Vanessa Bulls Today

Soon after I came back to the country, someone slapped me right across the face in broad daylight, yelling that I was a mistress. A crowd of reporters closed in, pelting me with questions about whether Chandler Armstrong, CEO of Armstrong Industries, was keeping me as his mistress. I was stunned speechless for a moment, but then I pulled out my wedding photo with Chandler from seven years ago and held it up. "What are you talking about? I'm his wife!" The crowd went silent, and the woman who'd slapped me turned white as a sheet. Only then did I finally get it: while I'd been overseas, Chandler had been openly involved with an actress, and everyone in his social circle had already decided she was the future Mrs. Armstrong. Today, they all came expecting to confront a mistress—only to find out that I was actually his wife. Later, Chandler tried to justify it. "Alina, you've been out of the country for years. I'm a man, and I have needs. She's just a B-list actress; it's not like she threatens your position. Why should you be upset? Just let it go," he said. "Don't make a scene." I handed him the divorce papers. "You make me sick."

On the day of our engagement, as we were driving to the banquet hall, a man holding a few-month-old baby stepped in front of our car. My first thought was that it was some kind of scam. I was about to get out and deal with him when I saw the panic on his face. "Cassidy," he said desperately, "our baby won't stop crying. Do you think something's wrong?" The moment she heard that, my fiancée shoved me out of the car. She took off with them without a single glance back. I just stood there in shock. So this was the truth. She'd been hiding a child with her ex all along. Alone, I went to the banquet hall to handle what remained of our celebration. Later, she called. "I feel terrible about this," she said. "I thought if I gave him the baby and gave you the marriage, it would balance things out. But when Stanley showed up today, I realized—he's the only one I want." I was done with her games. If that's how she felt, I'd walk away. So I made a simple phone call. "Grandma, I'm coming home. I'm ready to run the family business now."

"I'm willing to marry you." Jared Brooks and his brother, Shiloh, turned their heads. Standing before them was a woman in a wedding dress, but this was no ordinary bride. Her gown was stained with dirt and blood, her mascara streaked down her cheeks, and her makeup a ruined mess. Today was supposed to be Julia Watson's wedding day. She was set to marry her fiancé, Carter Ross, until her so-called best friend, Vivien Smith, announced to everyone that she and Carter were expecting a baby—and were in love. Shattered by the betrayal of her fiancé and best friend, Julia was ready to give up. That was until she spotted Jared Brooks, the CEO of Brooks Corporation, at the courthouse. "Who are you?" Jared asked, puzzled by the stranger's proposal. Jared had no intention of marrying a stranger, and even his brother found the idea absurd. He was about to leave when Julia made an irresistible promise: she could cure his brother's legs. "I'm Julia Watson of the Watson family," she introduced herself. Jared assumed Julia sought revenge against her ex-fiancé by marrying him. Little did he know, Julia harbored two dark secrets. First, she had a mission to complete. Second, she wasn't really Julia Watson.

On our seventh wedding anniversary, Harrison Drummond arrives with the woman he's been seeing behind my back. Tears fill Kate McCauley's eyes. Before I even have a chance to speak, she drops to her knees in front of me. "Ms. Kershaw, love isn't about who came first or last. Harrison and I care for each other with all our hearts. Please, let us be together." I turn to look at Harrison. With a heavy heart, he lifts Kate into his arms. The man who's always obsessed with cleanliness now wipes her tears away, not caring about the mess she leaves behind. Without raising his gaze, he says, "Kate has been by my side without any official name or title. I owe her that much. Don't worry, she's not after anything else. Having her here is no more than adding an extra pair of cutlery at the table." With that, he carries Kate into the bedroom and closes the door behind them. He seems to have completely forgotten that today is our wedding anniversary. Does he even remember the other woman who followed him without status seven years ago? I stare at the glowing "Happy Anniversary" sign resting on the table. In that instant, I realize there is no future left for us.

Mindy Horton and I got married on Thanksgiving. Coincidentally, her assistant went abroad to further his studies that day. I did not pay much attention to it until the eve of another Thanksgiving three years later. I was browsing TikTok and came across Mindy, who was in a street interview about couples. The reporter stopped her and asked, "Excuse me. Could I have a second of your time? Who would you like to spend today with?" Mindy paused for a moment. She struggled to answer after a long while, "With my lover." "Call him now. He should know how you feel!" I smiled as I sat up, ready to pick up Mindy's call. However, when I looked up, I saw Mindy sobbing to another man on the screen. "I know you've returned, and I still can't forget you after all these years. Do you know how much I regret not marrying you and marrying another man? We missed our chance with each other three years ago. Let's spend Thanksgiving together this year!" I sat in bed all night and booked a flight out of the country the next morning. "When are you leaving?" my assistant asked. I replied, "On Thanksgiving."

BLURB ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** You can’t force me to go with you,” I sneered. “I will carry you myself, Vanessa, if you insist on acting like a kid.” “I‘ll yell out for help, someone will hear.” “And sentence your loved ones to death? I think not,” he squinted. “What was their name again, Alena… Eugene" “Kai, don’t you dare touch my loved ones!” I said in gritted teeth as I walked closer to him, warning him, “Or else I will— He scoffed, and he grabbed my hand. “You will what? Huh?” Tears began to fall freely from my eyes. “Kia, don’t touch the ones I love!” I said in between tears. “We made a deal,” he said, grabbing my hands as I struggled to be free from his grip. “There is no going back. If you ever run away again, I won’t even give you a preview, you will attend the funeral of your loved ones.” his voice was dangerously low. Hot tears fell from my eyes. “I won’t touch you, so that you can suffer for your mistake,” he smirked. “You and I know, the pain is worse than death,” he said in a whisper. I closed my eyes and let tears cascade down my cheeks. I now understood what I had done. Understood that I had made a deal with the monster who was once my lover. I was foolish to think he had changed.

“Come back to me, Ivy,” the man whom she used to love with all her heart said. “No, no,” Ivy shook her head and backed away from him. Her body trembled as fear consumed her whole being. He was the reason her baby was gone! He was the reason for all her suffering! ---------------------------- Ivy thought she was the luckiest woman in the world - she was married to the man of her dream. But that was just her illusion. On the day she received her pregnancy report, she found her husband in bed with his best friend. Before she had the chance to tell him about her pregnancy, she was forced to divorce and her family was driven to bankruptcy by that one man she loved. Since then, her life went south. She married a governor in another country whom everyone thought was a gentleman. Everyone envied her, but no one knew he was a sadist who loved to abuse her. Five years later, the man she used to love met her by chance and begged her to come back. But would she be able to give her heart again, when all she felt toward him was fear and hatred? Knowing that he was the sole reason her life had turned to be what it was today with endless suffering? Cover art by Rainygraphic.

After I was falsely accused of being a third wheel by a fake heiress, she hired a group of people to corner me in the delivery room under the pretense of giving me an intervention. "How dare you, a shameless mistress, hope to secure a place with your child!" "Today, I'm going to make sure that b*stard in your belly is gone for good. Let's see if you dare get into my man's bed again." The group blocked the delivery room door, their faces twisted with malice as they refused to let the doctors deliver my baby. I begged them to let me go, but they only laughed cruelly and forced me down in front of a camera while I struggled through labor. They forcefully pulled the baby out of my belly and killed him right in front of me. I clung to my child's lifeless body, sobbing hysterically, while they posted my miserable state online with the caption, 'This is what happens to mistresses.' Later, I exposed her fake heiress status and revealed the dirty secrets of her and those people who were allegedly giving me an intervention online. Relentlessly attacked by netizens until she had nowhere left to turn, she ended up begging me for forgiveness. I pointed to the edge of the rooftop and said, "Jump, and I'll forgive you."

"I'm your husband now, Janice. Give me your hand, and don't do something stupid," Connor Hughes whispered those words that sent shivers down my spine, and I knew I was doomed for the rest of my life. I was supposed to get married to Carl Hughes, but his brother, the person I feared the most in life, showed up instead. Standing in front of the altar together, my heart pounded hard against my chest and the smirk that played on his lips made me regret ever playing a trick on this man. If only I could be given another chance to make things right, but it was too late. Just two weeks ago, I was happy, duping this man, thinking I was smart, little did I know that I would be tying the knot with him today as his wife. "You may exchange your rings now," My heart stopped beating as I watched him slid the diamond ring into my finger while having a deadly smirk playing at the corner of his lips. The ring felt like shackles of bondage, a promise of lifetime nightmares and miseries, something I wasn't sure I would ever be able to escape from. There were only two things involved. It was either I have a happy ending, or a sad one...

The day my biological family comes to take me home, a car accident occurs. My parents and the fake son who had been living my life all die, but my sister, Kayla Bennett, survives. She despises me completely after that and blames the company's bankruptcy on me too. Desperate to make amends, I work over ten jobs a day, giving her every cent I earn so she can buy back the villa that has all our family memories. The day I finally save enough money, I discover my supposedly dead parents inside that same villa, celebrating Dylan Bennett's birthday. My usually cold sister is laughing warmly with them. As they bring out the cake, Mom mentions me. "Today's Nathan's birthday too. We've been punishing him for eight years now. Maybe we should bring him home?" Kayla cuts her off immediately. "We agreed on ten years to make sure he never suggests sending Dylan away again. Not one year less!" I clutch my medical report and laugh through my tears. But Kayla, I'm dying.