The Wall

Destiny is something written in books, a fictitious fantasy. I’ve always believed that what we do today is one step towards our future. We make our own choice, and we decide on who we will be until I met him—Elijah Valentin. He made me question what I know and what I feel. Just his mere presence messed with my head in more ways than one. The push and pull of emotions, the exhilarating feeling every time we crossed paths, and the gut-wrenching agony in my chest when I saw him with someone else. For the first time in my life, I hoped that the fictitious fantasy was real, that he was my destiny. He stirred my life in beautiful chaos, knocked down the ten-foot wall I built around my heart with just the flick of his fingers. But he also showed me how painful it is to want something that I could never have—him. ~~ "You are bound to me, Rory,” he said, eyes glowing like the silver moon above us. His touch flickered fire under my skin, a frizzling electric shock that stirred the desire inside me. “You are my salvation, but I am the hellfire that will burn your life to ashes.” [Mature Content]

Aphrodite Reid, having a name after a Greek Goddess of beauty and love, doesn't exactly make her one of the "it" crowd at school. She's the total opposite of her name, ugly and lonely. After her parents died in a car accident as a child, she tended to hide inside her little box and let people she cared about out of her life. She rather not deal with others who would soon hurt her than she already is. She outcast herself from her siblings and others. When Logan Wolfe, the boy next door, started to break down her wall Aphrodite by talking to her, the last thing she needed was an Adonis-looking god living next to her craving attention. Logan and his brothers moved to Long Beach, California, to transfer their family business and attend a new school, and he got all the attention he needed except for one. Now, Logan badly wants only the beautiful raven-haired goddess with luscious curves. No one can stand between Logan and the girl who gives him off just with her sharp tongue. He would have to break down the four walls that barricade Aphrodite. Whatever it takes for him to tear it down, he will do it, even by force.

His mouth claimed hers with a hunger he’d clearly been holding back for years, tongue sliding deep, slow, possessive. Large hands mapped her body like he’d memorized it from stolen glances—cupping her breasts through her thin top, thumbs circling her nipples until they ached and peaked. “You’ve been driving me crazy,” he rasped against her throat, teeth grazing the sensitive skin. “Every time you walked through that door in those little sundresses…” He backed her against the wall, one thigh pressing firmly between hers so she could grind down on the hard ridge of him. Melanie whimpered, already soaked, hips rolling shamelessly. Marcus groaned approval, fingers slipping beneath her skirt to find her drenched panties. “Fuck, sweetheart,” he breathed, stroking her clit through the lace in slow, deliberate circles. “So wet for me already. Been thinking about this?” “Yes—God, yes,” she gasped, nails digging into his shoulders. ********** She knew it was wrong, craving her best friend’s father, but it was a sin she was willing to indulge in... damn the consequences, even if that includes a heartbreak.

May nag-post ng pagtatapat ng pag-ibig para sa akin sa confession wall ng college. Pero nag-iwan ang nobyo ng kahati ko sa kwarto ng komentong nakipagtalik na ako sa bawat lalaki sa campus. Galit na galit ako at handa nang tumawag ng pulis. Nagmakaawa ang kahati ko sa kwarto na patawarin ang nobyo niya, nangangakong uutusan niya itong manghingi ng paumanhin sa confession wall. Pero bago dumating ang paumanhin na iyon, isang sensitibong video ang nagsimulang magkalat sa mga group chat. Sinasabi ng lahat na ako ang babae sa video. Ipinatawag ako ng college para sa makipag-usap at iminungkahi kong kumuha ako ng leave of absence. Pag-uwi ko, tumanggi ang mga magulang ko na kilalanin ako bilang kanilang anak. Nawala sa akin ang lahat. Kinain ako ng depresyon, at kasama ng walang katapusang tsismis, nawalan na ako ng pag-asa at winakasan ang buhay ko. Pagkamulat ko ulit ng mga mata ko, iyon ulit ang araw na unang lumitaw ang pangalan ko sa confession wall.

Being second best is practically in my DNA. My sister got the love, the attention, the spotlight. And now, even her damn fiancé. Technically, Rhys Granger was my fiancé now—billionaire, devastatingly hot, and a walking Wall Street wet dream. My parents shoved me into the engagement after Catherine disappeared, and honestly? I didn’t mind. I’d crushed on Rhys for years. This was my chance, right? My turn to be the chosen one? Wrong. One night, he slapped me. Over a mug. A stupid, chipped, ugly mug my sister gave him years ago. That’s when it hit me—he didn’t love me. He didn’t even see me. Obviously, I needed alcohol. A lot of alcohol. Enter him. Tall, dangerous, unfairly hot. The kind of man who makes you want to sin just by existing. It was reckless. It was stupid. It was completely ill-advised. But it was also: Best. Sex. Of. My. Life. And, as it turned out, the best decision I’d ever made. Because my one-night stand isn’t just some random guy. He’s richer than Rhys, more powerful than my entire family, and definitely more dangerous than I should be playing with. And now, he’s not letting me go.

I married Don Matteo in secret. Every time he fucked his childhood sweetheart, he promised me a real wedding，in front of the Five Families. For five years, Matteo promised me ninety-nine times. And ninety-nine times, he left me at the altar. The first time, Cecilia’s prize-winning show cat died. To comfort her, he postponed the wedding for three months. I stood at the altar alone, eyes red, trying to calm down the family elders. The second time, Cecilia threw a tantrum at a casino and shattered a hundred-million-dollar antique vase. He diverted the private jet meant for their wedding and rushed through the night to clean up her mess. And every time, right before our wedding, his childhood sweetheart would have some kind of emergency. I cried. I screamed. I even held a gun to his head. But Matteo would just pin me against the wall and shut me up with a cold, hard kiss. “She’s just a fuck. You are Mrs. Falcone. Have some goddamn class.” After the ninety-ninth time, I was finally done. I slid the papers across the table. The ink was still wet, the Falcone family seal stamped at the bottom. “Our marriage, our alliance—it’s over.”

I could smell his tempting cologne as he walked closer, his presence making my heart skip a beat. He placed his hands on the wall, caging me in with his strong arms. My breath hitched. He leaned in, his honey-colored eyes boring into mine like he was trying to solve a puzzle. Meanwhile, I was melting—like ice cream on a summer sidewalk. "You look familiar," he murmured, biting his lip as if deep in thought. "Have we met before?" Of course, Jack Harrison—the most popular lacrosse player at Wilford High—wouldn’t know who I am. Why would he? I’m the invisible girl. The one who hides behind books and avoids eye contact. The one no one remembers. And yet… I’ve always noticed him. Jack Harrison. The boy every girl wants. The boy I’ve secretly dreamed about since sophomore year. And then—just when I thought I’d spend another year in his shadow—I found out a new family was moving in next door. To my utter disbelief, it turned out to be him. Jack Harrison, the boy I've always wanted.

Aria was born under the moon’s blessing gentle, intuitive, carrying a power she never asked for. Clara was forged in lightning fierce, rebellious, and determined to tear down every wall fate built around her. Two girls from opposite worlds. Two powers that should never coexist. Two destinies written by a goddess who broke herself long before they were born. But when an ancient prophecy stirs and the sea begins whispering the goddess’s name, Aria’s quiet strength and Clara’s storming rage collide in ways no one predicted. Their bond becomes something deeper, older something the world isn’t prepared to face. And standing between them is Ares, Alpha of the Lunar Pack, bound by duty, torn by fate, and caught in a connection that defies every rule of the wolf world. He was never meant to choose between them… yet destiny demands a choice no heart should have to make. As the goddess rises to reclaim the pieces of herself she once shattered, Aria and Clara must uncover the truth behind their origins, their bond, and the power that ties them together. Will they rewrite a fate written long before their births or become the final sacrifice in a prophecy designed to consume them?

"I am not my sister. And you can LOVE ME OR HATE ME for that, but you don't get to punish me for her sins." Daniel breaks. The wall doesn't just come down. It collapses. --- Aria Blackwood didn't plan to fall in love with her boss. She planned to keep her head down, do her job, and ignore the way Daniel Cole's presence rearranged every room he entered, including the room inside her chest. Daniel Cole didn't plan to feel anything ever again. Not after Vivienne. Not after the betrayal that stripped him of $50,000, a fake pregnancy that never existed, and every reason to trust a woman's smile. He swore on her name. On her bloodline. On every person who carried her last name. He just didn't know he'd already fallen for one. When the truth surfaces at the worst possible moment, mid-engagement, mid-happiness, mid-finally, Daniel must choose between the wound that shaped him and the woman who healed him without even knowing he was bleeding. Love was never supposed to find him again. It sent the wrong sister anyway.

Cesare Xandri, the rising gangster of the Nalitan mafia, unexpectedly lost a bet at an elite private casino in Ithel, the kind that smells like cigar smoke and blood money. The penalty was simple, he had to call his hard-to-tame pet. The phone was on speaker. The men circled him, whistling and hooting, waiting to be entertained. He asked what I was up to in a relaxed and amused tone. I replied softly, insinuating he was sinful, hiding my defiance behind innocence and fake devotion. When I finished my insult, the room fell silent, then burst into loud and uncontrollable laughter. The call ended. Less than thirty minutes later, the mansion gates were smashed open. He stormed in smelling of gunpowder, a Beretta still in his hand. He pushed me against the wall furiously beneath the Virgin Mary statue. I leaned into him without hesitation, fingers brushing the heated gun, and I met his gaze without fear. I chose virtue and rejected him in my past life, in return I was thrown into the open sea to die. I intended to be his temptation when I got a second chance at life, I wanted to be a beautiful sin that ends his story under the Cecilian sun.