" I don't even like you like that." Her face scrunched up in disgust watching water drip from curls in his hair. " 'Cause you love me. Just like I love you." He retorted with a grin, disregarding the deflecting she was doing. --- They were two sides of the same city-until one move split them down the middle. Elijah and London were inseparable once, bonded by childhood summers, beat-up bikes, and secrets too deep for anyone else to know. Unfortunately, when Elijah's mom packed up and moved her family across Onyx to a rival neighborhood, everything changed. She always thought when she spoke to him again he would've changed like her. She was witty, sarcastic, and had a low tolerance, but he was still the same calm , sweet, cute boy with a heart the size of the sun. Some things haven't changed. Some things never change. The pull between them, the memories that still burn etched marks in their brain, and the words they never said out loud. In a world where loyalty can be life or death, and love isn't always enough to cross old lines, Elijah and London find themselves circling each other again. --- STARTED; MAY 26th, 2025 PUBLISHED JUNE 6th, 2025 FINISHED; SEPTEMBER 27th 2025

𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇 𝖠𝗎𝗋𝗈𝗋𝖺 𝖽𝖾𝖼𝗂𝖽𝖾𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝖺𝗇 𝗂𝗇𝗇𝗈𝖼𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗃𝗈𝖻 𝖺𝗌 𝖺 𝗌𝗎𝖻𝗌𝗍𝗂𝗍𝗎𝗍𝖾 𝗍𝖾𝖺𝖼𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗐𝗁𝗂𝗅𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝖿𝖾𝗌𝗌𝗈𝗋 𝗂𝗌 𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗈𝗇 𝗆𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗇𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝗅𝖾𝖺𝗏𝖾. 𝖶𝗁𝗂𝗅𝖾 𝗌𝗁𝖾 𝗂𝗌 𝗍𝖾𝖺𝖼𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝗅𝖺𝗌𝗌𝖾𝗌 𝗌𝗁𝖾 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗓𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗆𝖺𝗅𝖾 𝗌𝗍𝗎𝖽𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗌 𝗁𝖺𝗌 𝗍𝖺𝗄𝖾𝗇 𝖺 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗈 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝖽𝗈 𝖺𝗇𝗒𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗈 𝗀𝖾𝗍 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝖺𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇. 𝖶𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗉𝖾𝗇 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝗌𝗁𝖾 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗓𝖾𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝖺𝗇𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝖺𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖺 𝖽𝗂𝖿𝖿𝖾𝗋𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗌𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗇 𝗌𝗁𝖾 𝗈𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗂𝗇𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁𝗍?

In a world where loyalty means everything, Brielle Banks must choose between the family she's always known and the man who could destroy it all. Caught between revenge and unexpected attraction, sparks fly behind bars. Will she fall into Sincere's dangerous world-or will their violent past rip them apart?

"Beautiful things don't ask for attention." In a world that thrives on conformity, August is an anomaly. Raised in a secretive overbearing family, she was chosen to leave its hidden grounds-not for freedom, but for duty. Sent to college to become the strategic mind for her generation behind the family's growing empire, she tries to move through the world like a ghost, draped in gothic shadows with secrets too heavy to share but her style is just too much to go unnoticed by judging eyes unscathed. Then she meets Kason through his older brother. A rising rapper with a reckless charm and a hunger for something real, dealing with battles of his own, he's instantly drawn to August's eerie demeanor and the quiet storm that lingers behind her dark mysterious eyes. She's nothing like the women he's used to-unbothered by trends, and untouched by the need for validation. The more she resists, the deeper he falls, his infatuation turning into an obsession he can't shake. One he cant let go of. As their worlds collide, the slow burn of their connection threatens to ignite everything August has been taught to suppress. With her past closing in and expectations pressing down, she must decide if she's willing to defy everything she's ever known for the chance at something dangerously real. In a society that demands she fit a mold, August stands in defiance. Unfortunately, love has a way of making even the strongest question their silence. STARTED; February 22nd , 2025 PUBLISHED; MARCH 18th, 2025 FINISHED; MAY 27th, 2025

𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐲. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐱 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐯𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭, 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡'𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨'𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

"I made the decision to cheat on my wife because I liked the way you made me feel vulnerable and comfortable enough to open up to you the night before it happened. I ain't never did shit like that before and that's what made it easy for me to choose to risk everything I got for you." "That shit probably not a big deal to you but a nigga like me ain't never opened up to nobody but my best friend-and still..that's rare. I hate even talking about her with you but I don't even feel comfortable talking to Ariana about my feelings 'cause I know she gon' judge me. You don't make me feel like that."

𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨'𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐗𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚 𝐄𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭?

"So when you gon' stop playing and let me hit that shit, Zuria?" Mitch asked while he smoked a blunt in my mother's living room and we both sat on the floor. "Let you hit this?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I watched him blow smoke into the air. "Yeah." He smirked, cockily. "How about when you learn how to talk to your girlfriend?" I took the blunt out of this hands and smashed it on the ashtray that was on the coffee table. "Whatchu do that for?" He bit his bottom lip, leaning into me. "Hm?" He went on, softly biting my neck. "I've told you, you can't smoke in here, Mitchell." "You're really not even supposed to be here." I said to him, considering my mother did not condone boys in her house but here he was. He'd completely ignored me though as he mushed his head into my neck, leaving small kisses. "Stop." I whined playfully as he pushed himself up onto me and kissed my lips, pushing me backwards with our lips still attached. "Mitch." I spoke nervously as he climbed on top of me while I now laid my back onto the carpet. "Let me hit that shit, ma." He spoke softly into my ear as he continued leaving kisses on my neck. "Mitch, we cant. My mom will be home from work soon." I expressed to him but he ran his hands up my school skirt anyway. "Stop bitchin'." "Let me finally pop that cherry, Z." He spoke, putting his lips on mine as he slowly moved my underwear aside and rubbed his fingers against my Girl. "Mm." I moaned, unfamiliar with this feeling but it felt great. And though I knew my mother would be here soon, I no longer wanted to stop. He continued rubbing it as I laid there, looking up into his eyes. As I did, he smirked down at me and I smiled small, rubbing a hand down his cheek. I was so in love with this boy.

"You no tell this girl that I said, I want no relations with a darkie?" She spat to me, making my eyes go wide. What? I thought to myself and Gio tried pulling me away but I snatched away from him, knowing I heard right this time. "Wait, what?" I spoke out loud and Gi grabbed me roughly, trying to pull me away again. "Why you saying these things? She's beautiful." I heard his abuelita sticking up for me as she stood to her feet and all the guys began to as well, telling their mom that she was wrong for what she was doing. "That puta heard me." She spat, pointing her finger at me. "You're too dark." She held up a brown paper bag that she was drinking her beer out of. "You no match this bag or lighter, you're too dark." "You look too much like his father. I no want you around me." She shooed me off, instantly breaking my heart into a billion pieces as I looked up at Giovanni who was looking down at me with hurt in his eyes. "Baby, please." He begged and I shook my head at him in disgust before putting my attention back onto her. "Get that darkness out of here, Giovanni. She's a demon." "Only demons have her color." She kept on going and I felt sick to my stomach in this moment as I stood there in complete shock.

Thrown into the bustle of Atlanta after leaving New York, Britney "B" Williams is forced to adapt to a new normal. Not knowing what to expect she unintentionally befriends Atlanta's elite which leads her to uncovering deceit, secrets and love. (July 2021) Edited (March 2023) Formerly known as: "All this Love" #therealm 🌍 Cover by @seauxheaux