Melodramatic Short Stories & Male POV Golden Finger Novels

My camera could take pictures of people as they would look three days in the future. I took a photo of my parents. They were sitting in the front row at my wedding, their hands clasped tightly and smiles of satisfaction on their faces. Then a photo of my sister. She was standing off to the side, smiling as she held the ring box. Next was my childhood best friend. He was dressed as a groomsman, filming the ceremony on his phone with an excited look on his face. Everyone looked happy. Everything was perfect. Excitedly, I turned the camera toward my girlfriend Vivian. But the instant I pressed the shutter, I stopped breathing. In the photo, Vivian was slipping a ring onto someone's finger. And it was not mine. That unmistakable scar could only belong to my adopted younger brother. He was the groom at the wedding three days from now. I had been the fool they had all deceived for an entire year.

It's the night before my wedding, and my best friend, Eric Cooper, invites me out to a club to celebrate my last night as a "bachelor". After putting on my jacket, I grab my keys, only to see a bunch of words appear out of nowhere and hover right before my eyes. "Don't go! As soon as you enter that suite in the club, Eric's going to report you for soliciting a prostitute! Holly, your wife, is also going to produce a falsified injury report and upload a video exposing you for domestic violence and for cheating on her even after you two have registered your marriage! "Eric will use that as his excuse to beat you up for your shamelessness. But once they take you to the ER, Holly will sign the consent form to forgo treatment. Even though you could've been saved, she chooses not to let the doctors resuscitate you! "In the end, she will inherit all of your assets and use her identity as your wife to drop all charges against Eric. The two of them will use your money to organize a grand wedding ceremony for themselves!" I stare at the words, my hands going cold. Then Eric calls me. "Where are you, Logan? Remember, it's the Crown Suite at The Aurelian. I've prepared a huge surprise for you."

Lucifer told me my time wasn't up yet and that I shouldn't have died here. The problem was, I'd already died three times. And every single time, it happened after I got married. My first wife was a powerful leather factory owner from out west. But she had a crippling gambling addiction. After blowing through all her assets and my entire life savings, she let the debt collectors cut off three of my fingers to cover her debts. I ended up bleeding to death. My second wife was a respectable, glasses-wearing university professor. She even beat me with class, leaving no bruises and never hitting me in the face. I died from ruptured internal organs. My third wife was a quiet, blue-collar welder. I thought things would finally be good between us after we married. However, she just stood by while her mother, who despised me for being poor, humiliated and controlled my life. When my liver condition flared up, they blocked me from getting medical help, and I died of acute liver failure. I begged Lucifer in tears to give me a few different options. But Lucifer just said firmly, "Your destined wife is one of these three women. It's up to you to make it work. Pick one. Now." I was at a loss for words.

After seven years together, Veronica Monroe canceled our wedding for the fifty-second time. A wall of comments suddenly appeared before my eyes. [Here we go again. Don’t tell me the male lead is still thinking about getting back together with her!] My heart jolted. I couldn’t believe they actually knew. [If this were a normal person, he would’ve found someone else to marry by now!] [My blood pressure is through the roof. Go ask Veronica’s biggest rival if she’ll marry you!] Could I really do that? Uneasy and hesitant, I walked up to Veronica’s biggest rival, Meredith Rodgers, and quietly asked, “Would you marry me right now?” The entire room erupted. The guests all thought I’d lost my mind. But she simply curved her lips into a smile. “Of course I will.” [The male lead finally grew a backbone! Everyone, look!] [Oh my God, if Veronica finds out, she’s going to be furious!]