Independence Plot Twists Short Stories & Novels

After three years of gathering herbs, I finally returned to Green-Pouch Valley. But my master, Mr. Gu, was not there. On the ground, only a dark red pool of blood remained, soaking his cloth robes. My senior brothers and sisters, usually so lively, were nowhere to be found. My master's wife, Auntie Qin, sat collapsed beside the pool of blood. Her once-black hair was now mostly white, her voice a hoarse whisper as she called to me. "Shuang'er, your master traded his life for the valley's ascension. You must go to the Nine Heavens and offer your thanks." It was only then I understood. The Celestial Lord, Jun Che, in his quest to forge an immortal body for his mortal wife, had coveted my master's rare Celestial Bones of Healing. He used the promise of ascension for everyone in Green-Pouch Valley as bait, then brutally tore the bones from my master's living body. I was born with a strange affliction, a void where joy and sorrow should be. The others in the valley secretly called me a cold-blooded monster. Now, as I stared at the blood-soaked robes of the man who had saved me and treated me like his own daughter, my expression remained blank. "Auntie Qin, did Master do this willingly?" Auntie Qin's eyes instantly reddened. "Jun Che is the Celestial Lord. His word is heavenly law. How could we ever defy it?" I gave a faint nod. "If it was not what Master wanted, then Jun Che deserves to die." Auntie Qin's face went pale with fright. She lunged forward and clutched my arm. "Shuang'er, your master's last words were for you all to protect yourselves, not throw your lives away fighting an unwinnable war against the heavens." I pried her fingers off one by one and looked up at the glittering, golden Celestial Realm beyond the clouds. A faint smile touched my lips. "Auntie Qin, Master taught me that a healer's heart must be compassionate." "But he never taught me that gods can't be killed."

When my fiancé slept with my sister, Lily, I wasn’t angry. In fact, I even gave them my blessing. In our previous life, Lily and I got married on the same day. While I married a college graduate, she married the richest man in town. After graduation, my husband worked for the government and steadily rose to the top. Her husband, however, divorced her after becoming the richest man in the country and married someone else. Lily remarried a blue-collar worker, but when layoffs hit, he forced her to sell herself to support the family. She contracted a disease. Then, when I went to visit her, she poisoned me out of jealousy. When I opened my eyes again, we were back on the day of our weddings. Lily thought that by choosing a different man this time, she could change her fate. In the end, she ended up worse off than before.

Ever since Mom has gotten remarried, my stepdad, Winston Cox, becomes the only person who matters to her. She saves every luxury meal and delicacy for him, while I am left to sip on his leftover soup. His designer suits fill three closets until they overflow, yet I am forced to wear my cousin's old hand-me-downs. She spends 20 thousand dollars on virtual gaming gear for him, but when I ask for a ten-dollar study guide, she says, "Just memorizing the textbook is more than enough!" One night, the noise Mom and Winston make in the bathroom disrupts my studying. When I ask that they keep it down, Mom throws me out of the house and onto the street. Years later, I turn into a multibillion-dollar entrepreneur. That's when Mom crawls back to me, begging, "Winston and his mistress teamed up and drained all my assets. Could you please take me in?"

When I was three months pregnant, Stella Falcone, the principessa of an allied family, was also carrying another man's child. To preserve the alliance, my Mafia lover, Matteo Gallo, had to marry her. "Stella is Don Falcone's only daughter. In our world, alliances are worth more than sentiment." "Ava will understand." What Matteo forgot was that I had no one but him, and that the child I carried was the true Gallo heir. Later, as everyone mocked my unborn child, calling him a bastard who would taint the bloodline, Matteo stood by with his new bride and did nothing. That was when I learned that in this world of blood and secrets, love was the most worthless currency of all.

The year I turned twelve, I was learning to swim when the lifebuoy was snatched from me by my little sister Mia Lawrence. By the time they pulled me out, the oxygen deprivation had taken my hearing for good. The incident made me the new family’s darling, in Mia’s place. My big brother Josh Lawrence kept the shotgun seat of his car off-limits to all but me. My second brother, Ethan Lawrence, reserved a front-row seat in my name at every single one of his concert. And Samuel Lawrence, the youngest of my brothers, would accept Mia’s gifts only to toss them in the bin the moment she turned her back. Even Brian Ferguson, betrothed to her since childhood, spent three painstaking years learning sign language so he could communicate with me. For a decade, I was convinced I was the apple of everyone’s eye. How foolish of me, as I learned the fateful day the Fergusons came to discuss the pending union. Mia’s eyes were rimmed red. “I’ve given up all that’s mine for ten years,” she said. “Not this time, not Brian. I can’t give him up too.” Mom reached for her hand at once, choking back tears as she turned to me. “Elaine, please. Let this one go. Whatever Mia owed you, it’s been more than made up for." Dad’s voice was low, final. “This union has always been meant for Mia, not you.” Josh’s jaw tightened. “You’ve taken over a decade of her life. Isn’t that enough?” Ethan quietly agreed, “She’s been left out in the cold all these years.” Samuel lifted the ring from where it sat before me and set it down in front of Mia. “Time to put things back in their places.” And last of all, Brian, who would not meet my eyes, signed the verdict. “I only stayed close to you to make it up on Mia’s behalf. It was always her I wanted as my wife.” The truth hit me then. Ten years of being adored, of being first, none of that had been love. All had been but a grand performance, a debt dressed up as devotion. I shredded the marriage agreement that night. By morning, I’d signed away my old life for a teaching position in a far-flung village. With me out of the picture, now everyone could shower love over Mia, guilt-free at last.

During the five years that Sophie Lord was married, she had been continuously doing IVFs and was finally able to become pregnant with Luke Shaw’s child. That same day, she saw Luke at the hospital with his secretary, Helen Jones. He was accompanying her for a pregnancy test. Sophie was devastated and asked Luke to choose between her and the child in Helen’s womb. “Let’s not make a fuss, Sophie. I’ll explain everything to you when I get back. You need to calm down first. I’m keeping this child no matter what.” He carefully supported Helen as they left, but what he didn’t see was the blood trickling down Sophie’s legs. Later on, when Sophie disappeared from Luke’s life, the latter brought down completely.

“Mom, Dan, I received an offer from an overseas university. I plan to take it.” Lucille Shaw’s voice was soft in the silent living room, like a single drop of water rippling across a still pond. Her mother Victoria exclaimed with joy, "Really? Congratulations! When are you planning to go?" “In Ten days.”

After five years of keeping the demon sealed away, I finally saw my sister again—inside a coffin, her body mangled beyond recognition. The men carrying the coffin were whispering to each other. "She died like this, and nobody even investigated? Isn't her brother-in-law some big shot?" "Shh! She's only his sister-in-law. How could she matter more than his new lover? Mr. Smith even helped cover the whole thing up!" "His ex-wife has been dead for five years. Ms. Sophia runs the house now!" "They say the wedding is tomorrow, and it's going to be huge!" For five years, I'd stayed in a graveyard, keeping a demon sealed away for my husband, Victor Smith. Meanwhile, he'd found another woman to replace me. Worse, he'd stood by while she erased every trace of my existence and tortured my only sister for years. When my sister finally tried to escape and come looking for me, Sophia ran her over and killed her. I stroked what remained of my sister's face and smiled. I'd given up everything to protect Victor. This was how he repaid me. Fine. Then I'll stop protecting him. It's time to let the demon have him.

Yvette Skye has been diagnosed with depression. She thinks her parents will understand her situation, but all she gets is boundless mockery and doubt. After her affair with her sister’s boyfriend is found out, she dies in an accident. After her death, her biased parents suddenly start to regret their actions.

"Iris is back. She'll be moving in here immediately." Evelyn Severa is a Luna. She feels worthless when her Alpha, Callum Wolffang, enters their marital home with Iris Howley, his true love. Her wolf growls, and fury burns within her. "I thought your contributions would make him see you." Callum's mother, Kiera Beowulf, sighs helplessly. Evelyn gave up her future as a wolf doctor to marry Callum and become his Luna. At the time, he was crippled and temperamental. For the past five years, she hasn't stopped treating him and caring for him. Now, it seems everything she's done is meaningless. She held onto a sliver of hope a few months ago, but she now sees sense—she'll never be able to save a person who refuses to turn back to look at her. Their contract is about to expire, and Callum has gotten what he wants. Evelyn severed the mate bond and disappeared without a trace. Callum was the one who broke it first. So why is he the one losing his mind now, desperate to get her back?

My ex-husband was dead, and when his wife called me, it was not to inform me about the funeral. She wanted my six-year-old daughter to stand vigil for her father at the funeral parlor. “People will talk if his daughter does not do it.” I was away on a business trip, and I had to ask my ex-husband’s sister to look after my daughter. That lasted until two in the morning, when my daughter left voice messages on her smartwatch. “It’s cold, Mommy. There are so many drawers. It looks like someone is lying inside. The door is locked. I can’t get out.” She was locked inside the mortuary refrigerator at the funeral parlor. Her pediatrician had said that if a six-year-old remained in forty degrees Fahrenheit for more than four hours, their organs would start to fail.

My roommate Sue Lynd had gotten addicted to the tiramisu that went viral lately, and always brought a box back to our room every evening. She always kept telling us how smooth and sweet it tasted, but I never cared for it, until the day before the announcement of postgraduate admissions. I was reviewing past exam papers when I saw the lines scribbled on the sheet. [Your roommate Sue Lynd will ask you to get her tiramisu tonight, and then she will leave the room in a hurry.] [The next day, the cops will arrest you for premeditated bodily harm, and you will be exposed on the internet for poisoning your roommate, drawing public outrage.] [You will miss your postgraduate admission interview, after which that spot falls to Sue.] [The cyberviolence won't stop, with even your parents losing their livelihoods, while you die from mental breakdown and severe depression.] I threw the sheet aside—must be seeing things since my stress had been building up. However, as evening arrived, Sue entered the room, asking in her melodious voice, "Can you get me tiramisu, Zoe?" My brain short-circuited for a moment—the scribble was actually prophetic?! As Sue smiled sweetly and leaned close, I felt the creeps because the most important part of those scribbles still weighed heavily on my mind: [You will miss your postgraduate admission interview, after which that spot falls to Sue.] She wants to destroy my life over a spot at postgraduate admission? My fingers clenched around my pen, and I replied, "Sorry. Can't do."

I couldn’t speak until I was eight years old. Everyone in the Sterling family called me dumb. Even my mother would secretly wipe away tears, convinced she had given birth to an autistic daughter. Whenever my father looked at me, his eyes were filled with nothing but disappointment. However, for the sake of the family’s reputation, he could never bring himself to send me away to a special education school. Then came the day someone from a prominent hedge fund company arrived to acquire our family company, Sterling Group. He was so arrogant that he chewed out everyone in the boardroom until all of them hung their heads low. The room full of corporate executives fell silent, too terrified to speak. Meanwhile, I stood there in the corner, listening to the whole thing until I felt sleepy and fed up. Taking a step forward, I spoke the very first words of my life.

We were biking up a steep climb when my roommate, Susan Edelman, caught up to me, panting hard. "Jeannine, this bike is wearing me out. Let's switch." I squeezed the brakes and was about to answer when an unfamiliar woman's voice came through my earbuds. "Jeannine, whatever you do, don't switch with her! "She borrowed that bike from the campus kingpin, and it's worth over 1.4 million dollars. She crashed yesterday and cracked the frame. A new frame and parts alone will run 420,000 dollars. "She wants to switch so she can pin it on you!" I frowned. Why would a financial-aid student like her borrow such an expensive bike? Then the voice came again. "In a minute, your boyfriend will come over and force you to switch, saying you need to keep up with the group. "Once you've switched, he'll back Susan up and swear you were the one who broke the bike." I was so mad it actually made me laugh. Why would my boyfriend help Susan? This had to be some prank show. Just then, I heard the familiar voice of my boyfriend, Benny Reid, "Why haven't you two switched yet? The main group's way ahead. We won't be able to catch up. "Jeannine, hurry up and switch with Susan so we can go after them." Sure enough, my boyfriend had shown up, with the exact same reason for the switch. Startled, I put my foot back down on the pedal I'd just let go of. If they wanted me to take the fall, they should have done their homework. There was a reason my last name was Chandler, and so was the campus kingpin's: Nick Chandler.

We can't settle on our holiday plans, so my girlfriend, Janine Simpson, starts a group chat with the three of us. "Let's roll the dice. Whoever gets the highest number decides. That's the fairest way." My friend, Mitchell Stone, rolls a six and wants to go to Marisport. I roll a one. I wanted to go to Rosemont. Rosemont isn't a random pick. It's the place my late mother had always wanted to visit but never got the chance to. This year marks five years since she passed away, and I've promised her I would see Lake Azure for her. Janine knew that, too. Three months ago, she held my hand and promised she would go with me this year. "Fair's fair. You lost the bet." She sends a little pat-on-the-head sticker in the group chat. This is the 27th time this year that I've rolled a one. The week before, I'd lost when we were choosing a restaurant for our team dinner. The week before that, it was a movie. Then yesterday, I used Janine's tablet to look up travel guides and accidentally came across her synced text messages. Her chat with a friend sat right at the top. "I sent you the dice plugin. It can roll whatever number you want." "Thanks. Cameron can get quite stubborn. This is the only way to get him to agree to things." I stared at those messages for a long time and placed the tablet back where I found it. She has known all along what Rosemont meant to me, and it turns out I haven't been losing because of sheer bad luck. I've been losing because she has already taken someone else's side. I leave the group chat and book a direct flight to Rosemont. On the first day of the holiday at 7:00 am, I will board the plane alone.

My grandfather is hit by a car, and his skull is shattered. I take the driver to court. That's when I find out my husband, Stuart Creed, who was supposedly abroad on a business trip, is suddenly at the hospital. He looks at me coldly and snaps, "Do you have any idea how important Maddy’s valedictorian announcement is? Her future can't be ruined by some car accident! Drop the case right now, or I'll cut off all your credit cards and have your grandfather kicked out of the VIP ward!" He slams the door and storms out. Before that, he snarls, "Come home when you agree. Until then, forget about calling yourself Mrs. Creed!" While I'm out desperately trying to gather money for my grandfather's surgery, a team of lawyers contacts me. Turns out the patent my grandfather once authorized to Creed Group has expired. And now, I'm the new legal owner.

Throughout my ten-year marriage with my husband, Simon Sader, he refuses to let me sleep with him by claiming that he's asexual. I visit my in-laws' home and get urged to give birth as soon as possible. Then, I find out that Simon has a child on the way, and another woman is carrying it. To the outside world, he declares that the child is mine. Behind closed doors, he tells me, "I want this child to be given a legitimate status." As I encourage Simon to let the woman give birth to her baby, I secretly leave my signature on a divorce agreement.

My boyfriend's childhood sweetheart bound herself to a transfer system: everything she ate would be redirected straight into my stomach. She opened a streaming account and broadcast herself eating for twelve hours straight. She earned a fortune. Meanwhile, I collapsed with acute pancreatitis and was rushed to the hospital. When I explained the situation to my boyfriend, he only stared at me like I was insane. "How could something that absurd exist? If food could really be transferred, no one in the world would ever starve. You're just jealous that she's making money from streaming." After that, every time his childhood sweetheart went live, I ended up hospitalized again. I kept hovering between life and death. I sought medical help, but the doctors couldn't explain my condition. Some even wanted to commit me to a psychiatric ward. Then, one day, in order to outdo her rivals in a PK match, she devoured ten pounds of rice in a single sitting. At that very moment, my spleen and stomach ruptured, and I bled to death on the spot. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day of her very first livestream. This time, I was prepared. I rushed out and bought twenty takeout meals. "This time," I said, "I'll eat first."

Alaric and I had agreed to elope together. But he changed his mind the moment I signed the papers to leave the pack. Standing outside the back booth at the hotel bar, I overheard him talking with his friends. "You tricked Sophie into leaving the pack just so you could have more alone time with Vivienne? Aren't you worried she'll lose it when she finds out?" Alaric took a lazy sip of his drink. "Why would she? She's so obsessed with me she'd cling to me all day if she could. Tell her what she wants to hear afterward and she'll forgive me, guaranteed." "Besides, Vivienne's family has real pull. That kind of backing could tip the scales in my fight for the Alpha position. Sophie will just have to deal with it." Every word sliced through me until I couldn't breathe. I fought back the urge to storm in and confront him, and turned away instead. Back home, I pulled out my phone and scrolled to the very last contact in my list. "Dad. That arranged mating you mentioned — I accept."

By year's end, I'd closed a huge deal and snagged a $2.5 million bonus. The company even sent me on early maternity leave—nice perk for being eight months pregnant. Pauline found me lounging on the couch. "Why aren't you at work?" I cracked a joke. "Got fired. Guess I'll be stuck here playing housewife." Her response? A slap across my back. "Then get off and do the laundry! You're having a girl, not a son, and you think you can sit around like some princess?" My husband, Logan, walked in right then. He just pulled her into the nursery. Feeling hurt, I switched on the hidden cameras I'd secretly installed. I thought maybe he'd defend me. Yeah, no. What I uncovered? It was so much worse. Twisted secret after twisted secret.