Only Lovers Left Alive Novel Novels & Stories

I broke up with my boyfriend the year he was at his poorest. A year later, he was famous, and he married a prettier, livelier girl than me. On a late-night show, a host asked him whether a grand slam of awards this early in his career left any regrets. He pulled Mia closer. "I want to know how she's been. Since she left me." The host paused. "She's been... not well at all." Adrian finally smiled. "Then I can stop thinking about her." "But Ms. Whitman left behind a box of tapes before she died." Adrian's smile locked into place. On the tapes were every day and every night of my life, from the day I walked away from him to the day I stopped breathing.

Three years into my arranged marriage with the Valachi family heir, the one that got away came back. He left me for Julia eight times. The ninth time, he left me bleeding on the side of the road with a gunshot wound to go running to Julia, who’d called him because she felt a little dizzy. "She needs me. You get that, right, Leona?" This time, I didn't fight for him. He didn't know about the bet I’d made with Julia. The ninth time he abandoned me, I would be the one to leave for good. So on his birthday, I left a set of signed divorce papers on his desk and got on a plane.

Dorian Ashford was the Empress' only son. From the moment he was born, he was destined to be the Crown Prince. However, after he fell in love with my sister, Celeste Vale, he decided to throw his title away and run off with her to live a simple life together. I could not stand watching him destroy his future, so I told the Empress everything. Dorian was confined to the palace and could not make it to meet Celeste. Later, she ended up getting killed by bandits. After Dorian took the throne, he did not hesitate to send me off to marry into an enemy nation as part of a political alliance. He said coldly, "Consider this repayment for your betrayal back then." In the end, I was brutally assaulted and killed by bandits on the road to that forced marriage. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to before any of this happened.

He didn’t come to find her. He came to sign a business deal. But fate had other plans — and a pair of familiar eyes waiting to meet his. When billionaire investor Adrian Blackwood visits a local primary school to discuss a scholarship program, he doesn’t expect to play hero. Yet when he sees a little girl being cornered by bullies, something inside him cracks. He steps in — cold, detached as always — until she looks up at him with eyes too familiar to ignore. Eyes that mirror his own. Her name is Aria. Smart, stubborn, and heartbreakingly brave… and she has no father. The connection hits him harder than he wants to admit. What Adrian doesn’t know is that Aria’s mother is Elena Hart, the woman he left behind years ago in college — the only woman he’s ever loved, and the one who still doesn’t know the truth about why he really left. But the past never stays buried. As Adrian starts to piece together the truth — about Elena, about Aria, and about the powerful enemies who forced him to disappear — old secrets resurface with dangerous consequences. Someone has been watching them both, someone who knows what Adrian tried to protect Elena from. And when a buried scandal threatens not just his empire but their child’s safety, Adrian realizes leaving her was his biggest mistake… and coming back might be the one thing that destroys them all.

I accidentally ruined the cake at the fake daughter's birthday party. As punishment, my parents and brother locked me in the basement. "You’ve let your jealousy ruin a perfectly good celebration. Stay here and think about what you’ve done!" they shouted. They left me in the basement and went off to the Maldives to throw another birthday party for the fake daughter. When a gas leak occurred at home, I was still locked in the basement. As soon as they remotely turned the lights on, the whole house exploded, taking my life with it. After my death, my spirit drifted over to where my family was celebrating. I saw them gathered around the fake daughter on a beach. When a luxury three-tiered cake was brought out, they watched her make a wish with a smile. The fake daughter put on a show of concern about me. "Darling, you’re too kind-hearted. People like her deserve to be locked up and taught a lesson. Let’s see if she dares to take anything from you again," they said. Hearing that, I completely gave up on my family. When they returned home and saw the destroyed house, however, my parents and brother went mad.

It was forbidden, a sin, but none of these men seemed to understand that. They all wanted to antagonize her, unveil her, tempt her, and pursue her. "A commoner is worth more than a grain of sand, a Half breed is even worse, and you are both, the worst of two worlds, truly you are pitiful….but your fidelity happens to be worth more than both noble and commoner combined. Is that not an interesting fact?"— Oliviér Lé Fóix. "I agree that aside from evangelism there is a sinful agenda but how can you judge my faith when you tempt me by standing in my house with your bare breasts in my sight?"— Sebastién Wright. "You can pray we are interrupted so you do not say yes when I ask if I can rip your underwear and play with your pulsing little clit, Vixen."— Nicolas Dé Penthiévre. "Haha, you've got me, I really have other plans besides seducing you into convincing that bastard for me, I want to fuck you, I mean the thought has been fucking me in the brain since I saw your bright and cheery face. I want my cock to tear that jaw."— Constantine Rousseau.

The day my husband left the country on a business trip with his assistant, I learned—by sheer accident—that his archenemy was plotting revenge overseas. Without a second thought, I raced to the airport and stopped him from boarding the plane. But his assistant went ahead, alone. And over there, she was killed brutally. Not a trace of her remains was ever found. When my husband received the news, he fell apart. Wracked with guilt, eaten alive by remorse, he spiraled into a relentless, violent mania. In the past three years, I'd been in and out of hospitals more times than I could count because of him. And this time, he pushed me so far—I lost our child. Then I overheard a conversation between him and his secretary. "Sir, Casey is still alive. Why keep pretending you're sick? Aren't you afraid your wife will find out and leave you?" "Leave me? What right does she have to be angry?" He laughed coldly. "If she hadn't stopped me from going abroad, Casey would've never been lured away by that bastard. Everything Linda's suffering now—she brought it on herself."

I loved Spencer. Even though I knew he only saw Fiona when he looked at me. I clung to the wedding dress he picked out himself, holding onto the dream of a future that felt so close. But on our wedding day, she came back. In front of everyone, he has my dress ripped apart—for her. Now, he knelt before my grave, begging for forgiveness. But all I could think was, even here, he was ruining my peace.

It's Family Day at my daughter, Hannah Neel's, preschool, but my wife, Samantha Miller, says she has to work and tells both Hannah and me not to go. Seeing the disappointment on Hannah's face breaks my heart, so I bring her to school anyway. As soon as we step through the gates, I see Samantha. She's holding her childhood friend—Oscar Barnett's—hand, with a little boy clutching her other. The three of them look like a perfect family, laughing and chatting, as if they belong together. When Samantha sees us, her smile fades, and she lets go of Oscar's hand. "Zach, it's not what you think. Oscar's raising his son alone. Today's his fifth birthday, and he just wanted to give him a little taste of a mother's love," she says quickly. I study her for a moment, then kneel and gently take Hannah's hand in mine. "Sweetheart, say hello to the lady."

Being the only daughter of the Calhoun family, a mafia family in Merovia, I am doted on like a princess. This changes when I turn 18, when Mom dies. On the way back from a family meeting, the car blows up, and Mom shields me beneath her. Even as she lies in a pool of blood, her gaze is tender as she says to me, "Don't blame yourself, sweetheart. I love you." Still, after Mom's death, everyone in the family starts blaming me for what happened, including Dad and my older brother, William Calhoun. I go from being the princess of the family to the jinx that everyone hates. Soon after that, Dad brings home a new adopted daughter, Juliet Calhoun. William favors her and detests me. Even my childhood sweetheart, Shawn Kramer, takes a liking to her and ignores me. Dad says his new adopted daughter is way better than his biological one. They all agree to attend my college graduation ceremony. But on the day, they end up taking Juliet onto our family's yacht and holding a cocktail party out on the water to celebrate the official addition of a new family heir. This is the 100th time they ditch me for her. Unable to stop myself from an emotional breakdown, I cry out, "I'm the one who's related to you by blood!" Dad shields Juliet, who backs away from me out of fear. Then, he slaps me on the face. "I wish I'd never had you." "Who wants to have a younger sister like you? I wish you'd died with Mom!" William roars in contempt. This time, I've decided to let it all go. I call Aunt Marissa, Mom's sister. She's the founder and a therapist at MindCare Treatment Center. "Come here. This is your home now." I know that Mom's death was a conspiracy. This isn't just me leaving, but withdrawing myself from the family entirely. I hope that the next time I meet the Calhouns, there won't be tears on my end. Instead, judgment will befall them.