Without You I Feel Broke Novels & Stories

On the day Fiona Starr and Mark Zimmer tied the knot, his childhood friend jumped off the Starr family's thirty-story apartment and was reduced to pieces. The wedding wasn't called off, but in the ensuing three years, Mark's poker face became even more creepy, even though he would do everything Fiona asked. Then, when Fiona was three months pregnant, she was told that her father had gone missing. But instead of taking her to file a police report, Mark took her up the peak of the mountain, where Fiona saw her father. His whole body was swollen and bleeding everywhere, and he was barely alive as he lay on the ground. There were puddles of his blood everywhere, after someone tied him to a car trunk and dragged him up along the mountain road. That was when Mark gave Fiona the same treatment, even though she was pregnant with his child. As his car dragged her up and down the mountain, her legs were reduced to bloody stumps, but she didn't die there. So she locked her up in a basement in the company of rats that nibbled and devoured her legs. She despaired, her mind breaking until she eventually stopped breathing too… But she opened her eyes again and found herself returning to the day before she married Mark, whom everyone called the Starr family's live-in son-in-law. Smiling through her tears, she told herself that she wouldn't choose him again in this life.

Jericko Santillan a man who has lost his appetite for women because of his big time heartbreaks. He had given up hope that another woman would give his heart new life. Until she finds Maria Isabel del Frado; the woman who is escaping his father’s tradition; arranged marriage. Would Jericko risk his heart once more to save Isabelle? Will Isabelle be successful in winning Jericko's heart and trust so she can reject her father's forced marriage proposal?

In the three years I date Colin Blanchard, he tests me 99 times. On the 100th time, he sends me to a jock's bed following his secretary's suggestion. This time, I do not resist. I sleep with the jock seven times in one night. Colin berates me for being shameless. He quickly marries his secretary, Chelsea Wright, and deliberately waves their marriage certificate in front of me to provoke me. He taunts, "Tammy, you were just one step away from becoming Mrs. Blanchard. It is your own fault for not holding on. Now it is too late to regret it." Chelsea wraps her arm around him affectionately and says, "Thanks to you, I am able to a wonderful man like Colin. But now that you have lost your chastity and have been dumped by Colin, I am afraid no one in Baywich would want to marry you." What a coincidence. I happened to have registered my marriage just the day before. My husband, Jeremiah Atkinson, is the richest man. Five years later, I take my daughter to a piano competition. By chance, I run into Colin again. Seeing my plain clothes, he comes over to mock me. "Tammy, did you come here today just to see me because you knew I would be here? Stop dreaming. Even if you abandon your burdensome child in front of me today, you are no longer worthy of being with me." I ignore him. In my heart, I am feeling anxious because Jeremiah is still nowhere to be seen. Our daughter is about to perform!

On my birthday, my adopted sister, Sophia Norris, frames me for soiling her dress and causing her to not be able to attend the banquet. My older brothers, Gerald and Gary Moore, immediately demand that I give my gown to Sophia. Otherwise, they will cancel the birthday banquet. Furious, I point at them while screaming, "I didn't ruin her dress at all! She was the one who splashed red wine onto it! "Also, I will never give my gown to her! My best friend designed it for me!" As soon as my words fall, Gerald commands the bodyguards to tear the gown from my body. At the same time, Gary picks up a wine glass and dumps red wine onto my face. "It's bad enough that you constantly bully Sophia! Today, her crush, Zachary Green, will be attending the banquet too! Do you have any idea how long she has prepared for this day to come?" Gerald adds, "A vile woman like you doesn't have the right to be born, let alone celebrate your birthday!" After that, a few bodyguards drag me into the basement. Immediately, pitch-black darkness swallows me. I have severe asthma. Breathing becomes insanely difficult for me as seconds tick by. I keep screaming loudly and calling for help, but all I hear is laughter coming from the banquet upstairs. It isn't until the banquet is well underway that Gerald and Gary remember that I exist. But I've already died in the cramped basement.

She married him to save her Family. He married her to fulfill a contract. When the billionaire broke her heart, she walked away with nothing— except the secret growing inside her. Years later, he is richer, colder, and filled with regret. She is stronger… and hiding the child he never knew existed. But when fate forces them together again, will love survive the damage he caused? He broke her once. This time, she may never forgive him.

Kelly had everything she could ever want. A loving family and a devoted boyfriend, Leo, who also happened to be the Alpha of their pack. But all of that changed the day her father adopted her half-sister, Merry. From that moment on, Kelly’s world turned upside down. She lost her father's affection, and worst of all, Leo broke off their relationship without any explanation. But that didn’t stop Kelly from winning Leo back. And just when she thought all hope was lost, Kelly discovered she was pregnant with Leo’s child. Her dream of building a family with Leo was finally coming true. But before she could even say anything, the truth cut even deeper than she could imagine, after finding out the reason why Leo had left her. He left her for her adoptive sister Merry. But that’s not all, Merry was now carrying the Alpha’s heir.

On the day of Zephyr’s art exhibition, I saw people stand around a portrait of myself. My cheeks were flushed, and I was bare. My posture was the one we used in bed last week for fun. Zephyr even got the mole on my chest right. As people stared at me mockingly, I demanded, “Why did you do this to me?” He was unbothered. “It’s not as if I asked you to sleep with someone else.” But he did let people see how I looked when I was having an intimate moment with my own boyfriend! “It’s just a painting. Why are you being so petty?” I was stunned by the mockery in Zephyr’s gaze. Then, I called my assistant. “I’m attending the international art festival as the organizer.”

There's a rule in Pine Ridge—women are only allowed to leave the mountain seven times in their lives. If they aren't able to marry a foreigner who's not from Pine Ridge, they can only marry a local mountaineer and become a guardian of the mountain. Because of that, I've borrowed some cosmetics from my grandma seven times in a row. Every time, I'm often wearing my prettiest dress and waiting for the man, who has promised to whisk me away from Pine Ridge, to marry me. But despite having crossed the mountain and reached the same town seven times in a row, Joseph Kingsley is never there. In the village, the village chief, Arthur Langley, has a smoke pipe dangling from his lips. "This is your seventh time leaving Pine Ridge just to get your marriage registered. That director boyfriend of yours has gone over to the next village just to shoot more footage of the lass who has a really pretty smile. "Caroline, your boyfriend is already behaving like this. Why are you still waiting for him?" I clumsily pull out the phone Joseph has given me before keying in his number. The dial tone goes off three times before the call goes through. Only then does Joseph explain the truth to me. "When Gemma took us on a foraging trip, she got trapped by one of the bear traps in the mountain! You do realize that if a woman from Pine Ridge were to get crippled, no villager would want to marry her at all because she'd be a burden to them! "If I were to leave Gemma alone, her life would be ruined! This is the last time, Caroline! Once I ensure that Gemma's leg gets healed, I'll come marry you right away!" Joseph has been in Pine Ridge for four years so far. Throughout these years, I've hiked the mountain and braved the elements for him seven times in a row. But Gemma Watson keeps getting into trouble. Whenever that happens, Joseph will abandon me without hesitation. As I gaze at the phone, which shows that the call has gotten disconnected, I wipe away my tears quietly. There won't be a last time anymore. In three days, I will be marrying someone else.

Rejected by her father and betrayed by Nathan Crawford, the man she had loved all her life, Ava Parish leaves town on the brink of death six years ago, but now she returns to New York, now known as Ava Smith, a successful product manager, using her twins as her excuse to cover up her secret of returning to town. Her return stirs up an already brewing war and just when she thinks she was safe, she receives the surprise she never expected. “Will you marry me?” Noah Bright asks Ava, shocking everyone in the room, now Ava is stuck between her ex-husband, her new lover, and the man who admires her as the suspense of their unknown past unfolds.

Anthony Vitale—my husband’s older brother—was found dead after a fall at one of the family’s private properties on Long Island. He died before the men around him could even call it an accident. My husband, Enzo Vitale, stepped in as head of the family. At the same time, the senior men of the family made the decision for him—Enzo would take responsibility for his brother’s widow. His mother, Donna Victoria Vitale—the one truly running things behind the scenes—made it clear in the study at the estate. “Sophia is alone now,” she said. “You take her in. First, to carry on your brother’s bloodline. Second, to keep her under this family’s protection. This is family law.You don’t get a say.” That night, Enzo held me close, his voice low and soothing. “Elena, I’ll give her one child. That’s it. Once she’s pregnant, I’m done with her. You’re the only one who matters to me.” I believed him. But things didn’t stay that way. At first, he spent one night a month with her. Then it turned into one night a month with me. That was when I knew—he wasn’t mine anymore. The day Sophia announced her pregnancy at the private medical office the Vitales used, Enzo slipped the Vitale heirloom onto her finger—a black onyx signet ring engraved with the Vitale crest. It was the same ring he gave me when we got engaged. And he did it in front of everyone. That was the moment I knew—it was time to walk away.