Novels

Three years old when I got lost on a family trip to Disneyland. I was chasing Mickey Mouse, I swear. And then, poof. Gone. Sixteen years. Gone, just like that. Then, boom. Found. Back with my parents. And surprise! They were loaded. Like, Silicon Valley rich. Suddenly I wasn't just little lost Lily; I was Lily Lancaster, heiress to a fortune. They treated me like I was made of glass. My mom, especially. She insisted I wear this "protection amulet," a heavy gold Buddha pendant. It was blessed by some guru, she said, for extra safety. It felt more like a ball and

John's life was fading. Before he left, he wanted to see me one last time in my wedding dress. I rushed to the bridal shop, but a little boy, a real Dennis the Menace, yanked open the curtain while I was changing, exposing me to everyone. Mortified and panicked, I slapped the kid. His mom, a real Karen, went ballistic. She ripped my clothes and screamed, "What's the big deal? He's just a kid! He doesn't understand anything!" That day, I not only missed saying goodbye to John, but the Karen assaulted me so badly that I miscarried and nearly died from

On the day a thug threw acid on my face, my mom was at my cousin's coming-of-age ceremony. Ironically, it was also my birthday.

When I returned from studying abroad, there was a new assistant by Ethan’s side, one who looked eerily similar to me. He told me she was just a distraction, a placeholder. On our wedding day, the placeholder had a miscarriage and was hospitalized. Ethan left me at the altar for her. He asked me to wait for him. I smiled and said yes, then turned around and found a new groom. I never thought I'd become the discarded first love in a story about a replacement taking over. Ethan and I were childhood sweethearts. We built a business together. At twenty-four,

I loved Ethan for ten years, a secret lover with no name or status. Everyone said I was like Ethan’s dog, coming and going at his beck and call. Then I was kidnapped. Ethan didn't save me. Someone had joked, "Are you in love with her or something?" Ethan, to prove he wasn't, turned off his phone. Enraged, the kidnappers assaulted me. My month-old baby, lost in the violence, became nothing more than a stain. At a devastating cost, I finally learned to stay away from Ethan. But then, Ethan knelt before me, saying he regretted everything. 1 The day I stumbled back, bloodied and broken, someone

After my twin brother's accidental drowning, Mom and my sister, Olivia, treated me like dirt. Olivia relentlessly blamed me: "Why weren't you holding his hand?!" But I was only nine. On my eighteenth birthday, she smashed my cake in my face: "You don't deserve a birthday. You should be dead." On my nineteenth, I walked into the ocean. She screamed my name, but I couldn't hear her anymore. 1. I came home clutching my acceptance letter to Stanford. It was everyone's dream school, and I yearned for my family's praise. Instead, Olivia snatched the letter, scoffed, "You think you deserve this?" and crumpled it, tossing it into the

I'd been with Vivian for six years, from high school through college. Everyone called me a lovesick puppy dog, always at her beck and call. And yet, it was me who said, "Vivian, I can't do this anymore. I don't want to be in love with you like this. I'm breaking up with you." 1. Vivian was the undisputed campus queen. Beautiful, smart, nice – the whole package. People always said I was punching above my weight, that I'd gotten incredibly lucky landing her. I'd just smile and say nothing. I was waiting for her outside her classroom after her Friday afternoon class.

I stood on the roof of the eighteen-story building, the wind whipping around me. Down below, the giant LED screen in the town square was broadcasting the “wedding of the century” between my brother, Lucas, and socialite heiress, Olivia Harrington. I dialed a number I knew by heart, yet felt foreign now. "Lucas, congratulations," I said. His voice, as always, was cold. "Sarah, you’re still alive?" I smiled, and as I jumped, I whispered, "As you wished." 1. The day Lucas returned from overseas, he came to pick me up from Serenity Mental Health Center. Standing in the doorway, squinting in the sunlight, I saw

Ashley said she owed me a wedding. On the day of the "make-up" ceremony, she showed up in her wedding dress, then bolted to go to her supposedly suicidal younger brother. The officiant gaped, the guests gawked. I swallowed the pain and smoothly took the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, today is my and Ashley's divorce ceremony! Enjoy the food and drinks!" Later, she stood in front of my car, still in her wedding dress, sobbing and begging for another chance. I held my partner's hand and politely said, "No thanks. Don't want to upset your brother who’s waiting for you at home." 1. The orchestra