The Way I Used To Be

When my mother asked me who I wanted to marry, this time, I chose none of them. Instead, I decided to go to the Northwest and serve my country. In my previous life, both my childhood friend, once a captain, and my educated fiancé courted me. I had feelings for both. But while I was still struggling to decide who I wanted as my husband, both accidentally ingested something. In a dazed state, I spent a chaotic night. After that, my parents asked one of the men to marry me. On the wedding day, the first love in both their hearts, the woman they had always truly loved, found out the truth. Out of spite, she accepted a local thug’s proposal. After marrying him, she was forced to give birth to ten children, one after another, until she died tragically. After her death, both men grabbed me by the throat and asked, “Why did she have to die such a miserable death, while you’re still alive and well?” They strangled me to death. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day when my childhood friend and my fiancé had been drugged.

My parents set me up on a marriage match—and it turned out to be my girlfriend, Chloe. I was hyped. I went straight to the luxury boutique where she worked, ready to tell her. Then I stopped outside the VIP room. "Chloe, if you're dumping him, just do it. Why fake cancer? You're putting bad juju on yourself." "What do you know? A dead ex sticks forever. Next week, I'm getting engaged to a Remington. Having an ex like me? That's his win." Inside, her friends hyped her up. Laughter all around. I just stood there, cold spreading through me. Three years. A joke to her. She was trading up—and still playing me one last time. I clenched my jaw and called my mom. "Mom, cancel the engagement... No rush. I'll handle it myself."

While on a business trip, I stumbled into my brother-in-law, Julian Zeller, mid-act with a male colleague in a hotel parking lot. Furious, I blew the lid off his fake marriage and helped my sister, Yvonne Sutton, escape that scumbag. But after the divorce, she lost his financial support. She spiraled, blaming me for destroying her perfect marriage. She even killed me for trying to stop her from going back to him. Then, everything resets. I wake up, and there he is—slipping into the car while hugging the same man. I pocket my phone. This time, I won't ruin Yvonne's happy ending.

While they slice me apart, I desperately call my brother, Nathan Slade. He finally picks up as my consciousness starts to slip and answers in an annoyed voice, "What now?" "Nathan, help—" I don't get to finish before he cuts me off. "Can't you ever go a day without drama? Gemma's graduation is at the end of the month. Miss it, and I swear I'll kill you!" Then, he hangs up without a second thought. The agonizing pain swallows me whole, and my eyes close for good, tears still trailing down my cheeks. Well, good news, Nathan… You won't have to kill me because I'm already dead.

On the first day of our marriage, Abyron, the Snake King, and I formed an empathic bond. It was thus impossible for me to doubt his love for me. However, on the seventh day, he slept with two rabbit girls. I collapsed completely. It felt worse than death. He sighed and said, “Yoelle, snakes are naturally lustful. It’s not that I don’t love you. You simply can’t satisfy me. You may deal with the women around me however you wish, but I won’t divorce you.” At first, I killed the women he favored out of jealousy. Later, I stopped caring at all. Then he dismissed his entire harem for a human woman named Xena Lane. That was when I asked for a divorce. It was not because of jealousy. It was because my little lover was demanding his place.

After my wife, Estelle Parks, gave birth, I hired a live-in nanny to take care of her and the baby. I never expected that paying top dollar would bring home someone who acted like she owned the place. I had to cook every meal after work and mop the floors before bed. She even helped herself to the pricey bone broth I had bought for Estelle. I got so fed up that I wanted to fire her, but Estelle just shrugged it off. "As long as she takes care of the baby, what does it matter if she rests or eats a little? It's not like we're struggling." And yet, Estelle had always hated people who took advantage of others.

The night of my first shift at eighteen, my two older brothers brought home a twelve-year-old orphaned Omega. My alpha brother seized the rare healing herb I'd spent all my savings on—herbs meant to ease my first transformation—and gave them to her instead. "You're strong enough," he growled. "You don't need such precious herbs." My beta brother snarled with fury, pointing toward the door. "Get out! Don't come back!" I said nothing more, just grabbed my packed bag and left. They assumed I was merely throwing a tantrum, that I'd return in a few days. My brothers, finally free of my presence, took the orphan girl on an international vacation to the Caribbean islands I'd always dreamed of visiting. Many days later, when they returned to the pack, they were shocked to discover I'd accepted an offer from the neighboring pack's Head Healer. The position required fifteen years of isolated herbal research. I could never return home. That night, they fell apart.

For ten years, my family had called me a jinx. When I was three years old, my dad claimed that he lost a major project because he had to take care of me due to my illness. My mom wanted to buy me sweets, only to end up getting hit by a car in front of a candy store. That was how she hurt her arm. My older sister, Siena Bell, often claimed that she screwed up in her tests simply because I kept breaking her pens. One day, my mom invited a shaman named Mr. Reyes over. After inspecting the house, he contemplated for a while. "This child is affiliated with misfortune by nature. She's a walking jinx who absorbs the entire family's luck." He then added, "But if she has a life of misfortune, you will regain your luck." At first, I felt aggrieved and tried to fight back by throwing tantrums. I tugged at my mom's sleeve while arguing loudly, "I'm not a jinx!" But my mom just looked at me calmly. There was a hint of eerie calmness in her eyes. She said, "Mr. Reyes said that you have to accept your fate. Someone has to bear the sacrifices no matter what." Her icy words doused out the hope in my heart. In a way, this twisted dynamic actually worked. My dad's business went steady, whereas Siena started getting better grades. At one point, I even started thinking that I was a real jinx. But… why was it that my family was haunted by more misfortune after my death?

Adeline Pendleton grew up in a wealthy family. She has everything a person could want in life. Wealth, fame, beauty, money, designer clothes, and gourmet foods. Everything, with the exception of the man she loves. Drake Wright. Drake Wright is the inheritor of the Wright's Corporation. At his very young age, his parents build an empire to be inherited by him one day. Everything is going swimmingly for him, not until his parents got involve in a serious situation which affected their company. His parents told him that their company will go bankrupt and the only thing that can solve their problem is that he must marry their friend's daughter. Adeline Pendleton. He dislikes the lady because she is too naive for him; he despises her guts, and he is already in love with someone else. Unfortunately, his father also had a serious illness and can't do anything about their company so he asked him the favor do fix the problem in his behalf. "Marry her, son. That's the only way. If you won't, then everything that your mother and I sacrifices and did for our company will vanished." Drake's father said while lying in his bed, not able to move his hands. What will become of Drake and Adeline's one-sided and broken marriage? Will Adeline be able to withstand Drake's cruel treatment and arrogance? Will they live together as a married couple without love and understanding? Or will love blossom in the midst of every hatred and misunderstanding?

All is not as it seems in this action suspense. What happens when an 'innocent blind girl' marries an assassin? For the sake of friendship, Joshua agrees to marry best friend Raymond's blind girlfriend Julia without her knowledge, just so he can buy him time to get out of his arranged marriage. But stakes run high when Joshua finds himself falling for her as well which will ultimately open a large can of worms.One of the many questions is who will get the girl? What happens when this untimely love triangle unearths secrets that will spill blood and unfortunately reveal some unforeseen tragic relations? Above all, what happens when Joshua notices more than what meets the eye when it comes to his new bride? So who is playing who and why? Find out, in A BLOOD-STAINED 'I DO'