Another book in the Family Comes First Series by Mason Fitzgibbon. It's 1896 and Wilcox family traditions are forming. Belle has been alone ever since her parents died when she was a teenager. After leaving the orphanage, she meets Winston who promises her a better future. Winston is not the loving husband she expected, but fills her life with abuse and misery. One night during a fight in a tavern, a mysterious man intervenes and Belle's life takes a drastic turn. Belle is brought to the Wilcox farmhouse against her will and trapped inside. She learns that Miles is the mysterious man at the tavern who brought her into his family to be his son Jasper's wife. The family promises her love and protection. It all sounds nice, but much like when she married Winston, Belle knows it is false promises. She is desperate to get out, but the family slowly chips away at her mind. The more she learns about the Wilcox family traditions, the harder she struggles to maintain her sanity. *This story can be read as a standalone *updates every Friday

"Speak the truth, or let the rot begin." They say the words we swallow don't just disappear-they fester. In this collection of speculative horror and weird fiction, the darkness isn't coming from the shadows under the bed or the corners of the room. It is rising from within. From voices that aren't your own to the terrifying price of silence, these stories explore the thin, jagged line between the human soul and the monsters we grow inside ourselves. Enter a world where every cough tastes like iron, and every scream is a door being opened.