Chelsea married Russell for the sake of her dying mother. She needed money to pay the expensive medical bills. Russell never loved Chelsea and was only using her for his revenge on his family. However, he failed to notice that Chelsea was truly in love with him. Russell was surrounded by pretty ladies and never cared how Chelsea felt about it. Until one day, Chelsea asked for a divorce, because she felt depleted from this hopeless marriage. Russell then realized that he couldn't live without her and begged her to stay. But she said, "See you never, Mr. Murrillo."
Deloria's POV
The birds' chirping outside the window woke me up. I struggled to open my eyes and tapped at the window. "Bad birds..." I muttered.
After a glance at the time, I threw back the covers and got out of bed.
Though it was only October, Los Angeles had already started to get cold. The icy air made me shiver.
Dozy, I took out clothes from the wardrobe. As I was putting on my panties, someone knocked on my bedroom door.
I guessed it must be my mother, Maeve Parritt. She always woke up earlier than me.
"Just a sec, Mom." My voice was husky, cuz I wasn't wide awake.
Suddenly, the door opened.
"What are you doing, Deloria?" Woody Todd shouted loudly from the doorway.
"Damn it! Why did you come in? Have you no manners?" I came fully awake out of alarm and quickly covered my body with my dress.
He kept staring at me. Although the clothes hid my body, his gaze still made me feel uncomfortable.
"I've knocked," Woody shrugged and said casually.
"But I didn't allow you to come in. Get out!" I snapped.
Impatiently, he said, "Hurry up and make breakfast!"
With that, he closed the door and left.
Woody was the husband of Elaine Shortell, a friend of mine.
Maeve and I were currently staying at Woody and Elaine's condo.
It was already the fifth time this month that Woody barged into my bedroom without my permission.
Every time he did this, I threw a fit.
But he always looked nonchalant, as if I was making a big deal out of nothing.
I waited for a while, making sure that Woody didn't come back. Then I finally started to change my clothes.
When I had just put on my skirt, the door was opened again.
"Scram! You jerk!" I cursed. But when I saw the person who came, I was stunned.
"What happened?" Maeve looked at me in surprise.
I held her apologetically and said, "Sorry, Mom. I thought it was Woody."
"What? He burst in again?" Maeve pushed me away and raged, "Deloria, we gotta call the police. He's harassing you!"
"Wait, Mom." I stopped her and explained, "He didn't do anything. He just told me to make breakfast. Even if we call the police, we don't have any evidence. Just forget it."
"Deloria, I know what harassment is. I think the police do, too," Maeve said to me seriously.
I had to tell the truth. "I just didn't wanna upset Elaine."
Elaine was my bestie. She used to be a workaholic. A few years ago, she married Woody. Since then, she became a full-time housewife.
Woody's attitude toward Elaine got worse. It was already a great help for Elaine to let me and Maeve stay at her apartment temporarily.
I couldn't let the police arrest Woody.
"I'll find an apartment soon."
I was just saying it to comfort Maeve. I worked at a jewelry store with a meager income, and the rent in Los Angeles was so high that I wasn't sure if I could find an affordable place to live.
Maeve sighed and patted my shoulder, saying, "I remember your college classmate, Jonathan Holt, used to pursue you. If you had agreed to date him back then, maybe you would be Mrs. Holt by now."
"Mom, don't say that. I didn't like Jonathan," I immediately shook my head and said.
"I know. I just hope you could find someone who loves you." Maeve gave me a hug. Then she turned and left the room.
After changing my clothes, I was about to go downstairs. Suddenly, I remembered that it was a bit cold today. So I turned around and walked into Maeve's room, trying to grab a coat to wear.
My gaze swept over Maeve's desk and fixed on an envelope.
Feeling curious, I opened it and found a pathology report.
When I saw the word "cancer", my hands trembled.
'Maeve got cancer? Why didn't she tell me?'
"Deloria! Still haven't changed your clothes?" Maeve's voice sounded outside the door.
I put the report in the envelope and placed it back on the table in a flurry. Then I took a coat and rushed out of Maeve's room.
I walked to the kitchen. Acting like I never saw the report, I calmly made breakfast for the other three with Maeve and served it on the table.
Later, I grabbed a piece of toast and left home in a hurry.
Walking on the street, I wrapped my coat tightly around me. Thinking of that pathology report, I was engulfed by sadness.
I suddenly understood why Maeve had been urging me to get married.
She must hope that I'd find someone who could take care of me.
At this thought, I made a decision. I couldn't let Maeve keep worrying about me all day long.
I took out my phone and called my other friend, Daphne Romero.
After the phone was answered, Daphne's sweet voice came from the other end of the line. She said, "Hon, what's up?"
"Daphne, remember when you said you wanted to set me up with a man suitable for marriage? Is he married now?" I blurted.
"Of course not. OMG, are you saying you agree to meet him?" Daphne exclaimed.
"Yes," I smiled. "I wanna meet him ASAP."
Rosalynn's marriage to Brian wasn't what she envisioned it to be. Her husband, Brian, barely came home. He avoided her like a plague. Worse still, he was always in the news for dating numerous celebrities. Rosalynn persevered until she couldn't take it anymore. She upped and left after filing for a divorce. Everything changed days later. Brian took interest in a designer that worked for his company anonymously. From her profile, he could tell that she was brilliant and dazzling. He pulled the stops to find out her true identity. Little did he know that he was going to receive the greatest shocker of his life. Brian bit his finger with regret when he recalled his past actions and the woman he foolishly let go.
The day Raina gave birth should have been the happiest of her life. Instead, it became her worst nightmare. Moments after delivering their twins, Alexander shattered her heart-divorcing her and forcing her to sign away custody of their son, Liam. With nothing but betrayal and heartbreak to her name, Raina disappeared, raising their daughter, Ava, on her own.Years later, fate comes knocking when Liam falls gravely ill. Desperate to save his son, Alexander is forced to seek out the one person he once cast aside. Alexander finds himself face to face with the woman he underestimated, pleading for a second chance-not just for himself, but for their son. But Raina is no longer the same broken woman who once loved him.No longer the woman he left behind. She has carved out a new life-one built on strength, wealth, and a long-buried legacy she expected to uncover.Raina has spent years learning to live without him.The question is... Will she risk reopening old wounds to save the son she never got to love? or has Alexander lost her forever?
"I stood at the edge of my heart and watched him choose her. In the end, I was not the one he needed. I was simply the one he settled for." - Noelle ~~~~~~~ I thought I was the one he loved. But a few days before our wedding, I saw him in a way I never had before. His eyes softened as he spoke to her. His first love, and the very woman who had left him in pieces. Heartbreak was something I knew too well. And as I watched the love he still held for her in his eyes, I realized what I had to do. I couldn't marry a man who wasn't truly mine. With no means to cancel the wedding and lacking the courage to confront him, I made a desperate choice to leave. I painfully gave his first love my treasured engagement ring thinking it was for the best and the only way to free myself. But when he saw that ring on her finger, the fragile world I had tried to escape began to shatter. His obsession to find me and bring me back ignited a dangerous game of cat and mouse.
Chloe Miler, a naïve young woman, waits shyly to spend Valentine's Day with her boyfriend, but is betrayed on that day when she witnesses him entangled in bed with her own sister. Chloe's heart is broken when her heartfelt love for him is trampled on in an instant. *** Lionel Williams, the mysterious billionaire, the top of the pyramid, is handsome as hell. His eyes are set high, but he is drugged, has a one-night stand with a strange woman, and is humiliated by that unknowing woman with her money! His instincts tell him it's not that simple, and he's going to find her out!
Kallie, a mute who had been ignored by her husband for five years since their wedding, also suffered the loss of her pregnancy due to her cruel mother-in-law. After the divorce, she learned that her ex-husband had quickly gotten engaged to the woman he truly loved. Holding her slightly rounded belly, she realized that he had never really cared for her. Determined, she left him behind, treating him as a stranger. Yet, after she left, he scoured the globe in search of her. When their paths crossed once more, Kallie had already found new happiness. For the first time, he pleaded humbly, "Please don't leave me..." But Kallie's response was firm and dismissive, cutting through any lingering ties. "Get lost!"
In the previous life, Maggie Johnson was so cowardly, gullible and stupid that she was coaxed by her fiance and stepsister and then broke her legs and lost everything including her fortune, love and even life. However, she was so lucky that she was reborn in the year before everything happened. Since her life restarted, how could she repeat a previous tragedy? Therefore, in this life, she took the opportunity to improve herself and take revenge on the ones who had ever insulted her. Facing the people who had humiliated her previously, she became smart and experienced to break their frames and tricks that had caused her to hurt in the previous life. Finally, no one could stop her pace to amaze the world any more.