Her Second First Love

Her Second First Love

Mithra Voz · Ongoing · 35.0k Words

706
Hot
706
Views
0
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

Darlene gave twenty years of her life to Roman, her childhood sweetheart, only to discover that loyalty meant nothing to a man who traded her love for youth and ambition. Shattered and stripped of everything she thought she had, she walks away—only to stumble into an unexpected inheritance and an arranged marriage with William, a younger man whose warmth and devotion begin to heal the scars she thought would never fade.

But love after betrayal is never simple. Haunted by insecurities, stalked by the past, and tested by lies meant to tear them apart, Darlene must decide if she can trust her heart again. Because sometimes, the second love is the first one that truly saves you.

Chapter 1

DARLENE'S POV

“What do you think about this one, Lana? I need a dress that’s loud enough to announce me at the same time not too showy.” I turned around to my best friend of twenty years. We’ve been best friends since high school, when we were fifteen. Her blue eyes eyed the dress in my hand, and I watched as her brows furrowed. She shook her head slightly, her blond curls bouncing at the side of her face.

“This won’t do. You need a dress that makes you shine, Darlene.” She turned to rummage through the closest rack, and I found myself rolling my eyes. Lana was super extra when it came to these kinds of things—shopping literally.

She turned to me, holding an emerald dress with a low, deep cut at the back and a wicked slit at the side that went all the way up to one’s thighs. My eyes widened, and I nearly laughed. “Hell no. Roman doesn’t like me exposing my legs.

“The hell, Darlene. Roman doesn’t like a lot of things because he is a selfish man. Try it on,” she urged.

I shook my head slightly, a small smile forming on my lips as I eyed the dress in her hands. It was a beautiful piece, with a texture that screamed luxury just by looking at it.

“I’m not so sure,” I muttered, but Lana would always be Lana. As soon as I stepped out of the dressing room, I heard a loud gasp and someone taking in a sharp breath.

“Yup, that’s the one.” She said, letting out a low, long whistle before turning to the saleslady whose mouth hung open in awe as she stared at me. I turned back to Lana, slightly flustered, then back at my reflection in the mirror. I looked gorgeous with barely a fat hanging out of place. I really did look amazing for a thirty-five-year-old.

“We’re getting this one.” Lana turned to the saleslady, flashing her most brilliant smile. Gosh! I can’t believe I’m doing this.

After shopping for a pair of shoes to go with the dress and a matching purse, we proceeded to the spa before going for my makeup.

Roman should have arrived already. He had been away for three months for business. We were expanding the Hayes corporation internationally while I remained at the branch in LA. I handled everything operational and managerial in his absence, although even when he was around, it was almost the same. We were already so mixed; there truly were no lines. We’ve been best friends for twenty years and lovers for fifteen. Although we were yet to tie the knot or anything, everyone knew Roman was mine, and I was his. There was no disputing that. I smiled as I looked at the picture on my phone for the umpteenth time. It was the picture of a diamond ring in its box. I had stumbled on it before his impromptu business trip. So, when he spoke twenty-four hours ago, and he said we had to talk when he got back and to have dinner, I knew he was going to propose.

After freaking out in excitement, the next thing I did was to rush to Lana’s and ask her to help throw us a perfect party after the proposal. I looked at the time on my phone. I was three hours early to our dinner date. But I wanted to surprise him first. He probably still thought that I only knew of his late arrival. He must have forgotten that I got notifications for almost everything about him, not just his personal affairs but also everything related to the company. But then again, that was Roman. My sweet Roman. I wouldn’t trade him for anything else.

The taxi stopped outside his penthouse in the private estate, and I found my heart racing as fast as it had the first time I saw him when we were teenagers.

“Thank you.” I flashed a warm smile to the driver and left the change before entering the apartment. I had the code to the apartment, so I was able to gain access. But as soon as I stepped in, what greeted me wasn’t the quiet that came with Roman but tiny moans; although faint, there was no mistaking the sound.

Panic gripped me instantly as I slowly took the stairs, the sound becoming clearer with every step I took closer to his bedroom. Someone was in here.

Another woman.

My body became hot as though seized with a fever, and my hands shook violently as I got closer to his bedroom door. Roman was in there. He was with another woman.

I pushed the door violently to find him balls deep in—

What the hell?

He was with Barbara Grant. His assistant.

“Roman?” The sound that came out of my lips was barely recognizable. Seeing the man I had loved all my life with another woman, naked in the same bed we had both made love countless times, broke me in ways I could never recover from.

He rolled off Barbara in an instant, his face drawn tight in barely concealed fury. “What are you doing here? We weren’t supposed to see each other until tonight.”

“What? Roman, can you hear yourself? I just caught you cheating on me, and this is all you have to say?”

He closed his eyes briefly, then sighed and reached for me. “Don’t do anything stupid, Darlene. Just go back to the house. I’ll come meet you.”

I swallowed hard, tears spilling down my perfectly made-up face as I looked into the familiar blue eyes that weren’t so familiar right now.

“You want me to go to the house? What about her? She’s still here.”

“Just do as I say. We’ll talk about this when I get back tonight.” His eyes flashed with impatience as he spoke.

“No!” I swallowed hard, yanking my arm from his grip. “I am not leaving until you explain what this is.” I choked out a sob.

“Darlene you—”

“Baby, come back to bed. Little kitty still wants your big man down there.”

My eyes widened as I turned to look at Barbara, his assistant. The twenty-two-year-old who started at the company six months ago, then back at Roman, whose attention was now on her with a smile on his face that made my chest twist painfully.

“Roman!” I let out a piercing scream. What was he doing? Who did he take me for? How dare he cheat on me and act this way?”

“Control yourself,” He snapped, turning his attention to me while Barbara pressed her body against his. She was wearing a silk white robe to cover her frame, and my eyes widened.

“How dare you?” I shouted and pointed at her. “You let her wear my clothes?” I turned to Roman, still stunned from the whole scene.

This had to be a fucking bad dream.

Roman met my gaze, his expression cold with a hint of disgust as he glared at me. “I didn’t want you to find out this way. I was going to tell you tonight. But since you already know, well, all I can do is tell you as it is, Darlene."

"We are getting married.”

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

The Family Books 1-3 (A Mafia romance)

The Family Books 1-3 (A Mafia romance)

2.5k Views · Completed · Emma Mountford
Saints and Sinners- She was the light to my dark.
The saint to my sinner. with her innocent eyes and devilish curves.
A Madonna that was meant to be admired but never touched.
Until someone took that innocence from her.
She left.
The darkness in my heart was finally complete.
I avenged her, I killed for her, but she never came back.
Until I saw her again. An angel dancing around a pole for money.
She didn’t know I owned that club. She didn’t know I was watching.
This time I won’t let her escape.
I will make her back into the girl I knew.
Whether she likes it or not.
2/ Judge and Jury- I can’t stop watching her.

I’m not even sure I want to.

Taylor Lawson, blonde, beautiful, and totally oblivious to how much dangers she’s in.

She’s also the one juror in my upcoming murder trial that hasn’t been bought.

The one who can put me behind bars for a very long time.

I know I should execute her.
After all that’s what I do.

I am the Judge.
I eliminate threats to The Family.
And Taylor is a threat.
But I don’t want to kill her.
Possessing her, making her love me seems like a much better plan for this particular Juror.

3/ Rags and Ritches-
Tempted By The Enemy

Tempted By The Enemy

4k Views · Completed · rituparna darolia
Twenty-two-year-old Alyssa Van Every is in a dilemma. Her close friend, Sienna, is marrying billionaire, Lucas Donnelly who, along with his brothers, happens to be her older brother, Alex's sworn enemy.
She escapes to Preston Island to attend the wedding without informing him only to collide with Lucas’s hot, fiery and arrogant brother, the twenty-three-year-old, Nicholas Donnelly. Sparks immediately fly between them but Alyssa refuses to acknowledge them fearing her brother's wrath.
The wedding is over and Alyssa tries hard to forget the mysterious Nicholas Donnelly but can he forget her? Can he ignore the attraction he feels for her, feelings that have resurfaced after ten years?
What will Allyssa do when she is stalked by the man who has been invading her dreams since the day she met him? What will she do when she is whisked away to a deserted island by the unpredictable Nicholas Donnelly? Can she tame her heart or surrender to sinful temptations? Read to find out!
Part of the Temptation Series. Can be read as a standalone.
Diaries Of A Hybrid And Her Mate

Diaries Of A Hybrid And Her Mate

2.3k Views · Ongoing · Sherryann Martinez
R18 MATURE CONTENT

Beautiful Aubrianne Ivanov, raised by her single mom, had a tough childhood. With low self-esteem, she became an outcast and was alone one too many times for her liking. Time spent at her part time job, she eventually grew into a brave, confident, and determined young woman who walked right into an opportunity that would change her life forever.

Will Aubrianne truly feel whole? Will she find what has been missing in her life? Will she allow herself happiness and joy? Will she find love, and most importantly, will she survive what's to come?

Join Aubrianne on her journey as she discovers who/what she is and navigates all the heartbreak, betrayal, drama, and exciting and thrilling events that come her way...

Excerpt:

She lay before him in all her magnificent beauty draped across his king-size bed in the most compelling and provocative way known to man or beast. And for Alpha Zayne, it was the most captivating view he had ever had the pleasure of seeing with his own eyes.

She stared at his every movement, lips slightly parted, her stunning brown eyes scanning every inch of his gorgeously toned and glorious body while heat radiated off of hers. He was HERS.

Her body trembled in delight and anticipation; she was ready and wanted to be with him in every way.

As innocent as she was, she wanted him to...no need him to take her in the worse ways, bringing her to heights of pleasures she had never experienced before.

Fuck she is beautiful, one fine specimen, and she is all MINE, MY MATE. A wave of pure unbridled possessiveness vibrated through Alpha Zayne. He thanked the Divine Moon Goddess, for she has truly blessed him.

He drank her in, eyes trailing up her toned sexy legs spread wide for him, and she gave him that come-and-get-it look.
A Queen Among Darkness (Book 4 in the Gods' Saga)

A Queen Among Darkness (Book 4 in the Gods' Saga)

6.3k Views · Ongoing · ADB_Stories
Isolde’s life was full of love and joy. She was set to be High priestess of the makkari, but everything changed in a single night when she lost everything at the hands of someone she thought she could trust.

For centuries, she has been on the run, helping the supernatural community under the cloak of anonymity while she works to clear her name and save the very people after her from destruction.

Enemies are closing in, but an unexpected complication befalls her when she realises she’s been fated to someone who wants her species exterminated. After all, an evil chance seldom comes alone.

A Queen Among Darkness is the 4th book in the Queen Among Series/The Gods' Saga. This is an interconnected series. To see how it ends, I recommend reading the full series.

Books in the series in order:
A Queen Among Alphas - Book 1
Bite-Size Luna - A Queen Among Alphas Prequel (available under book 1)
A Queen Among Snakes - Book 2
A Queen Among Blood - Book 3
A Queen Among Darkness - Book 4
Whole Again - A Queen Among Alpha's spin-off (available under book 1)
A Queen Among Tides - Book 5
Valor, Virtue, and Verve - Tides Prequel Spin-off (will be available under book 5)
A Queen Among Gods - Book 6
Runaway Empress - A Queen Among Snakes Prequel (will be available under book 2)
A Queen Among Tempests - Book 7
Dark Vocation - Darkness spin-off (will be available under book 4)
A Court of Arcane Souls Anthology (side character short stories exclusive to Ream)
Royal Shadow Series (Next Generation Coming Soon)
Cursed Fates

Cursed Fates

1.6k Views · Ongoing · Taylor Ashcraft
Charlotte Sinclair was murdered at the hands of her abusive boyfriend. After dying, she wakes up in the body of another. She pieces together information from her first day as Aribella Voss, realizing that she's been reincarnated into a book she knew all too well. The only problem: She was fated to die in this story as well. She sets out on a mission to ensure that doesn't happen, but when she begins changing important parts of the story, she also changes the plot of the story she knew. Without the upper hand, Aribella no longer has idea what lies in her future.
Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate

Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate

6k Views · Ongoing · Miranda Carr
I never knew my blood could kill a king—until I met one. Sebastian, the ruthless and immortal King, rules with precision. For centuries, he's ruled with ruthless precision, his heart as cold as the stone throne beneath him. One moment, I'm nothing. The next, I'm his obsession. His touch burns like ice fire. His stare follows me through shadows. And when he feeds from me—God help me—it feels like drowning in darkness and craving more. He tells me my blood is unlike any he's tasted, that my scent drives him to the edge of madness.


He reached for the back of my head and pulled me up just enough to reach my neck. When his fangs slid into me, the pain was instant, electric. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. My hands found his shoulders, clawing for something to hold. My legs kicked. Tears streamed down my cheeks.

He moaned against my throat as he drank, and the sound was devastating.
Omega Bound

Omega Bound

2.6m Views · Ongoing · Veronica White
Ayla Frost is a beautiful, rare omega. Kidnapped, tortured, and trafficked to rogue clans and corrupt alphas to do with as they pleased.  Kept alive in her cage, broken and abandoned by her wolf, she becomes mute and has given up on hope for a better life until one explosion changes everything. 

Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life. 

Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
Cursed To Be His

Cursed To Be His

1.6k Views · Ongoing · Sophie Smith
Talia Morgan was born a wolf.
At thirteen, everything changed.
After her parents were murdered, she was cursed by a powerful witch and used as a vessel for Elder magic. Saving her life came at an impossible cost; the curse was broken, but so was the wolf inside her, leaving her human.
Ten years later, Talia hides her grief behind sharp sarcasm and a smile she no longer believes. When a rogue attack proves she can no longer protect herself, or the people she loves, she leaves the only home she's ever known for the quiet human town of Ashbourne Hollow, determined to disappear.
Instead, she catches the attention of the town's most dangerous owner.
Alaric Lazarus is a vampire who rules from the black castle overlooking Ashbourne Hollow. He is cold, enigmatic, and impossible to read, but he awakens something in Talia she can't explain. She doesn't trust him. He trusts her even less.
Then vampires begin turning up dead.
Forced into an uneasy alliance, Talia and Alaric uncover a trail that leads back to the family she lost... and the curse she thought she'd escaped. As old enemies emerge from the shadows and buried secrets come to light, Talia discovers that everything she believed about her past was a lie.
Because the curse that stole her wolf was never meant to save her.
It was meant to lead her to him.
This is book 3 in the series, but it can be read as a standalone.
Book 1 - The Matchmaker
Book 2 - The Heir of Flame and Fang
Iron And Glamour Just Don't Mix

Iron And Glamour Just Don't Mix

3.8k Views · Ongoing · Kit Bryan
Have you ever seen a screaming toddler and thought, wow, they just can’t be the same good-natured kid who was eating cereal ten minutes ago?
Well… Sometimes you just might turn out to be right.
It turns out, the fae stole my little brother. In his place? A pixie with boundary issues and a talent for home repairs.
I’ve spent my life taking care of everyone else. So when my baby brother is taken, I don’t hesitate. I walk straight into a faerie mansion and make a bargain with its infuriatingly charming master.
Kie is everything you’d expect from a dangerous fae, beautiful, political, and entirely too amused by me. Power wrapped in a smirk. Sensual, mischievous, and far too aware of the effect he has on people. He agrees to help me find my brother.
For a price.
Now I’m bound by a faerie bargain and navigating a world of glamour, manipulation, and ancient rules I definitely should have learned sooner, enchanted forests, political games, magical contracts, and a fae lord who treats seduction like a perfectly reasonable negotiation tactic.
Iron is how I keep people out.
Glamour is how he draws them in.
And apparently, they just don’t mix.
Reborn: My Biased Brothers Beg Me To Come Back

Reborn: My Biased Brothers Beg Me To Come Back

10.2k Views · Completed · Eleanor Sterling
In her past life, Arabella Oberon was the lowest-ranking member of the Oberon family.

She genuinely took in Regina, the butler's daughter, only to be constantly manipulated by this cunning and manipulative woman.

Regina gradually stole the love from her three brothers.

Arabella was forced to give Regina blood transfusions time and again, her weight plummeting to a mere eighty-eight pounds.

Ultimately, under the relentless pressure from her brothers, she jumped out of a window in despair and died. Her last words were,

"What about Regina's blood transfusions?"

When she opened her eyes again, Arabella found herself reborn three years earlier—the very day Regina appeared at her doorstep crying, begging for help.

Looking at the pitiful, tearful girl before her, Arabella smiled.

No more soft-heartedness.

No more groveling.

Instead, she "kindly" arranged for Regina to move into the servants' quarters, to earn her own living through honest labor.

Faced with her brothers who sided with her, she no longer bothered to please them.

And towards her former fiancé, Theodore, whom she had once fawned over, she remained cold, distant, and indifferent.

Moreover, in this life, they would discover that her identity was far more than just the eldest daughter of the Oberon family.
The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates

The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates

2m Views · Ongoing · Jaylee
Soft hot lips find the shell of my ear and he whispers, "You think I don't want you?" He pushes his hips forward, grinding into the back of my ass and I groan. "Really?" He chuckles.

"Let me go," I whimper, my body trembling with need. "I don't want you touching me."

I fall forward onto the bed then turn around to stare at him. The dark tattoos of Domonic's chiseled shoulders, quiver and and expand with the heave of his chest. His deep dimpled smile is full of arrogance as he reaches behind himself to lock the door.

Biting his lip, he stalks toward me, his hand going to the seam of his pants and the thickening bulge there.

"Are you sure you don't want me to touch you?" He whispers, untying the knot and slipping a hand inside. "Because I swear to God, that is all I have been wanting to do. Every single day from the moment you stepped in our bar and I smelled your perfect flavor from across the room."


New to the world of shifters, Draven is human on the run. A beautiful girl who no one could protect. Domonic is the cold Alpha of the Red Wolf Pack. A brotherhood of twelve wolves that live by twelve rules. Rules which they vowed could NEVER be broken.

Especially - Rule Number One - No Mates

When Draven meets Domonic, he knows that she is his mate, but Draven has no idea what a mate is, only that she has fallen in love with a shifter. An Alpha that will break her heart to make her leave. Promising herself, she will never forgive him, she disappears.

But she doesn’t know about the child she’s carrying or that the moment she left, Domonic decided rules were made to be broken - and now will he ever find her again? Will she forgive him?
The Spy Who Left

The Spy Who Left

1.7k Views · Completed · Orion Vale
"She's naive. A pretty little socialite who got lucky marrying above her station."
"I still can't believe she actually did it. Aria Hart, filing for divorce. Who saw that coming?"
"How long do we think it'll take before she comes crawling back?" Another voice joins the conversation.
"Three days," Victoria declares. "Five at most. She has no money, no skills, no family. Where's she going to go?"
When Aria Chen divorced billionaire Leon Hart, New York's elite sneered, betting she'd crawl back within days. She never did.
Three years later, the world is rocked when Dr. Aria Vale, CEO of a revolutionary cybersecurity empire, steps into the spotlight. The mysterious genius who built a billion-dollar company from nothing is none other than Leon's discarded wife, the woman everyone thought was just a pretty ornament.
Now, every powerful man wants the queen Leon threw away a renowned scientist seeking partnership, a financial titan proposing an empire, and an actor offering devotion. Each sees the brilliance Leon ignored.
Then Leon discovers the truth: Aria's sacrifices, her secret double life, and the daughter she's been raising without him. For the first time, the man who once took her for granted must fight for her love. But can he compete with men who valued her from the beginning?
A story of love, betrayal, and power where the king must kneel before the queen who never needed saving.