From Drowned Bride To Shining Starlight

From Drowned Bride To Shining Starlight

Alfredo Deangelo

3.5
Comment(s)
4.8K
View
10
Chapters

My fiancé plunged our SUV into an icy river during a blizzard. He had a choice: save me, or save his childhood sweetheart, Kianna. He didn't hesitate. He left me to drown. This wasn't the first time. In my last life, he' d "saved" me after Kianna drowned, only to trap me in a loveless marriage. He blamed me for her death, his silent accusations a constant torment. My own parents didn't care, forcing the wedding to secure a corporate merger. I was nothing more than a pawn. He married me not for love, but as penance, making me his living scapegoat for the woman he truly lost. But when I opened my eyes again, I was back in the sinking car, the icy water rising around me. This time, I smiled and pushed him toward her. "Save Kianna," I commanded. "She needs you more."

From Drowned Bride To Shining Starlight Chapter 1

My fiancé plunged our SUV into an icy river during a blizzard. He had a choice: save me, or save his childhood sweetheart, Kianna.

He didn't hesitate. He left me to drown.

This wasn't the first time. In my last life, he' d "saved" me after Kianna drowned, only to trap me in a loveless marriage. He blamed me for her death, his silent accusations a constant torment. My own parents didn't care, forcing the wedding to secure a corporate merger. I was nothing more than a pawn.

He married me not for love, but as penance, making me his living scapegoat for the woman he truly lost.

But when I opened my eyes again, I was back in the sinking car, the icy water rising around me.

This time, I smiled and pushed him toward her.

"Save Kianna," I commanded. "She needs you more."

Chapter 1

Alyssa POV:

The world shattered around me, a sickening crunch of metal twisting and groaning as the SUV plunged into the icy depths. My breath hitched, not from the impact, but from a chilling familiarity. This wasn't the first time. I tasted salt and blood, a metallic tang that was both new and ancient.

"Alyssa! Kianna!" Christian's voice ripped through the chaos, a desperate, frantic sound.

He was reaching for me, his hand outstretched, just like before. My heart, a bruised and weary thing, thumped a discordant rhythm against my ribs. No. Not again. I wouldn't let him repeat the same mistake, condemn us all to a living hell.

The frigid water clawed at my skin, pulling me down, but a strange clarity bloomed in my mind. This was it. My second chance. A gruesome, terrifying gift. The blizzard raged outside, a white shroud over the remote mountain pass. The car, our supposed escape, was now a tomb, groaning its last before fully sinking.

"Christian, the life raft!" I yelled, my voice raw, cutting through the roaring wind and the creak of tortured steel. "Only one person. Save Kianna."

He hesitated, his eyes wide with disbelief, then panic. The small, orange life raft, designed for two, had somehow ripped during the crash, barely holding air, only enough for one adult. It bobbed uselessly in the churning water beside us. The icy current was already dragging Kianna's limp body away, tangled in the rapidly sinking wreckage. She was unconscious, bleeding, her face pale against the white snow.

"Kianna can't swim, Christian! She needs you more. Go!" I pushed his arm, pointing towards her. My voice was sharp, a command, not a plea. My own body screamed from the cold, but my resolve was colder.

Christian' s eyes darted between Kianna' s fading form and my insistent gaze. He was always caught between us. Always. The choice, the impossible choice, now rested squarely on his shoulders. Or rather, I had forced it there. A wave of exhaustion washed over me. I couldn't bear to be the reason for her death again. The weight of his blame, the years of silent accusation, had crushed me in my first life.

He gave a choked gasp, a sound of relief mixed with terror, as if a great burden had been lifted, only to be replaced by another, equally terrifying. He didn't look back at me. Not really. His gaze was already fixed on Kianna, his childhood friend, the one he truly loved, the one he' d always chosen, even when he pretended otherwise.

"Alyssa, I'll come back for you!" he shouted, his voice barely audible above the storm. He fumbled for the deflated raft, his movements clumsy with desperation. His words were a hollow echo, a promise he' d broken countless times before. A cruel joke.

I watched him go, propelling himself through the icy water towards Kianna. He didn't spare a backward glance. He never did. He was already focused on his real priority, his true love. The lifeboat, a pathetic excuse for a rescue vessel, was a mere formality for him to reach her.

My lips twisted into a bitter, humorless smile. "Come back for me?" I scoffed under my breath, the words dissolving into the biting wind. "You never did, Christian."

In my previous life, he "saved" me. He pulled me from the wreck, cradled me in his arms, his face a mask of heroic determination. But Kianna? She drowned. Lost to the icy depths, her death a silent accusation that haunted every waking moment of our marriage. Christian blamed me. Not with words, not directly, but with every heartbroken sigh, every distant stare, every icy touch. He blamed me for her leaving him.

The memory of her funeral in my first life was still vivid. It was a cold, somber affair, rain lashing down as if the sky itself wept for Kianna. Christian stood beside me, his arm stiffly around my waist, a public display of grieving fiancé. But his eyes, hollow and haunted, were fixed on the coffin. He never cried openly, but the grief radiating from him was a palpable thing, a suffocating shroud that clung to me.

He handled all the arrangements, as if he were Kianna' s husband, not her friend. He insisted on a specific plot, one overlooking the lake where they used to play as children. It was a beautiful spot, serene and picturesque, a place he would visit every week, placing fresh flowers, whispering words I could never hear. He was always gone for hours. And I was always alone, waiting, knowing I could never compete with a ghost.

A week later, just as I was trying to navigate the raw grief and guilt, his family's lawyers presented me with a substantial sum of money. "For your troubles, Miss Goodman," the stern-faced man in the expensive suit had said, his voice devoid of warmth. "And as a token of our appreciation for your... fortitude during the accident." It was hush money, a bribe to ensure my silence, my complicity in their carefully constructed narrative of Christian's heroism. They wanted a tidy resolution, a seamless merger of our families. Kianna's death was a tragic inconvenience, a hurdle to be overcome.

"You're still going to marry him, aren't you?" my mother had asked, her voice laced with an unsettling blend of concern and calculation. "The merger is too important."

Christian had refused to postpone the wedding, even for a day. "We need this, Alyssa," he' d said, his jaw tight, his eyes hard. "For our families. For Kianna." He' d wrapped his arms around me, a possessive gesture devoid of tenderness. "We belong together."

I remember the chill that ran down my spine, even then. I hadn't understood the depth of his brokenness, the twisted logic that drove his actions. Not until much later. He hadn't wanted me to die, not really. But he hadn't wanted to lose Kianna either. I was the convenient survivor, the one who could be molded, controlled, blamed.

He married me not for love, but for penance. He intended to make me suffer, to experience a fraction of the agony he felt for Kianna's loss. I was his living, breathing scapegoat. The constant reminder of what he believed I had taken from him.

"Why me?" I had screamed at him one night, after he' d pushed me, after I' d fallen and hit my head, blood matting my hair. "Why do you blame me? I didn't cause the accident! The steering column froze! I didn't choose to live!"

He hadn't answered. His silence was a heavier blow than any words. It was the silence of a man who believed his own lies, who projected his guilt onto the easiest target.

Now, standing in the icy water, the SUV groaning its final death rattle around me, I watched him paddle furiously towards Kianna. He clutched her to him, dragging her onto the flimsy raft. He wrapped his coat around her, whispering frantic words against her pale face. His true feelings, raw and undeniable, were laid bare in the flickering emergency light. He was relieved. Truly, deeply relieved that he didn't have to choose between Kianna and me, that I had made the choice for him.

He was devoted to her. Always had been. Always would be. Kianna, his childhood friend, his first love, the one he had always secretly pined for. He never wanted to save me. Not then, not now. He only saved me in the first life because of the societal pressure, the optics, the expectations of our families. Now that I had given him an "out," he took it without a second thought.

I had given him permission to choose Kianna, to save the one he actually loved. He should be grateful. I almost laughed aloud at the thought, the cold spray biting at my face.

The SUV gave a final, mournful groan and plunged beneath the waves, dragging me with it for a moment before my life vest pulled me back to the surface. The blizzard intensified, a howling vortex of white and wind. Christian and Kianna were already a distant, flickering light in the swirling snow, fading from view. They wouldn't be coming back. Not for me.

My past life had been a slow, agonizing death. This one, I would claim for myself. The cold was unbearable, but a fierce, burning resolve ignited within me. I was alone. Truly, utterly alone. But for the first time in my life, that feeling didn't paralyze me. It freed me.

I looked out at the churning, dark water, the angry waves crashing against unseen rocks. Survival was now entirely up to me. And I wouldn't fail.

Continue Reading

Other books by Alfredo Deangelo

More
The Price of His Betrayal

The Price of His Betrayal

Romance

5.0

I once thought my love for Julian Croft was everything, willingly sacrificing my entire identity and unique art to fit his "pious" world. I even became pregnant, convinced his child would finally make me permanent in his life. But his sister, Claire, violently attacked me, kicking my stomach and causing a horrifying miscarriage. Julian, the man I loved, rushed in and only saw Claire, frantically asking if her hand was hurt, completely oblivious to my bleeding body on the floor. When I awoke in the hospital, stripped of my baby and hope, Julian appeared desperate – not for me, but to demand my blood for Claire, who' d been in a car crash. He begged the doctors to save "his Elle," using the same pet name he once whispered to me. In that shattering instant, I realized the ultimate horror: I was never "his Elle"; I was merely a substitute, a stand-in for his twisted, suffocating obsession with his sister. Used and utterly destroyed, forced to save the very woman who had killed my child, I found a cold, clear resolve in the void of my being. I walked out of that hospital, leaving everything behind, vowing to forge a new life far from the wreckage he left. Now, six years later, I'm back in glittering Manhattan, not the broken girl he thought he knew, but Elara, a celebrated artist, a loving wife to Kael, and a proud mother to our son. And Julian Croft is about to learn that the woman he betrayed is no longer picking up discarded rings, but building an empire of her own.

Escaping The Betrayal's Chill

Escaping The Betrayal's Chill

Modern

5.0

The biting cold was the first thing I felt, deep in the walk-in freezer where Chloe, my wife of five years, had locked me. My punishment for accidentally breaking an outrageously expensive Patek Philippe, a gift not for me, but for Liam O'Connell, her "soulmate" who was returning to the US today. Hours earlier, her face had turned to ice, her voice dangerously quiet, "You clumsy fool! Do you have any idea what you've done?" Her grip like steel, she' d shoved me inside, snarling, "Two hours. Think about what you did," before the heavy door slammed shut. I had loved her, so much so that I' d sold my firm and inheritance to free her from gambling debts, thinking my selfless love had won her heart. A dream shattered by a hidden journal revealing her rage, resentment, and her true love for Liam, whispering to our son, Leo, "This is your real dad." Now, shivering, I heard a muffled thud, then another, against the door, and Leo' s small voice screaming, "Get out! You made Mom unhappy! Get out of here!" A harder kick, "I don't want you as my dad anymore!" My spirit shattered into a million tiny pieces, the cold from the freezer nothing compared to the chill in my soul. Just as consciousness faded, Chloe unlatched the door, the kitchen light blinding me. She found me collapsed, feverish, but her face was a mask of irritation, annoyed she' d been caught, already on the phone with Liam, gushing, "Leo? Oh, he's wonderful. He calls you 'Dad' all the time now. He can't wait to see you." My son looked down at me, his face twisted in disgust, "You're pathetic." That was the moment. The last flicker of hope died. I stumbled to the guest room, my hands shaking. Ignoring calls, I booked a one-way international flight to anywhere, vowing never to return. Two days later, Chloe was seen on the news, chasing my taxi to the airport, screaming my name in a public meltdown no one, least of all me, could have predicted. I still had no idea how deep her betrayal ran.

You'll also like

Flash Marriage To My Best Friend's Father

Flash Marriage To My Best Friend's Father

Madel Cerda

I was once the heiress to the Solomon empire, but after it crumbled, I became the "charity case" ward of the wealthy Hyde family. For years, I lived in their shadows, clinging to the promise that Anson Hyde would always be my protector. That promise shattered when Anson walked into the ballroom with Claudine Chapman on his arm. Claudine was the girl who had spent years making my life a living hell, and now Anson was announcing their engagement to the world. The humiliation was instant. Guests sneered at my cheap dress, and a waiter intentionally sloshed champagne over me, knowing I was a nobody. Anson didn't even look my way; he was too busy whispering possessively to his new fiancée. I was a ghost in my own home, watching my protector celebrate with my tormentor. The betrayal burned. I realized I wasn't a ward; I was a pawn Anson had kept on a shelf until he found a better trade. I had no money, no allies, and a legal trust fund that Anson controlled with a flick of his wrist. Fleeing to the library, I stumbled into Dallas Koch-a titan of industry and my best friend's father. He was a wall of cold, absolute power that even the Hydes feared. "Marry me," I blurted out, desperate to find a shield Anson couldn't climb. Dallas didn't laugh. He pulled out a marriage agreement and a heavy fountain pen. "Sign," he commanded, his voice a low rumble. "But if you walk out that door with me, you never go back." I signed my name, trading my life for the only man dangerous enough to keep me safe.

No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return

No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return

Xiao Xiaosu

I went to the City Clerk’s office for a routine copy of my marriage license to finalize a trust fund audit. I expected a simple piece of paper, but the clerk’s pitying look told me my entire life was a lie. "The license was never finalized, Ms. Oliver. In the eyes of the state, you are single." The three-hundred-guest wedding at the Plaza and the Vogue features meant nothing. My husband, Gray Cooley, had intentionally filed the documents with a "procedural defect" so he could discard me without a legal divorce. Moments later, an iCloud invite titled "Our Little Secret" popped up on my screen. It was a photo of my best friend, Brylee, holding a positive pregnancy test at our Hamptons estate. Gray’s text to her was the final blow: "Happy anniversary, babe. This baby is the best gift. Once the trust unlocks today, we’re done with the charade." I soon discovered they were even stealing my career, reassigning my architectural masterpiece to Brylee while preparing my eviction notice. Gray's mother called me a "barren mule" in a leaked recording, mocking the infertility I suffered after saving Gray’s life in a construction accident. I wasn't a wife; I was a three-year placeholder used to secure his inheritance. How could the man I bled for treat me like a disposable prop? How could my best friend carry his child while pretending to comfort me through my darkest moments? The betrayal burned until it turned into a cold, hard stone of fury. I didn't cry. Instead, I walked into the penthouse of the Barretts, the Cooleys' most powerful rivals. I signed a marriage contract with Kane Barrett, the man the tabloids called the "Beast of Wall Street." "I want a wedding," I told his father, my voice steady and lethal. "Bigger than the one I had with Gray." If they wanted me gone, they would have to watch me become the woman who owns their world.

Secret Triplets: The Billionaire's Second Chance

Secret Triplets: The Billionaire's Second Chance

Roderic Penn

I stood at my mother's open grave in the freezing rain, my heels sinking into the mud. The space beside me was empty. My husband, Hilliard Holloway, had promised to cherish me in bad times, but apparently, burying my mother didn't fit into his busy schedule. While the priest's voice droned on, a news alert lit up my phone. It was a livestream of the Metropolitan Charity Gala. There was Hilliard, looking impeccable in a custom tuxedo, with his ex-girlfriend Charla English draped over his arm. The headline read: "Holloway & English: A Power Couple Reunited?" When he finally returned to our penthouse at 2 AM, he didn't come alone-he brought Charla with him. He claimed she'd had a "medical emergency" at the gala and couldn't be left alone. I found a Tiffany diamond necklace on our coffee table meant for her birthday, and a smudge of her signature red lipstick on his collar. When I confronted him, he simply told me to stop being "hysterical" and "acting like a child." He had no idea I was seven months pregnant with his child. He thought so little of my grief that he didn't even bother to craft a convincing lie, laughing with his mistress in our home while I sat in the dark with a shattered heart and a secret life growing inside me. "He doesn't deserve us," I whispered to the darkness. I didn't scream or beg. I simply left a folder on his desk containing signed divorce papers and a forged medical report for a terminated pregnancy. I disappeared into the night, letting him believe he had successfully killed his own legacy through his neglect. Five years later, Hilliard walked into "The Vault," the city's most exclusive underground auction, looking for a broker to manage his estate. He didn't recognize me behind my Venetian mask, but he couldn't ignore the neon pink graffiti on his armored Maybach that read "DEADBEAT." He had no clue that the three brilliant triplets currently hacking his security system were the very children he thought had been erased years ago. This time, I wasn't just a wife in the way; I was the one holding all the cards.

The Convict Heiress: Marrying The Billionaire

The Convict Heiress: Marrying The Billionaire

Rollins Laman

The heavy thud of the release stamp was the only goodbye I got from the warden after five years in federal prison. I stepped out into the blinding sun, expecting the same flash of paparazzi bulbs that had seen me dragged away in handcuffs, but there was only a single black limousine idling on the shoulder of the road. Inside sat my mother and sister, clutching champagne and looking at my frayed coat with pure disgust. They didn't offer a welcome home; instead, they tossed a thick legal document onto the table and told me I was dead to the city. "Gavin and I are getting engaged," my sister Mia sneered, flicking a credit card at me like I was a stray dog. "He doesn't need a convict ex-fiancée hanging around." Even after I saved their lives from an armed kidnapping attempt by ramming the attackers off the road, they rewarded me by leaving me stranded in the dirt. When I finally ran into Gavin, the man who had framed me, he pinned me against a wall and threatened to send me back to a cell if I ever dared to show my face at their wedding. They had stolen my biotech research, ruined my name, and let me rot for half a decade while they lived off my brilliance. They thought they had broken me, leaving me with nothing but an expired chapstick and a few old photos in a plastic bag. What they didn't know was that I had spent those five years becoming "Dr. X," a shadow consultant with five hundred million dollars in crypto and a secret that would bring the city to its knees. I wasn't just a victim anymore; I was a weapon, and I was pregnant with the heir they thought they had erased. I walked into the Melton estate and made an offer to the most powerful man in New York. "I'll save your grandfather's life," I told Horatio Melton, staring him down. "But the price is your last name. I'm taking back what's mine, and I'm starting with the man who thinks he's marrying my sister."

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book
From Drowned Bride To Shining Starlight From Drowned Bride To Shining Starlight Alfredo Deangelo Modern
“My fiancé plunged our SUV into an icy river during a blizzard. He had a choice: save me, or save his childhood sweetheart, Kianna. He didn't hesitate. He left me to drown. This wasn't the first time. In my last life, he' d "saved" me after Kianna drowned, only to trap me in a loveless marriage. He blamed me for her death, his silent accusations a constant torment. My own parents didn't care, forcing the wedding to secure a corporate merger. I was nothing more than a pawn. He married me not for love, but as penance, making me his living scapegoat for the woman he truly lost. But when I opened my eyes again, I was back in the sinking car, the icy water rising around me. This time, I smiled and pushed him toward her. "Save Kianna," I commanded. "She needs you more."”
1

Chapter 1

14/01/2026

2

Chapter 2

14/01/2026

3

Chapter 3

14/01/2026

4

Chapter 4

14/01/2026

5

Chapter 5

14/01/2026

6

Chapter 6

14/01/2026

7

Chapter 7

14/01/2026

8

Chapter 8

14/01/2026

9

Chapter 9

14/01/2026

10

Chapter 10

14/01/2026