Melodramatic Face Slapping Short Stories & Novels

I've spent eight years in a secret relationship with my best friend's brother. In public, Gerald Scott treats me like nothing more than his capable secretary. Behind closed doors, he holds me in his arms every night, whispering that he'll love me forever. One day, I accidentally discover that he's bought one of those 'one-per-lifetime' engagement rings. Certain he's about to propose to me, I follow him to the beautifully decorated venue, my heart bursting with excitement. Instead, I watch him drop to one knee before a woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to me. Tears fill his eyes as he slips the ring onto her finger. "You're the only woman I'll ever marry." After the woman says yes, Gerald's friends gather around to congratulate him. One of them laughs. "The real thing's finally back. So when are you getting rid of the stand-in you've been keeping at home?" Gerald takes a slow drag on his cigarette before exhaling a cloud of smoke. "That woman's completely devoted to me," he says quietly. "She'll never leave me. There's no rush." I clamp a hand over my mouth to stop myself from crying. Then I turn around and send my mother a message that reads, "Mom, I've made up my mind. I'll go through with the arranged marriage." As fate would have it, the day Gerald is getting married is the very day Alvin Hart and I are due to make our marriage official. And when Gerald sees the wedding announcement I post, the color drains from his face.

For seven years, my girlfriend, Sienna Jacoby, struggled with emotional avoidance. She never initiated a conversation with me. Whether I discussed major or minor matters with her, she only replied with either [1: Yes] or [2: No]. Even when I showed her the medical record that confirmed my uremia diagnosis, she gave a curt response and turned to go to work. My best friend, Ethan Quinn, once advised me, "A woman like her is worse than an air conditioner. At least an air conditioner knows when to cool you down and when to warm you up. What is the point of being with someone like her?" I stroked the ring on my ring finger and smiled. "She is just sick and does not know how to express herself. She loves me." A month later, on my birthday, I arrived at the restaurant late and saw Sienna sitting next to Ethan. They leaned closely together. The woman who always acted cold toward me beamed as she carefully wiped the rain from my friend's forehead. Ethan wore Sienna's coat. I looked away and fixed my gaze on the text message I sent to her a few minutes earlier. Clint Button: [Sienna, it is raining heavily today. I did not bring an umbrella. Could you come and pick me up?] Sienna: [2: No] I stood still and realized that I was the sick one. I had been blind as a bat.

My wife's the captain of an ocean freighter, spending ten months of every year at sea. I've always trusted her completely, though I have one quiet habit nobody notices. Every time her ship docks for resupply, I invite the first mate's husband out for a couple of drinks. The first mate is the silent type, but her husband talks too much and can't hold his liquor. We chat about everyday life, what goes on aboard, and by the third round, he leans in close and says, "Your wife's so romantic. Last month when the ship docked in Beauhaven, she found a local craftsman to custom-make a full set of wave-patterned men's accessories. "A watch, cufflinks, tie clip, the works. She even had them sent back on the supply ship. I'm honestly jealous." I say quietly, "Really? I never got anything like that." I don't push it, and he's smart enough to change the subject. That night at home, I open the voyage ledger. On the Beauhaven supply manifest, the delivery address listed next to the accessories isn't mine. The storms at sea never end. It's time for me to get off this ship.

The day I broke up with my boyfriend, I was sitting in my husband’s car when I watched him buy a box of bandages for his mistress. Gavin Hart had always said he didn’t believe in love. What he wanted was novelty. The rush of something new. I laughed when I heard that. Funny. I didn’t want love either. I wanted his money. His power. And the life that came with his name. Marriage is never just about two people. I thought my affair was the betrayal that would destroy everything. Later, I realized it was the least important secret in our marriage.

On the day I return to court in triumph, my fiancee, Isabel Hartwell, welcomes me at the city gates. My career is flourishing, and I'm about to marry the woman I love. As far as I'm concerned, my life can't be more perfect. A victory banquet is held in my honor. By the time I'm pleasantly buzzed, Isabel's mother, Katherine Mercer, raises her glass to me with a smile. "Nicholas, my daughter has waited three long years for you. Now, you're finally back!" The entire room bursts into laughter. My ears burn as I search for Isabel through the crowd of guests raising their glasses. She lowers her head, trying to hide her smile. Perhaps sensing my gaze, she looks up. Our eyes meet, and hers crinkled with delight. My heart skips a beat. I quickly lower my head and take a drink to hide my embarrassment, only to nearly choke on it. My fellow soldiers immediately begin teasing me. Even my younger half-brother, Stephen Aldridge, leans over with a smile. "Congratulations, Nicholas. You'll soon be the Hartwells' son-in-law. When you make it to the top, don't forget to help me out." I ruffle his hair, warmth filling my chest. My career is thriving, the woman I love will soon be my wife, and I share a close bond with my family. What more can I possibly ask for? Then, I look up and freeze. A golden prophecy appears out of nowhere, hovering in midair. "In two hours, Stephen will be found lying beside Isabel with his clothes in disarray. Everyone will catch them in a compromising position. Isabel will be forced to marry Stephen, and she'll eventually succumb to depression and die." I sober instantly as a chill sweeps through me. After all, Stephen is none other than my younger half-brother, who has just raised a toast to me.

When our whole family saw the death timer for my sister will end on her sixteenth birthday, she became the most important person in the family. She suddenly took priority in everything, from food to dresses, and even bedtime stories. I felt for her, but I was also jealous that she was given everything. However, a day before her sixteenth birthday, my parents locked me up in the storeroom in fear that I would make a mess of things. I kept hammering the door, crying, "Mom, let me out! I'm having a fever, and my head hurts!" Mom didn't believe me. "Just stop! Your sister will die in just a day, and you're playing sick to gain our sympathy?! Don't you understand anything?!" "No…" I tried my best to argue, only to hear my parents comforting my sister. Eventually, my consciousness blurred, and I heard nothing…

I'm the so-called 'Lady of Glory'—yeah, that girl from the Archbishop's prophecy. They said I'd bring endless glory to whatever Family I married into. But at our engagement party, my fiancé—Marco Falcone—swaggered onstage holding hands with his pregnant stripper girlfriend. Then he grabbed my wrist, dragged me forward, and made me kiss her hand. "Lola's the only woman I'll ever call my wife," he said with a smug little grin. "If you still want this marriage, your De Luca money better support her and the baby." I slapped him. Ripped the contract in half. Let it snow confetti. "Please. I can marry someone a hundred times better." Right when I was about to torch the entire Falcone Family, someone stepped out of the shadows. Marco's older brother, Dante Falcone. The one who'd been injured, underestimated, and pushed aside. He locked eyes with me, totally unfazed. "Signorina De Luca, do your words still stand?"

"Sienna, he looks so pitiful." In my last life, I listened to my younger sister and chose the black fox who hadn't even taken human form as my fiancé. I poured everything I had into helping him take human form, but he carved out my inner core and presented it to my sister to curry her favor. When I lived again, at the mate-selection ceremony, my sister once more pointed pitifully at the black fox. In front of everyone, I chose the four-tailed white fox she wanted most. Then I "gifted" the black fox to her.

On our last trip before the wedding, someone drugs me and leaves me in another woman's bed. When my fiancee, Sophia Sullivan, and my brother, Sean Jefferson, rush in to save me, I hear Sophia suddenly ask Sean in Lutenian, "Did you get enough footage?" "Yeah," he replies. "But isn't this bad for Ethan? Everyone's going to think he's a rapist." Sophia's expression hardens. "It's all an act. Nothing actually happened. We're just getting some footage. I just have to make sure I don't abandon him. Once you run this story, you'll win a Pulitzer. That's what matters the most." Lying in Sophia's arms, I feel a chill run through my entire body. Afraid I might've misheard her, I ask, "What are you two talking about?" Sophia wipes the tears from my eyes. "We're talking about what happened to you," she says, her voice as gentle as ever. "Why don't you let Sean report what happened to you? He can clear your name." Thinking I still don't understand Lutenian, she turns to Sean and starts talking about how they can get more attention for the story. She has no idea that I've spent the past year learning Lutenian just to fit in with them. I never expect that the first time I finally understand what they're saying will be the moment I discover that they're betraying me.

While Adrian was out negotiating a partnership, Vivian slipped nuts into my food — the one thing she knew I was deathly allergic to. I broke out in blisters all over during the negotiation, making a scene in front of everyone. But Vivian didn't care. She pulled me aside and sneered, "You, Luna, spoiled as you are, just stay there and be a pretty face. Leave the real business to me and Adrian." I lost my temper and slapped her hard across the face. The next second, Adrian appeared in front of Vivian, pulling her into his arms. The look he gave me was pure reproach. "You're the Luna — is this how you treat your own pack members? Vivian didn't do it on purpose. Why are you making her life difficult?" Vivian pressed herself against him, eyes wide and glistening. "Luna, I know I'm clumsy. You're not really going to hold a grudge over something so small, are you?" That night, he didn't come back to our hotel room. I sat on the bed and waited until dawn, tears streaming silently down my face. Through the mate bond, I could feel exactly where he'd been — with Vivian, the entire night. He'd already betrayed me. Numb with heartbreak, I picked up my phone and called Alpha’s father.

As I stepped out of my older brother's newly opened supermarket, the alarm suddenly rang. The sales assistant grimly reached out and grabbed me, "Miss, you haven't paid yet." I remembered that my buttons were made of metal, which triggered the alarm. After patiently explaining and easing the atmosphere, I said, "The owner of this supermarket is my older brother. He'll pay the bill." The sales assistant scoffed. "Your brother's the boss? Why not say he's your husband instead? You stole and refused to admit it. Pay up or I'll call the police immediately," she said and crumpled the receipt into a ball before throwing it at my face. I endured the humiliation and unfolded it. A baby pacifier for 100,000 dollars. Two packs of baby wet wipes for 200,000 dollars. Security personnel's hush fee, 300,000 dollars. All of the miscellaneous expenses added up to exactly one million dollars. I laughed in anger. "One million dollars? Why don't you just rob a bank? Go and get Chad Surrey. I want to see how I ended up with such a heartless brother." She rolled her eyes. "Don't pretend if you can't afford it, thief. Is Mr. Surrey someone you can see whenever you want?" When my parents came to help me, I said, "Only one of us exists in this family. It's either me or her."

After I broke my leg, I hired a caregiver called Linda Sherman to look after me in the hospital because I didn't want my parents to worry. I started joking around with my best friend Wendy Sherman when I was lying in my bed, bored. I said, "I'm an orphan. I have to depend on your takeout to keep me alive." It was only a joke, but Linda took it seriously and thought I was a disabled orphan. She immediately started laying down rules. "You ordered takeout again today, didn't you? You're in no position to keep treating yourself to expensive food. Don't you know what your finances look like right now? You lie in bed all day. Why do you need all that makeup? A woman should behave." I stared at her in confusion. "What does that have to do with you? You're here to take care of me." The moment I finished speaking, she yelled at me. "You're just a cripple with no parents now! No one but me would ever take you as a daughter-in-law! You're already throwing money around like it grows on trees! Once you marry my son, you'll run our family dry! "Now to mention how are you supposed to give me a healthy grandson if all you eat all day is junk food? My family only had one male heir after three generations!" I gritted my teeth. I wanted to call the home care agency and ask for a replacement. But thinking that I was going to get discharged in two days, I decided to put up with her. I never expected her to kidnap me so that her mentally ill son could sleep with me and make me his wife.

My husband spiked our child's formula with sleeping pills to sneak away for a Christmas date with his assistant. As I frantically rushed my feverish child to the hospital, I unexpectedly spotted my husband carrying his assistant upstairs. "Peyton twisted her ankle, so I'm here to help her get it checked!" Even though our child was in the operating room fighting for her life, he did not so much as glance in her direction. I tightened my grip on the ten-million-dollar winning lottery ticket in my pocket. It was time to end this seven-year marriage.

On her wedding day, my adopted daughter, Sophie Bennett, runs off after transferring the 300-thousand-dollar down payment her fiance, Ethan Carter, has saved for their new home. A few days earlier, while sorting through her old belongings, she discovers her adoption papers. After reading too many stories about domineering billionaires and runaway heirs, she is convinced that she is the long-lost biological daughter of a billionaire. Determined to reclaim her place among the elite and marry a powerful man, she steals the down payment and spreads lies online, accusing her adoptive parents of imprisoning and abusing her. It isn't until my biological daughter appears before me that I realize the "powerful man in the country" she has eloped with is only the beginning of this whole mess.

On the seventh day after my dad's passing, I head over to the funeral home to wrap up the aftermath of the funeral as well as pack up my dad's personal effects. That's when an employee stops me and demands that I cough up an additional 100 thousand dollars for the storage and preservation of my dad's corpse. I'm stunned, to say the least. Dad has already gotten cremated and buried a long time ago. His ashes are already deposited inside the graveyard, as we speak. So, how is his body getting stored and preserved throughout the week? I use facts and logic to argue with the employee. But he has the gall to threaten me with an impatient scowl on his face. "Stop yapping already! The system shows that your father's body is still inside the cold storage! It's been seven days, so you must pay 100 thousand dollars, no matter what! If you refuse to settle the payment, you can forget about taking your father's personal effects with you! "When the time comes, you have to cough up the additional charges as well! If not, I shall see you at court!" As I stare at the hostile employee, I can feel rage simmering in my blood. Still, I call every family member and relative I have to borrow 100 thousand dollars from them just so I can make the payment. With the receipt in hand, I walk into the police station right away. "Officer, my dad was cremated and buried seven days ago. But the funeral home decided to charge me 100 thousand dollars' worth of storage and preservation fees for no reason! I suspect that they didn't send my father off the proper way!" When the police show up at the funeral home, the same employee who threatened me looks alarmed. He quickly gets his manager, Mr. Lawson, to deal with the situation. Impatience is etched all over Mr. Lawson's face as he snaps at me, "Your father has already gone through the cremation process seven days ago. The procedure and all the receipts are intact. Don't you dare kick up a fuss irrationally now!" I let out a cold chuckle in return before showing Mr. Lawson the receipt. "I'm being irrational, you say? I've just paid for the storage fees of my father's corpse, and here's the receipt to prove the validity of the transaction! You must return my father to me today!" I thought the funeral home insisted on charging me earlier. Now, they'd better fulfill their side of the bargain by returning my dad's corpse to me without a single hair out of place!

When my friend, Winnie Stuart, gets fed up with her family urging her to find a boyfriend, she offers me 500 dollars, saying, "Let me rent your boyfriend for a day. I just need him to be my plus-one for a wedding, and I'll return him to you right after the ceremony." My boyfriend, Chase Harrington, accepts the money and takes off the couple ring on his finger. "I need to be professional and make sure my client's cover isn't blown." Winnie and I used to share a room in college. She's been a mutual friend of Chase and me for seven years now. At 10:00 pm, Chase comes home earlier than scheduled and puts his ring back on. He also transfers 500 dollars to me. "Time for the post-rental inspection," he says as he kisses me. "Returned in perfect condition, right?" Since then, Winnie has started making a habit of renting him. She hires him to accompany her to her client meetings, move her furniture for her, and attend her company's annual dinner with her. Even when she gets drunk late at night, she summons him. Each time Chase comes home, he'll transfer the money to me with a smile. "Isn't it great that we're earning some extra cash? She's just renting my presence as a service anyway. It's not like she's renting my heart." On my birthday, I wait at the restaurant I booked. Even when it's closing time, Chase is still a no-show. When I call him, I hear Winnie's voice coming through the speaker instead. "Sorry, babe. I've rented him for the entire day today." "When does the rental period end?" I ask. "At midnight." Chase's lazy drawl rings out. "There are still 20 minutes left. I need to show proper work ethic." The next day, my mother says, "Why don't you bring Chase over for a meal this weekend? Your dad says he's got a good bottle of wine ready." At that very moment, Winnie uploads a new Instagram post. It's a video of Chase sitting on a couch in her living room, peeling an orange for her mother. The caption reads, "Yet another successful rental service. My parents are very satisfied." Instead of confronting either one of them, I start returning all the "rental earnings" Chase has ever transferred to me. I add a remark. "I won't be accepting any returns this time."

I took my husband's suggestion and got myself a college-aged boyfriend. Only then did I understand why my husband never came home whenever he was with his college-aged girlfriend. In simple terms? It was too damn good. I let the young man stay in our house. I let him wear my husband's pajamas. I let him drink my husband's wine. I even gave him my husband's research data to help him write his thesis. I stood my husband up on a date so I could celebrate my boyfriend's 100th day with me. He responded by shoving me onto the bed, his eyes bloodshot. "Today's our third wedding anniversary, Madeline! Why do you only seem interested in spending time with him instead of me?" I stared at him in confusion. "What? You're the one who said we had an open relationship and that I could take another lover too!" I shot back. "I'm just doing exactly what you told me to!"

The Alpha King was ambushed on his way to the Alliance summit. Eight months pregnant, I threw myself in front of him without thinking and took the silver bullet meant for him. In my last life, my husband, Lucas Mercer, had been in charge of the Alpha King’s security. But when the ambush struck, he was secretly meeting his first love, Serena Vale. Worse, he had taken his entire elite unit with him as cover, claiming they were on assignment. I sent Lucas one mind-link after another, but he never answered. With no other choice, I triggered a level-one alarm myself and ordered his unit back. Afterward, Lucas received the Alliance’s top commendation and was promoted to Minister of War. But Serena was cornered and killed by rogues. Lucas blamed me for her death. On the night of his victory banquet, I went into labor. Instead of taking me to a healer, Lucas personally injected me with wolfsbane and dragged me to the rogue pit. “You were jealous of Serena, so you got her killed on purpose,” he snarled. “Now you and that child are going to suffer exactly the way she did!” He threw me into the pit while our baby was still inside me. My last memory was the sound of my newborn crying once before the starving rogues tore us apart. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of the ambush. This time, I did not sound the alarm. When the assassin raised his gun, I moved before I could think. I wrapped both arms around my swollen belly and threw myself in front of the Alpha King. I did not know whether I would live. I only knew that if Lucas wanted Serena more than his duty, I would never save his future for him again.

At the party, my daughter deliberately raises a question to my husband. "Daddy, since Ms. Lloyd is having your baby, does that mean we'll be living with her in the future?" He places the nicely cut steak onto my plate and answers softly, "Your mommy and I made a deal—whoever betrays first will disappear from the other's life. I can't afford for that to happen, darling, so this must stay a secret. Even when the baby is born, I will never let Mommy find out about them." Then, he signs to me, "I'll always love you." My eyes turn red-rimmed without him noticing. Little does he know, my hearing was restored a week ago. He doesn't realize I've learned about the mistress he's been hiding either. And he definitely doesn't know I've secretly bought a ticket to volunteer-teach in the Seru Plateau. All I have to do is wait for the paperwork to clear in seven days. Then, I'll disappear from his life for good.

After my parents dead, I was taken in by one of his closest friends—the Draycotts. Kaelen Draycott, their only son, treated me like I was family. And I, stupidly, fell for him. When I confessed, he called me sick. Evil. Disgusting. From that day on, he made my life hell. He brought women home, loud enough for me to hear everything. Just to remind me where I stood. When it came down to it, he saved his fiancée. Left me to be shot, mocked, and forgotten. I knew what he was capable of. So this time, I made the choice. I’m leaving. And knowing how much he hates me— Let my farewell be the best wedding gift he’ll ever get.