The Rain Barrel Effect Novels & Stories

"Ace...please...I had nothing to do with your father's death..." I whimper, protectively placing my hand over my abdomen. His grip tightens around my throat as my eyes water when I look into his eyes reddened by the effect of the alcohol that he has consumed. All I can see is my death looming over my head as I try my best to be able to breathe through my nose even if he is trying his best to block my airways. "Well, all evidence seems to state otherwise, bitch! You were the one leaking all information about us back to your father. And here I was...thinking that we had something..." his words slur but his actions are completely focused on me. Completely focused on killing me. I can feel it...I am not going to make it... ———————— I wanted to tell him that I didn’t ruin his empire. I wanted him to believe it. But he didn’t listen. And because of him, I ended up losing my baby growing inside me. I lost everything because of Alejandro Harrington. And I have spent the last two years running from him. But now he has finally found me. He is my new boss and to top it all off, I have to remain in this firm as his personal assistant. He still remembers everything and even now, he has no regrets about whatever he did. He’s here to make my life hell.

I wasn’t even pregnant, yet I ended up popping abortion pills like they were candy. It was all because in my past life, the moment my widowed sister-in-law got pregnant, every single side effect of her pregnancy became mine. She strutted around happily with her big belly, consuming spicy tamales, while I was rushed to the hospital for violent nausea and stomach pain; she showed off her flawless skin in crop tops every day, while my stomach broke out in hideous stretch marks. When I told my husband what was happening, he just shoved me away impatiently. “Enough with the jealousy! My brother’s dead, and she’s carrying his only child. Of course, I should look out for her. Do you really have to put on such an act?” After that, my sister-in-law went even further. She kept testing her limits during pregnancy and even ate a mango she was allergic to. And me? I went into anaphylactic shock, landed in the hospital, and nearly died. Doctors couldn’t explain it. They just brushed it off, saying I was overly jealous and it was all psychological. Later, my sister-in-law tried to brand herself as a “hot single mom”. She went live, belly and all, to show off her weight-loss workouts. She jumped around for three straight hours. And me? My uterus literally gave out, and I hemorrhaged to death. When I opened my eyes again, it was the exact day she first announced her pregnancy.

I had always been naturally celibate. Yet somehow, I still ended up chemically castrating myself. It was all because, in my previous life, my wife's precious idealized lover, a libidinous playboy, went viral as a pickup artist and dumped every side effect of his indulgent lifestyle onto me. He spent nights partying in hotel rooms with groups of women while I collapsed from kidney failure and was rushed to the ER. He lounged in clubs with women in both arms, downing bottle after bottle, while I went into an allergic shock and nearly died. I confronted my wife about it, but she shoved me away impatiently. "Shane already told me nothing happened with those women! You're just jealous and faking illness to slander him!" However, the playboy's actions only escalated. Chasing bigger thrills, he even started getting involved with men in drag. Thanks to him, I caught an STD, which pushed my wife to demand a divorce. I went to the hospital for treatment, but the doctors could not find the cause. Instead, they tossed me straight into an addiction rehab program. Later, for the sake of boosting his live stream numbers, the playboy went wild in Southwind Asira's nightlife scene. After he spent an entire night drowning in pleasure, I, drained past my limit, collapsed and died on the spot. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the very day he began his online hunt.

…she will be his doom and salvation, both of them will end up burning each other and the dark blood of sorcery will run without end if they meet before she turns 18… The cloaked figure couldn’t hold back the tears as he dropped the child in front of the orphanage, “live a normal life child”, he said as he walked away from the child. The cute bundle felt the first drop of rain and let out a loud wail… ********* The fact that Aramina was Zach’s mate and suffers from hyperacusis is enough burden. She must prove to be capable of being the pack’s Luna and the bride the council wants for Zach. Alpha Zach had his demons, and he had learnt to fight then alone, until Aramina came along… Will he be able to give in to his heart and allow her fight alongside him or will he be swallowed in his fears and darkness and allow the only one who truly love him become a pawn for the overwhelming forces that have conspired to keep them apart?

For two years, data intern Alexandra Petrov believed her boyfriend turned the bedroom lights off because he was traditional. On the night of their second anniversary, she discovers the devastating truth. She finds him fully naked in their brightly lit apartment with her painfully thin older sister. He explicitly confesses that he only demands darkness because he is completely disgusted by Alexandra's heavy, curvy body. Heartbroken and humiliated, Alexandra runs into the freezing Chicago rain and directly crosses paths with Maximilian Volkov. He is the ruthless billionaire CEO of Volkov Industries, and he is secretly her ultimate boss. Maximilian is instantly captivated by her gorgeous face and her plump figure. He moves her into his highly secure penthouse and establishes a strict physical rule. There will be absolutely no hiding in his home. Maximilian will use his massive wealth to ruin the people who destroyed her self-esteem, and he will spend every single night worshipping her beautiful curves with all the bedroom lamps blazing brightly.

"To a strategic merger." With those four words, Ryan Blackwood shattered Ava’s heart. After three years of building his empire, Ava wasn't his mate—she was a "placeholder." A mid-tier distraction to be discarded for a wealthier bride. Exiled by her heartless father and left barefoot in the rain, the "soft-tempered" girl Ryan knew died on that wet pavement. In her place, a Dark Horse is waking up. In the city's "Gray Zone," Ava finds a fallen legend to sharpen her claws. But she also catches the eye of Leo, a hauntingly handsome Alpha with a "sinister, feline grace" and a toxic obsession for broken things. He doesn't want to save her; he wants to own her wreckage. Leo offers her the ultimate weapon: a way back into the elite world as his "hidden gem." The Wedding of the Century is coming. Ryan thinks he’s won. He has no idea that the "stray" he kicked is coming back with a leash—and she isn't wagging her tail. The Counterattack has officially begun.

"I won't kiss you." His voice was cold. Right, it's just a business deal... But his touches were warm and...tempting "A virgin?" he suddenly stared at me... ***** Emma Wells, a college girl who's about to graduate. She was abused and tortured by her stepmother Jane and stepsister Anna. The only hope in her life was her prince-like boyfriend Matthew David, who promised to make her the happiest woman around the world. However, her world was completely crashed down when her stepmother took $50000 as the betrothal gift from an old man and agreed to marry her off. Even worse, she found her dear boyfriend cheated with her roommate Vivian Stone. Walking on the street under the pouring rain, she was desperate and hopeless... Clenching her fists, she decided. If she was doomed to be sold out, then she'll be her own seller. Rushed into the street and stopping in front of a luxurious car, she just wondered how much her virginity would worth...

Rejected by her mate. Humiliated and branded as unwanted. Cast out like she was nothing. Rhiannon was supposed to break. Instead, she survived. When she finds refuge in the powerful Crescent Moon pack, she crosses paths with Kael—a ruthless Alpha forged by war and loss. He doesn’t trust easily. He doesn’t love recklessly. And he definitely doesn’t save broken omegas. But Rhiannon isn’t broken. She is healing wrapped in steel. Midnight rain before a storm. And when an obsessive enemy rises from the shadows—determined to claim what he believes is his—she becomes the one thing he never expected. Unyielding. As vengeance closes in and blood stains the past, Kael and Rhiannon must decide: Will they let fear tear them apart… Or will they burn the world before they lose each other? This time, she won’t be rejected. This time, she’ll rise. And if the past comes hunting? Let it. They'll face it together.

Before our wedding, my fiancé, Carlo Vitale—the youngest Don on the East Coast—held a church ceremony with my stepsister. He said, "According to Mafia rules, only the woman who completes the wedding ceremony with me and receives the blessing of all the family is my true wife. "So even if your sister Elena is carrying my child, she's nothing more than a mistress." After the priest's blessing, they exchanged rings. I stood outside the church, watching through a curtain of rain as he kissed another woman. My face was white. I had loved Carlo for twelve years, from the ages of sixteen to twenty-eight. However, he had only ever had my stepsister, Sophia, not me, in his heart. I chose to let him go. Later, I left for Europe. All I left Carlo was a notice of our broken engagement and a parting gift. For some reason, the man who had always treated me with indifference seemed to have aged ten years overnight.

My husband, Hank, is dead.  On our wedding anniversary, he ventured out in the pouring rain to buy me a cake, only to be hit by a truck. His body was badly mangled in the crash.  My sister-in-law, Lyra, called me a killer, claiming that I did not deserve Hank’s inheritance.  My mother-in-law, Judy, kicked me out of the house.  Overwhelmed by grief and guilt, I often wondered if he would still be alive had I stopped him that day. Eventually, emotions gripped me, and I was diagnosed with cancer.  Judy came to visit me on my deathbed. “You’re an idiot to believe everything!”  She threw a family photo in my face.  The shock and anger were more than I could handle, and I breathed my last.  It turned out that Hank was never dead. He had a child with his old flame.  When I opened my eyes once more, I returned to the day my husband faked his death.