The Air He Breathes

I thought getting a new foster brother would be weird. I didn’t expect him to look like he walked off a Netflix show—blue eyes, tattoos, and the personality of a brick wall. My little brother’s obsessed with him. My parents act like he’s made of glass. Me? I think Carmelo’s hiding something. And I plan to find out what.

On New Year's Eve, I returned home. At the welcome party, my boyfriend, Grayson Caldwell, suddenly appeared, holding a bouquet of red roses and a diamond ring, dropping to one knee. "Although this proposal comes a full three years late, our love will never be late," he said. "Alexa, marry me!" Friends cheered from the sidelines, all expecting me to nod through tears and say yes. But they had forgotten that three years ago, on New Year's Eve, he had promised to propose. That night, I dressed to the nines and waited until dawn—but he never showed up. Instead, there was only a cold phone call. "Tanya is sick. I'm busy taking care of her. You'll have to wait a little longer for the proposal." And so, on New Year's Day, I left the country alone, bound by a family-arranged marriage. I had already married someone else three years ago.

After I reunited with my real family, I somehow became a copycat who got on my father's nerves. The fake heir, Duncan Weaver, studied abroad at a top university. So I got into grad school after studying for just three months. When Duncan came back to start a business, I built a leading men's clothing brand in the industry within a year. When Duncan made the news for volunteering in rural schools, I donated millions of dollars and ended up making bigger headlines. They couldn't stand it. But they couldn't beat me either. Then one day, right after Duncan publicly announced his engagement, I posted my own wedding announcement the very next day. My biological father, who hadn't contacted me in three years, immediately called. He ordered me to take down my wedding photos. "You copying Duncan in everything was already bad enough," he snapped. "Now you're even trying to steal his fiancée? What the hell are you thinking?" On the other end of the call, I could hear Duncan crying. "Dad, don't say that," he said between sobs. "I asked Chelsea. She doesn't even know Leo. "That wedding photo he posted is fake. He edited it just to piss me off." Who was Chelsea? Since when did the woman I had grown up with for 18 years at the orphanage become someone else's fiancée? Then Duncan sent over his own wedding photo. What a funny coincidence. The woman in the photo looked exactly like my fiancée.

Betrayed, humiliated, and discarded, Serena had always thought that she had nothing left to lose. Married to a man that she once adored, Alexander Calloway, she endured years of neglect and emotional torture, while she watched his childhood sweetheart, Pristine , play the innocent victim and get all the love. When Serena is asked to sign the divorce papers, she is left with nothing but a broken heart, and a hunger for revenge. She finally signs it, while Alexander realizes too late that the woman he so easily discarded was the one he should have fought for. But when fate brings them back together, Serena is no longer the weak, submissive wife, she’s a woman that is determined to make him pay for what he did to her. Will Alexander win back the love he destroyed, or will Serena’s revenge consume them?

After five years with Nathaniel Sinclair, Sylvia Garner thought their love would lead to a lifelong commitment. But when Nathaniel postponed their wedding, her world began to crumble. At a private club, Sylvia stumbled upon a scene that shattered her heart—Nathaniel down on one knee, proposing to another woman. “You’ve been with Sylvia for five years, but now you’re suddenly marrying Vivian Hayes. Aren’t you afraid she’ll be upset?” someone asked. Nathaniel shrugged it off. “Vivian is ill; this is her dying wish. Sylvia loves me too much to leave.” The whole world knew Sylvia loved Nathaniel to the point of obsession, believing she couldn’t live without him. But this time, he was wrong. On the day of his wedding, he told his friend, “Keep an eye on Sylvia. Don’t let her know I’m marrying someone else!” His friend froze. “Sylvia is getting married today too. Didn’t you know?” At that moment, Nathaniel broke down.

As a werewolf all I wanted was a normal life, I wanted to go to school, serve in the pack house until my serving time elapsed, get a job and maybe find my mate, I would say that I had everything planned out. On the day of the soon to be Alpha’s birthday, I found out that I was mated to him. My worst nightmare, a boy that had always bullied me because I was an omega. He hated me and I did too but his appearance in my life changed everything; I HATE YOU LOGAN.

When the alpha finally found his mate. He thought that everything will finally fall into the right places and the curse on his pack will immediately be lifted. He traveled all the way to find her. However, what happens when he discovered that the luna he has been waiting for all this time is nothing but a human and an enemy of his clan?. He hated the sight of her and vowed to change the course of his life without paying heed to the words of the moon goddess. However, only the human mate could prevent the prophecy of the looming danger. “She is my mate? How could she be the one for me? ” “Yes Alpha, she has the mark and you know it as well” “A wolfless human and enemy of the werewolf can not be my mate. I reject her!” The Human mate he hated!

I have two lives. By day, I’m just a girl trying to survive. By night, I’m someone men pay to touch. No one knows. No one ever will. Until Adrian walks into my VIP room. My brother’s best friend. My first love. The one man who should never see me like this. Now he keeps coming back. Keep watching me. Keeps getting closer to the truth. He thinks I’m two different women. He’s falling for both of us. And I’m running out of time to keep my secret Before everything I’ve built comes crashing down.

I was bleeding out in a corner after a hit from a rival family. My husband, Dante—the Torrino family’s underboss—was in his car, holding his best friend's little sister. He gave me one cold look and said, "Leave her. She's a nobody." Later, after someone else saved me, I walked home, soaked in my own blood. I found Dante cradling Seraphina, fussing over her. All she had was a scraped knee. The blood covering my clothes? He didn't even see it. I just watched. Said nothing. Then I pulled out my phone and called my mother. "Mom, I need to come home."

The moment I find out about my pregnancy, a notification from Twitter is displayed on my phone. Apparently, it's a tweet posted by my husband, Don Romano Caliendo's childhood friend, Teresa Fiorino. "Thanks to your sperm, I get to have a child of my own during the last stage of my life." The accompanying photo is a pregnancy test that clearly states that the sperm donor is Romano. I leave a question mark in the comment section. In just half a minute, my phone begins ringing loudly. Romano's angry voice bursts from the loudspeakers immediately. I've only heard him adapt such a tone whenever he gets mad at others during family meetings. "What did you mean by that comment, Selene Gardo? Teresa is dying from cancer! All she wants is to have a baby to keep her company before she breathes her last! Don't you have any sympathy for her at all?" Before I can put down my phone, my Twitter homepage gets refreshed. This time, Teresa has uploaded another photo. It features a luxurious deluxe-style apartment, where the floor-to-ceiling windows showcase the breathtaking cityscape of Brindleport at night. The caption reads, "Thank you for giving me a home so that I don't feel lonely in my final days." In a corner of the photo, Romano can be seen crouching on the floor while piecing a baby cot together. His side profile shows how focused he is on the task. As I wipe my tears from the corners of my eyes, I silently caress my flat belly, which has yet to show any changes. I'll take you far, far away from here, my dear baby.