The Day I Choose Myself Novels & Stories

Him holding his daughter in the great hall while I stood alone in the corner. The love was real. The hurt was real too. And I was done suffering for love. I turned and looked at Damon’s unconscious face. “I am not coming back,” I said softly. “Whether you wake up or not, I am not coming back.”

She took a step back and did a quick glance from his head to his feet. “Now, look at you. You're pathetic, but I still chose to love you. I won't get rid of this child, Kelvin! And i won't give birth to him or her out of wedlock either! I'm not some random woman who you get to smash and pass. I'm Nancy Gilbert, and I get whatever that I want just the way I got you, you will get married to me whether you accept it or not!” Kelvin watched her chest moving up and down, her eyes red in anger. He was equally infuriated with himself for letting such a mistake happen.

The pack grounds stretched out in front of me, beautiful and painful in the morning light. I didn’t look back. I just kept walking. As I reached the edge of the pack territory, I whispered to the empty air, my voice raw and shattered: “…If none of you could choose us, then I choose us.”

Inside lay the necklace. A fine gold chain held a small pendant shaped like a crescent moon, with a single pale stone set into its center. Nothing extravagant by the standards of the Bellamy family, but beautiful in a quiet, personal way. Caspian had chosen it himself. Back then, he had remembered that I preferred jewelry I could wear every day without feeling as though I were carrying a fortune around my neck. For a foolish second, the sight of it softened something in me. Then I remembered our fifth anniversary.

I'd been with Leo Abernathy for five years, and his ex-girlfriend, Cressida Hollingsworth, had spent those same five years trying to come between us. Cressida bet me that Leo would always choose her over me. She had dragged me into a pool and forced me to stand with her on a rooftop ledge, all to make Leo choose between us. Every time, Leo held on to my hand. After her ninth failed attempt, Cressida finally gave up. She stopped coming near me and stopped texting Leo. She even left our social circle, quit her job, and started going on blind dates. I thought I'd finally won the five-year battle. Then, on our wedding day, the wedding coordinator announced the groom's entrance six times,

“You started pulling away after he appeared.” “I never chose Mike!” “You always choose him!” “I never chose him!” Laya finally screamed. Her tears were falling freely now. “I never chose Mike!” Tiar fell silent. “I chose you every single day. Even when you made me cry, I still chose you. Even when you made me feel like I wasn’t enough, I kept convincing myself that you were only scared. Even when everyone else might have told me to leave, I stayed.” Her voice trembled. “But now I’m choosing myself.”

Ever since I was little, Mom and Dad have insisted that I take my younger sister, Carolyn Layton, everywhere with me so she can see more of the world. At first, my boyfriend, Jared Gentry, and my best friend, Melissa Miller, are on my side. They know how much I hate being forced to bring Carolyn along, so they never give her the time of day. Then, during my senior year of college, we go to a high school reunion. When a server tries to hand Carolyn an iced drink, Jared stops him. "Not for her. She doesn't do iced drinks when she's on her period." Melissa smiles, moves over to sit beside Carolyn, and puts the party hat she made for Carolyn on her head. Jared is on one side of Carolyn, Mel

he corrected. “Fine,” I said. “Then I choose you. Again. Knowing how grumpy you are without tea. Knowing how you still flinch when someone drops a tray. Knowing how you’d throw yourself in front of a blade for anyone in this pack and pretend you’re fine afterward.” He swallowed. His hands trembled, the slightest bit. “We are not perfect,” I said. “We are not fixed. We probably never will be. But I still choose you. Every stupid, painful, ordinary day.”

Angel had already picked her dress, so she was helping me pick mine in the meantime, I showered, shaved, and did all the other things. She picked three dresses for me, when I came out of the bathroom she asked me to try each one of them. The first one was white and sparkly, it was a short dress with a deep V cut. I looked at myself in the mirror, it hugged all my curves perfectly but the V cut was too deep for me and Angel too didn’t like it saying, “It doesn’t match my personality” which was true, I never would have bought it if my friends didn’t insist.

“Elora. Listen to me. Choose. Right now. Him or me.” Her body shook. The pull of both forces nearly split her apart. Kerric’s promises of power curled like smoke around her, intoxicating, undeniable. Joel’s voice was different—not a promise of power, but of freedom. Of choice. Her chest burned, her veins alive with fire. The void rippled beneath her feet, cracking open like glass. She staggered upright, every nerve screaming. Her voice tore from her throat, raw and defiant, shattering the dark. “I choose myself.”