I refuse to divorce
Astrid waited for Joshua all night as she usually did... And the first thing she received, instead of a cold greeting, was the divorce papers.
"Why?" were her only words when she saw the agreement.
Joshua looked at her indifferently. "It's enough. It's a waste of time to continue this marriage. In the first place, if it weren't for my grandfather, I wouldn't have married you... Sign it!" he shouted. Astrid, her eyes filled with tears, hurriedly took the divorce agreement and put it in her mouth. "I don't want a divorce!" Astrid cried. Joshua didn't respond, he just looked at her and walked away. After all, it was difficult to get into the heart of someone like Joshua. She stood firm in her decision. She had married to take care of her mother's health... Until she lost her too, leaving her with nothing left to hold on to. "He doesn't feel anything for me," she said, wiping her teary eyes. "In the future, I will never appear in front of him again." She took her luggage and, accompanied by a heavy snowfall, disappeared along with her footprints in the snow. She left behind only her signature on the divorce agreement. With a trembling body, she escaped. Five years later, a little boy reminded her of the person she tried to forget.
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Chapter 2
Back in her room, she wrapped her arms around herself silently, unable to stop the tears from flowing again. Only in this room could she cry uncontrollably, because Joshua never came here, never even looked at this room.
In fact, over the past three years, she could feel Joshua's growing indifference towards her, but she stubbornly thought that as long as she stayed by his side, one day it would be as good as it had been in the beginning. But the divorce agreement that night seemed to have broken her last line of defense.
She was truly on the verge of not being able to take it anymore.
Astrid sat quietly through the night until a ray of sunlight crept into the house early in the morning. The sunlight during winter was still blinding, and Astrid realized that her breath seemed a little warm, but now she couldn't care less. She hurriedly glanced at the clock; it was already 6:30 a.m. In ten minutes, Joshua would be getting up. If she didn't hurry up and make breakfast, Joshua would get angry.
She got up reluctantly, her head feeling a little dizzy. Astrid didn't bother about this; she would go and get some rest after cooking.
The moment she pushed open the door, she felt her body go light, and the next moment, it was darkness.
In her dream, Joshua left without looking back. Astrid desperately tried to catch up with him, but it was as if Joshua didn't see her. Walking further and further away, she shouted Joshua's name repeatedly, but in the distance, it was as if he couldn't hear her.
"Joshua!" Astrid struggled to open her eyes, gasping slightly, her heart beating nonstop.
And suddenly Joshua's familiar, pleasant voice rang in her ears. "Since you're awake, I should go to work." After saying that, he was ready to leave, but suddenly, his arm was grabbed by a soft hand.
When she looked at Joshua again, Astrid almost screamed again. That's good, it was really great. Joshua was still there. It's good. It's so good. She could still feel Joshua's warmth in her small hand. The dream she had just had made her think that Joshua had disappeared from her world forever, and seeing Joshua again made Astrid's happiness overflow.
"Please don't go, stay with me for a while, okay?" Astrid's two clear eyes looked expectantly at Joshua, still a little sleepy from the fact that she had just woken up, she looked like a little kitten.
In fact, Astrid didn't have much hope of getting an affirmation, but if Joshua promised her, she would feel more at ease.
Seeing Astrid ask for things in such a way, Joshua felt a certain tolerance toward her. Perhaps because he had despised her for so long, he felt a certain guilt in his heart.
He sighed and said, "When you finish drinking the medicine, I'll leave."
Astrid's heart was thrilled, but it didn't last long.
Joshua's phone rang. It was a message, and as he read it, Joshua's beautiful eyebrows furrowed slightly.
Looking at Joshua, Astrid had a bad feeling. "Joshua?" she called out.
As if he hadn't heard her, Joshua walked to the door to leave Astrid's room, his voice turning cold again. "Something has happened at the company. I won't be accompanying you. The medicine is next to you. Remember to take it. You should get some more sleep."
"Joshua?" Astrid called out quickly. He stopped before leaving the room, but did not turn to look at her, only waiting silently. The room was dark, and Astrid could only see his silhouette. This scene was so similar to her nightmares. "You'll come back, right?" Like a plea, Astrid clutched the corner of the blanket tightly, forcing herself to contain the tremors and fears in her body as she asked Joshua.
She felt the air around her gradually heating up so much that she could faint, but this was not the time. Astrid was waiting for Joshua's answer before she could do so; otherwise, she would not even be able to think clearly.
"Of course," came the answer without hesitation. With a click followed by soft footsteps, the door closed, leaving only the sound of the clock in the room.
After Joshua's answer, Astrid let out a sigh of relief, her body gradually relaxing as well. The temperature around her slowly dropped; there was neither cold nor heat in the air.
Was there any chance that Joshua cared about her a little? If nothing had happened at the company, would he have stayed with her a little longer? Normally, when she begged him, he would just give her a cold look and then turn away, but today he hadn't left as usual.
Perhaps, if he held out a little longer, he would gradually fall in love with her. The time would come when he would notice her. Astrid got up slowly and with great difficulty. Joshua had told her to take her medicine. He was looking after her, so she had to be obedient and drink the medicine so that when Joshua returned, she would be healthy.
The medicine touched her lips and tongue, slowly sliding down her throat. It was extremely bitter, so bitter that her eyes turned red. She had hated taking medicine since she was a child, especially medicine that was so bitter.
In the past, it was her mother who coaxed her into taking the medicine, waiting patiently for her to finish before putting a piece of candy in her mouth and gently stroking her back as she cried.
Since she married Joshua, she had never cried again while taking medicine because Joshua had said that an adult should not be bothered by the bitterness of medicine and should drink it easily.
So whenever she got sick, she pretended that nothing was wrong and drank the bitter medicine, hoping that Joshua would notice and approve.
But Joshua never said a word. He never even took the initiative to give her the medicine, nor did he ever see her drink it. So she kept all the bitterness of these three long years to herself.
After drinking the medicine, Astrid wiped her mouth. She had endured it well and wondered if her mother would be happy to see her so strong now.
Speaking of her mother, Astrid thought again about intensive care. How long had it been since she visited her? When she recovers this time, she must take Joshua with her. The last time she told her mother that next time she would take him with her to visit.
Three years had passed, and she never woke up, only the sound of dripping instruments showing that she was still alive. If it weren't for that accident, wouldn't that be the case? But... if it weren't for that accident, wouldn't she and Joshua have met?
Thinking about that made Astrid's heart ache. She didn't want this, she didn't want that, but she also didn't want her mother to become like this.
If her mother could wake up, she would have no more wishes. Even if Joshua never fell in love with her in this life, if she could remain quietly by his side, that would be fine, she would be satisfied.
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9.1
"Whether you like it or not, I'm going to marry you, Jillian," Sir Zach told me. His face was dead serious, as if he had already made up his mind.
"What do you mean, marry me? Hey! Just because you're rich doesn't mean you can do whatever you want! There is no reason for me to marry someone like you!" I snapped at him.
It felt like he was trying to dictate every single thing I did, even though he wasn't even my boyfriend.
"I have a reason to marry you, Jillian. Something happened between us, don't you remember? You were actually the one who kissed me that night you were completely wasted," he reminded me, a smirk playing on his lips.
I swallowed hard at his words. Right. Something did happen between us. But it wasn't intentional. Someone had drugged my drink, which was why I acted that way the night he pulled me away from the "friends" I thought were genuine.
"So, there's no reason to say 'no,' my future wife," he said with a wink.
It looks like there's no way out for me. I'm actually going to be the wife of Sir Zach-my professor and the one person I'm always at odds with.
8.1
One wardrobe malfunction.
Two people who don't belong together.
Three awful "Be my wife."
Everyone else is at this party to marry the host.
I'm only here until I can get a ride home.
When my dress rips in the world's worst-timed wardrobe malfunction,
I go find somewhere quiet to fix it.
So I'm standing there in nothing but my heels when,
As my luck would have it, the door opens...
And the man of the hour walks in.
I wish I could say I played it cool.
But it's been a looong time since anyone has seen me in my birthday suit...
Much less the hottest man I've ever laid eyes on.
All I want to do is fix my dress, click my heels three times, and be back on my couch in fuzzy slippers.
But Ivan has other ideas.
He's decided who he's taking to the altar...
And I don't have a choice but to say "I do."
8.3
I lost my memory. Or rather, I faked it.
Conrad Gallagher, the boyfriend I had been secretly dating for five years, effortlessly erased our entire relationship.
"You're only fit to be a casual hookup."
Then, he announced his engagement to a woman approved by his parents.
To save myself from utter humiliation, I faked amnesia, conveniently forgetting no one but Conrad.
But when it was time for me to get married, Conrad regretted it. He kidnapped me right out of my wedding and spirited me away: "Don't marry him, okay?"
7.6
I was arranging white lilies on the cold marble of my husband's grave when I saw a ghost.
Walking through the cemetery gates was a man who looked exactly like my dead husband, Dante.
Logic said it was his twin brother, Matteo. But a wife knows the slope of a man's shoulders. She knows the arrogant tilt of his chin.
My husband hadn't been blown up in a car bomb three years ago.
He had faked his death to steal his brother's rank, his fortune, and his mistress.
For three years, I had forced our son, Leo, to kiss a photograph goodnight. We lived in a damp, peeling apartment, surviving on the "charity" of the Family.
Meanwhile, Dante was living in a mansion, driving cars that cost more than my life, playing house with another woman.
When he came to our cramped apartment to drop off the monthly "pension" money, pretending to be Uncle Matteo, he didn't look at me with love. He looked at his watch.
When Leo ran to hug him, shouting "Papa," Dante peeled the boy's small arms off his expensive suit like he was removing a piece of lint.
"Don't call me that," he snapped. "I am your Uncle."
My grief turned into ice. He chose another woman's comfort over his own son's hunger.
I grabbed Leo's hand and walked out the door.
"You walk away, and you get nothing!" Dante shouted after me. "You'll be on the street!"
I didn't stop. I walked straight to the black SUV idling at the curb.
The window rolled down, revealing Salvatore Vitiello. The Don. The most lethal man in the city.
"Get in, Elena," he commanded.
I opened the door and slid onto the leather seat next to the devil himself.
As we drove away, leaving my husband in the dust, I realized I had just traded a liar for a killer.
And I didn't regret it for a second.
8.1
My fiancé, the ruthless Mafia Underboss, tore my dead mother's necklace from my throat and fastened it around another woman's neck.
"Diana needs it," Arthur said, his eyes cold. "My blood remembers loving her. It calms her anxiety."
He was referring to the bone marrow transplant that saved his life. Diana was connected to the donor, and Arthur believed his new blood made him belong to her.
I became a ghost in my own home, forced to watch him crown a usurper.
When Diana faked a fall at a gala, accusing me of pushing her, Arthur didn't hesitate. He decided to "discipline" me publicly to teach me respect.
He raised the whip.
"Arthur, please, I'm pregnant!" I screamed, shielding my stomach.
"Don't lie to me," he spat, and the lash came down.
I lost our baby on that cold marble floor in a pool of blood. He didn't believe me. He stepped over my body to take Diana to dinner.
He didn't stop there. He let my grandmother die in the ER to tend to Diana's bruised nose. He even dug up my grandmother's grave because Diana wanted the view for a garden.
I finally fled, vanishing into the night.
It wasn't until months later, when he found the autopsy report of our unborn child and the toxicology results proving Diana had been drugging him, that the fog lifted.
He tracked me down to a small town, where I was finally healing with a good man.
The feared Underboss fell to his knees in the pouring rain, holding the whip he had used on me, shaking violently.
"Beat me, Ella," he begged, tears mixing with the mud. "Hurt me. Make us even."
I looked at the monster I used to love and dropped his ring into the dirt.
"You can't bring back the dead, Arthur," I whispered. "And you are dead to me."
7.4
In a world ruled by guns, secrets, and blood-soaked loyalties, love is the most dangerous currency of all.
Alessandro De Luca is the unseen king of a global cartel-ruthless, brilliant, and feared across continents. His word is law, his mercy nonexistent. Until one night, one woman, and one mistake unravel everything he has built.
Elena Hart is innocent but unbreakable, drawn into the underworld through a debt she never created. She should have been collateral-nothing more. Instead, she becomes his weakness.
As enemies close in and betrayal festers within the cartel, Alessandro must choose between the empire crowned in blood... or the woman who threatens to destroy it.
Love was never part of the plan.
Survival was.
And in this world, both demand a price.