Cerita Pendek Melodramatic Romance & Novel Fake Death

The second time Yuri Stone's mistress got pregnant and showed up on my doorstep, I tied her up, dragged her to the hospital for an abortion, and slashed her face. Then I turned on the gas and waited for Yuri to come home, smiling as I told him we were going to die together. I didn't snap out of it until our son, Xander Stone, threw himself into my arms, sobbing so hard he could barely breathe. "Mommy, please don't do this. I'm scared." The lighter slipped from my hand. But the next morning, Xander's little body was cold and stiff. He'd left a final message on his smartwatch. [Mommy, I'm trading my life so you and Daddy won't fight anymore.] At the funeral, my brother, Ethan Xavier, slapped me three times in front of everyone. His eyes were bloodshot as he called me a murderer. My mother, Diane Xavier, fainted from grief. When she came to, she disowned me. "You drove Xander to his death. I don't have a daughter as vicious as you." I held Xander's icy little hand and cried until no sound would come out. That was when Yuri finally seemed to wake up to what he'd done. He dropped to his knees in front of me and swore, "Quinn, let's both of us stop fighting. Can we please start over?" For Xander's sake, to honor his dying wish, Yuri sent Jasmine Shaw away himself. After that, he reported where he was going every day without fail. He handed over his phone whenever I wanted to check it. He even installed a tracker so I'd always know exactly where he was, all to make me feel secure again. Then one day, I went to the hospital to pick up my pregnancy test results. And there was Yuri, carefully supporting a woman as she walked. Beside them, a little boy tipped his face up at her, whining playfully. It was Xander. The son I'd watched die right in front of me. "Mommy Sophie, did I do a good job pretending? "Now nobody can stop us from being together anymore!"

Lucien Arden took the throne. He crowned Rosalind Hartwell empress. And Evelyn Hartwell—the principal wife who had fought at his side all the way from embattled prince to emperor—was given only the rank of Imperial Consort. The day the decree came down, Silverleaf Palace was completely silent. Every servant kept their head lowered and hardly dared to breathe, afraid that Evelyn would weep, or throw things, or come apart the way any consort does when the emperor's favor leaves her. Evelyn simply accepted the decree, calmly. “I thank His Majesty for his generosity.” There was no movement in her voice and nothing in her face. Even her beautiful eyes held not the slightest trace of grief. She turned, went back into the inner rooms, and picked up her book where she had left it. As though the decree that had just stripped her of her place as his principal wife had nothing whatever to do with her.

Before she passed away, my best friend begged me to meet her online boyfriend in person. “Zia, please love him for me. This is my final wish.” I promised her I would. After meeting Greyson in person, we dated for three years before finally getting married. Three years into our marriage, Greyson held my late best friend’s hand and looked at me coldly. “Let’s get a divorce. I won’t hold a grudge against you for stealing Scarlett’s place to meet me.” I stared at them, completely paralyzed by disbelief. “You lied to me... You’re alive…” With tear-brimming eyes, Scarlett said, “Zia, this happiness was supposed to belong to Greyson and me from the very beginning. Please, just let go.” Refusing to give up, I desperately tried to explain the truth to Greyson. But he only sneered at me. “You’re nothing but a thief and a liar.” Driven to the brink of madness, I tried everything to tear them apart. I made scenes at his corporate office, exposed them to the media, and tore up the divorce papers he shoved in my face time after time. But Greyson controlled the media narrative. Under his manipulation, the public branded me a lunatic, a hysteric, and a thief. My love for him was finally stripped away to nothing. When he handed me the divorce papers for the ninety-eighth time, I calmly took the pen and signed my name.

My last delivery of the day turns out to be a box of condoms ordered by my ex-husband, Julian Hayes. It's been five years since I last saw him. He's wearing the fuzzy slippers he used to hate, and there's a pink hair tie around his wrist. His knuckles turn white as he grips the doorknob, his voice hoarse with disbelief. "Samantha? You're alive?" I lower my gaze and instinctively adjust my face mask, keeping my voice calm. "Mr. Hayes, your delivery is here." Julian doesn't take the bag. Instead, he stares at me, unable to look away. "If you survived the accident, why didn't you come back to me?" He pauses, his voice trembling slightly as he asks, "Have you been doing okay all these years?" I raise my head and remove my mask. The scars crisscrossing my face are a reminder of how narrowly I escaped death. But they're more than that. They're also a reminder of how that ordeal ripped every trace of love and hatred I once felt for him right out of my heart.

When my wife, Emilia Sinclair, tortures me for the 98th time just to appease Wyatt Mercer, my love for her officially dies. That's when I decide to be with her best friend, Celia Ashford, who has been pursuing me for quite some time. After spending a wonderful night with Celia, she agrees to help me fake my death so that I can receive a brand new identity and marry her in an overseas country. So, I ingest the drug that can fake my death, only to wake up in the casket in advance. I can't move an inch no matter how hard I try. That's when I overhear Celia speaking with a subordinate outside the casket. "Ms. Ashford, you first told Emilia to torture Elliot, then you pretended to become his salvation. Now that you've completely earned his trust, why are you still arranging for his burial after faking his death?" "Only by doing this will the Mercers fully believe that Elliot is truly dead. That way, Wyatt can secure his position as the heir even more. No one will ever bring up the fact that he's a bastard child." The subordinate hesitates for a moment before asking, "Isn't leaving Elliot in the casket for one week a little too long? After all, we're only digging him up on the seventh day after you hold your wedding with Wyatt." "The drug can last for five days. I've already had someone place food, water, and an oxygen tank inside the casket. There's no way Elliot will die."

I'm eight months pregnant, and I suddenly go into early labor. But my husband, Aldrich Lohan, locks me up in the basement and gives me a tocolytic injection to stop my labor instead. He does all these just to ensure that his sister-in-law's baby is born before mine, so that my child won't fight for the inheritance rights. "Anton saved my life," Aldrich says, referring to his elder brother. "But now, he's gone, succeeded only by the baby in Chrissy's womb. I must let her baby inherit all the rights. Chrissy lost everything, but you're still here, enjoying everything I'm giving you like you're entitled to them. So what if you compromise a little bit for her sake?" The contractions in my lower body are hurting more than I can bear. I'm on the verge of passing out as I grab on to the hem of his pants and beg, "I swear that I won't let my child claim his inheritance rights! Please, just send me to the hospital. My child will die otherwise!" However, Aldrich just kicks me aside. "Chrissy has been pregnant for nine months. How can you be giving birth in just eight months? How would I know whether or not you're just inducing birth on purpose? I don't care. I won't let anyone steal the inheritance rights from Chrissy's baby, even if there's just a minuscule percentage of it happening." In the end, Chrissy successfully gives birth to her child, and it's only after that that Aldrich finally remembers me in the basement. "Bring Kelsey to the hospital and make them bring out the best medical equipment to ensure the safe birth of my child." His personal assistant, Edgar Salome, shivers as he says, "But Mr. Lohan… Mrs. Lohan and her child have both died…"

Everyone is envious of me for having someone like Dominic Cruz, who's love-brained, as a husband-to-be. He's rich, handsome, and highly educated. I smile without saying anything, but I nod happily. However, on the day I'm misdiagnosed, he goes missing. He's so engrossed in his secret lover that he forgets all about me. So, I jilt him before he can do it to me. I turn him into the city's laughingstock. Later, I hear that he drinks the bar dry every night. He scours Marina City but fails to find his missing bride.

My husband, Tyler Stone, has been dead for seven years. One day, he suddenly comes back to life. Not only does he bring another woman home with him, but he even wants me to give up my position as his wife. "Ruth almost lost her eyes saving me, and I've promised to marry her. Sign the divorce agreement, and I won't kick you out of the house." I'm briefly silent before saying, "I've actually married someone else." He rolls his eyes. "As if. Everyone knows you're desperately in love with me!"

On the day of his funeral, I discovered that my fiance, Zachary Gray, had come back to life. His friend says teasingly, "You sure know how to stage an act, Zachary. Your fiancee cried so much over your fake death that she almost went blind!" Zachary smiles indifferently and says, "Stepping into marriage is like taking one foot into the grave. Of course, I have to have some fun first." I stand in the shadows and watch him bend down to kiss another woman. He then points at the tombstone I had carefully and painstakingly carved for him, laughing until he can't catch his breath. Watching him, I feel like an utter fool. I take out my phone and call my father. "Dad, since Zachary is dead, our engagement is null. Let's pull out of the collaboration with the Gray family's company."

The day she found out about the tumor, Noemi Rosales made one wild choice—she'd give her corneas to her blind husband, Daniel Gomez. Quietly. No spotlight, no drama. Too bad Daniel only cared about Ivanna Lopez. He ate up every lie she fed him and iced Noemi out like she was nothing. "I want you out of my life." Cool. Noemi could do that. "Ms. Rosales, are you certain you want Mr. Gomez listed as the cornea recipient?" "Yeah. Give them to him. Once I'm gone, the hospital can use the rest of me for science or whatever." She scrawled her signature. "Don't tell him."

My boyfriend is trapped in the mountains, and I head there alone to search for him. However, I don't find him despite a night of searching. Instead, I end up falling off a cliff and passing out due to severe blood loss. When I open my eyes again, I hear laughter coming from outside my hospital ward. "Sonya's such a fool! She fell for it again!" "This is our 99th time tricking her, right?" "When you pretended to fall into the water, she jumped into an icy lake to save you in the middle of winter. When you pretended to be poisoned, she went to dig up the herbs that you'd need for the antidote… "This time, you pretended to be trapped in the mountains, and she ran there without a care for her life! She's truly head over heels for you!" I struggle to sit up. That's when I see my boyfriend, Austin Miller, standing at the ward's door. He stands out among the crowd and has a bright smile on his face. He doesn't look like he's lost his way at all. His friends continue talking. "It's her fault for abandoning Austin when he was down on his luck!" "She deserves to get played like this! When this is all over, we can throw the invitation to Austin and Dion's engagement party in her face!" It turns out Austin is already engaged. Yet, to this day, he has no idea why I broke up with him in the first place.

For three years, I've been the only woman Hayden Prescott, the heir of the most powerful family in Jinton, has eyes for. Then his long-lost fiancée returns. Three years ago, the Lawson family falls deep into debt. My father and older brother spike my wine and personally deliver me straight to Hayden's hotel suite. By the next morning, photos of me stumbling out of his room with my clothes in disarray are circulating all over Jinton. Everyone brands me a shameless gold digger who will stop at nothing to marry into the powerful Prescott family. But Hayden doesn't cast me aside. When reporters mob me, he pulls me into his arms and shields me from the cameras. When a high fever leaves me bedridden, he puts a ten-billion-dollar deal on hold to stay by my side all night. And when thunderstorms frighten me, he even moves his international business meetings into our bedroom. After three years of being treated like the most precious person in his world, I finally let myself believe he truly loves me. Then Winona Monroe, his fiancée who's been missing for years, suddenly returns safe and sound. Only then do I discover that the Prescott family has already arranged another marriage for him. Hayden only keeps a woman with a ruined reputation like me around to ward off the wealthy socialites throwing themselves at him. Having me by his side also convinces everyone that he's moved on and has given up searching for Winona. Now that the woman he's been waiting for is finally back, I'm nothing more than a disposable stand-in. Hayden places a new passport in my hand, his voice as gentle as ever. "Winona's too kind. If she finds out that coming back means taking your place, she'd never agree to marry me. The only way she'll marry me without feeling guilty is if you're dead. "The yacht explosion is just for show. A boat will be waiting to pick you up in international waters. Once you take on a new identity, you'll have a house overseas and more than enough money to live comfortably for the rest of your life." I beg Hayden Prescott to give me one more day so I can go home and say goodbye to my parents. My older brother, Jack Lawson, comes to pick me up himself. He remembers that I got carsick, and he has even left a box of lemon candies in the car for me. When we get home, Mom and Dad pull me into their arms and burst into tears. They tell me how sorry they were and say that not a single day has gone by in the past three years when they haven't missed me. For a moment, I believe there are still people who want me in their lives. But a little while later, I discover that Dad is picking out a burial plot for me, and Mom has already chosen the portrait for my memorial service. Meanwhile, Jack sits at his desk, revising his eulogy over and over. They all try to reassure me. "It's just a staged death. Mr. Prescott has already taken care of everything. You'll have a new name, and you can still live a perfectly good life overseas." I look around at the funeral arrangements scattered throughout the room and suddenly realize they all have a point. Hayden wants to marry Winona Monroe, the fiancée he has finally gotten back after years apart. Jack wants to erase the stain on his reputation from selling me off three years ago. Dad wants to save Lawson Group. And Mom wants me, the daughter who has brought such shame upon the family, to disappear for good. All I have to do is die, and everyone else can walk away with their reputation intact. But not a single one of them has bothered to ask if that's what I want. Once the yacht reaches international waters, I take off my tracking device. In the distance, the boat Hayden arranged to pick me up waits with its lights on. The crew keeps waving at me, urging me to hurry up and jump into the water. Instead, I turn away and walk back into the cabin of the yacht that is about to explode. Alone. My family started it all by drugging me and delivering me straight into Hayden's bed. Now, Hayden has sent me aboard a yacht that is destined to sink. If no one wants me around while I'm alive, then this time, I'll give them exactly what they want. I'll repay them with my life.

After the most wanted bachelor in Renowoods, Marvin Chambers, lost his memory, he began to pursue me relentlessly. I dated Marvin for three years and fell hopelessly in love with him. Just when I was about to tell him I was pregnant, I overheard a girl who used to bully me say to him, "Thanks for pretending to lose your memory and pulling 99 pranks on Serena just to avenge me. "Once you hit 100, I'll be your girlfriend." That was when I finally understood—Shirley Hunt was the one Marvin had always loved. And I was just the fool he used to make her laugh. Later, I died in a plane crash. Marvin lost his mind searching through the wreckage, only to find a single ring. Inside, it was engraved: [Hope You'll Love Me After 100 Pranks]. They say he collapsed crying in the debris and had to be rushed to the hospital after passing out. When he woke up, he turned against everyone who had helped him prank me. Meanwhile, I stood smiling in the snowstorm of Frontania, watching as my medical records went up in flames. He had faked amnesia to win my heart, so I faked my death to teach him a lesson.

I stand before the grave of my late wife, Casey Hill, having repaid her debts for five years. When I return home, I realize that our dog, Pudding, has gone missing. It is the only memory Casey has left me. I search everywhere frantically, eventually finding it hovering between life and death in an alley. Standing at the side is a girl. She points at Pudding and laughs gleefully to her friends. "Are you guys seeing this? This little guy is tough. We've played with it for so long, and it's still breathing!" I shove her aside and pick it up, my eyes bloodshot. The blood on Pudding's fur makes my heart ache so much I can hardly breathe. The girl utters a yelp as she falls to the ground. Furious and embarrassed, she picks herself up and kicks me hard in the head. "You bastard! How dare you push me for this filthy little beast! Do you know who my mom is?" With my head spinning from the blow, I suddenly hear a woman's voice. "Jenna, what's wrong? Who bullied you?" I snap my head up. There it is, the face I have wished to see in my dreams for the past five years.

After my wife died, I stayed on as a chauffeur for a female CEO just to keep myself and our daughter fed. Five years later, an anonymous message reached my phone: [Tonight. Eight o'clock. The little garden. There's a surprise waiting for you.] I didn't know what to make of it, but curiosity won out, and I went anyway. The moment eight o'clock struck, I looked through the window and watched the CEO peel a mask of human-like skin off her own face. Underneath it was, unmistakably, the face of my dead wife. Beside her, Marcus Kane shot me a scornful look before pulling her into his arms. "Sweetheart, you're too good to me," he said. "Giving up your husband and daughter, hiding your identity, just to help me build this business empire." He let out a theatrical sigh. "Then again, maybe you should go back to him. Cooper has had it rough. I could probably manage taking care of little Tobias on my own..." She melted against him. "Don't be silly. If I left, what would people think of you, raising a child alone? Back when Francesca died in that accident, my heart broke for the two of you—a widower and his little boy with no mother. So I made the mask that very night, and let the world believe I was the one who'd died." "Cooper is strong. He can handle a little hardship. I'll pay off what I owe him and our daughter in the next life." I stood frozen, tears sliding down my cracked, calloused hands, stinging where they fell. With nothing left to lose, I gave my reply to an anonymous number: [Alright. Let's work together.]

Joel Gleason, my childhood sweetheart and fiancé, promised he'd marry no one but me. But then, to help Jenny Swisher, my adoptive sister, get through her depression, he secretly married her. I didn't hesitate for a second before agreeing to marry Conrad Lennon, Jasselton's most untouchable heir, who'd been in love with me for years. After seven years of marriage, he still spoiled me rotten. He clung to me every night like he couldn't get enough. And there was nothing he wouldn't do for me. I really thought I'd found happiness at last. But one day, after we'd slept together, I heard him talking to his best friend. "Jenny's an international best actress now. When are you dumping Jean?" "It doesn't matter. I wouldn't end up with the person I love either way. Besides, I have to keep an eye on Jean. I can't let her ruin all the happiness Jenny worked so hard for." I booted up the computer in Conrad's study and stumbled upon a hidden folder. Inside were over 100,000 photos of Jenny, plus 100 unsent love letters. I'd been fooling myself long enough. It was time to wake up. I got myself a fake body and got ready to start a fire. That was it. Conrad and I were done for good.

When I found out I was pregnant, Elroy Lousteau went all out—hired some fancy doctor, loaded me up with meds to "protect the baby." He'd never believed in anything before, but suddenly he went to church, praying like his life depends on it. "You've been through hell, babe. Once the baby's here, I swear I'll make it right." That same day, I picked up his phone by accident. "As instructed, the meds include a compound for permanent infertility. The baby will be stillborn. "Ms. Tillon's baby is healthy and will be delivered safely—as the true Lousteau heir. "Mrs. Lousteau won't suspect a thing. Your relationship's secure. You can rest assured." I looked down at my belly. He never loved me. Not really. So I made up my mind—once the divorce papers were signed, I was gone. No looking back.

Three years after his wife died, Simon Radcliffe went to file the school enrollment paperwork for his daughter, Poppy Radcliffe. Instead, he saw Eleanor Marlow, the wife he had buried, alive and well. She had one hand holding Poppy's and the other hooked through the arm of his brother, Jeremy Radcliffe. Simon was about to rush over and demand answers when his best friend, Kevin Sutton, held him back. "You've seen it now, Simon, so I might as well tell you. Eleanor never died. She faked her death to get away from you so she could marry Jeremy. Everyone else already knows." All of it was because Jeremy had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and wanted to know what having a real family felt like before he died. Simon's best friend had lied to him just to give Jeremy that, and his wife and daughter too. Even his own mother had sided with Jeremy, her adopted son. Simon was left with nothing but despair. If this was what they all wanted, he would give it to them and disappear from their lives for good.

Today was the seventh anniversary of the plane crash that took my twin sister, Chloe. My husband, Julian, checked the watch on his wrist and urged me on. “I’ve only blocked off ten minutes for this visit. Hurry up and lay the flowers.” He was a pathological stickler for time, meticulously managing every minute and second of his life. Shopping was sixty minutes, intimacy was fifteen minutes, and dinner was ten minutes… As he walked back to the car to grab an umbrella, his phone slipped from his hand, hit the ground, and lit up with a cloud calendar notification. It was his hidden master schedule for family. I stole a glance at it, and my blood instantly ran cold. The entry for me read, “Spend two hours.” And the very next entry ten minutes later read, “Cemetery visit ends. Head to the Southside residence immediately to pick up Chloe and our son for his toddler’s gym class.” I stared at my sister’s photo on the tombstone, finding it all ironic. So the past seven years, spent racing against the clock, were nothing more than an extreme time-management strategy Julian had devised for her while she was pretending to be dead. Julian walked back over under the umbrella. He picked up his phone and frowned. “Riley, your ten minutes are up. Stop dawdling.” Wiping the rainwater from the tombstone, I let out a liberated smile and said, “I'm not dawdling. It just struck me that Chloe must be having a wonderful time in hell. With the Devil and his demons keeping her company, I’m sure she’d never want to leave.”

The day my husband, Cameron Gray, died unexpectedly, I swallowed an entire bottle of sleeping pills. His best friend and my sworn enemy, Alfie Crawford, kicked the door open with bloodshot eyes and dragged me back from the brink of death. "You have to live, even if it's for Cameron's sake!" For the next three years, Alfie reins in his temper completely. Even when I step outside just to take out the trash, he insists on coming with me. I thought I'd finally moved past the pain. Somewhere along the way, I even fell for him. In the second year of our relationship, I hold a positive pregnancy test, ready to surprise Alfie, only to find something buried at the very back of his drawer. It's a printed marriage certificate, registered in Koaland five years ago. The groom is Cameron, the man whose death I've thought was an accident. The bride is my best friend, Tessa Stone, who swears she would never get married. The date is the very day I tried to end my life. Beside the marriage certificate lies a phone. On it is a message from Tessa, sent just yesterday. "Thank you for keeping her under control for the past five years and making sure she never found out. Cameron and I are very happy together now." I clutch the pregnancy test. At that moment, it feels like I've fallen into a frozen abyss. As it turns out, the man I thought had saved me has actually been colluding with them and deceiving me all these years.