Pregnant For My Brother's Best Friend

There was blood on his hands, and something worse in his eyes. And it terrified her to death. --- Crystal Peterson's only crime was to fall in love with her brother's best friend, Jaden Astor. She thought he loved her, too. Until he came back home one day with Valerie, the woman he was going to marry in two weeks. Already pregnant and disowned by her adoptive family, Crystal ran away from home without even a word to Jaden. Five years later, Crystal and her son, who had a terminal illness, were barely surviving and trying to make ends meet when she answered a knock on her door one day and found the one man she would rather stay away from all her life standing there and begging for her forgiveness. But forgiveness was something Crystal never had to offer Jaden. Not when she had to sell one of her twins just to keep the other twin alive. Not after being disowned and mocked by her family and everyone she once held dear, loosing everything she ever worked for, including her education. But what happens when she finds out who had actually bought one of her twins four years ago? Does she have a place for Jaden in her heart anymore, or she'd rather stick to Noah, the only man who was ever there for her when her world crumbled to the ground? *** Obsession. Possession. Love. Betrayal.

Chapters

Chapter 5

CRYSTAL.

The universe was surely playing a trick on me.

For a long moment, I just stood there, frozen, staring at him like my mind needed time to catch up with what my eyes were seeing.

"Ja... Jaden?" I whispered before I could even summon the decency to stop myself.

He blinked, like the sound of his name from my mouth had hit something deep. "Crystal?" He called me.

He actually called my name.

It was his voice. Only, it sounded deeper than I used to know.

I almost laughed. But I let out a bitter, shaky, and painful scoff. Of all the cruel jokes the universe could play on me, this one had to be the worst.

He had changed. He now had a cleaner haircut, sharper jawline, and expensive clothes that screamed power.

He looked like a man who had conquered the world and walked straight over the pieces of mine to do it.

I took in every polished inch of him. The gold watch, the designer suit, the faint smell of his usual cologne that I used to cherish on my pillow back then.

He looked good, rich, and untouched. The world had obviously treated him kindly, while it had chewed and spat me out.

And me? I was standing there in a faded T-shirt that didn't hide the exhaustion under my skin. My hands were calloused, my body thin from working too much and sleeping too little.

I knew quite a lot about him. Even when I left home five years ago, I was still obsessed with this man right here. I kept checking the news, the Internet, even gossip sites, just to keep up with his life.

Never for once did he look for me.

He lived a happy life. I also heard that his lovely wife had a son for him exactly six months after they got married, which only meant one thing: They were already in an affair even when he was still deceiving me just to get into my pants.

Oh, how foolish I was.

It took several months to stop checking and torturing myself with every new success he attained, and every photo of his perfect life. I had to teach myself to stop bleeding every time I saw his name or heard about him.

It was too painful, especially after he inherited his father's company like he always dreamed of.

I snapped out of my daze when those ugly memories flooded back in.

I crossed my arms, forcing my voice to steady. "You're a long way from home, Mr. Astor."

His expression didn't move, but his eyes softened a little. "So are you."

His confidence made my skin crawl.

"What the hell are you doing in my house?"

The concern that flickered on his face a second ago disappeared. His eyes softened in a way that only made me angrier.

"Crystal..." He sounded careful, almost like he was talking to something fragile. "Please. We need to talk."

"Talk?" I barked out a short, humorless laugh. "After five years? About what? Stocks? Your wedding? The kid you had with your fiancée six months after you left?"

His brows lowered slightly, the air shifting around him. "It's not what you think."

"Then what is it?" I snapped. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks exactly like you got everything you wanted - the company, the perfect woman, the family name - while I got left to rot."

He took a step closer, "Don't," he said, calm but sharp. "Don't turn this into something I never intended."

I immediately stepped back. "Don't. Don't come any closer." I scoffed, "And, oh, I'm sorry," I bit out. "You didn't intend to ruin me?"

He stopped. His hands went up in surrender, but his gaze didn't move from me. "You disappeared, Crystal. I came back and you were gone. I've been looking for you," he said quietly. "Everywhere."

"I guess you've finally looked far enough, huh?" I folded my arms and smiled, "So here. See? I'm alive and living perfectly without you. Now, leave!"

I tried to shut the door but he held it open with his hand and I gasped.

His eyes scanned over me and his expression softened again, "What the fuck happened to you? You..."

I laughed, "You actually care now? And what's wrong with me? Huh? I don't look like the kind of woman you could have ever had by your side, isn't it?" I sniffed, "You already made it clear with your actions. Now, leave!"

I didn't want him here by the time Jason gets back. But he didn't look like one who was even willing to move an inch.

"Please," he said again, stepping forward while ignoring my warnings. "I just want to talk."

"I don't care what you want!" I shouted. "You lost that right the moment you walked back home with another woman!"

The words came out trembling, and I hated that he could still see me crumble.

I swore never to let him see me break. But I was failing.

He exhaled, "It's not what you think, I swear, Crystal." He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath before pulling them open again, "I heard about the pregnancy... Was it mine?" He asked and the question stung really hard.

He must be stupid to have asked such a question when he was the one who actually took my virginity.

"I lost your baby, Jason." I looked away immediately. "We have nothing else binding us together. Now, get the hell out."

"Crystal..."

"I said get out!" I shouted again, and I swear, I heard my voice echoing off the walls.

He stood still at first. Then, suddenly, he pushed the door open wider and stepped in.

"Leave! Jaden!" I yelled, following him inside, as I grabbed his arm and shove at his shoulder. "You can't just walk into my life like this!"

"I'm not leaving," he said flatly, pulling his arm free.

My hands shook with untamed rage. "You don't belong here, Jaden!"

"I belonged wherever you were," he muttered, glancing around the small room.

And that's when he saw something I wish he never saw.

The toy car on the table.

I froze.

His eyes lingered on it for a moment too long - the shiny red car Jason had begged Noah to buy when he got good grades in school last month.

He looked back at me ever so slowly. "What's this?"

"It's nothing," I said quickly, moving to grab it.

But he was faster. He picked it up before I could reach it, turning it over in his hands, with his brows drawing together. "It's... new."

"It's just a toy, Jaden," I said quickly. "Don't make a scene out of everything."

His eyes shifted to the half-eaten birthday cake sitting beside it - Jason's cake, the candle stub still sticking out of it.

"What the fuck is going on here?"

Keep Watching!

The story is getting intense! Switch to App to continue reading

Unlock All Episodes

Open the Official Website

Title: 365: The Architecture of Yearning Five years. That's how long Sebastian Moretti has been a ghost, haunting the streets of London in search of the girl with green eyes who shattered his cold, Sicilian heart. To the world, Sebastian is the "King of Shadows"-a man of ice, blood, and absolute power. But in the silence of his private villa, he is a man hollowed out by a single, obsessive memory. He didn't just want a woman; he wanted the soul of the girl who didn't even know his name. When he finally takes her, he gives her a choice that feels like a sentence: 365 days to fall in love with him, or she goes free. Elara Vance was a woman of logic, a quiet architect building a life out of glass and steel in London. She never expected to be the centerpiece of a mafia king's obsession. She should hate him for the gilded cage he's built for her. She should run from the darkness that follows him like a shroud. But as the days bleed into nights, the lines between captive and queen begin to blur. Behind Sebastian's terrifying dominance is a raw, agonizing yearning that pulls at Elara's soul. In the heat of the Sicilian sun and the unfiltered intimacy of the midnight hours, she discovers that the man who stole her is the only one who truly sees her. As a Russian war looms and betrayals surface from within, Elara must decide: is she a prisoner of his walls, or the architect of his heart? In a world where every touch is a claim and every kiss is a battle, 365 days might not be enough. Because once the monster falls in love, he doesn't just want your time. He wants your forever.

Horror Mafia Romance

7.2

A Twisted Love: Betrayal's Bitter Taste

7.2

On my husband Heath's birthday, I sent him a gift: the preserved embryo of the child I had just aborted. It was my revenge. He had framed my father, driving him to prison and my mother to her grave, all for his mistress, Ember. When he stormed into our apartment, his face twisted with rage, he slammed me against the counter. "You monster! How could you destroy our child?" "You forfeited that right the moment you chose Ember over us," I spat back. But my defiance only led to more horror. He had me committed to a mental asylum where Ember, the architect of my family's ruin, tortured me with electroshock therapy, trying to break my mind. I feigned submission, then fought back, throwing both of us out of a third-story window. I survived; she was left in critical condition. Lying in my hospital bed, Heath came to me not with remorse, but with a chilling demand. "Ember needs a tendon graft. You're a match. The surgery is tomorrow." He thought he had me trapped, that he could force me to sacrifice a piece of myself for the woman who destroyed me. But as he left to comfort his mistress, I made a call. The next morning, as he begged me not to go through with the "surgery," I walked away, leaving him in the ruins of the life he had shattered. He didn't know this wasn't a surgery. It was my escape, and the beginning of his end.

Horror Modern Romance

8.1

My Shapeshifter Mate:Falling for My Cursed Superior

8.1

His second name is Death. Anyone who tries to get too close to him loses their life. He was cursed with the blood of his dead brother and till he finds the killer of his brother, he's forever bound with the curse. He's avoided like a plague, but he even loves it that way. He's so addicted to solitude and being alone. He is a bloody supernatural being, an unusual wizard. The only child born under Three Red Stars on a gloomy night 25 years ago. The demons fret at the smell of his scent, and evils flee. He has no shadow even in the dark. He is soulless-Orion Alaric, that's his name. The son of Duran Alaric, who owns Mystic Institute, a school for supernatural beings, located deep in the fogs of Mount Delos. Mystic Institute takes in over five hundred disciples yearly, and of the five hundred, Orion was determined to find his brother's killer that year, so he joined the school as a superior. There he sat on his throne, and as expected, she came. Samara Hercules, a whitehead witch who's the exact opposite of everyone around him. Unexpectedly she is not the one he's hunting for, but her white hair reminds him of the killer each time he sets eyes on her and that builds a toxic hatred in him for Samara. He was even ready to get rid of her so he wouldn't have to see her face anymore. Let's stop here.... Now are you ready to jump into the book and see how things go? Will Samara ever escape him and his tortures Will romance ever bloom between these two? Will his curse ever get lifted? Will the real killer ever show up? And are you in for the steamy romance, fights, jealousy, betrayal, and series of dramas between the supernaturals? Demons and dark forces? Join this rollercoaster ride, don't miss out.

Fantasy Horror Romance

7.9

Stalked To Be Desired and Damned

7.9

Content Warning : This story is not safe. It's addictive, explicit, and threaded with triggers that bite. It drags you through obsession, trauma, and the kind of desire that hurts as much as it heals. If you can't handle morally grey men, broken women, or the thin line between love and ruin, stop here. If you can... keep reading. I thought monsters only lived in the dark, until I was framed for a murder I didn't commit and dragged into a world that felt darker than any nightmare. Where he was. Where he's always been. Watching me. He doesn't love. He claims what's his and destroys anyone who touches it. I tried to run from the shadow that haunts me, but somehow, every time, I end up running straight back to him. He's danger wrapped in devotion. My curse. My obsession. My undoing. I should fear him. And I do. But fear doesn't stop the pulse between my thighs. Or the way my heart betrays me when he whispers my name like a threat and a prayer. They call it madness. I call it survival. Because in his darkness, I stopped being hunted. I became the desire. He's the shadow I was meant to run from, but the one who left his hunger burning deep inside me.

Horror Mystery Romance

8.7

Taming My Vicious Feral Wolf Slave

8.7

Kaylee woke up to the smell of rotting leaves and blood, realizing she had transmigrated into the grimdark fantasy novel she was reading last night. A robotic system in her head immediately delivered a death sentence: she was the tribe's vicious cannon fodder, and the male lead—a brutally tortured slave named Elijah—was currently dying on a totem pole outside. "If he dies, you will face instant soul-detonation." Kaylee rushed to the plaza, using her villainous authority to stop the execution and drag his mangled body back to her hut. But saving him was a nightmare. The original owner's sadism had traumatized him so deeply that her gentle touches and clean bandages only triggered his PTSD. His feral energy spiraled out of control, his golden eyes burning with paranoid terror as he waited for a new, twisted psychological game. To keep his energy from detonating and killing them both, Kaylee was forced to act like a monster. "I didn't save you because I care. A dead slave is useless to me." Only her cruel insults and threats of future torture calmed his broken mind. Adding to her despair, she stumbled upon the novel's supposedly innocent heroine in the forest, only to hear her system detect a terrifying anomaly. The fragile heroine had her own cheat system. Trapped with a paranoid future-tyrant and a rival player manipulating the tribe's strongest warriors, Kaylee shoved a bowl of hot stew at the bleeding slave with a mocking sneer. To survive this hell, she had to play the villain perfectly.

Fantasy Horror LitRPG

8.7

The Ghost Surgeon's Secret Billionaire Twins

8.7

Adelia thought she was just heading upstairs to rest in the hotel suite arranged by her caring stepsister. But her champagne had been heavily drugged. In the pitch-black room, her rational thoughts melted away as she was violently pulled into the darkness by a terrifying stranger. The next morning, the heavy suite door was kicked open, and blinding camera flashes shattered her world. Her fiancé stormed in, hurling their prenuptial agreement directly at her bleeding cheek. "You make me sick! Violating our agreement like this. You are a disgusting, unfaithful whore!" Her stepsister squeezed to the front of the crowd, crying perfectly rehearsed tears of horror for the tabloid reporters, while her eyes gleamed with pure, unadulterated triumph. Desperate and trembling, Adelia begged her father for help, explaining she had been framed. But her father, the family CEO, only cared about his plummeting stock prices. He coldly stripped her of her inheritance, froze her trust funds, and had massive security guards physically drag her out of Manhattan. She hadn't just been betrayed; she had been completely slaughtered by the people she loved most. As the elevator plummeted toward the lobby, her tears dried into a bloody, silent vow. Six years later, Adelia stepped out of JFK Airport, flanked by her terrifyingly smart six-year-old twins. She was no longer a disgraced, pathetic victim. She had returned as a legendary, untouchable ghost surgeon, ready to rip her family's empire apart. And her very first move involves saving the life of the ruthless Wall Street predator who ruined her that night.

Billionaire Horror Modern

Pregnant For My Brother's Best Friend

Chapter 5

You may also like