Lielle Ford and Luca Taylor have been inseparable for as long as anyone can remember-best friends, partners in crime, each other's anchor through every heartbreak and triumph. Lielle never expected to fall for him, but sometimes the heart doesn't listen, and suddenly the man she's always trusted feels impossibly out of reach. Years pass, and what was once innocent becomes complicated. Fame, public scrutiny, and whispered rumors blur the lines between right and wrong. Luca is reckless, irresistible, and effortlessly charming, while Lielle is fierce, independent, and determined never to let anyone break her. Yet even the strongest resolve can falter when desire and betrayal collide. As boundaries are crossed, feelings are tested, and secrets unravel, Lielle finds herself walking a dangerous line between loyalty, love, and temptation. Because when you've loved someone from the start, how do you survive watching them slip through your fingers-or into someone else's arms? In a world where nothing is as it seems, love is messy, hearts are fragile, and sometimes the most forbidden choices are the ones you can't resist.

Aria is the beautiful, smart, and beloved daughter-praised by everyone and trusted with their father's company. But her twin sister, Alina, lives constantly in her shadow-unseen, uncelebrated, and forced to work under Aria's command. When Aria causes a major financial loss to a powerful, mysterious company owned by an unknown billionaire, their father is forced to pay a large sum in compensation. But it's not enough. In return, the company demands an unusual form of settlement: the CEO responsible must marry their CEO until the debt is cleared. To protect Aria, their parents make a secret decision. Alina is forced to marry the unknown CEO in Aria's place. She's terrified-of the marriage, the man, and the new life ahead. No one knows what he looks like, and he's never appeared in the media. He's a complete enigma. Alina's first night in the mansion is unsettling-she's kissed from behind by a stranger while humming a song known only to her and a long-lost love. The kiss stirs something in her, something painfully familiar. And when she finally meets her husband, Darren Blackwood, she's stunned. He looks familiar-too familiar-but she can't place him. As days pass, memories from eight years ago start surfacing. Clues hidden in the house, songs, and gestures slowly unravel the truth: Darren is the man who once loved her and vanished from her life. The heartbreak returns-but so does the spark. Their love story reignites, beginning with slow trust and deep emotion. But Aria, full of jealousy and rage, isn't done. She wages a subtle war to tear them apart, using lies and manipulation to destroy Alina's newfound happiness. Yet, against the odds, and despite the pain of the past, Darren and Alina prove that love-true, hard-earned love-can conquer even the deepest wounds and fiercest enemies.

First love can be all-consuming. When that first love happens to be your brother's best friend, things get a bit more complicated. Mackenzie Cooper fell in love with the one person she wasn't supposed to, her brother's best friend, Camden Beck. Through shared loss and a growing closeness, Camden and Mackenzie promised to never break one another's hearts. But can you really make that promise at eighteen years old? It's been six years since they made that promise. When Mackenzie finds herself fresh out of a job, she decides the best thing to do is return home to help with the last minute details of her brother's pending wedding. The last person she expects to see when she arrives is the MLB's hottest young pitcher, her ex, Camden Beck. With a wedding to plan and unanswered questions left looming, will they find their way back to one another, or will their fate be tied only to the past? *This is the second book in a series. While this can be read as a stand-alone, the first book, Since Forever, should be read first.

Rory Hayes was born a gang princess - raised to be protected, promised to a future that was never really hers. After her best friend's death, danger begins circling closer, and the last thing she wants is protection. Especially not from Alexander Cross, the man who appears out of nowhere with a dangerous smile and an interest in her she can't quite resist. He makes her feel safe. Seen. Wanted. Until she discovers everything between them was built on a lie. Now someone is hunting her, the truth about the past refuses to stay buried, and the only man she can't trust might be the only one who can keep her alive. But in a world built on loyalty and blood, betrayal always comes at a price. And this time, it might cost her everything. __________________________ My submission for ONC 2026 using the Prompt #78 - You begin to realise everything is not what it seems. This will be uploaded irregularly but as its a submission for ONC it will be completed by the end of April for judging.

"Save your breath; we both know you don't mean a word of it. When you heartlessly tossed me away, I decided to write off my two years with you as a waste of time and emotion. As you can see, we are doing well without you. So you can turn your pompous ass around and F*CK OFF!" *** Amelia Stein, an orphan who made something of herself, had a one night stand with the billionaire Dustin Roger which resulted in an unplanned bun in the oven. Married into the family, she was ignored and verbally abused until she lost her child. When Amelia was pregnant again and about to break the news to her husband, she got slapped with a divorce agreement on their anniversary. She left, brokenhearted but rich and decided to make a life for herself and her unborn child. Six years later, she returns to town to help her adopted brother and unfortunately clashes with Dustin once more. Will she be able to leave town without Dustin finding out her little secrets?

She gave him six years. He gave her promises, dreams, and betrayal - in that order. When Riley fell in love with her best friend, she thought she found her forever. From stolen glances to late-night calls, from fairytale moments to whispered vows of a future together - it all felt real. Until it wasn't. In 2023, just days before her birthday, he disappeared. Two months later, he was married. By the end of the year, he was back in her life, swearing he had changed. This is not a love story. This is the unfiltered truth of what it's like to love someone who breaks you twice - and still have to find the strength to walk away the third time. It's about silence after loud lies, betrayal after blind faith, and the quiet power of choosing yourself. Loud and Unclear is a deeply personal memoir of heartbreak, healing, and the brutal beauty of finally hearing your own voice after drowning in someone else's noise. For every woman who has stayed too long, loved too hard, and left too late - This is your story, too.

Rachel's heart broke ten years ago. The man she wanted never saw her. She was never on his radar. So she moved on--or tried to. He was her best friend's brother, after all; escaping him was impossible. Instead, she built a life. Married another man who promised her the kind of love she'd stopped waiting for. But promises shatter easily. When Rachel discovers her husband's infidelity, the illusion of her happy ending crumbles. Mark was never the man who saw her. And the miserable truth is--the only man who ever did, abandoned her while her world fell apart. Now she's a new mother to her cheating, abusive husband's daughter, surrounded by friends who refuse to let her break... including him. Roy. Leroy. The man she weaved fantasies around since she was thirteen. So when he finally looks at her--really looks at her--and promises the kind of love she once dreamed about, Rachel lets herself fall. Completely. Only to learn she was never going to be his first choice. He had twenty years to hear her. Five months to claim her. And one night was all it took--for him to destroy her instead.

"The Butcher of Moscow was never meant to be tamed... until her son called him father." They call me the Butcher of Moscow. Forged in blood. Raised on betrayal. Crowned with power. Mercy is a language I do not speak. Love is a lie I never believed. Chains are my truth-the only thing that has ever kept me untouchable. I bind. I control. I break. Until her. Katya Slovan. A woman with fire in her veins, and a little boy clutching her hand. She storms into my world-too defiant to bow, too brave to run. She should fear me. And she does. Yet she meets my gaze with eyes that refuse to lower, lips that spit fire even when her hands shake. Her son is her strength. And somehow... he has become my weakness-especially when he whispers my name: Papa. I should have destroyed her. Instead, I claimed her. I bound her to me in the only way I know-through a marriage forged in blood and chains. A gilded prison she cannot escape, no matter how fiercely she fights. She thinks she's my captive. She doesn't know... she's the only one who holds the key to my cage. In my world, love does not save. It damns. And Katya Slovan is the chain around my throat I will never break.

On the morning of her third wedding anniversary, Charlotte Wilson learns the truth-her husband, David Jones, has been betraying her for years with her best friend, Morecea Hale. The betrayal cuts deeper when she discovers her stepsister, Anna Wilson, has been helping them, eager to seize the inheritance her mother left behind. Stripped of her shares, framed for fraud, and left to die in a staged "accident," Charlotte's final moments are filled with one bitter truth: the people she trusted most were the ones who destroyed her. But death is not the end. Charlotte wakes up five years in the past-two years before her doomed marriage-armed with the knowledge of every betrayal, every deal, and every face that smiled while stabbing her in the back. This time, she will not be the woman they ruined. She will be the storm that topples their world. With her foresight, she builds an empire untouchable by lies, dismantling her enemies piece by piece. Her path unexpectedly collides with Warren Solomons-her former childhood friend turned bitter rival, now one of the most dangerous businessmen in the city. In a game where trust is a currency no one can afford, Warren becomes both her greatest challenge and her most unlikely ally... if she dares let him in before the final reckoning.

After three years of marriage, Amara Hayes chooses divorce over betrayal, walking away from a love that left her lonely. Ending things with Ethan Cole, a powerful and emotionally distant CEO, should have been her fresh start. But fate has other plans. Months later, Amara returns to Ethan's world as his nanny and temporary secretary-and he has no idea the woman he's slowly falling for is the ex-wife he once took for granted. As old wounds resurface and new feelings ignite, Ethan is forced to confront his past mistakes, growing jealousy, and deep regret. Now Amara must decide whether to guard her heart or risk loving the man who once broke it. A sweet, dramatic, and lightly humorous romance about divorce, betrayal, second chances, and love rediscovered-because some hearts deserve to be handled with care.