Eric Church What I Almost Was

I was the stand-in who looked most like my husband's first love. He put me through countless plastic surgeries, both major and minor ones, until I became her exact likeness. But then, she came back from the dead. All it took was her saying, "I don't like anyone looking like me," and he sent me right back to the operating table once more. I begged him, telling him that my body couldn't handle it anymore. Alas, he only looked at me with irritation. "Seeing that cheap imitation of her face just disgusts me," he sneered. "No matter how close you come, you'll never be her." In the end, I died on that operating table. Yet, he went mad, trying desperately to recall what I once looked like.

In order to protect my father, I was tortured for ten hours, but my father was busy celebrating his adopted daughter’s eighteenth birthday. With my dying breath, I called my father and said, “Dad, it’s my birthday today. Could you wish me a happy birthday?” “You crazy monster! You got your mother killed in order to celebrate your birthday! How could you still ask me to celebrate your birthday? You should just die!” With that said, he hung up. The next day, my corpse was placed in different flower pots and put in front of a police station. My father was in charge of inspecting my corpse, and he could immediately tell that the murderer did this for revenge. What they did to me was cruel and made a mockery of the police’s authority. But he did not manage to tell that the deceased was the daughter he hated.

"Marry me. I would rather spend one lifetime with you – than face all the ages of this world without you," said a green-eyed, six-year-old boy before her. "Liam, why do you want to marry me?" Scarlett asked the young boy. "I want someone to be there for me," Liam answered. "To put me to bed, bring me to school, and someone to play with when daddy is away. I want someone to make me and my daddy smile. I want someone to love me and love my daddy, too.” The boy sighed and added, "I want my daddy to be happy too.” Liam gazed up at Scarlett and asked, "Miss Scarlett, will you give me a brother and a sister too?” "Wait. Wait. It sounded more to me like… you want me to marry your daddy," Scarlett said, bemused. The boy's eyes sparkled. He replied, "Why, Miss Scarlett, I like your proposal. I'll go tell Daddy.” Scarlett, “???” *** Scarlett Barnes was abandoned by her parents and shamed by her childhood friend and lover. Being labeled as the bitter ex, she yearned for her well-deserved revenge. What better way to have it than to be in the arms of another man, one that genuinely loved her? Her future love life and happiness were supposed to be her vengeance, but after a year, her surprise marriage proposal came from a six-year-old boy. Was this her chance at happiness? Scarlett soon found out that the boy's father was a smoking hot billionaire heir to the Wright Diamond Corporation in Braeton City, Kaleb Wright. Just when she thought the boy had won her heart, will she… fall for his daddy too? *** Book 5 of the Wright Family Series. This story can be read as a standalone. Search Author_LiLhyz on IG & FB.

I was the real daughter of the Sinclair family, yet I was the one abandoned when their fake daughter and I were kidnapped and taken to the top of a building. They were given a choice between the two of us, and they chose to save the fake daughter, letting me be pushed off from the eighteenth-floor balcony. Even though I survived, I was completely disappointed in them. Then, their attitudes changed overnight. My parents, who despised me, started asking me about my likes and dislikes. My brother who wished me dead, started suddenly giving me precious jewelry. Even my fiancé, who always claimed I was nothing compared to the fake daughter, started to prepare for our wedding. To say I was confused was an understatement.

"I've spent my entire career fighting for justice, but my heart just betrayed everything I stand for. I'm a lawyer, and I've fallen for the one person I should hate - the most notorious criminal in the country.

The heart wants what it wants, but sometimes it's not what it seems. In the high-fashion world of glamor and betrayal, small-town girl Riele sets out to heal the broken heart of billionaire CEO Kim. But her plan backfires when she finds herself falling for him, only to have her love rejected. Now, as Riele struggles to untangle her feelings for Kim and the truth about his past, she must navigate a treacherous path of secrets, lies, and hidden desires. But just when Riele thinks she's lost Kim forever, she discovers that his love for her rival, Jane, might not be what it seems. With her heart on the line, Riele must decide whether to fight for the man she loves or walk away from the pain and heartbreak that come with loving him. And Kim, tormented by his past and uncertain about his future, must confront the truth about his feelings for both women. Will he choose the safe, familiar path with Jane or take a chance on the unexpected passion that Riele ignites within him?

After pursuing Yves Chapman for five years, he finally agrees to marry me. Two months before the wedding, I get into an accident. I call him thrice, but he rejects my call each time. It's only because Clarisse Tatcher advises him to give me the cold shoulder for a while to stop me from pestering him. When I crawl out of that valley, I'm covered in injuries. My right hand has a comminuted fracture. At that moment, I finally understand that certain things can't be forced. But after that, he starts to wait outside my door, his eyes red as he asks me to also give him five years.

In the fifth year of my marriage to Kevin Gray, he, a sailor, is reported dead during a mission at sea. When his twin brother brings home his ashes, I break down and sob until I can barely breathe. Nothing can stand in the way of our love—not even death... or so I think. Grief consumes me. I cannot accept the reality of losing him. I try to end my life five times. Every time, Kevin's mother or his brother saves me. They plead with me to let go, to live on. After all, Kevin's last wish was for me to find happiness in every day of the life I had left. But in the third month of mourning, I discover the truth—he never died. He lied to me. He took his twin brother's identity and spent his days by Evelyn Stewart's side. He told me he still loved me, that he couldn't live without me, and that everything he was doing had a reason. He said he'd explain everything after Evelyn gave birth. To protect Evelyn and her unborn child, he asked me to move out for a while—just temporarily, until the baby was born. Then, he promised to bring me home again. Kevin, don't bother coming to get me. I'm not coming back.

My billionaire dad chooses a husband for me. People claim that Sebastian Lambert is a fine gentleman who's absolutely in awe of me. He seems easy enough to deal with, so I agree to the marriage. The wedding is held at the biggest hotel my family owns. On the big day, as I push open the doors in my wedding dress, a bucket of foul-smelling blood comes crashing down on me. The scene inside is even more horrifying. What was supposed to be a pure and romantic ceremony is now decorated with giant spiders and cockroaches. Grotesque clown faces grin at me from the walls. At the altar, there's a black coffin. Sebastian's adoptive sister, Ruth Lambert, strolls over with a group of people. She covers her mouth in fake surprise as she remarks, "Oh my, Claudia, you look like a pathetic mutt right now!" Laughter erupts around me. Holding my anger back, I coldly reply, "All of you, get out." She crosses her arms, arrogantly looking down at me as if she's on some pedestal. "Come on, Claudia. Seb personally asked me to surprise you. I put in a lot of effort to decorate your little wedding. You're telling me to get out? I don't even get a 'thank you'? Do you need me to teach you some manners?" She signals to the people next to her, and two of them step forward, trying to force me to my knees. Stunned for a few seconds, I pull out my phone and call Sebastian. "Is this the so-called surprise you had your sister prepare for me? Forcing me to kneel before her?"

A confident, tenacious luna (Monica), on a quest to avenge the death of her parents. Seeing the man responsible for the death of her parents a few years ago caused her grief. Avenging her parents and killing Williams; the billionaire werewolf was all she cared about. Falling in love was not part of the plan for Monica, her plans were to make Williams pay for the death of her parents years ago, that was all she cared about. But meeting the man in person gave her a change of heart. The spark of emotions between these two strong werewolves only exists for a short while. Good things they say don't last . “I am sorry, I hoped I listened to you when you said the pictures were all fake”. Words of billionaire werewolf (Williams) after standing right in front of his long lost mate and a mini-Williams. The secrecy and drifts were just too much for the couples to handle . But after sorting for the child in the picture for so long Williams is willing to try again. Only if Monica is ready to divorce the man she calls her husband.