Winning The Week

Three years into our marriage, Rylan Shaw brings another woman home. "Maeve, you should learn from the younger ladies. Stop acting like a block of wood all the time." With a calm resolve, I shatter our wedding photo and hand him the divorce papers I've long prepared. "Let's get divorced, Rylan. I'll step aside for her," I declare. His friends insist that without him, I'll starve on the streets. Rylan believes the same. "Once she's suffered enough out there, she'll realize how lucky she was to be Mrs. Shaw." But a week passes, then a month—and I never return. That's when Rylan begins to grow uneasy. Panic and restless nights consume him. One evening, drunk and desperate, he pounds on the door of my new apartment. "Maeve, if it's money you want, I'll give it all to you…" The door swings open to reveal an unfamiliar man—bare-chested, pajama pants hanging low, fresh scratches streaking his abdomen. Jonah Archer arches a brow, dissatisfaction flickering in his eyes as he asks, "Mr. Shaw, what madness brings you to my wife's door in the middle of the night?"

I have just been discharged after leg surgery when Victor Clark, my wife's former colleague who resents her for taking his position, drags me up to the roof and stabs me repeatedly. My wife, Melissa Lane, is the captain of the rescue unit, yet she is busy mobilizing everyone to stop her depressed first love, Ethan Hayes, from setting his rental apartment on fire. I don't call her to save me. In my previous life, I begged her for help. She abandoned Ethan and rushed to rescue me. In the end, I survived while Ethan died in the blaze. Melissa never blamed me. She said that Ethan got what he deserved and even promised me a surprise for my birthday a week later. But on my birthday, she drugged me, tied me to a hospital bed, and drove a knife into me again and again. "You and Victor set me up that day, didn't you? Those stab wounds aren't even serious! You were never going to die! Since you like getting stabbed so much, I'll make it real for you!" When I open my eyes, I am back to the day Victor took me hostage. This time, I let Melissa go save her first love.

On the eve of our wedding, Evelyn Gates fell to her death. Everyone believed that, since I had always been devoted to her, I would take my own life to follow her. However, I didn’t shed a single tear. Three years later, I saw her again. Not only was she alive, but she had no memory of the past. “So you’re my ex-fiancé? After all these years, why do you look so broke and shabby now? For old time’s sake, I’ll give you one day a week to wait on me.” I didn’t even bother to look her in the eye. Evelyn had no idea that, on the very night she fell, I received a video recording. She didn’t know that, during the three years she spent pretending to have amnesia while traveling the world with Cole Anderson, I had gotten married. My bride was her older sister.

The night my husband, William Costello, was assassinated by his enemies was supposed to be a celebration—our wedding anniversary. I was dressed in his favorite red dress, waiting for him, when the phone rang. "Mr. Costello was shot at the harbor. The bullet went through the back of his head. He died on the spot." I collapsed to the floor. I clung to his belongings, mourning for a week straight. We even lost our unborn child during this time. Everyone said William and I were true love. Even the Don himself came to the funeral, resting a heavy hand on my shoulder with a sigh. He said, "All of Blackhaven knows you were the only woman he ever loved." Grief nearly destroyed me. I stood at the river's edge, ready to follow William into the afterlife. However, I overheard my sister-in-law, Emily Hawkins, leaning into my brother-in-law, Jones Costello, her voice dripping with a twisted affection. She purred, "William, I love you so much. Between Nina and me, who do you think is sexier?" "Of course it's you, babe!" came the husky reply. I stood frozen, my eyes wide and my body trembling. Why was Emily calling my brother-in-law by my husband's name?

A week before our wedding, my fiancee, Lauren Blair, went to the hospital for a prenatal checkup. She was accompanied by her newly hired assistant, Ian Kane. Coincidentally, she ended up being assigned to my clinic. I stood there holding Lauren’s pregnancy report in my hand, staring through the narrow gap in the door at the two of them outside. Ian pulled her into his arms by the waist, confessing with aching tenderness, "Lauren, I love you." "I love you too, Ian. I'm only married to Sam because of the circumstances I’m stuck in, but you've always been the one who holds my heart." I stopped hesitating. I pulled out my phone and sent a message to my father. "Dad, I accept the marriage alliance with Ms. Sheridan. The wedding date can remain. Just change the bride."

The temperature starts to drop once we reach the top of the mountain. My two childhood friends, who swore to protect me with their lives, don't even spare me a glance. One is hastily wrapping all his clothes around Lisette Locke, while the other is warming her with his body. I'm so cold that my heart condition acts up; I beg them to save me. However, they're infuriated by this. "How can you still be trying to get our attention at a time like this, Cecilia? Run around for a while if you're cold!" "We'll buy you that white down jacket you wanted when we get back, but you can't take it from Lise now!" The rescue team arrives, and I barely make it out alive. I'm hospitalized for a week, but neither of them come to visit me. I see from my social media that they're busy celebrating Lisette's birthday. We've been friends for over a decade, yet I mean nothing when compared to the driver's daughter. I call my father and say, "Dad, "I'm willing to marry into the Jorgensen family!"

Hayden Baxter's sidepiece comes up to me and throws yet another tantrum. "I love Hayden too much. Can't you let me have him?" Hayden sits quietly on one side but texts me, "Just say yes and humor her for a bit." I do as I am told, then wordlessly begin to pack up my stuff so I can move out of the home I share with Hayden. On my way out, I hear his friends jesting, "Elena is surprisingly obedient. Does this mean she'll abort her baby if you ask her to, Hayden?" Hayden raises a brow, looking nonchalant. "Want to place a bet on it? "I bet she'd whine and throw a fit at the hospital entrance in a week, only to give in and do as she's told." I don't argue. Instead, I quietly tap on my conversation with someone else. "Will you marry me?" "Yes."

My five-year marriage with Alexander was like a couture gown, ripped to shreds. "I want Victoria to show your collection for the New York Fashion Week spring preview." My husband Alexander's voice cut through the sketch I was working on. I stopped drawing. I must have heard him wrong. "What did you say?" "Victoria is new. She needs a platform. Your new spring collection is the perfect springboard for her." "You're a showstopper every year. What's the harm in giving her one shot?" he asked, his tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather. "Besides, the brand needs new blood." I stared at the man I'd spent five years with. Suddenly, his face looked sharp, unfamiliar. "Do you have any idea how many nights I've stayed up working on this collection? And you want to give it to some new assistant?" "Evelyn, don't be so petty. It's just a preview." His expression turned cold. "I've already decided." I clenched my fists, a thousand emotions churning inside me. Fine. If you're going to treat me like this, don't blame me for leaving you.

I've been chasing after Howard Chapman for 20 years. A week before our graduation ceremony, we slept together every night, burning through ten boxes of condoms in just as many days. When I bring him our 11th box of condoms, he turns me away as he's working on his thesis. Worried about his health, I buy him some supplements instead. But as I stand outside his door, about to hand them over, I catch him poking holes in the condoms. His friend chuckles and says, "You're still sneaking Selena Reed birth control pills, huh? You're the only one who'd cook up such a scheme. Selena doesn't know she's already swallowed ten of them, does she? If she did, she'd throw a huge tantrum." Howard snorts. "I wouldn't even touch her if I didn't need her to try the pills and help me figure out which one causes the fewest side effects. "Lizzy's got a weak immune system. She's not as tough as Selena, so I have to be more careful with her. Besides, Selena and I are engaged. There'll be plenty of time to nurse her back to health after the wedding. I won't owe her anything." His friends cackle at his response. "You're not wrong. Selena's been pursuing you for 20 years. She's probably over the moon to marry you. She'd probably hand you her uterus if you asked for it—birth control pills are nothing to her." Howard had just proposed to me yesterday, in front of the whole college. My tears spatter onto the supplement box as I turn to leave. Howard has made his choice, and it's only right that I honor it.

At the party, my son, Hughie Peters, deliberately raised his voice and said to my wife, Penelope Peters, "Mommy, you're pregnant with Darren's baby. Are we gonna live with him from now on?" Penelope set the sliced steak down in front of me and said softly, "I made a promise with your daddy. Whoever betrayed the other first would disappear from the other person's world forever. I can't afford for that to happen, so this must stay a secret. After the baby is born, it'll still be your daddy's child." After saying that, Penelope signed to me that she would love me forever. But she didn't notice my reddened eyes. She didn't know I had gotten my hearing back a week ago, nor did she know I had already discovered their affair. And she definitely didn't know I had quietly bought a plane ticket to Lumora for a teaching volunteer program. I was just waiting for the paperwork to be approved in seven days. Then, I would disappear for good.