I Choose Freedom Novels & Stories

The elevator doors opened. I walked out quickly. Behind me, Ethan's low, urgent voice called, "Sophie." I did not hesitate. I did not stop. I kept walking until I escaped the crowd. Only then did the tears come. All the hurt and resentment I had pressed down surged up at once. At fourteen, I learned that my mother was in the ICU after trying to kill herself, and that my father had another woman outside our family. I had been lost and terrified.

"You once stood in the storm for someone else. From now on, let me stand in front of you." I cried then. Not from bitterness. Not from resentment. Because at the end of the road where I chose to leave, someone was truly there to catch me.

--- Elena looked ahead. Not searching for certainty. --- Not needing it. --- Because certainty was never the goal. --- Choice was. --- And as they stepped forward together— As the new world opened without limits— As the past released its hold and the future remained unwritten— One final truth remained: --- Freedom is not the absence of control… --- It is the presence of choice.

My boyfriend, Emmett Carr, and I lived less than five miles apart in the same city. However, we never met more than twice a month. Whenever I asked when he was free, he always said he was busy with a recent work project. That continued until I accidentally discovered his travel records. He had purchased flight tickets for 48 out of the 52 weekends of the past year. He was flying to the country where his childhood friend, Cherry Lewis. was studying abroad. He would leave on Saturday morning and return late Sunday night, rain or shine. He flew there like clockwork, even more disciplined than when he was going to the office. The most recent date we went on was yesterday, at a cafe below h

Once, being Lucien’s wife had meant becoming part of a war I never chose. Now it meant something else. I had chosen him. And more importantly… I had chosen myself. I looked at Adrian. “You said they want me to choose.” “Yes.” “Then tell them I already did.” “What’s your choice?” I looked at Lucien. Then Zero-D. Then my parents. Then the people standing behind me who had survived the same nightmare. “My choice is freedom.” Adrian’s face became unreadable. “You don’t understand what that will cost.” “I’ve already paid.”

When I was little, I was poisoned by wolfsbane. My sister Fiona saved me. After that, she always said, "I saved your life. You should be grateful. Never forget what I've done for you." So whenever I had good food or pretty clothes, I gave them to her if she wanted them. When I turned eighteen, the pack chose a fiancé for me. Fiona told me, "Don't trust any man so easily. Let me check them out for you first. If they're not right, you shouldn't marry them." So she went on dates with those men on my behalf, from refined gentlemen to charming, outgoing guys. Every time she came back, she looked disappointed. "Zoey, this guy seems really shady. He's not right for you." "Zoey, this guy is all swee

I gave up the home my fiancé and I were supposed to buy together, and the realtor stares at me in surprise. "You've already paid the deposit. Don't you want to wait until your fiancé gets back before you make it official?" I smile and set the keys on the desk. "No. He's busy taking his first love skiing." Julian Harrow and I have been together for five years, and every winter, he goes to Valeria. He always calls it a business trip, but the photos he posts are of the snow-covered peak of Mount Veyra. Whenever I ask when he's finally going to take me there for our honeymoon, he always gives the same answer. "Next time." Then yesterday, I found the old camera he left at home. Inside were

On my first day after being appointed President of the Castellano Group, I had just reached the main entrance of the company headquarters when a female employee stopped me. “Only senior management is allowed through this entrance. Janitorial staff must use the side entrance.” I frowned slightly. “I’m not janitorial staff.” Instead of backing down, she took the senior employee ID badge from her chest and waved it in front of me with a mocking smile. “Not janitorial staff?” “Then you’re an intern?” “Interns have to use the side entrance too! This has been a long-standing rule of our company!” “If you can’t even follow such a basic rule, pack your things and get out right now!” I glanced at the

For the third time, Mom complains that the fridge isn't cooling properly. I know she's waiting for me to offer to buy a new one. Mom's always saying I'm the one holding this family together. She constantly reminds me that my younger sister, Celia Kessler, only makes 2,000 dollars a month and can't be expected to help. So everything falls on me. When Mom says her bedroom is too hot, I grit my teeth and buy her a new air conditioner. When Dad complains about his constant neck pain, I scrape a living for a month so I can afford a neck massager for him. Last year, I even paid for most of the renovations on the house, scrimping and saving to cover the cost. I've been working for five years

Rebecca Nolan, the widow of my husband's late friend, shows up at our door, claiming that her daughter is critically ill. She pleads with Declan Smith, my husband, to be the debt guarantor for her 100-thousand-dollar loan. In my past life, after learning that the actual amount was 5 million dollars, I locked Declan in the house to keep him from helping Rebecca. Rebecca, unable to come up with the money, took her daughter to the rooftop, where they jumped to their deaths. Declan and Edward Smith, our son, refused to speak to me from that day onward. Declan became a successful businessman ten years after that. He wore watches worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and spent tens of thousan