A Snake Falls To Earth

Judas Romanovski, the man people warned me about, the man people feared, the man who destroyed the only thing I thought I had control of- my morals, my patience, my heart. I was deceived first, and then entangled in lies he weaved with his sinful fingers, luring me, manipulating me, and then caging me. A moth drawn to the flame, like tides drawn to the moon, like Eve tempted to sin..... a bird caught serpent's clutches. My helplessness intrigued him, my cries amused him. ****** Seraphina, a determined and selfless young woman who moved to Russia to pursue her studies and escape her family's financial struggles. Focused on securing a decent job to pay off her family's debts, she found herself in a precarious situation when her roommate suggested a highly lucrative job as caretaker for the blind businessman. What could go wrong? Desperate for money, Seraphina accepted the opportunity without realizing the profound impact it would have on her life. Little did she know, her decision would thrust her into the world of Judas Romanovski, the blind Russian mobster known for his merciless tactics and captivating turquoise eyes. Judas Romanovski's initial attraction to Seraphina sparked a dangerous game of desire and power. Unused of being denied anything, he became obsessed with this young caretaker whose innocent eyes only fueled his desire. Willing to go to extreme lengths, Judas stopped at nothing to make Seraphina his, even if it was just for one night. But was one night enough for him to possess all that he desired from her?

The Kumiho my father chose for me hated me. He hated that he was my pet. When I turned eighteen, I decided to give him his freedom. However, it turned out that he was in love with one of our servants’ daughters, Rachel Lenford. I was crushed, but I could only accept it. I woke up from a good dream to find a silver-ringed giant python coiled around my body. It hissed at me while flicking its forked tongue. "Why do you like him so much? How about trying me out? I'm better than he is." Trying this snake out? How would that work?

On the first day of our marriage, Abyron, the Snake King, and I formed an empathic bond. It was thus impossible for me to doubt his love for me. However, on the seventh day, he slept with two rabbit girls. I collapsed completely. It felt worse than death. He sighed and said, “Yoelle, snakes are naturally lustful. It’s not that I don’t love you. You simply can’t satisfy me. You may deal with the women around me however you wish, but I won’t divorce you.” At first, I killed the women he favored out of jealousy. Later, I stopped caring at all. Then he dismissed his entire harem for a human woman named Xena Lane. That was when I asked for a divorce. It was not because of jealousy. It was because my little lover was demanding his place.

To save up for my wife’s expensive asthma medication, I worked the dangerous high-rise job around our apartment complex, even on a day with winds strong enough to knock someone off their feet. However, that was when I accidentally witnessed my wife cheating on me with her ex-boyfriend, and to entertain him, she picked up a fruit knife and slowly cut through my safety rope. My body slammed into the ground so hard that the impact shattered the bones in my leg. Only later did I learn the truth: the one with asthma wasn’t my wife at all—it was her first love. All the money I’d been saving for her? She had been giving him every cent. Eventually, the same cold, proud woman I once married ended up on her knees in front of me, begging for help. I called the building security over and had them drag her out. “Get that filth out of here,” I said. “It’s hurting my eyes.”

My mother brings home a woman named Julia Hayden from the back of the hill and makes her my sister-in-law. Our family is poor. As Julia is beautiful, my mother forces her to work as a prostitute in secret to earn money for the family. But a villager, Lara Clay, says Julia is not human. When my brother sleeps with her, I peek inside through a crack in the door. In the dim yellow light, I see the shadow of a huge snake tightly coiling itself around my brother's body on the wall...

My adopted brother made a name for himself during the potion competition by using a potion he had stolen from me. No one expected the competition to be a ruse, but it turned out to be a scheme to find a husband for the serpent clan's youngest princess. She was born barren, cruel, and hideous. That very night, the serpent clan delivered a marriage contract, demanding that the creator of the potion take the princess as his wife. When my fiancée heard the news, she panicked and bonded with my adopted brother on the spot. After sealing their bond, he lifted his shirt, proudly showing me the wolf mark carved into his back. "Your fiancée's mine now, bro. What are you going to do? You'll turn twenty-five in three days. If no one marries you by then, you'll be randomly matched to one of those older, violent nomad beastwomen." He was wrong. I still had one choice left. I found my parents in the front hall, once again cleaning up the mess he had made. "If he won't marry the serpent princess," I said, "then I will."