Lost Myself

"I didn’t know I was marrying two people. He wore the suit, but she pulled the strings. The day I walked down the aisle, eyes locked with the man I loved, I thought I had found peace. I thought I was finally leaving behind the noise of my childhood, the ache of loneliness, and the years I spent praying for a love that would choose me, only me. But no one told me that some men never truly leave their mothers. They marry, yes,but their hearts remain tangled in an invisible umbilical cord, one that stretches past vows, past bedrooms, past boundaries. I moved into our new home, only to find that the walls had ears, hers. We lived in separate flats, but it never truly felt like my space. My marriage was a room she walked into, uninvited but ever present. Her opinions dripped into our arguments, her eyes followed me from behind lace curtains, and her voice echoed in decisions that should have belonged to me and my husband. At first, I kept quiet. I told myself it was cultural. Respect. Family. Then I told myself it was temporary. Then I stopped telling myself anything at all, because nothing I said made a difference. This is not a story of hate. It’s a story of love, tested by bloodlines, boundaries, and a battle I never asked to fight. This is my truth. The marriage I thought was mine. The home that never really felt like home. And the rules I never agreed to, but had to live by, simply because… I was under her roof".

Adrian Quirrel, the heir to the Quirrel family, had been in poor health since childhood. Guided by the old superstition that marriage could restore his health, his family had taken in four young women, with only one to be chosen as his bride. On the selection day, they invited a renowned astrologer to read our birth charts. As soon as he said I carried a healing energy and could bear healthy heirs, the Quirrels decided on the spot that I would be Adrian's bride. Three months later, his health miraculously improved, and I soon found myself pregnant with twins—a boy and a girl. The family elders were ecstatic and even promised that my son would become the Quirrels' future heir. But on the night of the christening, Adrian locked me and the babies in the basement. I broke down and demanded an explanation. He sneered and replied, "If it weren't for your so-called 'healing energy,' Emily would've been my wife. "She wouldn't have jumped to her death at such a young age if she hadn't been pushed to that point. Tonight, I want you and your children to accompany her in death." He grabbed a nearby iron rod and savagely brought it down onto our babies. I threw myself over the babies, but Adrian kicked me aside. Blood splattered across the walls and floor, and my babies' breathing gradually weakened until it stopped. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day Adrian chose his bride.

My name is Ella Grace Johnson. I'm just an ordinary girl, living an ordinary life of an artist, until cancer forces me into an extraordinary situation. Desperate for medical treatment, I find myself in a fake marriage with Adrian Charles Montgomery, a billionaire CEO with a hidden struggle - sex addiction. It's supposed to be a simple arrangement, a means to an end. But life has a funny way of complicating things. Adrian is nothing like I expected. Behind his CEO persona, he's caring, considerate, and surprisingly understanding. But his addiction brings a new set of challenges to our relationship. As we go through this deception, I find myself drawn to him. But our secret is exposed, and I'm sent away, leaving my heart with Adrian. Now, I'm not just fighting for my life, but also for a love that was never supposed to happen. Can we turn our fake marriage into a real one? Or will our love story end before it even begins?

I am not just a werewolf. I am more. And I could die for it. A series of death befalls my town and it pushes me to confront secrets about myself that I would be killed for if it ever came to light. This is my story and I hope I survive to tell it.

I met the Alpha who I vowed to never ever see again. I hate this world. I hate myself for being an Omega. I hate nature. I hate myself. I hate this Alpha who's looking at me like he owns me. I do not belong to anyone.

Normal is overrated; that’s what my mom always said. My mom didn’t know the half of it. For 23 years, I thought my biggest problem was being an adopted child of a single mom in a tiny house, then I burst into flames. My first thought was mental breakdown, but that didn’t explain the fact that real flames were put out by real firefighters, so I fled to the city. The plan had been to check myself into a mental hospital, but I’d been too afraid, so I looked for a temporary job while I worked up the courage. My first interview is where things really went off the deep end. I found myself submerged in a world of monsters, and I was one of them. By my 24th birthday, I would supposedly be set into my immortality, with supernatural powers and all. With not one, but two handsome immortals watching out for me, hatred and hostility still lurked around every corner.

The very first thing I do after I come back to life is find a pig and get married to it. In my past life, I was on the brink of getting engaged to my lover of ten years, Anthony Warner, who was a regimental colonel. In order to celebrate my engagement, Hannah Larson, my cousin, gave me a bracelet, and since it was a thoughtful gift from her, I wore it all the time. Yet, on our engagement day, Anthony didn't just call off our engagement, but he also berated me, calling me a tramp and a homewrecker who destroyed his relationship with Hannah. I was completely at a loss and tried to defend myself, but Hannah suddenly stepped forward and burst out crying. "I know my family and educational background surpass yours, but you can't just ruin my relationship with Anthony out of jealousy, Natalie! Anthony and I have already made a lifelong commitment to each other, so please just let it go!" Anthony turned and led Hannah away. They then got engaged shortly afterward. I was left standing there, becoming the subject of gossip from my relatives. They called me a shameless home-wrecker, and their scorn extended to my parents, who were shamed for raising such a child. They eventually took their own lives from all the rumors, and I couldn't bear the pain of losing them, so I ended myself, too. I suddenly open my eyes and find myself returning to the day Hannah presents me with the bracelet.

I dislike vampires because they killed my parents. I called them with different kinds of names… monster, scoundrel, devil and creatures that deserved to be in hell. Nevertheless, I didn’t foresaw myself falling for a vampire- a creature’s ancestor who was the reason behind my loved one’s death. "Listen to me, woman," he muttered in terror. "You should stand now and clean my room to pay for your debt and as a sign of respect to your master. Now that you're in my possession, all you need to do is follow what I say, never oppose me, and refrain from digging or talking back until I say so. Did your tiny, little brain get it?" I told myself I’d kill him, but those dreams I awaited to execute began slipping off my mind as the anger I had to their origin turned to a poisonous love which shouldn’t have existed. All of these started the moment he uttered the words, “Mine…”

Before I knew he was my stepson, he was my one-night stand — the man whose touch I couldn’t forget, whose way of making love branded itself into my memory. I wanted him from the start. But he resisted. He’s someone I’m supposed to guard, yet when I’m with him, he makes me feel like I’m the younger one and he’s the one in control. When he walked away, I told myself I’d forgotten him — moved on, tucked myself into a safe marriage that promised stability. But our secret affair has lasted longer than it should. No one can know. Now, things are getting riskier. He wants me to leave my marriage — he’s certain we belong together. What do I do when everything I’ve worked for — my reputation, the school I’m trying to save from collapse — is on the line?

I was shattered to learn that my precious child was not mine. My own flesh and blood was gone forever. I was not going to crumble under the weight of the revelation or consume myself with hysteria or grief. Instead, I channeled my pain into putting my mother-in-law behind bars and breaking my husband before moving on with my life.