Tasting Blood After Coughing

The night before high school graduation, Ethan Luciano pulled me into his bedroom. His hands were rough, his touch demanding, yet my heart overflowed with a decade's worth of unspoken longing. I'd loved Ethan for ten years, and finally, it seemed my silent wishes had come true. Afterwards, as we lay tangled in his sheets, he whispered that he'd marry me after graduation. Once he took over the Luciano family's empire from his father, he'd make me the most cherished woman in the family. I believed him. The next morning, I sat curled up against his bare chest as he casually told my foster brother, Lucas, about us. My cheeks were flushed, and my heart raced, still clinging to the sweetness of the night before. However, then their conversation shifted into Italian. Lucas smirked, leaning back against the doorframe. "Not bad, Young Boss. Your first time, and the school's 'it girl' just threw herself at you. So, how's my little sister taste?" Ethan gave a lazy chuckle. "Looks like an angel, but a freak in the sheets. Who would’ve thought?" The room erupted in low, conspiratorial laughter. Lucas raised a brow. "So, should I call her my little sister or my future sister-in-law?" Ethan’s tone darkened, his arm tightening around my waist for a moment. Then he let out a sigh. "She’s nothing. Just practice," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "I’m trying to hook up with the cheer captain, Sylvia Dawson, but I don’t want her thinking I’m clueless in bed. Cynthia Saville’s just a warm-up." He paused. "But don’t tell Sylvia. I don’t need her getting all emotional." They didn't know that I’d spent months secretly learning Italian, preparing for the life I thought I’d share with Ethan. I didn't say a word. Later that day, I quietly withdrew my early decision application to Caltech and applied to MIT instead.

My mom kindly took in the daughter of her deceased friend. Unexpectedly, the girl smoked, drank, fought, and refused to improve. She even fell madly in love with the school bully and jumped into a river to prove her love for him. My mom tried to save her, but the girl pushed her head underwater. The girl was rescued and embraced by the bully, but my mom drowned. Reborn, I stopped my mom from jumping in, but she shoved me into the river, shouting, "Why isn't it you jumping in?"

They say third time is the charm, but for Becca, Mandy, Lucy, and Tracy, twice turned out to be the charm they hoped for. Follow these four women as they try to find, Love after Heartbreak.

Stanley Meyer and I were the main leads of a sappy school romance novel. We were childhood sweethearts with a bond stronger than iron and steel. Everyone thought that I'd be Mrs. Meyer in the future despite the fact that I was the daughter of the Meyers' housekeeper. That was, until I personally witnessed Stanley making out with Tina West, Gerard West's illegitimate daughter who has just returned from abroad. He even put the emerald pendant, which was supposed to be a keepsake from my grandma, on her neck carefully. I was overwhelmed trying to figure out this unexpected variable outside the plot. But Stanley decided to imprison me in a mental asylum instead. "It's better for you to wake up from that daydream of yours. I'm sick of hearing you prattle about the male and female leads for so many years. Only when Tina is by my side do I feel a sense of freedom." The torture I was forced to undergo in the mental asylum was too much for me to handle. My only salvation was the spare time I got to scribble down the original plotline of this novel. When Stanley found out, however, he torched my drafts instantly. He even went as far as to poison the glass I drink from. Before I died, I heard his icy voice. "Tina will continue to live her life in fear as long as someone in this world remembers the original plot. That's why you must die for her sake." When I woke up again, I'd returned to the day I witnessed Stanley and Tina making out with each other. Everyone around me wore various expressions, though they collectively decided to stay quiet. I was the one who shattered the silence by raising my glass with a smile. "I wish you a lifetime of happiness."

To prepare for a baby, my wife, Daphne Sinclair, suggested we start working out together and keep each other accountable by tracking our daily step counts. While I was away on a two-week business trip, she ranked first on our Fitbit leaderboard every single night. Then one day, my neighbor suddenly sent me a video. The location tag showed it was filmed right in the parking lot beneath my apartment. "Bro, impressive. Your wife's even hired a personal trainer for her workouts now? That Maybach suspension really hits different." In the video, a pink sports bra I had never seen before hung from the driver’s side window. The car rocked rhythmically, accompanied by Daphne's restrained yet excited breathing. I dialed her number. "Where are you?" Her voice turned soft and coy. "On the treadmill, sprinting. Honey, I'm working so hard for our baby." "Really?" I chuckled. "You've worked so hard the entire neighborhood knows about it." Holding the phone, I said slowly, word by word, "Open the door. I'm bringing you a towel."

I never expected my husband, Tony Baldino, to confess that he had cheated on me again. Six months ago, I discovered his affair. The pain was sharp, but I had resolutely signed the divorce papers, only for him to tear them up in desperation, crying at my doorstep through the rain. He swore he would never hide anything from me again, begging for a second chance. Soaked and humiliated, the high-and-mighty don of the Baldino family looked like a child abandoned by his own. Seeing him and feeling the life growing in my womb, I softened and forgave him. However, only half a year later, he betrayed me once more. This time, before I could discover it, he confessed. “It only happened once with Jane. You’re still the one I love. Don’t worry, she won’t take your place as Mrs. Baldino.” His honesty was intact. He hid nothing from me. Yet he had forgotten one thing. When we reconciled, I had made him a promise of my own. “Tony, you should understand by now that I am decisive. Once I make a decision, I will never return. I’d even vanish from your life. This time is the only exception.” Since he refuses to divorce me, I will disappear in another way.

Poor or rich, Influential or infamous, there will always be moments that has left us downcasted; moments becoming memories that has created a habitual space in our hearts. 24 year old Linda Solanke, daughter to political juggernaut and a career-crazy lady battles with her past which has become a strong contender as she thoroughly thrive to attain success in spite of nightmares, regrets from her past and confrontations from those she perceive as malicious. What do the world expect from a 24 year old lady? Success? Is marriage a necessity? When the troubled Linda meets the striving young man, Bode Thomas after giving up on love, we wonder if she will assure herself that life is not really as cruel as she had thought but can Bode's fiery nature make her tick? Will Linda look past her fears and doubts by finally pleasing the world by agreeing to the basis that she really need a man afterwards? Won't her past haunt her once more when things get better and the unexpected happens? When trouble set in once more, what should be done? Read and discover in "Sought-After Peace" a new thrilling novel!

When Claire was asked to be Ethan's after-school tutor, she was up to the task. She didn't think that it would be hard to keep her emotions at bay despite the spoiled rich boy's piercing eyes and flirty disposition, but little did she know that she was in for more trouble than it seemed.

Olivia B. Lawson gave up her life for love. She married her college sweetheart Vincent, who grew colder by the day. ‘Sign these documents to give my mother a piece of your liver; she needs it!’ ‘Your mother? The same one who hates me?’ ‘Stop being selfish, Olivia! I didn't marry a selfish woman!’ To make matters worse, the best friend she trusted conspired against her and slept with her husband. With nowhere else to turn when her life is threatened, she relies on the kindness of a handsome stranger: ‘Help me, my husband wants to steal my organs. I promise to repay you when we get these divorce documents to court.’ Will Olivia regret her proposal when the handsome stranger turns out to be the ruthless and most feared among the 'new money': 'Billionaire' film investor Matteo D'Amico, a wolf in sheep's clothing?

When some innocent teenagers accidentally broke the spell that was laid on the two breeds, chaos came back on earth. There was war between the vampires and werewolves who never chose to be together. They found their place on earth and tried to dominate it. For them to be able to stay on earth without any barrier, they had to search for the carrier of the blood. Both breeds fought for the blood… “Now, we are back to our world!” the wolves chanted. “This is our world, not yours! You should go back” the head of the vampire clan shot at him. Would they find the lost blood and be able to live on earth?