I'm A Snake

They call me Julian Mercer and I keep my head down because I learned the hard way that a name can be a target. I answered an ad for a rental and signed a paper I promised myself I’d never sign: a marriage contract. The job was simple — be the son-in-law for thirty days, take the money, be gone. The family needs a “son” to secure a heritage grant and I need the cash to buy a clean slate. What I didn’t plan for was the way Lila Ardmore looked at me like she already knew what I was hiding. Another thing I didn’t plan for was the ledger in an old piano and the way a neighbor called my mother’s name, and the knot in my gut that felt like an alarm the night someone tried to burn the past into ash. I came to act. I stayed to fix what I broke, and the longer I stayed the more I realized the man I was taught to be will not survive who I have to become. If you want my story, read it from where the dark starts.

I thought Sofia was a faithful wife. She was always gentle and acted as if I was the only one. But when I went to surprise her on our anniversary, I was more surprised. I saw her making love to another man in our room. They even continued making love after they saw me. I was heartbroken and completely humiliated as a man. And what broke my heart even more was the reason she gave for cheating on me. She said I was just a poor man who couldn't make her happy. We divorced on the spot and I left angry and disappointed. On the way I passed through a very thick white fog and was instantly transported. I was in Smoky Hollow, a place in another dimension. I was given a system that changed my life. I had to hunt around Smoky Hollow to get coins that could be exchanged for money. I was suddenly a billionaire and I was going to make everyone who insulted me regret it.

My peaceful short life had been quickly cut off by a band of bandits that had raided my village, killing my father and capturing my mother. The bandit leader took a fancy to me and decided to make me one of them because of my face, for reasons unknown to me, but this was only the start of my journey. The more I grew up the more I realized that I had no talent, I was as ordinary as I could be, with no inherited memories, no old masters to help me improve my talent, no legacies left behind, no locked bloodlines that would burst into activity when I was in danger. But I still had something that most people didn't have. A stubbornness that many wouldn't possess, the stubbornness and sense of danger that I got for life after I saw my father die in front of me. And with that, I shall predate upon those that are more talented than me. I shall walk forward and reach the apex of the world, not because I want to protect anyone, but because that's simply what I want to do! Regardless of the methods that I have to use or the people that I have to push out of my way!

I hated being locked up like a damsel in distress. Like I was some princess that needed constant protection, but deep down I was grateful. I was still struggling to summon my powers, so if I was attacked alone I would be defenseless. I understood why Valerian wanted me to stay confined within the walls of our home since there was a protection spell suffocating the entire atmosphere that surrounded it. But I was so bored. Valerian was not there to take me out and keep me occupied with his cocky smiles and quirky comments. The only thing I could think to do to pass the time was to take a stroll around the castle grounds. I exited out into the courtyard and walked past the beautiful wooden benches and vibrant trees. Roses of every colour confiscated the grounds and it was like I was walking through a rainbow. My fingertips caressed the petals and I inhaled the sweet scent of their exquisiteness as I walked through the trails. I was so mesmerized by the area that I didn’t realize where I was going. I gasped as I reached for the next rose in my path, and it crumbled from my touch. The rest of the walkway was filled with black and decayed roses that tumbled to the ground like ash from a horrible wildfire. My frightened eyes glared out into the distance as I realized the dead flowers led to a shadowy tunnel made from black brick. A sign barely dangling from a broken chain at the top of the entrance read ‘dungeon.’ My body cringed at the sight. This was the dark side of Valerian that I knew and wanted to avoid as much as possible.

"How would you feel about facing death, knowing you've been cast aside by the people you loved the most?" Bryan pondered this question as it echoed in his mind, but as he opened his eyes to a new beginning, a fresh chance at life, he felt a surge of determination. He was willing to do whatever it might take to make those who had caused him pain pay, even if it meant shedding tears and blood as he had suffered. "Bryan, Mom was wrong. Please come back to us," "Bryan, Dad admits his mistakes, please forgive me and return to us?" "Bryan, we're sorry for neglecting you, we regret it now," even his three sisters who despised him the most. These were the same people who had never spared him a single glance, despite his longing for their love and affection his entire life, even when he lay on the brink of death they chose an outsider over him, now they beg for his forgiveness and plead for his return, it was ironic, almost laughable. "I don't have a family, and I'm perfectly fine being an orphan," Join the incredible journey of Bryan Winterwood as he goes from being an orphan to discovering as the long-lost son of one of the richest families, but despite appearing to be having everything there's nothing for him not even love until the moment he was dead, just when it seems like everything ended, fate has its own play for him, Bryan is given a second chance, instead of embracing the life of an heir to a billionaire family, he decides to walk away and return to the life of an orphan once again to rise and shine by his own

She thought she was using him. He'd been searching for her for twelve years. "Listen carefully," Diana Morrison's voice cuts through the study like ice. "These are the terms of our marriage arrangement, and they are non-negotiable." Marcus Hayes sits across from her in his worn suit, agreeing to every humiliating condition without protest. Separate bedrooms. No physical contact. Divorce after one year. "Do you have any backbone at all?" Diana demands, frustrated by his compliance. What she doesn't know: Marcus is the Supreme God of War of West America, commander of armies, controller of trillion-dollar empires. Twelve years ago, a starving orphan boy received kindness from a young girl who shared her meager lunch. He never forgot her. Now that girl stands before him—cold, calculating, believing she's trapped a desperate nobody in a fake marriage to escape her family's control. "Perhaps I am desperate," Marcus admits softly. "But not in the way you think." When the Romano and Bennett families attack, when her business crumbles, when assassins lurk in shadows—Marcus moves like the warrior he is, leaving enemies broken and allies in awe. "Who are you?" Diana whispers, watching him dismantle threats with surgical precision. Marcus's slight smile holds secrets that could reshape nations. "I'm your husband." She thought their contract marriage had an expiration date. She has no idea the Supreme God of War never lets go of what's his. He spent twelve years building an empire to be worthy of protecting her. Now he'll spend a lifetime proving she was always meant to be his.

Five years ago, I was the "worthless" foster son who had taken the fall for a crime I never committed. I went to prison for my brother's future, thinking that my family would be there to care for my wife. I was wrong. While I rotted away in Blackgate Prison, my inheritance had been stolen: they had wiped off my existence and treated my wife as a slave. They thought I would die in there. But the fate had different plans. In the darkest cell, I met with a mysterious master. I did not just survive; I was reborn. I learned the Nine Heavens Medical Art and activated the Sovereign Martial Body. I healed warlords and crippled assassins in a single touch. Now the prison gates are open. I am no longer the submissive orphan. I am a Dragon King. To my foster family celebrating my misery: Prepare your coffins. To all those billionaires trying to touch my wife: Prepare to lose your hands. I will save lives with my left hand and destroy my enemies with my right hand. The King is out, and debts must be repaid in blood.

“I buried you,” the traitor whispered. “Then dig deeper,” Kaelen replied, voice like sand on steel, “because I’m not done rising.” Zaria stood behind him, the wind pulling strands of her hair like fire-dancers in the dusk. “Let them come,” she said. “We burn hotter together.” The masked woman landed beside them, blades humming with heat. “You still don’t get it,” Kaelen muttered, watching the desert pulse like a living thing. “Get what?” “This isn’t a fight for gold.” “Then what is it?” Kaelen smirked, cracked lips bloodied. “It’s the reckoning.” Kaelen was left for dead in the scorching sands of Sutekh; stripped of his name, his wife, and the child he never met. But the desert doesn’t forget. It carves vengeance into bone. Now, Kaelen rises from the ruins of betrayal as something more than a man: marked by ancient fire, hunted by his half-brother, and haunted by what he can’t remember. As he claws his way back through a kingdom built on secrets, one thing drives him: Zaria. His wife. Missing, maybe dead; or worse, weaponized by those who want to claim a legacy soaked in blood. But Zaria is no victim. Imprisoned and pregnant, she holds the key to an empire long thought dead. And when her twin sister emerges from the shadows to seize that power for herself, love becomes war — and the price of legacy is life itself. In a world where loyalty is a lie and prophecy demands sacrifice, Kaelen must decide: will he reclaim what was stolen; or burn it all to the ground? OF FLAME, SAND, AND GOLD is an epic fantasy of fire-forged vengeance, unbroken love, and the rebirth of a forgotten kingdom.

“It’s our wedding night, Sarah…” Kevin’s hands tightened around her waist as he kissed her neck, his voice rough with restrained desire. “Stay with me tonight.” For three years, he had waited for this moment. Sarah’s breath trembled against his lips. “I want you too…” Then her phone rang. Everything changed. “But Jasper needs me,” she whispered, already pulling away from his arms. Kevin stared at her in disbelief. “You’re leaving me? Tonight?” “He’s in the hospital.” “And I’m your husband.” His voice broke into something quieter, more painful. “Sarah…please. Don’t go.” But she still walked away. How his wife just left her for another man. The hotel door closed behind her, leaving Kevin alone beside the untouched champagne and the bed that still carried her perfume. Nobody knew that before becoming Sarah Sterling’s quiet, devoted husband, Kevin was GODsFALL — the legendary War God feared across the world. He abandoned power for her. Abandoned bloodshed and glory just to become the man who cooked her meals, massaged her tired feet, and waited faithfully for her every night. To Sarah, he was only her gentle husband. The man who would always understand. While Kevin sat alone in their honeymoon suite, Sarah spent the night beside another man, softly whispering: “You are my first priority, Jasper. Kevin will understand. Let me change your shirt.” That was the night Kevin’s love died. And the night the War God returned.

No one came any closer to me since I began to hear voices. It was as if I possessed some kind of aura that attracted everyone, like a field that attracted people. I was either insane or a monster, which I suppose I could be, according to everyone at school. I was able to hear what others were thinking, but no one else seemed to be able to, and some of them remembered me from first grade, when everything first started. I was able to focus better on school because I was isolated, and I loved to do well in school. Since I learned how to silence the voices, at least it had. Before that, I was unable to think in light of the consistent clamor of every other person's brain pounding me constantly.