Samurai Betta Fish

At the wedding, I recognized at a glance that the masked man standing before me, Howard Larson, was an impostor. Despite this, I went through with the ceremony as though nothing were amiss. In my previous life, I exposed the fake groom in front of everyone. Left with no choice, Howard reluctantly returned and completed the wedding with me. That very night, his childhood sweetheart swallowed sleeping pills and jumped from a building, taking her own life. When my fiancé heard the news, he showed no hint of sadness. Instead, he cursed her, saying she deserved to die. After the wedding, Howard and I seemed as loving as ever. I even used my family's money to pull his company back from the brink of collapse. However, on our first wedding anniversary, my husband personally bound me to a helicopter while I was pregnant. There was no warmth left in his eyes. "If you hadn't forced me to come back and marry you that day, Joyce would still be alive.” "Why should you get to live so happily? I want you to feel the pain she felt when she died." He shoved me from an altitude of ten thousand meters. I was utterly destroyed. This time, I pretended not to notice the deception and completed the wedding with the fake groom. I wanted to see for myself how, without the Smith family's support, he intended to save the already crumbling Larson Group.

After a venomous snake bites me, my husband, Daniel Dawson, injects the only antivenom into my adopted sister, Grace Winton. Before I black out, I see my parents, Daniel, and my son, Ethan Dawson, all gathered around Grace, while I lie alone on the grass, completely ignored. When I come to, my colleague shakes his head and tells me the toxin has already spread. Within 48 hours, my body will begin to rot from the inside, and I'll die in unbearable pain. I give up the conservative plan and swallow a potent painkiller instead. Over the next two days, I transfer the hospital my grandfather gave me and every asset in my name to Grace. I divorce Daniel and place both his and Ethan's hands into Grace's. When I put Grace's name on the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis treatment protocol I've spent five years developing, they finally smile, hold my hand, and tell me we're finally a real family. I stay silent and only smile at them. I wonder what their faces will look like two days later when they see my body.

I was the real daughter of the Sinclair family, yet I was the one abandoned when their fake daughter and I were kidnapped and taken to the top of a building. They were given a choice between the two of us, and they chose to save the fake daughter, letting me be pushed off from the eighteenth-floor balcony. Even though I survived, I was completely disappointed in them. Then, their attitudes changed overnight. My parents, who despised me, started asking me about my likes and dislikes. My brother who wished me dead, started suddenly giving me precious jewelry. Even my fiancé, who always claimed I was nothing compared to the fake daughter, started to prepare for our wedding. To say I was confused was an understatement.

I lead my team to develop a new drug formula that passed its first clinical trial. It becomes the key to the company's IPO. So, the board votes unanimously to award me an additional 5% in shares. But at the celebration party, my shares turn into three hams. I assume it is a prank by my colleagues. But to my surprise, Draco Faraday looks at me with disgust and says, "Don't think I don't know. You used your position as team leader to assign all the experimentation to Avery. Then, you take the credit for the results. This reward should go to her. As for you, you should be satisfied with the ham!" Seeing Avery Blake looking both flattered and overwhelmed, I am rendered speechless. I argue, "Avery is an art major. Does she even understand chemical formulas?" Draco's expression darkens. "Cross-disciplinary expertise is her strength, not a weakness. I won't argue with you this time. If it happens again, I'll fire you!” When I try to defend myself, he snaps, "Starting today, Avery is the team leader. You should get a taste of how it feels to be exploited." I look at him in disbelief for a moment before nodding forcefully with a sneer. "Fine. From now on, I won't assist if the projects run into any issues. Don't regret it." Draco looks at Avery approvingly."The only thing I regret is not making Avery the person in charge sooner."

Angela Graham's husband abandons her twice on her birthday for the sake of his true love. She's devastated and dejected when she learns a secret—it turns out that every celebration and anniversary that she and her husband have had over the past five years was planned by his true love. Angela's heart and love have been stomped on far too many times. It's been five years, and she's tired. She doesn't want to stick it out anymore. But her ex-husband comes running when she leaves him and allows another man to stand by her side. "You can't fall in love with anyone else without my permission, Angela!" Angela laughs. "You think too highly of yourself, ex-husband."

On the day I'm set to give birth, a rogue crashes his car into the convoy that's meant to transport me and Alison Cranwell to the hospital for a prenatal check-up. My water breaks the moment the crash happens. A mixture of blood and amniotic sap soon dyes my seat crimson. At the same time, intense pain flares from my abdomen. My Alpha mate, Caleb Bright, rushes over immediately and hoists the doctor by the collar. "You must protect the she-wolves and their pups!" Warmth floods my heart at that moment. It continues spreading throughout my body until I get wheeled into an operating theater. Since the general anesthesia has yet to fully take effect, I can vaguely make out Marcus Knight, Caleb's Beta, speaking to him in a lowered tone. "The thing is, Alpha Caleb, Luna Selina is suffering from heavy bleeding as well. But we only have one vial of the most effective Lunar Grass essence left. If we don't use it on her, I'm afraid that she and the pup will—" "Alison is pregnant with my dead brother's only pup. She must not be harmed no matter what," Caleb states icily. "Selina is very strong, and her wolf can endure her grievous wounds. As for that pup… well, we'll have another one in the future." But what Caleb doesn't know is that I didn't just lose my pup that night—I've lost the last trace of love I have for him as well.

A car accident left my mother-in-law bleeding and desperate for help, but her plea was heartlessly rejected by her own daughter. Even on her deathbed, my mother-in-law's only wish was to see her one last time. However, she was busy staying by her first love's side, euthanizing his dog. "You better stay as far away from me as possible! My mom's perfectly fine!" she shouted before hanging up on me, only to spend the night tangled with her first love in a hotel room. It was not until after the cremation ceremony that she returned—carrying a birthday cake. What greeted her was not a celebration but her mother's funeral. She cried, sobbing uncontrollably, "Mom! You haven't even celebrated my birthday yet! Don't leave me!" I stared at her and pulled the divorce papers from my bag. How fitting. This time, I was leaving too.

In order to save his crush, Zach Clark bought a dismembered female torso from the black market. He personally removed the kidney from the torso for his crush’s kidney transplant. To prevent the police from chasing him down, he threw the torso into sulphuric acid to destroy the evidence. But he did not know that the torso belonged to me.

The day before the piano competition finals, my boyfriend deliberately locked me on the rooftop to help his childhood friend win. He stared at me intently, his voice low and steady. "You'll have plenty more chances. Can't you just let her have this one?" Later, to secure her spot in the orchestra, he went so far as to break my fingers with his own hands. I confronted him in anger, demanding to know why he would do this when we were supposed to be in a relationship. He looked at me solemnly and said, "Susan, Miranda's mother saved me all those years ago, and now I have to fulfill this wish for her." What he didn't understand was that for me, losing the use of my hands felt like losing my very life. After I made the decision to stop loving him, he shattered his own hand, hoping to get my forgiveness.

My mother was the most renowned forensic artist, yet she refused to acknowledge me as her daughter. On my eighteenth birthday, I was kidnapped and called her for help. However, my mother replied impatiently, "Today is Angelina's birthday. Just die if you want attention that badly." Later, all the bones in my body were shattered and scattered everywhere. When my mother reconstructed my face from the bones, she lost her mind.