He Never Loved Me, Until I Left
Joy Brown · Ongoing · 5.3k Words
Introduction
I was wrong.
Six years of marriage where I was his dirty secret. Where our son calling him "Dad" made him cringe.
On our son's birthday, he took her to dinner. I waited with a birthday cake until dawn.
He signed the divorce papers like they were nothing. Threw us out to make room for his mistress.
Only when I'd moved on—new city, new life—did he come crawling back.
Too late.
He destroyed my love night after night, year after year.
Now it's my turn to walk away.
Chapter 1
My hands were steady when I set my resignation letter on Daniel Wilson's desk.
"Ms. Taylor, are you really sure about this?" Daniel pushed up his glasses, sounding surprised. "You've worked at the company for so many years. It's such a shame you're suddenly resigning."
I sighed in agreement.
I explained that my husband had found steady work in Harmony City, and the separation wasn't fair to our son.
"Children need both parents together, you know?"
Daniel nodded, sympathy crossing his face. "That's true. Single parenting is tough. I had no idea your husband was in Lumaria. We assumed you were raising him alone."
I let him think that.
I wasn't single yet. But I would be soon.
Leaving HR, I glanced toward the planning department.
Behind the glass door of the break room, Nicholas Jackson was getting coffee.
He wore a dark gray suit that fit him perfectly, silver cufflinks catching the light.
After six years, he still looked flawless.
Legally, this perfect man was supposed to be my partner.
My husband.
The father of my child.
Which made it worse that he despised me.
I'd been his best employee once. Then one drunk night changed everything.
We married for the baby, but he began pulling away from everything—me, fatherhood, all of it.
He couldn't even stand Joseph calling him Dad.
I needed to ask if he'd come to Joseph's school sports day.
I knew he'd say no, but Joseph kept asking.
I didn't want Joseph to be disappointed.
"Mr. Jackson."
The second he heard my voice, his expression hardened, like I'd ruined his day just by speaking. He didn't even come closer.
He picked up his coffee and turned around. Then Alice Baker appeared, all smiles, her hand finding his arm like it belonged there. "Mr. Jackson, there are a few parts of the proposal I don't quite understand..."
"Mm, come to my office in a bit." His voice went soft, leaning in to hear her better.
The gentleness he'd never shown me.
I watched them walk away together.
My phone vibrated.
It was a message from my son Joseph.
"Mom, will Dad come today? I want him to watch me run."
My eyes stung. Down the hall, Nicholas was tucking a strand of hair behind Alice's ear.
I knew what he'd say, but I texted anyway.
"Joseph's sports day is this afternoon. Can you come? It's his birthday too."
I watched him check his phone.
He put it away without even typing.
I closed my eyes.
Of course. If he couldn't love me, why would he love our son?
Soon we'd all be free of this.
Joseph pressed his face to the car window, scanning the parking lot.
"Mom, is Dad here?"
I unbuckled my seatbelt, trying to make my voice sound casual. "Daddy got stuck at work. But he's cheering for you from his office."
His face fell for just a second.
Then he forced a smile. "That's okay! Having Mom here is enough!"
Six years old and already protecting my feelings.
I pulled him close, hating myself for the lie.
At the sports day, Joseph flew across the finish line first in the relay race. Clutching his prize, he beamed, "Mom! I can give this to Daddy! For his sore shoulders!"
My chest tightened. That's why he'd wanted Nicholas there so badly.
We got home as the sun was setting. My phone buzzed as I set down my purse.
One word from Nicholas: "okay."
I stared at the screen in shock.
Joseph was sprawled on the floor with his homework. I knelt beside him, barely containing my excitement. "Daddy's coming home for your birthday."
"Really?!" Joseph's head snapped up, eyes wide.
The first time in six years Nicholas would be here for his son's birthday.
I threw myself into cooking.
Nicholas's favorite lamb chops, Joseph's beloved mushroom soup, and the cake I'd ordered weeks ago.
After finishing his homework, Joseph planted himself by the door with his gift, watching and waiting.
Seven o'clock.
Nine o'clock.
Five texts. No response.
"Mom..." Joseph's voice was barely a whisper. "Did Daddy have to work late again?"
I could see him fighting back tears.
I knelt down, words stuck in my throat.
"That's okay!" Joseph smiled through watery eyes. "We can have cake together!"
He grabbed a party hat from the couch. "Help me put this on?"
As I reached for the hat, my phone lit up with a notification.
Alice had posted something.
Last Chapters
You Might Like 😍
The Prison Project
Can love tame the untouchable? Or will it only fuel the fire and cause chaos amongst the inmates?
Fresh out of high school and suffocating in her dead-end hometown, Margot longs for her escape. Her reckless best friend, Cara, thinks she's found the perfect way out for them both - The Prisoner Project - a controversial program offering a life-changing sum of money in exchange for time spent with maximum-security inmates.
Without hesitation, Cara rushes to sign them up.
Their reward? A one-way ticket into the depths of a prison ruled by gang leaders, mob bosses, and men the guards wouldn't even dare to cross...
At the centre of it all, meets Coban Santorelli - a man colder than ice, darker than midnight, and as deadly as the fire that fuels his inner rage. He knows that the project may very well be his only ticket to freedom - his only ticket to revenge on the one who managed to lock him up and so he must prove that he can learn to love…
Will Margot be the lucky one chosen to help reform him?
Will Coban be capable of bringing something to the table other than just sex?
What starts off as denial may very well grow in to obsession which could then fester in to becoming true love…
A temperamental romance novel.
My Possessive Alpha Twins For Mate
My drunk stepfather remained indifferent, his weight suffocating, making it hard to breathe as my heart raced.
Suddenly, the door slammed open, and two figures burst in.
"Get off her!" a deafening roar echoed.
I didn't expect the twin brothers who'd bullied me at school to come charging in like gods to save me.
After my grandmother passed, I had to move in with my mom and stepdad, who treated me like a servant. I prayed every day for my 18th birthday to come, so l could leave and escape this broken home.
However, on my first day at my new school, l encountered the legendary twins everyone feared.
To make matters worse, the Moon Goddess revealed they were both my mates!
After helping me out with my stepdad, my twin mate cornered me, played with my hair, and whispered possessively, "You belong to us, our little mate..."
Omega Bound
Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life.
Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
Mr. Ryan
He came closer with a dark and hungry expression,
so close,
his hands reached for my face, and he pressed his body against mine.
His mouth took mine eagerly, a little rudely.
His tongue left me breathless.
“If you don't go with me, I'll fuck you right here.” He whispered.
Katherine kept her virginity for years even after she turned 18. But one day, she met an extremely sexual man Nathan Ryan in the club. He had the most seductive blue eyes she has ever seen, a well-defined chin, almost golden blonde hair, full lips, perfectly drawn, and the most amazing smile, with perfect teeth and those damn dimples. Incredibly sexy.
She and he had a beautiful and hot one-night stand...
Katherine thought she might not meet the man again.
But fate has another plan
Katherine is about to take on the job of assistant to a billionaire who owns one of the biggest companies in the country and is known to be a conquering, authoritative and completely irresistible man. He is Nathan Ryan!
Will Kate be able to resist the charms of this attractive, powerful and seductive man?
Read to know a relationship torn between anger and the uncontrollable desire for pleasure.
Warning: R18+, Only for mature readers.
Alpha Nicholas's Little Mate
What? No—wait… oh Moon Goddess, no.
Please tell me you're joking, Lex.
But she's not. I can feel her excitement bubbling under my skin, while all I feel is dread.
We turn the corner, and the scent hits me like a punch to the chest—cinnamon and something impossibly warm. My eyes scan the room until they land on him. Tall. Commanding. Beautiful.
And then, just as quickly… he sees me.
His expression twists.
"Fuck no."
He turns—and runs.
My mate sees me and runs.
Bonnie has spent her entire life being broken down and abused by the people closest to her including her very own twin sister. Alongside her best friend Lilly who also lives a life of hell, they plan to run away while attending the biggest ball of the year while it's being hosted by another pack, only things don't quite go to plan leaving both girls feeling lost and unsure about their futures.
Alpha Nicholas is 28, mateless, and has no plans to change that. It's his turn to host the annual Blue Moon Ball this year and the last thing he expects is to find his mate. What he expects even less is for his mate to be 10 years younger than him and how his body reacts to her. While he tries to refuse to acknowledge that he has met his mate his world is turned upside down after guards catch two she-wolves running through his lands.
Once they are brought to him he finds himself once again facing his mate and discovers that she's hiding secrets that will make him want to kill more than one person.
Can he overcome his feelings towards having a mate and one that is so much younger than him? Will his mate want him after already feeling the sting of his unofficial rejection? Can they both work on letting go of the past and moving forward together or will fate have different plans and keep them apart?
Goddess Of The Underworld.
When the veil between the Divine, the Living, and the Dead begins to crack, Envy is thrust beneath with a job she can’t drop: keep the worlds from bleeding together, shepherd the lost, and make ordinary into armor, breakfasts, bedtime, battle plans. Peace lasts exactly one lullaby. This is the story of a border pup who became a goddess by choosing her family; of four imperfect alphas learning how to stay; of cake, iron, and daylight negotiations. Steamy, fierce, and full of heart, Goddess of the Underworld is a reverse harem, found-family paranormal romance where love writes the rules and keeps three realms from falling apart.
The Son of Red Fang
Alpha Cole Redmen is the youngest of six born to Alpha Charles and Luna Sara Mae, leaders of the Red Fang pack. Born prematurely, Alpha Charles rejected him without hesitation as weak and undeserving of his very life. He is reminded daily of his father’s hatred for him paving the way for the rest of his family to become the same.
By adulthood, his father’s hatred and abuse towards him has spilled over into the rest of the pack making him the scapegoat for those with the sadistic need to see him suffer. The rest are simply too afraid to even look his way leaving him little in the way of friends or family to turn to.
Alpha Demetri Black is the leader of a sanctuary pack known as Crimson Dawn. It’s been years since a wolf has made their way to his pack via the warrior’s prospect program but that doesn’t mean he’s not looking for the tell tale signs of a wolf in need of help.
Malnourished and injured upon his arrival, Cole’s anxious and overly submissive demeanor lands him in the very situation he’s desperate to avoid, in the attention of an unknown alpha.
Yet somehow through the darkness of severe illness and injury he runs into the very person he’s been desperate to find since he turned eighteen, his Luna. His one way ticket out of the hell he’s been born into.
Will Cole find the courage needed to leave his pack once and for all, to seek the love and acceptance he’s never had?
Content Warning: This story contains descriptions of mental, physical and sexual abuse that may trigger sensitive readers. This book is intended for adult readers only.
The Alpha Of The Shadow Pack And His Mute Luna
Vanessa, the mute runt of a cursed litter, has only ever known cruelty and abuse. Her voice stolen by a witch’s spell, her freedom crushed by a brutal father, she’s been promised to a monster she doesn’t want. But fate intervenes when she’s left for dead—bleeding, broken, and bound—only to be rescued by Alpha Alfred of the Shadow Pack.
Alfred, fighting against a generational curse that has doomed his brothers to remain wolves forever, never expected his fated mate to be a fragile girl on the brink of death. But the moment he breathes in her scent, everything changes.
Together, they must confront the past, survive betrayal, and uncover the true key to breaking the curses that bind them. Will their bond be strong enough to save them both?
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother
"What is wrong with me?
Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?
It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.
He’s my boyfirend’s brother.
This is Tyler’s family.
I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.
**
As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.
Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.
When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.
I'm falling for my boyfriend's brother.
**
I hate girls like her.
Entitled.
Delicate.
And still—
Still.
The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.
Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.
I shouldn’t care.
I don’t care.
It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.
It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.
I’m not here to rescue anyone.
Especially not her.
Especially not someone like her.
She’s not my problem.
And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.
But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.
Mated by Contract to the Alpha
William—my devastatingly handsome, wealthy werewolf fiancé destined to become Delta—was supposed to be mine forever. After five years together, I was ready to walk down the aisle and claim my happily ever after.
Instead, I found him with her. And their son.
Betrayed, jobless, and drowning in my father's medical bills, I hit rock bottom harder than I ever imagined possible. Just when I thought I'd lost everything, salvation came in the form of the most dangerous man I'd ever encountered.
Damien Sterling—future Alpha of the Silver Moon Shadow Pack and ruthless CEO of Sterling Group—slid a contract across his desk with predatory grace.
“Sign this, little doe, and I'll give you everything your heart desires. Wealth. Power. Revenge. But understand this—the moment you put pen to paper, you become mine. Body, soul, and everything in between.”
I should have run. Instead, I signed my name and sealed my fate.
Now I belong to the Alpha. And he's about to show me just how wild love can be.
Ignored By One Alpha, Chased By Another
However, just before inheriting his Alpha position, Raymond found his fated mate—a rogue girl named Giana.
Forced by his parents, Raymond had no choice but to marry Aurora. Yet on their wedding night, he abandoned her to be with Giana.
Tormented by the mate bond, Aurora ended up having an ONS with a handsome and charming man.
But how could that man turn out to be Raymond’s best friend, the Alpha King’s nephew, and notorious playboy—Kane…?
The Biker Alpha Who Became My Second Chance Mate
"You're like a sister to me."
Those were the actual words that broke the camel's back.
Not after what just happened. Not after the hot, breathless, soul-shaking night we spent tangled in each other's arms.
I knew from the beginning that Tristan Hayes was a line I shouldn't cross.
He wasn't just anyone, he was my brother's best friend. The man I spent years secretly wanting.
But that night... we were broken. We had just buried our parents. And the grief was too heavy, too real...so I begged him to touch me.
To make me forget. To fill the silence that death left behind.
And he did. He held me like I was something fragile.
Kissed me like I was the only thing he needed to breathe.
Then left me bleeding with six words that burned deeper than rejection ever could.
So, I ran. Away from everything that cost me pain.
Now, five years later, I'm back.
Fresh from rejecting the mate who abused me. Still carrying the scars of a pup I never got to hold.
And the man waiting for me at the airport isn't my brother.
It's Tristan.
And he's not the guy I left behind.
He's a biker.
An Alpha.
And when he looked at me, I knew there was no where else to run to.
