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The Cost of Nine Stars

The Cost of Nine Stars

Gavin

5.0
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My entire life revolved around a sacred power that cost me a piece of my soul every time I used it. Nine star-like birthmarks on my forearm, each fading after I resurrected Ethan, the adoptive brother I believed had saved me. I had brought him back from the dead nine times, from drug overdoses to twisted car wrecks, each revival leaving me more hollowed out. But today, standing in a reeking stable, the ultimate degradation struck as Ethan, now a desperate heir, demanded I perform my vanished miracle on a dead racehorse for his crooked deal. My power was long gone, all nine stars extinguished, yet he sneered, refusing to believe me, calling me selfish and an "ungrateful bitch." He had Tiff, his social-media-obsessed girlfriend, publicly "cleanse" me as a cruel mockery of my ancient ritual. Then he tried to drag me towards the dead stallion, ready to force a miracle I couldn't perform, seeing me as nothing but a worthless tool. The endless humiliation, the years of abuse, and the terrifying emptiness inside me became an unbearable weight. How could he be so blind to the fact that I had absolutely nothing left to give? I was a commodity, passed from one gilded cage to another, facing an eternity of exploitation. In a final, desperate act of defiance, to reclaim myself even if it meant death, I bolted from the stable and sprinted headlong into the path of an oncoming car. But instead of oblivion, strong hands pulled me back from the brink, and for the first time in forever, I saw the face that would rewrite my entire past: Julian Thorne.

Introduction

My entire life revolved around a sacred power that cost me a piece of my soul every time I used it.

Nine star-like birthmarks on my forearm, each fading after I resurrected Ethan, the adoptive brother I believed had saved me.

I had brought him back from the dead nine times, from drug overdoses to twisted car wrecks, each revival leaving me more hollowed out.

But today, standing in a reeking stable, the ultimate degradation struck as Ethan, now a desperate heir, demanded I perform my vanished miracle on a dead racehorse for his crooked deal.

My power was long gone, all nine stars extinguished, yet he sneered, refusing to believe me, calling me selfish and an "ungrateful bitch."

He had Tiff, his social-media-obsessed girlfriend, publicly "cleanse" me as a cruel mockery of my ancient ritual.

Then he tried to drag me towards the dead stallion, ready to force a miracle I couldn't perform, seeing me as nothing but a worthless tool.

The endless humiliation, the years of abuse, and the terrifying emptiness inside me became an unbearable weight.

How could he be so blind to the fact that I had absolutely nothing left to give?

I was a commodity, passed from one gilded cage to another, facing an eternity of exploitation.

In a final, desperate act of defiance, to reclaim myself even if it meant death, I bolted from the stable and sprinted headlong into the path of an oncoming car.

But instead of oblivion, strong hands pulled me back from the brink, and for the first time in forever, I saw the face that would rewrite my entire past: Julian Thorne.

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The Woman They Thought Was Dead

The Woman They Thought Was Dead

Short stories

5.0

I woke with the violent jolt of the plane landing, but it wasn't the impact that shocked me deeply; it was the chilling, immediate memory of icy black water filling my lungs as an anchor dragged me down. My husband, Captain Mark Vance, watched from the boat with eyes as blank as a winter sky-the last sight before my first life ended ten years ago. Miraculously, incomprehensibly, I was alive, but the life I' d returned to was a meticulously crafted lie built on my erased existence. My husband and best friend, Ashley Barnes, had stolen my identity, swindled my parents, and even sent my brilliant young daughter, Chloe, to a brutal camp, twisting her trauma into a story of her mother's "psychotic break." Now, they flaunted a lavish life built on my ruin, with my very own child reduced to a bruised, silent servant in her own home, while guests used my family heirlooms for cheap hors d'oeuvres. The betrayal was a deep, burning wound, but the sight of Chloe' s thin, bruised arms ignited a pure, glacial rage within me, a fury that promised a reckoning far colder than any Alaskan winter. How could they stand so proudly, so shamelessly, after committing such unspeakable atrocities against me and my child? This was no longer a scientist returning home; it was a ghost resurrected, armored by ten years of accumulated savings and a thirst for justice. I walked into their opulent party, not for revenge, but to reclaim what was mine, armed with the truth and a fury that would shatter their carefully constructed world. Tonight, the perfect facade they' d built would be exposed, and they would finally face the woman they thought they' d killed.

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