Disillusionment At Ten O'clock Novels & Stories

Traffic was bad, so it was already 11:00 pm by the time I arrived. The lights shone brightly outside the airport. Through the glass, I saw Josie resting her forehead against Jacob's broad back, shaking her head side to side like she was being cute. I blared the horn, and the pair of lovebirds scattered like spooked birds. Jacob saw my face and strode over, slapping the window hard. "Didn't I tell you to be here at 7:00 pm? Do you see what time it is now?" I lowered the window a crack and saw how pale his face was from the cold. I said coolly, "There was traffic."

He held my hand, promising, "I'll remember that forever, and I'll never make such a mistake again." He'd forgotten again a mere six months later. The scorching sunlight at noon burned my shoulders and back. In stark comparison, I felt as though my heart had been submerged in ice water, gradually cooling down until no warmth was left. I let out a derisive chuckle before returning to the stage. After turning to our friends and family waiting there, I announced calmly, "The marking ceremony is canceled." Later, I slowly tore the silver feathered wedding gown I'd worn 66 times into shreds, ripping up the remnants of dignity holding this relationship together.

“I’ll boil some water for tea.” The older woman nodded with a sigh. “Sounds better. I can really use your calming tea now.” “Leo said some things when I got back this afternoon,” he stated casually as he set the fire before filling the kettle with fresh water. Enna wiped her forehead with the back of her long sleeves. Her wrinkled face screwed up. “It was mayhem. I aged ten winters in the past week.” She shook her head. “Never in eighty decades of experience have I witnessed something like this.”

I had discarded my SIM card, after all. "Impossible! This is simply impossible!" He frantically redialed my number, refusing to accept reality. "Sir, please look at Facebook," the butler said. He immediately showed Rudolf the trending news. Rudolf grabbed the phone; he saw the Medina Group's official statement and a copy of the divorce agreement, as well as a public announcement stating that the two families' cooperation was over, with all contact to be cut entirely. It hit him like a truck. Rudolf staggered, reeling in disbelief.

Kline Creative eventually declared bankruptcy, and Elliot was blacklisted as a debtor. The once-glorious businessman became a debt-ridden failure overnight. He had to sell his luxury house and car, moving into an old, rundown neighborhood. The friends and partners who once surrounded him now avoided him like the plague. But what hurt him the most was the complete change in how the industry viewed him. People called him a clueless fool, duped by a young schemer. Some even maliciously speculated that there must have been an inappropriate relationship between him and Yvette, or else he wouldn't have trusted her so blindly.

When I woke up at four in the morning, I was planning to call the makeup artist when I noticed that my room was exceedingly silent. When I called, the makeup artist appeared perplexed and asked me, "But your fiance informed us last night that the wedding will be cancelled… You didn't know?" I rushed out of my room to find that Sean Wickham was leading his parents outside, and quickly asked, "Where are you going? Why didn't you tell me that you're calling off our wedding?"

"We're only thinking about Abend Group's future. Daisy really likes your bedroom, so why don't you let her have it? Once she gives birth, she'll return it to you. "I gave you the title of my wife, so I need to compensate Daisy in other ways. I promised her I'd repay her ten times over," Edward continued, trying to persuade me, but I couldn't listen any longer. His words made me nauseous. "Edward, how did we end up like this? There was a time when we truly loved each other. We vowed to love only one another for a lifetime in that chapel." He hadn't expected me to say that. He was stunned, as if recalling the happy moments we had once shared.

I woke to silence and cold sheets beside me. Dominic was gone. The indent from his body had already cooled, which meant he'd been up for a while. I lay there for a moment, listening to the city hum outside the windows—so far below we might as well have been in another world. The clock on the nightstand read 7:47 AM. I had no idea what time he'd left. I pulled myself out of bed and padded barefoot across the room. The penthouse felt different in daylight—less like a trap, more like a museum. Everything in its place. Nothing out of place. Nothing real.

Dahlia I wasn’t expecting them to still be awake. It was past eleven when I finally pulled into the driveway, my truck making that god-awful rattling noise it always made when I pushed it past sixty on the back roads. I’d lost track of time at Morning Dew again, hunched over vendor contracts until the numbers blurred and my head throbbed. My shoulders burned from leaning over the desk too long, and all I could think about was shoving something quick into my stomach, peeling off my clothes, and crashing face-first into bed.

Tears rolled down Isabelle's cheeks as she clutched my hand and said in a trembling voice, "Lucas, I really know I was wrong. We can register for marriage tomorrow—no, right now. The moment the city hall opens tomorrow, we'll be the first ones there. Give me one more chance, please?" Her face was filled with regret. I figured she really did regret it this time. But the cracks in our relationship weren't formed overnight. They had widened over seven years, until everything finally collapsed today. Naturally, there was no fixing us anymore.