Melodramatic Short Stories & Novels

I was eight months pregnant when I slipped in the bathroom. I lay bleeding on the floor, unable to move. My Apple Watch sent a fall alert to my husband, Gabriel, the mafia don. I waited on the cold tiles for forty minutes. He never came. A maid bringing my dinner heard me calling for help. She called the guards, who broke down the door and rushed me to the hospital. When Gabriel arrived, he held my hand. “I’m sorry, Nora. I won’t let this happen to you or our baby again. I promise.” After I came home, he replaced the tiles in every bathroom so I wouldn’t slip again. Everyone said he loved me more than anything. But we both knew where he’d been during those forty minutes. He was at his late brother’s wife Celeste’s house, taking care of her son, Aaron. Before I fell, he’d sent me a text. “Aaron fell. I need to go check on him.” When my alert came through, he tapped to confirm he’d seen it. Then he went back to cleaning his nephew’s scraped knee. He thought I’d forgive him like I always did. A month later, he was about to name Aaron his heir until our son was old enough to take over. He sent the butler to bring us down for the announcement. The butler returned with divorce papers. “Don, I’m afraid Donna has already left for Zurich.”

I'm about to get married, and yet my boyfriend, Samuel Sutton, whom I've loved for many years, has no idea about my marriage. He's infatuated with Summer Wright, an underprivileged student whom I've been sponsoring. So, he decides to throw a party for her. Before leaving for the party, Samuel scoots near me purposefully to murmur into my ear. "I'll give you the title as my wife, but I intend to give my body to the woman I actually love. Tonight, Summer and I will stay in the same room. As for you, you shall spend the night with that cold-faced bastard!" Only then do I realize that Samuel has been reborn as well. After all, in the previous life, I was the woman he had married. On top of that, he also told me that he would only love me and me only. But when I was on my deathbed, I finally found out that Samuel had been yearning for Summer the whole time. Naturally, he hated my guts for the rest of his life. That's why the first thing I do after I get reborn is switch my marriage alliance partner to Samuel's older brother, Liam Sutton.

My mother-in-law spreads lies about me having contracted an STD during my sister-in-law's wedding. When I hear this, I want to demand an explanation. However, my sister-in-law stops me and begs me to prioritize her happiness since it's her wedding. I hold myself back and wait until the reception is over. Later, my mother-in-law merely sweeps the matter under the rug and say she doesn't remember anything because she was drunk. However, the lies spread like wildfire. My neighbors scorn me, and my colleagues isolate me, treating me like a walking bacteria. I become dispirited from the constant mental distress and end up getting knocked by a car when I leave the house one day. I die from the accident. When I open my eyes again, I'm taken back to the day my mother-in-law lies about me having contracted an STD.

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.

For ten years, he remained tangled up with her, and everyone in their circle laughed at him for being her forever backup plan. She had once said, “The housekeeper’s son? He’s fun to mess around with, but marry him? Not a chance.” No one noticed him standing just outside the door. With his fists clenched and his eyes burning red, he turned and walked away. That very day, he married someone else.

My fiancé is one of the country's top neurosurgeons. One day, he discovers that his childhood sweetheart has been diagnosed with cancer and only has a month to live. He wants to spend this time with her, so he feeds me a newly developed memory-wiping drug to make me forget him for a month. During that time, he throws his childhood sweetheart a wedding and goes on a honeymoon with her. As they stand amid an ocean of flowers, they vow to be together in another lifetime. One month later, he kneels before me in the rain. Tears stream down his face as he says hoarsely, "The drug's effects were only supposed to last for a month. Why have you permanently forgotten me?"

It took Daisy ten years to transform from a humble street vendor into a star investor in the corporate world. I stood by her side for every single one of those ten years. During our darkest year, I threw away every last drop of my self-respect and begged my estranged mother just for twenty dollars to buy us a decent meal. Looking back into Daisy’s heartbroken, tear-filled eyes, I gave her a soft smile and asked just one thing: "On the day the company finally goes public on Nasdaq, will you bring me with you?" She held me close and promised she would. Years later, when her company’s empire was soaring at its absolute peak, I gently brought up my old request once more. She didn't even bother lifting her eyes from her desk. "I’m way too busy right now. We'll talk about it later." So, I never brought it up again. Until one evening, I accidentally stumbled across a viral short video of her company’s grand public listing online. Daisy, who had told me she was merely away on a routine business trip, was standing right there on the Nasdaq trading floor. However, the man standing proudly beside her wasn't me but my younger half-brother, Jason. Holding hands, Daisy and Jason struck the ceremonial bell together, ringing in her billion-dollar empire. As fireworks exploded across the digital screen, she pulled Jason into a gentle, tender embrace. "Thank you for being here to witness the most important moment of my life," her voice echoed through the video. "I’m so happy." Jason wrapped his arms around her waist, whispering back, "Me too." I turned off my phone screen and let out a faint, quiet laugh. Then, I went about my day as usual, buying groceries and cooking dinner. After finishing my meal, I sent Daisy a short, simple text message. [Got twenty bucks to spare?] She didn't bother asking me why. She simply transferred twenty thousand dollars straight into my bank account without a second thought. I kept twenty dollars, and immediately wired back the remaining nineteen thousand nine hundred and eighty. I sent her a final two-word reply. [Too much.] Then, I wired that twenty dollars straight to my mother, officially settling a decade-long debt. Ten years ago, for twenty dollars, I discarded my pride and dignity for Daisy's future. Now, with that same twenty dollars, she brought our relationship to an end. There was never any room for me in her grand Nasdaq victory, and the quiet life I built from here on out will never have any room for her.

In my previous life, my husband Kael Drayne, heir to the Beast King's throne and full-blooded dragon, cut open my belly with his own hands on the day I gave birth. He pulled our child out and dashed it against the floor in front of me. That was the moment I finally understood. The one he truly loved was my stepsister, Ivy Wren. Because she couldn't bear to watch the man she loved marry someone else, Ivy had staged a dramatic exit on our wedding day, slipping out alone, only to run into a gang of rogue beastkin. She vanished without a trace. Kael blamed every last bit of it on me. He hated me for it with everything he had. "Just because you're the only pure-blooded white wolf, you think you had the right to come between me and Ivy? She's gone because of you. I'm going to throw you to the horde — let you feel exactly what she went through." But he was the one who'd pursued me. He was the one who'd confessed his feelings. It was because I chose him that he was able to claim the throne at all. None of it mattered to him. There was nothing left in his eyes but hatred. Kael hurled me into a frenzied beast horde, and I was torn apart. In those final moments, I saw three figures, Kael's three unremarkable bastard brothers, charging toward me through the chaos, trying to drag me out. But the numbers were too great, the gap in power too wide. In the end, they died there alongside me. I thought my story ended there, full of regret. Then I woke up. I'd been reborn to just before Kael and I were to marry. This time, I wasn't going to choose him. And that, apparently, drove him out of his mind.

I was the Holy Maiden of the Beast World, foretold by the High Priest. I was also the future Beast Lady. Three of the best males were carefully selected to become my mates. However, I knew that they disliked me, even planning to kill me on our wedding night and hand my Holy Maiden position to my half-sister, whom they truly loved. Thus, when my father asked me to choose one of them to be my chief mate, I knelt on the sacred ground and drew lots, hoping the heavens could help me. Unexpectedly, I drew the clan's High Priest.

Just before I left for college, I stumbled across a livestream showing me three years in the future. I wore a wedding dress, and my eyes were red from crying. "I'm marrying Craig today." I smiled, assuming they were happy tears. Craig Eaton and I grew up together, and I wanted to marry him ever since I was six. "But I don't want to," she continued. "Craig was supposed to drive me to Halcyon University. Instead, he took me to the apartment I'd be sharing with Gwen. "He and Mom canceled my enrollment without telling me. They decided I'd take a gap year to help her study for the SAT and apply to colleges again." I froze, then angrily typed, [You're lying! Why would they do that to me?] She recognized my profile picture and smiled bitterly. "Because Craig fell for someone else, and Gwen is the daughter of Mom's first love." Then she stepped onto the ledge of the roof. "That first year, you shared an apartment with Gwen and spent your days cooking, doing her laundry, and organizing her study notes. She didn't get into any of the colleges she applied to, but you got into a top school. "Mom begged you to put college off for one more year to help Gwen. She said you owed her for raising you and promised she'd never ask for anything else. "The second year, you both got into other schools, but Gwen still wanted Halcyon. Craig said you'd stay another year if you really loved him, and he promised to marry you if you did. "The third year, Gwen finally got into Halcyon. By then, you spent so much time taking care of her that you missed your own application deadlines. She left for college, and you had nowhere to go." She looked into the camera one last time, as if she could see me. "That's how they ruined your life." Then she jumped, and the livestream went dark. My hands shook as I called the university's admissions office. They confirmed it. "That's right. Our records show we received a request to cancel your enrollment." Right then, I saw Craig and my mom walking toward me. "Diane, why haven't you started packing? We're taking you to college the day after tomorrow."

Out on a holiday with my boyfriend, Jack, and my good friend, Eva, a catastrophe occurred. As the floods came, we waited for the rescue helicopter to come. As I fastened the safety rope, I noticed that my metal safety clip had been swapped for a plastic ring. Climbing up the rope ladder, Jack said nonchalantly, "Eva's luggage is heavy. She needs another safety clip, so I gave her yours. You can wait for the next rescue." I replied in a panic, pointing at the water level already past my chest, "But I can't swim!" Jack replied irritatedly, "Naomi, stop causing a scene! You're a strong swimmer, what's a little time in the water? Eva is my boss's relative. If something happens to her, my promotion is gone. Why can't you understand that?" "Which matters more? My life or her luggage?" I reached for the rope ladder when he kicked my hand away. "I've studied the waters. The flood won't rise so quickly. It will at most be at the level of your neck. You won't die!" I said nothing further. Watching the floods rise crazily, I quickly pressed my family's special alarm on my wrist.

I have a terrible sense of direction. Despite having lived in Gaturnia for five years, I'm still unable to find my way around. Winona Sinclair is always helping me set up my navigation beforehand and vows to lead the way for me for the rest of our lives. On the day of our wedding ceremony, we are going up Mt. Harlow when she suddenly says that she left the rings in the trunk of the car. I'm barely a step out of the car when the lock engages with a click. Then, I notice the driver glance at Winona through the rearview mirror, as though he received the orders ahead of time. In the next second, the car speeds into the thick fog, swiftly vanishing from my sight. Subsequently, Winona sends me a voice message. "Go 999 steps forward, and you'll arrive at a fork in the road. George says that you won't even be able to find the wedding venue without me with you, but I don't believe that. Simon, don't make me lose this bet." George Yangley is Winona's ex-boyfriend. I had a new pair of leather shoes custom-made for this occasion, so they chafe at my feet as I walk. By the time I reach two thousand steps, I realize that I'm completely lost. Only then do I call Winona's phone. However, it's George who answers it. "You know how directionally challenged he is, yet you still had him walk here himself. What are you going to do if he ends up wandering the mountain for hours and can't make it in time for the wedding?" Winona replies casually, "Then we start the ceremony first, and you can stand in for him for the photos and toasts. He's bound to find his way here eventually." Just then, a photo pops up in the group chat we set up for the wedding. George is standing beside Winona, carrying the box holding our rings in his hands—the box she lied to me about being in the trunk of the car. As it turns out, those 999 steps are simply paving the way for him. Taking off my leather shoes, I toss them over the side of the mountain. It is time for me to change directions on this path I'm walking.

The day I discovered Sean's affair, I cornered him and my stepsister Tina in the company warehouse. A fire broke out afterward. Tina died saving me from the flames, and Sean was injured when a pillar collapsed on him. His shoulder was wrapped in bandages. "Joanna, are you happy now?" His ragged scream that day echoed in my ears for a long, long time. Two months later, the company went bankrupt because of the fire. To pay off the debts, Sean and I moved to a run-down neighborhood. I worked three jobs a day, all to ease the guilt eating me alive. A few years passed, and our relationship seemed to find its way back to what it once was—right up until Valentine's Day. That was when I spotted the supposedly dead Tina at the supermarket, shopping for seafood with Patricia, my mother-in-law. "Patricia, thank you. Without you, Sean and I wouldn't be this happy." "Don't mention it. If we hadn't gotten rid of that crazy woman back then, what would've happened to my precious grandson?" Patricia smiled and patted Tina's hand. "It's Valentine's Day. Sean reserved that rooftop restaurant just for you two. Go enjoy yourselves." My first instinct was to call Sean, but before I could even dial, a text from him came through first. "Babe, picking up a coworker's shift tonight. Night pay and the bonus come out to almost two hundred dollars. I'll bring you something good on my way back." I froze where I stood. So that was it. Three years of hardship, and all of it had been a lie they'd carefully woven around me.

Seven years after registering our marriage, my husband Gaius and I finally decided to hold the romantic wedding ceremony we had missed back then. That day, I wore the wedding gown I had designed myself and walked toward him with hopeful eyes. Before I could deliver my carefully prepared vows, an incident interrupted the moment. Amid the stunned murmurs of the guests, Gaius dashed toward the woman who had fainted—again—at my wedding. His voice trembled with urgency, eyes burning red. "Call an ambulance! Now!" He didn't even look back as he left the wedding hall. When the wedding bell rang seven times, I calmly pulled off my veil. Facing the guests who had yet to disperse, I smiled and said, "As you can see, today marks the divorce ceremony between Gaius and me. Please, eat and drink to your heart's content. Don't let the trip go to waste!"

At a family dinner celebrating Allison Bullock, my stepdaughter's acceptance into one of the city's top high schools, I stood in the kitchen slicing sea bass while listening to the conversation outside. One relative laughed and asked, "She's such a smart girl. I wonder which side of the family she takes after?" My husband, Tobias Bullock, took a sip of his liquor and smiled. "I have to thank my ex-wife, Alyvia Livingston, for that. Her family is full of top scholars." My knife slipped, burying itself silently into the cutting board. Seven years. I was his current wife. I was the one who had spent every day supporting his gifted daughter. Yet in his story, I wasn't even worth mentioning. It was as though every sacrifice I'd made over the past seven years had been thrown away on people who never appreciated it. I rinsed the fishy smell from my hands and slowly dried them. From today on, I was done serving this family.

Leo, my mate, wanted to spend Valentine's Day with Cheryl, his first love, on the night Victor and Vera, his parents, were abducted. But this time, instead of stopping him, I contacted the Werewolf Enforcement Bureau to help. After all, when I tried to stop him in the last life, Cheryl ended up dying a horrific death, her heart gouged out by the Feral Rogues, a group of werewolf gangsters. "You killed her! Cheryl wouldn't have died if it weren't for you!" Without hesitation, Leo threw me into a cave where a pack of hungry wolves tore through my body, along with the child I was about to bring into the world. "You don't deserve to live after what you've done… I'm going to stand here and watch you endure all the pain she felt as she died!" Surprisingly, rather than staying dead, I woke up on the exact day when Victor and Vera were abducted once more…

Before heading off to war, Sebastian Crawford made a solemn blood vow on his honor—just to keep me from worrying while he was gone. He promised to come back and marry me with a grand ceremony, the whole nine yards. Eight years later, Sebastian returned as a general, draped in glory. But by his side was a woman—dressed like a man, her very pregnant belly sticking out like a sore thumb. I took a deep breath, calmly slipped off my engagement ring, and called the whole thing off. Sebastian scowled, clearly annoyed. "Lena bled with me on the battlefield. I've always seen her as a brother in arms. She's pregnant because she helped me take care of a physical need. It was simple and practical. No strings attached." I let out a bitter laugh. Then I sent a messenger pigeon. "Fine. Then I'll find someone to help me out too."

After five years of building a business with my wife, Jane Fletcher, our company finally goes public. Right after I close a big business deal, I head home in high spirits, ready to take her to meet my family. She transfers me 100 dollars with a hint of annoyance and says, "Buy yourself a decent shirt to wear for the financial conference on the day after tomorrow." The next day, Ansel Meyer—the underprivileged student she sponsors—shows up in a custom suit worth two million dollars. He says apologetically, "Mr. Crane, please do not be mad at Ms. Fletcher. She just wants to give me the best. Maybe she thinks you are used to these things, so she only gave you 100 dollars." I call Jane, but she replies impatiently, "It is just a suit. Why are you being so petty?" All of a sudden, I no longer want to continue this marriage. So, I make two calls decisively. "Hey, Mitch. I am not going to go through with that 50-million deal." "Mom, hold on to the 300-million wedding gift you prepared for your daughter-in-law."

After eight years and countless pregnancy tests, I was finally pregnant. Zachary loved me to his core. With or without a child, his devotion never wavered—if anything, it only grew stronger. He was over the moon, practically bouncing off the walls, promising me the world and everything in it. His parents were relieved that the Williams family legacy would finally have an heir. They completely changed their tune, suddenly treating me like I was made of gold. But I had no plans to keep this baby.

I was the sole heiress to the Alpha King of the Northern Territory, yet I fell in love with Caine, the Alpha of the Silver Moon pack in the East. Our territories were sworn enemies, so I kept my identity hidden and stayed by his side in the shadows. For ten years, I was his secretary, his weapon, and his only woman. I helped him transform the Silver Moon pack into one of the most powerful forces in the East. I had always hoped he would propose. After all, every night in bed, he would fuck me hard, his voice rough against my ear as he whispered over and over that I belonged to him. Then one day, after we made love, he said casually,”Starting tomorrow, you'll handle the schedule for the engagement.” I lay there, still trembling in the aftershocks. “Caine.” I sat up, my voice shaking. “Are you... asking me to marry you?” He turned and looked at me like the question surprised him. Like he hadn't expected anything so naive. “Marry you?” His tone was lazy. “The engagement's for Celina.” Celina. The daughter of the River Pack Alpha, next territory over. Something closed around my heart and dropped it straight through the floor. “You're marrying her.” My mind went blank.”Then what am I?” “Sophia,” he said. “You're an Omega. For ten years I've given you the best of everything. Protection. Status. My time.” His thumb stroked along my jaw. “But you know you can never be Luna. Don't go telling yourself fairy tales.” That's when I knew he had never considered me his mate. For his ambition, for that princess, he chose to sacrifice me. So, I chose to destroy everything I had ever given him. I dialed a number I hadn't called in ten years. “Dad.” “Sophia. My little princess. You've finally come to your senses?” The second I heard his voice, my throat locked up. “You were right, Dad. I want to come home.” I forced down the catch in my voice. “Come for me in five days.”