How Deep This Regret Goes
Coralie Sullivan · Completed · 9.5k Words
Introduction
"I only went after Maya to piss off Dennis."
Eight years. I chased Dennis for eight years.
When I finally gave up on him, when Henry spent years pursuing me, when he proposed with fireworks lighting up the entire beach—I thought I'd finally found someone who loved me.
Three weeks until the wedding.
I flew to his city with his favorite chocolate cake, ready to surprise him on his birthday.
Then I heard the truth.
"Those eight years she spent obsessing over Dennis made me sick."
"I'll just skip the wedding. Let her stand there in that white dress in front of everyone."
Fine. I'll let him think he's won.
Then on our wedding day, I'll be the one who disappears.
Chapter 1
Maya's POV
I was putting on lipstick when my phone buzzed.
Henry: Babe, heading out for Mike's bachelor party tonight. Might crash at the hotel and come back late tomorrow.
Tomorrow. His birthday. I grinned at my reflection. He definitely thought I'd forgotten.
"He's going to be so surprised," I whispered to myself, already pulling up the flight booking app.
The phone rang before I could finish searching. Henry's name flashed on the screen.
"Hey!" I tried to sound normal.
"Babe, did you see my message?"
"Yeah, Mike's party. Have fun with the guys."
"You're the best." He paused. "I'll miss you."
"Miss you too."
After we hung up, I couldn't stop smiling. My fiancé had no idea what was coming. In three weeks, we'd be married, but first, I was going to show up at his hotel room tonight with his favorite chocolate cake and watch his face light up when he realized I flew out just to spend his birthday with him.
I spent the next two hours scrolling through Instagram like a detective. Henry's friends weren't exactly subtle about their plans. Mike had posted a story earlier, a champagne bottle emoji and a hotel tag. The Oceanview Grand.
Got it.
I screenshot the location and immediately opened the hotel's website. Available rooms. Perfect.
Then I called the bakery downtown.
"Hi, I need a chocolate cake for tonight. Can you write 'Happy Birthday, My Love' on it?"
"Sure thing! Pick up after 4 PM?"
"Perfect. Thank you."
I hung up and looked at my phone screen. When I'd known Henry, since freshman year of college. But I was chasing someone else back then. When I met Henry, I had already been chasing that person for years. I even went to that college because of that person.
Dennis.
I pushed the thought away. That was done. Over. I'd moved on, fallen for Henry, and now we were three weeks away from getting married.
The ring on my finger caught the light. I twisted it, already imagining Henry's face when I showed up tonight with cake and coffee.
He'd laugh. Pull me close. Tell me I was insane for flying out just to surprise him.
It was going to be perfect.
The flight landed at 9 PM. I'd taken the latest one, figuring the party would still be going strong. By the time I got to the hotel, it was past ten.
The Oceanview Grand lived up to its name, huge lobby, marble everywhere. I felt kind of awkward dragging my little suitcase across that pristine floor, balancing the cake box in my other hand.
"Good evening, miss. Checking in?" The receptionist smiled politely.
"Actually, could you hold my luggage? I'm just visiting someone."
"Of course."
I left my suitcase at the desk and headed for the elevators, holding the cake box. My heart was racing. Seventh floor, room 714. Mike's Instagram story had the room number right there.
The elevator dinged. I stepped out into a dimly lit hallway that smelled like beer. Music was blasting from somewhere down the hall.
Room 714.
I heard them before I saw the door, drunk laughter, glasses clinking, someone yelling about shots. The door wasn't fully closed.
I raised my hand to knock.
Then I heard Henry.
"I only went after Maya to piss off Dennis."
My hand froze mid-air. The words didn't make sense at first. I heard them, but my brain couldn't process what they meant.
What?
"I knew he had feelings for her, but he wouldn't admit it. So I thought I'd help him out, you know?" Henry laughed. "Sure enough, the second Maya gave up on him, he regretted it. God, that felt amazing."
The cake box started shaking in my hands. My whole body went cold, like someone had dumped ice water over my head. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real. Henry wouldn't say this. Not my Henry.
"Dude, so you played the long game just to mess with Dennis?" someone shouted over the music.
"Hell yeah! You should've seen his face at graduation when he found out we were dating."
More laughter. Louder this time.
No. No no no no no. My chest hurt, like something was squeezing my lungs and I couldn't get enough air. We'd been together for two years. He proposed six months ago. Six months of planning this wedding, looking at venues, tasting cakes, picking flowers. And it was all because of Dennis?
"But honestly? Those eight years she spent obsessing over Dennis?" Henry's voice changed. "It made me sick."
I pressed my back against the wall because my legs weren't working right anymore. He thought my eight years were disgusting. All those years where I actually believed love meant trying, where I thought if I just showed Dennis how much I cared, he'd eventually see me. And Henry knew. He knew all of it. I told him everything when we first got together, every embarrassing detail, every time Dennis rejected me, and Henry held me and said it was okay, that Dennis was an idiot, that he'd never take me for granted like that.
And he was lying the whole time.
"Now Brynn's in the picture," Henry continued. "At least she's only ever loved me."
Brynn. Who the hell was Brynn? My hands were shaking so badly now I could barely hold the cake. There was someone else. Of course there was someone else. Why would there not be someone else when everything, every single thing about us was a lie?
"So what's the plan?" another voice asked. "You're really gonna marry her?"
Last Chapters
You Might Like 😍
The Billionaire's Mask (A Dark Steamy Romance)
Iron And Glamour Just Don't Mix
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.
My Benchwarmer Boyfriend's Secret
As the team's benchwarmer, Marco practices harder than anyone, though few seems to notice. There's something about his quiet determination that draws me in, and I find myself falling for the underdog.
But when Marco's true story starts unraveling—about that first night, about who he really is, about the future he's destined for—I realize I might have gotten in way over my head.
And there's another problem: this was always meant to be temporary. His training program has an end date, and we're both fighting against a reality that seems determined to pull us apart.
When everything is on the line, how far are we willing to go for love?
Bella and Her Beast
.
Locked in her frozen tower, Bella dreamed of warmth, of touch, of freedom and of love. Cursed with the power of ice and snow, she’s spent her life alone. A secret they tried to protect the world from. Her only escape comes in the form of the books she reads. Stories of heat, desire, and the kind of love that could melt even her frostbitten heart.
Damien is the Beast. A dragon King with a temper forged in flame and a soul hollowed by duty. The world fears him. The people call him a monster. But beneath the scales and the rage lies a man who has never been touched by love.
When frost meets fire, the world shatters. She was never meant to leave her tower. He was never meant to find her. But destiny doesn’t bow to kings or care for cages and now the question burns through them both: Can Bella have her Beast? Or will the girl of snow melt in the heat of his desire?
.
"I’m keeping her."
"What?"
Before I can react, he scoops her up. Her small body fits easily in the cradle of his talons. For a split second, she looks startled, but not afraid. Her hand rests against one scaled finger, and she stares up at him with that same curious wonder, as though she’s already forgotten she was ever meant to fear me.
"Put her down," I try to command, panic threading through my thoughts. "You’ll hurt her."
"She’s ours," the beast insists, possessive and fierce. "Our snowflake."
Accidentally Crossing the Tycoon
Four years ago, the Bailey family faced a devastating financial crisis.
Just when bankruptcy seemed inevitable, a mysterious benefactor emerged, offering salvation with one condition: a contract marriage.
Rumors swirled about this enigmatic man—whispers claimed he was hideously ugly and too ashamed to show his face, possibly harboring dark, twisted obsessions.
Without hesitation, the Baileys sacrificed me to protect their precious biological daughter, forcing me to take her place as a pawn in this cold, calculated arrangement.
Luckily, in those four years, the mysterious husband never asked to meet in person.
Now, in the final year of our arrangement, the husband I've never met is demanding we meet face to face.
But disaster struck the night before my return—drunk and disoriented, I stumbled into the wrong hotel room and ended up sleeping with the legendary financial mogul, Caspar Thornton.
What the hell am I supposed to do now?
Offside Temptation
Ethan Ryder was a disaster waiting to happen. Hot-headed, reckless, and constantly one bad decision away from ruining his career. I was supposed to hate him. Instead, I memorized him. I learned exactly how to push his buttons on the ice just to see the fire in his eyes.
When he grabbed my jersey in that locker room and kissed me in front of twenty cameras, it wasn't a mistake. It was the moment the line between hatred and obsession finally snapped. The media called it a scandal. They called us a divorced couple. But they didn't see the way Ethan trembled when I cornered him in the hallway afterward.
"You're staring again," he whispered, his back hitting the wall.
"You're still here," I replied calmly, stepping close enough to feel his erratic pulse.
He thought I was cold. He thought I was controlled. He didn't realize that every time he looked at me, I was fighting the urge to completely destroy the distance between us.
Now, the league is forcing us to live together, train together, and smile for the cameras to fix our public image. But the more time we spend alone in my apartment, the harder it is to pretend I just want to play hockey...
Oops. My Boss Was Seventeen
The Execution: Perfect. I brought him coffee, cheered at his games, and basically operated as his unpaid teenage executive assistant. He’s totally buying it.
The Problem: I was trying to network my way into the C-suite. I think I just networked my way into his bed.
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother
"What is wrong with me?
Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?
It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.
He’s my boyfirend’s brother.
This is Tyler’s family.
I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.
**
As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.
Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.
When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.
I'm falling for my boyfriend's brother.
**
I hate girls like her.
Entitled.
Delicate.
And still—
Still.
The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.
Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.
I shouldn’t care.
I don’t care.
It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.
It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.
I’m not here to rescue anyone.
Especially not her.
Especially not someone like her.
She’s not my problem.
And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.
But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.
The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates
"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 Alpha Of The Shadow Pack And His Mute Luna
Vanessa, the mute runt of a cursed litter, has only ever known cruelty and abuse. Her voice stolen by a witch’s spell, her freedom crushed by a brutal father, she’s been promised to a monster she doesn’t want. But fate intervenes when she’s left for dead—bleeding, broken, and bound—only to be rescued by Alpha Alfred of the Shadow Pack.
Alfred, fighting against a generational curse that has doomed his brothers to remain wolves forever, never expected his fated mate to be a fragile girl on the brink of death. But the moment he breathes in her scent, everything changes.
Together, they must confront the past, survive betrayal, and uncover the true key to breaking the curses that bind them. Will their bond be strong enough to save them both?
Where I End and She Begins
But when a body lies at Amelia’s feet, and her hands are covered in blood that isn’t hers, one question echoes louder than the rest:
How did it come to this?
As the school year unfolds, cracks begin to show — in friendships, in family, and in Amelia’s own mind. The lines between loyalty and control blur. Between truth and perception. Between who she is… and who she thinks she needs to be.
Because some friendships don’t just shape you.
They consume you.
And when the illusion shatters, there’s always something left behind.
One Weekend with the Billionaire
I open my mouth to respond, but all that comes out is a staggered breath and a small sigh. He chuckles, a low, rough rumble and then leans down and kisses the middle of my back.
I feel the tip of him again at my entryway. He pushes in slightly, and my body comes to life again. My muscles react to his presence, contracting and loosening, as if my body is trying to suck him deep inside.
He's my husband's boss, so this is supposed to be wrong.
So why does it feel so right?
Braxton Merriweather always gets what he wants. Now, he wants her--Julia Thompson, the wife of one of his workers. From the moment he first laid eyes on her, he knew he had to possess her in every way.
When Jeff Thompson takes him up on the bargain he proposes, Braxton is shocked. He's even more surprised when Mrs. Thompson agrees.
But now that he's had a taste of her, he wants more. How can he possess a woman who's already married to someone else?
Julia feels trapped by her marriage to her high school sweetheart. In the two years since they've been married, he's changed, and not for the better. When billionaire Braxton Merriweather shows interest in her, she's flattered. And intrigued. Is it possible that one of the richest men in the world could really want her?
And if so... what does she do about her husband?
One Weekend with the Billionaire is a sexy story for mature readers.
