The Grieving Gumball

Six years ago, I signed a contract that cost me everything. I lost my mother and I lost my child. And when the deal ended, Killian Ashford—the man I married for decided I was the villain who betrayed him. I still hate him for that blindness, he couldn't see the truth. He was grieving his grandmother and i was greiveng the child i would never hold. Now, I was back, forced into a cruel collaboration with Killian's company and to op it all off, the insane mana that was Killian moved into the appartment next to mine in the penthouse, and the hatred between us is thick, constantly boiling over into reckless, desperate hookups. The worst part? I still loved him, and his constant attempts to get me back is the one thing that threatens my control. The stakes are higher than he knows, though. The day i married him i saw the truth and the truth: the real monster who destroyed our lives was Killian's childhood best friend, Tanya. But Killian doesn't see it. He can't, he never could. Tanya is his loyal friend, his rock. My fight wasn't just against Tanya; it's against the man who hated me but still wanted me but would never See Tanya as what she truly was and i had no intention of Letting Tanya screw with me. I'm didnt return for revenge, but I'll do whatever it takes to expose the Tanya and survive my crazy Ex-Husband. The question is, could I save Killian from his best friend before his love destroys me?

A secret society of widows. A cold billionaire with a deadly past. One woman sent to seduce him... and destroy him. When Genevieve Holloway buries her husband, she thinks the worst is behind her. But the black-veiled woman at the funeral of her husband says otherwise. “You’ve been chosen.” Drawn into a shadowy society of grieving wives turned silent assassins, Genevieve is given one final task before she can walk free: infiltrate the life of Dominic Rourke—the enigmatic tech billionaire tied to her husband’s mysterious death—and expose the truth. Her mission is clear: seduce him. Infiltrate him. Ruin him. But Dominic Rourke is nothing like she expected. Cold. Calculating. Unreachable. And he’s never let any woman get close—until her. Worse still, his five-year-old daughter clings to Genevieve like a lost soul, whispering secrets she shouldn’t know. Secrets about her dead mother… and the club Genevieve now serves. The deeper Genevieve sinks into Dominic’s world, the more dangerous her own becomes. The women she trusted have blood on their hands. The man she was sent to destroy might be innocent. And the lies that bind them all go deeper than any grave. Genevieve begins to develop feelings for the man she’s sent to ruin, and he sees himself letting go of his cold nature to make her happy and find her husband’s killer. In a game of power, seduction, and betrayal, only one can survive. And Genevieve must decide: Is she the hunter or the hunted? Will she be Dominic’s ruin, or will she become his everything?

I knew my husband, Josh Perkins, had faked his death and taken on his younger twin brother's identity—but I never said a word. Instead, I went straight to the commander of the military district and filed an official report of my husband's death, requesting his name be permanently removed from the service rolls. In my last life, my brother-in-law died in an accident. Josh gave up his rank as regimental commander, abandoned his own name, and stepped into his brother's shoes—all to spare his fragile sister-in-law from becoming a widow. Back then, I recognized him immediately. I confronted him and demanded to know why he was pretending to be a dead man. But Josh just looked through me, cold as a winter morning. "Riley, I know you're grieving Josh. But I'm not him. Don't mistake me for my brother." He shielded that delicate sister-in-law of his behind him, then shoved me into the icy river and warned me not to harbor delusions. Later, our five-year-old daughter cried, asking why her daddy didn't want her anymore. For that, she was dragged to the cowshed for "reflection"—left there, starving, for three days and nights. My mother-in-law called me a curse, a jinx who'd killed her son, and threw my daughter and me out with nothing but the clothes on our backs. Josh made sure everyone knew I'd "gone mad"—that I was lusting after my brother-in-law before my husband was even cold in the ground. The whole town turned their backs on us. That last winter, I wandered the streets with my girl, dazed and numb, until the cold finally took us both. But when I opened my eyes again, I was back. Back to the very day Josh buried his old life and stole his brother's.

'What are you doing?' she asked, wondering why her heart was beating so fast. 'What does it look like?' he asked advancing towards her and finally backing her to the wall. 'I.. I don't know', she stammered. She who feared no one was suddenly very nervous and unsure. Why was he having such an unsettling effect on her? she wondered. Yet her body trembled with excitement. 'But you know you want me badly?' he asked, a slow dangerous smile playing around his lips, belting the desire that darkened his eyes. How did he know that? She thought she had done a great job of hiding it. 'I can smell it all over you', he said huskily as he deliberately moved his hand to her neck to draw her lips closer, while raising both her hands above her head with the other hand. 'Rest assured, I feel exactly the same way', he said, dipping his head and capturing her lips. 'Hmmm', she moaned. That was not the answer she was expecting but it would suffice for now. She had to assuage the hunger ravaging her body, driving her insane. If he really felt the same way she felt, love wasn't too farfetvhed, or was it? ***** Alpha Diana was kniwn as the Masked Alpha, a strong and formidable force to be reckoned with. An ice queen but that was until she started getting some strange mind links from a wolf to his dead mother and those mind links called out to her and she knew she had to help this grieving wolf heal. What she did not bargain for was that she would fall for him... **** He was a broken wolf, a Beta to his parents murderer, betrayed by his first Love. When he met Omega Diana, he felt his guard crumbling...

Armand was appointed king, his small hellish kingdom was nothing compared to his nemesis. But he was not claiming for more, he was done after his lover's demise as King Ranulf accidentally kill her and made both of them cast to hell. He's a fallen angel who wanted nothing but to spend the rest of his eternal life grieving in his way. That was until the day he met Rain, the human werewolf he thought can heal his wound. But he was rejected, he thought Rain liked him until he chose King Ranulf. The day he was going to kidnap Rain was the day he got badly wounded. And Rain once again rejected him and told his lover not to hurt him. And that's how for days he ended up in the care of a very chatty Succubus named Basilea. ***** No one knows how valuable Basilea was, not even the last king she served her life for. Basilea was the last princess of the demon succubus, both parents were killed in the great war less than a hundred years ago. Her kingdom falls and she had no desire to fill her royal throne. She was living the harem life with King Ranulf, her life was easy under his protection. Basilea was brought by King Eustace, the ruler before King Arkael and King Ranulf. She was taken in just before her she reach adulthood, no one knew her, and no one gets close enough to peel layers of her deep darkest secret until Armand. The one being she couldn't resist, the one male who can fulfill her desire. She was a demon after all, and she knows that demons don't get her happy ever after. Or do they? ***** Warning! R-Rated for 18+ due to strong, explicit language and sexual content*

Kathalina Ruiz never believed in fairy tales. Her mother's dying wish bound her to enigmatic CEO Thirdie Stone in an arranged marriage she accepted out of duty, not romance. Yet somewhere between quiet nights and fragile smiles, Kathalina fell deeply for her distant husband only to keep her love locked away, too afraid it would never be returned. For three years, their marriage balanced on politeness and silence. Then one stormy afternoon shattered it all. Kathalina walked into Thirdie's office and found another woman-half-naked-sitting on his lap. Without demanding an explanation, she signed the divorce papers he placed before her, his gaze as cold as the ink that sealed their separation. What she never knew was that Thirdie's betrayal was a lie... a desperate act to protect her from the dangerous threats circling his empire. Heartbroken and grieving, Kathalina fled abroad. From the ashes of her pain, she rebuilt herself into a celebrated jewelry designer, admired for her elegance and independence. But fate had other plans. Years later, her mother's lawyer makes a revelation she has inherited a vast fortune and controlling shares in Stone Corporation. The life and the man she tried to escape are waiting for her return. Back in the city where it all began, Kathalina comes face-to-face with Thirdie once more. Old wounds resurface, secrets linger in every shadow, and danger draws closer than ever. Now, she must decide to protect her heart from the man who once broke it or uncover the truth he buried......a truth that could change everything she thought she knew about their past. A story of love, sacrifice, and second chances, The Stones We Keep asks.....is it ever too late to believe in a love that never truly died?

My sister-in-law, Maeve Cohen, floored my luxury car and blew past traffic at about 125 mph, killing a family of three. She pretended to be me and acted as if nothing could touch her. "Those idiots walked into my path! It's not my fault they got hit!" she snapped. "I'm the Lincoln Enterprise heiress. Even if I ran, who would dare catch me?" In my last life, Maeve said her husband wasn't home and she needed a car to visit her parents, so she borrowed mine. She ended up racing down the road, plowing into a family crossing the street, and driving back over them to make sure they were dead. The couple had just bought a house. The baby was only a month old. When the victims' family demanded an explanation, she hid behind my reputation and spat venom. "They're just three worthless people! I'm the Lincoln Enterprise heiress; why should I explain myself? Tell them to come to me for funeral expenses!" The grieving family couldn't take it and came to my in-laws' place. "Three worthless people, huh? Today, we'll end you so you can apologize to them in person!" My husband had died the year before. With no one to protect me, the victims' family turned on me, and I was stabbed to death. The valuable wedding gifts my family had given to me became Maeve's overnight. My family tried to appeal for me, but trolls who hated the rich maliciously reported tax problems about my father's company. My father was driven to exhaustion. One night, he fell asleep at the wheel, and the car plunged off a cliff, killing him. Only after I died did I discover it had all been Maeve's plan to ruin us out of spite. Then I opened my eyes. I was back on the day Maeve took my car and ran into those people.

He wasn’t searching for love. He wasn’t ready for him. But some things—like family, and falling—happen when you least expect them. When Ezra Anderson's sister dies, he inherits three young children and a crumbling rural property he's nowhere near prepared for. Overwhelmed, heartbroken, and freshly dumped, Ezra turns to the one person he shouldn't: Sebastian Brown—the gentle, steady Omega child psychologist he once shared one reckless night with... and never dared to call back. Sebastian offers a safe harbor. Routine. Warm hands and a softer kind of strength Ezra didn’t know he craved. What starts as survival—two men building a life for three grieving kids—soon strains under the weight of something deeper. The Omega in Sebastian draws Ezra like gravity, making every glance burn and every touch linger. The lines between family and something more blur until Ezra can no longer pretend. One night becomes two. Secrets slip into routines. And somewhere between sneaking into beds at night and morning coffee, Ezra faces the one truth he swore he'd never have to: He might not be as straight, or as strong, as he thought. As his Alpha instincts pull him closer to Sebastian’s Omega warmth, the world outside keeps pressing in. Desire stops hiding. And when the outside world comes knocking, Ezra is forced to choose: Keep pretending... or hold on to the only thing that feels like home. SNEAK PEEK: “I’m not in love with you. I just… don’t know how to breathe when you’re not there.” - Ezra “I’m not gay. I’m just yours.” - Ezra “You keep saying you’re not mine… but you keep choosing me.” - Sebastian “You’re allowed to love me, you know.” - Sebastian NB: 18+ (Tissues highly recommended.)

“I Thalia Rose Laurel reject you, Alpha of Flame Valley Pack Knox Winslow.” I cry out, breaking the bond that never should have been. Ryan's eyes flash with horror, his gaze flickering between Knox and I. “Thalia no.” “Yes.” I blink through my tears. “Let me do what he didn't have the guts to do five years ago, what I should have done to us the moment he slammed my head into a wall while I was grieving my daughter!” “I'm sorry, Thalia.” Knox grabs my hand, but I can't stand to be touched by him. “Don't do this to us, to our-” “Let me end this Knox.” I choke out and it's the saddest plea I've ever uttered. “I started this obsessive diminishhing game between us so it's right I be the one to end it. Accept my rejection.” His head shakes, watching me with teary eyes. “I love you.” Knox won't let me go, but I'm ready to let him go, to let us go and so I do the one thing I can.... .………….. Thalia and Knox have had a rocky start to their relationship, and with Knox bullying wolfless Thalia when he knew she was his mate under the guise of oblivion. Knox falls for Thalia and she him but both know she doesn't meet the standard of what he wants in a mate and Luna, the two try to make their relationship work but Knox falls prey to his previous playboy lifestyle multiple times, hurting Thalia and ruining the little that's left of their relationship. Thalia's need to appear strong, and worthy of Flame Valley lands her in trouble, birthing the core reason for the major drift I'n their relationship. Their love is strong but can it overcome the deceptions and conspiracies that surround Them?

At twenty-eight, I held the dubious honor of being the last unmarried socialite on New York's Upper East Side. Everyone around me was growing increasingly anxious about my single status. In my previous life, my mother arranged a matchmaking cocktail party, where I was told to choose a husband from ten handpicked elite bachelors. I bribed the event planner to place Mark West's profile at the very top—and as I had hoped, I chose him. After we married, Mark treated me with what seemed like tender affection. He even bought me an oceanfront villa in the Hamptons, making me believe I had finally found true love. But that illusion shattered the day I was nine months pregnant, just hours away from giving birth. Mark drove a scalpel straight into my abdomen—then, right in front of me, hurled our newborn onto the floor. "If you hadn't forced me into this marriage with your family's power, Sofia wouldn't have been heartbroken enough to go drinking and get drugged and assaulted. This… this is what you owe her!" He tossed the scalpel aside, then calmly let his private doctor pin down my blood-soaked body. I fought through excruciating pain for six agonizing hours, until I finally bled to death. Afterward, Mark dumped my corpse into the Hudson River. But for Sofia, he hosted a grand funeral—funded with my money, under my name—and paraded himself to the world as a grieving, devoted widower. Given a second chance at life, I refused to step foot in that cursed matchmaking event. Instead, I went straight to my mother with a demand: marry me to Robert Black—the most ruthless, cold-blooded titan of Wall Street, whose scarred face was feared by all. In the end, stripped of my financial backing, Mark's hedge fund collapsed. He became a disgraced fraudster, spat on by everyone on Wall Street.