No One Is Guilty Here

No One Is Guilty Here

ADEYEMI AZEEZ OLUWASEYI · Ongoing · 66.1k Words

1.2k
Hot
1.2k
Views
0
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

A house burns in the dead of night. A boy screams from inside. Another is arrested on the spot. But neither of them set that fire.

Weeks earlier, Nathan Rourke, a worn-out defense attorney from the city, returned to Hollow Creek—his haunted Southern hometown—after his brother’s sudden death. What was supposed to be a temporary visit becomes permanent when he uncovers chilling truths about the town he left behind.

Nathan takes on two high-profile cases: Elijah Moore, a wealthy teen accused of murdering his father, and Jace Carter, a poor foster kid charged with arson. But in a town where no one is ever found guilty, Nathan finds himself caught between lies passed off as justice, buried family secrets, and a decades-old system built on silence.

As Nathan digs deeper, the lines between his past and present blur. The deeper he searches, the more dangerous it becomes—not just for him, but for the boys whose lives depend on him.

Chapter 1

The Greyhound hissed to a stop at the Hollow Creek bus depot, a cracked concrete slab tucked beside a shuttered diner and a forgotten gas station. It was almost midnight. The lights flickered above the bay, humming like old ghosts.

Nathan Rourke stepped off the bus with nothing but a duffel bag slung over his shoulder and the weight of a funeral pulling at his spine.

The air smelled like wet soil and faded memories. The kind of air that stuck to your lungs and whispered, You shouldn’t have come back.

A voice broke through the silence.

“Rourke?”

Nathan turned. A tall, older man in a faded sheriff’s jacket stood by an old Crown Vic, chewing a toothpick like it owed him money.

“Grady.” Nathan didn’t offer a handshake. “You still wear the badge.”

“And you still look like you’d rather be anywhere else.”

Nathan shrugged. “I usually am.”

Grady eyed him. “You didn’t have to come.”

“He was my brother.”

Grady spit the toothpick into the dirt. “We’re real sorry about Mark. It was sudden.”

“No. It was something else,” Nathan said. “He called me the night before. Said he had something I needed to see.”

“You two talked?” Grady asked, face tightening.

“Not often. But yeah, he left a message. Sounded spooked. Said they were watching him.”

Grady looked off toward the woods like he expected them to speak. “Mark was... under a lot of stress.”

“He ever tell you what kind of stress makes a man hang himself in a barn?”

Grady’s jaw tensed. “Some wounds don’t bleed where we can see.”

Nathan’s fists tightened around his bag. “I don’t buy it. Not for a second.”

A beat of silence.

Grady exhaled. “You’ll be stayin’ at the old family place?”

“Yeah. Marlene’s still there.”

“She’s strong. Like her father.”

Nathan nodded. “She’ll need to be.”

Suddenly, a sound sliced through the quiet night. A low, distant boom—then a scream. Shrill. Panicked. Female.

“What the hell was that?” Nathan asked.

Grady was already looking west. His radio crackled to life.

“Fire—south end—near the Carter property—structure’s fully involved—repeat, we’ve got flames—”

Grady muttered, “Shit,” and bolted toward the cruiser. “Get in. You want Hollow Creek? Here she is.”

Nathan threw his bag in the back and climbed into the front seat.

As they peeled out, Nathan’s heart thumped against his ribs.

“Carter property?” he asked. “That’s near the river.”

“Yeah,” Grady said. “Old shack. Foster home. Buncha kids.”

Nathan stared ahead. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

Grady didn’t answer.

They reached the scene in minutes.

Flames roared through the trees like angry gods. A small house, completely engulfed. Fire trucks were on the way, but nothing was stopping this blaze. Heat rolled across the road, warping the air.

People gathered nearby, watching helplessly.

“Anybody inside?” Grady yelled as he jumped out of the car.

A woman screamed. “Jace! Jace was in there!”

Nathan’s eyes followed her pointing finger. A figure stumbled from the woods—clothes torn, face smeared with soot, eyes wide and glassy.

A teenage boy. Seventeen, maybe eighteen. Thin. Dirty. Scared.

He fell to his knees.

Grady rushed him. “Where were you, son? Were you inside?”

The boy shook his head violently. “I didn’t do it! I didn’t—”

“Didn’t do what?” Grady asked.

The boy looked right at Nathan.

“They made me watch.”

Nathan stepped closer. “Who did?”

But the boy was already being pulled to his feet by two deputies.

“His name’s Jace Carter,” Grady muttered. “Kid’s been trouble since he could walk.”

“Did you see what he said?” Nathan asked. “He didn’t start the fire. He watched.”

“Could mean anything,” Grady said. “Could be shock.”

Nathan turned back toward the house.

The fire screamed as the roof caved in.

Behind him, Jace started sobbing.

“They said it had to burn,” he whispered, voice cracking. “They said it was time.”

Nathan’s spine turned cold.

They said.

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

Bound By Power, Torn By Love

Bound By Power, Torn By Love

2.1k Views · Ongoing · Cynthia Adama
She is the only daughter of a notorious mafia boss, but she is forced by her father to marry a hateful bastard in a contract marriage. To avenge her father, she has a one-night stand with a charming man, but unexpectedly falls into the trap of another terrible man, who is her father's enemy and another mafia boss. His mission is to make her father disappear.
She regards him as her only salvation, but he regards her as a pawn for revenge. When two enemies dance on the sharp knife, what will be the final outcome?
The Vampire Prince's Hybrid Bride

The Vampire Prince's Hybrid Bride

51.4k Views · Ongoing · Riley Above Story
As a wolfless orphan, Joanne had been abused by Alpha Anthony ever since she was a child. She devoted her entire life to surviving in his pack—until one day, she returned home to find an injured vampire lying in her house, his whole existence luring her in. Taking the risk of bringing him in, Joanne never expected Alpha Anthony to discover it the very next day and finally seize the chance to kill her. Just as Joanne was about to be executed, the vampire she had saved arrived, with his army. And Joanne realized that he was the Prince Alexander, heir to the vampire throne…..
The Dragon's Last Fae Queen

The Dragon's Last Fae Queen

6.6k Views · Ongoing · Sylvia Sylvester
Hidden all her life in the slums of Emberveil, Aerith has one rule: never let the dragons see her eyes. Fae are extinct, hunted, burned, and erased from the kingdom. Or so everyone believes. But on the night of her eighteenth birthday, when her forbidden magic stirs awake and her grandmother falls deathly ill, Aerith breaks the one rule meant to keep her safe. She enters the royal dragon pharmacy… and collides with a werewolf princess who drags her straight to the dungeon. There, in the deepest shadows of the palace, the youngest dragon prince sees her glowing eyes and instantly knows what she is. A fae. A secret the entire kingdom would kill for. What would be her fate? Another dead Fae? Or the Last Dragon's Fae Queen?

“Prince? Dickhead? Asshole? Or stalker?” A slow, dangerous smile curved his lips. “Maybe I should show you the one title I want you to use.” Before I could react, his hand closed around my chin, tilting my face up. His lips crashed into mine, hard, claiming, breath-stealing. When he finally pulled back, his voice was a rough whisper against my lips. “You could call me yours… because you are mine.”
The Deadly Mafia Princess

The Deadly Mafia Princess

8.7k Views · Ongoing · Tonje Unosen
Ro was taken from her real family when she was 1 year old. Those she believed is her parents have been abusive towards her do years. Despite she being a very feared gang leader of a well known gang, she can’t find it in her to stand up against what she think is her parents. The little girl in her wants their love which she never will get.
Her gang take the matter in their own hands, to try to save their leader from the horror of her home. What none of them know, they wasn’t her real parents, and now Ro will be sent away to live with her real family. That makes her closest members in her gang pack up and move as well. They don’t want to be far away from their leader.
The Contract Wife: Marriage Of Malice

The Contract Wife: Marriage Of Malice

79.8k Views · Completed · Cherie Frost
"Tell me to stop, and I will," he murmured against my ear. "But if you don't..."
He didn't finish. He didn't need to.
I didn't tell him to stop.
Instead, my fingers curled into his shirt, clutching the fabric as though it was my only anchor. Something in him snapped—something he had been holding back for too long. His mouth found mine in a kiss that wasn't tender, but hungry, desperate.
I gasped into him, his hand sliding up to cup my jaw, holding me as if afraid I might vanish.
"You drive me insane," he breathed against my mouth, his lips trailing to my throat. "I can't lose you, Ella. Not you."
My head fell back, a soft sound escaping me as his fingers memorized my waist. My anger melted beneath his desperation.
"James..." I whispered, more plea than protest.
His hand caught mine, fingers threading together tightly. "I'll bring him back. I swear it. Just... don't turn away from me. Please."
The word please—low, ragged, almost broken—undid me more than anything else could have.


Ella never imagined she would marry the man she had secretly loved for years in such a way.
When her brother Theo faced twenty-five years in prison for massive embezzlement, the ruthless business tycoon James Lancaster offered her a deal: marry him in exchange for her brother's freedom.
This wasn't a fairy tale proposal, but a carefully orchestrated revenge. Because in James's heart, Ella was the culprit who had killed his sister Cecilia. He wanted her to pay the price—to atone with a lifetime of suffering.
Let Them Kneel

Let Them Kneel

234.8k Views · Ongoing · My Fantasy Stories
Kaelani spent her life believing she was wolfless.
Cast out by her pack. Forgotten by the Lycans.
She lived among humans—quiet, invisible, tucked away in a town no one looked at twice.

But when her first heat comes without warning, everything changes.

Her body ignites. Her instincts scream. And something primal stirs beneath her skin—
summoning a big, bad Alpha who knows exactly how to quench her fire.

When he claims her, it’s ecstasy and ruin.

For the first time, she believes she’s been accepted.
Seen.
Chosen.

Until he leaves her the next morning—
like a secret never to be spoken.

But Kaelani is not what they thought.
Not wolfless. Not weak.
There is something ancient inside her. Something powerful. And it’s waking.

And when it does—
they’ll all remember the girl they tried to erase.

Especially him.

She’ll be the dream he keeps chasing… the one thing that ever made him feel alive.

Because secrets never stay buried.
And neither do dreams.
The mafia princess return

The mafia princess return

914.3k Views · Completed · Tonje Unosen
Talia have been living with her mother, stepsister and Stepfather for years. One day she finally get away from them. Suddenly she learn she have more family out there and she have many people that actually love her, something she have never felt before! At least not as she can remember. She have to learn to trust others, get her new brothers to accept her for who she is!
Goddess Of The Underworld

Goddess Of The Underworld

892.8k Views · Completed · Sheridan Hartin
Left at a pack border with a name and a stubborn heartbeat, Envy grows into the sharpest kind of survivor, an orphaned warrior who knows how to hold a line and keep moving. Love isn’t in the plan…until four alpha wolves with playboy reputations and inconveniently soft hands decide the girl who won’t bow is the only queen they’ll ever take. Their mate. The one they have waited for. Xavier, Haiden, Levi, and Noah are gorgeous, lethal, and anything but perfect and Envy isn’t either. She’s changing. First into hell hound, Layah at her heels and fire in her veins. Then into what the realm has been waiting for, a Goddess of the Underworld, dragging her mates down to hell with her.

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 armour, breakfasts, bedtime, battle plans. Peace lasts exactly one lullaby. This is the story of an orphan pup who became a goddess by choosing her family; of four imperfect alphas learning how to be better. 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.
Alpha VS Omega' Twin VS Twin (A Dark Werewolf Romance)

Alpha VS Omega' Twin VS Twin (A Dark Werewolf Romance)

1.1k Views · Ongoing · June Calva
Callum Brennan was born to lead London's most powerful werewolf pack. Then his twin brother framed him for murder.
Stripped of everything, Callum is thrown into the Rookeries, where packless wolves go to die. But he survives. He builds a pack from the broken and the damned. He falls in love with Valentina, a dhampir hunted by the same vampire Parliament that destroyed his life.
In a city ruled by immortal aristocrats and controlled by ancient dragons, Callum learns the hardest truth: individual virtue cannot defeat systemic evil. But small victories matter. And some fights are worth losing everything
Avery and the Cursed Alpha

Avery and the Cursed Alpha

3.6k Views · Completed · Lyra Lupine
After losing her mother to cancer and drowning in crushing debt, Avery Wellesley is running out of options. Her house is about to be seized, her job is hanging by a thread, and every door she knocks on seems to slam shut in her face.

Then a mysterious billionaire offers her a deal that sounds too good to be true.

Alexander Ravenswood is powerful, wealthy, and feared throughout Tenebrous City. Behind his perfect public image lies a deadly secret. He is the Alpha of the Nocturne Pack, cursed by an ancient bloodline that is slowly driving him toward madness and death. His only hope lies in finding the legendary Aethon Orb—or the prophesied mate destined to save him.

When Alex discovers that Avery can draw symbols connected to the long-lost artifact, he offers her a contract she cannot refuse: become his fake fiancée for six months in exchange for enough money to erase her debts and save her home.

What begins as a business arrangement quickly becomes something far more dangerous.

As they search for the missing Orb, Avery is drawn into a hidden world of werewolves, ancient prophecies, and deadly pack rivalries. Powerful enemies want Alex's throne. A jealous Alpha heiress wants Avery gone. And a ruthless rival Alpha will stop at nothing to claim the Orb for himself.

But the greatest secret of all may be Avery herself.

Because the closer she gets to Alex, the more impossible truths begin to surface about her past, her strange abilities, and the destiny that has been waiting for her all along.

With a curse threatening Alex's life, enemies closing in from every side, and a forbidden bond growing stronger by the day, Avery must decide whether to walk away from the dangerous Alpha who needs her—or risk everything for a love written by fate itself.

In a city where secrets kill and destiny cannot be escaped, can a fake engagement become a love powerful enough to change the future?
HER ALPHA, HER SAVIOUR

HER ALPHA, HER SAVIOUR

2.4k Views · Ongoing · Iris
I sold myself to a monster to save my mom—and walked into a cage.

Kane Hellboud, charm and wealth personified, wanted only me in exchange for her treatment. No cameras, isolation, or noose-like rules were part of the deal. Behind his smile? Cold, violent possessiveness that destroyed our fake marriage.

Most of all, I didn’t know the supernatural walked among us, hiding in the cracks of ordinary life. Not until Abel Stone stepped into mine—dark-eyed, sharp-tongued, and oozing dangerous promises. He’s my new boss. He shouldn’t make my skin tingle or my pulse race. I shouldn’t feel this primal pull, this illogical recognition that tugs at something deep in my bones.

Around him, lights burst, electronics fry, and something ancient in me awakens.

Kane feels it. His grip tightens, punishments turn brutal, and he hides the truth of what I am.

Trapped between two powerful men, I’m no prey, no pawn—no helpless victim.

Prisons burn. Monsters bleed. As for me? I'm the storm in skin—deadly beyond suspicion.
Where The Ice Gives Way

Where The Ice Gives Way

28.8k Views · Ongoing · Sheridan Hartin
Charlotte Pierce is used to surviving in motion. New towns, new schools, the same old house on the edge of nowhere, and the same rule that keeps her standing. Keep her twin brother, Charlie safe. Keep his hockey dream alive. Keep her own needs quiet. She works too much, sleeps too little, and saves the one thing that still feels like hers for the middle of the night, when she can lace up her worn skates and carve freedom into dangerous frozen ice. Charlotte and Charlie shifted once, years ago, and never understood what it meant. They had no pack, no guidance and no protection. Just two twins clinging to each other and pretending the voice in their heads was stress, imagination, or loneliness. Then they move to Wellington.
Blake Atlas scents his mate the moment Charlotte arrives. The bond hits hard and unmistakable, but Charlotte doesn’t recognise it. She doesn’t know why her chest keeps pulling toward the one boy she absolutely cannot afford to want. Blake is Charlie’s new hockey captain. Charlie’s chance at making something good. Charlie makes it clear; his sister is off-limits and Blake tries to do the right thing, but secrets don’t stay buried forever. Rogues prowl the edges of town. The ice cracks. The bond tightens. Then Charlotte’s rare white wolf awakens, the very thing that makes her powerful, also makes her a target.
Shanti needs Shakti. (Peace needs strength.)

Where the Ice Gives Way is a slow-burn YA paranormal romance filled with fated mates, protective alpha energy, fierce sibling loyalty, found family pack bonds, hurt/comfort, and quiet, aching tension. It’s a story about first belonging, learning to be cared for, and what happens when the girl who has always held everyone else up finally falls, and someone catches her.