𝙒𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧'𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮. He was the boy who would sneak through my windows late at night to hold me in my sleep. We made plans for forever. Dreamed of the life we would build full of adventures and unending happiness. 𝙒𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧, it's what they always say. Until we weren't... 𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚. 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮, 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝.

"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒅. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 - 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒅𝒐 𝒖𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 - 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓." What would you do if you found out your husband of eighteen years was having an affair? No, please. Don't answer now. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬. Eighteen years, not eighteen days. We have a history. A family. There's a long road between suspicion, footprints left in the sand, and the absolutely devastating truth that life as you know it has ended. I saw it all coming. Felt it in my bones. Late nights at work. Sleeping at the office. I felt the distance - how his eyes couldn't hold my stare anymore. Secretive texts late at night. Lipstick stains where they didn't belong. Unfamiliar scents on a man who should always smell like him and me. 𝘏𝘪𝘮 & 𝘮𝘦. But when a third person enters your marriage... There's nothing left anymore. My name is Cecily, and this is the story of how my life was 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 - and how I survived 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦.

At 40 and with three kids, the last thing I needed was my husband suddenly working every day with a gorgeous, talented, much younger French prima ballerina. But life didn't care. Late nights. Missed dinners. A shift in his voice when he said her name. And just like that, the marriage I thought was unshakable began to crack. Now I'm forced to face the truth: Every pas de deux has a breaking point. And ours... might be reaching its final step. ‧₊˚♪𝄞₊˚⊹ ‧₊˚♪𝄞₊˚⊹ ‧₊˚♪𝄞₊˚⊹ ‧₊˚♪𝄞₊˚⊹ 🩰 A marriage cracking after 16 years 🩰 Emotional cheating 🩰 Mild OW drama 🩰 Holiday angst 🩰 Mischief, fluff & cute moments 🩰 Maybe not enough grovel... and small doses of pettiness 🎄 Yes, there's an HEA. It is Christmas, after all... ✨

Robyn and Nate were supposed to be endgame. She thought they were rowing in the same direction; he thought their foundation was solid. Then, there was a kiss---revealing cracks they'd both overlooked. Now they're circling each other with all the sharp edges of people who loved deeply and broke badly. Nate is left wondering if he can rebuild a relationship that fully collapsed, while Robyn questions whether anything short of science fiction could bring back the trust she lost. CW: Physical affair (a kiss) and Emotional affair Rankings: #1 OWDrama 12/20/25 #2 Cheating 12/21/25

One lesson I learned very early in life was to be cheerful, to be agreeable, to do as I was told and ask for nothing, and to never ever complain. Smile Maddie. Be happy Maddie. Don't make trouble and maybe they'll love you. I grew into an adult who took care of others and never expected that those I loved would take care of me in return. I gave and never asked, never expected, never demanded. Smile Maddie. Be happy Maddie. Don't make trouble and you'll find someone that will love you. And then one day, a Dragon walked into my workplace and turned my world upside down with a single wink. Having grown up watching his father treat his men like they were disposable, just meat bags to be fed into the grinder, Dragon was determined to be different when he became president of the Dragon's Inferno MC. He cares about his people. He takes care of them. He was upfront with me, taking care of his MC and those he considered to be his would always be his priority. And I agreed to that, I joined him in that mission, throwing myself into becoming the perfect old lady of the prez. Smile Maddie. Act happy Maddie. Take care of them and maybe they'll love you. Smile Maddie. Be happy Maddie. Don't complain and maybe he'll love you. I told myself I was independent. I was strong. And I didn't need my Dragon to take care of me. And I almost believed it. Almost. But now I'm watching him with her. I'm watching him comfort her. I'm watching him listen to her, support her, reassure her. I'm watching him take time from his day to check in with her. I'm watching him worry about her. I'm watching them become closer right in front of my eyes. I'm seeing every thoughtful gesture he does for her. And me? I'm not happy. I'm not smiling. I'm done being agreeable. Fuck not causing trouble. I'm about to set my Dragon's world on fire. And then I'm walking away. She can have him. For the first time in my life, I'm choosing myself.

PAUL I cheated on my fiancée. Sophie and I were building our future. In love, happy, peaceful. Then she found a lump in her breast, and I made the worst choice: I numbed my fear by sleeping with someone else. My worst mistake and my biggest regret. Now I see Sophie around town with him. She's radiant and laughing with people who actually show up. I'm trying to learn how to be a man who does. If she lets me, I'll spend the rest of my life proving I can choose her when it's hardest. If she lets me... SOPHIE I thought the promise was in sickness and in health. But he buried his fear in someone else. On the same night, I walked into a bookstore and met the gentle giant owner, who invited me to his book club full of misfits. I'm laughing again, I'm smiling more than I ever have, and I'm healing my heart. My bookstore owner keeps showing up like it's as easy as breathing. I don't know what the future holds; I don't know if I'll win this battle against cancer, but I do know I'm done wasting time on people who love only when it's easy. CALLUM She came into Rivers & Rhodes Bookstore and asked for books with happy endings only. I gave her a recommendation, an invitation, and an offer of friendship. Now, this beautiful, brave woman is completely under my skin. I'm not here to win a competition against him. I'm here because choosing someone, second by second, is the only way I understand love. 12/10/25 - Currently undergoing edits.

Ongoing! ---- Eliana had dedicated her life to her family. To her spunky twin daughters who brought her both endless grief and honest joy; and to her husband Jesse, her high school sweetheart and the love of her life. She'd happily sacrificed her dreams for what she'd thought was a better future. Until suddenly... it wasn't. When late nights and unexplainable purchases and guilty excuses became their new normal, Eliana began to take note. To document. To investigate. Her husband may think otherwise, but this housewife was no fool. And this time - when the truth came to light, as it always does - Eliana would be the one pulling the strings. ---- HEA; dual-POV Content Warning: Cheating spouse, language

Nora never wanted much. Just a steady home. Simple days. A life that held its shape. She didn't crave excitement or change. She only needed predictability. Her routines, her quiet, her small world. It was enough. She believed that if she kept everything perfectly still, the life she had built would hold. And for a long time, it did. But when the ground finally shifted under her feet, Nora didn't move with it. She froze in place, the way people do when they have no other direction to turn. Because where does a person go when they have nowhere to go? Warning: This story uses mature language and scenes. © IcecreamSundae5. All rights reserved.

BOOK TWO Five years ago, Dawn Ramsey let the wrong man in. Alessandro Ruiz charmed his way into her bed to access an encrypted file that should have stayed buried. He got what he came for, but she caught on and walked away before he could take anything more. Now he is back, acting as if the past holds no weight. He offers her a position at his firm. A chance to refine her skills. She agrees, with one condition. Everything between them must remain strictly professional. But her reasons for accepting run deeper. Someone has been taunting her, leaving coded messages only another hacker would understand. Each message feels more deliberate. Each one cuts closer to the people she loves. She knows she must uncover the truth before the threats become something irreversible. And that includes protecting the man she has tried so hard to stop loving.

Copyright © 2025 by Bookish Dae Caspian Stone, a grumpy mafia king, finds his world irrevocably brightened by Ayla Evans, a sweet and sunny bookseller. In a devastating strategic move to protect her from a rival, he betrays her, shattering her heart and trust. His plan spirals into chaos when someone he trusted the most betrays them,.