Good Secrets 소설 & 이야기

Maynard Hansen planned a luxury birthday cruise for Darlene Thompson, but the cruise ship capsized when a violent storm swept in without warning. Without hesitation, Maynard gave the last seat on the lifeboat to Darlene. As I struggled in the water, my son, Waldo Hansen—whom I carried for nine months and gave birth to—cried out, "Don't let Mom up! She'll push Ms. Thompson off." Clutching nothing but a broken plank, I somehow made it to shore. By the time I collapsed on the sand, I was frozen, exhausted, and done. I had never felt so alone. Shortly after, I found myself clutching a diagnosis of severe depression in my hand. I was ready to bring this wretched life to a quiet end. But when my husband and son realized I truly didn't want to live anymore, they collapsed into tears. They wrapped their arms around me as they sobbed, "Please don't leave us. We really can't live without you."

On our wedding day, the big screen glitched—then flipped to kissing shots of Caleb Gorman and his "girl best friend," Holly Beech. Holly shot up, hand over her mouth, smiling all fake-innocent. "Relax, everyone. We were just messing around. Caleb and I go way back. Guess that makes me wife number two." Caleb smiled, soft like always. "That's just her. She's a total blabbermouth. Don't take it seriously." I looked at him. Calm. "She plays kissing pics of you two at our wedding and calls herself your 'wife number two.' That's messing around?" His face tightened. Annoyed. "It's a few photos. We've been together five years. You're really gonna nitpick something this small and not let it—" I raised a hand, cutting him off. "Yeah. I am. I'm not letting it go." That hit him. He wasn't used to me standing firm. I turned to the crowd. "This wedding's over."

I, Cassandra Channing, don't stop my fiance, Hades Emerson, from rushing into the flames to save his non-biological niece, Olivia Emerson, this time. Instead, I watch as the fire swallows him whole. In my past life, a fire broke out at the hotel on our wedding day. Hades and I escaped in time, but Olivia was trapped inside. Seeing the flames grow bigger, I did everything I could to stop him from charging in to save her. When the fire was finally extinguished, Olivia was dead. Hades claimed he didn't blame me for the incident, and purchased diving tickets for me and our son on our third wedding anniversary. When we were 300 feet below sea level, he ripped out our oxygen tank and snarled, "You're the reason I couldn't save Olivia back then. Now, a life for a life." Crying, I begged him to understand that our son is innocent, but he swam away without looking back. In the end, my son and I suffocated to death. After dying, I learned that Hades had always been in love with Olivia. He hated me for stopping him from saving her. He blamed me for causing him to lose the love of his life. I am back on the day of the fire when I open my eyes again.

The appointment of Susan Moore as the Broadcasting Channel's executive director has forced out the station's more valued news anchor, sparking heated discussions throughout Hayworth. Susan herself is standing before me right now. She wants to sell her jewelry. As the manager of a luxury boutique store, I'm here to inspect the goods. "These are pieces my partner commissioned for me. I have so many that I'm tired of them." One of them is a diamond-encrusted necklace, featuring a pigeon-blood ruby in the center, worth a few million. There are also several similar gifts on the table, with the crocodile skin bag the least eye-catching one. I smiled. "Your husband must really love you." I set about verifying the purchaser's ID and signature as part of a routine procedure. However, I freeze in place at the sight of the name. "I'm not his wife," she replied, bringing the coffee cup to her lips. "We're just each other's first loves. He said he missed out on 15 years of my life, so he gave me 15 gifts. Isn't that romantic?" It is romantic, indeed. However, it's my father's signature. For 30-plus years, I assumed that my father was a dull man who had never once surprised my mother.

For three years, Selene loved a man who never loved her back. Her marriage to Damien vance was built on obligation, not affection. He married her to fulfill his grandmother's wish, but his heart had always belonged to someone else. Still, Selene endured the coldness, the distance, and the loneliness, hoping that one day her love would be enough. Then, everything changes. On the happiest day of her life, Selene discovers she is pregnant after years of trying. Overjoyed, she rushes home to share the news with her husband, convinced that this miracle might finally bring them closer together. Instead, she walks into a nightmare. Damien's first love, Aurora, has returned. The woman he never stopped loving is suddenly back, and Selene finds herself pushed aside as though she never mattered. Before she can reveal her pregnancy, Damien hands her divorce papers and asks her to leave. Heartbroken and carrying a secret that could change everything, Selene signs the papers and disappears from his life. But some goodbyes are not as final as they seem. As Damien begins building a future with the woman he thought he wanted, he slowly realizes that the person he truly depended on is gone. The wife he overlooked, the woman who stood by him through everything, has vanished without a trace. And when long-buried secrets begin to surface, Damien is forced to confront a devastating truth that comes far too late. Now, the man who once let her go will stop at nothing to find her. But after everything he has done, will Selene ever give him a second chance? Or will the goodbye he demanded become the regret he carries for the rest of his life?

Ellaria Bravemoon loved her husband despite all the reasons she knew she shouldn’t. She gave him five years, her loyalty, and her whole heart. He gave her a contract, a title, and nothing else. Arren Pierce was the Alpha of one of the most powerful Sectors in the werewolf realm, and his wife… was nothing but a placeholder at his side. When Ellaria discovers she’s pregnant with Arren’s twins, she thinks it might finally change things between them. Instead he accuses her of an affair, puts her under house arrest, and walks away with his true fated mate. She loses everything. And when she finally decides to leave, she discovers that the man she has loved in silence for five years isn’t as indifferent as he always pretended to be. But some things, once broken, cannot simply be undone.

Victor Gunner, my husband, is a man of his prime - wealthy, attractive and the brilliant CEO of Gunner Holdings, Inc. with stakes in the aviation and maritime industries. People often question why he married me because it was certainly not a love match nor was it a union of convenience. I believe it was because Victor felt ready and I was available. When I accepted his proposal, I naively thought my love was big enough for the two of us until he proved me wrong. Three years and our marriage began to crumble. For one, I can’t give him an heir. Then came Victor’s past love with a child in tow. A child who looks strangely like my husband. For the first time in years, I saw excitement filling Victor’s eyes. He dotes on them, recreating the dream of a perfect family, while I was gradually being cast aside, relegated to watching them enviously on the sidelines. I tried fighting for my place, but how can one fight a battle lost before it has begun? I had no place in his perfect family so when he proposed divorce, I accepted and never looked back. When we met again, I was an emerging heiress divorcee of our time, given countless accolades due to my work with women who underwent trauma in their relationships. It gave me immense satisfaction that for the first time, Victor saw my worth and wanted me back. Unfortunately, he has to fall in line. Three other men want me, too. All are wealthy, attractive and doting not only to me, but to my triplets as well. I watched in amusement how our roles quickly reversed. Now, Victor scrambled to beat all those men. But can he win this fight? Can love bloom beyond goodbye?

"I've thought about it. Please draft up a divorce agreement for me, Mr. Chastain," Carina Sherwood says to her divorce attorney, Leo Chastain. It's her fifth wedding anniversary with Aster Ducant, but Carina spends it at the lawyer's office instead because Aster is busy having fun with his secretary, Stella Winters, at home. Carina is his wife, but she ends up being the one chased out of the house. They have been married for five years, but Aster hasn't announced their marriage to the people at the company. At first, Carina thinks of bringing it up to him. However, it just takes a few sentences from Aster for her to know that there's no need for that anymore. "Stella's home alone, and the electricity at her place just went out. She has nowhere else to go. I'm asking her to come over for dinner. You're fine with that, aren't you?" The best way Carina can think of to end the last five years of their relationship is through divorce.

It was my birthday. I thought he would take me to see the fireworks by the sea, but he showed up with another woman and her child. “Vera has a kid with her, and it’s inconvenient for them. Be a little understanding. She doesn’t know her way around here, and she has a lot of luggage. I’ll just drop them at the hotel.” He said it so casually, as if he were just explaining some trivial, everyday chore. It was that very gentleness of his that made me feel like I was so unreasonable getting angry over it. He helped them into the car. He leaned down to buckle the seatbelt on the child. Then, he turned to me with a smile. “I’ll be right back. Don’t overthink things.” I stood by the roadside and watched them drive away like a picture-perfect little family. As night fell, the sea breeze turned sharp and biting. Still, I waited until a notification of Vera Cannon’s social feed update lit up my screen. He was holding her daughter in his arms. They were watching the fireworks by the beach. It was a surprise I had planned for my own birthday. The comments poured in. [What a perfect match. What a beautiful little family!] Someone asked him why he was not picking me up. He just smiled and said, “Indy is very patient. She won’t be mad.” At that moment, my birthday cake melted into a puddle of frosting. I finally realized that he had not done that to be cruel to me. He was certain that I would always wait for him. However, even the warmest heart grew cold when neglected too many times. The waves crashed against the shore, over and over. With each crash, another shred of my hope washed away. This time, I was not going to wait for him to come back.

My husband, Lawrence Schwartz, and I were both liars. He lied to me, saying he would forget his first love, yet his phone is filled with photos of her. I lied to him, saying I would never leave, while secretly planning a future without him. A month ago, I tricked Lawrence into signing the divorce papers. Today was the final day to complete the entire divorce process.. Three hours left. I packed all my luggage and bought a plane ticket for the next day. Two hours left. I cut up every photo of us together, leaving only myself in the album. Last hour. I thought about leaving a message, then decided against it. Today marked the tenth year I had loved him and the first day I left him.