The Good Left Undone Novels & Stories

"I'm 30. My girlfriend of five years just left me because of this. Tell me, Edith, what am I supposed to do now?" "Ruby broke up with you?" she asked in a surprised tone. "Yeah. The day after my mom sent that photo of my cousin's new house." I laughed bitterly. "She said she couldn't marry a man who means nothing to his own parents." Edith fell completely silent. "They want to be saints. They want to look good in front of relatives. Fine, they can do that. "But when they need someone to look after them once they're older or arrange their funerals after they die, don't come knocking on my door. They can go to the precious nephew they just invested 600 grand in."

Emilia hesitated, her lips parting again, but before she could say a word, Amara raised her hand slightly — that silent signal that meant she wasn’t finished. “I’m not done,” Amara said. “You’ll also reach Mr. Festus Goodman. Tell him to withdraw the contract he awarded to Spencer Group as well. Effective immediately.” The assistant blinked rapidly, visibly taken aback. “Ma, you mean both contracts?” she asked, her voice trembling between caution and disbelief. Amara turned her chair slightly, her eyes gazing out the window at the city skyline. “Yes, both,” she said quietly. “It’s time the Spencer Group learns what it means to break what doesn’t belong to them.”

" As she talked, old memories cracked open—like boxes I'd sealed years ago. Eighteen-year-old Nina looked at me like I was her entire universe. The Nina I knew at thirty? Her words cut like ice. I dropped my gaze and exhaled. "People change." "Then tell me—how exactly do I hurt him in the future?" I froze. Fingers stiff. My brain flipped through scenes like a glitching movie reel. Too many. I didn't even know where to start. Then my phone rang again. I picked up, and someone on the other end was already spiraling. "Mr. Lambert, our department had a team night at a bar in East Avendale. Ms. Reid drank too much. Can you come get her? Oh—and your kid's here too."

I looked like someone who’d just had the time of her life. And I had. I sank onto the edge of my bed, pulling off my earrings. The silence felt too heavy, so I kicked off my heels and exhaled. One by one, I removed my jewelry — necklace, bracelets, rings — placing them neatly on my dresser. The simple act of undoing the night felt grounding, like peeling off everything except the truth. I was in love with Damien Blackwell. Not in the fairytale, butterflies-and-roses way. No, this felt deeper. A little reckless. A little too real. He made me feel seen. Wanted. And for once, I didn’t care how fast it was moving.

"Kaia Keene, first you refuse to do your good deeds, and now you're making up lies." "I'm not lying! I ran out of money and got a part-time job. I met this old woman, and she wants me to give her a grandson—" I rushed to explain, desperate to make her believe me. She cut me off. "Then have the baby. Give them a healthy boy, and I'll count it as ten years' worth of good deeds. You won't have to worry about your daily good deed anymore." The call disconnected. I stared at the phone, stunned.

I guess he just didn’t care enough to know. With just five minutes left before midnight, the countdown to the new year, Joel suddenly dropped to one knee on the big screen. He held out a massive diamond ring and shouted with all his might, "Esther! Marry me!" The mall lights brightened in an instant, and colorful balloons floated down like snowflakes while the surrounding crowd erupted in cheers. The irony? I was the one who stayed up for nights drafting that very proposal plan. I had known there would be a grand proposal tonight, but never in my wildest dreams did I think it would feature my boyfriend of six years.

I was truly seeking to end my life. Or, maybe, I could only truly live again if I could finally leave them. Dominic's hair turned gray overnight. The once spirited CEO of Richmond Group was now acting like a walking corpse. He came over to my hospital bed and sank to his knees, looking at me pleadingly. "I'm sorry, Dexter. I was wrong. I'll let you go back to the countryside, okay? I'll let you go anywhere you want as long as you promise to stay alive." The day I was discharged from the hospital, Dominic personally drove me back to the countryside where I came from—not to my former adoptive family’s home, but to a quaint little cottage I had bought with the dividends from the company shares

All that remained was an overwhelming sense of bitterness. Jodie Duncan was a soldier in the art troupe and Kyson's true love in the military. I was just his abandoned wife from the countryside. Of course, I couldn't measure up to her. That night, after my son, Darryl Hale, was asleep, I quietly went out to the yard. I dug up every seed, and with them, the last shred of hope I had for Kyson. Snapping out of my thoughts, I masked my sorrow and pushed open the door.

Without hesitation, I picked up my phone, erased our entire chat history, and blacklisted his contact. Over at the Cooper residence, Gerald stared at the undelivered message flashing on his screen. He wanted to throw the salvaged bracelet back into the trash but could not bring himself to. His hand clenched tighter around the beads, his heart growing reckless, out of control. Just then, Elena came downstairs in full makeup, dressed elegantly. She paused at the sight of her brother standing frozen. "Gerald, why aren't you dressed yet? You're not seriously planning to show up at Nyssa's wedding like that, are you?"

Susie said that the reason she developed this chip was so she could bear all my pain and negative emotions for me. She swore she would protect me for life. If she failed to do so, the chip would punish her. So it was laughable that this chip, which carried her promise, ended up plunging me into the deepest despair and pain. I wiped my face and slowly walked down toward the storage room. Holding the two heavy urns, I left the house. Since it was before dawn, the beach was completely deserted. I kneeled on the damp sand and scattered the ashes onto the faintly glowing surface of the sea.