The Calm Before Ruin

After a decade together, Yvette Jenkins and her fiancé seemed like the perfect match. During a pre-wedding mountain expedition, an avalanche leaves them stranded. When her first love is injured and accidentally consumes an aphrodisiac, Yvette abandons her reserved nature to help him intimately. Instead of reacting with rage, her fiancé calmly steps aside to finish his final three vows. Once his debt is paid, he intends to leave her behind to finally lead his powerful mafia family.

Chapters

Chapter 2

By the time help showed up, my face was a mess of blue and purple from choking, my body twisted in agony.

That was when Yvette finally saw me, her body smelling like Ethan's cologne, as she came over to hold me. "Jayden! What's wrong?! You..."

The air was thick with a sickening smell of sweat and fear.

My stomach churned, and I could not help but shove Yvette away.

Her face went stiff, her brows knitting together as she stared at me. "Jayden! It was just one night, right? Why are you treating me like this?

"Ethan told you to go first, but you chose not to! How can you be mad at me?"

My heart clenched in pain, and I chuckled raspily. "Right. What right do I have to be mad at you?"

I finished, feeling blood trickle from my nose.

"I told you! I was just trying to help Ethan get better, you...

"Jayden! Jayden!"

Yvette's worried cries echoed as my world started spinning.

Darkness hit, and I went down like a felled tree.

…

Slap!

A smack snapped me back to reality.

When I opened my eyes, Yvette, fuming, threw her phone at my face. "Jayden! Can't you let anything go?"

I saw stars from the blow, fighting off the pain in my chest as I looked up at Yvette.

Her anger was written all over her face as she yelled, "Did you have someone post that stuff online? Do you have any idea that Ethan got fired because of you?!"

I glanced at the phone screen.

Yvette's phone was buzzing nonstop with scandalous headlines.

[Snow Mountain Scandal: The Groom Betrayed Before His Eyes. True Love or a Beautiful Lie?]

[Man Collapses on Snowy Slopes, His Fiancee Busy with Another Guy…]

Gripping my arm tightly, Yvette yanked me up from the edge of the hospital bed. "Come on, we need to go to the wedding and apologize to Ethan! Tell everyone it's not like those gossip-mongers are spinning it!"

I pulled away from her grasp, a bitter smile playing on my lips. "Why should I apologize? I'm not the one spreading rumors!

"And what if it's actually true?"

With a sharp 'crack,' Yvette's hand struck my cheek in a swift slap.

Rubbing her tingling hand, she sneered, "That's enough! So what if Ethan was my first? We're not married yet. It's my choice who I share my life with!

"And what about promises? Can you honestly say you've kept all of yours?"

I stayed silent, just gazing at Yvette, then red with anger.

Throughout our years together, I had kept every promise to her.

How could she say such things?

The sadness in my eyes hit her hard, and she came to her senses, wrapping her arms around me in a rushed apology. "Jayden, I'm sorry, that's not what I meant…

"Please help Ethan. Do it for me. You don't want to see me torn apart by the crowd, right?"

Yvette tried to continue, but I cut her off, the bitterness still lingering in my voice. "Fine, I'll do it."

She had not expected me to agree so quickly. A smile of relief spread across her face as she stepped out, calling Ethan.

She had not once asked about my injuries.

It did not matter to me–not anymore.

After this, I would only have one last thing to do for her.

I made my way to the wedding venue, which was already swarming with reporters hungry for a scoop, blocking every entrance.

As soon as I showed up, I was bombarded with flashes and questions.

"Mr. White, is the gossip about your fiancee online true?"

"Why didn't you intervene when your fiancée was in trouble? Did she really have an affair?"

"How did you feel watching your fiancee with another man?"

Their rapid-fire questions left me reeling.

Yvette, who was supposed to be in the bridal suite, pushed her way through the crowd.

Dressed in the million-dollar gown I had made for her, she took my hand, her face radiating happiness. "Everything online is a lie! Ethan and I are just friends. Nothing more could've happened!

"My husband and I are two peas in a pod! If I had betrayed him, would we be getting married?"

Yvette gave my hand a secret, sharp pinch.

Her ability to lie so effortlessly made my heart ache with a mix of sadness and bitterness.

'If this is your wish, Yvette, I'll make it come true,' I thought to myself.

I faced the press with a forced, awkward smile. "Yes. The rumors are false, and my wife and I are rock solid."

The ceremony went off without a hitch, quelling any lingering suspicions.

However, before we could even exchange rings, Yvette vanished.

Amid the hushed murmurs of the guests, I dialed a number. "I've decided. It's time to start the succession ceremony."

Continue to next part

For a millennium, the Moon Goddess has reigned supreme over the werewolf realm, her power undisputed and her word law. However, an ancient prophecy foretells a shift in the cosmic balance, suggesting that even a deity can be brought to her knees. When a fierce warrior rises to challenge the divine order, a dangerous game of power and passion begins. This high-stakes struggle will test the limits of loyalty and desire as the fate of all shifters hangs in the balance.

Action Romance Werewolf

8.7

No Way Back to Us

8.7

After a devastating car crash leaves Ruby comatose and disabled, her fiancé abandons her for another woman. Her mother dies seeking justice, leaving Ruby alone until her childhood friend, Mr. Davidson, steps in to marry her. Five years later, Ruby discovers a horrifying truth: her husband orchestrated the accident to help his true love, Lucy. Realizing her entire marriage is built on a lethal conspiracy, Ruby decides to disappear and leave the man who destroyed her life.

Action Modern Mystery Romance

8.5

Reborn: The Straightest Man in the Room

8.5

After being poisoned to death by his roommate Jimmy, a student miraculously wakes up on his first day at college. In his past life, Jimmy used a facade of social awkwardness to ruin the protagonist's reputation and eventually kill him, all over a petty grudge involving the campus belle. Now back in time, the survivor plans to use Jimmy’s own deceptive tactics against him. This young adult mystery follows his journey to dismantle Jimmy’s life through calculated retribution.

Action Modern Mystery Young Adult

8.7

Ruin Me, Gently

8.7

Isabelle couldn't stop drinking as the music pounded through the club. She was trying to drown out the image of her best friend, Aurora, who was pregnant with her fiancé's child, on what should have been Isabelle's engagement night. But fate had other plans. When an employee calls in sick, Isabelle volunteers to fill in, unaware she is about to walk straight into the arms of Don Miller-the club's most powerful and dangerous client. He was ruthless, commanding, and known for treating women as playthings. Don doesn't believe in love... until Isabelle. One glance, one reckless touch, and something shifts. She stirs a hunger in him he thought he'd buried forever. And when he learns what broke her, Don makes Isabelle an indecent offer: He promises to mend her shattered heart and destroy everyone who betrayed her-if she surrenders to him completely. Two broken souls. One dark deal. Isabelle is about to learn that submission might just be the sweetest form of revenge. What begins as a dangerous bargain soon spirals into something deeper, darker, and far more intoxicating than either expected. Maybe love isn't always gentle. Sometimes it's an obsession. Sometimes it's surrender. And sometimes... it's the most exquisite kind of ruin.

Action Mafia Romance

8.1

She Chose the Counterfeit, My Family Chose Violence

8.1

Skylar Linder is buried in an avalanche after her sister, Whitney, cuts her safety rope to save Cameron, the family's fake heir. Whitney dismisses Skylar as a lying country bumpkin, unaware that Skylar’s adoptive parents lead an international mercenary squad. While the Linders view her as weak, Skylar is actually the protégé of a legendary sniper and a demolitions expert. As she is abandoned in the snow, Skylar activates a satellite GPS signal that will bring her lethal allies to the mountain.

Action Modern Mystery

9.4

Sold To The Devil: Escaping My Ruthless Husband

9.4

I was standing in the center of the gallery, holding a glass of expensive champagne, when the screens behind me flickered and my life ended. It was supposed to be an art unveiling, but the monitors shifted to fake footage of me handing evidence to the FBI. My fiancé, Ethan, looked at me like I was a sick dog that needed to be put down. My father slapped me across the face in front of everyone, disowning me to save his own skin. That was when Luca Vitti, the city’s most dangerous man, stepped in. He cleared the room and took my hand. I thought he was saving me. I didn't realize he was just collecting a new pet. I was locked in his estate, isolated and terrified. Then, my healthy mother suddenly "died" of pneumonia in a Vitti clinic. Days later, I saw Luca’s frail stepsister, Clara, breathing easily for the first time in her life. She had my mother’s lungs. I became nothing more than a breeding vessel. When I fell pregnant, I overheard Luca and Ethan planning my death. "Once the kid is cut out, she's a loose end," Luca had said. They were going to kill me and give my son to the woman who stole my mother's breath. I couldn't let that happen. So, I staged a tragedy. I induced labor in secret, hid my living son, and placed a fake corpse in the crib with a note: The Vitti Legacy. I escaped while they mourned. Five years later, Luca finally found the doctor’s confession. He learned that Clara had orchestrated everything. He opened the velvet box I left behind and realized it was empty. Now, he knows I didn't kill his son. I saved him from becoming a monster like his father.

Action Modern Romance

The Calm Before Ruin

Chapter 2

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