lisa jewell breaking the dark paperback

Alexander makes a deal with the commander to protect Jessica's family, trading a severe injury that leaves him with an amputation,shrapnel in his brain, and little time to live for their safety. Six years later, he runs into his daughter Alice, who doesn't know he's her father, and shares his past with her. When he saves Jessica at a lion dance event, his identity is exposed. Jessica presses him for the truth about the past, but Alexander, aware his days are numbered, resolves to hide it, breaking her heart. To end their bond, Jessica forces him to perform the lion dance again. Alexander pushes through to take the stage, but his prosthetic limb malfunctions, shrapnel shifts, and he is on the brink of death.

Born into a rural family that favored sons, Diane Quinlan fell in love at 18 with educated youth Ethan Lister and followed him to the city with their daughter. His family despised her background and made her life miserable, even falsely accusing her daughter of theft. Finally breaking free with her daughter, Diane meets Nelson Zeller, a disabled veteran. When the Lister family continues harassing them, Nelson steps up to protect them both. With his support, Diane educates herself, leverages her tailoring talents, and establishes a clothing factory. Under her devoted care, Nelson’s legs gradually recover. From abandoned wife to independent factory owner, Diane rewrites her destiny, finding love and partnership with Nelson along the way.

Miss Peach, at a lavish party hosted by her best friend Miss Apple, accidentally becomes intimate with Apple's father, Mr. Banana, and ends up pregnant with a secret baby carrying banana genes. To survive and climb the social ladder, Peach tries to hide the truth of her pregnancy, while Apple remains completely unaware and even helps her find the ""deadbeat dad."" As her belly grows and develops banana peel-like texture, Mr. Banana's ex-wife, Madam Durian, returns and attempts to send the mutant mother and child to a juice factory for destruction. In the end, the secret baby shocks everyone, breaking the pure-genus prejudice chain of the fruit world. Peach successfully rises in status, Apple becomes her stepdaughter, and the family is reassembled in an utterly absurd way. And the starting point of it all was a carefully orchestrated scheme by Peach herself.

Julian Hall, a billionaire with a strict no-office-romance rule, found himself breaking his own code when he fell for his new secretary, Iselin Wenton. Summoning all his courage, he confessed his feelings, only to be rejected and sent packing. Determined to win her over, Julian enlisted the help of his young son, Charlie, as his secret wingman. What Julian didn't realize was that Charlie was actually the son he unknowingly shared with Iselin. Unwavering in their loyalty, Charlie and his sister, Bonnie, sided with their mom. But the clever siblings had a plan of their own—they decided to play matchmakers and bring their parents back together. After a series of unexpected twists and hilarious turns, the two little agents succeeded in reuniting their family and giving Julian and Iselin a second chance at love!

Wendy Shaw has just wrapped up a mission in ancient time when the System delivers news that stops her cold. Her best friend Laura Harper has been killed by a man who never deserved her. Wendy takes the new assignment without hesitating. She returns to the 21st century as the true Xavier heiress, steps into a marriage meant for the family's fake daughter, and walks down the aisle to Steve Hart, the scarred eldest son everyone assumes is a punishment posting. Her mission is to make Steve fall for her.Nobody takes Wendy seriously. The girl from the countryside is supposed to crumble under the Hart family's scrutiny. Instead, Steve's regard for her deepens steadily, and Wendy rises to become general manager of Hart Corp without breaking a sweat.When she finally turns her full attention to Mark Hart, the second son whose hands are stained with Laura's death, everything she has built points in one direction. He never saw her coming. That was always the plan."

Leo's family was brutally murdered. When he was on the brink of despair, a mysterious old man taught him the ultimate cheating art. Fueled by revenge, Leo entered the dark underground casinos, moving from game to game. He could spot opponents' tricks at a glance, and with counter-moves that guaranteed victory, he crushed corrupt gamblers and thugs one by one. But the end of this life-and-death road was the massive dark force that took everything, the Wright Gang. "A true gambling master rewrites fate with his own hands!" The ultimate showdown of cheat versus cheat, heart-pounding comebacks in high-stakes games. An epic battle of revenge and reversal begins now!

Legendary hacker Claire hides as a housewife but is betrayed. After divorce, she marries mysterious Daniel to take revenge and uncover her family’s dark past. Can she find truth—and true love?

Chris Leary inherits a failing corner shop and, desperate to raise money for his girlfriend's treatment, discovers that the store's back door opens into other worlds. His first crossing takes him to a post-apocalyptic wasteland, where he trades food to survivors in exchange for gold and jewels, enough to clear his debts in one run. Pushing further, he stumbles into the immortal realm and negotiates a deal with the goddess Dark Lady: exquisite food in exchange for celestial medicine. But the arrangement carries a dark caveat — the apocalypse world's wealth is bound to the lives of its people. Chris returns with the elixirs, saves an entire survivor base, and locks in a long-term partnership that changes everything. What began as a desperate scramble quietly becomes an empire: one shop, a dozen worlds, and a trader who moves freely between all of them.

Mike Bert, disciple of the Arcane Exorcist Order, was dispatched down the mountain by his master's order to search for the lost sect-suppressing artifact, the Exorcist's Seal. Penniless, he set up a street stall for fortune-telling, where he inadvertently saved Tess Baker, a female CEO possessing a pure dark physique, thus becoming entangled in urban conflicts. Facing Eden Pater, the wealthy young CEO coveting the Baker Group, and the Dark Warlock, an evil exorcist also seeking the Exorcist's Seal, Mike used Arcane Arts to break evil curses and Truth Spell to expose the truth. Joining forces with Renee Palmer of the Supernatural Investigations Agency and Lucy Pope, an exorcism-obsessed fangirl, he gradually pushed back against the evil forces. During his journey to protect the beauty and hunt for the treasure, he discovered that clues pointed toward the south, while the ultimate boss, Lester Watt, was secretly laying out his scheme. The true crisis had only just begun.

Gabriel’s wedding is interrupted when mafia heir Sebastian, fleeing assassins, hides in his hotel room closet. With their reunion stirring old feelings, and faced with betrayal from his bride-to-be, Gabriel impulsively marries Sebastian to secure his inheritance. But as dark family secrets unfold, their future together becomes uncertain...# gay # boy's love

Ethan Quinn carries the fate of preserving human civilization, but Lydia Frost, a heroine turned dark,mistakes him for a world-destroying demon. With wildly different assumptions, they end up allied—he seeks peaceful diplomacy, while she plots revenge.What follows is a chaotic clash of sci-fi and cultivation worlds, where overwhelming power meets constant misunderstandings, launching an absurd journey of interdimensional conquest.

An influencer struggling for more followers, and a handsome man with a mysterious history. Blood coming out of water taps, stumping footsteps in the hall... They sound like weird, spooky phenomena in a creepy hotel. But it doesn’t take long to discover that they are all connected, and leading to a dark secret hidden behind every closed door and buried underneath the quiet bricks and concrete. They could be nothing more than rumors, but only one way to find out.

Sold out by someone in dark web, Chloe Morgan bumps into mafia lord, Shaun Luther in the riches’ hunting game. Once an aristocracy, Chloe is now dragged into inferno by Shaun, lost in sweetness and tortures. She finally makes up her mind to leave, but Shaun confines her no matter how many times she tries. It’s out of love, or of hatred? Overwhelmed by love and forbidden desire, the two hurt each other but simultaneously save each other.

Scarlett's blissful marriage hid dark secrets. A premeditated accident sent her back to the day she divorced her cad husband. Resolute, she signed the divorce and returned to her wealthy family with her child. The husband, back in the past, married his muse, only to find his success was a mirage without Scarlett's support. Realizing too late, no one awaited him, especially not a woman scorned. Scarlett's value transcended marriage, and she soared anew whenever she chose.

Upon discovering she had only three months to live, Charlene finally realized she had been used by those around her and resolved to live for herself at last. So, she confronted her colleagues, exposing the dark side of her workplace, completely cut ties with her parents, who favored her younger brother, and ended her relationship with her unfaithful fiancé. In her final days, she agreed to Elbert's pursuit, making him her last boyfriend...

Seven years ago, a night of passion entwined Evelyn with GT CEO Xavier. Now a single mother, Evelyn seeks a father for her son William and to escape a twisted teacher, Richard. When she rescues Xavier's mother from an attack, she enters a contract marriage with him—unaware he is the man from that night and William's biological father. As school bullying, Richard's revenge, and dark family secrets emerge, Xavier's true identity is on the verge of being exposed.

In her past life, Xamira was betrayed by her lover and his scheming mistress, enduring eight miscarriages orchestrated by their cruelty before dying in agony. Reborn with vengeance in her heart, she married Jotham Shadforth—the ruthless billionaire who ruled Solthar with an iron fist. To her surprise, he showered her with unwavering devotion, and their passionate union soon blessed them with a child. But as Xamira plotted to make her enemies pay, a dark truth threatened to unravel her new life. Would her second chance end in triumph or tragedy?

Honoring her late mother's wish, Alex Clemens, the Dark Queen of Riverdon, entered a flash marriage with her senior, Sylvan Johnson. Shortly after, Sylvan was injured in a car crash and went missing with no memory of their life together. Years later, Alex returned with their daughter and ran into him at the airport.When she learned the truth behind his disappearance, she fought fiercely to protect him. During a setup against her, Sylvan regained his memory and stepped in just in time. Together, they uncovered the conspiracy and finally reunited as a family.