Tragic Love Romance Short Stories & Hypocrisy Novels

Eight years ago, my daughter, Joey Porter, was stuck in the desert of death. Her GPS had blinked out, and she ran out of supplies. She kept calling for me for over a dozen hours over the walkie-talkie. The only rescue team was an hour's flight away from her, only to get intercepted halfway there. Later on, I found out that my wife, Ruby Shaw, spent 800 thousand dollars bribing the dispatch center, rerouting the rescue team's flight route just so they could save Ruby's younger brother, Howard Shaw, instead. Howard had had too much to drink at that time, causing him to lose his way outside the resort that was located at the edge of the desert. When he was found, it turned out that he was about a mile away from the resort. But the rescue team never came for Joey, who waited for them till she was dehydrated and, later on, died in the desert. Since then, I've quit my job and made this living hell my new home. For the next eight years, I work as a desert guide, ultimately saving over 100 people. Every inch of the dunes and the hidden sand currents are engraved into my mind. Today, my partner decides to give me a rescue order that's worth an astronomical amount. He urges me to pack my things and set off immediately. I glance at the photo, only to see a familiar face. That's when I turn off my walkie-talkie and get up to my feet before heading outside. "I can't save this person."

My name is Hazel Falken, and I am the only daughter of the Base Commander during the apocalypse. Even though it is the apocalypse, I am still spoiled left and right by my family and raised to be their little princess at home. My dad, Ernest Falken, is worried that I will marry into a family that will mistreat me. So, he decides to choose four husband candidates and bring them up in our own home for me to pick from when I'm older. In my past life, I chose Curtis Granger, whom I have liked for a long while, when Dad asked me to pick my husband. However, not long after our marriage, Curtis volunteers himself as a guard to be stationed outside the base perimeter. He never returns home after that, and I am left living as a widow in the safety of the base's inner district. 30 years later, when my hair has turned fully white, I decide that I can't wait for him anymore and go out to find him. I then realize that he has formed another family outside the base without my knowing. It then dawns on me that Curtis never liked me. He had also only married me because he wanted to repay Dad for bringing him up. Not long after that, a wave of zombies attacks us. Curtis pushes me down and shields me under his body. "Hazel, I know that I never should've lied to you. I'll give up my life to repay the kindness that Commander Falken has shown to me. "But if there is a next life, I hope that you won't pick me again." When I open my eyes again, I find out that I have travelled back in time to the day when Dad asks me to pick my husband. "Hazel, these four people are my right-hand men. Whom would you like to pick as your husband?"

My boyfriend, Cedric Lambert, and I have been in a long-distance relationship for three years. I video call him every night. The first time I notice a pink scarf that doesn't belong in his room, I take a screenshot and confront him. But before he can answer, his older sister, Cecilia Lambert, messages me. "Naomi, that's my scarf. I must've accidentally left it at his place the last time I visited." The second time, I spot two used condom wrappers in the corner of the screen. One of his friends immediately sends me a screenshot of a hotel booking. "Naomi, this one's on me," Kian Callahan explains. "I was just messing around with Ced and didn't think about how it would look. I'm sorry." These incidents keep happening for the third and fourth time. But every time something suspicious appears in the background of his video calls, someone conveniently steps forward to claim it. Then comes Cedric's birthday. Without telling anyone, I take an eight-hour train to his city, hoping to surprise him. Instead, I find the area outside his apartment building decorated for a wedding. A large sign beside the entrance reads, "Congratulations, Cedric Lambert & Addison Ross!" Beside the entrance is a large wedding portrait of Cedric with a woman I've never seen before, his arms wrapped around her as they kiss. I bite down hard on my lip until I taste blood. With trembling fingers, I type a message into our group chat. "I just received a wedding invitation from a woman named Addison Ross. Does anyone know her?" The group falls completely silent. After a long moment, my best friend, Scarlett Crosby, finally breaks the silence. "Addison's a friend of mine. She must've sent it to the wrong address by mistake," she explains. "Just keep the invitation, Naomi. I'll explain everything later." Hot tears splatter against the glass of my screen as my chest tightens. So it turns out Cedric isn't the only one who's been betraying me these past three years.

The day I fail to get into university, my childhood sweetheart breaks off our engagement. Then he delivers the next blow. He's marrying my best friend, Katherine Schaffer, who actually got into a university. They've even already registered their marriage. Crushed by the double betrayal, I leave home to clear my head, only to fall into the hands of human traffickers. Katherine's stepbrother, Dominic Frizzell, spends his entire fortune rescuing me. Even after I lose a hand, he proposes. After we marry, he spoils me in every way. Sometimes it feels like he practically worships me. That goes on for seven years, until one day, I overhear my mother-in-law lecturing him. "You abducted Valerie and cut off her hand just so Katherine could take her place at the university. And to make sure Valerie couldn't get revenge, you even married her. You've done more than enough for Katherine." Dominic's voice holds a quiet melancholy. "It's still not enough. Kat always deserves the best." I freeze behind the door, stunned by the truth. It turns out that all the suffering and every supposed act of salvation were simply Dominic using me.

My best friend, Susie Young, broke a bone while saving my boyfriend's mother. So my boyfriend, Josh Wagner, had to take care of her after work every day. At first, he still came home afterward. Later, he got tired of going back and forth, so he simply started staying at the hospital dorm. Whenever I asked about Susie's injuries, he always looked helpless. "It takes at least three months for an injury like that to heal. She's probably got a long way to go. If it weren't for repaying her for saving my mom, I wouldn't even bother taking care of her." When Susie heard that, she rolled her eyes. "You think I want you here? You can't even peel an apple properly." They acted so openly that it seemed like there was nothing going on between them. Then one day, my blood sugar dropped, and I accidentally fell down the stairs. My arm was dislocated in the fall. Drenched in cold sweat from the pain, I called Josh. He sounded helpless. "Susie has rehab today. I really can't get away. Take a cab to the ER yourself." I dragged myself to the hospital, my arm limp and weak. I stopped by Susie's room. When I pushed the door open, the room was empty. A nurse told me Susie had been discharged two weeks ago and was recovering at home. I stood frozen in the hallway, my hands and feet cold and numb. Then a post from Josh's mom popped up on my phone. "Josh is all grown up now. He finally brought his future wife home!" In the video, Susie and Josh were fooling around in matching aprons. They both saw the post and liked it at the same time. Neither of them offered an explanation.

I was three months pregnant when my fiancé left me to marry his first love, Isabella Thompson. Soon after, I was in a car accident. I survived, but our baby didn't. My childhood friend, Daniel Smith, found out and insisted on marrying me despite his family's objections. He spent a fortune on the best doctors to ensure I recovered fully. Later, he arranged a grand proposal, confessing he had loved me for years. I was touched and agreed to marry him. But three years later, I overheard his conversation with his friend, Mike Perez. "Remember years ago when Isabella stole Jessica's fiancé? To avoid any future trouble for Isabella, you married Jessica and even caused that car accident, which killed the baby she was carrying. Now, can she even get pregnant anymore?" Mike asked. "No, I love Isabella," Daniel replied. "I just didn't want to have any babies with Jessica, so I put birth control in her water." I trembled, unable to believe what I had heard. It turned out Isabella was also Daniel's first love. I figured it was time for me to leave.

Claudia Hepburn had seduced his fiancé, Arthur Maxwell, ninety-nine times. However, he was still into her sister, Fione Hepburn. Not only was he nowhere to be seen on the day of the wedding, but he even went ahead and registered his wedding with Fione instead. Claudia was turned into a laughingstock after that. While she was drowning in despair, Arthur’s brother, Brett Maxwell, showed up and took her into his arms. He confessed that he had been secretly in love with her for ages and beckoned her to turn to him. Enchanted by his devotion, she decided to marry him instead. Even after five years of marriage, Brett still doted on her endlessly. That was until a shipwreck took him away. On the day of the funeral, she was so heartbroken that she felt the urge to smash her head against his coffin to end it all right there. It was only when she found she was pregnant that she gave up on the idea of ending it all. She decided she would live on and grieve her late husband for the rest of her life. Just when she was expecting the rest of her life to play out that way, she happened to eavesdrop on a conversation between her ex-fiancé and his friends. “Brett, your brother was the one who died in that shipwreck, but here you are pretending to be him. Did you do it so you could be together with his wife? Aren’t you worried about someone finding out about this?” “I can't be bothered to worry about all that now, I’ve loved Fione from the beginning. I had to endure so much humiliation and marry Claudia just so I could prevent her from ruining Fione’s happiness. Now that God has given me such a perfect chance, I will not sell myself short anymore!”

After my boyfriend, Matteo Hogan, has fallen asleep, I notice that his phone has been receiving numerous notifications. When I tap on them, I find out that Matteo has answered a question on a thread named, "How far can one go for the sake of the one they can't be with?" "I've been in love with my childhood friend for 12 years, and yet I'm now dating a woman I don't love. My childhood friend has a first love. In order to ensure her happiness, I purposefully woo the one that her first love has a crush on, who happens to be my current girlfriend. That way, I can help my childhood friend get rid of her love rival. "Now, she's about to marry her first love. As for me? Well, since I can't be with her, I might as well be with anyone else in this world." Only then do I realize that I'm the girlfriend whom Matteo never loves this whole time.

Three years back, a crash wrecked Rhea's hearing—and the future she'd built her life around. At her lowest point, Eddie stayed by her side like a hero, pulling her out of the shadows. But the second she got her hearing back and thought she could finally tell him... she heard the truth: he'd planned the whole thing. For his beloved. So she could win. Yeah, he was already engaged. To that girl. Rhea didn't cry. Didn't scream. Just picked up her phone. "Grandpa, I'm ready. I'm taking back the Cliburn name. And I'm entering the international piano competition as your heir."

When Clara Jones learns that her son has leukemia, her world crumbles. After several failed donor matches, she still can't reach her husband, who's away on a business trip. In the end, her best friend, Monica Spencer, rushes to the hospital and turns out to be a compatible match. Carrying a basket of nourishing supplements, Clara visits Monica. When she arrives at her hospital room, she sees Monica wrapped tightly in a man's arms. That man is none other than Clara's husband, Luther Tanner, whom she had remarried three years ago. "Why would you offer to donate your bone marrow without telling me? That needle was so long. Do you have any idea how worried I was? You've been avoiding me for the past three years. Have you forgotten how to look after yourself?" Monica reciprocates the hug affectionately and chokes out, "I'm Sean's biological mother, after all. Now that he's sick, I had to come back." Frozen outside the door, Clara feels as though she's been thrown into a frigid pool. Those words root her to the spot. How can Sean Tanner not be her biological son? How's that even possible? Back then, she endured three days and nights of obstructed labor just to bring him into the world. She suffered massive blood loss after giving birth, and nearly all the blood in her body had to be replaced. But the second Sean lay in her arms, she felt she had no regrets left in this lifetime. So, how on earth can he be Monica's?

On Valentine's Day, my fiancee, Camilla Stenson, is admitted to the ER in the middle of the night for food poisoning. In her dazed state, she blurts out, "Nathan, I'm sorry I let you down. If it weren't for me being broke back then, I wouldn't have gotten together with Hendrick." My name is Hendrick Toff, while Nathan Langdon is her first love. It seems that she's forgotten that after the Stenson family went bankrupt, Nathan abandoned her and headed overseas. For the past eight years, I was the one who paid off her debts and remained by her side. Yet, in the end, the person she's always held close to her heart is none other than Nathan. I calmly tell her I want to break up with her, then toss my engagement ring into the trash. However, she says, "Can't you be more magnanimous? Nathan definitely wouldn't be as unreasonable as you." I laugh. "In that case, I'll be giving a piece of trash like you over to him as well."

The day my husband, Lucas Maxwell, helps his childhood sweetheart—Cecilia Brown, who has cancer—lose her virginity, I leave behind a divorce agreement and walk away. Before I leave, I drop a comment beneath a photo of them on his social media. Their fingers are tightly interlocked in the photo. "Let's get divorced. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness." A minute later, he calls me. "How did I end up marrying someone as selfish as you, Fiona Sinclair? Do you really have the heart to let her die without leaving anything behind?" I sneer, "You're no longer my husband. How is that my problem?" That's when he panics.

I've had severe acrophobia since birth. My legs weaken, and I get dizzy even when I'm just standing on the second-floor balcony. For the past six months, my fiancé, Oliver Bayley, has been arranging "desensitization training" for me. First, he puts me on a 33-foot-tall platform and leaves a single ladder for me to climb down. I grip the handles and cry until I'm dehydrated, but he just records my anguished expression through the surveillance cameras. Later, Oliver takes me cliff swinging. He also forces me to walk across a glass bridge that's built high in the sky. He sighs and shakes his head every time I scream in terror, kneel on the floor, and refuse to move. "My marital home is on the top floor of an apartment with a river view, Holly," he says. "How are you going to marry me if you can't even conquer your fear?" I assume Oliver's frustration stems from wanting to cure my phobia. However, I realize that's not the case when he takes me to an abandoned observation tower in the suburbs. The glass observation deck at the top of the tower is in disrepair. The railings have also come loose. Oliver blindfolds me when he leads me up the tower. He then suddenly disappears. When I rip the blindfold off, I realize that I'm over 300 feet above the ground. A wave of dizziness crashes over me, and warm liquid trickles uncontrollably down my thighs and drenches the hems of my pants. In my panic, I pick up the Bluetooth earbud that Oliver accidentally leaves behind. I hear the raucous laughter of my best friend, Carrie Kirby, and my brother, Elias Alden, echo through the earbud. "Did you film that? Holly wet herself out of fear!" Carrie stifles her laughter and says, "I got it! Her pants are soaked, and she's crying on the floor like a baby. Lydia will definitely laugh when she sees this." "Oliver's really something else," Elias chimes in teasingly. "How did he come up with the idea to make Lydia happy by showing her Holly's humiliating appearance when Holly's acrophobia leaves her terrified? Lydia's depression has improved a lot recently." Oliver lets out a nonchalant chuckle. "Lydia wouldn't have been harassed by the netizens and developed depression if it wasn't for Holly. This is just Holly's way of compensating her, making her feel better by showing her humiliating side." The freezing winds that billow past me feel like blades slicing against my skin. The biting cold burrows deep into my bones. It turns out that, for the past six months, my "desensitization training" has been an elaborate ruse they came up with to make Lydia feel better. As for me, I'm the only clown on the stage.

In the fifth year of their marriage, Layla Turner insisted Jules Fanon take on Roland Presley as his assistant. “His name is Roland Presley. He’s young and hot-tempered. Be patient with him and help him out if there’s anything he doesn’t know.” During that first meeting, Jules hardly suspected that this young man would eventually turn out to pose a grave threat to him. Three months later, Jules stood outside the house and watched his wife of five years, Layla, cheating on him with another man. This other man was none other than Roland himself, the assistant whom Layla had insisted on assigning to him. Jules waited downstairs for Layla to explain, and when she finally did, she remarked nonchalantly, "We're just having fun. Look, the boy is upset about being the other man, so how about this? We can get divorced for now and remarry three months later." Jules agreed without hesitation. "Sure." However, in Jules’ vocabulary, there was no room for remarriage! Since Layla wanted to be with someone else, then so be it!

A lethal neurotoxin had taken hold of my lungs. My time is running out. My mother, Sofia, was the most connected lawyer in Palermo, excelling in burying crimes and twisting the law. When my brother Vincent mowed me down and shattered my leg, she called in every favor to clear his record. My father, Tommaso, the most feared private doctor in Sicily, faked my medical files, branding me unstable and delusional, all to mold me into the obedient son they needed. Then there was Lina, only daughter of Don Vitali, my wife. She said, “We let him out for Vincent’s liver. What if he says no?” Dad’s voice went cold. “He has two choices: lie quietly on that operating table… or waste away in the sanatorium for what’s left of his life.” I pushed the parlor door open, steady and slow. My voice was flat. “I’ll do it.” Every one of them let out a breath they’d been holding, showering me with hollow words. They didn’t know there was no life left to threaten. I had twenty-four hours. By sunrise, I would be dead either way. Funny… now that I’m in the ground, why are they all crying?

Nathan Riley and I had been married for five years. Throughout those five years, whenever I asked him about his relationship with Rosie Cooper, he always gave me the same answer. "She's like a little sister to me." I believed him right up until the crash. That was the day I finally learned who Nathan would choose if his wife and his so-called little sister were both in danger. It happened during a chain-reaction collision on a mountain highway. The SUV I was in smashed through the guardrail, leaving half the vehicle hanging over a cliff. A jagged piece of metal tore through the window and sliced across my face. Blood poured into my eyes, turning everything around me into a blur of red. Nathan reached out to me first and grabbed my hand. For one brief second, I thought I was safe. Then, Rosie started crying from the wrecked car nearby. "Nathan, I don't want to die. Please get me out first." His expression changed instantly. I tightened my grip on his hand. "Nathan, don't let go. There's nothing beneath me." His jaw clenched, and he started prying my fingers off his hand. "Joslyn, can you stop making this harder? Rosie's been on her own since she was a child." Suddenly, the SUV lurched beneath me. My grip slipped from Nathan's hand, and I plunged into the darkness below. The last thing I saw before everything went black was Nathan turning away from me and rushing toward Rosie. When I woke up, Nathan was sitting beside my hospital bed, looking as though he had not slept in days. The moment he noticed me stirring, relief washed over his face. He quickly took my hand, murmuring my name and thanking the heavens that I had finally woken up. I kept my eyes closed and pretended not to recognize his voice. "Excuse me, sir… Are you with the rescue team?"

On the 99th floor of the most luxurious apartment building in the capital city, my husband's sister was once again threatening to jump down the building for the 63rd time. Dana realized she was getting tired all of a sudden. She was even thinking of jumping down herself. The police on the other side of the call couldn't say anything else except, "Mrs. Hill, how many times is this already…? Just deal with it yourself and let her do whatever she wants."

On the very day I underwent a vasectomy, Susan bought the designer tuxedo I had been eyeing for months. However, her next words struck me like a bolt of lightning. “Tomorrow is my baby’s sip-and-see. I need you looking your best.” The IV needle snapped right out of the back of my hand. With bloodshot eyes, I begged her to stop playing around. However, her face remained dead serious. “Choosing to be childfree back then was just a compromise because we were struggling. But now, I’m sitting on a multi-million dollar estate. I need an heir to inherit my fortune. My child will be your child, too. From now on, you will be the baby’s godfather.” In that exact moment, my vision blurred. “So, you pushed me to get a vasectomy just to secure the positions of your lover and your illegitimate child?" I spat out. Susan frowned, annoyed. “Myles, watch your mouth. I am giving you the status of my official husband, and I'm giving Owen the child. It’s a fair trade. Staying with me means you get to be a father without any of the pain. If you leave me, who else would ever want a sterilized man like you? Think about it wisely.” The pain hit me all at once as the anesthesia wore off. Yet, I couldn’t help but remember that once upon a time, she had carried a child of ours that she refused to accept.

On the morning of our pre-wedding health exam, a health alert popped up on my smartwatch. It was synced to my fiancé, John William. [2:17 AM. Elevated Heart Rate. Location: Clara Gabriel's Apartment.] Beneath it was an activity log. [Vigorous Exercise. 42 minutes.] My fingers went numb. John had insisted on sharing our health data so I would know if he was working too late or suffering a migraine. I never realized that data would track his pulse spiking in another woman’s bed. Looking back, the signs were everywhere. The night Clara had a fever, his heart rate surged until 3:00 AM. The night Clara had insomnia, his heart rate stayed steady in her apartment until dawn. On Clara’s birthday, his watch logged an all-nighter with three distinct heart rate peaks. Whenever I asked, John would just laugh it off. "You're getting jealous over algorithm updates now? You need a hobby." Clara would give a guiltless smile. "He’s just worried about me living alone." I didn't realize worry was meant to be so hands-on. At the clinic, Dr. Gates handed me the registry forms. "Fill in the groom's information so we can set up the joint file." I looked at the blank space next to Spouse and smiled. "Never mind." His heart wasn't mine to monitor anymore.

Eden Castle and Cedric Rivers had been together for eleven years. Just when she thought they would grow old together, Cedric went and cheated on her. He had been cheating on her for three years with a girl who looked just like her, only the girl was much younger than Eden. Eden assumed this was as bad as it could get, then it got worse. Her son Mateo gave her a letter announcing that he was severing ties with her. He blamed Eden for ruining what was supposed to be a happy family. Eden was crushed as she signed the divorce agreement. However, she decided she never wanted anything to do with the pair of father and son again.