The Ugly Duckling

Isabel's life has been a constant struggle with the word "ugly." Her Leucoderma skin disease had made her believe that she could never be beautiful. It seemed like every person she met had an opinion about her appearance, and none of them were kind. They made her feel like it was a crime to not be born with flawless skin. Despite her outside flaws, Isabel had a pure soul, but unfortunately, no one ever bothered to understand it. Instead, they treated her like she was worthless, as if her appearance was all that mattered. But hope arrived when Isabel's marriage was arranged with the handsome and charming Mason Williams. For the first time in her life, Isabel started to believe that someone might accept her for who she was, without judging her physical appearance. She dreamed of Mason being the love of her life, someone who would see past her flaws and cherish her inner beauty. However, on the day of their marriage, Isabel's hopes were crushed when Mason Williams called her "The Ugly Bride." It was like a punch in the stomach, and Isabel wondered if Mason would ever be able to love her for who she truly was. Would he hate her forever or be able to see past her physical flaws and fall madly in love with her pure soul? Only time could tell...

I was the broke scholarship kid, stuck sharing a room with Sherry, the spoiled heiress. From day one, she was all fake smiles and "let's be besties." She'd take me out for fancy meals. She even introduced me to Kenneth—her rich childhood buddy. It was fine—until Kenneth and I started dating. That's when the claws came out. One day, she "accidentally" dumped hot soup all over herself and claimed I'd done it on purpose. Then she demanded I pay her back. I gave her every cent I had, but it wasn't enough. Next, she accused me of stealing her wallet. The school bought it. I got written up, everyone turned on me, and Kenneth? He dumped me with, "You're just an ugly duckling trying to be a swan." I couldn't fight back. Humiliated, alone, and dragged through online hate, I dropped out. Then I let the river take me. And then—I woke up. Back to the moment Sherry introduced me to Kenneth.

Lucy Castle was once labeled the ugly duckling of her school. After a humiliating one-night stand with the school’s golden boy, Richard Oxford, her life crumbled. He denied ever knowing her, mocked her in front of everyone, and left her broken. Five years later, Lucy returns—no longer the timid girl they once laughed at, but a confident, breathtaking fashion designer taking over the industry. When her path crosses with Richard again, he seeks closure and forgiveness. Now the tables have turned—but can she truly resist the man who once broke her?

From my earliest memories, my entire family is cold and distant toward me. When my parents look at my younger sister, Claire Lloyd, their eyes fill with warmth and joy. Yet, when they turn to me, only disgust remains. Claire's life is filled with applause and excessive love, while mine is filled with disdain and suffering. When the explosion erupts at the street corner, I save the stranger beside me. Later, I learn he is Byron Whitmore, a mafia family's Don. He begins pursuing me after I rescue him. Later, I quit my job and move to a new place, but he finds me and proposes in 100 different ways. "Why me?" I ask countless times. "Because it's you," he always answers. The wedding causes a sensation throughout the city. I truly seem to have transformed from an ugly duckling into a swan. That is, until I'm five months pregnant, when Claire needs a transfusion of rare Rh-negative blood after a car accident. The blood bank has a shortage. Because of that, my parents knock me unconscious and send me to the hospital. In my daze, the blood extraction machine hums continuously. As two thousand milliliters of blood leave my body, I see Byron. Tears well up in my eyes. I begin thinking he's here to save me. Instead, I hear him say, "We can't take any more. Sharon and the baby will die." "But Claire has lost too much blood. She'll die, too..." My mother pleads. "No one wants Claire safe more than I do." Byron's voice is thick with pain. "She's my first love. I've never forgotten her. I only married Sharon because her face looks so much like Claire's. "But I can't trade her life for Claire's. Trust me—I'll find another way." So, that's his reason for marrying me. The blood extraction machine continues running, but my heart has already stopped beating. The affection I see in his eyes has never been for me. He's always looking through me at someone else. Everyone in the world loves Claire, and Byron is not the exception that I foolishly believe him to be. That grand wedding is nothing but an ugly duckling's self-deceiving fantasy.

Beautiful Allison Harley was a victim of domestic violence that made her a loner in school. Hunter Vaughn was the hottest boy in school, the golden boy who thought he had it all until a tragedy took away his perfect life and temporarily blinded him. When they met, Allison was running away from her past, and Hunter thought he had no reason to undergo the treatments needed to recover his eyesight. He was blind, but he saw how beautiful she was. She gave him a reason to live… a reason to see again... a reason to fall in love. Hunter went through a transplant that enabled him to see again, but separated him from Allison for more than a year. When he got his eyesight back, he also got his perfect life back. Once again he's the most popular boy in school and she's the outcast he doesn't even remember. Will Hunter find his way back to Allison? Or will he choose to live his perfect life and pretend he never even knew her?

Loosely based on the well known fairytale, this is a re-imagination of the original Beauty and the beast; a story as old as time with an incredible twist. In the small town of Redwood- where she grew up- Arabella will find herself in more trouble than she bargained for when she ends up in the palace of the incredibly handsome, yet moody, Royce. Will Arabella find out the truth about her mysterious host or will her life end before she has a chance to escape?