You Did Your Best

“I am not capable of love, Desiree. Do you still want to marry me?” That was the question Gerald Butler asked Desiree Hamilton the day she asked him to marry her. “Yes," Desiree answered, convinced that she could eventually get him to fall in love with her. But one year later, she meets her greatest disappointment on their wedding anniversary which also happens to be her birthday; the only gift Gerald brings her is divorce papers. Devastated and tired of begging for his love, Desiree signs the papers and leaves. Three years later, she returns a strong and confident businesswoman who will not beg for any man's love, but this time, it was her ex-husband's turn to beg. He went down on his knees, looking up at her pleadingly. “Desiree, please let's get married again. I promise to love you this time.” She looked down at him as a smirk formed on her face. “Dear Ex-husband, You Had Your Chance!”

I had been married to Natasha Bates for ten years, and not once did she ever join me for our family's Independence Day cookout. This year, on the night before the celebration, I finally gathered the courage to ask if she wanted to come. She scoffed and said, "What are you, stuck in the past? Who even celebrates the Fourth with a family dinner anymore?" Yet that very evening, I saw a social media post of Natasha with her male best friend, Stanley Rogers. They were quite intimate in the picture, and the caption read: [True happiness is celebrating Independence Day with your bestie!] I commented back: [Hope you two lovebirds make it official soon.] Stanley did not hold back. He messaged me a bunch of intimate photos of the two of them. Then, he added, [You're just a leech living off his wife. What right do you have to question anything about Nattie?] Everyone always thought I was a gold-digger living off Natasha's success. However, they all forgot that I was the sole major shareholder of the company. This time, I’m done staying silent.

My husband, Matthew Lorenzo, dies unexpectedly. Soon after, my in-laws come to me with an outrageous suggestion. "Why not let Matthew’s twin brother take you in and look after you? After all, your child needs a father." My sister-in-law, Felicia Dare, furiously calls me a shameless woman. I turn to look at Matthew's brother, Michael Lorenzo. It's like staring at Matthew's face all over again. The grief hits me hard. Just as I'm about to talk my in-laws out of this ridiculous idea, I overhear a conversation behind the door between them and "Michael". "Michael was the one who died. Why did you lie and let everyone think it was you?" Matthew sighs. "The one I love is Felicia. Faking my death was the only way I could be with her openly. And as for this nonsense about taking Luna in and looking after her—drop it. "As for Luna, I gave her a child and a respectable marriage. I don't owe her anything." I turn around and see my daughter standing there with her eyes red. She asks, "Mommy, does Daddy not want us anymore?" I kneel down, gather her into my arms, and hold back the ache in my chest. "Sweetheart, your uncle just wants to protect the person he loves. We shouldn't disturb him; it's time we start our new life."

Enamored with her professor, freshman college student Alex, couldn't deny the shift in the air when she finally saw the renowned professor Zane Orion in the flesh. This illicit attraction had a history, as she was already familiar with his literary works, him being the object of her fantasies and before being accepted into NYU. Secretly, she had chosen NYU over her hometown of Boston, leaving behind her family and all that was familiar, just to attend his class in New York. Fifteen years, her senior, Zane, was a divorced father and also her professor and mentor. Despite the college's strict rules against student-teacher relationships, their forbidden connection could not be ignored, not in his class and when they were alone in a room. His dark, piercing gaze would make her heart race and her legs tremble, drenched and desperate for his touch, his mouth on her, to teach her more than just in class. Oh. There's something about Alex that snap something within professor Zane, the way his body reacts furiously at the sight of her, his possessive and feral nature about to be exposed, the moment Alex had walked into his class, Professor Zane knew she's going to be more than just his student, he would break down her already well crafted wall the moment he finds himself buried deeply in between her legs.

After I am diagnosed with stomach cancer, I ask for some money to buy medicine. I don't want to be in excruciating pain when I die. My three elder brothers rush into the ICU. Andy Lewis—my eldest brother—slaps me hard across my face. He scolds me for ruining his beloved younger sister, Summer Lewis' coming-of-age party. My second brother, Sherman Lewis, calls me a liar. He accuses me of pretending to be sick to swindle money from them. Jimmy Lewis, who is my third brother, calls me useless. He tells me that I deserve to die. My parents, Kenneth Lewis and Autumn Farrow, don't believe that I'm sick. They pin me with looks of contempt and ridicule. "You still haven't stopped that lying habit of yours even though you're all grown up. You even learned how to blackmail us with your death. "If you want to die, do it sooner. It'll spare us from being disgusted when we're forced to look at you day in and day out." I end up dying on the first day of the New Year. Before I breathe my last breath, I send a message to the family group chat. My entire family goes crazy after reading it.

A car accident leaves me unconscious for a full three years. When I wake up, my family bursts into tears of joy. They care for me with the utmost attention. But from their behavior, I sense something is wrong. There are women's clothes in the house that don't fit me. My mother's shopping cart is filled with mysterious baby items. My father's friends send congratulatory messages about a new child, and my husband is always working overtime. When my husband once again leaves me alone under the pretext that there is something urgent at the company, I secretly follow him. Inside a warmly decorated house, my parents and husband sit around a table. A woman who looks almost exactly like me is holding a baby just a few months old, gently coaxing the child to call my husband "Daddy".

''Sometimes I sit alone in my room, not because I'm lonely but because I want to. I quite like it but too bad sitting by myself always leads to terrifying, self-destructive thoughts. When I'm about to do something, he calls. He is like my own personal superhero and he doesn't even know it. Now my superhero never calls and there is no one to help me, maybe I should get a new hero. What do you think?'' ''Why don't you be your own hero?'' I didn't want to be my own hero I just wanted my best friend, too bad that's all he'll ever be to me- a friend. Trigger Warning so read at your own risk.

Just when everything was going as planned Joanne was feeling the stress of her wedding and scheduled a doctor's appointment. A couple days later she gets a call that stops her plans in their tracks. "Ms. Hart, you're pregnant." Will all her best days ever come crashing to an end?

Zenia Blackman and EJ Hollen were friends before lovers but Zenia was holding a dreadful secret from him. When things hit the fan and secrets were exposed, their relationship took a constant turn for the worse to the point where Zenia fled the country with another man who had no good intentions for her. And what another shock to Zenia when she learnt she was pregnant with EJ's baby.

What happens when you get married to a Criminal? Your best friend was a victim of his action. You wanted to call off the wedding but you're hopeless. In other to save your parent's reputation, you had to get married to a Monster. But, for how long would this be?