Orange Prize For Fiction

Astraea was a normal girl with extremely simple and happy life. But everything is jeopardized when she met a mysterious guy. 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏. 𝑺𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓. 𝑨 𝒕𝒚𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚. 𝑨 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚. 𝑨 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 - I closed the book and a heavy sigh left my lips. I looked out of the library and there he was standing at the door. His arms flexed as his grip on the door tightened. He felt so close yet so far. And his eyes, his beautiful honey like eyes, it held a story. A mystery that seems to pull me towards him, no matter how much I resist. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬. 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐞...

The day Yancy Shepherd died, Benedict Page poisoned our dinner. His eyes were wild, and bloodshot, as he watched me writhe in agony. There was a madness in his gaze, but worse was the hatred, a disgust so deep it twisted his face into something unrecognizable. "If it weren't for you forcing your way into our lives, Yancy wouldn’t have died from heartbreak. You ruined us! It’s all your fault!" A photo slipped from his trembling hand and landed at my feet—Yancy at twenty, looking radiant, her smile as bright as a blooming flower. I collapsed to the ground, my strength fading fast like a rose withering in the final grasp of winter. Helpless, I waited for the darkness to claim me, consumed by despair and bitter regret. Why hadn’t I listened to the system and killed him when I had the chance? But when I opened my eyes again, everything was different. I stood watching Benedict flee our engagement ceremony. My brother moved to chase after him, but I quietly raised a hand, stopping him. This time, things would be different.

"You think you can just walk away?" he rasped. "Last night was a mistake," she shot back. "I don’t need you." He smirked, stepping closer. "That’s where you’re wrong, Squishy. You want revenge? You want Caleb and Isabella to suffer?" Elena’s pulse pounded. "Then let’s make a deal." **** Betrayed. Humiliated. Abandoned. After five years of marriage, Elena’s husband hands her divorce papers—right in front of his ex. Determined to move on, she drowns her sorrows in a bar… only to wake up next to a powerful stranger. Caspian Nightingale isn’t just any man—he’s her ex-husband’s ruthless uncle. And he has an offer: a one-year marriage contract. With his power, Elena can make her enemies pay. But as their deal turns into something dangerously real, she realizes one thing—Caspian always gets what he wants. And this time, he wants her.

Andrew Lloyd supported Christina Stevens for years and allowed her to achieve her dream. She had the money and status, even becoming the renowed female CEO in the city. Yet, on the day that marked the most important day for her company, Christina heartlessly broke their engagement, dismissing Andrew for being too ordinary.  Knowing his worth, Andrew walked away without a trace of regret. While everyone thought he was a failure, little did they know… As the old leaders stepped down, new ones would emerge. However, only one would truly rise above all!

A video of my boyfriend proposing to his secretary makes it to the trending topics. Everyone squeals over how romantic and touching it is. His secretary even posts on social media, "I've waited so long for you to appear, and I'm glad I didn't give up. I'll leave my life in your hands, Mr. Emerson." One of the comments goes, "God, this is so sweet. A CEO and his secretary—I ship them!" I don't weep or cause a fuss. Instead, I close the webpage and ask my boyfriend for an explanation. That's when I hear him talking to his friends. "I didn't have a choice. She would've been forced to marry someone she doesn't love if I didn't help her." "What about Vicky? She's your actual girlfriend. Aren't you afraid of her getting mad?" "So what if she is? She's been with me for seven years—she can't live without me." Later, I have my wedding on the same day as his. Our cars drive past each other, and I exchange bouquets with his secretary. When he sees me, he breaks down.

"System, I request to leave the mission world." The summoned system quickly appeared. "Ms. Young, your request has been approved. You have half a month to say goodbye to your family in this world." With that said, the system disappeared again. Andrea Young paused for a long time at the mention of the word "Family" before slowly looking toward the family photo on the table beside her. In the photo, her husband and son were each lovingly kissing her cheeks. The happiness captured in that moment suddenly left her stunned. No one knew Andrea was on a mission. Ten years ago, the system brought her into this world to win the heart of Gabriel Fulton, the crown prince of Capital City. They went from attending school together to the wedding altar over the past decade. She not only completed her mission, but also fell in love with the target of her mission.

On my wedding day, the first love of my boyfriend appeared and declared she wanted my place at the altar. Sobbing theatrically, she pleaded, "Claire, I’m seriously ill. You have your whole life to be with Evan. Just let me have this wedding." And my boyfriend backed her up without hesitation. "Claire, you’re already pregnant with my child, and we’ve signed the marriage papers. You’ve got everything you need. This wedding? It doesn’t matter." The guests gawked, while I stood there as the punchline of their jokes. But instead of causing a scene, I kept my composure. That same day, I booked an abortion and looked his first love straight in the eye with a smile. "Sure, take the wedding, and take him too. He’s all yours."

The little boy I had saved when we were kids grew up to be a possessive, obsessive CEO. For ten years, he kept me by his side, using my grandmother's illness as a bargaining chip to force me into marrying him. He tried everything to win my heart, pulling every trick in the book, but no matter what he did, he could never make me love him. In a fit of rage, he found a woman who looked almost exactly like me to take my place. They flaunted their relationship for everyone to see, and people whispered that the CEO had finally found his true love. But that day, the woman, riding on his affection, barged into the villa with her entourage. She broke my fingers one by one, slashed my face with a utility knife, and removed my clothes to humiliate me. "Even though you had surgery to look like me, I'll let that slide. But you even learned to paint like me, too? You really did your homework. Let's see how you try to seduce men now!" Just as I was bleeding out and on the verge of death, the obsessive CEO finally showed up. The stand-in grabbed my hair and dragged me in front of him, smugly reporting, "Honey, this wench was hiding in the villa trying to seduce you. I've made sure she can't succeed!"

I find out I'm about two months pregnant before my wedding. Luke Logan drunkenly caresses my belly and half-jokes, "I'm not ready to be a father, Summer. Can we not keep the baby?" My heart is calm. I say softly, "Sure." In my past life, I insisted on keeping the child. Meanwhile, Riley Richards had an accidental miscarriage, making it difficult for her to conceive again. Luke held a grudge against me for that and treated me coldly after we married. As for the son that I put one foot in the coffin to bring into this world, he, too, cried and fussed. He wanted Riley to be his mother. Later, I got into an accident and suffered from significant blood loss. However, Luke and our son merely hurried past me to be with Riley as she went into labor. I slowly bled to death on the floor above, while Luke and our son celebrated the birth of Riley's child on the floor below. Now that I've been reborn, I won't lose sight of myself and take the wrong path again. I call Eric Nottingham. "I'll join the expedition team to Glacia."

Three years into my marriage with Shawn, I found out I was pregnant. I nervously but joyfully prepared to surprise him with the news. Yet what I received was the news of Shawn’s accidental death. Devastated by the blow, I miscarried the child and killed myself in despair. However, after death, I saw him drinking and mocking me with his rowdy friends. “Samantha is so dumb. I can’t believe she really fell for that prank. Does she really think I’d be fooled by her? I’m not an idiot like her. What, she’s pregnant? If she was going to make up something to fool me, she should have at least made it more believable.” But our child really was gone, and I had really died.