Aurelia and Elara - the youngest twins and the only daughters of the De Santis family - were once the heart of their household. Inseparable, gentle, adored. Where one went, the other followed. Their parents cherished them. Their brothers protected them. But everything shattered the night eight-year-old Elara was found bleeding on the floor... and Aurelia stood over her, a knife in her hand. Blamed for a crime she didn't commit, Aurelia was sent away to a strict boarding school for "troubled children." Her parents believed discipline would straighten her out. What they never imagined was the truth - the cruelty hidden behind the school's walls, the sadistic methods used to "teach," and the horrors Aurelia was forced to endure. Now sixteen, after a devastating incident inside that school, Aurelia is brought back to the De Santis mansion. But it's not a homecoming. It's an obligation. A reminder that she is unwanted, distrusted, and viewed as a threat by the very family she once loved. Follow Aurelia as she relearns how to exist in a home that no longer feels like hers. Uncover the truth of what happened that night, what really happened to her within the school, and whether the De Santis family will ever face the truth of what Aurelia had to endure and do to survive. ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── "What should I ache for? The childhood that slipped away? The silence that became my companion? Or the pieces of myself that I will never get back? Maybe pain isn't a phase-- it's just who I am." ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── "How many graves will I need, to bury everything that died inside of me?" ❁Naya Aknis❁

Sophia was always the quiet one - the shadow in every family photo, the name they never called first. Her sister got the love. She got the silence. But when one night of betrayal shatters everything, Sophia walks away from the life that never chose her. Years later, just when she's learned to heal, the past comes knocking again - and she must decide if forgiveness is strength... or another way to break.

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

Ivana grew up alone. She was alone since the day she was born and she was sure she would also die alone. Without anyone by her side she struggled to make a living, till one day two men stood infront of her door, claiming to be her brothers. Getting to meet her overwhelmed father, her overprotective older brothers and the obsessed man from the rival mafia, Ivana didn't know how to feel nor act anymore. Experiencing love and care for the first time, the feeling of finally belonging isn't the only thing Ivana will have to get used to.

Sylvie Walker, unaware of the things hidden from her about her family. She's been living with her mother and step father for the past 13 years, but one day, everything changes. Her step father and her get into an accident, leaving her with partially usable legs and wheelchair. After her mom starts abusing her, her 5 brothers swoop in and take her back. Join her on her journey, as she learns about her family, and the mafia world...

Seinna was stolen from her brothers and thrown into a life of abuse and fear. Years later, they found her....broken. Now they'll do whatever it takes to heal her. Seinna's world was silence, fear, and pain-until her brothers tore it all down to bring her back home. But saving her wasn't the end. It was only the beginning. Haunted by her past, Seinna doesn't know how to let them in, how to trust that she's safe, or that she's even worth saving. But her brothers aren't giving up. Not now. Not ever. This is a story of scars, love, and the unbreakable bond of family-the kind that fights for you when you can't fight for yourself.

Eight-year-old Athena Dimitriou has never known safety. Raised by a mother who loved her but resented her, and a man who hid his violence behind closed doors, she learned early how to stay small, quiet, and invisible. Until the night everything shattered. When her mother is found dead and her stepfather vanishes, DNA results reveal an impossible truth-Athena is the illegitimate daughter of one of America's most powerful Mafia dons. Whisked away to New York, she finds herself in a palace of cold steel and burning loyalty, under the protection of five ruthless brothers who rule a criminal empire. She was born in silence. They raise her in steel. But beneath the violence lies something unexpected-soft hands, warm arms, a family that will kill for her, die for her... and teach her, at last, how to live. Book 1

Alessandra has never believed in safety. Life never gave her a reason to. Pain carved her childhood, silence became her armor, and trust? That was a luxury she could never afford. So when she runs -- bloody, broken, and barely breathing, she doesn't expect saving. She certainly doesn't expect to be taken in by a family dripping in wealth and power and. . . warmth? A mother who refuses to give up on her. A father who watches like he's waiting for her to let him in. And six brothers. Rough. Protective. Complicated. Brothers, who don't know what to do with a sister who won't speak. She doesn't know how to trust. How to believe that maybe not everyone wants to hurt her. Every instinct tells her to run. To shut down. But they don't let her go. Not when she flinches. Not when she hides. Not even when she breaks. Happiness is for other people, or that's what she believes. But when love comes wrapped in gentle patience and fierce protection, when hands reach for her without demand, when hearts break themselves wide open just to hold her... she starts to wonder. Can a girl stitched together with silence and fear ever belong in a family built on love? Can she stand tall when the ghosts of her past refuse to let go? And when danger claws its way back into her life, threatening everything she's come to know... will she find her voice, or will she shatter all over again? Trigger Warnings: Child abuse. Violence. Addiction. Panic attacks. SA. Self-harm. Death, and more.

Mona, a 12-year-old girl who has always felt like an orphan, grows up selling hot dogs and sausages, believing she has no family and no surname to call her own. But everything changes when she discovers that she does have a family-one far larger than she could have ever imagined. With 18 brothers (not including her cousins) and overprotective parents who watch her every move, Mona is sent to live with her family. Now, she must navigate life with her new, boisterous, and protective family, where being the only girl among so many brothers comes with its own set of challenges, surprises, love, and lots of humour.

Four years ago, Valentina Coppola was erased from the life she used to know. Accused of pushing her twin sister down the stairs of their home, she was sent to a boarding school for ill mannered ladies in Stockholm. An academy shaped like a prison. Years after the fall, she is brought back to Italy so that amends can be made. Older. Sharper. And still helplessly hurt by what happened years ago, Valentina must learn to navigate life with the brothers that didn't believe her, a father who shipped her away, and a twin sister who hides behind a fabricated lie. This time, Valentina has secrets of her own.