Gojo Rings

He was consumed by hate, while love ripped through me like a storm. We were like two thorns, trapped in a prickly embrace with no escape. We exchanged vows soaked in blood, sealed with a brutal kiss, and bound by bloodied rings, with no happily ever after on the horizon. Marco Costello, my so-called prince, shackled me as his wife, but he was no savior. I used to imagine what our life would have been like if I had said yes all those years ago instead of running away. I'd play Juliette to his brooding Romeo. But fate had a different script for me, casting me as the antagonist, trapped in a cycle of resentment and sadness, like a lost soul wandering through the shadows, unseen and unappreciated. “Till death do us part...” It wasn't a promise of forever, but a sentence to endless torment.

While I try on various wedding rings, my fiance, Don Demetrio Farese, who has tagged along, suddenly snatches the ring from my fingertip. "You already lost a finger, Lucia. The ring will look ugly on you. Carlotta, on the other hand, looks beautiful with a ring on her finger." Then, Demetrio fishes out a photo featuring him sinking down on one knee while sliding a ring onto Carlotta Rini's finger. My chest tightens. "What are you trying to say?" "Let Carlotta wear the wedding ring. You've already lost a finger anyway—you don’t need it." Pain slowly spreads from my chest to the rest of my body. For a moment, I almost lose my balance. The truth is, Demetrio's mortal enemy is the one who severed my finger by shooting at it. Back then, I only got shot because I had shielded Demetrio from the bullet.

“You should know by now, The more you run away, the more I feel attracted to you, Dunn," Mason's cold voice rings in my head for the ninth time. I never imagined that a slap could change my life forever A visit to the club changed my life when I met the man I wished I had never met, The man who became my boss. I became His Alluring Obsession. At the mention of his name, everyone composes themself if only the name doesn't send them onto their knees. Seeing only his shoes, Fear enters his employer's body. That was the man who became obsessed with me. A regretful meeting. Will Dunn be able to resist her attraction towards her ruthless boss? Will Dunn be able to convince herself that what she is feeling for him is not love?

Ten days before the wedding, my fiancée spent over a hundred million to buy Marcus Collins a luxury yacht. So, I silently threw away the matching rings I had once planned to give her. Seven days before the wedding, she spent 50 million dollars to celebrate Marcus' birthday. Thus, I set fire to the photo album that held every memory of our past. Three days before the wedding, she wore the ring I had used to propose, and she kissed him deeply by the sea. Today, I finally chose to step aside. I notified our families and friends that the wedding was canceled, and I personally returned the engagement tokens to the Yardley family. Lowering my head, I said softly, "Mr. and Mrs. Yardley…I've always known I'm not worthy of Claire. I hope you can understand."

The wedding had reached the part where we were supposed to exchange rings, but my fiance wouldn’t say those two simple words: "I do." It was because his past love had just announced her breakup an hour ago. The post on social media included a picture of a plane ticket, the landing time just one hour away. My brother suddenly stepped forward and announced to everyone that the wedding would be delayed. Without a word, they both left me standing there, turning me into a laughingstock. I calmly dealt with everything, glancing at the new social media post from his past love. In the photo, my brother and fiance were standing around her, offering her the best of everything. I laughed bitterly and dialed my parents' number. "Dad, Mom, I'm willing to come home and marry into the Sanford family."

Can you imagine having the world's worst bachelorette party in Vegas? Waking up the next morning with no memory of the night before, with three diamond rings on your fingers, in a penthouse full of strangers, with two of your friends missing, one pregnant by a stranger and suspected of the overdose death of another of your friends? It becomes a challenge to reveal the truth behind a blurred memory and illegal marriage records with three strangers, while you are about to get married. And a dangerous secret waited for me on the other side. How long could it take you to go from being an illegal wife to a killing machine? ─────── ✿ ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ NOTE: COMMENTING outside, on the cover of the book, is important for the work to be more recognized. Leaving comments inside the book, between chapters, is great. However, the reviews, already as I pointed out, will be weighty for the growth of the story. Please comment outside on the cover.

On Children's Day, the most popular social media post is about me. The caption is: "Mr. Shane Norton spends his birthday with his son David Norton and his first love, Ruth Feynman. Has he finally decided to divorce Ayla Sanderson?" I quietly press the "like" button. When my phone rings, I'm in the midst of taking down the balloons I put up for our wedding anniversary. "Honey." My husband sounds anxious as he tries to explain himself. "David suddenly insisted that we go to a theme park, so I—" In the background, I hear David laughing. "Dad, Ruthie says that I can sleep with her tonight!" I look at the mess in the house. The balloons are drooping, and the cream on the cake is congealed. "You don't have to explain," I hear myself say. "I understand." It's just that this time, I don't want you or David any longer, Shane.

Sated from their passionate deed, Jonathan Sheffield rises and gently scoops the worn-out Eloise Carter into his arms. He cleans her in the bathroom, carries her back to bed, and lets her settle in. Normally, Eloise will have fallen asleep by now. But she won't allow herself to doze off tonight, not before she takes out the birthday present she's carefully prepared for Jonathan. Jonathan is making a phone call out on the balcony when Eloise quietly takes out the present she has hidden. It's a red velvet box, containing the ring she plans to give him when she proposes. She inches closer to the balcony and is about to speak when she freezes. A shocked, male voice rings out from the other end of Jonathan's phone, which he's casually left on the balcony ledge. "What the hell? You must be out of your mind, Jonathan! You're planning to take Eloise's heart and give it to Sonia?"

A week before our wedding, my fiancee announces that she is pregnant using my younger brother's frozen sperm. "I'm grateful that our love can carry on in another way," she gushes on social media, showing off the test results. My brother replies, "Meeting you was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me." Then Mom chimes in. "Jenny, you've been through so much. Nathan's apartment should be under your name alone." I don't argue and simply reply with a single word—"Congratulations". My phone rings almost seconds later. "Your brother can't have kids anymore. It's just one child, and it's still related to you. Why are you being so petty?" she snaps. I laugh under my breath, hang up, and dial another number. "Want to get married?"

My name is Alaki Bea Miller-or known above: Alaki Bea X. That is what they call us, the inferior ones: X. In this world, I live under laws that declare it illegal to bear more than one blood in your veins. A legal system built on segregation by race, where mixing blood is the highest crime. In this world, I am not human. I am not a person. I am a thing, an abomination that threatens their system. His name is Efrem Mustafin, leader of one of the five Rings, Master of his race, and the man who saved my life. Legally, he owns me. To save me, he had to claim me as property. And in exchange for my protection, we play a game. One where I submit to him before watching eyes, and he keeps me safe. Master Efrem Mustafin, he is. Subject Alaki Bea X, I am. Or at least, I was. I belong to him. My name is Alaki Bea Mustafin, and in this world, I Am Mustafin.