Secrets In The Cellar Novels & Stories

Nyra Calder has spent three years building a life that does not require anyone to die for it. A quiet apartment. A kind man who loves her. A future that looks nothing like the compound she grew up in, where her father ran his empire on fear and she was trained to be its most precise instrument. She left all of it behind. She told herself she was done. Then her father turns up dead and the phone rings and the compound pulls her back like it never let go. She returns expecting grief. What she gets is a cellar, a drugged drink, and the man she planned to marry watching her fall with a face she has never seen before. Magnus was never who she thought he was. The life she built was constructed on top of something rotten. And the only person in her world who has never once lied to her is Raze Calder, the man she left, the man she has never stopped wanting, the man who looks at her like three years was nothing more than a delay. Nyra does not need saving. She never did. But she is about to find out what she actually needs, and it is nothing like what she chose.

My parents suddenly told me that we were living in a novel. I was the frail and favored younger brother destined to get into college, marry my childhood sweetheart, and live an easy life. My older brother, Daniel Luther, on the other hand, was the expendable one. He was destined to fail his SAT and be beaten to death. My parents said that if they wanted to save him, they had to make sure he got into college. They did everything they could to help him, but he still failed his SAT. Meanwhile, I got into the same college as my childhood sweetheart, Priscilla Grimmie, through my own hard work. That night, my parents snatched my college acceptance letter and locked me in a cellar under the backyard. "Let your brother take your place and go to college first. You can retake your exams next year." My foot slipped, and I hit my head hard against a canning jar. Warm blood trickled down my neck. I shouted, "Mom, it hurts!" She didn't even turn around. "Caleb, stop it! Your brother is one step away from his dreams!" Their footsteps gradually faded. I slowly closed my eyes. The next time I opened my eyes, I was already floating in midair.

I am the woman who stays the longest by the side of mafia Don Jasper Shaw. I believe I hold a unique place in his heart. But when his beloved Rosie Hurley suffers violation and falls pregnant, everything changes. Accused of orchestrating Rosie's downfall, I become the venomous villain in their eyes. To shield Rosie from gossip, Jasper publicly claims her unborn child as his own. Meanwhile, I am branded a depraved woman, defiled and discarded. Desperate, I reveal my own pregnancy to Jasper, pleading for our child’s future. He dismisses it as a ploy for attention. When I confront him, his words cut deep. "This is the sin you must atone for. Rosie has always been raised like a princess, and she can't endure the whispers—not like you." For the first time, I realize I am nothing to Jasper but a tool for his desires. Rosie locks me in a cramped cellar, where I suffocate and die. My body lies undiscovered for a month. When Jasper receives the call to identify my corpse, he brushes it off, prioritizing Rosie's prenatal checkup. "Amara's lies are piling up. So what if she's dead? Cremate her and then talk to me." My body enters the furnace and is reduced to a handful of ashes. Later, the mighty Jasper Shaw kneels and sobs uncontrollably. He begs for just one glimpse of me.

Julian Silas is a man living as a shadow. After the suspicious death of his father, a legendary royal jeweler, Julian’s treacherous stepfather seized the family’s prestigious workshop, forcing Julian into a life of clandestine labor. While his stepbrothers parade around high society in Julian’s designs, Julian remains locked in the cellar forge, known to the world only as a common servant. His only connection to his true identity is a pair of heirloom cufflinks—exquisite silver swans bearing the "Cigna," a secret mark used by his ancestors to authenticate their greatest works. Across the capital, Queen Althea is fighting a war of her own. Her advisors are pressuring her to enter a loveless political alliance to stabilize the crown. Defiant, she hosts a grand masquerade, declaring that she will choose a consort based on character, not a pedigree curated by the council. When Julian arrives at the ball in a suit of his own tailoring, he and Althea share a night of genuine connection, discussing the beauty of creation and the weight of duty. But as the clock strikes midnight, a palace security breach forces Julian to flee. In his haste to scale the garden wall, one of his Cigna cufflinks is torn from his sleeve and falls into the dewy grass. The Queen finds the token, but rather than sending her guards to find a man who "fits the suit," she turns to her greatest strength: her intellect. She recognizes that the "Cigna" isn't just an ornament—it’s a Coded Sign.

In the Santoro family, there was one rule: the heir marries a daughter from another powerful Family. But Alessio Santoro was crazy. He wanted to marry me, a nobody from a flower shop. He knelt in the family chapel for ten days straight. He even took a bullet fired by his own father, the Don. All just to walk away from his title and run away with me. I held him, crying, begging him to stop. He just smiled and kissed my eyes, wiping my tears. "Don't cry, Thea. As long as I can marry you, it's all worth it." In the end, the Santoros relented. But they had one condition: Alessio would still produce the next heir. Just not with me. He had to have a son with Aurelia Rossi. So I endured. I endured listening to them through the wall, night after agonizing night. I endured the smell of her perfume on his skin, the sight of her marks on his neck every time he kissed me. A year later, Aurelia got pregnant. It was a girl. Alessio begged me, his eyes red. "Just a little longer, Thea." So I waited another year. Finally, news came. Aurelia was pregnant with a boy. I thought we could finally leave, finally be free. But then disaster struck. Aurelia’s daughter had a sudden, violent allergic reaction. Everyone blamed me. They threw me in the cellar and left me to die. And Alessio? He believed them. This time, I was the one who gave up. I walked away from everything.

A mysterious plague swept through the packs, wiping out every last she-wolf. To continue their bloodline, these ancient predators turned to the human world, bringing with them centuries of wealth and power. They struck a pact, sealed in blood, with the most powerful human families: every summer solstice, the finest daughter would be chosen as a "Breeding mother," destined to mate with a wolf. And the one Breeding mother who could birth a female hybrid would be crowned, becoming the Queen of both the wolf and human worlds. In my last life, my sister Selena, the family favorite. She chose the Alpha of the warmest, richest territory. And me? I was the family’s sacrificial lamb, thrown to Colton, the most brutal Alpha of the Frozen Wastes. But who could have guessed my sister’s life of warmth and riches was all a lie? Her Alpha treated her like a disposable toy. She froze to death in a damp cellar, forced to listen to the fireworks that celebrated my coronation. Yes, I successfully gave birth to a girl. But those brilliant fireworks were also my funeral pyre. I died on that cold throne. Now, I’m alive again. We’re back on the day of the choosing. “I choose Alpha Colton of the Frozen Wastes!” The voice belonged to my sister, Selena. I slowly opened my eyes. Seeing the undisguised triumph and cold calculation in her eyes, I knew. She was reborn, too. But she didn't know，this time, she would be the one to fall into the very hell I just clawed my way out of.

For years, the witches and vampires of Shadowbrooke co-existed secretly, without much incident. Until one winter evening in 2002. Luca Delacroix was on a hunting trip when the monthly court hosted by his clan turned disastrous. What began as a normal night for the residents of the sleepy town ended horribly when fledgelings in blood-lust took Shadowbrooke under siege. It took a small coven of witches, a powerful spell, the Chaos Star and a virgin's blood to end the terror. But in the aftermath, Julian Delacroix, Luca's brother, along with several of their clan members, were eternally bound to the manor's cellar, forsaken to wither and perish from thirst. It's 2022, and Luca's returned to Shadowbrooke after two decades. His sudden reappearance threatens to destabilise the peaceful town again. He'll stop at nothing to get his brother out, and the Youngblood Coven will not hesitate to destroy him. While the witches scramble to get the missing piece of the Star of Chaos, the rune they once used against Luca's clan, he has to fight hard to stay one step ahead of them. But, his plans go awry when he meets and falls in love with Cadence Youngblood, the same woman responsible for his brother's infernal prison. Cadence is everything he shouldn't want, but for her, Luca is willing to take the backlash from his clan and risk her coven's wrath. © 2022 Val Sims. All rights reserved. No part of this novel may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author and publishers.

Synopsis: In the world of the ultra-elite, power is the only currency, and Dante Moretti is the man who owns the mint. For three years, the ruthless billionaire has watched Ivy St. Claire from the shadows, curating a digital and physical gallery of her life. He didn't just want her; he wanted to destroy the legacy of her father, a man who framed Dante’s family decades ago. When the St. Claire empire teeters on the edge of a $50 million ruin, Dante finally steps into the light, offering Ivy a deal that is nothing short of a soul-binding contract: her freedom for her father’s life. Ivy is thrust into the "Golden Cage" of Dante’s cliffside estate, a gothic masterpiece where every room is a reminder of his obsession. But the luxury is a mask for a terrifying reality. Dante is a man of "Red Flags," a possessive monster who treats Ivy as a living interest on a blood debt. The deeper she sinks into his world, the more she realizes his love is a poisonous blend of desire and vengeance. He isolates her, manipulates her emotions, and threatens everyone she loves to ensure she never takes a step beyond his reach. The stakes escalate when Ivy discovers the mansion’s darkest secret: Dante’s mother, Isabella, is alive and rotting in a hidden cellar, driven mad by years of captivity. Ivy finds herself trapped between two generations of madness, holding a mysterious key left by her father that unlocks a truth even more dangerous than Dante’s obsession. As the lines between hatred and a dark, Stockholm-style attraction begin to blur, Ivy must decide if she will find a way to break the Moretti curse or if she will succumb to being his most "Poisonous Possession" forever.

I'm abducted the day before my wedding. My abductors lock me in a dark cellar and repeatedly violate me. My legs are snapped, and I'm thrown out with a pile of trash while undressed. Someone takes a photo of me and shares it online. My family finds me a disgrace, so they send me to a hospital in the suburbs and hide me there. After half a year of treatment, my ovaries are removed due to extensive damage. My broken legs can't recover, and I lose the ability to walk. I'm supposed to be a rising star in dancing. Now, however, I'm forced to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I can't even have children anymore. The Levy family sees photos of me online and immediately calls off my engagement to their son, Quentin Levy. They call me a shameless woman. Then, they make Quentin marry my sister, Laura Sorensen. I think my family will pity me, but my grandfather calls me a disgrace. He wants to disown me. At that moment, Quentin's brother, Elias Levy, proposes to me. "You've only had eyes for my brother in the past. Now that he's married, will you give me a chance to care for you?" He sounds determined, and the heartache in his eyes moves me. I agree to marry him. After we're married, Elias gives me the love and care I need. He doesn't allow anyone to harm me. A year later, I complete my treatment earlier than expected and return home to surprise him for our anniversary. That's when I overhear his conversation with my brother. "Elias, I helped you trick Jean out of the house two years ago, leading to her abduction and torture. That's why she's like this now. So you can't let her down." "I did all of this for Laura's happiness. As for Jean, I'll make sure she doesn't have to worry about survival for the rest of her life…"

Isabella Rossi has gotten reborn. The moment she opens her eyes, she sees the divorce agreement that her husband, Enzo Caro, has pushed toward her. He spins the ring that symbolizes his status as the Don of the Caro family, his tone so calm that one would think he's discussing today's weather. "Let's get a divorce, Bella. Sofia is pregnant, leaving her with volatile mood swings. I can't bear to see the love of my life suffering this much. Go ahead and ask for any form of compensation you want." Today is their seventh year wedding anniversary. Enzo has gone missing for one whole night, and yet the first thing he brings up is divorce right after he returns to the seaside villa. As Isabella stares at the man whom she had once loved with all her heart, she finds herself starting to space out. After this moment played out in her previous life, Isabella hadn't wasted her breath on Enzo. Instead, she picked up the fruit knife on the coffee table and plunged it into his chest. His blood had sprayed all over her face. With red-rimmed eyes, Isabella demanded in a quivering tone, "If Sofia's your true love, then what about me and my role in these past seven years?" No one won the battle afterward. Isabella had torn up the divorce agreement and spent the next ten years pestering Enzo. When Isabella slapped Sofia, Enzo dragged her into the interrogation room without hesitation and slapped her for a hundred times. When Isabella smashed Sofia's birthday cake, Enzo locked her up in a basement cellar for three days and nights, where a nest of venomous snakes remained her only company throughout that period. There, Isabella had lost her unborn child. Incidents such as those kept happening throughout the years. Enzo, the man who used to shield Isabella from harm, ended up being the same man who'd then torment her to the point of no return for the sake of another woman. In order to back Sofia up, Enzo made sure to cut off the Rossi family from Millbrook's shipping channels, pharmaceutical lines, and several legitimate financial pipelines. With all their paths cut off from them, Isabella's parents had no choice but to commit suicide by shooting themselves in the head. It's all thanks to this wrongly placed love that Isabella lost her family, her pride as the principessa of the Rossis, as well as her bright and vibrant life. This time, she won't go down the same tragic route, that's for sure!