The Resurrection

The Resurrection

ifeoluwaologbonjaiye · Completed · 100.5k Words

805
Hot
805
Views
0
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

I was kidnapped because I look like a mafia boss's dead wife. Now he wants me to become her.

My name is Flora Rossi. I was just a waitress, drowning in debt and dreams that died with my parents. Then he saw me—Rafael Valserro, the most powerful and dangerous man in the city. He took me because I have her face. The face of his late wife, Eva.

Now I’m a prisoner in a mansion, dressed in her clothes, my hair dyed black, forced to mimic her every move and memory. He calls me Eva. He looks at me with a grief-stricken obsession that terrifies and confuses me. To survive, I have to pretend to be the ghost of a woman I never knew.

But the more I play this role, the more the lines blur. His touch is a violation, yet his pain is real. The mansion holds secrets darker than my captivity, and the truth about why I look like her is more horrifying than I imagined.

This is my fight—not just for freedom, but for my very soul. I must make him see the woman standing in front of him, not the one he lost. Even if, in the process, I start to see the broken man behind the monster... and the dangerous attraction that could destroy us both.

A dark, emotional journey of one woman's fight to reclaim her identity, and the forbidden love that blooms in the shadow of a ghost.

Chapter 1

Flora

“You broke three glasses this week, Flora. Consider yourself lucky I'm paying you at all!”

I stared at the thin envelope in Signor Benedetto's outstretched hand, and my fingers went numb. Three glasses. I only broke one glass three days ago when my hands were shaking from exhaustion after working a sixteen-hour shift.

“It was one glass, Signor.” My voice came out smaller than I intended as I choked back my tears. “Just one.”

He didn't even look at me. He was counting the cash register, his thick fingers moving through bills I helped earn. Bills from tourist's who left generous tips that somehow never made it to my pocket.

“One, three, what's the difference?”

He waved his hand dismissively. “The cost is the same. Be grateful I didn't fire you for your clumsiness.”

Grateful? I should be grateful for half my wages. Grateful for the privilege of scrubbing his floors and serving his customers and smiling until my face ached. Grateful that he let me work myself to the bone for money that wouldn't even cover my rent.

I took the envelope in my shaking hands.

“Thank you, Signor,” I said, and I hated myself for it.

He grunted, already forgetting I existed.

The evening shift was just starting when I slipped the envelope into my apron pocket. I didn't need to count it to know it wasn't enough. It was never enough. I did the math in my head while I wiped down tables that were already clean.

My rent was due in four days. I had maybe half of what I needed. The rest would have to come from tips, if I was lucky, if the tourists were generous enough, if the universe decided to stop crushing me for one single moment.

My mother’s ring pressed against my heel. I hid it in the sole of my left shoe. I shifted in my weight, feeling it's small, solid presence. The only thing I had left of her. The only thing in this world that was truly mine.

I couldn't sell it. I wouldn't. Even if it meant sleeping on the street.

“Flora! Table seven needs water!” Signor Benedetto's voice echoed.

I grabbed the pitcher and hurried over, wearing my usual smile that didn't reach my eyes. I was tired. Too tired. A family of four were seated. They were German tourists by the sound of their conversation. The father barely glanced at me as I poured the water. The mother didn't acknowledge me at all. I was just as invisible as the chairs they sat on.

This was my life. Twenty-three years old and invisible.

I used to be someone. A little girl who dreamed in pirouettes and grand jetés. A girl who believed that grace and hard work could lift her out of poverty, that beauty existed even in ugly places.

My mother used to say I moved like water, like wind, like something too lovely for this world.

Then she died. Then the money ran out. Then the dream died too.

Now, I poured water and cleared plates and smiled at people who don't acknowledge me.

The evening crawled by in a blur of orders and complaints and aching feet. My shoes were falling apart, the sole of the right one was flapping with each step. I’d glued it back twice already. If I glue it back one more time, there’d be nothing left to glue.

By nine o’clock, he café was half empty. Just a few stragglers nursing their drinks, trying to stretch out the evening. I was clearing table five when I noticed him.

He sat alone by the window with a glass of wine in front of him.

A middle-aged man, wearing an expensive watch, and a silk shirt that was left unbuttoned, revealing his hairy chest. His eyes had been following me for the past twenty minutes. I felt his gaze like oil on my skin.

I kept my head down, stacking plates with practiced efficiency. Maybe if I ignored him, he’d get bored and leave.

“Signorina.” He called.

His voice was smooth, and cultured. The kind of voice that was used to getting what it wanted.

I turned, my professional smile firmly in place. “Yes, sir? Can I get you anything else?”

He didn't answer right away. He just looked at me, his eyes traveling slowly from my face down to my feet and back up again. My skin crawled.

“You're very beautiful,” he said finally. “Has anyone ever told you that?”

My smile felt like it was cracking. “That's very kind, sir. Can I bring you the check?”

“Sit with me.” He gestured to the empty chair across from him. “Just for a moment. You must be tired.”

“I'm working, sir. I can't.”

“I insist.” His smile didn't reach his eyes. “Just a few minutes of your time. I'm a generous man. I tip well.”

I glanced towards the counter. Signor Benedetto was watching with an unreadable expression. He didn't tell the man to leave me alone. He didn't tell me to get back to work. He just watched.

“I really can't, sir. I have other tables.”

“They can wait.” The man reached out suddenly, his fingers closing around my wrist. His grip was firm, and possessive. “Sit.”

I tried to pull away but his hold tightened. “Sir, please let go.”

“Such a lovely face.” His other hand came up, his fingers brushing my cheek. I flinched back but he followed, his thumb tracing my jawline. “Such lovely hair. Do you know how rare it is to find natural beauty like yours?”

“Let go of me.” My voice was shaking now. I looked desperately towards Signor Benedetto. “Signor, please.”

He turned away.

He actually turned away, busying himself with wiping down the espresso machine that was already clean.

The man’s smile widened. He stood, still holding my wrist, and pulled me closer. His breath smelled like wine and something sour underneath.

“Your boss and I have an understanding,x he said softly, his lips close to my ear. “I paid him well. Very well m you're mine for the night.”

The words didn't make sense at first. They couldn't make sense. But then I understood, and the understanding made my blood turn to ice.

“No.” I yanked at my arm, panic rising in my throat. “No, I'm not. He can't. He doesn't have the right.”

“He has every right. You work for him, don't you?” The man started pulling me towards the door. “Don't make a scene, sweetie. It will only make things worse for you.”

I dug my heels in, my free half grabbing at the nearest table for support. Glasses rattled. A fork clattered to the floor.

“Signor Benedetto!” My voice cracked. “Please, you can't let him do this! Please!”

My boss finally looked at me. His face was hard. “You’ve been short on rent, Flora. Consider this a way to make up what you owe. Go with the gentleman. Don't embarrass me.”

The world tilted. The few remaining customers were all suddenly very interested in their drinks, none of them looked at me. None of them helped.

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

Game of Destiny

Game of Destiny

1.1m Views · Completed · Dripping Creativity
Amie's wolf hasn't shown herself. But who cares? She has a good pack, best friends and a family who loves her. Everyone, including the Alpha, is telling her she is perfect just the way she is. That is until she finds her mate and he rejects her. Heartbroken Amie flees from everything and start over. No more werewolves, no more packs.

When Finlay finds her, she is living among humans. He is smitten by the stubborn wolf that refuse to acknowledge his existence. She may not be his mate, but he wants her to be a part of his pack, latent wolf or not.

Amie cant resist the Alpha that comes into her life and drags her back into pack life. Not only does she find herself happier than she has been in a long time, her wolf finally comes to her. Finlay isn't her mate, but he becomes her best friend. Together with the other top wolves in the pack, they work to create the best and strongest pack.

When it's time for the pack games, the event that decides the packs rank for the coming ten year, Amie needs to face her old pack. When she sees the man that rejected her for the first time in ten years, everything she thought she knew is turned around. Amie and Finlay need to adapt to the new reality and find a way forward for their pack. But will the curve ball split them apart?
Omega Bound

Omega Bound

1.4m Views · Completed · 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
After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms

After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms

1.2m Views · Ongoing · Louisa
[Dear readers, if you loved this book, be sure to read my new recommended read: Cheating Husband, Vengeful Me.]
From first crush to wedding vows, George Capulet and I had been inseparable. But in our seventh year of marriage, he began an affair with his secretary.

On my birthday, he took her on vacation. On our anniversary, he brought her to our home and made love to her in our bed...

Heartbroken, I tricked him into signing divorce papers.

George remained unconcerned, convinced I would never leave him.

His deceptions continued until the day the divorce was finalized. I threw the papers in his face: "George Capulet, from this moment on, get out of my life!"

Only then did panic flood his eyes as he begged me to stay.

When his calls bombarded my phone later that night, it wasn't me who answered, but my new boyfriend Julian.

"Don't you know," Julian chuckled into the receiver, "that a proper ex-boyfriend should be as quiet as the dead?"

George seethed through gritted teeth: "Put her on the phone!"

"I'm afraid that's impossible."

Julian dropped a gentle kiss on my sleeping form nestled against him. "She's exhausted. She just fell asleep."
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

1.9m Views · Ongoing · Harper Rivers
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.
Accardi

Accardi

811.3k Views · Completed · Allison Franklin
“I thought we discussed this earlier, Weakness? I warned you. His death is on your hands.”
“I thought you said you were done chasing me?” Gen mocked.
“I am done chasing you.”
Before she could formulate a witty remark, Matteo threw her down. She landed hard on her back atop his dining room table. She tried to sit up when she noticed what he was doing. His hands were working on his belt. It came free of his pants with a violent yank. She collapsed back on her elbows, her mouth gaping open at the display. His face was a mask of sheer determination, his eyes were a dark gold swimming with heat and desire. His hands wrapped around her thighs and pulled her to the edge of the table. He glided his fingers up her thighs and hooked several around the inside of her panties. His knuckles brushed her dripping sex.
“You’re soaking wet, Genevieve. Tell me, was it me that made you this way or him?” his voice told her to be careful with her answer. His knuckles slid down through her folds and she threw her head back as she moaned. “Weakness?”
“You…” she breathed.


Genevieve loses a bet she can’t afford to pay. In a compromise, she agrees to convince any man her opponent chooses to go home with her that night. What she doesn’t realize when her sister’s friend points out the brooding man sitting alone at the bar, is that man won’t be okay with just one night with her. No, Matteo Accardi, Don of one of the largest gangs in New York City doesn’t do one night stands. Not with her anyway.
The Prison Project

The Prison Project

981.1k Views · Ongoing · Bethany Donaghy
The government's newest experiment in criminal rehabilitation - sending thousands of young women to live alongside some of the most dangerous men held behind bars...

Can love tame the untouchable? Or will it only fuel the fire and cause chaos amongst the inmates?

Fresh out of high school and suffocating in her dead-end hometown, Margot longs for her escape. Her reckless best friend, Cara, thinks she's found the perfect way out for them both - The Prisoner Project - a controversial program offering a life-changing sum of money in exchange for time spent with maximum-security inmates.

Without hesitation, Cara rushes to sign them up.

Their reward? A one-way ticket into the depths of a prison ruled by gang leaders, mob bosses, and men the guards wouldn't even dare to cross...

At the centre of it all, meets Coban Santorelli - a man colder than ice, darker than midnight, and as deadly as the fire that fuels his inner rage. He knows that the project may very well be his only ticket to freedom - his only ticket to revenge on the one who managed to lock him up and so he must prove that he can learn to love…

Will Margot be the lucky one chosen to help reform him?

Will Coban be capable of bringing something to the table other than just sex?

What starts off as denial may very well grow in to obsession which could then fester in to becoming true love…

A temperamental romance novel.
From Substitute To Queen

From Substitute To Queen

1.1m Views · Completed · Hannah Moore
For three years, Sable loved Alpha Darrell with everything she had, spending her salary to support their household while being called an orphan and gold-digger. But just as Darrell was about to mark her as his Luna, his ex-girlfriend returned, texting: "I'm not wearing underwear. My plane lands soon—pick me up and fuck me immediately."

Heartbroken, Sable discovered Darrell having sex with his ex in their bed, while secretly transferring hundreds of thousands to support that woman.

Even worse was overhearing Darrell laugh to his friends: "She's useful—obedient, doesn't cause trouble, handles housework, and I can fuck her whenever I need relief. She's basically a live-in maid with benefits." He made crude thrusting gestures, sending his friends into laughter.

In despair, Sable left, reclaimed her true identity, and married her childhood neighbor—Lycan King Caelan, nine years her senior and her fated mate. Now Darrell desperately tries to win her back. How will her revenge unfold?

From substitute to queen—her revenge has just begun!
A pack of their own

A pack of their own

1.7m Views · Completed · dragonsbain22
Being the middle Child ignored and neglected, rejected by family and injured, She receives her wolf early and realizes she is a new type of hybrid but doesn't know how to control her power, she leaves her pack with her best friend and grandmother to go to her grandfather's clan to learn what she is and how to handle her power and then with her fated mate, her best friend and her fated mate little brother and grandmother start their own pack.
Alpha Nicholas's Little Mate

Alpha Nicholas's Little Mate

1m Views · Ongoing · Becky j
"Mate is here!"
What? No—wait… oh Moon Goddess, no.
Please tell me you're joking, Lex.
But she's not. I can feel her excitement bubbling under my skin, while all I feel is dread.
We turn the corner, and the scent hits me like a punch to the chest—cinnamon and something impossibly warm. My eyes scan the room until they land on him. Tall. Commanding. Beautiful.
And then, just as quickly… he sees me.
His expression twists.
"Fuck no."
He turns—and runs.
My mate sees me and runs.
Bonnie has spent her entire life being broken down and abused by the people closest to her including her very own twin sister. Alongside her best friend Lilly who also lives a life of hell, they plan to run away while attending the biggest ball of the year while it's being hosted by another pack, only things don't quite go to plan leaving both girls feeling lost and unsure about their futures.
Alpha Nicholas is 28, mateless, and has no plans to change that. It's his turn to host the annual Blue Moon Ball this year and the last thing he expects is to find his mate. What he expects even less is for his mate to be 10 years younger than him and how his body reacts to her. While he tries to refuse to acknowledge that he has met his mate his world is turned upside down after guards catch two she-wolves running through his lands.
Once they are brought to him he finds himself once again facing his mate and discovers that she's hiding secrets that will make him want to kill more than one person.
Can he overcome his feelings towards having a mate and one that is so much younger than him? Will his mate want him after already feeling the sting of his unofficial rejection? Can they both work on letting go of the past and moving forward together or will fate have different plans and keep them apart?
Surrendering to Destiny

Surrendering to Destiny

688.8k Views · Completed · Allison Franklin
Catherine is not only a rogue half-breed, she is also the result of mate-bond infidelity, was abandoned as a baby and, to top it off, she can only shift during the full moon. When Catherine left the only pack she'd ever known in order to escape the new alpha, the last thing she expected was to find her mate... let alone for him to be the mouth-watering, heavily tattooed, lead warrior of the most feared lycan pack on the continent.

Graham MacTavish wasn't prepared to find his mate in the small town of Sterling that borders the Blackmoore Packlands. He certainly didn't expect her to be a rogue, half-breed who smelled of Alpha blood. With her multi-colored eyes, there was no stopping him from falling hard the moment their mate bond snapped into place. He would do anything to claim her, protect her and cherish her no matter the cost.

From vengeful ex-lovers, pack politics, species prejudice, hidden plots, magic, kidnapping, poisoning, rogue attacks, and a mountain of secrets including Catherine's true parentage there is no shortage of things trying to tear the two apart.

Despite the hardships, a burning desire and willingness to trust will help forge a strong bond between the two... but no bond is unbreakable. When the secrets kept close to heart are slowly revealed, will the two be able to weather the storm? Or will the gift bestowed upon Catherine by the moon goddess be too insurmountable to overcome?
The Human Among  Wolves

The Human Among Wolves

500.9k Views · Ongoing · ZWrites
"You actually thought I cared about you?" His smirk was sharp, almost cruel.
My stomach twisted, but he wasn’t finished.
"You're just a pathetic little human," Zayn said, his words deliberate, each one hitting like a slap. "Spreading your legs for the first guy who bothers to notice you."
Heat rushed to my face, burning with humiliation. My chest ached — not from his words alone, but from the sick realization that I had trusted him. That I had let myself believe he was different.
I was so, so stupid.
——————————————————
When eigteen-year-old Aurora Wells moves to a sleepy town with her parents, the last thing she expects is to be enrolled in a secret academy for werewolves.
Moonbound Academy is no ordinary school. It's here young Lycans, Betas and Alphas train in shifting, elemental magic, and ancient pack laws. But Aurora? She's just...human. a mistake. The new receptionist forgot to check her species - and now she's surrounded by predators who sense she doesn't belong.
Determined to stay under the radar, Aurora plans to survive the year unnoticed. But when she catches the attention of Zayn, a brooding and infuriatingly powerful Lycan prince, her life gets a lot more complicated. Zayn already has a mate. He already has enemies. And he definitely doesn't want anything to do with a clueless human.
But secrets run deeper than bloodlines at Moonbound. as Aurora unravels the truth about the academy - and herself - she begins to question everything she thought she knew.
Including the reason she was brought here at all.
Enemies will rise. Loyalties will shift. And the girl with no place in their world...might be the key to saving it.
The Lycan Prince’s Puppy

The Lycan Prince’s Puppy

3.1m Views · Ongoing · chavontheauthor
“You’re mine, little puppy,” Kylan growled against my neck.
“Soon enough, you’ll be begging for me. And when you do—I’ll use you as I see fit, and then I’ll reject you.”


When Violet Hastings begins her freshman year at Starlight Shifters Academy, she only wants two things—honor her mother’s legacy by becoming a skilled healer for her pack and get through the academy without anyone calling her a freak for her strange eye condition.

Things take a dramatic turn when she discovers that Kylan, the arrogant heir to the Lycan throne who has made her life miserable from the moment they met, is her mate.

Kylan, known for his cold personality and cruel ways, is far from thrilled. He refuses to accept Violet as his mate, yet he doesn’t want to reject her either. Instead, he sees her as his puppy, and is determined to make her life even more of a living hell.

As if dealing with Kylan’s torment isn’t enough, Violet begins to uncover secrets about her past that change everything she thought she knew. Where does she truly come from? What is the secret behind her eyes? And has her whole life been a lie?