Falling at 30,000 feets
On Valentine's Day, love is in the air-but so is danger.
At 30,000 feet, trainee captain Jane Harley proves she's more than just a rising pilot when she navigates a terrifying turbulence that leaves passengers shaken and lives hanging by a thread. Calm under pressurej and fiercely capable, Jane becomes the unexpected hero of Flight 423.
But while she's saving lives in the sky, fate is already setting something far more complicated in motion.
Among the passengers is the powerful and ambitious mother of Jayden-Aurelia Air's largest shareholder-whose midair health crisis is only the beginning of a chain of events. Grateful and intrigued, she sets her sights on Jane... not just as a hero, but as a future daughter-in-law.
Jayden, a grounded pilot with a sharp mind and guarded heart, has no interest in his mother's schemes-until one unexpected name changes everything.
In a world of wealth, expectations, and high-altitude emotions, two lives are about to collide.
Love, ambition, and fate take flight in Falling at 30,000 Feet.
Chapters
Share
Chapter 22
The roar of departing engines thundered across the tarmac, shaking the ground beneath their feet as Jenny, Rosa, Lucia, and their grandmother stood just beyond a marked yellow safety line, craning their necks to watch a Boeing 787 ascend into the clear blue sky. Jet exhaust billowed behind it, creating a white cloud that caught the morning sun.
Lucia clapped her hands like a child on her birthday, bouncing slightly on her toes. "Ahh! It's so impressive! I've never been this close to a plane before!"
"Shoo, shoo," the grandmother said, waving her hand dismissively while smiling with pride, her face crinkling into a thousand lines. "Our Jenny does this every day. She could fly one of those giants if she wanted to."
Rosa lifted her chin, her chest swelling with pride as she adjusted her bright purple jacket. "This is nothing for her," she said, glancing at Jenny with an expression that demanded admiration. "She practically owns this place-everyone knows her name here."
Jenny forced a smile, her fingers tightening slightly at her sides until her knuckles turned white. She'd managed to sneak them past the first security checkpoint by pretending they were part of a maintenance crew-but she knew they couldn't keep pushing their luck like this.
Lucia turned suddenly, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she spotted a set of glass doors marked "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY." "I heard there's a private captain's lounge here-luxurious, like a hotel suite. Take us there! I want to see where you relax before flights."
Jenny hesitated, her gaze darting toward the security cameras mounted near the ceiling. "I don't know if that's a good idea-"
But Rosa stepped in immediately, placing a firm hand on Jenny's shoulder. "Of course it is. Let's go. Our Jenny is a captain now-today, we go anywhere we want. Show them what you're worth."
She gave Jenny a look-sharp, commanding, leaving no room for argument.
Jenny swallowed hard, her throat dry with anxiety. "...Right. Stay close to me. Don't wander off, and don't touch anything. Security is strict here."
"No worries!" Lucia said-already wandering toward a nearby service door, peering through the window with curiosity.
Jenny's anxiety spiked as she hurried after her, Rosa and the grandmother following proudly behind, their voices carrying loudly across the quiet tarmac.
The private lounge doors slid open with a soft whoosh, revealing a space that looked more like a high-end club than an airline facility. Polished marble floors gleamed under warm recessed lighting, reflecting the plush leather chairs and glass-topped tables arranged around the room. Original artwork hung on the walls, and a fully stocked bar sat in the corner, tended by a uniformed attendant who looked up in surprise as the group burst in.
Lucia gasped, her hand flying to her chest. "This place is beautiful! Look at those chairs-they must cost a fortune!"
The grandmother ran her hand along the arm of a leather chair, her eyes wide with wonder. "So soft...! I've never felt anything like this in my life."
Rosa turned to Jenny, her eyes shining with satisfaction. "Go on. Show them everything. The bar, the flight planning area-whatever captains get to see."
Jenny opened her mouth to protest-
But before she could speak-
The door burst open with a sharp bang against the wall.
"Jenny Burrows."
Jane's voice cut through the room like a blade, clear and sharp and impossible to ignore.
All heads turned.
Jane stood at the entrance, her uniform crisp and immaculate, her captain's bars gleaming on her shoulders. Her expression was sharp, her eyes scanning the scene in disbelief-taking in the four unauthorized visitors, the way they were touching everything in sight, the attendant standing frozen behind the bar.
Jenny's face drained of color, leaving her pale as paper. She'd known this was coming-but not this fast, not by Jane's hand.
"Don't you know aviation regulations," Jane continued, stepping forward with deliberate grace, "forbid unauthorized personnel in operational areas? This lounge is restricted to active crew only-no exceptions."
Rosa scoffed immediately, placing her hands on her hips as she stepped forward to confront Jane. "Watch your tone, little girl. You're speaking to your elders."
Jane didn't look at her. Her eyes remained fixed on Jenny, watching the way her cousin shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.
Rosa stepped forward anyway, her voice rising with indignation. "You're incompetent, yet you speak like this to our Jenny? She's a captain-has more authority here than you ever will. And we are family-this is just a tour. What harm could it do?"
At that word-captain-Jane's gaze snapped to Jenny, her eyes narrowing slightly. A long silence stretched across the room, heavy with unspoken understanding.
They both knew the truth.
Jenny's fingers curled slightly into fists at her sides. She leaned toward Jane quickly, lowering her voice to a frantic whisper. "Do me a favor," she muttered, her eyes darting toward her family. "They want to see the cockpit. Your flight is off-duty for the next few hours, right? Just let them look for five minutes-then I'll get them out of here."
Jane pulled her arm away instantly, her expression cold with disgust. "Why would I agree to that? You know the rules-no unauthorized personnel in the cockpit, ever. It's a safety violation that could get us both fired."
Jenny's expression tightened, then she raised her voice, trying to turn the tables. "They're your relatives too, Jane. Don't you care about family?"
"Exactly," Jane replied coldly, her voice carrying clearly across the quiet room. "That's why I won't allow it. I won't put their lives-or the lives of every passenger who flies this plane-in danger just to feed your ego."
She stepped closer, her voice steady but cutting as she looked directly at Jenny.
"If something happens-if they accidentally touch a control, if they disrupt the systems-can you take responsibility? Can you explain to the FAA why you brought untrained civilians into a restricted area?"
"What could possibly happen?" Jenny shot back, folding her arms defensively. "They just want to look. They won't touch anything. I'll make sure of it."
"No."
Jane pointed firmly toward the exit, her finger steady and unyielding.
"They leave. Now. Before I call security and have them escorted off the premises."
Rosa stepped in, shoving Jenny slightly aside as she moved to stand between Jane and her daughter. "Why are you asking her? You're the captain-you can do whatever you want. She's just an errand girl, running around doing your dirty work."
Silence.
Then-
Jane laughed.
Soft at first, a quiet sound that made everyone freeze. Then sharper, more bitter, echoing off the marble floors.
She turned slowly toward them, her eyes landing on Jenny with an expression that was part amusement, part pity.
"She told you I'm an errand girl?"
"Yes," the grandmother said without hesitation, leaning forward slightly as if sharing a secret. "Otherwise, you would've helped Lucia's son get that job. Our Jenny is the capable one. A real captain. She arranges everything for us-jobs, flights, whatever we need."
Rosa nodded proudly, wrapping an arm around Jenny's shoulders and pulling her close. "That's right. She's the one with influence here-not some hothead who got lucky with a promotion."
Jenny smiled stiffly, her discomfort growing as she felt Jane's eyes on her. She wanted to shrink into the floor, to disappear-but there was nowhere to go.
Jane's gaze darkened, the amusement fading from her face as she stepped forward again, her voice now low-and dangerous.
"You placed people in my crew?" she asked, her eyes fixed on Jenny. "You told them you could arrange positions for family members on my flights?"
A beat. The room was so quiet you could hear the hum of the air conditioning.
"I reject it," Jane continued, her voice clear and final. "Any applications submitted under false pretenses will be immediately denied. I won't compromise my crew's integrity for anyone."
"Don't yell at Jenny!" Rosa snapped, stepping closer until she was nearly face-to-face with Jane. "You ungrateful wretch. She helps this family while you sit up on your high horse and refuse to lift a finger. She's done more for us than you ever will."
Jenny nudged her mother urgently, her voice low and frantic. "Mom-stop-you don't know what you're saying-"
But Rosa continued, stepping closer, her tone turning hostile as she jabbed a finger toward Jane's chest.
"So who are you to say anything?-she has connections you can only dream of."
Silence fell. The attendant behind the bar had stopped breathing, watching the confrontation with wide eyes.
Then-
Jane smiled.
Amused.
"...Oh?" she said, her voice light but carrying an edge that made Rosa step back slightly. "Is that what she told you? That she could have my job? That she has more authority here than I do?"
She turned to Jenny, her expression now completely calm-but her eyes burned with a fire that made Jenny's knees weak.
You may also like
9.6
In the two years after I married Daniel Carter, my private photos had gone viral nine times, and Daniel had been taken into custody ten times.
Because every time his mistress, Emily Morgan, was unhappy, she would leak my private photos all over the internet.
I, Claire Parker, never let it slide. I reported every shady business Daniel was involved in and personally sent him behind bars.
That lasted until an unexpected kidnapping. I took a bullet for him, one aimed straight at his heart, and he shielded me beneath his body, taking the brunt of the explosion for me.
After we survived, the man who had always been so cold-blooded knelt before me, his voice hoarse beyond recognition.
"Honey, let's leave the drama behind. I just want a peaceful life with you."
Right in front of me, he ordered his men to send his mistress out of Northhaven and never let her appear before him again.
In the third year after we reconciled, I carried my eight-month pregnant belly and brought him lunch.
But on the way there, I was hit by a car. The hospital issued three critical condition notices, yet they still could not save the baby.
Daniel rushed over, but he did not even spare me a glance. Instead, he pulled the woman who had hit me and her child into his arms, soothing her in a low voice.
"Don't be scared. I'll protect you and the child."
Only then did I realize that the woman who had hit me was the very mistress he had sent away three years ago.
When I demanded an explanation, Daniel brushed it off as if it were nothing. "She didn't do it on purpose. Don't take it out on her and her son. You can have a baby another time."
At that moment, I finally understood. They had gotten back together long ago.
I looked at him and nodded. "Don't worry, this will never happen again."
7.8
My abusive ex was threatening a lawsuit that would destroy my father's career and wipe out my PhD. I was completely out of options.
That night, Graham, the boy from next door I hadn't seen in a decade, showed up at my apartment in the middle of a hurricane. Now a wealthy orthopedic surgeon, he offered a transactional marriage: he needed a local wife to keep his family away while he cared for his sick mother, and in return, he would make my ex disappear.
I thought it was a simple deal. But the morning after we signed the marriage license, Graham didn't just scare my ex off—he ruthlessly dismantled him. Then, Graham turned to me. His eyes were dead as he pulled out his phone, showing me a high-resolution photo of the night I illegally sold lab samples to pay off my ex's initial blackmail. He had hired a private investigator to stalk me. If that photo leaked to the FDA, I wouldn't just lose my degree; I'd go to prison.
"I needed a guarantee," he said flatly.
I was shaking with rage and terror. This wasn't a rescue. It was a hostage situation. Why did he hunt me down? Why use my darkest secret to trap me in this twisted marriage?
I couldn't live like this. I demanded an immediate divorce. But at the courthouse, the clerk dropped a bomb on us: state law required a mandatory thirty-day waiting period. Thirty days trapped with a ruthless, manipulative stranger. I had to find a way to break his leverage before the month was up.
7.1
I was the top commander of a black-ops military program. After slaughtering my way through a hellish mission, I reached the extraction helicopter, trusting my second-in-command to watch my back.
But the moment our hands locked, he didn't pull me up. Instead, he plunged a syringe of lethal neurotoxin directly into my neck.
He aimed his gun at my chest, coldly stating that I was too dangerous to live. My lungs stopped, and I died in a pool of my own blood. But the endless blackness suddenly shattered. My consciousness violently forced its way into a new, broken shell. I woke up in a freezing alley, soaked in muddy rain.
This body belonged to seventeen-year-old Eliza Wyatt. A massive wave of foreign memories crashed into my brain. Her own younger sister had just stood at the top of the stairs with a mocking smile, watching street thugs beat Eliza to death.
"Take good care of the Wyatt family's eldest daughter. Tonight is the night she finally disappears."
The endless humiliation, the cold stares of her family, and the brutal betrayal by her own blood flashed before my eyes. Why was this fragile girl treated like garbage and pushed to her death by the very people who should have protected her?
I looked down at my pale, trembling hands. The top commander was dead, but in this bleeding shell, Eliza Wyatt was very much alive. I picked up a switchblade from the bloody puddle and stood up in the storm. It was time to hunt.
9.7
For three years, I was the dutiful wife of billionaire Ervin Valdez.
On our third wedding anniversary, he came home smelling of his mistress's perfume, pinned me down, and brutally mocked me.
His mistress, Sylvia, had even sent me a fake ultrasound report to force me out of the picture.
In Ervin's eyes, I was just a vicious, calculating liar who used a pregnancy to trap him into marriage.
He didn't care that I had actually lost that baby, nor did he know the trauma of my gambling father selling me to a dark club where I was assaulted by a stranger.
When I finally handed him the signed divorce papers, giving up all assets, and left the penthouse with nothing but an old suitcase, he just sneered.
"She is playing a game of hard to get. She won't last three days before she comes crying back."
He froze all my bank accounts, let his mistress humiliate me in public, and waited coldly for me to starve and beg.
He thought my entire existence relied on his wealth, completely confident that I would inevitably surrender to his control.
But he was wrong.
I calmly opened my old laptop, bypassed the complex encryptions, and looked at the dozens of unread emails from top-tier global brands begging for my return.
I resurrected my hidden identity as the legendary jewelry designer "R," and walked straight into the top design firm in Manhattan.
"It is time to find myself again."
9.2
After six brutal months, I returned to my Seattle villa, my sanctuary. An unsettling quiet, then a cloying mix of cheap vanilla and baby talc hit me. Pink slippers, a cookbook, and a blonde hair on Nathan's hoodie screamed betrayal.
Unwashed baby bottles and a note from "M" to "feed the baby" confirmed my dread. A baby's cry led me to Misty, holding a baby with Nathan's exact curls. She claimed Nathan called me his "bankrupt ex-wife," my clothes gone, wedding photos crumpled, and his loving text proved his calculated fraud.
Nathan burst in, spewing gaslighting lies, despite finding a deed transfer for *my* house. His blame—that I was a "cold work machine"—only solidified my resolve. My husband used my money, home, and trust to build a new life, systematically trying to erase me. He didn't just cheat; he tried to steal everything. A venture capitalist doesn't just walk away from a hostile takeover.
8.0
"Don't you dare touch me. You bloody monster," Eric whispered glaring at me, which only turned me on the more.
A beautiful smile crossed my lips; luckily for us, his fake mother was so focused on Katherine, she did not know I was fucking her son before her eyes.
"So I am now a monster, huh? That was not what you said yesterday. Or have you forgotten about our hot night?" I asked as I traced my way to his lap again, approaching his groin area.
He swallowed hard, his eyes roaming around. "Damien. I am Katherine's fiancé. your niece" He reminded me as my hands reached his groan, caressing it through the layers of his trousers.
"Yesterday you were Mike's boyfriend, and what did I tell you? I don't give a fuck!," I whispered back. "Now be quiet and try to control yourself" .
Eric's life is thrown upside down when his brother is killed on his coronation day, and he now has to become the king. and he can't because he is gay and he has a boyfriend who he loves dearly, or so he thought until he met Damien Monetro, his fiancée's uncle and his former one-night stand