Booktok Promotion Novels & Stories

By the seventh year of my engagement to Tristan, he postponed our wedding for the third time. The reason was simple. His childhood sweetheart, Gabriella, had returned to the country. She had just gone through a divorce and was emotionally unstable. Tristan personally retrieved every invitation we had sent out, his tone calm and steady. "Gabby has no one by her side right now. I can't upset her at a time like this." I held the ring that had already been resized twice and asked, "What about me?" Tristan glanced at me. "You're different. You're sensible." I had been hearing that word for seven years. Sensible. When his startup failed, I sold the old house my grandmother had left me to help him pay off his debts. When he suffered a gastric hemorrhage, I stayed at the hospital for three days straight and missed my own promotion defense. When his mother said my background was too ordinary for him, he only rubbed his temples and said, "Tori, don't make this difficult for me." Every time, I nodded. He once told me that no matter how thick the fog became, he would always leave a light on for me. Until the day Gabriella stood in front of the mirror wearing my wedding dress and smiled as she asked, "Victoria, you don't mind, do you? Tristan said your wedding's being postponed anyway." Tristan stood behind her. He did not deny it. He even reached out and adjusted her veil for her. The fog lamp he had given me with his own hands sat by the display window of the bridal shop. It was still lit, illuminating someone else in the white dress I had waited seven years to wear. Only then did I realize that some roads were not lost because the fog was too thick. It was because he had never planned to come for me at all.

In the seventh year of my long-distance relationship, I quit my job behind my boyfriend, William Harrington's back and travel more than 600 miles to Frostmere. I do all that just so I can give him a nice surprise and get married to him. When the receptionist hears that I'm looking for William, she wears a bemused look. "Mr. Harrington is in the middle of a meeting. Please wait for a moment." I'm secretly surprised by her response. Willian has never told me about the fact that he got promoted. When I video-called him last week, he was even complaining to me how stressful work had been for him. Getting a promotion seemed like an impossible dream at this point. As soon as I turn around, I hear the receptionist whispering to her colleagues. "This must be Mr. Harrington's mistress, right?" "Wow… She really is bold to have found her way to the company like this." "Since Mr. Harrington is having an affair, doesn't this mean Mrs. Harrington will kick up a fuss when she finds out about it?" I want to turn around and tell the ladies that they've mistaken me for someone else. William isn't married yet, and I'm his actual girlfriend of ten years. But before I can open my mouth, the spinning door reveals a woman in a high-end attire walking into the company's lobby. The receptionists quickly shut their mouths. Then, they address the woman respectfully as "Mrs. Harrington". Alexandra Rowland is in the middle of a phone call. Her voice is sickly sweet as she speaks on the phone. "Darling, I've reached the lobby. Hurry up and pick me up! I don't care! You have to attend the prenatal check-up with me today!" A crystal-clear deep, masculine voice that carries a hint of doting drifts over Alexandra's phone speaker. "Got it, Lexi. The meeting will be over soon. You can wait for me in the lounge for the time being." I've listened to that voice for the past seven years, so I'm extremely familiar with it. That voice belongs to my boyfriend, William…

The mayor was in a car accident and rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment. My boyfriend, Joe Reid, wanted our junior colleague, Melissa Cross, to become the mayor's savior, so he convinced the entire department to delay the surgery while waiting for her. She was late because she had been making her special herbal drink. The mayor's life was hanging by a thread. If we did not act fast, we'd all be in serious trouble! I pleaded with them to start the surgery immediately, but all I received was accusations. "You're just jealous because Joe promised Melissa a permanent position. You're trying to ruin her chance to impress the mayor, aren't you?" I dropped to my knees and begged my colleagues. Only then, reluctantly, did they agree to proceed to the operating room. I served as lead surgeon with Joe and my colleagues assisting. After twelve hours, we finally saved Mayor Richard Carter's life. Afterward, our entire department received a massive bonus from the mayor. Both Joe and I were promoted. Yet on the night of my promotion, Melissa drugged me and had me locked in the hospital morgue's refrigeration unit, where I froze to death. Meanwhile, Joe led the entire department in lying to the police. "Kimberly Hayes had corrupt medical ethics. She stole credit for saving the mayor's life from Melissa to get promoted, then killed herself out of guilt." I died with my name destroyed. Melissa used this opportunity to secure her permanent position and even became department director with Richard's help. My father believed there was more to my death and fought for justice everywhere, but Joe had him committed to a psychiatric hospital where he was beaten to death by other patients. Only after death did I learn the truth. This was all a conspiracy between Melissa and Joe. Melissa was too afraid to be lead surgeon. They delayed everything just to replace me! When I opened my eyes again, I had been reborn to the day Joe led the entire department in waiting for Melissa before the surgery. In this life, I would not stop these ungrateful colleagues from destroying themselves.