[MATURE CONTENT: RATED 18+] They say there is a great risk in falling for your best friend. If only Eunae knew what laid ahead of her, she probably would not have pursued the love that was bound to wreck her. Marrying her long-time best friend barely lasted. It ended in a bat of an eye perhaps just as fast as his infidelity ruined her life. Merely hanging on a thread to stay alive, moving on became a great ordeal to live by. But the world was despicable just as much as fate was. Because a couple of years after, she found him on his knees begging to get her back. Yet after all the pain he caused, would she still give him a second chance?
Blurb
A dysfunctional arranged marriage founded on the grounds of friendship, business, and love. What happens when the love is regrettably one-sided, and infidelity comes crashing the complicated and miserable whole ordeal of a narrative?
Prologue
Kim Eunae had lived her whole life with Jung Jaehyun, her best friend whom she had always fought the world with. They had known each other since they were little, and from then on, had become each other's rock.
There were a series of ups and downs along the way to maturity. A couple of crestfallen setbacks that broke them almost irreparably, and a hundred more unforgettable breakthroughs-every single of which successfully molded them into the person they had become.
It was not long enough when she found herself falling in love with him, silently admiring him from a distance. And with all the things that the world had thrown at them, nothing could seemingly break what they had, until a marriage proposition wreaked havoc in their lives and turned their worlds upside down.
The twists and turns of how her world turned inside out left her in deep shambles and desperately grasping on the very thin thread of life. The fairy tale she had always dreamt of living just seemingly turned into the most horrifying nightmare she was never prepared to battle.
And the same person, whom she had always thought would save her unexpectedly became the lone monster she never knew she had to battle.
Suddenly, Eunae was left to choose between to love or to be loved.
Chapter01
[TW]: mention of mental disorders/illness
"Eunae, come on now, you turtle head. We're going to be late!"
"Oh crap! Wait! Hey-I said wait!"
It was 6:30 AM.
The dazzling sun was just barely painting the whole horizon of the above and coloring the lives of the awake, yet here they were, already sprinting to the bus stop with heavy bags slung around their shoulders and sweating with disheveled hairs.
Their short lower limbs desperate to take bigger steps than what their feet could ever feasibly make. Their lungs loudly howling to get a snag of air to fill their close to empty air sacs.
This was the normal routine Eunae and Jaehyun had ever since they entered high school. Jaehyun, her best friend, would always drop by her house to fetch her just so they could go to school together. He would cross pavements after pavements, roads after roads, brave the unpredictable weather be it a pouring rain or a scorching heat of the sun. Jaehyun would go in great lengths to reach her house, and most of the time, he would be even early enough to catch her fumbling on her uniform.
This had been part of his routine ever since her father walked out of her life four years ago.
The pillar of her household and the man whom she had always looked up to had an explicit affair with his colleague, leaving Eunae and her mother hanging up in the air with broken hearts and broken dreams.
Bringing with him all their family fortunes, he coldly turned his back on them as they helplessly grasped on the very thin thread of life, wondering how they could even possibly continue on living with nothing but a roof above their heads.
Devastated was an understatement on what Eunae felt upon hearing the news directly from her mother, who came home with a tear streaked face on a cold rainy night.
In a second, her heart seemed to break into two and her whole world swiftly came crashing down around her like a million broken glass shards painfully scraping her skin.
The almost perfect family she held very dear and the thousands of dreams she had sworn with her soul instantly turned into a tiny bubble that ceased to exist.
With everything that seemed to run in circles and not having any finite answer to the endless questions swirling in her head, Eunae had to tuck every hurt wreathing her body and wear a façade that screamed she hadn't lost it.
She had to.
Eunae had to numb all the pain killing her from within because she had no time to mourn over the wreckage of the blissful household she once had.
She neither had any spare time to tend to her keeling heart when her hands were too full scrambling to salvage her mother, who was losing her sanity over the whirlwind of events that struck them defenseless and unprepared.
In a fraction of a second, she had to step up for what was left of them and rebuild their lives from there. She was too occupied fulfilling the duties she did not have any knowledge to take on, that eventually, she learned to live with the pain-to carry it all on her shoulders and get used to its weight.
Every single day, all Eunae could ever think of was how she despised her father to the core; how she loathed cheating to the bones; and how she would never understand why he had to go around her mother's back and see another woman when he was married-when he basically had a family whom he was partly responsible and had sworn to always protect.
She would have probably accepted the sudden separation if he chose to divorce her mother before seeing someone else. She would have possibly understood if he only went through the legal process on how things should have been rightfully done and gave her mother the utmost respect she deserved.
Heck, she would have even appreciated it if he simply talked things out with them, explained himself, and gave them the closure they rightfully deserved rather than leaving without a single word and only to see her mother coming home almost lifeless as if she was dead in the inside.
There were a couple of ways her father could have possibly left without hurting them so much-of not embedding painful memories to drill in their heads, yet he still chose to selfishly wreak havoc in their lives like a humongous hurricane that destroyed their home.
He did not only break their hearts and shattered their dreams-he killed them.
He assassinated her mother's identity and made her feel less of what and who she truly was. The tiny doubts that started from inaudible whispers had little by little turned into loud piercing cries of the eerie night.
Day after day, the hoarseness of her mother's voice closely sounded as if a dozen of sharp glass splinters were stabbing her from within. The shameless infidelity continuously kept her up at night, desperately questioning her self-worth and why she was not enough.
As days eventually turned into grueling weeks, her mother seemed to lose more and more of herself up until she reached the final breaking point of even taking her own life.
The horrific event that occurred in a cold rainy night left Eunae utterly mortified. The horrendous images seemingly got stuck in her head, playing like a broken record that just would not stop and killing her from within.
At that time, she was more than thankful that Jaehyun was there for her-for her family. Their mothers were the best of friends since they were little-just exactly like how her friendship with Jaehyun started.
Ever since that night, his family voluntarily took care of her as if she were their own. They put food on her table, gave her a roof above her head, and provided yellow walls that welcomed her with undying warmth and hope.
"Dammit! My hands are being squashed by the bus door already, " Jaehyun complained, keeping the bus door open. "Eunae! Are you coming or not?"
"Coming!"
"Hurry up!"
They reinforced the deteriorating pillars of her home until her mother had fully bounced back-until Eunae had ultimately and irrevocably fell in love with her best friend.
Corinne devoted three years of her life to her boyfriend, only for it to all go to waste. He saw her as nothing more than a country bumpkin and left her at the altar to be with his true love. After getting jilted, Corinne reclaimed her identity as the granddaughter of the town’s richest man, inherited a billion-dollar fortune, and ultimately rose to the top. But her success attracted the envy of others, and people constantly tried to bring her down. As she dealt with these troublemakers one by one, Mr. Hopkins, notorious for his ruthlessness, stood by and cheered her on. “Way to go, honey!”
As a simple assistant, messaging the CEO in the dead of night to request shares of adult films was a bold move. Bethany, unsurprisingly, didn't receive any films. However, the CEO responded that, while he had no films to share, he could offer a live demonstration. After a night filled with passion, Bethany was certain she'd lose her job. But instead, her boss proposed, "Marry me. Please consider it." "Mr. Bates, you're kidding me, right?"
"There will be no falling in love, we will only act as a loving couple when we are in public, we will share a room to make it believable, but no intimacy, touching is off-limits. We'll only have sex once a month, and that's solely to produce an heir. You won't interfere in my business, and I won't interfere in yours. You will be my wife in every sense and you will not be involved with any other man," he said, arrogance seeping from every word. I watch his mouth move, I'm not ready to fall in love with any man, especially not one as arrogant and egoistic as him. I can handle acting as a loving couple, and as for intimacy once a month. I can agree to that just to satisfy my sexual cravings with no strings attached. "Where can I sign?" I asked since I had nothing to lose. *** Nadine's wedding dreams turned to nightmares when she caught her sister and fiancé cheating! With a secret recording, she's ready for revenge. But then mysterious billionaire Logan West offers a deal: A Contract Marriage to take down her ex's empire. But what Nadine doesn't know is her life is getting complicated as she takes her chance to get revenge or risks everything for a chance at love?"
My boyfriend called, "Baby!" as he jumped out of bed and scrambled to pull his pants off the ground. "Please, I can explain my love." Shutting my eyes, I inhaled deeply and tried not to cry when I realized that my dream of the man not being my boyfriend had been dashed. "What?" I asked, "What do you want to explain?" How did you lie about having a business meeting while you were in bed enjoying yourself with my best friend, even though I told you I was in serious pain, is that it?" I stood there, my heart pounding, and tears streaming down my face...
Rena got into an entanglement with a big shot when she was drunk one night. She needed Waylen's help while he was drawn to her youthful beauty. As such, what was supposed to be a one-night stand progressed into something serious. All was well until Rena discovered that Waylen's heart belonged to another woman. When his first love returned, he stopped coming home, leaving Rena all alone for many nights. She put up with it until she received a check and farewell note one day. Contrary to how Waylen expected her to react, Rena had a smile on her face as she bid him farewell. "It was fun while it lasted, Waylen. May our paths never cross. Have a nice life." But as fate would have it, their paths crossed again. This time, Rena had another man by her side. Waylen's eyes burned with jealousy. He spat, "How the hell did you move on? I thought you loved only me!" "Keyword, loved!" Rena flipped her hair back and retorted, "There are plenty of fish in the sea, Waylen. Besides, you were the one who asked for a breakup. Now, if you want to date me, you have to wait in line." The next day, Rena received a credit alert of billions and a diamond ring. Waylen appeared again, got down on one knee, and uttered, "May I cut in line, Rena? I still want you."
The dream of everyone with regards to marriage is to be able to find that special someone and settle down with them. Even arranged marriages grant you an opportunity to meet your partner briefly before the wedding. How will you feel about waking up in the morning with someone sleeping next to you who is not just anyone but your legally married partner yet with no memory of how that had happened in just a few hours of going out the previous day? This is the story of Jason Haward and Julia Harrison, two strangers trapped in a marriage they never planned. The quest to find out why led to the unfolding of a mystery which made them realize they are both living a lie. To find out more, read this amazing story of love, betrayal, revenge and murder.