Then We Held Hands

A stampede happened at my daughter's kindergarten. Timothy Horuson was in a hurry to save his first love's son, and he pulled away someone else's hand. A hand reached out to him, hoping for him to save her. His daughter's hand. And the light in my daughter's eyes faded. The longing for fatherly love she had held on to for so long vanished. I risked my life to save her. She looked at me quietly. "I'll go with you, Mom. We'll leave Dad behind and go somewhere he'll never find us."

I pleaded with my husband Cedric Fleetham over and over, and finally, he agreed to take our daughter camping in the mountains for her birthday. When I found her late the next night, she was already gone. She lay at the foot of the mountain, her tiny hand still clutching a drawing of our family. As I knelt beside her, my heart shattered. Meanwhile, Cedric was busy updating his social media. His post read, [You and our daughter are my treasures,] and it was accompanied by a photo, where he stood beside his childhood sweetheart and held hands with another little girl, watching the sunset. And there, in the corner of the picture, was a tiny hand—my daughter’s hand. The cruelest truth of all was that my daughter took that photo.

On the day I was supposed to marry Cyrus Lloyd, his crush returned from abroad. She held a notice which said she did not have long to live and smiled sadly. “Cyrus, I thought you’d let me wear a wedding dress one last time.” To grant her wish, Cyrus gave her my wedding dress. He even made her as the bride instead of me. He locked me inside the dressing room. Through the door, he said in annoyance, “We still have a future together. What’s wrong with letting her have this?” Later, a rich guy who secretly had a crush on me proposed to me. With teary eyes, Cyrus begged, “Do you really not care about me anymore because of him?” I took a step back. “We don’t have a future anymore. Why should I care about you?”

At my best friend's wedding, a girl lunged forward and caught the bouquet—only for it to slip from her hands and land squarely in my arms. My best friend, Lauren Walker, beamed at me. "Madison, looks like you're the next bride." The guests exchanged knowing glances and turned toward my boyfriend of eight years—Mason Ryder, the CEO of the Ryder Group. But he calmly plucked the bouquet from my hands and casually passed it to the girl standing beside me—his secretary, Natalie Carter. "She caught it first." He ruffled my hair, his voice gentle. "Be good. Give it back to Natalie for now. We'll wait for the next time." The spotlight—and the guests' attention—shifted with the bouquet, settling on Natalie. I looked at her startled yet shy expression, then rested a hand on my stomach and forced a bitter smile. Mason didn't know there wouldn't be a next time. Our eight-year promise had already come to an end, and we still hadn't taken the step into marriage. And I had already promised my parents, who were royalty, that next week, I would leave and return to Montelvia to inherit the family legacy.

"What do you want? I thought I warned you to stay away from me the last time we talked on the phone?” I said, with my hands across my chest. “Alexandria! What did I do wrong? Please tell me, if it's something I can fix, I will gladly do it! Why all this coldness towards me?” He said, moving closer towards me, and I did not move. Looking at his cute face, I sigh softly. “Fred, you did not do anything wrong, okay! We just had fun, and nothing more!” “Fun? Was that all it was to you?” He asked, his eyes turning red at my words. “Yeah! What else? I asked you out myself, didn't I?” “Yeah, but I thought we were dating? Alex, please don't do this to me! After what I have been through, I thought, I have finally found someone who is genuine, and sincere to fall in love with!” He said, with so much passion that I felt it a little bit. But then, I wasn't the type to love someone. "Can't you see? I have fallen in love with you! I'm head over heels for you, Alex!” He spoke softly, holding my hands again, and looking into my eyes. I could see the truth in his eyes, I could tell that he really does love me. But then, it's a pity that I can't feel anything for him.

"Nice meeting you, Selina.” Said Eddy, hoping she would give him a chance to glance at her eyes. But it didn't happen. "We better not waste our time here." When Selina rejected to become Eddy's business partner, Eddy just couldn't believe that she was the friendly and mysterious girl that grabbed his hands in the woods that morning. However, there are more that he doesn't know about Selina…

On my fourth year anniversary, my wife, Rachel Brady, hands over a divorce agreement to me. "My mom is afflicted with a severe disease, and she's dying soon. Her final wish is to watch us get a divorce. "I promise that this is just a fake divorce. Once my mom has passed away, we'll get remarried again." As I watch Rachel sob sadly in front of me, I agree to her proposition out of sympathy. But as soon as we get divorced, Rachel quickly posts a photo of her and her first love, Max Cohen, in wedding attire on her social media account. Even my ex-mother-in-law, who's said to live on borrowed time, is included in the same photo while looking hearty and hale.

{Completed}(Previously called Keenan Hiltons Chaos) The room is awfully quiet except for Keenan's laboured breath and my heavily pounding heart. His hands are planted on his hips and his eyes fixated on the ceiling as if he's thinking about all the regretful things he's done in his life. Why does this feel like the beginning of another disastrous road? “What's wrong?” I ask in a panic because I wonder if he's also recollecting the events that happened last night in part like I am and regretting it. “Apparently we did more than get drunk last night,” He lifts the paper certificate from the bar counter and shows it to me, “we got married.”

"Have sex with me," Mustering all her courage, she said in a very desperate tone. It was not a request but it was more of a command. Emily Greyson, no boyfriend since birth, has never been dated, never been touched, and never been kissed. A certified virgin asking boldly to a superstar whom she held dearly in her heart. "You are not worthy of me!" Charles Adam exclaimed disgustingly. His cold eyes bore deeply into her. Despite his strong rejection, Emily held her chin high then her trembling hands started to undress herself in front of him. Emily was going to marry his brother but she didn’t love him. She would only do it for Charles because she loved him so much but he never loved her back. Charles had a woman he loved and he was going to marry her. Emily’s silk nightgown dropped on the floor leaving her body covered only with her white laced underwear. Charles’s cold eyes scanned her hourglass figure with flawless glossy skin. “Get out!” He roared. “No! I demand you to grant what I want! If you don’t agree then let’s forget the wedding!” Emily refuted. Suddenly, Charles walked forward exuding a very dangerous aura. Her body instantly shivered out of fear but she held her ground. “You are getting bolder, Emily. How dare you threaten me?” He suddenly scooped her like a bag of potatoes. When she thought, he was going to throw her outside, he tossed her to his bed.

Sara's legs straddling Austin's lap, their lips clashed in a fierce, passionate kiss. The sound of their lips meeting was like a spark, igniting a flame that threatened to consume them. "Mmm," Sara murmured, her lips vibrating against Austin's. "I hate you," Austin growled, his hands grasping her hips, pulling her closer. His fingers dug into her skin, sending shivers down her spine. Sara's hands were just as busy, her fingers tracing the lines of Austin's face, her thumbs brushing against his lips. "I hate you too," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the sound of their kissing. Their lips parted for a moment, and Austin's tongue darted out, tracing the curve of Sara's lower lip. She moaned, her hands tangling in his hair, pulling him closer. Sara's hands began to roam, her fingers tracing the contours of Austin's chest. She reached for the hem of his shirt, pulling it up and over his head. As she exposed his chest, Austin's eyes locked onto hers, a warning flashing in their depths. "You'll hate me tomorrow," he said, his voice low and rough. Sara's eyes flashed with defiance, her hands continuing to explore Austin's chest. "We don't like each other anyway," she said, her voice husky with desire.