Feel-Good Story 단편 소설 & Scumbag Countdown 소설

My husband sent me to prison on our third wedding anniversary. I thought Bryce Holloway was the love of my life. My high school sweetheart and husband. The man I had spent three years trying to build a family with. So when I found out I was pregnant, I couldn’t wait to surprise him. But instead of celebrating our anniversary, I was arrested for my father’s murder. “I didn’t kill my father!” The evidence said otherwise. And when Bryce finally came to the police station, I thought he would save me. Instead, he leaned closer and whispered, “Didn’t you say you wanted something unforgettable for our anniversary?” My heart shattered when he added, “Enjoy your life sentence.” He had framed me. While I was rotting in prison, he divorced me and married my stepsister, Daniella. “He should’ve chosen me from the beginning.” Daniella said. I thought my life was over. Then I discovered I wasn’t carrying one baby. I was carrying twins. And I made one decision… Bryce would never know they existed. But keeping my children a secret wasn’t enough. My stepmother wanted me dead, my inheritance was at risk, and the people who destroyed my life were determined to make sure I never walked out of prison. Until someone helped me disappear. My father’s attorney, Roman Ashford. Two years later, everyone believed Kaia Bennett was dead. But they were wrong. I returned to California under a new identity, with my twins by my side and one goal in mind. Taking back everything that belonged to me.

I was a slum kid who fell for Damon Vitale, New York’s most feared Godfather. For five years, I was his. I took nine bullets for him. He’d kiss my scars as I bled out for him. Hold me close. Clasp the queen’s necklace around my throat. Then, once I healed, he’d fuck me senseless, with a passion that felt like forever. I thought we’d spend our lives together. I thought he would marry me. But on our 999th night together, he told me he was engaged. To Bianca, a mafia princess from a rival family. I swallowed my tears. He just grabbed my chin, blew smoke in my face, and laughed. "You didn't really think you could marry me, did you, Nora? Let's be clear. We fuck. That's it. You're not a partner. You're a piece of art I collect. A pet I own." A pet. That’s all he ever wanted for me. Instead, I picked up a burner phone. [I'm taking your offer. Three days. Get me the hell out of New York.]

Zach Lawson was one of the novel's male leads. He was supposed to be deeply loyal and devoted to the female protagonist. But somehow, he fell in love with me—an insignificant supporting character. The system decided that he had swerved too far away from the plot and killed him off with a car crash. I made a deal with the system and revived him in exchange for my chance to return to the real world. His legs were useless after the revival, so I took him everywhere just to find a cure. I stayed with him during his recovery, and I did not leave while he worked his way back up. During the company's celebratory event, a reporter asked him what his drive for success was. He smiled gently. "Someone I owe my life to." The edges of my eyes went red, but then I realized he was not looking at me. It was on a woman in the first row, who was wiping her tears away. This novel's female protagonist. The crowd applauded. A system notification popped up. "Five years have passed. The promise is fulfilled. Will you return to the real world?" I looked at him. He was walking toward Rainie Quinton. "What happens after I leave?" "He'll be killed off, like he was supposed to be." "I see," I said. Then I thought, 'I'm leaving, Zach. And this time, it's for real.'

At the Thanksgiving dinner, Raphael's assistant Daphne was sitting in my seat. I frowned at Raphael. “Why is she in the Donna's seat? Doesn’t she know, and don’t you?” Raphael clicked his tongue, impatient. “You're the one who showed up late. People sit where they want. If it bothers you, leave.” I opened my mouth to argue, and his thoughts reached me before I could. [Scarlett, get angry. Fight back.] [Tell me you're my wife, the Donna of the Sterling family, that no one else has the right to sit at my side.] [Prove you love me. It's the only thing that makes me feel safe.] This time, I didn't give his thoughts what they were begging for. I slid the wedding ring off my finger instead. “That's the Donna's seat. If you've decided she belongs in it, I won't argue.” “Let's get divorced.”

My ex, Luca Romano, had a rival family on his tail, so he begged me to hide him at my family's private estate for five days. For old times' sake, I agreed and gave him a temporary passcode that would work for five days. Five days later, I finished my work out of town and returned to the estate. When I entered the passcode, the door wouldn't open. Someone had changed it. I rang the doorbell. A woman I had never seen before came out wearing my nightgown. She yawned as if she owned the place. The moment she saw me, she looked at me with disgust. "So you're the ex-girlfriend who won't leave Luca alone? "You two already broke up, and now you're showing up at his place in the middle of the night? Don't you have any shame?"

It was the day before Eric Blade's birthday party, and I was on the guest list. Eric was supposed to be my fiancé. But in a secret bet with his older brother, Tristan Blade, he had lost the right to propose to me first. I hadn't even had time to react. Then he added me to a private Blade family group chat. Only a few people were in it, all from Eric's inner circle. Tristan was there too. "Congrats, Tristan, on winning yourself a 220-pound fiancée." Eric posted a photo of me at a gala two years earlier. My evening gown was stretched so tight it looked ready to split. My neck was practically invisible beneath all that fat. The chat had been quiet until someone finally spoke up. "Holy shit, she's supposed to be a noblewoman? She looks like a pig!" Then Eric added another message. "A bet's a bet, Tristan. "Tomorrow you have to propose to Emma in front of our father." Tristan still didn't say a word. Eric even opened a betting pool at the casino run by his family. The bet was whether Tristan would dare propose. Jasmine Blade, Tristan and Eric's adopted sister and known for her beauty, tagged me. "Emma, I've wanted to be friends with you for so long. "Congratulations." That was what she said, but she bet that Tristan wouldn't propose. I looked at their messages and laughed. No one knew. Two years ago, I saw Eric from across the room at a gala. Since then, I had gone from 220 pounds to 110. And none of them knew what the past two months had been like for me. In that time, I'd received more personal invitations than in my first 18 years combined. Quietly, I put down $20,000. I bet that Tristan would propose. Then I replied in the chat, "A bet's a bet."

A year ago, when Bailey Knight's side girl, Lucy Day, showed up in front of me, causing a scene, he had his people beat her until she lost the baby and tossed her out. Then he groveled before me for three straight hours, begging me to forgive him. Looking at the man I'd loved for ten years, looking so pitiful and broken, I eventually caved. Later, I caught Lucy sneaking around Bailey's villa in the suburbs, so I had her thrown out again. Three days before our wedding, Bailey grabbed me by the neck and shoved me up against the railing on the second-floor balcony, yelling so hard that his voice broke. "We already took Lucy's baby once! She can't handle it happening again. She's fragile. You're a woman—how can you not understand that? "I've given you the title of Mrs. Knight. I'd give you my life. Isn't that enough? Why can't you just accept her?" The next second, his secretary ran up to say they'd found Lucy. He shoved me down the stairs. The pain when my arm snapped made me feel like my whole body was being torn apart. But he didn't even look back. Staring at the cold, heartless man in front of me, I felt something inside me go completely dead. I picked up my phone and called Arnold Greenwood. "I don't wanna marry him anymore. Come get me."

Ten years into our secret relationship, Alex pulled out a ring at a yacht party. He leaned against the deck railing, his tone lazy. "Actually, I'm planning to propose tonight. " The crowd erupted instantly. Someone whistled, someone pounded on a table telling him to get down on one knee, and guessed who the mystery woman he'd kept hidden for ten years might be. I stood at the back of the crowd, so nervous my breathing came in ragged bursts. For ten years, Alex had never publicly acknowledged our relationship. During the hardest days of his startup, he said investors didn't like founders weighed down by romantic attachments. Then, once he became New York's most sought-after biotech rising star, the excuse became that the board and the media loved scrutinizing his personal life. Time after time, I believed he just wasn't ready yet. For him, I gave up a research position at Harvard, lost our child, and didn't even make it to my mother's bedside before she died. And now, he had finally pulled out a ring. Without even thinking, I reached for the pair of dark blue cufflinks in my pocket. I had spent three months of my savings to craft them as a tenth-anniversary gift. But he didn't stop in front of me. He brushed past me, walked up to Lillian, who had just returned to New York after ending her second marriage in Europe, and dropped to one knee. The deck fell silent for a heartbeat, then erupted into even louder cheers. Alex slid the ring onto Lillian's finger, and smiled carelessly. "See? Told you she wouldn't dare make a scene even after seeing the ring. Ten years, and when has she ever really stood up to me?" Lillian looked past his shoulder at me, undisguised triumph gleaming in her eyes. So the proposal hadn't been spontaneous. They had bet on whether I would make a scene. I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and turned to leave. So ten years really could be worth this little.

For generations, every she-wolf born into the Frostmoon Pack has been an Omega. We aren't fighters, but our bloodline can stabilize an Alpha's power and produce exceptionally strong heirs. When I came of age, our pack's centuries-old tradition dictated that I should bond with Lucas Grant, the Alpha of the Blackstone Pack. My parents had always put pack law above everything else. Yet for the first time, they urged me to defy tradition and refuse. But I was already in love with Lucas. I ignored their warnings and bonded with him anyway. On our tenth bonding anniversary, I came home to find another she-wolf in our bedroom. She lay in our bed, carrying the unmistakable scent of a pregnant she-wolf. The same scent I carried. But Lucas forcibly shut down the link between us and shielded her. "Evelyn, I'm sorry. Vivian just found out she's carrying my pup. Her wolf is restless, and she needs my scent to calm down. Sleep in another room tonight. If you're upset, I can apologize." Even his apology sounded polite, as though he were simply telling me about a change in sleeping arrangements. He probably expected me to cry and cause a scene like I used to, demanding to know why he kept bringing other she-wolves home. But this time, I said nothing. I was already exhausted. What Lucas didn't know was that a mate bond without true love would eventually disappear. Ten years was the limit. At last, I was free to leave him.

The Day I Was Reborn, I Rejected the Alpha In my previous life, on my third year as Luna, I took an arrow tipped with wolfsbane meant for my Alpha mate Julian. My wolf was nearly killed, and I lay comatose for three full years. When I finally woke, Julian held my sister Lyra's hand and told me they were in love. He wanted me to step aside. My adoptive mother, Eleanor, pressured me to accept it. I refused. When the three of them closed in on me, I appealed to the Council of Elders. In the end, the Council ruled that Lyra be exiled. She couldn't bear the humiliation, and took her own life. Julian let me keep my title as Luna, but he hated me for the rest of his life. He would look at me with cold, dead eyes. "You should never have woken up. Then I wouldn't have lost Lyra." My adoptive mother blamed me too — for killing my sister, for destroying our family. Seven years later, grief and alcohol had hollowed Julian out completely. On his deathbed, the cold mask slipped. He gripped my hand. "In the next life... will you let me have Lyra?" Something in me went numb. After Julian was gone, the pack fell apart without an Alpha. Every one of them cursed me for being the one still alive. In the fighting that came after, my own pack handed me over to a rival pack. They put a dozen arrows through me. I died alone in the wilderness. When I opened my eyes, I was back — back to the day I first woke up.