Cerita Pendek After Death Romance & Novel Marriage

My mother suddenly suffered a brain hemorrhage, and I needed to pay $80,000 for surgery immediately. I called my wife right away. Before I could finish, she cut me off impatiently. "Gabriel Cole, didn't we agree when we got married that we'd keep our finances separate? Your mother being sick is your family's problem. Why should you touch my savings? Can't you have a little respect for the contract?" Then my stepson's sneering voice came through from her side. "Uncle Gabriel, can you stop morally blackmailing my mom? As a grown man, isn't it pathetic that you can't even pay your own mother's medical bills? Stop bothering us while we're eating sushi." Because I couldn't pay the fee in time, my mother missed the best window for surgery and died. It wasn't until noon the next day that my wife called me. Her first words were an accusation. "What's wrong with you? It's already noon. Why aren't you back to cook? Don't you know Mason has tutoring this afternoon?" "My mom died of a brain hemorrhage!" I roared through gritted teeth. My wife froze for a second. The first thing she blurted out was: "Well, don't expect me to pay for the funeral. That's a matter of principle. "And your mother dying is your mother dying. That's not a reason for you to skip cooking." In that instant, I knew the devotion I'd poured out for more than ten years meant nothing to her. Rage hit my heart. I suffered a heart attack and followed my mother into death. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day my wife proposed separate finances after marriage.

The year I die, my wife, Liana Chandler, despises me more than ever before. Unable to handle her endless emotional abuse, I choose to end my own life by swallowing pills. At the crematorium, she watches the roaring flames in the cremation chamber with a rare smile. "Filth like him doesn't deserve a proper burial," she comments. When the employee hands her my cremation urn, she swiftly overturns it, scattering my ashes all over the floor in an instant. All this time, she has believed that I'm the one who caused her first love's death. So, she took great pains to formulate a plan—all for this very moment. When everything is over, she walks away without looking back, trampling my ashes underfoot. But before long, she's on her knees, begging for the funeral parlor to give my ashes back to her.

My wife's childhood friend and I were brought into the same hospital after a car crash. I had suffered a ruptured heart and needed emergency surgery. But my wife, Cassandra, was the hospital director. Instead of treating me, she ordered every available doctor to Miles Rowland's room so he could receive a full examination for a few minor scrapes. I begged her to save me. She only snapped, "Can you stop competing for attention for once? Do you have any idea Miles almost broke a bone?" In the end, I died in a corner where nobody found me. But when the wife who hated me most learned I was really dead, she lost her mind.

Two divorce agreements lay before Anya Ellington and me. One was hers. The other was mine. My share amounted to 20% of our assets, plus a villa. She would get the twins and everything else in the house. I skimmed the papers in seconds, then signed without protest, perfectly calm. Not a trace remained of the hysteria I had shown over the past few days. Anya's pen slowed as she signed her name. She fixed me with a burning stare. "You have no objections?" she asked. "You're not even going to ask about visitation rights? Once you sign, there's no taking it back." I handed the papers back to her, and the corners of my mouth curled into the faintest smile. "No need," I said. Anya's eyes narrowed slightly. Something flickered behind them, something she wanted to say but held back. None of it mattered anymore. A few hours later, I was no longer her husband. I was no longer the Ellington family's live-in son-in-law. I wasn't even the father of our two children anymore. I was nothing more than a corpse, disfigured beyond recognition.

On the night of our wedding, Simone Laurent did not inject the promised capital into the Holt family's company. Instead, she had someone carry in a crate of scratch-off tickets. She undid the top buttons of her blouse, her eyes lazy with amusement. "Here are 2,000,000 dollars' worth of scratch-offs. Whatever you scratch off, that is what you get. Be good, Spencer, and maybe next time I will give you something real." I knew what she was doing. She punished me because yesterday I had ruined her evening, and I had thrown a glass of red wine all over her assistant, the one in the see-through shirt. I did not cry this time. I did not make a scene. My fingers found an ultra-thin condom in her pocket that was not my size, and I simply wiped my hand clean and said nothing. The surprise in her eyes lasted half a second before it softened into a satisfied smile. She wrapped her arms around me from behind, warm breath spilling against my ear. "That is right. Now you are starting to act like a husband who knows his place." She pulled out an unlimited black card and pressed it to my chest, the plastic cold through my shirt. "Take it. This should be more than enough for your family's company." I managed a stiff smile, pulled the card free, and handed it back. "I do not need it." She did not know this. During the days she spent breaking me in, my father had already been cornered by debt collectors on a rooftop and forced past the edge. Dead men did not need money.

When I found Silas Pembroke, he was carefully untangling a strand of another woman’s hair from his tie clip. The two of them were wrapped around each other, far too close to pretend otherwise. He let out a mocking laugh. “Jenna, what exactly are you going to accuse Sienna and me of this time?” Sienna Vale smiled sweetly. “Mrs. Pembroke, you stayed away longer than usual this time.” I steadied myself and said, “I’m not Jenna. I’m her twin sister, Summer Sinclair.” Silas burst out laughing. “What is this, your latest stunt?” Then his expression hardened. “Keep pushing me, and I can’t promise you’ll stay Mrs. Pembroke forever.” I only looked at him and said quietly, “Silas, my sister left three keepsakes behind for you.”

Everyone said my wife, Zoey Harper, was an amazing wife and mom who'd do anything for me and our son, Leo. Leo's doctor warned us three times that he might not make it. Then he died. Zoey claimed she was overseas for work. She wasn't. She'd invited Peter Cole—the first love she'd never gotten over—and his family to our apartment for dinner. I came home carrying Leo's urn, ready to confront her. Instead, she tossed my luggage into the hall. "We have guests, and we're out of rooms. Go stay somewhere else for a few days."

Everyone in their circle knows that Alexander will do anything for Louise. He has taken a bullet for her. He has even drunk himself into alcohol poisoning for her. Even fresh out of surgery and deathly pale from the pain, he still steps in to clean up every mess she makes without batting an eye. People say that Alexander's love for Louise borders on madness and that he will never leave her. However, in his fifth year as her secretary, Alexander submits his resignation. The HR representative is stunned for a while before asking again, "Are you really quitting, Alexander?" "Yes. I'll be gone in a month." Alexander signs the form calmly and turns to leave. But instead of going home, he drives to the cemetery. The woman in the photo on the headstone has a gentle, serene look on her face. She resembles Louise quite a bit, though her features are much softer. Alexander reaches out and brushes his hand lightly against the photograph, his fingers trembling. She is Isabelle, Louise's older sister, as well as Alexander's true love.

When my ex-wife, Clara Quinton, holds a wedding ceremony with her first love, they put me in a coffin. Sha says this is a new immersive experience at the cultural village and asks me to play along with a staged scene where the ex-husband crashes the wedding. The guests gather around the coffin and cheer. The host grins and calls out, "Bury the ex, and may the newlyweds live happily ever after!" Her first love, Kevin Irwin, is dressed in a suit. His eyes glisten with tears. "Clara, is this really okay? After all, Sam has been with you for seven years," Kevin says. Clara gently fixes his hair and says in a soft voice, "Back then, he was the one who forced you to leave the country. Because of that, you got into an accident that nearly ruined your career. "Today, we're only making him lie in there for a little while." Before they close the coffin lid, I desperately grab onto the edge and scream, "Clara, Max is inside the coffin too!" Everything outside falls silent for a moment. Then, Clara lets out a cold laugh and says, "I can't believe you'd make up something so ridiculous. Max went to Southville with your friend, Noah. "There is a ventilation hose in the coffin. The camera is rolling too. So, stop pretending!" The dirt slowly covers the coffin. From inside the coffin, I hear her coldly order, "Let him out when he admits he was wrong and apologizes."

The year my wife hated me the most, I passed away. Unable to bear her lingering entanglement with her ex, I decided to end my life. At the crematorium, she casually picked a cheap urn and smiled faintly as she said, "Trash like him belongs in the sewer, even after death." When it was time to bury my ashes, she chose a landfill and scattered my ashes across the entire site. She had always believed I schemed against her and forced her to break up with her ex, which was why she went to great lengths to make sure I met the worst possible end. When everything was over, she walked away without looking back, stepping on my ashes. Yet not long after, she returned, crying as she searched through the entire landfill, desperate to find my remains.

I'm 32 years old. Eighteen months after my colon cancer diagnosis, I decided to donate my body to science. The day I signed the body donation forms, my ex-husband was still keeping our old bedroom ready for me, waiting for me to come back and admit I was wrong. He doesn't know the cancer is killing me. Ethan Walker and I have been divorced for two years. Back then, everything in my family fell apart. My father, George Bennett, became seriously ill. Ethan gave up a chance to advance his career and spent all our savings on my father's treatment. In the end, the strain of it all drove us apart. And now I have the same illness my father had. Ethan can't stand me. He keeps me at arm's length. But he still holds on to the home we shared as newlyweds, stubbornly waiting for me to admit I was wrong and come back. All I want is one last meal with him while I'm still strong enough to sit up.

When the wildfire reached the door to my room at the treatment center, I heard my husband, Lucas Vale, order them to save Serena Cole first. There was only one seat left on the helicopter. He gave it to the girl I'd treated like a little sister my whole life, and he wouldn't even have anyone unlock my door. "Keep her calm. She's emotionally unstable right now. She can't leave the ward without authorization." Seven months pregnant, I gripped the receiver in one hand and cradled my belly with the other. Two hours earlier, he'd wiped away my tears and told me he'd sent me here to protect me. I'd begged him to let me see a lawyer and to look into the money diverted from the foundation. Instead, they took my phone, and I heard the lock click shut. As smoke poured in, someone in the hallway started slamming into my door and shouting my name over and over. It was Adrian Vale, my husband's older brother, who hadn't come home in years. I didn't last long enough to see that door open. When I opened my eyes again, Lucas was sitting beside me, pushing me to sign a voting proxy. The wedding was six weeks away. Once I signed, the shares my father had left me would become his leverage in the fight to take over the company. In my last life, I signed. I thought we were about to be family, so there was no need to keep things so separate. Serena walked in carrying a stack of wedding catalogs and smiled as she urged me to sign. "He's just trying to take some weight off your shoulders." This time, I closed the folder. "I'm taking this home to have an independent lawyer review it." Lucas frowned. "We're getting married in six weeks. You really want to treat me like an outsider now?" Right in front of him, I revoked the temporary proxy and walked out with the unsigned document. The lobby TV showed Adrian returning to Northern California. As the camera followed him, I heard the voice from the fire again. I texted him: Adrian, I want to see you.

When I was eight months pregnant, my husband's foster sister invited me to hike a snow-covered mountain. Midway up, an avalanche hit. We were both buried. My husband rushed to the scene, but before I could utter a word, his sister accused me: "She planned this! She tricked me into coming today!" I tried desperately to explain. He didn't listen. Instead, he lashed out at me. "Sandra doesn't know any better, but you should! So what if she's blunt? Is this your petty revenge? Your pathetic life couldn't even begin to repay hers if she'd been hurt!" Then he left. Took her hand. Walked away. I screamed after him, begging him to save our baby. He didn't even glance back. Worse, he unhooked my safety harness and shoved me out of the rescue group. "Since you're so clever, find your own way down." Not long after, another avalanche hit. This time, I couldn't get back up. Three hours later, Sandra was in a car accident. She needed a blood transfusion. That's when he finally thought of me. But by then, he didn't know—I was already gone. Me, and the child I'd never hold, were still buried under the snow.

At our high school reunion, my ex announced he was getting married. In the middle of the congratulations, someone piped up. “Hey, where’s Wren tonight? She didn’t show?” The whole room cracked up. “Wren? Probably still earning her keep in some rich guy’s bed.” “She dumped James for money, and now look at him. He’s the wealthiest guy in New York. Bet she’s kicking herself.” Someone snickered. “I heard the guy’s some fat old man. God, how does she even stomach it.” I broke up with James Thorne the year he loved me the most, and walked straight into the arms of another man, a man with money. Now he had a new girlfriend, he’d taken over Thorne Capital, and he was one of New York’s most talked-about young executives. He’d organized this reunion because he couldn’t wait to show off how good his life had turned out. “Enough. Drop it.” In the middle of the laughter, James spoke up. “I have a better life now. Whether Wren is dead or alive has nothing to do with me anymore.” “What if she really were dead?” The room went silent.

To snatch a limited-edition piece of jewelry for his mistress, my blind brother was shoved down a flight of stairs. Ethan Sterling, one of the best surgeons in the country, refused to enter the operating room — all because of a tiny cut on his precious sweetheart's finger. He forged a forensic report and bought Daniel's life for a mere fifty thousand dollars. Even my own daughter turned against me: "You're a liar! Aunt Vivian is the best person in the whole world!" Later, in front of everyone, I stepped off the third-floor terrace and plunged into the void. Ethan Sterling lost his mind. He knelt by the river for three days and three nights, clawing his fingers raw against the stone. A year later, desperate to save his daughter from going blind, he knelt in a downpour begging that mysterious, world-renowned surgeon. I stood there holding my umbrella, utterly unmoved. "I'm afraid you have the wrong person, Mr. Sterling. Miss Holloway died a year ago." "I'm Mrs. Ashford. I'm here to acquire Sterling Medical."

The day my boyfriend, Ashton Grant, ends up in the hospital, I find his will. Or rather, 214 of them. They're written on different dates, but every single one names the same beneficiary. And it isn't me. It's his first love. My hands go cold. I can't even confront him because Ashton is lying unconscious in a hospital bed. "Mr. Grant is addicted to extreme sports. The more dangerous, the better," his assistant explains. "He writes a new will before every trip. But only the most recent one was ever made official through his lawyer." I already know the answer before I ask. "And I'm still not in it, am I?" The assistant falls silent. After six years together, Ashton still disappears for weeks at a time, leaving me terrified that he won't come home one day. And all this time, whenever he risks his life, he's making sure that another woman is taken care of if he dies. His first love. If she's the one he thinks about when he might not make it home, then why should I be the one waiting and worrying when he leaves?

Three days before I got married, Evan Jones' claustrophobic ex-girlfriend cornered my car at the cliff of a winding road and rammed into me 12 times. When Evan arrived with the police, I was being rescued by the firefighters from my driver's seat, which had been smashed out of shape. However, Evan went to the limited-edition sports car, which had only lost some paint, and carried the trembling Nikki Shore in his arms. "Evan, Madison is bleeding on her forehead; she needs to get it stitched up at the hospital." However, Evan stopped my stretcher from getting into the car and glanced at my bleeding forehead and bruised arms. "These are just minor injuries, but Nikki has claustrophobia. Her condition will only get worse, and she has to go to the hospital first." As I was about to be left behind, I used the last of my strength to grab Evan by his pant leg. He frowned and pried off my fingers. "Nikki didn't crash into you on purpose. It's just her condition acting up. You're a lawyer, and you should know how some things are beyond our control, so stop making a fuss right now." With that, his assistant handed him a settlement agreement, and Evan grabbed my limp wrist to print my fingerprint on the papers. "Just bear with this. The ambulance will be coming soon."

On the day I die, my wife, Rosalie Jackson, picks up her childhood sweetheart, Brandon Milton, when he returns to the country. In the past, I made her a promise because I love her deeply. "I'm willing to give you whatever you want if it's within my power to do so." Her eyes are full of venom when she asks, "Then, will you die for me?" Later, I die as Rosalie wishes. However, when she hears about my death, she completely loses her mind.

On my birthday, my wife, Selena Zane, slices off my ear. She does it just because her first love, Yale Sullivan, makes some nonsense. I scream and beg her to stop, but she ties me up and lets Yale dump leeches straight into my open wound. "Don't worry," she says casually. "He's a freak who can't feel pain. You can do whatever you want with him." Eventually, I go into shock and die from the excruciating pain. Only then does she regret what she has done. Consumed by remorse, she tortures Yale to death, believing it is the only way to make up for my death.

Five years after my death, my wife, Charlotte Blake, once again asks me to take the fall for Leo Cane, her first love, in his drunk driving case. She barges into my home with fabricated evidence but finds no trace of me anywhere. Left with no other choice, she knocks on my neighbor's door. My neighbor tells her something unexpected. "Shane Foster? He's been dead for a long time. I heard the victim's family from the case he was convicted for wasn't satisfied with the verdict. "They abducted him the day he got out of prison and tortured him for three days straight." Charlotte refuses to believe it. She furiously accuses me of making up any lie to escape responsibility. She storms at the neighbor, shouting, "You think I don't know Shane paid you to cover for him? "Tell him there's no use in hiding. If he doesn't contact me within three days, he won't get a single cent of child support for that bastard." But she doesn't know that the person Leo killed in that drunk driving accident is the very "bastard" she keeps referring to.