Thousand Autumns (meng Xi Shi) Novels & Stories

For our ninety-ninth engagement ceremony, Julian booked us a skydive. He said he wanted to tell me he loved me at thirty thousand feet. My chute didn't open. I got tangled in a big tree. I survived, yet suffered multiple fractures all over my body. In the ward, I accidentally saw a message on the screen of our jump instructor's phone. It was addressed to Julian, and it carried a video. The video showed someone tampering with my chute before we boarded. So the "accident" was Julian's idea? I dragged myself out of bed on crutches, every bone in my body screaming, ready to confront him. I made it as far as the hallway. He was already there, talking to someone, and the moment I saw the other man, the floor tilted under me. The man across from him was the same driver who'd hit me with his car the night before our last engagement. The hit-and-run that should have killed me. "Mr. Veil, if you ever need me again, please reach out." Julian's voice was flat, almost tired. "There won't be a next time. I've tried everything I can think of. The engagement can't be postponed anymore." "And the woman you actually love, sir?" "I'll keep loving her," Julian said. "But Ada is the one I marry. Her mother gave my father a kidney. That's the debt. I have to pay it." I stood there shaking, and the truth rearranged itself behind my eyes. The camping trip he had planned, where I got lost and nearly died of hypothermia in the woods. That had been him. The vitamin C he had handed me, the one that put me in the ICU. Him too. And this time — the skydive, thirty thousand feet, “I want the sky to witness our love”. All of it. Every single one of those accidents was him trying to delay the wedding. But Julian, I thought, I could save you the trouble. The next morning I accepted an offer that had been sitting in my inbox for weeks: an invitation from a world-class orchestra on the other side of the planet.

My husband is the director of a private hospital. During the three years of work, he would always find his "female best friend" with all kinds of excuses. The first time he went, he bought me a new purse I had been longing for. The second time he went, he credited one thousand dollars to the beauty salon I frequented. Only after he gave his family member's spot for the hospital's retreat did I finally ask for my one-hundredth request. He simply signed the form, thinking that it was some kind of order for a luxurious item. "I've neglected you lately. Shall I take you to see the aurora after I come back this time?" When he gracefully gave me that promise, I calmly smiled. That was because he didn't know the last thing I asked him to sign was divorce papers.

After five years of fruitless and loveless marriage to Lucien Albrecht, a business tycoon in Seattle, Ariadne was finally at her wits end. Her husband proposed a divorce on the night of their fifth anniversary, never knowing how much she had forsaken for his love. With a broken heart, Ariadne severed all ties with him for good, going back to her previous identity…. the Heiress of Grey Enterprise. However, never in a thousand years had she thought, when she decided back to be Alexandra Grey, Lucien turned to be the one who wanted Ariadne Albrecht back. Torn between the constant power struggle at the company and her ex husband’s watchful gaze, could the young CEO finally gain her set goal? *** “Vying for the position of Mrs. Albrecht?" Alexandra couldn’t suppress the chuckle that escaped her lips. "I’d much rather build my own empire than be some man’s trophy wife.”

“That’s a wrap, this little rogue has been sold for eight hundred thousand dollars,” the woman cheered. She came towards me with an evil smirk. “Please,” I whispered. “You’re so tough, dear child, your new master will enjoy taming you,” she grinned before I felt a prick in my neck. “Ow! What did…” I didn't finish my question before a wave of dizziness hit me and I passed out. *** Mia faces a heart-wrenching choice to save her mother. Betrayed by her own family, she finds herself imprisoned and at the mercy of a ruthless captor. But hope flickers in the form of two brothers who come to her rescue, revealing a hidden world she never knew existed. As Mia grapples with her newfound destiny and a forbidden love that could unravel everything, she must outsmart her pursuer and navigate a treacherous path to secure her family's future. Will she escape the clutches of darkness and rewrite her own fate?

Three years ago, Emily married Aaron out of gratitude. She truly believed he respected her, cared for her, maybe even loved her. It wasn’t until later that she realized—he had never really let go of his ex. And the craziest part? She looked just like her. Time and time again, he left her behind for that woman. And finally, Emily understood something. A thousand days and nights couldn’t warm a heart that was never hers to begin with. All along, he had only been looking through her… searching for someone else in her shadow. If he didn’t love her, then so be it. She was done trying. But after the divorce, he came back—saying she was the one he truly cared about all along. His eyes full of regret, chasing after what he lost— But Emily just laughed. She wasn’t that quiet, invisible wife from three years ago anymore.

I was performing the hundredth "restoration" surgery on my mafia husband's latest mistress when I finally decided to leave him. For five years, I, Isabella Rossi, have lived a double life: the respected wife of a powerful Don, and the personal physician tasked with "purifying" the women he discards. Vincent's twisted religious conviction is his law: only a wife untouched by any other man can bear his legitimate heir. I was that pure wife, yet he treated me as his most unclean possession. My love for him died a slow death. A thousand empty nights. It was killed by the cold steel of my own operating table. By the sounds of other women boasting about his touch. The five-year prenuptial agreement that bound me to this hell was set to expire at midnight. I had already called my grandfather, the only man Vincent truly fears. My escape was hours away. By the time he realized his mistake, it was too late.

On our wedding day, my wife's first love, Hank Scott, threatened to slit his wrists. She ignored him and went through with the ceremony anyway, until news arrived that he was dead, his blood staining the ground. From that moment on, Shirley Lowell withdrew into a convent, becoming the cold, distant woman everyone knew. In the name of atonement, she forced me to copy the Bible a thousand times and kneel in endless prayer, grinding me down until I was crippled. Bound to a wheelchair, I asked her for a divorce. She refused, saying we owed Hank a debt and had to atone for it together. She used my family to threaten me, keeping me by her side and tormenting me for the rest of my life. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on our wedding day. This time, I chose to push her toward Hank. I would become the first love in her heart, the one who led her onto the path of devout faith.

My mom is a famous perfumer who's well-known in town. But her perfumes are charged per session. One session costs 200 thousand dollars. She only takes in ten customers per month, too. Those who have used the perfumes my mom has concocted will be enveloped by the perfumes' unique fragrance that leaves an unforgettable impression on those who have smelled it. In fact, the fragrance is capable of covering up the customers' body odor, no matter how strong it is. One session will leave the customers with enough fragrance that lasts for a month. Countless celebrities and rich women specifically travel to this town just to frequent my mom's business. Everyone sings praises about my mom, claiming that she's the mistress of all fragrances who's here to bless humanity with her gift. But I know that my mom isn't as amazing as everyone thinks she is. The only reason why her business is booming like this is all thanks to the "thing" that she keeps locked up in that room…

“In his world, love is a luxury she can’t afford… but he’s made sure she pays the price anyway.” Liara Kane is drowning—her younger brother teeters between life and death, and every bank account is bone-dry. When ruthless billionaire Asher Kane reappears under the hospital’s flickering lights, he offers her a deal darker than the storm raging around them: one year of marriage in exchange for two hundred thousand dollars’ worth of life-saving surgery, a lavish penthouse, and a monthly allowance that could erase her debts. No vows. No emotions. Just a contract. But Asher never does anything by halves. With boardroom pressure and a family hungry for scandal underfoot, he demands compliance in public and possession in private. As Liara signs away her freedom, she ignites a fire in Asher’s cold heart—one he didn’t know existed. Torn between desperation, defiance, and a dangerous attraction, Liara must decide: is salvation worth a lifetime of chains?

Be my girlfriend." That's what Landon Cross said when he cornered me in the practice room. The quarterback. The enemy. The most beautiful man I've ever hated. He handed me a contract. Fifteen thousand dollars. Six months of pretending. My brother's heart surgery costs eighteen thousand. I have forty-seven dollars. I signed. No touching. No feelings. No telling anyone it's fake. We broke every rule within two weeks. Then his father found out. Gave him an ultimatum. My reputation or his future. He called me a gold digger in front of the whole school. Two years later, I'm a professional cellist. I'm fine. I'm lying. He showed up at my brother's graduation with the truth and a single piece of duct tape from my old cello case. "I never stopped," he said. Now I have to decide: forgive the unforgivable, or walk away forever.