Flower Dance

That night, I returned from a business trip to surprise my wife. However, when I sneak home, I realize my boss is there, too. His smile deepens when he sees me; he tells me he's there to welcome me home because he knew I would return that night. My wife nods and agrees with him. For some reason, I can't help finding the looks on their faces odd.

I had been the company's top sales performer—the kind who brought in tens of millions in revenue. But just because I hadn't praised my boss' girlfriend in the company group chat, she fired me without hesitation and replaced me with her cousin. Not long after, the company's sales dropped straight to zero. That was when she had come to my door on her own to apologize. "Please, come back," she had begged. "My boyfriend said he'll break up with me if you don't return."

Once upon a time, Kayla thought she and Winston would be together until the day they died. She would never have expected them to take separate paths so soon. After retrieving her diagnosis report, she sees him holding another woman in his arms. A final tear trickles down her face. She's tired and doesn't want to use whatever time she has left to argue with him. She makes the arrangements for everything that will happen after her death. Then, she prepares a final gift for Winston. From this day onward, she'll leave for the afterworld while he remains on Earth. They won't see each other again.

The golden boy of high society once stopped a plane for me. And I? I once ran away while pregnant, disappearing for three years. We got married. Nine years later, a younger, stunning woman appeared by his side. She was vibrant and fearless, joining him in all his wild adventures. Meanwhile, I had become a stay-at-home mom, spending my days making sure our daughter didn’t eat junk food. My husband said in disappointment, “Elaine, you’re not the woman you used to be.” Even our daughter complained. “Miss Snow is smart, gorgeous, and makes her own money. But you? You just rely on my dad.” The next morning, I grabbed my ID and filed for divorce. They must have forgotten that at twenty-two, I had the guts to jump off a cliff into the ocean just to break free, and at thirty-five, I would still have the strength to start over.

When I was six months pregnant, I was visiting the hospital when I saw my husband with his childhood friend, who had recently returned to the country. I was left holding my own prenatal checkup report, watching as they celebrated their soon-to-be born child. Still, Kelly Wallace appeared worried and even sounded guilty. "Quentin, you didn't have to come with me—I'm fine alone. If Jolin finds out, she'll definitely have a fight with you. She's pregnant too… it'll affect her mood and the baby." Quentin Smith was confidently nonchalant. "No, she won't—she always obeys me and loves me too much. If she does argue, I'll just divorce her!" My heat broke, tears of misery rushing down my cheek. But it was true. I loved him so much that I couldn't even bear to argue with him and always obeyed him. Even so, that didn't mean I was going to maintain this sham of a marriage after learning about his deceit. Since he didn't want me and our child, then I could raise my baby alone. Wiping away my tears, I called a number I hadn't called for five years. "Dad, can I come home?" "Oh, Jo! You finally called. Of course you're always welcomed home!" Hanging up, I booked a ticket for a flight to Switzerland that was due to depart a week later. I'd be out of his hair, so why was he losing his mind when he couldn't find me?

Three days before our engagement, Zach Jefferson called me. “We’ll need to postpone the engagement party by a month. That day is Sienna’s first concert since she returned, and I need to be there. “It’s just a postponement. It’s no big deal.” He had postponed our engagement three times that year. The first time was because Sienna Lynch had been hospitalized with appendicitis. He said he had to take care of her and rushed over. The second time, Sienna said she was feeling down. He was worried she might get depressed and immediately booked a flight to see her. It was the third time. I simply said, “Okay.” After hanging up, I turned to the good-looking and refined man beside me. “Are you interested in marrying me?” Later, during Sienna’s concert, Zach left her without hesitation. With red, teary eyes, he rushed to my engagement ceremony. “Yulia, are you really getting engaged to this man?”

Dua minggu sebelum pernikahan, Felix Darmaji tiba-tiba menunda upacara pernikahan kami. Dia berkata, "Shifa bilang kalau hari itu adalah pameran lukisan pertamanya. Dia sendirian saat acara pembukaan nanti. Aku khawatir dia merasa ketakutan kalau nggak sanggup menghadapi situasi itu, jadi aku harus pergi untuk membantunya." "Kita berdua juga nggak memerlukan acara penuh formalitas seperti ini. Apa bedanya kalau kita menikah lebih cepat atau lebih lambat sehari?" lanjut Felix. Namun, ini adalah ketiga kalinya pria ini menunda tanggal pernikahan kami demi Shifa Adnan. Saat pertama kali, Felix mengatakan bahwa Shifa baru saja menjalani operasi. Wanita itu merindukan makanan dari kampung halamannya, jadi Felix tanpa ragu pergi ke luar negeri untuk merawatnya selama dua bulan. Saat kedua kalinya, Felix mengatakan bahwa Shifa ingin pergi ke pegunungan terpencil untuk melukis serta mencari inspirasi. Felix khawatir akan keselamatannya, jadi dia ikut bersama wanita itu. Ini adalah ketiga kalinya. Aku menutup telepon, menatap teman masa kecilku, Callen Harlan, yang sedang duduk di seberang dengan sikap santai. Dia sedang mengetuk lantai marmer dengan tongkat berhias zamrud di tangannya, membentuk irama yang teratur. "Apakah kamu masih mencari seorang istri?" tanyaku. Pada hari pernikahanku, Shifa yang tersenyum manis sedang mengangkat gelasnya, menunggu Felix untuk bersulang bersamanya. Namun, pria itu justru menatap siaran langsung pernikahan putra kesayangan Grup Harlan, pengembang properti terbesar di negara ini, dengan mata memerah.

Everyone in the pack envies how devoted Kingsley Laurent is to me. After getting appointed as Alpha, he turns down every she-wolf who throws herself at him and vows to wait until his position is fully secure before marking me. The mate bonding ceremony he promises is the most sacred of all, one that would place me beside him as Luna and establish our pup as his rightful heir. Kingsley openly despises my rebellious sister, Heather Johnson. His eyes harden whenever her name comes up. "Don't let your train wreck of a sister ruin our ceremony." Until one night, when I find a voice message on Heather's phone and hear his voice—hoarse, ragged with desire. "Will you shift for me tonight, baby? I want to see you in chains." While he claims he's on a business trip down south, he's actually spending the night with my sister at a couples' hotel. Over the phone, he swears his devotion to me. "If I ever betray you, may I be punished by losing you forever." At the same time, he grabs Heather by the chin and says coldly, "I will only ever have one Luna, and that's Eliza Johnson. You're just a plaything." Since he made that vow, I'll fulfill it for him. I fake my death, burn down our home, and vanish from his world with his pup growing inside me.

At my engagement dinner with Greg Willis, the Rossi mafia family’s underboss, his assistant, Sydney Carlson, casually tossed a half-eaten cookie on his plate in front of everyone. Greg didn’t react. In full view of the guests, he calmly picked it up and ate it. That night, after we returned, I told him I wanted to call off the engagement. He rubbed his brow with his fingertips, his voice steady in that familiar, composed way of his, yet there was distance beneath it. “All this,” he said, “over a cookie?” “She already took a bite,” I corrected him. He fell silent for a moment before replying in a low voice, “Zoe, you’ve always been sensible. Why get hung up on something so small?” “I’m not hung up,” I said evenly. “I just don’t want to settle.” When he saw that I wouldn’t back down, something complicated flickered in his eyes. Then, his tone hardened, almost like a warning. “Think it through carefully. Don’t you regret it.” He was certain I couldn’t leave him. After all, he was a mafia underboss. There were countless people eager to take the position of Mrs. Willis, and I was nothing more than a minor employee at his company. What he didn’t know was that I had never coveted the title of his wife. All I ever had for him was love. But now, that love was gone, and once I turned away, I would never look back again.

On the day I was supposed to try on wedding dresses with Charles Jaspier, the mafia leader I had loved for seven years, I walked into the boutique carrying a pregnancy test report—my heart full of hope. Instead, I overheard a conversation that shattered everything. "Registering the marriage with Ellis Olsen was a temporary measure," he said calmly to his closest confidant. "My brother died in a shootout. She's carrying the Jaspier family's only heir. Without a legal status, neither she nor the child would survive in this family." "Everyone would bully them." A cigar rested between his fingers. His voice was cold, edged with resignation. "Zoey Qandor can't have a title—but I can give her everything else. My love. My money. This must never reach her ears." I clenched the pregnancy report, my heart turning to ash. With my best friend's help, I created a new identity—one that ensured Charles would never find me again—and disappeared from his world. If he could not give me and my child a complete family, then this love—built on responsibility and lies—was better cut cleanly, once and for all.