Shots In A Fifth

_"You can't hide from your past forever, Susan."_ That’s what my stepmother, Jessica, sneered at me six years ago before sending me off with nothing but a fake ticket to America and a shattered heart. I had always been the perfect daughter, but one scandalous photo ruined everything. Betrayed by my own family, abandoned by the man I loved, I was left with nothing but a broken heart and a daughter to protect. Now, I’m back, and I’m not the same naive girl they tried to destroy. I’ve fought my way to the top, and I’m ready to reclaim what’s mine. _"You’re the one with everything to lose, Jessica. Let’s see how you handle it."_ With my daughter by my side and secrets in my arsenal, I’m ready to face the family that betrayed me. But when Ryan, a man with his own dark past, steps into my life, things get even more complicated. He’s powerful, infuriatingly arrogant, and claims to be the father of my child. _"You think you can just walk back into my life and call the shots, Ryan? Think again."_ This isn’t just about revenge anymore. It’s about survival, about protecting my daughter. _"This time, I’m playing by my own rules."_ But with enemies closing in and the stakes higher than ever, I’ll need more than just determination to win. I’ll need to decide who I can trust—and whether my heart is ready to take the ultimate risk. _"Are you with me, or against me, Ryan?"_ This is my story, and it’s time to take back what was stolen from me. But in the world of power and betrayal, nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

My best friend and my husband, Lorenzo Bartoli, fought every time they met. Lorenzo was the Don of the family, while my best friend was his Consigliere. She always fiercely opposed his most ruthless, high-risk decisions. Tempers explode every single time. But there was one rule that they both agreed on without any hesitation. No one was allowed to touch me. Because of them, no one in the city dared to cross me. Until the fifth month of my pregnancy, when I went down to the basement vault to organize Lorenzo's guns for him. I opened the safe to see stacks of letters, hundreds of them, all unsent. I picked one up. The moment I opened the letter, cold dread overwhelmed me. The receiver of the letter wasn't me. [My dearest Sofia…] I quickly scanned downward to the final lines of the letter. [If I don't make it back alive, everything in the Swissie accounts goes to you. As for Vittoria, she's a good woman, but I have never loved her.] With trembling hands, I tore open the rest of the letters like a hysterical woman. Three hundred of them in total. Every single one was addressed to Sofia Finzi. Sofia was not a stranger. She was my best friend.

I've been caught in a relationship with a divorced man for eight years. We've broken up and reconciled too many times to count. In the end, I tallied ninety-four breakups and five divorces between us. One more would make it an even hundred, but I'm too exhausted to continue this cycle. The first breakup happened when I was giving him my virginity. Halfway through, his ex-wife called asking him to pick up some bread, and he simply left. The fifth breakup occurred when he abandoned me, newly pregnant, on the highway to comfort his ex-wife who was having complications with her own pregnancy. I ended up in a car accident and miscarried. He arrived at the hospital with his clothes disheveled. Despite all the pain he caused me, I could never bring myself to truly leave him. Our most recent divorce happened for an equally absurd reason. His ex-wife and their child were participating in a family reality TV show that required them to appear as a complete family unit. To protect his ex-wife's public image, he divorced me yet again. When filming wrapped, he called to discuss remarrying. This time I refused, because I'm going to marry someone else.

On our fifth wedding anniversary, my wife, who had struggled with fertility for years, suddenly felt nauseous. The college student we had been sponsoring panicked and rushed her to the hospital. Half an hour later, she called me. "I'm pregnant." I was thrilled, until her next words froze me in place. "The father's the college student, the one we've been supporting. He got sick that night and I felt bad for him, so I stayed over. I didn't think anything would happen. We have to keep this quiet. He's graduating soon and joining our company. We can't let this mess things up for him. "And you need to quit your job, so he can take your position. I'm going to need you home to take care of me." The sheer audacity left me speechless, but I kept my voice level. "Okay." She hung up, satisfied. What she did not know was that years ago, someone had made me a promise. If I turned 30 years old and still did not have a child, she would give me one. Today was my 30th birthday.

At our college graduation, my fiance suddenly proposed to Lillie Stewart, my best friend, in front of everyone. I became a joke in front of everyone. Right after Lillie accepted my fiance’s proposal, Lloyd Becker, heir to the biggest mafia family on the West Coast, publicly said he loved me. Lloyd was known in the mafia world for being serious and never getting involved with women. So, when he showed an interest in an orphan like me, it made the news. We got married, and for five years, he was so sweet and treated me like a princess. But one day, I accidentally overheard him talking to his friend. “Lillie is already set to become the future lady of the Gacira family. Are you really going to keep the act up with Nelly?” “If I can’t have Lillie, it doesn’t matter who I marry. As long as I’m with Nelly, Lillie can live peacefully.” He even gave Lillie the symbol of the Becker family’s lady. He helped Lillie build her career while letting me fade into the background. After five years of marriage, I finally understood. On our fifth anniversary, I pretended to die in a shooting so he could be with the woman he truly loved. But instead of being happy, Lloyd completely broke down.

On her fifth wedding anniversary, Mireille Rousseau dies in a staged car accident orchestrated by her billionaire husband Damon Kessler and his mistress Vivienne Marchetti. She opens her eyes the morning before her wedding — twenty-two years old, every memory intact, and one single objective: burn it all down before it begins. She rejects Damon publicly at the altar. She signs a contract marriage with Nikolai Voss — the cold, ruthless CEO her ex-husband destroyed in her previous life. She gives Nikolai the one thing money cannot buy: she already knows every move Damon is going to make. What begins as a pure transaction slowly becomes something neither of them planned for. Nikolai watches Mireille dismantle a man who once buried her and he cannot look away. Mireille watches Nikolai step into every battle beside her without being asked and she cannot explain what that does to her. Meanwhile Damon Kessler is unraveling. She is not grieving. She is not chasing him. She is not the woman he built his entire plan around. And the more he reaches for her the more he loses — his company, his reputation, his carefully constructed empire — and he begins to understand too late that he never actually knew what he had.

She was never meant to survive their world. Now she’s the only one who can burn it down. Lyra thought she was just a girl with strange dreams and a birthmark that shimmered beneath moonlight. But when a celestial event rips her from Earth and drops her into the brutal halls of the Academy of the Ascendant, she discovers a deadly truth: she’s the lost heir of a realm that erased her bloodline—and she’s carrying the forbidden magic that could unravel it all. The Academy is ruled by power and hierarchy. The weak are crushed. The strong ascend. And the Triad—three elite heirs born of elemental fire, storm, and air—will do anything to break her. Until they realize she’s more powerful than all of them. Mocked. Hunted. Desired. As Lyra unlocks the four elemental affinities no student should possess, she becomes the center of a prophecy that the Council has killed to keep buried. But it’s the fifth element—the forbidden Void—that marks her for something more. Survival means mastering her magic. Love could cost her everything. And rebellion might just start with a kiss. Perfect for fans of Zodiac Academy, Throne of Glass, and The Cruel Prince, Marked by Starlight is the explosive first book in a dark fantasy romance series filled with elemental magic, enemies-to-lovers heat, and a heroine who refuses to bow.

" Just kill me, Alpha! I can't stand it anymore! " , Ashina growled, wincing in pain. " You know what I call my victory? I can see the hatred in your eyes even when I am f***king you! ", Torvar shouted back, pressing her hard against the desk to claim her for the fifth times in row. __________ Ashina Levitsky was confident about being gifted with a sweet, handsome mate by the moon goddess since she was the most obedient, innocent lady of the pack. Brought up as a princess of her Alpha father, Ashina was praised for her dignity by everyone until the day, she was accused of killing sister who was once mated to the dark Alpha, Torvar Kessler. On his day of getting his revenge on Ashina, moon goddess played a dark twist and Ashina turned out to be his second chance mate. Infamous dark Alpha, Torvar Kessler who was known as a killing machine vowed to kill her slowly after claiming her as his mate. Behind those tortures, pains and revenge, Torvar found himself stuck between the lines of love and hate until he learnt that you can never honestly hate the person whom you love. What more secrets were waiting for them?

Clara found herself in a loveless marriage. For five years, she performed her wifey duties so well, but Bruno never really cared about her. Every second she is reminded how she robbed him off getting married to the woman he loves. On their fifth anniversary, just like the previous one, Bruno didn’t show up putting every of her effort into a waste. And when he finally did, it was the same cold expression but this time with a divorce papers thrown at her. Clara was heartbroken but it cut deeply when she found out Bruno has a secret family. A little child of three. All their years of marriage, Bruno told her he doesn’t want kids. Even when she managed to get pregnant, He forced her into abortion! *************** Years later, Clara had returned strongly, Not just the ordinary Clara but a well-known doctor who has never had a failed surgery and guess who came back begging, Bruno! “I was wrong, please forgive me! save my dying daughter! I begged you” Bronu knelt down and held Clara by the leg. Will Clara save Bruno child? What if Clara child was never aborted? Seat back and read this Drama-filled story.

Cole Richardson Sutcliffe is the most eligible billionaire in New York City. His good looks and his money attract every woman he meets. Cole’s ambition knows no limit, and his next step, now that his father has retired, is to conquer the world, one company at a time, even if that means losing his freedom to a loveless wedding. Cole doesn’t believe in love or has time to entertain the idea of a relationship until he meets his newly-wed wife’s daughter. The girl with the fiery hair and the spitfire personality that will rock his world in ways he didn’t know possible. Niccola Fairchild has been living alone since her mother sent her to Switzerland to attend a boarding school. Her rebellious ways did not match their new lifestyle in the Upper East Side of New York. Attending her mother’s fifth wedding reception seems like a nightmare she is unwilling to witness, but when she is forced to organize it, she has no escape but to endure the criticism of her life and behavior. Cole and Niccola feel an instant attraction for each other, which turns their lives upside down and forces them to reevaluate everything they thought was important. How will Niccola live with herself as she kisses her mother’s husband?