Jinx Laughing

Evelyn tried to open the door and pulled it hard but all her efforts were in vain. "Tsk... Tsk.. Looks like this bird didn't like her cage." Sebastian said while putting both his hands around her. Defeated, Evelyn turned her face and started looking at him, but finding him so close to her, she pressed her forehead against the door. "Pl-please let... me go." She said suppressing her hiccups. The teeth started grinding with fear. "Please...." "Hmmm....Why don't we make this time useful?" He whispered while he was close to her ear. Feeling his breath on her earlobe, she shivered again. Evelyn pushed him with all her strength, which caused Sebastian to take a few steps away from her and started laughing like a madman. "You... you... are you crazy?" He started laughing more on this and then he became silent at once and started looking at her with his cold eyes which were devoid of any emotion. "No my dear. I am not crazy. My reality is just different from yours." Saying this, he smiled sarcastically and then moved towards her. Evelyn immediately ran to the left. There must be another way in such a big house. "You can't escape from me. Not until I want to." He was enjoying this game now. Evelyn's fear had begun to provide him with a different kind of tranquility. He slowly put his hands in his pockets while whistling and started walking in the direction where Evelyn had run.

The day my husband, Caleb Vale, buries his first love, Layla Shaw, he stands in front of me and throws our wedding ring into the sea. For the next 12 years, the breakfasts I bring him go straight into the trash, and the scarf I stay up all night knitting is tossed into the fire and burned to ash. The cruelest moment is when he looks me in the eye and says, "Aurora, if you really want to please me, you might as well go die." But when a mugger comes at me with a knife, Caleb still steps in front of me without a second's hesitation. As he lies dying in my arms, he uses the very last of his strength to force out a few broken words. "Go... I hope I never see you again in my next life." At the funeral, Helena Rogers sobs until she faints. "This is all my fault. I never should've arranged your marriage..." Everyone around us pities him and resents me. They whisper that I'm a jinx and wonder why I'm not the one who died. And honestly, I wonder the same thing. Why not me? After Caleb is lowered into the ground, I climb to the top floor of the building and jump. As I hover on the edge of death, a cold, mechanical voice echoes in my mind. "Binding complete. Wish detected. The system will now send you back 12 years."

It began as a mistake. Gwendolyn never knew a lie would change her life for good or worse. A marriage arrangement was set between her and Austin, a man she loathed most. Despite her family's company being on the brink of bankruptcy, Gwendolyn refused the marriage proposal and lied about carrying a child for a stranger she rescued at the verge of death. Because her family was one of the prominent families in the city, they could be a laughing stock so she was forced to marry this stranger to bury their shame. A few months later, people often remarked on her husband's resemblance and a dead person, who was no one else but the grandson of the wealthiest and most powerful tycoon in the entire city.

At the concert, my husband James Felton and his assistant ended up on the kiss cam. They made for a beautiful couple, and the clip immediately went viral. In the video, I saw my son cheering in between them. The next thing I did was share the video on my Instagram feed with the caption, [How sweet.] James immediately gave me a video call, labeling me a jealous woman. “We were only acting to fool her ex! Stop making a fuss out of everything!” Our friends in the know were all laughing behind my back, placing bets on when I would apologize. This time, however, I was not going to play to their tune.

Fire suddenly breaks out at the hotel where we're hosting our wedding. My fiance, Alan Godwin, doesn't hesitate to pick up Brenda Larkin, my cousin who has already collapsed out of fright, and rush out to safety. Meanwhile, my parents and older brother hurriedly cart away the wedding gift Brenda has made. They don't want her to get sad if the gift is damaged in any way. As for me, I've twisted my ankle, making it inconvenient for me to escape from the hotel. Everyone has already forgotten all about me, so I end up getting severe burns all over my body. When they look at the bandages wrapped around my body, they shoot me disgusted looks. "Why are you such a jinx? How is it possible for a fire to break out at your own wedding? Thanks to you, Brenda has fainted out of shock!" "Well, it's not like you're suited for any public appearances when you look like this, anyway. Brenda's figure is similar to yours. Why don't you let her replace you in the wedding?" I just nod calmly and agree to the suggestion. After that, I sort out the details of getting dispatched overseas for my job with my boss. One month later, I board my flight on the day Brenda is set to wed Alan. I no longer want Alan, who's blind to the truth, and my family, who are nothing but biased toward Brenda. But why is it that they are filled with regret after I leave them?

My wife—Nancy Valente—had been "missing" for three months after some fake skiing accident. I spotted her at a bar. She was draped over Finley Bennett's shoulder, laughing like she hadn't wrecked my life. "Good thing you came up with this plan. I almost forgot what freedom felt like." Her crew kept clinking glasses, asking when she planned to pop back up. She glanced down. "Maybe in a week. I'll show up once he's lost his mind." I stayed in the shadows, watching her bask in her little escape act. Then I grabbed my phone and called a buddy at the Vital Records Office.

On my wedding day, Levi Robbins' "close friend" Gina Fields suddenly fainted. Without hesitation, he dropped everything and rushed to the hospital, leaving me at the altar. My mother, witnessing this humiliating scene from her seat, suffered a heart attack. Yet, none of the guests bothered to help as they were too busy gossiping and laughing at my misfortune. By the time I managed to get her to the hospital, we had missed the critical window for treatment. Just then, Levi finally called, his voice urgent and demanding. "Caitlyn, where are you? Gina's condition is critical, and she needs your bone marrow!" "Levi, we're done," I said firmly, hanging up and walking away. This time, I would not look back.

Three months after my husband, Josiah Erikson, disappears in a skiing accident, I spot him in a bar. He's laughing freely with an arm slung casually around his "best friend", Monica Jones' shoulders. "Good thing you came up with the idea. I'd almost forgotten what freedom feels like." One after another, his buddies clink glasses with him and ask about when he plans to reappear. He looks down and thinks about it before saying, "In a week. I'll show up once she's gone completely crazy searching for me." Standing in the shadows, I watch him savor his freedom, then call my friend who works at the state vital records office.

Emily Harlow never agreed to be sold on national television, until her mother signed her up for The Marriage Lottery, a ruthless show pairing society’s “undesirable” women with husbands willing to take them. Alone, in a torn gown, under blinding lights and a nation laughing, Emily opens her only offer and reads the name aloud. Damien William Hardy. The audience erupts in disbelief. A joke, they say. A mistake. Because what would a man like him ever want with a leftover woman? Damien Hardy did not choose Emily Harlow. Her presence is an intrusion into his plans, his reputation, his bloodline. He will break her, piece by piece, until he uncovers the secret she’s hiding. And yet… against all odds, she has claimed the most eligible man in the country. But can she keep him?

In a world where strength defines worth, Calla Vale was the weakest surviving wolf of her family. She had a free pass into the wolf academy because her father was once the head master, but what started as a privilege turned into a nightmare after her mate rejected her. Calla became the laughing stock of the academy, and her weakness was preyed upon. Just when she plans on running off, the academy assigns her to the territory of Alpha Garrick, the iron fisted alpha of Fangspire pack. Calla’s arrival stirs something long buried, not only in the Alpha himself but also in his son, Lucan Browler, the pack’s next heir. Trapped between two Alphas and the shadows from her past, Calla must learn that most times, fate makes us the author of our own stories.