Alice Parachute Dress

My secretary replaced me on my wedding day, walking down the aisle in a white wedding gown. The man I had loved for ten years threw the bridesmaid dress in my face and ordered me to wear it instead. "She is the bride now. You'll be next," he said coldly. My grandmother was so furious that she fell ill on the spot. Meanwhile, he and the secretary smiled brightly as they completed the wedding ceremony. After the grand wedding, the secretary posted photos of herself in her wedding gown on social media. The comments were overwhelmingly congratulatory. [Today is such a beautiful day, I finally got what I wanted. I hope those who try to ruin someone else's relationship will wake up soon.] She wrote. Chester Morrison replied to her post: [It is a great day. Don't ruin your good mood by some trash.] When I returned home, holding my grandmother's photo, who had passed away, I found them tangled together on the bedspread my grandmother had lovingly sewn for me, the one with a pair of Swan that symbolizes eternal love.

On the day of my wedding gown fitting, a stranger burst into the VIP suite and stabbed me with a knife. “You think you deserve a dress this expensive after stealing someone else’s man?” She tore at the delicate fabric of my skirt. Then, with a twisted smile, she hurled a bottle of acid at me. The blade was buried in my lower abdomen. The pain drove me to my knees. She grabbed my hair and yanked my head up. “Gerald’s my husband! What are you? You’re nothing but a mistress who can’t even be seen with him in public!” Blood dripped down my fingers. That was when it finally sank in. The man I had been with for seven years had been keeping another woman by his side. “What’re you staring at? Even if I kill you, with my husband’s influence, no one will dare touch me!” Staring at her smug face, I pulled out my phone with hands slicked in blood and called my brother. “Matt…” My voice was unnervingly calm. “Come pick me up at the bridal shop. And please inform the Hoover family that the engagement is off.”

Survival taught Elon Rivers that his body could be a weapon—just not in the way his stepfather intended. Now he works the con: dress pretty, play helpless, drug them, and disappear with their valuables. It's not honest work, but nothing about Elon's life has ever been honest. When he targets the wrong mark—Fort Thorne, a mafia enforcer with eyes like a winter grave—his carefully constructed world shatters. Fort knew exactly what Elon was from the moment he walked into that hotel room. The briefcase Elon stole contained information worth killing for, and Fort wants it back. There's just one problem: Elon's roommate has already stolen it from him, and now Fort is out two million dollars. Fort's offer is simple: return what was stolen, or work off the debt. Every single Penny. Trapped in Fort's world of violence and power, Elon discovers that his captor is as damaged as he is, and that the line between hatred and desire is thinner than he ever imagined. But in a world where trust is a luxury neither can afford, falling for the enemy might be the most dangerous con of all.

Every woman's wedding day was always the happiest day of her life, but not in my case. On my wedding day, my white dress was stained with blood and a dripping bloody knife on my right hand. And on the floor was my groom covered in a pool of his own blood. I was accused of murdering the man I spent four years loving. The world turned their backs against me in my time of need and I was sentenced to thirty years in prison for a crime that I didn't commit. One year passed by after Simon's murder and I've learnt to adapt to my new life confined to those strong iron bars. Until.. A knight in shining armour appeared out of the blue to bail me out, which was almost impossible but he did. And soon, I figured out that the man I had mourned for and also accused and sentenced for his murder was living his best life in another country with my best friend and their new born baby. A betrayal like that hurts but a blood thirty revenge was all I craved for.

The night before the company went public, my wife told me she had a surprise for me and reminded me to dress up for the occasion. I thought she was planning to reveal our secret relationship, and I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep all night. However, the next day, in front of everyone, she announced that I was a creepy obsessive admirer. On top of that, she revoked my promotion and gave my position to her first love who had just returned to the country. Everyone was waiting to see me humiliated. I froze for a moment but quickly composed myself, walking up to her first love with a faint smile. Then, I took off the badge on my chest and placed it on him. “As the new director, you should celebrate, shouldn't you? How about a wedding? I’ll officiate for you two.” Glaring at me coldly, my wife told me to get lost and stop embarrassing myself. What they didn’t know was that I was the key connection holding the entire company together. If I left, none of the investors would back them anymore.

I was the sole front desk clerk at a haunted hotel. Welcoming players, checking in on the bosses’ quarters, and slacking off a bit were all part of the job. At least, that was what I thought. It turned out my days were far from ordinary. A blood-drenched little girl in a tattered red dress kept ringing the service bell. Her eerie voice echoed, “Miss, why didn’t you come play with me?” A creepy black cat with glowing eyes wouldn’t stop meowing and rubbing against my legs. And then there was the old woman with claws like knives, cheerfully knitting me a sweater… out of players’ skin. One day, I took a day off to care for my sick mother. That was my biggest mistake. The entire game instance erupted in chaos. Bosses interrogated players, demanding to know where their precious front desk clerk had gone. “Did she abandon us? Is she never coming back?” I ran. They chased. But no matter how fast I fled, their grip on me only tightened. In the end, escape wasn’t an option.

“Part your legs for me, Beth. Yes, like that. All nice and slow like a good girl.” * * * When Beth’s boyfriend of five years cheats on her, she decides she’s done being a good girl. Donned in her best party dress, she stops at a fancy club with the intention of partying and drowning herself in the best liquor they have to offer. Her plans seem to be going well until someone notices the beauty on the dance floor. A hot, handsome stranger with the most flirtatious smile she has ever seen. The two get talking, and he makes the most outlandish offer: one night in his bed. What better way to forget a cheating ex other than to let a stranger flush his memories out of her system? So, she says yes to the best night of her life. But what happens when this hot stranger demands more than a night stand with her? What will she do when another handsome man approaches her with the craziest story about werewolves?

In my last life, my sister Serena Vega ran to Monaco the night before her wedding, and my family shoved me into her dress before dawn. Damian Lucchese, the young Godfather of New York, had been waiting at the altar for her. The moment he lifted my veil and saw me instead, the warmth in his eyes went cold. For five years, I was his hidden wife. The underworld knew he was married, but no one knew to whom. My parents blamed me for stealing Serena’s place and still failing to keep his heart. Then Serena came home. That Christmas, Damian took her and my parents to his mountain estate. When a blizzard hit, his men rushed everyone onto the helicopter. No one remembered me. I died in that frozen house, three months pregnant with Damian’s child. When I opened my eyes again, Serena had just returned to New York. This time, I would not beg for love. Only when I truly walked away, none of them had the right to regret it.

J'ai fixé du regard le contrat de mariage Vercetti que mon père avait poussé vers moi sur la table. Sans hésiter, j'ai inscrit le nom de ma demi-sœur, Demi, et je l'ai repoussé vers lui. Mon père s'est figé. Puis ses yeux se sont illuminés d'une excitation ridicule, comme s'il venait de gagner au loto. « Comment as-tu pu laisser ta sœur bénéficier d'une telle opportunité ? » Dans ma vie antérieure, mon mariage était une plaisanterie pour tout mon entourage. J'étais la petite sorcière aux cheveux roux et indomptable qui osait entrer dans l'orbite de Cassian Vercetti, l'héritier et chef de la famille criminelle Vercetti. Je n'ai jamais été parfaite ni obéissante. Il aimait les robes de déesse. Je portais des minijupes et dansais sur les tables. Il exigeait une intimité missionnaire, traditionnelle et ordonnée. Je voulais grimper sur lui, le chevaucher, me perdre complètement. Lors d'un gala, les femmes de la haute société se sont moquées de mes cheveux, de ma robe, de ma « sauvagerie ». Je pensais qu'il ferait au moins semblant de me défendre. Il ne l'a pas fait. « Pardonnez-lui. Elle n'est pas... correctement dressée. » Dressée. Il parlait de moi comme si j'étais un chien. J'ai passé toute ma vie à étouffer sous ses règles, à me plier de force pour m'adapter à ce qu'il voulait, jusqu'à la nuit où notre maison a pris feu. Quand j'ai rouvert les yeux, j'étais revenue au moment où j'avais appris le mariage arrangé. J'ai regardé le contrat devant moi. Cette fois-ci ? Je pensais que les garçons de la boîte de nuit me convenaient mieux. Mais dès que Cassian a réalisé que la mariée n'était pas moi, il a brisé toutes les règles qu'il avait toujours suivies.

I waited for my boyfriend for three hours at his birthday party. Sean Ziegler was supposed to show up dressed as the star of night. However, his secret lover, Josie Sullivan, called him to the hospital. She had pretended to sprain her ankle. There, she recorded a video of her and Sean kissing. In the heat of the moment, Sean stood up and pushed her against the door. But he was supposed to be paralyzed. “Sean, why haven’t you told Wendy that your legs are fine now?” “If she knows, she’ll pressure me to marry her. Seriously, who does she think she is? Wendy’s just a free maid. She’s not good enough to be my wife,” Sean said in a muffled voice. After that, he continued to kiss Josie intensely. Wearing the wedding dress I had designed, Josie looked provocatively into the camera. The video then ended with the sounds of them kissing. It turned out that Sean had been lying to me all along. I threw the cake that I made for him into the trash. Then, I texted my mom. [Mom, I’ll go on that blind date.]