Near The Bone

Being a teenager is no easy task, especially when you have an eating disorder in high school. Natalie Ashman is stressed to the bone and abuses herself every day. When she is stressed, she purges and spirals into oblivion. As time passes, Natalie faces a terrible trauma that causes her to lose her will to live. Will Natalie overcome this peril, or will she always be bone thin?

"She was the girl they meant to execute. Now, she is the nightmare that will wear their crown." ​Lyra Vale was supposed to die beneath the execution blade. ​Branded a witch. Hunted as the last survivor of a disgraced bloodline... Lyra Vale was supposed to die beneath the execution blade. Branded a witch. Hunted as the last survivor of a disgraced bloodline. Dragged before the kingdom that slaughtered her family, she expects death—not the ancient magic buried inside her to awaken before the entire royal court. Then the prophecy arrives. The Bone Crown has chosen her. Now the kingdom fears her existence, the Church demands her execution, and the shadows beneath the capital are beginning to wake. Worst of all, Crown Prince Cassian Draeven refuses to let her go. Feared across the continent as the king’s ruthless heir, Cassian is as dangerous as the dark magic crawling through the kingdom’s walls. Cold. Violent. Untouchable. The kind of man people obey before he even speaks. And according to the prophecy, he is destined to destroy the world. Forced into the deadly heart of the royal palace, Lyra becomes trapped between assassins, forbidden magic, court betrayals, and a prince whose obsession with her grows more dangerous by the day. But the deeper Lyra falls into the secrets of the Bone Crown, the more horrifying the truth becomes: Her family was never executed for treason. They were murdered to hide what she really is. And the throne of Varethis was built over something ancient that should have never awakened.

In Black Salt, love is a sickness you can’t hide—a slow gnawing beneath the skin that leaves you hollowed, grayed, and eventually gone. No one stays long enough to see it through; they leave before the rot finishes its work. It’s what the town teaches you: when it starts, you run. You look away. You survive by pretending not to feel. But Atlas is tired of pretending. The halls of Black Salt High are full of kids pretending they don’t see each other’s bruised hearts, pretending their bones aren’t already whispering warnings. Still, he can’t forget the weight of a father who stayed—not out of love, but because he never felt it deep enough to decay. That truth lingers in Atlas like a second shadow. And then there’s Nova—the outsider with a storm in her bones. And Wren, all sharpness and fight. Milo, who cracks jokes to keep the silence at bay. Luce, who wears her thorns like jewelry. Together, they don’t know how to stop the rot. But they’re learning how to sit with it, how to name it, how to refuse the small, hollow deaths of pretending not to care. In a town where love is a death sentence, staying might be the bravest thing of all.

My boyfriend, Yves Steward, is the head of the orthopedic department. When Julia Henderson and I get into an accident at the same time, he pushes my hands away and shouts, "Stop this nonsense, Summer Simpson! Julia needs to be operated on immediately!" So, I'm the one who deserves to die. The day my skeleton is donated to the orthopedic department, Yves sits in his office for a day and night. Later, the man known as the hospital's genius orthopedist never holds a scalpel ever again.

Three years ago, my fiancé's childhood friends murdered and framed me. They ground my leg bones and turned them into beads to make a bracelet. Then, they gave it to my fiancé after he woke up from an accident. He hated me to the core and wore the bracelet symbolizing his rebirth as he utilized all his resources to find me. He even placed my weak and crazed mother under house arrest to force me to appear. Three years later, during his and his childhood sweetheart's engagement party, a renowned jewel appraiser points out that the bracelet he's had this whole time isn't made of regular bone—it's made of human bone.

My seven-year-old son, Matthew Hayes, needs an Rh-negative blood transfusion very badly because he's gotten roped into a car accident. I roll up my sleeve immediately. "Take my blood, doctor! I have Rh-negative blood!" But my husband, Samuel Hayes, grabs my hand tightly. "Hold on, let me call another person! She also has Rh-negative blood!" I throw the divorce agreement at his face instead. "If she wants to donate her blood, she can go ahead and do that right after you sign this divorce agreement!" Samuel clutches the agreement angrily. "Have you gone nuts, Naomi Hart? Our son is waiting to be saved right now, and yet you're bringing up divorce at this time?" I gaze at him coldly. "That's right." My mother-in-law, Evelyn Shaw, rushes over and slaps me at that moment. "You vile woman! Samuel is worried about your physique, and yet you still kick up a fuss over this matter!" I don't bother dodging the slap. Then, I walk over to the doorway of the operating theater before announcing, "Doctor, stop all of your surgical preparations! As the patient's family, I refuse to donate my blood, and I refuse to let my son undergo the surgery!" Both Samuel and Evelyn are stunned by my declaration. Samuel points at me and yells in a quivering tone, "Back then, you almost died in the hospital just to secure Matthew's life! Are you trying to kill him now, Naomi?" I just look at Samuel emotionlessly. Heck, I can't be bothered to even show an expression right now. "I never forgot about those times. But that was in the past. Now, I don't want Matthew anymore."