เรื่องสั้นแนว Tragic Love และนิยาย Bias Awakening

We couldn't agree on our holiday travel plans, so my boyfriend, Julian Wade, created a three-way group chat. "Let's roll the dice," he said. "Highest number wins. Fair and square." Chloe Dawson, my best friend, rolled a six. She wanted to go to Miami. I wanted to go to Aspen. But I only rolled one. I didn’t pick Aspen on a whim. It was the place my mom had always dreamed of visiting before she passed away. This year marked five years since she died, and I promised I would see the snowy peaks for her. Julian knew that. Just three months ago, he held my hands and promised he would take me there for the holidays. "Fair is fair," Julian texted, dropping a head-patting emoji. It was the twenty-seventh time this year I had rolled the lowest number. I lost when we picked a restaurant last week. I lost when we chose a movie the week before. Then yesterday happened. I used Julian’s tablet to look up some travel guides and noticed his messaging app was still logged in. A chat with his friend sat right at the top. [Sent you the loaded dice plugin. You can roll whatever you want now.] [Thanks. Chloe takes things too seriously, and this is the only way to handle her.] I stared at those two sentences for a long time, then quietly put the tablet back. So he knew what Aspen meant to me. And I wasn’t losing to bad luck. I was losing to his favoritism. I left the group chat, booked a one-way ticket to Aspen, and packed my bags. First day of the holiday. Seven in the morning. Flying solo.

Nathan Caldwell has a rule: anything he lends out has to be returned personally. So every item his ex-girlfriend left behind when she moved out, he returned himself. An old umbrella meant a three-hour drive. A book meant taking half a day off work. An earring meant a flight out of state. It's been five years. She still hasn't finished collecting what she left at my house. Then my mother is hospitalized after an asthma attack. I'm stuck working late, so I ask Nathan to stay with her overnight and keep an eye on her oxygen monitor. He says yes. At two in the morning, he takes a phone call and leaves. He doesn't come back until the next day. "Camille said she forgot a pair of glasses at our place," he tells me. "I dropped them off." I look at the alarm button on the oxygen monitor that nobody ever pressed. In his rules, whatever someone else leaves behind always comes first. My mother's life doesn't even rate as a stop on the way. Fine. If he can't let her go, I'll let him go back to her.

In conjunction with the Labor Day weekend, my fiancé, Jacob Fowler, and I, along with a few other friends, decide to go on a trip together. We start the trip with a mountain hike. Alas, on the very first day of our trip, I come down with acute gastroenteritis and have to take the cable car down the mountain. Before I leave the others, Jacob reminds me to take care of myself and adds, "Head down first, Daphne. I'll come to the hospital to keep you company once I've made sure that Charlene and the others will be fine without me." Riley White, my best friend, and Simon Hoffman, my childhood friend, both look at me with concern and tell me not to push myself too hard. But when I reach the cable car station, a staff member informs me that injured or ill passengers must be accompanied by a family member on the way down. I have no choice but to turn back and look for Jacob. However, when I return to the campsite, I find that the man who looked so worried before is now sporting an expression of pure relief. "I just sent Daphne off. You guys did great putting on an act with me," he says. Simon chuckles and shakes his head. "You don't need to thank us, Jacob. I know that you and Charlene have always had feelings for each other. You even created the wishing wall on this mountain just for her! "After all these years, it has even become a popular tourist destination. Now that Charlene finally got a chance to come back to the country, we must use this opportunity to make up for all your past regrets." Riley chimes in excitedly, "That's right! I know that Daphne has a weak stomach and can't take spicy food. That's why I secretly added some ghost peppers into our breakfast this morning. Now that her gastroenteritis has flared up, no one will get in the way of your trip down memory lane." My blood runs cold. I feel chilled to the bone as I stare at the wishing wall that is nearly half my height. "May God take pity on me and allow me to reunite with the one I love. I ask for nothing more in life." This is how I find out that everyone has been deliberately plotting to force me out of the trip—that the sole purpose of this trip is to let Jacob and Charlene, the star-crossed lovers, finally be together again.

I back out of marrying Yvonne Mullen, my fiancee, just two days before the wedding, even though we have been together for seven years. The staff member at the venue is stunned. "Your wedding is coming. Don't you want to wait for the bride to return and talk things over first?" I smile and take one last look at the wedding venue I personally spent three months preparing. I then say calmly, "I'm done waiting. She doesn't have the time since she's getting married to her first love in Alveria at this moment."

Three years after his release from prison, Cody Lawson finally learns how to coexist peacefully with Titus Sweeney, his sugar mommy's husband. When Titus is neglected, Cody encourages her to spend more time with him. When Titus gets worried that Cody might have a child with her, Cody makes sure to use strict contraceptive measures, going so far as to undergo a vasectomy for his sake. In their social circle, Cody is jokingly dubbed the "ideal kept man", the one who gives the legal spouse the least amount of trouble. Andrew Lloyd, a social-media-influencer friend of Titus', arranges a live-streamed interview with Cody. The camera is angled straight at Cody's face as Andrew asks with a hint of disdain, "So, Mr. Lawson, you dropped out of Strawford University at 20 and became the star performer at Nirvana Host Club. "Later, you latched onto Ms. Harvey, who was already engaged to Titus, and even stabbed Titus in a fit of jealousy, landing yourself a five-year prison sentence. "I'm curious, though. Can a gold-digger like you ever truly love someone?" Cody pauses, then offers a faint, wry smile as he replies, "I can. When I was 18, I had my first-ever girlfriend. Her name was Jennifer Harvey." She had been so good to him, and yet, later on, she faked her own death just to deceive him.

It was near the end of May when I got off my night shift and got a call from my younger self, right before the SAT. "Eight years from now, am I happy? Am I living abroad, or working at Collins Corporation? "Charlotte said I don't need the SAT. She's taking me overseas." He sounded excited, already planning to spend the next few days doing whatever he wanted. I looked down at the grease on my uniform. Behind me was a cramped factory dorm, a cramped room packed with 12 beds. "Charlotte's getting married today," I said. "But you're not the groom." He sucked in a breath. "That's impossible. She said she'd marry me." Last night, Charlotte Collins texted me. [Don't come tomorrow. You work at a factory. You'll embarrass me.] His voice caught. "Who is it? Do I know him?" I said calmly, "Open the math worksheet in your bag. Finish it, and I'll tell you who she's marrying."

All my life, I have been trapped in the shadow of my sister, Selene. She was the Silver Moon Pack's Daughter of Moonlight, blessed by the Moon Goddess, the prize every Alpha coveted. What she didn't know was that this time, I had been blessed as well. I was reborn on the night of my mating ceremony. Just as in my past life, she smiled that harmless smile, insisting on giving me the first choice of a mate, maintaining her perfect facade of a generous and doting sister in front of everyone. This time, however, I wouldn't give her the chance. In my last life, I genuinely believed she had my best interests at heart. I foolishly gave her the first choice and chose Alpha Damien of the Black Forest Pack, a man who suffered from Moon Sickness, sending him into frequent, uncontrollable rages. I gave up my birthright within the pack and became the balm for his violent wolf, staying by his side every moment like a full-time caretaker, even though he never offered me a single ounce of a mate's affection. It was not until a Rogue wolf attacked during the celebration for Selene's heir that he attempted to use dark magic to steal her unborn pup's spirit. In that instant, the Alpha who everyone believed had been lost to madness for years was suddenly lucid. He lunged forward to protect Selene, but in his haste, he accidentally pulled me into the path of the dark magic. The spell struck me instead, crippling my wolf spirit. Only then did I finally understand. He had never truly suffered from Moon Sickness. His pack had never seen him as a discarded monster. He had feigned madness only because he knew he could never have Selene's love and refused to bond with anyone but her. In my final moments, he apologized to me. "Forgive me, Elara." "I could never let anything happen to Selene. I'll repay you in my next life." When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the night our father ordered us to choose our destined mates. This time, they were the ones begging for my love.

At the gala of the Italian Mafia Don, Dominic Caccini, he publicly presented the ruby brooch that symbolized the Donna's status. I truly believed my five years of waiting had finally come to an end. But in the next second, he gently pinned the brooch onto Bianca's glittering gown. The hall erupted into thunderous applause. "You gave it to Bianca? Aren't you afraid of making Dr. Aria angry?" his close inner circle teased with laughs. "Bianca lost a game tonight, and her friends demanded she get this brooch as a forfeit. How could I leave her embarrassed in front of everyone?" "Everyone knows Aria will be my wife. As the Donna, there’s no need for her to petty over Bianca." Every time he used this exact excuse to force me to be understanding. But this time, I didn't argue. Instead, I quietly accepted the Medical College's invitation. The day after tomorrow, I will leave him forever.

Every time Millie Johnson, my daughter, returns home from playing with my best friend's dog at his place during summer break, she brings home an expensive doll. I have no choice but to pinch pennies and save up for a gift for my best friend after seeing how much Millie loves the dolls. I return home earlier than usual one day and overhear Millie talking excitedly into her smartwatch from her hiding spot in her room. "Mission accomplished, Mommy! Daddy didn't suspect a thing!" I am momentarily stunned. I am convinced that I have misheard, but then I hear Millie ask for a reward. "You're taking your wedding anniversary photos with Papa today, right? Can I come along, too? I'm so sick of eating plain pasta with Daddy every day, Mommy!" I freeze, my breath catching as I snatch the smartwatch from her. I happen to see the photo that has just been sent over. Sophie Johnson, my wife—who is supposed to be on her janitorial duty this morning—is actually wearing a pure white wedding dress. I stare at the screen, my hands trembling uncontrollably as my heart skips a beat. Millie tosses her doll aside and hurriedly tells me off, "You can't just snoop on me, Daddy! I'll be heading out to play with the doggy later, so don't bother us!" She excitedly peers out the window and waits for her ride after saying that. I stand frozen in place, staring at the apology message Sophie sent just a minute earlier. "I'm so sorry, Steven. It's all my fault for blowing the business and making you and Millie suffer so much all these years. I swear I'll make it up to you, Steven." I feel a sharp pang in my chest, leaving me barely able to breathe. I don't want to confront Sophie yet, so I simply trail the car that has come to pick Millie up instead.

When Adriano Morelli realized I hadn’t submitted a single household request in three days, he called me himself for the first time in months. “Serafina,” he said, his voice smooth and patient, “the clinic has been cleared. Your file is back on priority. See? When you stop making things difficult and learn how this family works, I make sure you’re taken care of.” He always sounded the gentlest when he was reminding me who held the power. What he didn’t know was that by the time his name lit up my screen, the divorce papers were already drafted. From the outside, I had everything a woman could want: a guarded penthouse, a driver on call, designer clothes, and the last name of one of the most feared men in the city. But almost none of it was mine. The cards were monitored. Cash had to be approved. Staff took Viviana Costa’s orders before they ever listened to me. Even the wardrobe budget, my schedule, and access to the family office all ran through her hands. Adriano called it convenience. Three days ago, I was rushed into a private clinic, blood soaking through my dress, while a doctor told me there was still a chance to save the baby if the emergency deposit was paid immediately. I called Adriano until my hands shook. Viviana stalled the transfer. First there was no direct authorization. Then the amount was too large. Then Adriano was in a meeting and could not be disturbed over something that might not be serious. By the time the money came through, it was too late. The baby was gone. I had stayed with Adriano for two reasons: I loved him, and I believed that when it truly mattered, he would choose me. I was wrong about both. Our child died first. My marriage died with it.

On the day I'm supposed to try on my wedding dress, Don Aldo Vitale gets the time wrong again. By the time he finally gets to the bridal boutique, I have already chosen my dress. Just like always, Aldo apologizes without thinking. "I've been really busy lately. I hope you understand." But over the past few years, Aldo's taken his childhood sweetheart and assistant, Isabella Berardi, to more than 100 cities for business. He's never forgotten a single flight, meeting, or business dinner. In contrast, Aldo's always forgetting things when it comes to me. I calmly hand the wedding dress back to the sales associate. "It's fine. My friend already helped me pick out a dress. No point in coming here for nothing." Aldo lets out a sigh of relief, but he still looks a little uneasy. After all, everyone knows me as his clingy girlfriend who can't live without him. In the past, I would have been clinging to him, sobbing and throwing a fit out of jealousy. Aldo holds me in his arms. "Babe, you're really starting to act like the perfect wife. I heard from the butler that you went on a trip. Where did you go?" "I went to Sirdon." I calmly pull away from him. "I went there while you were on the flight to Dubmont." Aldo freezes. One of the things Aldo promises is to take me to the City of Light when he first tells me he loves me. He's always saying he'll take me there when he gets the chance. Three years go by. Then four. Even after getting engaged, he keeps putting it off, always using work as an excuse. Then, Aldo takes Isabella to a new city for another business trip. I've been with Aldo for five years. I suddenly grow tired of waiting for him. If he can't keep the promises he's made to me, I'll fulfill them myself.

After I announced that my boyfriend, James Lane, and I were getting married, his childhood sweetheart came after me again. She dumped an entire bucket of chicken blood over my head, turning my pristine white wedding dress a hideous dark red. Lily Zane stood there watching me without the slightest hint of fear. She knew she could get away with it. Instead of backing down, I looked at James, who had been silent the entire time. "Are you calling the police, or am I?" This was already the ninth time this year. She'd rammed my car, slapped me, and harassed me online. Any time I dared post anything about James, there was always some new form of torment waiting for me. James had begged me to let it go, so I'd swallowed it again and again. Not this time. I dialed 911 without hesitation. James, who hadn't lifted a finger until then, suddenly snatched the phone from my hand and smashed it against the floor. Pieces went flying, and his face was dark with anger. "Are you seriously making this a big deal? It's just a bucket of chicken blood!" Calmly, I wiped the blood from my face and nodded. "Yes, I am, James. And the wedding's off."

I tried to die a hundred times to make him notice me. For two years, I was Shawn Scott’s wife in name only—an unwanted bride bound by a scandal, left to live in the shadow of another woman. My parents only saw my faults. My husband only saw my mistakes. As for me? I saw no way out. Every time I tried to end it, I’d wake up again, bruised and humiliated. I was greeted not with concern, but accusations such as "Why are you so selfish, Zoe Jennings?" or "Why can’t you be more like your sister Yvonne?" It wasn’t until my hundredth suicide attempt that I finally understood: I was the only one fighting for a love that never existed. So, I stopped. I walked away. I disappeared. I gave them what they wanted—my absence. However, when I left, the man who never looked at me twice started chasing the ghost of the woman he thought he knew. By the time he realized what he truly lost, I was already learning how to live again.

Seven years. My fated mate, Alpha Julian, and I only have one topic: Yes or No. "Yes" means he comes home. "No" means he goes to Chloe—his childhood friend. Ninety-eight times. Every time I needed him, he chose her. Tonight is our mating ceremony. One bite on my neck, and the bond seals forever. The banquet hall glows. Elders and elites raise glasses, congratulating me on finally taming the Supreme Alpha. But his phone keeps buzzing. I know it's Chloe. Her "broken wolf spirit" is "losing control" again. He tenses. Ready to bolt. I press my fingers against his hand. "It's our mating ceremony. Do you have to go?" He grips my hand, thumb rubbing my knuckles. "Chloe's wolf is severely broken. She can't survive without me. I'll be right back. Trust me." He buries his face in my neck, inhaling. "You are my fated mate. My one and only Luna." Then he pulls away and walks out the door. No hesitation. Just like every other time. But he doesn't know. The second he walks out, he's not just leaving the party. He's leaving my life. Forever.

Five years ago, I threw Jase Prescott out of my mansion like a dog. Five years later, he'd become a renowned professor, while I'd been told my illness was incurable. He swirled the red wine in his glass, his gaze icy. "Why aren't you out making the big bucks, Audrey? What made you switch careers and start drinking with men for money?" Bitterness rose in my throat. I forced a smile. "Can't be helped. I'm buried in debt. Jase, would you be generous enough to lend me a hundred thousand?" He splashed the red wine across my face. "Same old story." His voice was as sharp as a blade. "You're still rotten with greed." Looking at the way he hated me to the core, I finally breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God. He had no idea that the heart beating in his chest was mine.

On New Year's Eve, I hurry home from abroad to surprise my wife, Moira Wesley, from whom I've kept my return a secret. But when I push open the front door of our home, I'm greeted by the sound of laughter and friendly chatter. Overcome with emotions, I enter the house to see Moira with a baby in her arms as she announces sweetly, "Today, we celebrate New Year's Eve and Beatrice's one-month birthday! Happy New Year, everyone!" Upon hearing my entrance, Moira glances over her shoulder, then turns and walks toward me. She grabs the mug of hot tea on the table and splashes it at me. "Who are you? How dare you trespass into a private residence on New Year's Eve?" I try to ignore the burning pain on the left side of my face as I grab Moira's arm, hoping she'll explain herself. However, she shrugs off my grip and gives me another hard slap. "Noah, call the police! Tell them a suspicious person broke into our home and is attempting to rob us!" After that, Moira winks at me, then turns with the baby in her arms and joins an older couple. "Francine, Eric, don't worry about that. It was someone irrelevant." I stand in place, watching as the large family has fun in the house that now seems so unfamiliar, and feel a sudden wave of emptiness wash over me.

Don Petty is a man of ironclad principles. When he makes a promise—no matter what it is—he'll definitely honor it. So when his ex-girlfriend, Taylor Stapley, shows up clutching a stack of long-expired relationship coupons, he honors each and every one of them. "This is a 'Movie Time' coupon. You promised to watch this re-release with me." So he abandons me, his fever-ridden wife, to spend the entire night at the movie theater with her. "This is a 'Let's Go On a Trip' coupon. You promised we'd take a trip every year." So he ignores me, his heavily pregnant wife, to watch the stars with her in the desert. "This is a 'Companionship' coupon. You need to come keep me company when I'm feeling down." So he promptly walks out on me, fresh out of surgery after a miscarriage, to be with her. That is the last time I make a scene. With bloodshot eyes and tears streaming down my face, I cling to him, begging him to stay. But Don simply yanks his hand away with a frown. "I need to honor the promises I've made," he says irritably. "That is a matter of principle! Don't be unreasonable!" But he seems to have forgotten that he's broken every promise he's made to me. Not long after I'm discharged from the hospital comes the anniversary of Mom's death. And once again, Taylor cashes in another coupon and takes him away. This time, I don't bother stopping him. This marriage that's long past its expiry date, I don't want it anymore.

I ignored my friends and family’s objections and insisted on pursuing my now-girlfriend, who was disfigured in a car crash when she tried to save her first love. Some laughed at me for being a back-up plan, but I didn’t care. I worked day and night, earning money for her plastic surgery, and stayed by her side as she walked out of depression. But on the eve of our wedding day, as I was doing her laundry, a marriage certificate dropped out of her pants pocket. The groom was her first love. I was about to make things clear with her when I overheard her conversation with her best friend. “I know Steve saved me, but if Yves doesn’t marry me, he’ll be forced into a marriage alliance. I don’t want to see him lose his freedom. “As for Steve, I’ll find someone to forge a certificate for me. Don’t blurt this out, okay…” I felt my blood then grow cold as I quietly changed the groom of our wedding three days later to her first love. By the time she found out about the surprise, I would have left for abroad, never to return.

Marissa Caldwell marries me to save the man she truly loves, Damian Davenhurst. For five years, she never once treats me like her husband. To her friends, I'm nothing more than a fool who comes running whenever she calls and disappears whenever she tells me to leave. "Cyrus Halden, you're basically her lapdog. She calls, you come running. She tells you to leave, and you leave." Whenever they laugh at me like that, Marissa simply smiles and says nothing. Once, when I'm burning up with a fever that won't break, she leaves the country with Damian just to escape her mother's constant nagging. Another time, I drink until I'm vomiting blood from a stomach ulcer during a business dinner while Marissa is upstairs in a presidential suite with him. I endure it all, convincing myself that if I love her enough, one day she'll finally see me as her husband. Then Damian and I are kidnapped on the same day. When she's forced to choose between us, she doesn't hesitate. She abandons me. That is when I finally wake up from my delusion. After five years of loving a woman who has never loved me back, I decide I'm done. I will leave her for good. But the moment she realizes I'm serious, Marissa regrets everything. She grabs my hand, her voice breaking as she begs, "Cyrus, please don't leave me. I'll go crazy without you." I slowly pull my hand from hers. "I can't do this anymore."

On Christmas Day, Dad shows up at my wife Sophia Walker's law firm, covered in snow. Clutching a crumpled land purchase contract, he stands awkwardly in front of her desk for a long time before finally gathering the courage to speak. "Sophia, I got scammed out of 30 thousand dollars in retirement savings when I bought a plot of land to be buried in. You're a lawyer. Could you take a look at the contract and see if there's any way I can get my money back?" Sophia specializes in contract disputes, but she doesn't even bother to glance at the document. Instead, she sweeps it off her desk and onto the floor. "You came to me over a 30-thousand-dollar scam involving a burial plot? I have actual clients waiting. I can't waste billable hours on this." Dad flinches at her words and hurriedly bends down to pick up the contract, apologizing over and over. "I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to bother you. I won't take up any more of your time. I'll figure something out myself." My heart aches at the sight. Then my gaze falls on the case files scattered across Sophia's desk. Right on top is a legal brief arguing for an acquittal in Ethan Cole's aggravated assault case. Ethan is her childhood sweetheart. He's gotten into a bar fight and broken three of a woman's ribs. Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Sophia has spent the entire night poring over legal statutes and drafting more than 30 pages of arguments in an attempt to get him acquitted. Yet when it comes to her father-in-law, she can't even be bothered to look at his contract. I watch Dad shuffle toward the door, his back hunched and his shoulders slumped. Taking a deep breath, I slowly slide the wedding ring off my left ring finger and place it on the corner of Sophia's desk.