Riley doesn't remember the last time someone asked if she was okay. Not really asked. Not in the way that meant they were going to stay for the answer. She is seventeen years old and she has already learned the most important lesson this town has to offer - that people leave. They leave with promises folded neatly in their pockets, with good intentions they fully mean at the time, with duffel bags and bus tickets and fifteen days that turn into three years without a single word. They leave, and the ones left behind learn to stop waiting by the window. They learn to stop setting an extra plate. They learn to breathe around the absence until the absence just becomes the air. Riley works the late shift. She carries drinks to tables without being asked twice. She doesn't flinch at loud voices anymore. She doesn't cry at things that used to make her cry. She has become very good at being invisible in a room full of people - and even better at being invisible to herself. This is not the life she imagined. But it is the life she has. And she has made her peace with it, quietly, the way you make peace with things you never had a choice about. She is not waiting for anyone anymore. She stopped doing that a long time ago. Until the night a familiar face walks through the door - and three brothers who left her behind must now face what their absence built. Because blood doesn't forget. And neither does Riley.

When tragedy takes away the only protector she had left, eighteen-year-old Evara is forced into the role of a sister, guardian, parent... all at once. With nothing but grief in her pocket and her little brother holding her hand, she runs to Jaipur-the city tied to her father's forgotten past and the place where her mother's story first began to fracture. It's supposed to be a fresh start. A quiet escape. A chance to rebuild what was broken. But some pasts don't stay buried. Evara has always known one dangerous truth: the name of the man who gave her life... and the reason she is never allowed to claim it. One choice, made years ago, erased her from his world completely. A choice that kept her safe-from a powerful family, and the family-from a truth that could shatter the fragile life they've built for themselves. Invisible. Untouchable. Unspoken. She was never meant to be found. But what Evara doesn't know is that maybe, she already was. Her biological father and his wife have spent years searching for the woman they lost-not to destroy her life, but to mend what was broken. To ask for forgiveness. To fix what guilt has never let them forget. And now, in the crowded lanes of Jaipur, where old memories bleed into new beginnings... fate doesn't just knock. It crashes in. Secrets resurface. Loyalties fracture. And Evara is pulled into a world she was never meant to enter-where every truth comes with a price, and every choice risks the only family she has left. Because sometimes, the people you're running from... are the same ones who've been running toward you all along. And in the end, Evara must decide- stay in the life that raised her... or step into the one that was written in her blood.

❝I think we've lost the meaning of family.❞ • • • A few years ago, we tragically lost our parents, and every day since then, my brothers and I have drifted apart. We have intense defense mechanisms and our own methods of survival in the adult world. Our house feels less like home, the city feels empty, and the stars seem more distant. Will we be able to heal as a family? Or will we go our separate ways as adults? ▫▫▫▫ ▫▫▫▫ ▫▫▫▫ Cover is made by me. Copyright © 2021 Josie Marie Any relation to other stories or characters is entirely coincidental and not intentional. Any credit for the #olderbrother trend goes to its appropriate writers/creators. All of my work is original, inspired by the #olderbrother trend, but based on my own life with four brothers.

He loved his wife in a way that felt rare even to those who saw them-quiet, deep, and unwavering. She was his home, his calm, the reason his world felt complete. When she became pregnant, he was filled with both joy and fear. The pregnancy was difficult; every day seemed like a battle she fought with a tired smile, reassuring him even when she was the one in pain. He stayed by her side through it all, holding onto hope. The day their daughter was born should have been the happiest of his life. For a brief moment, it was-he saw a part of her live on in the tiny, fragile child. But fate was cruel. Not long after giving birth, his wife slipped away, leaving behind silence where laughter once lived. Grief consumed him, but it twisted into something darker. Every time he looked at his daughter, he saw echoes of the woman he lost-the same eyes, the same softness-and instead of comfort, it brought him pain. Somewhere in his broken heart, he began to believe that the child had taken his wife away, that the difficult pregnancy and the birth had cost him everything. He never said it aloud, but the thought lingered, growing heavier with time. Love for his wife remained untouched, eternal... but his heart, unable to bear the loss, struggled to find space for the innocent life she had left behind.

Sitara Mehra has one obsession: Samar Kapoor, the superstar cricketer she's been obsessed with for years. She knows his interviews by heart, can quote his stats in her sleep, and has dreamed of meeting him... though she'd never imagined it would actually happen. When Sitara starts her master's at university, she doesn't expect her roommate Meher to be anyone special. That is, until she discovers Meher is Samar's cousin. Close friendship, playful secrets, and shared stories pull Sitara closer to the world she's only admired from afar. Little does she know, Samar has been silently noticing her long before they met, captivated by her genuine love for him, her quirks, and the little things that make her... Sitara. From awkward meet-cutes to flustered encounters, stolen glances, and the heart-throbbing realization that her fantasy might not be just a dream, this is a story about love that's cute, chaotic, and completely irresistible. Tropes: • Cricketer BF x Commoner GF • Cute, simple love • Celebrity love • She fell first, he fell harder • Modern-day romance 🏅#1 in Cricket love story

They used her. Branded her. Sent her back when they were done. Darya has lived her life in silence, a ghost in her own body. Passed from one cruel hand to the next. She's learned not to ask questions. Not to beg. Not to hope. So when a kind man appears, she doesn't feel rescued. She feels tricked. She doesn't understand him. Doesn't trust him. Doesn't understand why he's here now, after everything. Maybe he's just another man who wants something. Maybe he'll use her and leave like the rest. And she fears that this time she won't survive it. • This book includes sensitive themes of trauma involving a minor and may be difficult for some readers. Reader discretion is advised. • • All rights reserved. This book is copyrighted by the author and may not be used, reproduced, or distributed without explicit permission. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of any part of this book is prohibited and may lead to legal consequences. •

Betrayed by her own blood and murdered on a rainy night, Meera wakes up 1 months in the past-pregnant and married to the terrifying Nattamai of Sembur. Realizing the husband she feared is actually her greatest shield, Meera decides to play a deadly game. She wears the mask of a fragile, naive wife, manipulating her powerful husband's overwhelming devotion to crush the father and sister who killed her. As the fortress of Sembur locks down, her enemies believe they are hunting a lamb, unaware that they have walked into the den of a lioness who has turned the Nattamai's love into a lethal weapon.

"Vi... Viaan, please don't do this.. don't leave me, please come back. It's our wedding day. Plea...please I'm begging you." "Do not ever call me again, Ira. It's over between us." The line went dead. That was all it took for him to left me at the Altar for her. *** ~ A REBIRTH STORY From childhood, Ira Veyansh was always compared to Niya Kapadia. Niya ~ the maid's daughter who could do everything better. Studies, sports, looks, manners, obedience, everything. Everyone loved Niya. Ira parents, her brothers, even the family celebrated her like she was one of their own. Birthdays, dinners, small achievements... the praise always went to Niya. "Ira, you should be more like Niya." "I wish Niya was my sister." "Take a lesson from Niya." Day by day, Ira felt invisible. Starved for love and attention, she did things she shouldn't have, hurt Niya, humiliated her, even darker. But nothing worked. Then came Viaan. Her childhood love. The one she thought would finally make her happy. But he chose Niya too. The pain and humiliation were too much for her to handle. That night, walking alone in the rain after being abandoned at her own wedding, Ira was hit by a truck. A brutal accident that ended her life. But life gave her a second chance. A rebirth. She remembered everything. Every insult. Every betrayal. Every heartbreak. And somewhere in that second life... there is this man. Reevan. A man she was never meant to cross paths with. Forbidden. Yet somehow... tied to her fate. Now, the question is, will she let fate repeat itself, or will she change her story?

[ONGOING] »-There's a light that you give me when I'm in shadow; There's a feeling within me, an Everglow-« Living under the protection of her Father and five older brothers is an introverted, anxiety-ridden, fourteen year old, by the name of Rowan Muraro. Life doesn't come easy for this young girl. When family secrets are revealed, her haunted past and present nightmares seem never-ending; which demoralises her future. Will her family and friends be enough to save her? »-What I wouldn't give for just a moment to hold Because, I live for this feeling, this everglow-« [content warning: dark/graphic in places.]