Sudden Double Chin

Mon mari et moi étions les pires ennemis. Lui, parce que j'avais brisé son histoire avec celle qu'il aimait. Moi, parce qu'il ne m'avait jamais donné son cœur. Huit ans de mariage. Huit ans de cris, de regards noirs. Jamais un mot doux. Puis notre ville était tombée. L'étendard ennemi claquait déjà devant l'enceinte. Il avait lancé son cheval au galop, avait fait de son corps un bouclier et s'était dressé sur ma route pour couvrir ma fuite. « Vis », m'avait-il murmuré. Il avait dégainé. Pas un regard en arrière. Les flèches pleuvaient. L'une d'elles l'avait traversé. Alors il avait tourné la tête. Une fois. Juste une fois. Puis son corps avait scellé la brèche. Plus un seul cavalier n'était passé. « Dans une autre vie… que Votre Grâce me la destine. » Cette nuit-là, la ville n'était que cendres et fuyards. J'avais gravi la plus haute tour, puis j'avais sauté dans le vide… Quand j'ai rouvert les yeux, je suis allée trouver le Roi. « Les royaumes du Nord demandent une princesse pour l'alliance », ai-je dit, « j'irai. » « Toi ? » « Moi. » L'autre vie, il était mort en croyant l'avoir trahie. Dans celle-ci, j'ai fait mon choix : qu'ils soient heureux. J'irais à la place de celle qu'il aimait sceller l'alliance. Ce qu'elle devra subir plus tard, l'exil ou pire ? je le prendrais aussi. Qu'ils soient donc unis, lui et elle. Qu'ils s'aiment jusqu'à la fin des temps.

L'homme que j'aimais en secret, ainsi que son père, ont été victimes d'un aphrodisiaque. J'ai immédiatement retiré mes vêtements pour neutraliser le poison de son père. Dans ma vie précédente, j'avais été forcée de devenir l'antidote de l'homme que j'aimais et de lui donner deux enfants. Mais il ne rentrait presque jamais à la maison, gardant sa chasteté pour son premier amour – l'amour pur de sa jeunesse. La cinquième année de notre mariage, il nous avait tués, mes fils et moi, et nous avait enterrés en morceaux dans le verger de grenadiers de sa bien-aimée, comme engrais. Il avait été convaincu que j'étais une femme sournoise qui avait volontairement utilisé un aphrodisiaque pour passer une nuit avec lui, ce qui l'avait empêché d'être avec celle qu'il aimait. Il n'avait pu que la regarder s'éloigner… et se donner la mort. Quand je me suis réveillée, j'ai découvert que j'étais revenue à l'instant où ils avaient été empoisonnés. Dans cette vie-ci, j'ai choisi… de devenir sa belle-mère.

To take care of my mother after she fell and injured herself, I turned down a promotion and took a week off work to stay by her side. On the day she was discharged from the hospital, she smiled and handed me a small envelope. “Suzy, you’ve worked hard these past few days. This is just a little something from me. Go treat yourself to something good.” I wiped my hands, a quiet warmth spreading through my chest. When I opened the envelope, I froze for a moment. Inside was $2. Still, I told myself it didn’t matter. The amount wasn’t important. What mattered was the thought behind it. But the very next day, while scrolling through social media, I came across a post from my younger brother, the one who hadn’t shown his face at the hospital even once. Nine photos filled the post, all of them showing off a sprawling luxury mansion. In the center was a photo of the purchase contract. The caption read: “Officially the owner of a $2 million riverfront house. Big thanks to Mom for the support!”

On Valentine’s Day, someone stabbed my mother-in-law twenty times until she died. So, I took the murderer to court. My wife was a renowned lawyer, but she decided to defend him. I confronted her in anger, but she casually replied, “Derek’s younger brother is still a college student. Can’t you be a little more forgiving? “I’ll bring Derek and his younger brother along to visit your mother’s grave. Drop the charges. Don’t let this go to trial and embarrass me when you lose the case.” Looking at the mangled corpse full of stabbing wounds, I could not help but let out a bark of laughter. It looked like she was still unaware that the corpse was actually her own mother.

“Ms. Summers, Mr. Quinn has already approved your resignation. He didn’t realize you were the one leaving. Should I let him know?” Hearing the news over the phone, Yara Summers lowered her gaze. “No. It’s fine. Just leave it as it is.” “You’ve been his secretary for four years. He values you the most and depends on you more than anyone. Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider?” HR kept trying to persuade her, but Yara just smiled.

It's been five years since I started trying to win over Zachary Pierce. I even went so far as to have a child through IVF, hoping it would finally make him care. But no matter what I do, I can never reach 100 percent affection from him. It always stays at 99 percent. Sometimes it even drops lower. One day, exhausted and aching, I go looking for him. As I reach his room, I hear laughter coming from inside. "She still hasn't figured out the egg wasn't even hers. The moment the baby was born, Zach's affection score for her dropped to zero." "So what if she finds out? She should be grateful that her face looks so much like Yvonne's. Honestly, I'm done entertaining her. It's exhausting." At that moment, everything clicks. All the hope I've held onto, every sacrifice I've made, they were all just a joke. I turn away and say to the system, "End this for me. Send me to another world."

The dying heir to Silverbay's showbiz empire suddenly announces he'll select a bride at random from the city's prominent families, hoping the marriage can bring some luck and save his life. On the night before my own wedding, his men arrive and inform us that the Simmons family has been chosen. My parents have just three days to deliver a daughter to him. As soon as my sister, Roxanne Simmons, hears the news, she breaks down in tears and rushes to my fiance for help. When he sees her crying, Clinton Whitfield drops to his knees in front of me, under everyone's gaze. "Mr. Sterling enjoys tormenting virgins. If Roxanne marries him, who knows what he'll do to her? "But you're already past the marrying age, so he won't be interested in you. Please, help Roxy this once!" He looks away, his voice heavy with guilt as he continues, "Besides, he doesn't have much time left. When you return, I'll marry you." Tears well up in my eyes. I ask, stunned, "And what if I don't want to?" Clinton's gaze turns cold, his earlier guilt replaced by ruthless intent. "Then I'll make sure you go to him myself." I laugh bitterly as a chill runs through me. "Fine. I'll go instead."

Marshall Locke, the assistant working for my wife, Amelia Stone, leaves out three zeroes on a contract. It leads to ten million dollars in losses for the company. The factory that has collaborated with us on the project goes bankrupt, and its owner jumps off a building as a result of the situation. All Marshall does is shed a few tears, and Amelia immediately pins all the blame on me. She claims I single-handedly managed the entire project. I get sued in court, which leaves me ten million dollars in debt. When the deceased's family posts about me online, the entire internet curses me out, saying that I should die too. My entire industry blacklists me. The career I've painstakingly built up for myself is destroyed just like that. But when I confront Amelia about this, she simply looks at her freshly manicured nails and says airily, "Marshall is young and inexperienced. You've been in the business for so many years now. It's not like this has caused any damage to you." Recalling the way she and Marshall had been wrapped up in a passionate kiss before I came in, I pull out the divorce agreement I prepared in advance and toss it at her. "Sign it."

The day before my fifth wedding anniversary to my husband, the jewelry store manager called me. He reported that the expensive jewelry I had commissioned for my husband had been accidentally damaged by the staff. However, the shop was willing to pay a penalty for breach of contract. He hung up before I could lose my temper. I immediately received a message from my husband and $6 million in compensation. [So you're the shameless homewrecker. How dare you keep my husband's contact information! I'm warning you: I've given you the money, now get lost! Otherwise, I'll have to teach you a lesson!] The woman smugly sent me an intimate photo to follow up on her threats. Looking at the familiar side profile, I immediately called my biological parents, who were high-ranking businesspeople. "Dad, Mom, put the Shelby family's investment on hold for now. I'm getting a big gift ready for them!"

On the night of our wedding, my husband told me he wanted to have a child with his teacher’s daughter. When I confronted him, he turned it back on me. “Teacher is seriously ill, and her only wish is to see three generations under one roof. My junior and I are just doing IVF. It’s not like anything is actually happening between us!” “Besides, you were also her student. How could you refuse to help fulfill her last wish?” However, the next day, when I went to visit our teacher with a fruit basket, I saw my husband and his junior locked in an embrace at the corner of the hallway. The moment was like a bolt of lightning. I turned and walked away. The following day, my husband sent me a text: [I’m going with her for the IVF. Let’s postpone the family gathering for a few days.] I did not reply. Instead, I went back to my hometown alone, visiting each of my relatives to personally apologize. Then, I went to a lawyer. “I’d like to sue my husband for bigamy.”