This Summer I Turned Pretty Novels & Stories

On the day my wife, Abigail Jefferson, and Dominic Gorman, the university student she has been sponsoring, post their pre-wedding photos on their social media feed, I don't lash out at them crazily as I usually do. Instead, I leave a like and a comment on their posts. "You two make a great couple. Everyone, let's give our blessings to the newlyweds." Everyone in elite society thinks of me as the most cowardly husband ever, who lets the side piece make a doormat out of him. One week later, Abigail comes home and explains, "This is just an act. Dominic's grandma is ill, and she wishes to see him get married before she passes away." I just nod calmly in return. "I didn't take it seriously. Of course, I believe you." In my previous life, I showed up at Abigail and Dominic's wedding to cause chaos for them. Naturally, their wedding couldn't go on because of me. Abigail began targeting my parents' company in order to punish me. My parents ended up going bankrupt and were forced to jump off a building. She had me admitted into a mental asylum, where I was tortured to insanity. Now that I'm given a second chance in life, I no longer yearn for Abigail's love. I just want her money this time. Every time she cheats on me, I'll transfer some of her assets to my name. Abigail now has three more chances before she ends up losing everything.

After seven years of marriage, my wife told me she would no longer share a bed with me. She said she was frigid. Once, after getting drunk, she ended up crossing that line with me. When she sobered up and realized what had happened, she locked herself in the bathroom and scrubbed herself clean for three days, sick with disgust the entire time. Later, she came back and demanded that I get a vasectomy if I wanted our dead bedroom to come back to life. I agreed, but I never went through with it. When her belly eventually began to show, the woman who had once worshiped the DINK lifestyle suddenly started looking forward to the arrival of that child. I told her I lied about the vasectomy. She said nothing about it, but for two weeks after that, I was beaten up, stripped and thrown at the company's entrance, kidnapped and strapped to a roulette while perverts enjoyed the show like I was a monkey. … By the time I escaped from the hospital, I was already barely holding on. Then I saw her lying in the arms of her old classmate, calmly ending the pregnancy. "I can't believe that bastard lied about the vasectomy," she said. "Just the thought that the baby might be his makes me sick. I'd rather not take the risk." That was the last straw. If she truly believed her body was nothing more than a graveyard, then I would make sure she got exactly what she wished for.

Noel Laurent never expected a night of heartbreak to put him in the sights of Vincenzo de Luca..a man wrapped in danger, power, and ruthless desire. The mafia king wanted him from the moment their eyes met. But when Vincenzo sent his men to fetch him, Noel did the unthinkable..he refused. Now, Vincenzo is intrigued. Amused. Obsessed. Noel doesn’t belong in Vincenzo’s world of bloodstained hands and whispered threats, yet the mafia don is determined to make him his. No matter the cost. He spoils Noel, protects him, claims him, until Noel has nowhere left to run. And when old enemies and past wounds threaten to pull them apart, Vincenzo proves there’s nothing he won’t do to keep Noel in his arms..even if it means burning the world down. Noel thinks he can resist him. Vincenzo knows better. After all… what’s his will always be his.

Over the weekend, I went with my best friend to one of the premium auto shops owned by my company to get her car serviced. Just as we were about to leave, someone stopped me and ordered me to wipe down her car. I explained that I didn't work there, but she got angry anyway. She flipped a 10-cent coin at my face. "Consider it an honor that I'm letting you wash my car. A broke girl like you has probably never even seen a luxury car in her life! I'm trying to broaden your horizons, and you're not even grateful?" I shot back, "You're right. I've never met a car owner who can only spare 10 cents. Consider my horizons broadened." She exploded on the spot. "Do you even know who I am? The chairman of the Penzo Group is my mother-in-law! Scared now?" I paused for a beat, then calmly called Leo Penzo. "I hear your mother went behind my back and found you a new wife?"

Before being sold to a 60-year-old man by her parents, Rosalynn Carter quickly made a daring move – selling her virginity to a handsome man to save herself. However, she never expected that the one-night stand would be an ironic twist of fate, dragging her from one hell to another! "I will never love you!" Rosalynn cried, repeatedly punching the chest of the man who held her tightly. The bottom of her eyes were filled with helplessness and fatigue, but he was always the one who could easily bury her in the depths of despair. He traced his lips gently along her delicate face, whispering into her ear with a voice reminiscent of a demon's. "Not loving will turn into love! You have no other choice because your body, your heart, and even your soul—all were bought by me!" He always emphasized that love couldn't exist in their relationship, why was he now forcing her to love him? Was winning the heart of a demon her misfortune or her sin?

When my husband Joshua dragged his student Linda Moore into our apartment, I didn't even blink—I gave up the bed. Last time, it'd been pouring when he showed up with her in the middle of the night. Told me to crash on the floor with my daughter Mia and gave Linda the bed like it was nothing. I lost it. Fought with him, snapped at her. She bolted, slipped into a ditch, and supposedly drowned. Joshua said nothing. Then, one night, with the storm going wild outside, he pried open a manhole and dumped me and Mia in like trash. "Linda's my mentor's daughter. She's dead—how am I supposed to face him? You two can apologize yourselves." We didn't even get to scream before that freezing, disgusting water swallowed us whole. Turns out, Linda faked the whole thing. Just a twisted joke to punish me. Joshua moved her in right after, like nothing happened. Now, thunder cracked again as the door opened—and there he was, Linda right behind him.

My mother-in-law, Eleanor, was having a heart attack, and my husband, Ben Dover—a heart surgeon—was the only one who could save her. Did I call him? Nope. I just stood there, watching her gasp like a fish out of water. In my last life, I'd begged Ben to come save her. He brushed me off, accusing me of interrupting his time with his mistress, Ima Schit. No matter how much I pleaded, he wouldn't come. Eleanor had died in the hospital. And when Johnny, my father-in-law, demanded answers, Ben flipped the script, saying I'd never even called. He made Eleanor's death my fault. Johnny, blinded by grief and fury, killed me. But plot twist—I woke up. Right back to the day this circus started.

"Here she comes, witch!" She hissed before throwing a beautiful black dress at me. I hurriedly grab it before it could land on the floor. She might find fault in that and end up starving for making the dress fall on the floor. Not only for a day but might go on for weeks. I was tempted to ask her what's the dress for but she beat me to it. "Go to your room now and change into this. Your husband to be and his mom will be visiting soon" "W... What?!!!"

“Who am I supposed to be this time… the boy they love, or the man they lost?” Eli, a 25-year-old orphan, finally lands his dream job, only to lose his life in a sudden accident. He wakes up in the body of a 19-year-old heir who shares his name, a powerful family, and a life that is far from perfect. Soon, memories begin to surface. Not only his own, but those of a young CEO who was betrayed and murdered by the people closest to him. Caught between lives that do not fully belong to him, Eli must navigate a world of wealth, secrets, and revenge while facing people who love him for different reasons. As the truth unfolds, he is forced to question who he really is and whether this second life is a chance to start again or a trap he may never escape.

I'm at an auction with my mother-in-law, Agnes Bachert. She spots a breathtaking emerald necklace, and we end up winning it for 30 million dollars. The auctioneer signals for payment. To make things easier, Agnes suggests charging it to my father-in-law Otto Garrett's account. But just as she says this, a flashy middle-aged woman and a young woman storm over. The younger woman, Janette Saccone, grabs Agnes' arm while the middle-aged woman, Ruth Coleman, slaps her hard. "I knew something was off!" Ruth snarls. "You're a nasty old bitch for destroying my family and trying to seduce my husband! I hope you suffer!" I rush to shield Agnes. "Are you okay?" Ruth's sharp gaze snaps onto me when she hears me speak. "Your mother-in-law has no shame, throwing herself at rich men. And you're not even embarrassed for her?" I step in front of Agnes and tell Ruth that I'm married into the Garrett family, then demand to know who she is. Ruth gives me a cold, arrogant look. "Who am I? I'm Otto Garrett's legal wife—the one he married officially!" She gives me a look of pure contempt. "And who are you to question me?" Before I can say a single word, she pulls out her phone and dials a number. "Clement, my dear son, get to the auction house right now! Help me catch this homewrecker!" Clement Garrett? That's my husband. Since when does he have another mother?