The Firm's New Queen

The world snapped back into focus with a single doorbell chime. It was Debra Fowler, standing on my porch, a clipboard in her trembling hands, her face a mask of grief. My best friend, Molly, stood in my kitchen, a bright, helpful smile on her face. This scene was hauntingly familiar. I knew this exact moment. I remembered the cold dread that followed, the fall down the porch stairs, the cracking sound as my head hit the concrete. The memory was so vivid it felt like watching a movie of my own death. Molly had smiled as she helped set the trap that killed me. She wanted me dead. She wanted my house, my inheritance, and Matthew, Debra' s charismatic, cheating husband. They had a simple, brutal plan: frame me for weakening Caleb, use his death to turn the neighborhood against me, then get rid of me. In the first timeline, it worked perfectly. But I was back. This time, I knew everything.

For five years, I poured my life, my talent, and my unpaid labor into building Ryan Blakely' s dream. I was his graphic designer, his strategist, his every support, believing our shared struggle would culminate in a shared future. Then, live on a pixelated stream, bathed in the glow of his multi-million dollar success, he smiled, that brilliant, camera-ready smile. "I'd like to announce my engagement to the brilliant and beautiful Stella Lawrence." The name hit me like a physical blow. But he wasn't done. He then publicly dismissed me as a "clout-chasing groupie," "good for the struggle, but not for the high life." My world went silent. After everything, he called me trash, then marked me one last time before discarding me with a morning-after pill. The next day, his new fiancée, Stella, called me a "charity case." When I dared speak back, Ryan stormed over, slapped me, and then abandoned me as thugs, hired by Stella, stabbed me in an alley. How could the man I loved, the man I gave everything to, not only humiliate and betray me, but physically harm me and leave me to die? Was our entire five years a lie, or was there something more sinister at play? Just as I lost all hope, a powerful hand shoved Ryan aside. My protector, Andrew Scott, stood over me, instantly revealing my true identity: Gabrielle Fuller, heiress to a tech empire. Now, it was time for Ryan to face the real world he had so carelessly discarded.

The rotor wash from the FEMA helicopter was a physical blow, a deafening symphony of survival above the screams of a collapsing Los Angeles. My team was clambering aboard, but Matthew, my boyfriend, blocked the doorway, pistol raised. "We are not leaving without Molly," he declared, his desperate resolve sealing our fate. In my first life, I made the call: I tranquilized him, dragged him onto the chopper, and left Molly to the Shakers below. I told myself it was for the greater good, a pragmatism that propelled me to rise through the ranks in the Green Zone. Years later, Matthew found me. He never forgave me for abandoning Molly. He drugged me, dragged my numb body to the perimeter wall, and pushed me over a sheer drop into the Shaker-infested darkness, his last words chilling my soul: "Molly deserved to live." The fall was terrifying, the impact final. Then, I blinked. The rotor wash was a physical blow. The screams were deafening. Matthew stood before me, pistol in hand: "We are not leaving without Molly." I was back, on that same rooftop, on the day of evacuation. This time, I knew everything. And this time, the choice would be very different.

My name is Ethan Lester, and for five years, I' ve been living a lie. The world knows me as the "trophy husband" to Hollywood mogul Jocelyn Lind, a stay-at-home dad ridiculed, mocked, and paid millions for my public humiliation. What they don't know? My wife' s contemptuous family, who forced this contractual marriage, is unknowingly bleeding money to my secret FinTech company, Apex Innovations. Then, the unthinkable happened. My children vanished from school. The kidnappers demanded $100 million in untraceable crypto. Before the shock could even register, Jocelyn's own brothers called, feigning concern, only to demand she sign over her controlling media shares as "collateral" for the ransom. They were vultures, using the kidnapping of their own niece and nephew as a twisted power play. I watched Jocelyn' s face crumble in despair, the full, sickening weight of their betrayal hitting her. My mind reeled. How could family be so monstrous? How could they weaponize our children for a corporate takeover? But their greed unveiled a truth they never saw coming. With a single, chilling word, I refused their "help," and placed a call. They just made the gravest mistake of their lives.

My parents always said I was bad luck, but my Grandma Stella was the only light in my brutal home, my only shield against their cruel abuse. When Grandma Stella finally succumbed to her pain, ignored and reviled by my mother, her last breath was a desperate plea for relief, drowned out by contempt. My mother, truly monstrous, ordered me to take Grandma' s body and dump it in the industrial lot, a feast for stray dogs, claiming she was "trash." Against their wishes, I secretly buried her in the old church cemetery, the one they coveted for themselves, whispering a desperate vow for justice into the cold earth, sealing it with my own blood. But soon, strange accidents plagued our house-my brother's fever, our truck dying, even our chickens dropping dead without a mark. They blamed me, a proven curse, and brought in a crooked preacher who, instead of helping, declared me the vessel of misfortune and conspired to use me as bait for "the spirit." Now, cornered and used, I realize my quiet promise to Grandma was far more powerful than I ever imagined, turning our home into a terrifying battleground where true reckoning begins.

My bank account was a graveyard of numbers, each one a testament to my crushing debt. One hundred and fifty-two thousand, four hundred and eighty-one dollars and sixty-two cents, to be exact. It all started when Jennifer Chavez, my ex-colleague, whispered about an impending grid collapse. I believed her. I drained credit cards, took out high-interest loans, and filled my Portland apartment with freeze-dried food and solar generators. Then Jennifer posted from Bali, "#blessed." The grid never went down. My life, however, did. Eviction notices piled up, and my phone wouldn't stop buzzing with collection calls. I hated Jennifer. I hated her effortless success while I stared at a mountain of useless survival gear, suffocating under my own stupidity. Just when I considered oblivion, my obnoxious upstairs neighbor, Sweet_Caroline, shrieked, "I make more money in one of these livestreams than you probably make in a month." Something snapped. What if I gave them an apocalypse?

"I heard you're going to marry Marcelo. Is this perhaps your revenge against me? It's very laughable, Renee. That man can barely function." Her foster family, her cheating ex, everyone thought Renee was going to live in pure hell after getting married to a disabled and cruel man. She didn't know if anything good would ever come out of it after all, she had always thought it would be hard for anyone to love her but this cruel man with dark secrets is never going to grant her a divorce because she makes him forget how to breathe.

Brenna lived with her adoptive parents for twenty years, enduring their exploitation. When their real daughter appeared, they sent Brenna back to her true parents, thinking they were broke. In reality, her birth parents belonged to a top circle that her adoptive family could never reach. Hoping Brenna would fail, they gasped at her status: a global finance expert, a gifted engineer, the fastest racer... Was there any end to the identities she kept hidden? After her fiancé ended their engagement, Brenna met his twin brother. Unexpectedly, her ex-fiancé showed up, confessing his love...

She was a world-renowned divine doctor, the CEO of a publicly traded company, the most formidable female mercenary, and a top-tier tech genius. Marissa, a titan with a plethora of secret identities, had hidden her true stature to marry a seemingly impoverished young man. However, on the eve of their wedding, her fiance, who was actually the lost heir to a wealthy dynasty, called off the engagement and subjected her to degradation and mockery. Upon the revelation of her concealed identities, her ex-fiance was left stunned and desperately pleaded for her forgiveness. Standing protectively before Marissa, an incredibly influential and fearsome magnate declared, "This is my wife. Who would dare try to claim her?"

"Sign the divorce papers and get out!" Leanna got married to pay a debt, but she was betrayed by her husband and shunned by her in-laws. Seeing that her efforts were in vain, she agreed to divorce and claimed her half of the properties. With her purse plump from the settlement, Leanna enjoyed her newfound freedom. The constant harassment from her ex's mistress never fazed her. She took back her identities as top hacker, champion racer, medical professor, and renowned jewelry designer. Then someone discovered her secret. Matthew smiled. "Will you have me as your next husband?"

Rosalynn's marriage to Brian wasn't what she envisioned it to be. Her husband, Brian, barely came home. He avoided her like a plague. Worse still, he was always in the news for dating numerous celebrities. Rosalynn persevered until she couldn't take it anymore. She upped and left after filing for a divorce. Everything changed days later. Brian took interest in a designer that worked for his company anonymously. From her profile, he could tell that she was brilliant and dazzling. He pulled the stops to find out her true identity. Little did he know that he was going to receive the greatest shocker of his life. Brian bit his finger with regret when he recalled his past actions and the woman he foolishly let go.

COALESCENCE OF THE FIVE SERIES BOOK ONE: THE 5-TIME REJECTED GAMMA & THE LYCAN KING BOOK TWO: THE ROGUES WHO WENT ROGUE BOOK THREE: THE INDOMITABLE HUNTRESS & THE HARDENED DUKE *** BOOK ONE: After being rejected by 5 mates, Gamma Lucianne pleaded with the Moon Goddess to spare her from any further mate-bonds. To her dismay, she is being bonded for the sixth time. What’s worse is that her sixth-chance mate is the most powerful creature ruling over all werewolves and Lycans - the Lycan King himself. She is certain, dead certain, that a rejection would come sooner or later, though she hopes for it to be sooner. King Alexandar was ecstatic to meet his bonded mate, and couldn’t thank their Goddess enough for gifting him someone so perfect. However, he soon realizes that this gift is reluctant to accept him, and more than willing to sever their bond. He tries to connect with her but she seems so far away. He is desperate to get intimate with her but she seems reluctant to open up to him. He tries to tell her that he is willing to commit to her for the rest of his life but she doesn’t seem to believe him. He is pleading for a chance: a chance to get to know her; a chance to show her that he’s different; and a chance to love her. But when not-so-subtle crushes, jealous suitors, self-entitled Queen-wannabes, an old flame, a silent protector and a past wedding engagement threaten to jeopardize their relationship, will Lucianne and Xandar still choose to be together? Is their love strong enough to overcome everything and everyone? Or will Lucianne resort to enduring a sixth rejection from the one person she thought she could entrust her heart with?