The affair broke his heart. Thanksgiving broke his family. Family is supposed to be where you go after betrayal. What happens when family is the betrayal?

Eleven years after his life shattered in Chicago, Chris has rebuilt himself carefully in San Francisco: controlled, independent, untethered. He teaches ethics and law. He boxes too hard. He keeps people at a distance. And he has absolutely no interest in anything that looks remotely permanent. Then a work trip to Mexico drops Marisol into his life. Within days they're tangled in hotel sheets, trading insults in two languages, and making the kind of reckless decisions that are only supposed to exist far from home. The problem isn't that Chris wants her again the moment he gets home. The problem is he assumed she lived two thousand miles away-not twenty minutes across the city. What begins as something casual quickly becomes impossible to contain, forcing Chris to confront the very thing he's dedicated years to avoiding: the possibility of staying. And just when he and Marisol finally stop pretending they haven't built something real together, the past Chris buried long ago comes looking for him.

Arabella thought she had the perfect life. A loving fiancé. A future she couldn't wait to begin. A man she trusted with her whole heart. But she felt the distance and tries to Bridge the gap. That's the night she walked into his office and found him kissing another woman. Heartbroken, Arabella flees, only to be struck by a car moments later. When she wakes up in the hospital, everyone believes she's lost her memory-including the man who shattered her world. Maverick is devastated, desperate to make things right, and willing to do anything to earn back the woman he loves. What he doesn't know is that Arabella remembers everything. The betrayal. The lies. The kiss. And she's not ready to forgive him. Pretending to have amnesia gives Arabella the perfect opportunity to watch the people around her reveal their true colours. But as Maverick fights to prove that one terrible mistake doesn't define his love for her, the line between revenge and forgiveness begins to blur. Because some wounds run too deep to heal. And some loves refuse to die. TROPES: - OWD - Cheating (kiss & inappropriate work relationship) - Fake amnesia - Grovel

We were friends with benefits. Reed would stop by every time he was in Anchorage, and that was the extent of things, although I started to want more. Then he ended our arrangement, and I suspected there was another woman, but it wasn't until I overheard a conversation that I understood completely. He thought I was calling and texting because I couldn't take no for an answer. That wasn't my problem at all. Two blue lines were.

Divorce lawyer Atticus Pierce has known Saskia was his since the day she moved in next door. He was twelve years old when he saw the quiet, strange girl with watchful dark eyes, and even then, his soul knew what they were before his brain did. Meant to be. Now, at thirty, Saskia has been his wife for ten years, and Atticus loves her with a devotion so deep it's madness. Tracking her location keeps her safe. Memorizing her routines is his duty as her protector. Noticing every subtle shift in her expression is his honor as her husband. But he keeps this hidden from Saskia, terrified at the thought of her discovering his obsession and being scared of him. She might leave him. And that is inconceivable. But Saskia is keeping secrets. Private phone calls she claims are work. Late-night meetings. Hushed conversations with the president of Iron Vow, the local MC. Already stretched thin by a brutal case against a violent ex-husband, Atticus begins to spiral beneath the weight of suspicion, jealousy, and the one fear he cannot survive coming true. That the love of his life belongs to someone else. When his control finally snaps, he says things he regrets the moment they leave his mouth. But Saskia is not cheating. She never was. She never would. And when Atticus uncovers the truth, he realizes his wife is not afraid of his obsession. She has been matching it all along... TW: stalking, blood and gore, unhealthy obsessive relationship behaviors that I'm shamelessly romanticizing. Reader discretion is advised.

I stayed when I shouldn't have. I stayed through half-listened conversations and promises that disappeared the moment someone else needed him more. I told myself I was overthinking. That things would change eventually. So I learned how to swallow my discomfort. My loneliness. My doubts. Until everything fell apart. Now I can't stop wondering why it took almost losing my life to finally understand what I already knew all along: I should've left him long ago. ............. Warning: This story uses mature language and scenes. © IcecreamSundae5. All rights reserved.

***STORY ON HOLD, AUTHOR HAS SEVERE CASE OF WRITER'S BLOCK*** ZOSIA I fell in love with Konstantin Krasnov. On the night I thought he was going to propose, I found another woman in his bed. I ran. I rebuilt. Life went on. Until one day, I'm attacked, and my savior is none other than the man who shattered me. Now there's a target on my back, and the man who cheated on me is the only one who can keep me alive. And I find out I never knew that man at all. Because Konstantin Krasnov is a monster. A butcher. A killer.

They call my husband the embodiment of cruelty. Demetri Ferraro was forged for control, vengeance, and bloodshed without conscience. Strangers murmur cautions about what he might do, forgetting I sleep inches from him nightly. If only they could witness what I have. There's a terrifying authenticity to our marriage. With me, he's attentive to the point of reverence. I wear his fingerprints like brands. His vigilance wraps around me, reflexive as breathing. I trusted him completely because betrayal seemed impossible. That was my undoing The merger of our families cost me things I didn't know I was losing. I salvaged only the skating rink-solitary hours on pristine ice before dawn or after midnight. The architecture of my future was more elaborate than I comprehended. The truth doesn't announce itself with confession. It arrives without remorse, manifesting as inevitability, as though questioning his constructed reality was never an option. I don't doubt that my husband loves me. For the true terror of Demetri Ferraro isn't found in shadows or violence. It's in how he determined I belonged to him, by systematically eliminating any alternative path.

They were supposed to take on the world together. Bailey Brooks and Luke Carter grew up with the same dream , guitars in their hands, music in their bones, and a future that always included each other. Small-town kids with big voices and nowhere else to go, they left everything behind for Nashville believing love and music would carry them through whatever came next. But dreams don't always grow at the same pace. And sometimes the person who believes in you the most is also the one you push away. Years later, success has come at a cost neither of them expected. The life they once imagined together has splintered into silence, distance, and choices that can't be undone. When Bailey disappears from the spotlight without explanation, the world fills the quiet with rumors. Luke knows better than anyone that the truth is far more complicated. And far more painful. Because some songs never really end. They just wait for the moment when you're brave enough to sing them again. The Song We Lost is an emotionally driven second-chance love story about ambition, pride, grief, and the people who remain part of your story long after the music stops. Content Note This story explores emotionally heavy themes including: • grief and loss of a loved one • substance use and drug abuse • complicated relationships and marriage struggles • emotionally difficult life events Reader discretion is advised. For readers who prefer to review a more detailed list of content considerations, a fuller spoiler-aware guide will eventually be available on my website, once the book is complete.