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.

𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 /ˈ𝘭ɪ𝘮ɪ𝘯ə𝘭/ adjective existing in the quiet interval before change, where nothing has ended, but everything feels about to. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴, 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸. Brothers/Family

At twelve years old, Emmy believes rules are the only thing that keep her alive. She believes her name is Emily-a girl who learned to be quiet, obedient, and perfect in order to survive. Every mistake feels dangerous. Every rule feels necessary. But when Lucian Valmont takes custody of her, Emily becomes Emmaline, and she is placed into a world nothing like the one she escaped. The Valmont household is powerful, disciplined, and unforgiving, ruled by stern authority and shaped by seven men who do not want her there. But as tensions rise within the family, it becomes clear that Emmy's quiet presence is changing them-whether they want it to or not. And when she is nearly lost, the Valmont brothers are forced to face the truth they've been avoiding. Emmy was never the weakest among them. She was the one holding them together

Saudade- a nostalgic longing to be near again to something or someone that is distant, or has been loved, then lost; "the love that remains" Marlowe Wanless, just 11-years-old has spent the better part of her life that she can remember in the house of her abusive and drug addicted stepfather. After he has been arrested for possession of illicit substances, Marlowe's custody has been shifted to her 7 terrifying older brothers who are surrounded by rumors regarding their line of work. The Valente's now juggle healing a mentally destroyed child while simultaneously sheltering her from lurking rival business' that will stop at nothing to harm the littlest Valente. Have the rival businesses just brought more danger then her stepfather? Who can be trusted? Or the bigger question, who can't?

After her mother's unexpected passing, Gemma is sent to live with seven strange men who don't seem overly fond of her being there. Their secrets, their strange rules and behaviour make Gemma want to run, to hide, to go back in time to when everything felt safe again. But life doesn't always play the way's expected, and Gemma's life of before can only stay as that: in the past. Top Rankings: 6/11/2025: #1 in grief 7/1/2026: #1 in friendship 9/1/2026: #2 in siblings 13/1/2026: #1 in mystery 1/2/2026: #2 in selectivemutism 7/4/2026: #2 in brothers 8/4/2026: #1 in anxiety

E·phem·er·al (adj.) Lasting for a very short time ִֶָ 𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ Aurora has spent her past thirteen years surviving, not living. Trapped in a broken home filled with cruelty and violence, every day has been a battle against the monsters she was forced to call family. Stained by her striking appearance--skin, hair, and eyes devoid of pigment--Aurora has always stood out. But one night, when flashing lights and sirens tear through the darkness of her world, everything changes for her. Her nightmares have been taken away in handcuffs, and for the first time, Aurora is free. Or so she believes. Swept away to a sprawling residence in New York, she's thrown into a new life with six mysterious older brothers she's never met, secrets buried in every corner, and danger that feels strangely familiar. As Aurora tries to rebuild, she begins to worry if the past is truly behind her, or if something even darker has been waiting all along. Wanting a future built upon more than merely scraping by, Aurora knows its time she fights for what was previously impossible. She's ready to live and claim her new life as more than Ephemeral. Even if it kills her. ִֶָ 𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ ⏾ The first couple chapters are short but get longer as you go. NO AI HAS GONE INTO EPHEMERAL.

Silenced by trauma, she returns to six brothers who blame her for their parents' death. Her voice stolen twice - by abuse and accusation. Can she break through their hatred without words?

Five years ago, Amara Adley set alight her youngest and only daughter's bedroom in a fit of jealousy induced rage. Six year old Navi-Jade was pronounced dead shortly after the authorities extinguished the deadly fire, although they never recovered a body. On the one year anniversary of the incident, Matthew Adley, father of seven, ended his own suffering. Amara Adley was never found. Six of the Adley brothers remained, going through the motions of life like perfect strangers, until five years later the impossible happens, giving their family the second chance they desperately needed. (Previously just 'Navi'. Being completely revamped as my writing skills have matured a lot since the original version)