She was the baby they blamed. The sister they forgot. Guilt runs deep. Love runs late. And time may not wait for them to make it right. She never asked for much-just to be seen, to be loved. Born the day their mother died, Lucia became the silent shadow in a broken house. Forgotten by the four brothers who once cradled and kissed her as a baby, she learned to shrink, to survive. But when a cruel illness leaves her helpless, they are forced to see what they've ignored for years-a little girl, aching for care, terrified to need them, and still loving them with everything she has. #5 in family: 27/05/2025 #1 in sad: 05/07/2025 #1 in sick: 27/05/2025 #1 in disease: 05/07/2025 #1 in rich: 31/05/2025 #2 in siblings: 24/05/2025 #1 in brothers: 24/05/2025 #1 in neglect: 31/05/2025 #1 in babysister: 31/05/2025 #1 in help: 13/07/2025 #2 in elderbrothers: 31/05/2025 1k reads: 23/05/2025 100k reads: 2/06/2025 200k reads: 15/06/2025 300k reads: 04/07/2025 400k reads: 15/08/2025 500k reads: 1/11/2025 Started: 22nd May 2025 Ended: 28th May 2025

noun: one who returns, especially from the dead or a long absence They lost her once. They'll burn the world to get her back. Cecilia Bonetti has spent her life locked away in a care home - isolated, overlooked, and surviving in silence. What she doesn't know is that five powerful men have been searching for her since the day she vanished... and they're her brothers. As the feared leaders of the Bonetti mafia, they believed Cecilia was gone forever. Until now. But blood has memory. And when sunshine slips into their dark world, even the coldest hearts begin to crack. They'll fight to keep their composure - ruthless, untouchable - but with Cecilia back, staying cold might be the hardest battle they've ever faced.

After enduring years of neglect and cruelty from her mother and stepfather, Ariana's life changes drastically when tragedy brings her under the guardianship of five brothers she's never met and they never even knew they had a sister. For her brothers, learning they have a sister is an unwelcome surprise. Suspicious and reluctant, her brothers see Aria as an outsider, a stranger disrupting the fragile balance of their lives. For Aria, their home is both a new beginning and a constant reminder of the family that left her behind. Haunted by the pain of her past, Aria struggles to adjust, her every action guarded and her trust hard to earn. As her brothers try to understand her, they begin to glimpse the scars she hides and the strength she carries. Little by little, resentment turns to empathy, and the walls between them start to crumble. But just as the siblings begin to find common ground, the secrets and trauma of Aria's old life threaten to tear them apart. Together, they must decide whether they can overcome the shadows of the past to forge a family and whether Aria can finally find a place to belong.

𝐆𝐈𝐔𝐋𝐈𝐀 𝐕𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐎, a young girl who's never known stability. Raised by a reckless, unstable mother, she spent her childhood caught between drug runs and police raids, ruining her right for a normal childhood. One night when her mother goes missing, Giulia's whole life changes... again. Will being under the guardianship of her new older brothers give her a chance at normalcy in her life or will they cause even more mess than before? Healing isn't easy and trust doesn't come free. ☆ ☆ ☆ As I lied there in the hospital bed with a pounding headache, practically suffocating me while barely conscious, I heard that familiar, raspy, deep, sleep deprived voice that I've recently come to find comfort in. "Nessuno oserà toccarti di nuovo senza perdere le mani, amore," they whispered. (No one will dare touch you again without losing their hands, love.) I felt two hands hold my face with a soft kiss on my forehead. Their rough and large hands a contrast to their gentleness. The comforter over me shuffled as the familiar person brought them up to my chin and tucked me in. "Riposati ora sei al sicuro, bambina," they murmured, stroking my hair. Before I knew it, simply the presence of them reassured me as I felt myself drift off again into a deep sleep. (Rest now, you're safe, baby). ☆ ☆ ☆ 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄 (noun): a state of being pleasantly lost in one's thoughts; a daydream.

BxB --------- Torin Frey has a crush. With his eighteenth birthday right around the corner, he'll soon be able to identify his Mate. Hopefully it's the male he's always had his eyes on.

Gemma isn't what you would call normal. With a genius IQ, a not so great home life, and a hard time staying in tight spaces, the girl's got a few issues. She never thought that she would be saying that a new issue was four older brothers she had no idea about. Brothers who thought she died twelve years ago? But not everything is as it appears with our lovely little Gemma; same with her new brothers. Nothing is as it appears, it seems. With a past worse than expected at first glance, literal demons that can bite them in the ass, and a couple of plain grouchy Starbucks attendants, this will be one crazy ride. But will this ride destroy the family or bring it back together? Don't look at me, I don't know. You'll have to read to figure that out. (The chapter titles are in Portuguese but the story is in English, I promise you).

Nolan, an unapproachable guy who ignores the existence of all his schoolmates, sleeps in all of his classes. Normally, this wouldn't be Chelsea Arnold's problem-she does her best to pay attention in class and attends gym like a good, normal student. Unfortunately, she just so happens to be his assigned desk partner in many classes. She's frequently forced to wake him in English class and ends up earning the unofficial title of Nolan's Wake-up Alarm-a title that nobody in the entire school covets. The last thing she wants is to interact with him more than she absolutely has to. One day, their gym teacher sends her to bring him back to class, which he always skips for some reason. When she accidentally shines her flashlight in his sleeping face, it triggers a chain of events that gradually intertwines their lives together. It's hard to be a normal student when you start befriending the school oddball. It doesn't help that he has more secrets than the Big Ben has stairs. ----- Complete. (first person, past tense, slowburn) ----- 1st place in Humor Category of Psychological Novel Reads Contest 2020 (29 Sep 2020) ----- Started: April 28, 2020 Completed: July 23, 2021 Word Count: 160K+ ----- The sequel, The Tortoise and His Sunrise, is up on my profile now!

"I am the textbook definition of in love with you." *** Jazz Red has had a life full of love; his parents taught him how to value himself, his siblings taught him how to stand up for what he believed in, and his family has taught him what it means to matter to people. He has people in his corner, there for him and ready to have his back. He knows that there are people who are less lucky than him-- with unaccepting parents and cruel siblings and a harsh past. He knows that when things go wrong, sometimes people are alone. Sometimes they fall apart, and there's no one else there to catch their shattered pieces. But he isn't one of them. He has friends and family that love him. So why does he want more? Why does he-- even with all the joy his family gives him-- want a different type of love? He feels selfish, undeserving. Why did he have to feel so bad about being alone when he was surrounded by people who appreciated him? Why did he have to want, why did desire never leave him alone? Well, he finds out when he meets Castor Rex, a quiet and extremely interesting football player, and that empty part in Jazz's heart feels a little bit bigger when he starts to realize Cas could fill it. Cas sees him as a grinning, happy dork he has no chance with. Jazz sees him as a adorable, grumpy jock that now, is his. Castor wants to get through the school year as quietly as possible but with how loud Jazz loves, neither of them know if it's possible, and to make matters worse they're roommates for the rest of the year. It's only a matter of time before they come together or fall apart. *** Red's Series #4. Crossover to @whoscountinganyways User Series. Can be read as a stand alone.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly, grabbing Kai's arm and preventing him from running away again. "N-nothing." Kai whispered looking down at his shoes. Nicolas lifted Kai's chin and looked into his black eyes with a soft look. "I know something is wrong. Tell me." He coaxed moving his hand from Kai's chin to cup his cheek instead. "I don't like it when you laugh and smile with Rex" Kai mumbled. "I want you to only smile at me." _____________________________________________ Kai and Nicolas were best friends. They've always been best friends. Everyone around them craved to have a friendship as beautiful as theirs. Nothing could change it. Until something could. Something as simple as feelings.

''Ian Romero, the person I hate the most in the whole wide world. He turned the entire school against me, and then just left me alone in the hell he created.'' There's no one Cody Walker hates more than Ian Romero, who is the reason he has been bullied for years. Cody thought things would be different in university, but turns out there won't be just his three bullies, but also Ian, who he hasn't seen in years. Ian, who doesn't understand how far-reaching consequences his actions have had, is baffled by the deep hatred Cody has towards him. They become enemies, and piece by piece the truth behind Cody's actions starts to clarify to Ian.. CW: bullying, violence 2021 (original)