Secrets By Heart

I wanted to break away from her, be free... but why did she step on all my plans? Why did she want to keep me chained to her? She made me numb for the longest time until I met Dominic Black. He made a fire spark in my empty chest. He made me feel things, things I'd never felt before. I wanted to have him... except, he would now be my new stepbrother. Just another thing my mother took from me.

Winifred Jaeger comes from an ordinary family. She meets Timothy Stringer, a rich heir who falls for her at first sight. He immediately starts pursuing her with gusto. Winifred knows they're from different worlds, so she keeps rejecting him. He doesn't give up, though. When she wants to have food from her hometown, he steps into the kitchen for the first time ever. He cooks for her, relishing in it despite getting scalded. When she wants to have candy, he lines up in the dead of winter to get it for her. The iciness and sharp wind don't faze him. She likes fringe tree flowers, so he gets seeds from all over the world. He covers a mountaintop with them for her. She likes making desserts, so he buys ingredients for her from various places. He's more than happy to test her finished products. When she's in a bad mood, he makes sure to cheer her up despite being sick. When Winifred graduates from college, Timothy spreads 99,999 roses on the field to propose to her. She finally realizes she's long since fallen for him, so she says yes. Everyone says she's lucky to have met a man who loves her so and thinks of her as his only one. Yet it's precisely this man who cheats on her when they're about to get married. He tells her he loves her, yet he almost manically tries to have a baby with his mistress. Heartbroken and devastated, Winifred chooses to leave. It's only after she's gone that Timothy searches for her like crazy. When he finds her, he does everything possible to beg her to go back to him. He paces outside her door and begs her incessantly, his eyes red-rimmed. However, she turns him down calmly. "It's too late—you're a closed chapter in my book, and I'm already on a new chapter." Winifred turns to look at a tall, handsome man standing nearby—Timothy's childhood friend, Cyrus Littrell.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. When Isabela's father is diagnosed with cancer, money for treatment is the last thing on their minds. But as bills start piling up with no end in sight, Isabel is left with no choice. She seeks out Noah Wolfe, an old family "friend" who has inherited an empire. To her surprise, Noah offers to cover all medical costs. But there's a catch - Isabel must marry him. With her father's life on the line, she accepts Noah's proposal. But Isabel soon realizes she’s in way over her head. Behind closed doors, Noah is nothing like his public image. As his grip on her tightens, Isabela starts to wonder - is getting stuck in this marriage actually a death sentence in disguise? She'll need to play the game better than Noah if she wants to survive. But can she outmaneuver a man with infinite resources and a personality as dark as his secrets? With her life and her father's on the line, the stakes have never been higher in Isabel's deadly game of cat and mouse.

Zach Garrett must go to any lengths to avenge the death of his wife and his unborn child. The Kents are the targets for his revenge. Will his vengeance bring him the closure he so desires? How far will he go? Is there redemption for this man in pain? Regrets? Hope? Read to find out yourself.

Vanessa Carmichael never dreamed she would marry a man like Alexander Cole, the ruthless, untouchable CEO who commands respect and fear in equal measure. But when her mother’s life hangs in the balance, desperation forces her into an unthinkable deal: a three-year marriage contract with the coldest man she has ever met. Alexander makes one thing clear, this is business, not love. Yet from the moment Vanessa steps into his glittering mansion, their worlds collide in ways neither expected. At high-society galas, he shields her with icy authority. Behind closed doors, he lays down rules she refuses to follow. She pushes back; he pulls her closer. Theirs is a dangerous dance of control, passion, and secrets. But as cracks form in Alexander’s perfect mask, Vanessa begins to wonder, what is he hiding behind those dark, guarded eyes? And will she survive the fire she’s walking into…or burn for him completely?

Blurb The downpour washed the dark alleys of Ole Keating Village like Jupiter is wrathful towards the small town. Every time the lightning slashes the skies sending frightening thunders everywhere, the little boy’s strides become faster. “You’ve got nowhere to run, boy.” He harshly covered his ears just to get away from the taunting voice. The heavy rain somehow managed to wipe the blood from his body yet the pain unrelenting to grow. He fell on his knees resulting in another painful and ugly scratch to bleed. He looks like a beaten rag. He hasn’t eaten for days and the fearsome encounter he just escapes didn’t guarantee his safety. Even limping, he tried to get on his feet just to stumble and fall on the cold, hard ground again. A loud sound of the honking car filled his ears as the blinding light approaches closer. Surrendering, he lied flat on the ground wishing the pain finally ends. Sounds of boots slapping the water from the road come into his senses but he’s too weak to care. Someone’s checking on him but all that he can think of right now is the girl she left alone in the old warehouse. “S-save her…” he mumbled, tasting blood in his mouth, “Please save her.” The darkness pulled him and he finally gave in.

My sister and I were caught up in a severe car accident during a family road trip down the mountain for the New Year. Shattered glass pierced straight through my heart. Amid the excruciating pain, my fiance and family insisted the rescue team take my sister, who only had a scratched arm, to the hospital first. As I cried out for them to save me, my fiance snapped at me. “Carol, you should know when to stop vying for attention! “Delila is bleeding so much. Why must you compete with her?” Dad shook his head and sighed while Mom looked at me with disgust. I forced my stiff neck to look over. They were all surrounding my younger sister. She only sported a faint red mark on her arm. No one saw the blood gushing from my chest. No one heard my fading heartbeat. I died during that snowy, bitterly frigid night. When they finally remembered me and came across my cold body, my fiance and family went mad.

Forces were conspiring around Finn and Lili just as their relationship was blooming... Finn heard a few jeers and cheers, "Kick him out! Kick him out!" Before he could react, Lili stood up and pushed Billy's hand away and growled really loudly, "Get out of our house NOW! Get the 'f' out! All of you! This is between Finn and myself and the investigation team. Get out!" Her face was bright red and her little fists were clenched so tightly. She was ready to punch someone but she kept her composure. Billy yelled back, "You're gonna regret this, just you wait!" Turning to leave, Billy saw Finn standing in the doorway. He was as quiet as a church mouse and as still as a statue. He wasn't giving in to the anger festering inside. Billy walked by and threw the first punch and within seconds the crowd dragged Finn outside and started to beat the crap out of him. Lili was powerless but managed to have enough sense to call 911 immediately and then she grabbed a bat and started banging it on the porch. When the crowd heard the sirens, they all jumped in their cars and took off. Even Billy! Especially Billy! By the time she got to Finn, he was a bloody mess and was barely breathing.... How could everyone in the town turn on Finn? Hadn't he proven over the last three years that he turned his life around but one small accusation and Lili was standing outside of their home in the freezing cold, staring at the blood stained snow. An image that would haunt her for the rest of her life. Would Finn survive the beating and come back to her arms as the same man? Or would outside forces continue to push them apart?

Everything changed on my twelfth birthday. The brakes failed, the tragic crash, and the death of our parents. My brother blamed it all on me. He ruled as the mafia boss, yet all he showed me was hatred. The only love he had left was for our younger sister. He never believed how sick I became. He accused me of faking my sickness to get attention. He would turn to our sister with a gentleness I never received, he promised to save her, and he promised she would never die on his watch. My heart ended up beating inside her chest even after I died. He finally saw what was left of my damaged body after I was gone. The truth my brother never bothered to face would shatter his world.

Miss Zariah is a lawyer and a goddamn good one, she's known to be ruthless, and she'll put her own mother behind bars if she dares to break the law, to any outsider she's a cold-blooded snake, but to the ones that know her, she's not. Zee is a sweetheart, she'd move heaven and earth for the ones she loves, including her very close circle of friends, and that's about it. She never counted on standing up for a mafia lord, to go with him anywhere, or to fall in love with him, but life is never what we expect or what we want. Hades, wasn't a nice guy, a cold-hearted man, one who had committed many crimes before and will commit many more in the days to come, but his whole world stopped when he saw Zee, his little bunny, he's going to make her hers. This story includes cgl, ddlg, and a bit of coffee addiction. Apologies for any misspelling or grammar mistakes