Substitute Tragic Love 短篇故事與小說

I am Ella Collins, the mate of the Darkshadow Pack's Alpha. Our pack was the strongest in Nomerika. Everyone knew Darkshadow was the top pack in the entire region. They had swallowed up countless smaller packs and made plenty of enemies along the way. After Adam marked me, he took me to every pack banquet and ceremony. He even introduced me to allied packs, proudly telling them I was his beloved mate. Everyone believed he loved me deeply. I believed it too. I was completely immersed in that love. However, I overheard him talking to his Beta one day. "There are so many packs that hate me. They'd tear me apart if they had the chance. "If I don't claim Ella and make her look like the one I love most, they'll target my real weakness—Amy." His words struck me like lightning. I finally learned the truth. I was nothing but a carefully chosen decoy. I was Adam's shield, designed to protect the woman he truly loved. I had foolishly mistaken his attention for affection and his betrayal for love. When I finally left Adam and disappeared into the distance… That was when he began to regret everything.

In my eighth year of simping for Darcy Lemche, I finally got a chance to become his Luna. That night, standing by Spirit Fall in Dusk Forest, he took off the wolf-tooth necklace he'd worn for years and casually tossed it into the deep pool. “Ginger, jump in and retrieve it, and I'll make you my Luna someday soon.” He knew perfectly well that I couldn't swim—and that jumping in could kill me. But he thought I was simping for him just because he was the heir to the Alpha King. He believed I wouldn't jump, because surely, to me, life meant more than love. But I jumped. For the first time ever, he lost his temper in public. “Ginger, you're insane! Why did you do it? Don't ever do that again!” From that moment on, he began treating me like his Luna. He even declared to the pack that only I could ever be his mate. He truly believed I was his fated one. But what he didn't realize was—my heart had already died the moment I jumped into that pool. That night, I saw the truth clearly: how little I truly meant to him back then. I was just a game, a test. And even when I passed it, it didn't feel like love. It felt like pity... or guilt. While he was planning our bonding ceremony, thinking he could finally make me his Luna, I suddenly said: “Darcy Lemche, I'm rejecting you as my mate.” He was stunned—completely blindsided. He had never imagined that the she-wolf who once loved him more than life itself would walk away. It was well known in the pack how deeply I loved him. But until that very day, I finally realized—I didn't love him anymore. So I turned away in front of everyone, without a single word. No matter how he begged or pleaded, I walked away without hesitation.

I had already bought the house we were supposed to build our future in, and over the years, I had carefully set aside a substantial wedding fund. I could not wait to spend the rest of my life with my girlfriend, Jeannie Cooperd. Jeannie had always seemed delicate and timid. Even a simple remark would leave her eyes red with tears. For two years, I spoiled her shamelessly, giving in to her every whim. Every plan I made, every dollar I saved, and every dream I held revolved around our wedding and the life we would share together. Then, I received the kidney compatibility report. The moment I saw the results, my heart turned icy. The woman who normally shrank from pain was now gripping my shoulders with surprising strength, determined to push me toward the operating room. "You're healthy! What's the big deal about living with one kidney?" she cried. "Elliot is dying!" Elliot. The name alone was enough. He was the first love she had never truly let go of, the one she had kept hidden in the deepest corner of her heart. Just yesterday, he was diagnosed with complete kidney failure. To pay for his treatment and cover the debts he had accumulated, Jeannie secretly canceled our wedding, drained every cent from the wedding fund and savings we had built together, and poured it all into Elliot's medical bills and endless financial problems. That was not enough. With sweet words and carefully crafted lies, she coaxed me into coming to the hospital and persuaded me to undergo compatibility testing.

When our two packs were at war, I secretly injected myself with the deadly Silverthorn Toxin to save my Alpha mate. But when he woke, Fenris hailed another she-wolf, Vanessa, as his savior, and condemned me as his enemy. "Freya, you are here to repay a blood debt. Your Silver Crest pack owes me the lives of my entire pack." He obliterated the last remnants of my family in this city. He imprisoned me on his private territory, tormenting me daily, his Alpha presence a constant, crushing weight. He dressed Vanessa in the Luna's gown and announced that she was carrying his child. And to everyone else, I was nothing more than a canary in his gilded cage. The tearing agony of our rejected mate bond was more lethal than any torture. He gripped my jaw, forcing me to watch as the landmarks my family had built were torn down, one by one. "Did you really think one mating ceremony could wash away the ocean of blood between us?" he sneered, his eyes devoid of any warmth. "You slaughtered my people. Do you think sending just one of you could ever atone for that sin?" Every time I tried to end my own life, he would dig up the bones of one of my kin from their graves and grind them to dust right in front of me. "I told you, you don't get to die without my permission." I stopped struggling. Let him hate me. After all, I only had three days left until the Silverthorn Toxin in my veins ran its course.

York Langston locked me up for six months. Word on the street was he dropped over 100 million to buy me my own private island. Security here? Tight enough to rival the White House. Even a bird that flew past the area would get shot down on sight. But what nobody knew… All that luxury people envied? To me, it was just a gilded cage. It wasn't until he found a woman who looked almost like me that his interest began to fade. One day, she stormed the island with a gang at her back while he was away. She slashed my tendons and carved up my face with a blade before locking me inside a cage with a rabid dog. I was barely breathing by the time York finally found me. "York, this woman thought she could fool you by imitating me? She must be a spy! You'll have to flay her alive if you want her to talk!"

Right before senior finals, Louise Ackman, the most sought-after heiress in Harland City's elite circles, got dumped out of nowhere by the school heartthrob, Paul Brennan. Chewing on a plain bread roll, I sidled up to her while she sat there, too heartbroken to study. "I look just like Paul. How about I ask you out instead?" She was quiet for a moment. Then she fastened the couples' bracelet she'd meant to give Paul around my wrist. With a clear conscience, I milked her for money, asking for a million dollars every month. She never argued. She just wired me two million. After we married, I gave her four nights a week, punctual to the minute and attentive to her every need. Everyone said Louise had found true love. Until the day my assistant pulled me aside and whispered, "You know that new executive assistant working for Ms. Ackman? Word is he was the school heartthrob back in the day. "Sir, Ms. Ackman seems to really like him. She even gave him your favorite private lounge..."

My obsession with Sebastian Royce was a legend among our social circle. Had he asked for a raw pearl from the seabed, I would have leapt off into the ocean to retrieve it. When he bid at an auction, I would throw millions away without a second thought—all just to catch a flicker of a smile on his face. Even when Sebastian flaunted his other women in front of me, I’d still crawl back to him like a starry-eyed fool. Everyone around us burned with frustration on my behalf. “Cynthia Stone, you’re an heiress to a fortune! Why on earth are you humiliating yourself over that jerk?” I would simply shake my head, a soft smile on my lips. “You guys don’t get it.” That was till the night Sebastian suffered an accident and a tiny, razor-thin scar sliced across his breathtakingly handsome face. My eyes flushed blood-red as I lunged forward, wrapping my hands tightly around his throat. “Sebastian Royce, go to hell.”

As Jeanette Shaw pushed open the door to the private room, she overheard a group of men talking about how deeply a first love could leave its mark. "Hank, we've all taken our turns. You're up next, so don't even think about getting out of it." The moment she heard that name, Jeanette's hand froze on the doorknob. After a long silence, Hank Johnson took a sip of his drink. A moment later, his deep, whiskey-roughened voice broke the quiet. "I had her name tattooed close to my heart. I never had it removed. "There's a bloodstain on my motorcycle jacket from the first time we were together. I've kept it all these years and never let anyone touch it. "My current girlfriend is her substitute."

I discover Quilton Fuller's affair before our wedding, so I lie to him about having aborted our child. He hates me for that and gets engaged to a woman who looks just like me. On his wedding day, he video-calls me, wanting to show me his bride. However, he's greeted by the sight of me bloody and battered after being tormented by abductors. I beg him to at least save the baby in my womb, but he says to the abductors, "You'd better kill her and her child."

I arranged a lavish dinner cruise in Alpha Lucien Grimfang's honor. However, I mistakenly wore the ceremonial gown that had once belonged to his late Luna, Sylvia Wilder. In front of all the guests, his ten-year-old son, Rhett Grimfang, suddenly rammed me into the champagne tower. The shattered crystal glasses left deep cuts across my skin. "Don't think that you can replace my mother just because you're wearing her sacred gown! You're nothing but a dog—obedient and always at my father's beck and call! Don't you dare dream of claiming a Luna's honor!" His cold, scornful expression mirrored Lucien's perfectly. "I can make you leave anytime I want!" I forced myself to look up at the pup I had raised. "Don't trouble yourself. Tomorrow, I'll submit my resignation to the Elder Council and leave for good."

After receiving the news that her husband had died during a mission, my sister-in-law collapsed from the shock. When she woke up, she'd lost her memory. She clung to my husband and refused to let go. Our husbands were twin brothers. The doctor said she couldn't be triggered, so my husband and mother-in-law sat me down and begged me to play along until she got over this. Every time I brought it up again, they shut me down. "This is only until she gets her memory back!" So I watched as my husband and his widowed sister-in-law eat, sleep, and live under the same roof. Even our daughter could only stand by and watch her cousin call him "Daddy". One day, my daughter spiked a high fever and wouldn't wake up. I begged my husband to take us to the hospital. Unexpectedly, his sister-in-law went berserk over it and threatened to kill herself. In the chaos, I was stabbed in the heart by the scissors she swung around. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back to the day my husband agreed to play the role of a substitute husband.

I'm abducted the day before my wedding. My abductors lock me in a dark cellar and repeatedly violate me. My legs are snapped, and I'm thrown out with a pile of trash while undressed. Someone takes a photo of me and shares it online. My family finds me a disgrace, so they send me to a hospital in the suburbs and hide me there. After half a year of treatment, my ovaries are removed due to extensive damage. My broken legs can't recover, and I lose the ability to walk. I'm supposed to be a rising star in dancing. Now, however, I'm forced to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I can't even have children anymore. The Levy family sees photos of me online and immediately calls off my engagement to their son, Quentin Levy. They call me a shameless woman. Then, they make Quentin marry my sister, Laura Sorensen. I think my family will pity me, but my grandfather calls me a disgrace. He wants to disown me. At that moment, Quentin's brother, Elias Levy, proposes to me. "You've only had eyes for my brother in the past. Now that he's married, will you give me a chance to care for you?" He sounds determined, and the heartache in his eyes moves me. I agree to marry him. After we're married, Elias gives me the love and care I need. He doesn't allow anyone to harm me. A year later, I complete my treatment earlier than expected and return home to surprise him for our anniversary. That's when I overhear his conversation with my brother. "Elias, I helped you trick Jean out of the house two years ago, leading to her abduction and torture. That's why she's like this now. So you can't let her down." "I did all of this for Laura's happiness. As for Jean, I'll make sure she doesn't have to worry about survival for the rest of her life…"

On the morning of our wedding, when Ethan Green came to pick me up, my bridesmaid Tessa stopped him at the door with three questions. "What mark on the bride's body would let you recognize the woman you love at a glance?" Ethan didn't even have to think. "A crescent moon on her right shoulder." The whole room went silent. Tessa gave an awkward cough and glanced at me on the edge of the bed. Because I didn't have a birthmark anywhere. The one with the crescent-moon birthmark on her right shoulder was my twin sister, Celina Linden, who'd stormed off to Paris four years ago. From age seven to 22, they were known all over New York for their love-hate relationship. During their worst fight, my sister dumped red wine over his head, and he smashed her favorite cello. The very next day, he scoured auction houses around the world for an identical one. They loved each other fiercely, but they were both wild and stubborn. Neither would back down. Four years ago, my sister left without a word to chase her freedom. To punish her for leaving him, Ethan proposed to me, the one who'd always carried messages between them. He said, "Then you marry me, Aria." For four years, I clung to that stolen marriage and made myself small. I learned to drink his espresso without sugar. I learned to iron every crease out of his shirts. Ethan snapped out of it and saw how pale I'd gone. He frowned and reached out to ruffle my hair. "Sorry, slip of the tongue. Aria, you've always been so understanding. Don't make a scene today of all days." I didn't throw a fit. I just smiled and set my bouquet back on the vanity. Ten minutes earlier, a flight from Paris had landed, and my sister had sent a message to the family group chat. "I'm back." What he didn't know was that I'd sent my suitcases to London by air the night before.

My boyfriend, Harvey Seinfeld, got diagnosed with cancer and needed a liver transplant. When I found out I was a match, I didn't think twice. Two-thirds of my liver—gone. The pain was brutal. As soon as I came to, I dragged myself to his room. Right before I walked in, I heard him laughing with his friends. "Harvey, you're a genius for coming up with such an epic revenge plan." He snorted. "If I didn't have to keep it low-key, I would've taken a kidney just for fun. "It's her fault Vivi bombed her art exam and had to study abroad. Vivi's coming back next month. That's when I'll be done with her for good."

On the day our couple channel hit thirty million followers, the milestone video was supposed to be my official debut on camera. I woke up at five in the morning to do my makeup and tried on a dozen different dresses. However, right before the cameras rolled, Julian stopped me. "Willow, let's have Evangeline do it instead. She's just more camera-ready. The fans will love her." Evangeline was my best friend. I stood frozen for a long time, but in the end, I simply nodded. From that day on, Julian and Evangeline played a romantic couple on screen for three years. I stood behind the lens, writing their scripts, setting up their lighting, and editing every single frame. I watched the comment section explode day after day. [They look so deeply in love! My favorite ship ever!] And I watched Julian hold Evangeline's hand with more and more ease. Until the night of our three-year anniversary stream, when the host asked them a question live on camera. "When was the exact moment you two felt the strongest spark for each other?" Julian and Evangeline smiled in perfect sync. "The very first day we shot together on camera." In an instant, the live stream chat erupted into wild cheers and screams. Sitting in the dark corner of the studio behind the control monitor, my heart sank. They had spent three years pretending to be in love, and I was the only fool who treated it like an act. As soon as the broadcast wrapped, I logged into the channel dashboard and revoked all my admin access. Then, I opened an email invitation for an overseas film project I had received two weeks ago and accepted it. From now on, I was done writing their love story.

Ophelia loved Dylan, the Alpha of the pack, with all her heart—but to him, she was merely a plaything, a lowly maid unworthy of his regard. His destined bride was Caroline, the noble-born Beta's daughter. When forced to send one of the two women to a rival pack in exchange for a life-saving antidote... who would he choose?

Felix Sterling had a thing for women who reminded him of his first love. I happened to look about eighty percent like the woman he had lost. Because of that, he spoiled me rotten and turned me into a spoiled, arrogant woman who got whatever she wanted. Whenever some foolish woman dared to provoke me, I would track down her home, even at three in the morning, and slap her dozens of times. Felix never said a harsh word to me. He simply cleaned up the messes I left behind. That was until a woman who looked even more like his first love appeared. Her name was Vivian Hart. The moment she saw me, she dropped to her knees. With tears in her eyes, she pleaded, “I heard you’re really good at hitting people. I’m afraid of pain. Please don’t hit me, okay?” Felix chuckled behind her and pulled her to her feet. Then he stood in front of me and told her, word for word, “Starting today, I’ll teach you how to get whatever you want. “You can keep tabs on people. You can hit other women.” He glanced casually at me and pointed in my direction. “Everything she used to do, you can do too. “You can completely overshadow her.” He stared into my eyes, as if trying to find some other emotion there. Instead, I suddenly laughed. What Felix Sterling didn’t know was that I had a thing for replacements too. He was the first replacement I had ever chosen. And just now, I had decided it was time to find the next one.

I attend Don Vittorio Moretti's celebration banquet in a white evening gown that once belonged to his late wife. But his seven-year-old daughter, Sofia Moretti, shoves me into the sea. As I plunge into the water, my ankle gets slashed by a jagged iron piling. The scent of blood instantly draws a frenzy of sharks. Above me, Sofia stands on the dock, clapping and laughing. The cruelty in her eyes is identical to the way Vittorio looks at me. Sofia points at me and screams, "Do you really think wearing my Mamma's dress makes you worthy of becoming the Donna of the Moretti family? "You're nothing but my Papa's mistress. If I tell him to throw you out, he'll do it." I thrash against the freezing waves, and with every kick, every bone in my body howls in pain. By the time they pull me ashore, I'm shivering beneath a shawl. I look at Sofia, waiting for an explanation. Instead, she simply lifts her chin and spits in my face. Whatever remained of my hope for the little girl I'd raised for seven years vanishes in that instant. "You don't have to wait for your Padre to throw me out. I'll leave on my own tomorrow."

In the third year after my mate and I bonded, I was handed over to Alpha Kyle Draven like a bargaining chip. Kyle never forced me to take his mark. He treated me kindly and gave me my freedom. He let me go back to my old pack regularly to see my family. When the backlash left me bedridden with a high fever, he stayed by my side all night. Little by little, I fell for him. It wasn't until later that I found out the truth. Kyle was using me as bait to distract the rogues running wild across his lands while he secretly rescued his fated mate. Once the woman he'd longed for was safe, he no longer needed me. All his warmth had been an act. He placed a bottle of sleeping potion in my palm. "It will suppress your vital signs for only three hours. "After the funeral, my people will wake you and take you far away, to the southern lands." So I went back to my pack to say goodbye. My former mate, Miles Carver, came to pick me up himself. My parents held me, trembling, and told me how much they'd missed me these past two years. I thought someone here, at least, would want me to stay. But that very night, my former mate carved my headstone himself. My mother dressed me in the clothes I was meant to die in. My father chose a solid wood coffin for me. They all tried to persuade me. "You'll only appear to be dead. You can start a whole new life in the south." As I watched my pack bustle around, it hit me that every word they'd said made sense. The Alpha wanted to welcome his fated mate. My former mate wanted to erase the shame of giving me away. My pack wanted to protect its standing and its honor. They'd planned every detail of my fake death. They kept saying it was for my own good, but no one asked if I wanted it. They wanted a perfect show. But I didn't want to play my part anymore.

Due to an accident, my wife and I lost our lives in a massive fire. When we open our eyes again, we find ourselves back on the day we registered our marriage. In our last life, everyone thought we were the perfect couple. Little did they know that my wife, Queenie Lloyd, refused to consummate our marriage. Right before my death, I found out that I was nothing but a replacement for her first love. Queenie had intended to remain chaste for him for the rest of her life. After being reborn, neither of us speaks of the past. By an unspoken agreement, we get a divorce that very day and go on to live separate lives. Eight years later, she attends an industry summit holding her childhood sweetheart's arm. She's now a rising star in the business world. I am dressed in plain clothes. When she notices me, she walks over with a champagne glass in hand. "Mr. Lawrence! Even if you still have feelings for me, you didn't have to disguise yourself as a waiter just to approach me. Are you still trying to convince me to get back together with you?" she sneers. I ignore her and smile as I wave at someone nearby. My son runs over to me and tugs on the corner of my shirt. "Mommy said she's tired, Daddy. She wants to know when you're coming to pick us up," he tells me. Upon hearing this, Queenie's face stiffens immediately, and she almost drops her wine glass.