𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐎𝐍𝐄 ⌖ 𝙨𝙖𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙚 𝙭 𝙘𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣. ❦ | 𝐔𝐑𝐁𝐀𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 . ᶜʰʳⁱᵃᵐᵒⁿᵗᵉ ʳᵉᵃˡ ᵍʰᵉᵗᵗᵒ 𝐌𝐘 𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐍 is a haunting, slow burn descent into the kind of love that feels more like a loaded gun than a safe place to land. Set in the shadows of Los Angeles, where palm trees line the blocks but can't cover up the sirens, body bags & trauma, it follows the twisted, all consuming bond between two souls, two victims of life's circumstances, too damaged to love right, but too addicted to let go. This ain't ALL fiction. It's the unfiltered truth of what happens when love turns toxic, when passion is laced with pain, & when walking away could save your life, but staying feels like the only way to breathe. It's about being hooked on someone who breaks you in pieces, slowly, until you don't even recognize your own reflection. What makes it worse for them? The violence didn't just live outside their door. Both were born into a family war where colors, street names, & grudges were damn near inherited. Their love was always a risk, always a target. They tried to escape it, to build something that didn't echo their past with one other, but still, the pain followed. Loss piled up. Friends, family, pieces of themselves, until even love felt like another battlefield. The streets never really let go of their past. Not when last names are triggers. Not when loyalty is life or death. In this story, heartbreak isn't some poetic lifetime script, it's violent & real. Mental peace is a luxury, & the heart's pull feels more like a curse than a blessing. 𝐌𝐘 𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐍 is for the ones who loved past the red flags, stayed through the damage, & bled for a connection that was never safe to begin with.

Married for six years, the Browns appeared to have a flawless life together. But is there truly such a thing as perfect love? When they encountered challenges in conceiving, they explored an alternative path: surrogacy. In a moment of desperation, Chris reached out to a childhood friend, asking for a tremendous favor. However, once the arrangement was made, he quickly recognized the grave error he had committed-one that could not be undone. What once was a joyful marriage spiraled into turmoil, as the couple confronted a significant test of their wills that threatened to unravel the very foundation of their relationship. -Inspired by the film: When The Bough Breaks-

𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐓𝐖𝐎 ⌖ 𝙨𝙖𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙚 𝙭 𝙘𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣. ❦ | 𝐔𝐑𝐁𝐀𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 . ᶜʰʳⁱᵃᵐᵒⁿᵗᵉ ʳᵉᵃˡ ᵍʰᵉᵗᵗᵒ Five years ago, Iris walked away from the wreckage with blood on her hands & survival on her mind. Loving Jasiah had been like standing too close to a fire-warm at first, until the flames started to reach for her throat. When the law finally took him, she mourned him like someone dead, convinced that whatever they once shared was too dangerous to ever be resurrected. To save herself, she didn't just leave him behind-she buried the love entirely, believing some things had to be killed before they killed you. In the years that followed, Iris rebuilt. She built a life that was quiet, more structured, & way more safe with her husband & two growing children. A life where Jasiah Syncere Brown existed only in court records & steel bars. Prison was supposed to be a long sentence, guaranteed that the past would stay where it belonged. But the past didn't stay buried. Jasiah returned home years earlier than anyone expected, his arrival shattering the order Iris painstakingly built. But he didn't come back kind-he came back ruthless, upending everything in his path. Old wounds ripped open, & the man she once loved, the man she hated, the man she never truly escaped, was suddenly real again, standing back in the same city, back breathing the same air.

'so what you trying to say Karina?' He asked as they stared into each others eyes. 'i'm saying...maybe they were right Chris.'

"Hello, Sincere. How are you feeling today?" "Same as everyday, can't sleep, can't eat.." I trailed off, looking down at Sinclair who had a perfect mixture of both V and I. "That's not good." She said and I shrugged. "None of this is." I said and she nodded understandingly. "Have faith." She said, placing her hand on my shoulder and I nodded. I tried hard to keep the tears in because I had to be strong for everybody. The family was really going through it and I just wanted her back in my arms. V had my heart and if I lost her for good, I'd never look for love again. The doctor walked out as I sat there quietly and Clair looked over my face while she made spit bubbles. I bit my bottom lip, holding back tears as I looked at V laying there with tubes in her. Not able to hold on any longer, I broke down. "Baybeh, I need you..." I trailed off, shaking my head. "I need you so bad, I can't do this shit. I can't do life with you." I explained, looking down at the floor. "We need you, ma." My voice cracked, looking over to Sinclair who was still looking up at me. "Our baybeh girl is so beautiful, ma. I want you to see her, I want you to see her grow up. I want you to be here with us.." I trailed off, collecting my words. I wiped my face as more tears poured down and I shook my head, sighing deeply. "Wake up, baybeh." I spoke, breaking down as I bit my bottom lip.

"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.

"Montana, come here." He nodded his head toward the door, leaving out of the room. Staying silent as Ms. Carol looked at me, I kissed the back of Josiah's hand before leaving out of the room. As I walked out, Messiah stood there looking at me in disgust while I closed the door. "What are you doing that shit for?" "Huh?" I said since I had nothing else to say, just trying to stall time to get my words together. "Why are you stripping, Monty?" Sighing, I decided that I wasn't going to lie like I'd originally planned to do after listening to Chocolate's stupid advice. "Money." I spoke simply and he scoffed as I looked down. "Why not just ask Josiah for money instead doing hoe shit?" "First of all, It's not doing hoe shit. I don't have sex with anyone. I just dance. And I don't want to ask him for any money. It's not his job to take care of me." "So stripping..." He trailed off with a laugh. "..stripping was the last resort? Instead of putting your pride aside?" Saying nothing, I just looked at him with pleading eyes. "Please don't tell him, Messiah." I could already tell by the look on his face that he was going to tell him. "I ain't gon' tell him.." Thank God. I thought. "..you are." "What?!" I shrieked. "No. I'm not." "You are." He spoke in a demanding tone. "Please. You know how he is." I expressed "And you know how he is too but you made that bed." "Messiah, he's going to kill me." I begged. "I know." He shook his head, walking away from me. "Better figure it out. You got until the end of the day to tell him or I will." He mumbled before walking back into the room.

"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.

"Halima just called me." She spoke up, talking about my sister. "She said your mom wanted to talk to me." "Oh yeah.." I trailed off, thinking about what my brother had just told me. "She wun' see you and Mya." I told her, already knowing what it was my mama wanted from her. "Yeah, I know. We just talked." She spoke surely as I licked my lips slowly, waiting for what she was going to say next. I already knew she wasn't feeling it. "It's just-" "I don't want to go down there and you-" She started but stopped as I waited for her to speak. "-you get involved with them again." She spoke truthfully, saying shit that I already knew she would. I already knew she was gone bring that shit up. She always do. "I don't trust Delante or any of your stupid ass friends because they are only interested in taking you backwards, Cain." "And I'm not going for that again." "I'm not." She spoke seriously and I sighed deeply, really used to hearing this shit already. "We're at a better place in our lives and I'm not playing those street games anymore."

Sinner 2. (The Sequel) "Aight, baby." He reluctantly grumbled, looking down into my eyes. "Whatever you want, I'a do it." Was all he said and I raised my eyes in shock. "You want me to leave this shit alone, you want me to leave this game? I'a do it." He looked down into my eyes seriously. "You hear me?" "It's done, baby. It's over." "What?" "Really?" I asked in disbelief, considering he was so content last night and this morning about his initial decision. "Yes, G." "You want me to stop? Then it's over." He said, licking his lips and I couldn't help to smile small, feeling 100% better. Apart of me believed him but a small part of me felt like he was just trying to make things better for the moment. "Do you promise, Abir?" I spoke barely above a whisper now and he nodded, looking away from me. "Yeah, ma." "Whatever you want." Then it's settled.