
Introduction
A forgotten key card in her purse. A newspaper headline about the “Mediterranean Strangler.”
Each victim was a woman traveling alone. Each romance lasted exactly five days.
Now Amelia’s facing a nightmare disguised as paradise trapped between attraction and suspicion, reason and fear.
As the sun sets on their fifth day together, she must decide whether to run, fight, or play the most dangerous role of her life: pretending to love the man who plans to kill her.
Chapter 1
Amelia Noah POV
The bathroom mirror doesn't lie, even when I wish it would.
Black mascara streams down my cheeks in twin rivers, mapping the geography of my humiliation. I grip the marble countertop until my knuckles turn white, staring at this stranger with the puffy eyes and trembling lips. This can't be me. This pathetic woman can't be Amelia Noah, senior marketing executive who closed the Hartfield campaign last month, who commands boardrooms filled with men twice her age.
But Marcus's phone buzzes against the sink where I dropped it, and another text from "Trainer Babe" lights up the screen. Can't wait to see you tomorrow. Tonight was incredible.
My stomach lurches. Tonight. While I worked late preparing the Morrison presentation, Marcus was with her. Again.
I force myself to scroll through the messages I've already read twice, each one a fresh cut. Three months of exchanges. Three months of planning secret meetings while I made dinner reservations and picked out lingerie and convinced myself we were building something real.
You're so much more exciting than her.
She has no idea what she's missing.
When are you going to end things with the workaholic?
The workaholic. Eight months together, and that's how he describes me to his mistress. Not Amelia. Not his girlfriend. The workaholic.
"Jesus, Amelia, put the phone down."
Marcus fills the bathroom doorway, his gym bag still slung over his shoulder. Even now, caught red-handed, he looks annoyed rather than guilty. His dark hair is still damp from whatever post-workout shower he shared with Trainer Babe, and he's wearing the cologne I bought him for his birthday.
"Three months?" My voice cracks. "Three months, Marcus?"
He sighs like I'm being unreasonable. "Look, it just happened, okay? These things happen."
"These things happen?" I turn to face him fully, and something wild and desperate rises in my chest. "I introduced you to my sister. I was planning to bring you home for Christmas."
"Come on." He shifts the bag to his other shoulder. "Christmas is eight months away. We both knew this wasn't going anywhere serious."
The words hit like physical blows. "I didn't know that."
"Well, maybe that's the problem." His tone turns sharp, familiar. The same voice he uses when I ask him to put his phone away during dinner, when I suggest we spend a quiet evening together instead of going to another bar with his friends. "You get too attached, too fast. You always have. It's suffocating."
Too attached. Too fast. Suffocating.
I've heard variations of this speech before. From David, my college boyfriend who said I was "emotionally exhausting" after I asked him to meet my parents. From Ryan, who called me "clingy" when I wanted to spend more than one night a week together. From James, who said I had "unrealistic expectations" about communication.
"Maybe I just have normal expectations," I whisper.
Marcus rolls his eyes. "See? This is what I'm talking about. You turn everything into some big emotional drama. Some people just want to have fun, Amelia. Some people don't need to analyze every text and plan every moment and—"
"Get out."
The words surprise us both. They come from somewhere deep in my chest, steady and clear.
"What?"
"Get out of my apartment." I step aside so he can reach the sink, grab his phone, and watch his face change as he realizes I've been reading his messages. "Get your things and get out."
"Amy, come on—"
"Don't call me Amy." Only my family calls me Amy. I never should have let him use it. "And don't 'come on' me. You've been cheating for three months. Three months, Marcus. While I was falling in love with you."
He flinches at the word 'love,' and I realize I've never said it out loud before. Not to him. I was waiting for the right moment, the right setting. I was always waiting.
"Look, I'll end things with Jess—"
"Jess." Her name tastes bitter. "You couldn't even keep it anonymous."
Marcus runs a hand through his hair, a gesture I used to find endearing. "This doesn't have to be complicated. We can work this out."
But I'm already shaking my head. The fog of shock is lifting, replaced by something harder and cleaner. Math. Marcus plus Jess equals eight months of lies. Marcus plus me equals what? Date nights where he checks his phone. Weekend mornings where he leaves early for "workouts." A relationship that was dying while I fertilized it with hope and flexibility and the desperate need to make someone love me.
"There's nothing to work out." I walk past him into the bedroom, pulling his drawer open and dumping clothes into his gym bag. "You made your choice. Multiple times."
"Don't be like this, Amy—Amelia. You're better than this."
I freeze with his Northwestern t-shirt halfway to the bag. "Better than what? Better than having standards? Better than expecting fidelity? Better than wanting a boyfriend who doesn't describe me as 'the workaholic' to his other girlfriend?"
His mouth opens and closes like a fish. Finally, he says, "You're too needy. You always have been. That's why this keeps happening to you."
The words land exactly where he aimed them, in the soft place I've been protecting since I was twelve and my father explained that Mommy needed "space" to "find herself." The place that wonders if I'm fundamentally too much, too demanding, too hungry for love.
But tonight, something different happens. Tonight, I look at Marcus—really look at him. At his expensive haircut and his designer protein powder and his casual cruelty wrapped in false concern. And I realize he's not delivering some painful truth. He's just another mediocre man who thinks my desire for genuine connection is a character flaw.
"You're right," I say, zipping the bag. "This does keep happening to me. Because I keep choosing men who think wanting love is needy."
I hand him the bag and walk to the front door, holding it open. Cool October air rushes into the apartment, carrying the sound of traffic and distant laughter from the street below.
Marcus pauses in the doorway. For a moment, I think he might apologize, might show some recognition of what he's destroying. Instead, he shakes his head.
"Good luck with that attitude, Amelia. You're going to need it."
The door closes behind him with a soft click.
I slide the deadbolt home and lean against the wood, suddenly exhausted. The apartment feels cavernous around me, all the spaces Marcus used to fill now echoing with absence. His coffee mug in the sink. His Netflix profile on my TV. The weekend plans we made that will never happen.
I walk to the living room and sink onto the couch, surrounded by the detritus of our relationship. Takeout menus from restaurants where we shared appetizers. A wine bottle from the weekend we drove upstate to see the leaves change. The travel magazine Marcus brought over last week, open to an article about Greek islands.
"Maybe we should take a vacation," he'd said, pointing to a photo of white buildings climbing clifftops above blue water. "Somewhere romantic."
Romantic. While he was texting another woman.
I pick up the magazine, studying the image more carefully. Santorini, the caption reads. The photo shows a resort perched on volcanic cliffs, infinity pools reflecting endless sky. It looks like another world, a place where thirty-two-year-old marketing executives don't get their hearts broken by men who smell like other women's shampoo.
A place where I could remember who I am when I'm not trying to earn someone's love.
My laptop is already open on the coffee table, cursor blinking in the search bar. Before I can talk myself out of it, I type: flights NYC to Athens.
Last Chapters
#44 Chapter 44 Amelia's Testimony Begins
Last Updated: 1/29/2026#43 Chapter 43 Victim Impact Statements
Last Updated: 1/29/2026#42 Chapter 42 Courtroom
Last Updated: 1/29/2026#41 Chapter 41 Anna's Testimony
Last Updated: 1/28/2026#40 Chapter 40 The Prosecution's Case Begins
Last Updated: 1/29/2026#39 Chapter 39 Opening Statements
Last Updated: 1/28/2026#38 Chapter 38 Jury Selection Begins
Last Updated: 1/28/2026#37 Chapter 37 Meeting the Families
Last Updated: 1/28/2026#36 Chapter 36 Return to Athens
Last Updated: 1/28/2026#35 Chapter 35 Trial Preparation
Last Updated: 1/28/2026
You Might Like 😍
On Christmas Eve, I aborted the CEO's child
On Christmas Eve night, my husband brought his mistress home and demanded that I, his pregnant wife, leave with nothing.
On this day, I lost my husband and also lost the child in my womb...
I Loved You in Silence, You Betrayed Me in French
At my birthday party, my husband whispered to his mistress in French that he missed her. His voice was low, but I heard it all—the black lingerie, the bit about how pregnancy makes you more sensitive. His French clients around us were laughing. He turned and put his arm around me, claiming he was just helping his clients come up with sweet nothings.
He doesn't know I understand every single word. Just like he doesn't know that inside my body, I'm carrying his other surprise. And his mistress—she's pregnant too. Two wombs, one secret.
Confrontation would be too cheap. Tears are worthless. I quietly started cataloging the hidden networks my father left behind, activating the Swiss accounts.
In seven days, Zoey Smith will cease to exist. And what will my husband's reaction be?
He Never Loved Me, Until I Left
I put away the divorce agreement with a wry smile.
When he and my son completely disappeared, he finally panicked.
Three months later .
He knelt down on the streets of Chicago in despair, begging me to remarry him.
My six-year-old son looked coldly at his biological father and said, "Get lost, you bad uncle! You don't deserve to be my dad!"
When I Disappeared, He Regretted It
The moment the screen lit up, my entire world came crashing down.
The woman on the bed was Calista - that girl who grew up with us since we were kids. And that hand caressing her skin was wearing the wedding ring I had personally put on Matteo's finger.
"I've missed you so much..."
"You drive me crazy, baby..."
Those sweet words I knew so well completely destroyed me.
Everyone said we were the perfect couple, but who knew this marriage was built on nothing but lies?
Since he's so good at acting, I guess it's time I gave him a show of my own. I'm going to make sure everyone sees what this "perfect husband" really is...
He Thought I'd Never Leave
When he said he was being bullied, I believed him. When he kissed me on that rooftop, I thought he felt the same. When he asked me to transfer schools with him, I said yes without hesitation.
Then I heard him bragging to his friends: "She'd save her first time for me. Hell, she'd still be thinking of me on her wedding night."
The bullying was staged. The kiss meant nothing. He just wanted me gone—so his new girl could feel more comfortable.
He thought I'd beg. He thought I'd cry. He thought I'd never actually leave.
I left the country.
And ran straight into his stepbrother.
Bury Me in His Regret
The kidnapper pressed the gun to my temple and asked, "Choose your wife or your sister-in-law?"
Zachary didn't hesitate. "Let Valerie go," he said.
He actually chose to save his sister-in-law! In that moment, even the baby in my belly seemed to stop kicking.
Later, they locked me in the basement. Drugs to delay labor were pumped into my veins over and over. Zachary wanted to save the "firstborn son" status for his sister-in-law's child.
When warm blood finally soaked through my skirt, I dialed the number I knew by heart with shaking hands.
"Zachary," I whispered into the phone, "our child... can't wait any longer."
After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms
From first crush to wedding vows, George Capulet and I had been inseparable. But in our seventh year of marriage, he began an affair with his secretary.
On my birthday, he took her on vacation. On our anniversary, he brought her to our home and made love to her in our bed...
Heartbroken, I tricked him into signing divorce papers.
George remained unconcerned, convinced I would never leave him.
His deceptions continued until the day the divorce was finalized. I threw the papers in his face: "George Capulet, from this moment on, get out of my life!"
Only then did panic flood his eyes as he begged me to stay.
When his calls bombarded my phone later that night, it wasn't me who answered, but my new boyfriend Julian.
"Don't you know," Julian chuckled into the receiver, "that a proper ex-boyfriend should be as quiet as the dead?"
George seethed through gritted teeth: "Put her on the phone!"
"I'm afraid that's impossible."
Julian dropped a gentle kiss on my sleeping form nestled against him. "She's exhausted. She just fell asleep."
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?
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
Shattered Girl
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. Was that too much?” I could see the worry in his eyes as I took a deep breath.
“I just didn’t want you to see all my scars,” I whispered, feeling ashamed of my marked body.
Emmy Nichols is used to surviving. She survived her abusive father for years until he beat her so severely, she ended up in the hospital, and her father was finally arrested. Now, Emmy is thrown into a life she never expected. Now she has a mother
who doesn't want her, a politically motivated stepfather with ties to the Irish mob, four older stepbrothers, and their best friend who swear to love and protect her. Then, one night, everything shatters, and Emmy feels her only option is to run.
When her stepbrothers and their best friend finally find her, will they pick up the pieces and convince Emmy that they will keep her safe and their love will hold them together?
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 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.
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.












