Up From The Ashes Novels & Stories

When you are growing up adults usually tell you that you can be whatever you want to be, right?! I was told I would be a starving artist if I became what I wanted to be. I let their words become me. All their words. I let them dictate the person I became. I kept the real me to myself after so many years of their hatred for that person. I let little bits of my soul break away and die to keep their torment to a minimum. I learned to not rock the boat, just keep my head down and do as I was told. I was the party crasher on their life that never left. Until I shocked them when I did. Out on my own, I wasn’t as strong as I thought I was. I settled for the first “nice guy” to come along. That quickly fizzled out after a shotgun wedding. After a year alone I met Prince Charming #2 at a backyard BBQ. I didn’t know my jerk radar was still broken. Then out of nowhere, the one I had always thought was a jerk turned out to surprisingly be my Prince Charming. Being the man, I need in my life. He became everything I needed, and everything I didn’t know I wanted. Allowing me to grow and blossom as a person which inspires him to do the same. And we live happily ever after.

I used to work as a model, but not the typical kind. In our profession, everyone had a benefactor, someone who supported them financially. I dedicated myself to my benefactor for a year and a half, tending to his needs diligently. Despite my dedication, I was eventually abandoned. Just when I gathered my courage and decided to start afresh, he showed up again, "Do you want to date me? Officially."

On our sixth wedding anniversary, I felt a seam split open in my skull. Not from pain, but from truth. “Ethan, that new assistant… how does she taste?” Marcus’s thought, slick as oil. Ethan's reply slithered through my veins: "Young. Tender. Like summer berries." His lips shaped a lie. His hand shielded me from the crowd, even as his fingers pressed a blood-red cocktail into my palm. "Don't let Lena find out,"he thought, the words clear as speech. "I’d in a big trouble." Laughter swirled. Champagne clinked.their mind. Nobody knew I could hear every thought ,the ability to read minds awakened in me last night. . Nobody knew I had already known about his betrayal long ago. There were no tears, no screams I just replied “yes” to Professor Johnson’s encrypted call-the path I should have chosen six years ago. In three days, I would vanish. Not running from him. Running back to who I was at twenty—the rising star of virus research.

Chesca Kyrene gave everything to her marriage. She loved her husband Ethan with all her heart, was a loyal, devoted wife, and built their life together from nothing. But three years into their marriage, she discovered the painful truth: Ethan was cheating on her with another woman, someone he claimed he “loved more”. Heartbroken and betrayed, Chesca chose to walk away, even though it meant losing her home, her status, and the life she had dreamed of. She started over from scratch, facing judgment from people who thought she was the one at fault, struggling to survive alone, and healing from the pain of being replaced. Just when she thought love was never meant for her, she met Damian Alistair — a serious, kind, and loyal man who showed her what real love truly is. But the struggle isn’t over. Ethan refuses to let her go, trying to manipulate her, lying to everyone to make himself look like the victim, and even begging her to come back when his relationship falls apart. Chesca now has to fight for her self-worth, learn to trust again, and choose between the man who broke her, and the man who taught her how to love herself again.  

I’d just bonded with my mate, Alpha Damien, when he brought home an orphan to repay a “life debt.” From that day on, I came second to the girl, Lila. Always. Lila framed me, claiming I forced her to lose control of her wolf. For that, Damien locked me in the silver cells for three days and three nights. "The silver will teach you how to be a tolerant Luna!" Silver poisoning is torture. My wolf withered. I begged for mercy, drowning in agony. Lila just snuggled up to him, her voice dripping with fake concern. "Serena is your mate, after all. When she's in pain, you're in pain. It hurts me to see you suffer." Later, to make Lila happy, Damien publicly gave my seat on the Pack Council to her—a girl who knew nothing. This time, I said nothing. I just severed our mate bond. Days later, while he was writhing in the agony of our broken bond, he finally heard the news. I had joined the royal’s elite unit, The Talons. And I was never coming back. He shattered.

"Hubby, kiss me. I miss you so much. When are you coming home?" Out of nowhere, I received a text. The sender was the cold, untouchable CEO who was currently scolding us in a meeting, Veronica Starling. What shocked me even more was the timestamp on the message. It was sent five years in the future.

On Aliana Harriman's 20th birthday, she was diagnosed with a terminal illness. A few months later, she died. Unexpectly, Aliana got to wake up in her 7-year-old self. Because of what she had gone through in her previous life as the eldest daughter in the Harriman family, she was determined to get strong and stay away from her three annoying brothers in this life. On the day she told her family that she was leaving, however, her three brothers stopped her and pleaded her not to go. Facing this, Aliana only said, "Thanks. I'll pass." After Aliana left her family, a man who always stood by Aliana hurriedly came to her. "Do you want to go with me?" he asked.

Daphne Harper spent three years believing she was the beloved wife of Vincent Carter, sacrificing everything to support the man she loved and the child she thought was hers. Until the day she discovered the truth. Their marriage was never legal. The little child she raised with unconditional love was rubbed in her face that it was not hers. And Vincent already had a real wife—Rumbidzai Carter—the woman who had been laughing behind Daphne’s back the entire time. Heartbroken and humiliated, Daphne walks away from the life she built with nothing but shattered trust. But fate has one last surprise waiting for her. When a powerful billionaire reveals the secret Daphne’s mother took to her grave, her world changes overnight. The woman they once treated as disposable is actually the hidden heiress to one of the largest fortunes in the country. Now, Daphne returns stronger, richer, and untouchable. As Vincent and Rumbidzai desperately try to crawl back into her life, Daphne has already stepped into a new world of power, wealth, and influence—one where a dangerous and enigmatic billionaire, Brian Adrian, seems far too interested in her. This time, Daphne Harper isn’t the woman being deceived. She’s the one holding the power. And revenge has never looked so elegant.

I suspected my husband's young assistant had signed up for some kind of socialite training program, all so she could try to become his mistress. She didn't call him "Mr. Anderson." She called him "Cocoa" because he loved drinking mocha lattes. It was her way of making herself seem special. Whenever he assigned her work, she didn't even move. She would just throw him a flirtatious look, twist her body into some exaggerated pose, and say, "What, you need me?" with a pout. In the end, I couldn't take it anymore. I told Perry Anderson to fire her. The second I said it, Faye Dawson leaned right into his ear and whined, "I know, I messed up. Don't be mad. I'll give you a kiss and make it better, okay?" And somehow, Perry actually fell for it. He smoothed things over like it was nothing. "Honey, Faye's a socialite. That's just how she is. Try to be a little more understanding." Fine. If he wanted to protect that fake socialite and throw away the real one, then he could forget about the billion-dollar contract from my father.

No one knew that I, the one they called the Angel-Faced Executioner, had been tangled up with the heir of the Grahams more times than I could count. In the latest model sports car, Doug Graham pressed a marriage certificate into my hand, his teeth grazing my lower lip as he murmured, "The Grahams have enemies on both sides of the law. I found a shield, a way to protect you." I was ecstatic and completely swept up in it, giving him whatever he wanted. I never imagined it was the beginning of a nightmare. Doug publicly announced his engagement to the Sowles heiress, making a show of it, and he clarified that I was nothing more than a low-level enforcer in front of everyone. But that night, he left marks all over my body, whispering against my skin, "The less I care about you, the less anyone will suspect you're my real wife." From then on, he and Lindsey Sowle humiliated me at every turn. Only when we were alone would he finally show the truth, his voice strained with pain. "I know this isn't fair to you. Once I'm done using her, I'll kick her out for good." When Lindsey caused me to lose the baby, he dropped to his knees in front of me, slapping himself over and over. "That idiot keeps ending up kidnapped and abused. Serves her right!" Until one day, I was taken in a setup by Doug's rival, Chad Conner. He grabbed me by the throat and forced me to look inside the room. Lindsey was blindfolded and gagged, crying and gasping as Doug lashed her with a pink whip. "They've run this whole kidnapping stunt seven times already. You'd think they'd be tired of it by now." Tears poured down my face. So I was the fool all along, the one who got played by Doug's so-called love.