Ninety-Nine Denials: A Fateful Proposal

Ninety-Nine Denials: A Fateful Proposal

Tao Yaoyao

5.0
Comment(s)
154
View
11
Chapters

The table was set for our 99th engagement anniversary, a running joke Chloe and I shared about my failed proposals. I touched the velvet box in my pocket, ready to finally make it real, when her phone buzzed-a call from her half-brother, Leo. Her face fell, and the warmth in the room vanished; she was already a thousand miles away, ready to drop everything for him, again. When I tried to explain what I knew in my gut-that a superstorm was coming for her grandmother' s coastal village-Chloe dismissed it as jealousy and ripped my data to shreds. Then, she called my boss and accused me of instability, getting me fired and disgraced, leaving me with nothing but the terrifying data screaming the truth. But her grandmother, and an entire village, were walking into a death trap, and I couldn't let that happen, even if it cost me everything.

Introduction

The table was set for our 99th engagement anniversary, a running joke Chloe and I shared about my failed proposals.

I touched the velvet box in my pocket, ready to finally make it real, when her phone buzzed-a call from her half-brother, Leo.

Her face fell, and the warmth in the room vanished; she was already a thousand miles away, ready to drop everything for him, again.

When I tried to explain what I knew in my gut-that a superstorm was coming for her grandmother' s coastal village-Chloe dismissed it as jealousy and ripped my data to shreds.

Then, she called my boss and accused me of instability, getting me fired and disgraced, leaving me with nothing but the terrifying data screaming the truth.

But her grandmother, and an entire village, were walking into a death trap, and I couldn't let that happen, even if it cost me everything.

Continue Reading

Other books by Tao Yaoyao

More
The Placeholder Wife's Revenge

The Placeholder Wife's Revenge

Romance

5.0

I sacrificed everything for my husband, Ryan. My ambitions, my career, even turning down a dream job in another city to support his perfect image. I managed our home, believed his promises of devotion, and trusted him completely. Then, his college girlfriend, Chloe, reappeared after her husband's tragic death. He flew to her side, claiming to offer comfort. But when he returned, he brought her straight to our home, introducing her as though she belonged. That night, I heard them. Chloe' s soft voice, "I can' t believe she' s not even here to greet you." And Ryan' s reply, a cold, dismissive murmur that shattered my world: "Don' t worry about Ava. She' s just a placeholder, a shield. I married her to keep you from doing something reckless after we broke up. She was never the one." A placeholder. A shield. My entire marriage, a meticulously crafted lie designed to protect him and hide his true love. My heart pounded, a cold knot of dread tightening in my stomach. In the days that followed, I endured their blatant affair in my own home. My bank account was emptied, my treasured family heirloom was stolen and broken, and I was thrown out of my own bedroom. When I finally confronted them, Ryan brutally struck me, then coldly told me he was divorcing me and I' d get nothing. Yet, despite the pain, I couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that something far more sinister was at play. Why had he been so insistent on my "minor surgery" years ago? What dark secrets did he truly hide beyond his betrayal? Driven by a desperate need for answers, I sought a new doctor, uncovering a truth so chilling, it shattered every last piece of my broken life: Ryan had secretly sterilized me, without my consent, ensuring I could never bear children. Now, with nothing left to lose, I began to plot my escape and his ultimate downfall.

No Forgiveness:He's Not The One

No Forgiveness:He's Not The One

Romance

5.0

My daughter, Lily, was finally starring in her kindergarten play, a tiny, radiant sun. My surgeon husband, David, promised he' d be there, but he was always "too busy saving lives." As Lily nervously scanned the audience for her hero, I spotted him. Not in the empty seat beside me, but across the auditorium, whispering and laughing with Victoria, his college sweetheart, and her daughter, Chloe. My heart shattered as Lily saw him too, her bright smile instantly extinguished, her little voice choking back tears. I covered the gaping hole his absence always left with another lie: "He' s a hero, an emergency surgery." But later that night, Lily' s fever spiked, and she began convulsing in her bed. Panic gripped me, my hands shaking as I dialed 911, then David' s number, over and over-only to be met with voicemails. In the ambulance on the way to the ER, I saw him through the window of a dessert shop: David, Victoria, and Chloe, sharing a comically large ice cream sundae, him beaming, playfully dabbing whipped cream on Chloe' s nose. He was building a perfect family with someone else while our daughter was fighting for her life. The following day, a fire alarm shrieked during a movie we watched, just Lily and I. Chaos erupted, and I lost Lily' s hand in the stampede. In the smoke and terror, I saw David, already at the exit, pulling Victoria and Chloe to safety. "David, it's Lily!" I screamed, our paths separated by feet, but a chasm of his making. He looked at his daughter, his own flesh and blood, terrified and alone, then turned his back and ran, leaving her behind. My daughter, my sunshine, was trampled to death. The doctor' s words echoed like a death knell: "She didn't make it." The man I married, the father of my child, chose another family over his own daughter, leaving her to die. He abandoned Lily, not just by turning away, but by living a double life that ultimately cost her everything. Now, he wants forgiveness, a second chance. But there is nothing left to save. My story isn't one of grieving in silence; it' s about reclaiming what' s left of my life, even if it means destroying his.

You'll also like

Secret Baby: The Jilted Wife's Final Goodbye

Secret Baby: The Jilted Wife's Final Goodbye

Cait
5.0

I sat on the cold tile floor of our Upper East Side penthouse, staring at the two pink lines until my vision blurred. After ten years of loving Julian Sterling and three years of a hollow marriage, I finally had the one thing that could bridge the distance between us. I was pregnant. But Julian didn't come home with flowers for our anniversary. He tossed a thick manila envelope onto the marble coffee table with a heavy thud. Fiona, the woman he'd truly loved for years, was back in New York, and he told me our "business deal" was officially over. "Sign it," He said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. He looked at me with the cold detachment of a man selling a piece of unwanted furniture. When I hesitated, he told me to add a zero to the alimony if the money wasn't enough. I realized in that moment that if he knew about the baby, he wouldn't love me; he would simply take my child and give it to Fiona to raise. I shoved the pregnancy test into my pocket, signed the papers with a shaking hand, and lied through my teeth. When my morning sickness hit, I slumped to the floor to hide the truth. "It's just cramps," I gasped, watching him recoil as if I were contagious. To make him stay away, I invented a man named Jack-a fake boyfriend who supposedly gave me the kindness Julian never could. Suddenly, the man who wanted me gone became a monster of possessiveness. He threatened to "bury" a man who didn't exist while leaving me humiliated at his family's dinner to rush to Fiona's side. I was so broken that I even ate a cake I was deathly allergic to, then had to refuse life-saving steroids at the hospital because they would harm the fetus. Julian thinks he's stalling the divorce for two months to protect the family's reputation for his father's Jubilee. He thinks he's keeping his "property" on a short leash until the press dies down. He has no idea I'm using those sixty days to build a fortress for my child. By the time he realizes the truth, I'll be gone, and the Sterling heir will be far beyond his reach.

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book