The Silence Was Deafening

He stole my name. Then he tried to steal my life. But he’ll never steal my heart will he?” When August Hale, a quiet literature student with a past he tries to forget, transfers to a prestigious university under a scholarship, all he wants is to stay invisible, graduate, and move on. But his plan falls apart the moment he discovers another student on campus using his exact full name. Same name. Same birthday. Same hometown. But this August Hale is wealthy, charming, and cruel and he already knows too much. At first, August thinks it’s a prank. A coincidence. Until he starts losing things His place in classes His reputation His identity The fake August Hale, whose real name is Sebastian Wolfe, is playing a dangerous game. And when he sets his sights on the real August, obsession begins to blur the line between identity theft and romantic fixation. August wants answers. Sebastian wants August. But as August begins to dig into Sebastian’s past, he unearths something much darker than he expected a twisted reason why Sebastian chose him and why he can’t let him go.

Five years ago, Carla left her soul mate in their rumpled bed in a rented house in Mykonos, convinced she doesn’t deserve him, and he comes back to her life the secret lover of her best friend. Carla’s childhood friend Thera is visiting Greece after ten years, bringing Jake Winters with her, her boss whom she has been a long time secretly in love with. But Jake turns out to be Tom Sawyer, the pseudonym he used as a male escort five years ago – and he is still hotter than sin. It did not take long to see that the passion that drove them that blissful whole week together drives them still. He remains the only man who makes her feel that happiness is possible, but giving in to him means betraying her best friend, even though it’s evident that they aren’t lovers. That Thera made it all up. Billionaire programmer Jake Winters took over a gigolo trip for a friend once five years ago and that changed his whole life. But the culprit in doing so left him without a goodbye. When he finally finds Carla again, she turns out to be the childhood friend of his sweet secretary. As fierce as she is in bed, she is as loyal to people she cares about and he has to clear the air between him and Thera because the only thing he’s thinking about is becoming Carla’s gigolo again. For life. And as soon as possible. Like yesterday.

On the third day of the Cold War with my boyfriend, I found a document called "Love of My Life" on his computer. Every word is considered, true feelings, and the heroine is his first love.

My first day back home and my husband's secretary was already flexing her muscles, trying to grab my antique right out of my hands. Before I could get a word out, she smacked me across the face. Twice. She sneered at me with a look that could freeze fire. "This piece caught my eye, and I'm being nice to you. Better apologize and thank me, pronto!" I moved to confront her, but before I knew it, her bodyguard had me pinned to the ground. She looked down at me like I was nothing. "Trying to challenge me? I'm Mrs. Collins of the Collins family here in Riverton City. You're nothing! One word from my husband and you're out of here!" Passersby started chiming in: "Aren't you going to bow down and beg? She's the apple of Mr. Collins' eye." "Play your cards right, and maybe you'll still be scrubbing toilets in Riverton City." I was ready to set things straight when her title hit me like a ton of bricks. The Collins family of Riverton City? When did Eric get another wife? I dialed Eric's number and laughed calmly. "Eric, since when did you secretly marry someone behind my back?"

After an unexpected pregnancy, Silas Shaw, who had always avoided the topic of marriage, suddenly proposed to me. Overjoyed, I readily accepted. However, on the day of the wedding, I stumbled upon an unexpected conversation between him and his friends. "Are you really going to marry Chaldene just because of your child with Nora?" one of them asked. Silas was visibly irritated and full of disdain as he responded, "It's all because of my mother. She kept saying that Nora's family background wasn't good enough.” "If it weren't to give my child with Nora a better status, why on earth would I marry Chaldene?” "You have no idea how boring a woman like her is in bed. I got tired of her after sleeping with her twice."

When my mother-in-law gets hospitalized due to cancer, I'm about to pay the hospital bills when I find out that my wife, Lilibeth Saunders, has used our savings to pay off a male escort's debt. That's when I finally explode in rage. "Mom has gotten hospitalized because of her illness, and yet you use our money to pay off the debt of a useless piece of trash who relies on his manhood for survival! You really are an evil bitch, Lilibeth Saunders!" As Lilibeth grips the lingerie, she remains stone-faced. "How am I the one at fault here? I'm just trying to give my future child a father who still has a future with me! You can always earn money to treat your own mother's illness! Meanwhile, Carl can't do the same thing about his debt! If he doesn't pay off his debt, his life will be ruined! "You only have yourself to blame, Josiah! After all, you're a good-for-nothing impotent man!" The entire room falls eerily silent. My friend, who's there to help patch things up between us, looks at me with sympathy in his eyes. All the criticism surrounding me flashes through my mind at that moment. That's when I realize that it's time for me to end things with Lilibeth once and for all. What she doesn't know is that she's the infertile one based on the doctor's diagnosis. Also, her mother is the one being hospitalized, not mine.

On the day of my wedding gown fitting, a stranger burst into the VIP suite and stabbed me with a knife. “You think you deserve a dress this expensive after stealing someone else’s man?” She tore at the delicate fabric of my skirt. Then, with a twisted smile, she hurled a bottle of acid at me. The blade was buried in my lower abdomen. The pain drove me to my knees. She grabbed my hair and yanked my head up. “Gerald’s my husband! What are you? You’re nothing but a mistress who can’t even be seen with him in public!” Blood dripped down my fingers. That was when it finally sank in. The man I had been with for seven years had been keeping another woman by his side. “What’re you staring at? Even if I kill you, with my husband’s influence, no one will dare touch me!” Staring at her smug face, I pulled out my phone with hands slicked in blood and called my brother. “Matt…” My voice was unnervingly calm. “Come pick me up at the bridal shop. And please inform the Hoover family that the engagement is off.”

I never believed someone could love me the way Daniel did. Not in movies, not in books, not in real life. But he saw me—the real me. Every laugh, every tear, every secret I tried to hide. He made me feel… enough. And then I destroyed it. One moment of pride. One moment of judgment. I made him feel small, crossed a boundary he set, and he walked away—just like he said he would. But I didn’t know that while he stayed silent… I was carrying his baby. Now I’m terrified. Will his silence push him further away? Will the truth destroy what little we have left? Or could our unborn child be the one thing that brings him back? He was never just anyone. He’s the man I love, the man I hurt, the man I can’t forget. And I’m running out of time to fight for a love I almost lost forever.

To "fix" Leonard Rinehart's oh-so-tragic depression, Naomi Gaffron—yeah, the same girl who once swore she'd only ever marry me—secretly tied the knot with him. So I gave in. Played along with the family's little matchmaking stunt. Married Aurelia Spencer—Brieton City's golden girl who'd been obsessed with me since forever. For seven years, she clung to me like I was oxygen. Every night, curled up like she'd break if I moved. I thought that was happiness. Then one night, I caught her whispering to her best friend: "Leonard's already got international awards. When are you dumping Leone?" "Whatever—I'm stuck with someone I don't love anyway. Doesn't matter who I married. Someone's gotta keep an eye on Leone so he doesn't screw up everything Leonard built." I checked her study. Found a hidden folder—over 100,000 photos of Leonard. A hundred unsent love letters. Even I couldn't fake it anymore. Bought a silicone dummy. Laid out the plan. The fire would be step one. Dead or alive—we're done.

They called her barren. Her husband believed it. His mother engineered it. And for four years, Bella Cole lived inside that lie — shrinking herself, surrendering her career, swallowing her grief in a marriage that was slowly erasing her. Then came the dinner party. The added chair. The pregnant maid with her hand on her stomach and victory in her eyes. And something in Bella went very, very quiet — and very, very awake. Because the math didn't add up. The diagnosis didn't make sense. And the man who couldn't keep his hands off the help? He couldn't have fathered that child if he tried. Literally. Now Bella isn't grieving. She's building. Piece by piece, witness by witness, document by document — she is assembling the truth that was stolen from her. And when it finally comes apart, it won't just cost Ethan Cole his heir. It will cost them everything. She was never the problem. She was always the answer. And she is only just beginning.