming model and successful fashionista working in one of the biggest Clothing and Design companies. An enticing business offer brought her back to Westwood but this time around, she wasn't alone. Two adorable little twins accompanied her! Shantel and Leon on the other hand, had another motive, a secret goal, one that Mila wasn't even aware of. "Find a rich CEO for our Mommy, who will also become our Daddy! " Extract; A beam of excitement appeared on Shantel's face as she stared at the handsome man across the street. But there was something else fueling her excitement; this handsome man looked exactly like her twin brother! The little girl rushed over and bumped into the stone ice; Dominic Hartless, the most powerful man of Westwood. A slight frown appeared on Dominic's face as he stared down the cute little thing standing before him. But his frown quickly turned into widened eyes when the little girl proposed; "Excuse me, Handsome Mister, will you marry me? "

"There's still half a year left before the contract is up. I'm getting ready to file for a divorce from Steven." As Celine Harlow speaks, she looks at the video which has been replayed on her iPad over a hundred times. In the video, her husband, Steven Kirk, keeps staring at his childhood sweetheart, Quinn Lambert, lovingly. "Oh, Quinn! I still can't forget about you at all! Will you please return to my side?" After that, he takes the initiative to capture Quinn's lips in a kiss. Meanwhile, Celine's son, Zane Kirk, whom she has risked her life giving birth to, keeps screaming at the top of his lungs, "Daddy, I want Quinn as my mommy!" Celine's resolve to leave her marriage behind is steeled even more. On the other end of the line, Steven's mother, Evelyn Kennedy, falls silent for a moment. She then advises Celine to think through her decision carefully. "You have to think this through. If you get divorced, not only will you have to give up on your current job, but you also won't be able to obtain any assets because of the contract." Celine doesn't hesitate at all. "I know. Since our marriage certificate is fake, I'll definitely get divorced without asking for a single cent. Don't worry." But Evelyn tries to get Celine to stay. "If you insist on getting a divorce, you won't get the custody over Zane. Are you sure you have the heart to never see him again?"

Bianca White's new assistant, Jesse Collin, is very temperamental. All Bianca does is put some food on my plate at the dining table, and Jesse is already so pissed that he's smashed all the cutlery at home. Then, he threatens to fake his death and terminate his citizen status so that he can vanish from Bianca's world forever. Upon hearing the threat, Bianca flies into a state of panic. She instantly abandons me, the patient who's about to undergo a surgery that can treat my lung cancer, and speeds down the highway just to pursue Jesse. When the clock shows 3:00 pm, it's time for my surgery to be carried out. That's when Bianca calls me on the phone apologetically. "As the boss, I'm obligated to ensure the safety of my employees. Once I've tracked down Jesse and brought him back safely, I'll definitely head over to the hospital and accompany you throughout the surgery. Then, I'll organize a wedding trip to make it up to you." But I don't want to wait for Bianca anymore. "Let's get a divorce, Bianca."

At the company's banquet, Vanessa Sinclair the intern tosses a piece of abalone, which she has already taken a bite out of, onto my fiance, Leon Mercer's plate. He doesn't hesitate to gobble it up. That night, I tear our marriage alliance's contract into pieces before tossing them into the trash can. Leon takes off his glasses, his brows drawn together into a tight knot. "All this for a piece of abalone?" "She gave it to you after taking a bite out of it!" Leon looks up at me, his lips already curved into a mocking smile. "I never knew you're the type to be this petty, Audrey. Fine. If you don't want to proceed with this marriage, then let it be. Just don't regret your decision later." Leon thinks that I'll still badger him like I always do in the past. But I just laugh at him in return. "Fine. Whoever regrets their decision will be the world's most pathetic loser!"

“I never wanted you or our daughter.” For five years, I pretended to be in a happy marriage with Andrew Morgan. I left my career to be with this billionaire bachelor to raise a family with him. A family that he never wanted. Of course, I should have known that his heart is still with Eleanor Walsh. Why else would he come chasing after her after she abandoned him for years? I was blind with love, and now my daughter and I are paying the price. “I need you here with me now,” I said. “Our daughter is in danger.” “Eleanor and Lottie need me more!” Andrew snapped. I begged. I cried. None of that mattered to Andrew. Even then, I had hope. I had love. But all of that changed when I found myself alone, with my dead daughter in my arms. “You can spend all your time with Eleanor and Lottie,” I spat at him. “We’re going to be divorced soon!” Andrew caught me by the wrist and stopped me. “You’re not going anywhere. Who said I agreed to the divorce?”

The class heartthrob, Kevin Mosley, who scores only 1000 in the SATs, claims that he has successfully enrolled at Starvard University and is just waiting for the semester to begin. He even guarantees that he can get the entire class admitted as well. The whole class starts cheering and praising him for being their hero. All of them intend to let him submit their college applications for them. But something about his story doesn't sound right to me, so I ask a few more questions. That's when I discover that his so-called exclusive admission internal channel is CloudAI, which is just an AI chatbot! It confidently tells him that it has already reserved a special admission slot for him and guarantees that he can report to Starvard University when the semester starts. Trying to help, I point out that the AI is just generating conversational responses and telling him what he wants to hear. My childhood friend, Janice Hudson, is the first to jump to his defense. "Daryl Greer, how can you doubt Kevin? He's trying to help the whole class. What's it to you?" My friend, Aaron Yates, chimes in as well. "Daryl, AI is cutting-edge technology. It's the future. You can't dismiss it just because you don't understand it." Their words rile everyone up. As the argument escalates, I am shoved down a flight of stairs. I hit my head and die on the spot. When I open my eyes again, I find myself back at the moment when Kevin proudly announces that he's been admitted to Starvard. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. This time, I'll simply respect their choices and wish them the best.

My mom calls me on Friday. "Don't forget about tomorrow's family dinner. Cody loves shrimps, so you should buy more of those at the seafood market in the southern district. "Lexi loves lamb chops. Go take a look in the eastern district for them. Also, don't forget to buy the imported strawberries. Noah loves them a lot." I say yes to each and every request Mom makes. But as soon as I end the call, I receive a text on the family group chat. "I've already given Eileen a list of our favorite foods. It's tough for you to earn money these days, so you shouldn't buy anything." One second later, that message is deleted. Still, I'm flabbergasted by what I just read. I've been married for two years. Every Saturday throughout those years, I'm the one paying and organizing the family dinner of the week. I thought there's no need to be so petty when it comes to family. But it seems that they've already viewed me as the outsider a long time ago. In that case, I won't be attending the family dinner anymore.

On the day of my mate bond ceremony with Harry, his first love, Teresa, suddenly appeared. She tried to stop Harry and me. But Stephen, the Alpha of our pack, ordered the servants to block her outside. At the final step of the ceremony, when Harry and I were on a power stone at the bottom of a sacred cliff, Teresa fell from the sky. When we approached, she was already dead. Harry held back his tears and proceeded to complete the mate bond ceremony with me. In the following years, Harry hated me and Stephen deeply. As the Beta, he should have been Stephen’s most powerful supporter in the pack, but he took over the Alpha’s position and expelled Stephen from our pack. Stephan became a bankrupt and wandering werewolf. Harry brought different she-wolves home every night, and even took other werewolves to our bedroom while I was asleep. Until one day, Harry kidnapped Stephen and me. He brought us back to the same cliff. “Teresa jumped from here. Only one of you will live. Let’s see who will push the other down.” To his surprise, we both jumped. When I opened my eyes, I was back to the day of the mate bond ceremony. I saw Teresa was still alive and about to break into our ceremony. Stephen was standing beside me. We quickly changed looks. I shouted, “Wait a minute! Let her in.”