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"Let's welcome Brandon King!" My mind was racing, my palms were getting sweaty as I fixed my eyes on the doors. I was still in denial. 'No, there are a thousand and one Brandon Kings across the world. It can't be..." It was him. I thought I could hear the ambulance sirens from a distance. I hoped they were coming to take me because at that moment, my heart stopped beating. Belle Cooper is left hertbroken after her fiance Brandon King fails to show up at the altar. Two months later, fate brings them together on a reality dating show, Love Isle. In the midst of deception, lies and old secrets, Belle must steer through an emotional rollercoaster and find out why Brandon betrayed her. Will love win or will the mistakes of the past ruin their second chance at happiness?
(Song: Heartbreak Anniversary by Giveon)
BELLE
"Brandon." I murmured my fiance's name and cuddled closer.
"Go back to sleep, my love."
"You're going," I felt him shift away. "Don't go, stay awhile with me." I wrapped my arms around him, holding onto the warmth.
"I have to, baby. Our wedding starts in the next five hours," he kissed my hands, before lifting my arms from his body. "I don't want anyone to know I saw you before the wedding. I hear it's a bad omen." He whispered with a low chuckle, putting on his shirt.
"Five hours is a long time." I held his hand, my lips formed into a pout. "Come on, just an hour more." I said, hoping he would touch my one last time before our wedding.
He leaned a bit, kissing me full on the lips. "I didn't let you sleep enough last night," he said, hinting about our love making session. "After today, we won't be spending just hours, but the rest of our lives together," his hands on my cheeks, "I can't wait for you to become my wife and have our babies."
'I might be carrying one now.' I thought. I wasn't on birth control and he didn't wear a sheath. We made love four glorious times last night, so, there's every possibility.
"I love you."
"Love you too, Mrs King." He said in response as he went to the door.
After I heard the soft clicking sound of the door, I snuggled deeper into the sheets. I was smiling softly thinking about him. I closed my eyes, letting the warmth of the moment linger. Last night was pure magic.
It was just in a matter of hours, and I would officially become Mrs King.
************************
"Wake up, sleepyhead!" That was Samantha's voice. "You're getting married, baby!" She said in a raised voice, as she pushed open the curtains.
"Samantha!" I groaned as I turned my face to the pillow.
We have been friends since my first year at college and since then, she has always been the death of me. Today, she was my maid of honor.
"Get up, girl. It's your big day!" She pulled down the covers and exclaimed when she found me stark naked. "Where are your clothes?" Then she looked to see my nighties tossed carelessly at one end of the room and my lace panties on the night stand. She brought her face to mine, her eyes narrow. "Brandon was here last night, right?"
"I... He... He only came to say hello." I stuttered, biting my lips. I knew I was very terrible at telling lies.
"Hello? And there are tiny bites on your neck, boobs and thighs," she pointed out. "I can also see some in your belly. Hello indeed!" She snorted.
'Lord, this girl's eyes are very sharp.' I sighed.
"What's wrong with you two?" She continued. "Brandon was not meant to see you before the wedding. Not only did he set his eyes on you, he buried himself inside you."
I rolled my eyes. "Samantha, gosh! He's going to be my husband in some hours. There's nothing bad in what we did last night."
"Go have your shower, young woman. Your hair and makeup team will be here soon."
*********************
In no time, I was done with my hair and makeup. As a fashion stylist, Samantha helped me my wedding dress.
"How is my makeup, Sam?" I was looking at myself in the mirror.
"Perfect, baby. The makeup artist did a nice job. You look radiant." Samantha winked at me. "Brandon might eat his tongue when he sees you. I only hope he doesn't tear your clothes and take you on the altar."
I gasped. "Samantha, you're so vile."
"Shh, I'm still mad that Brandon saw you before the wedding. It's a bad omen."
This was the exact same thing Brandon said to me in the early hours of today.
"I don't believe that, Sam. It's not real."
She made me sit on the chair again. "For last touches, let's add some sparkly jewelry and fix your hair a bit. Your brother, Dillon will soon come here to walk you down the aisle. You know how grumpy he can get if we waste his time."
I laughed at what she said. Dillon was my brother and only family member. Our parents died in an autocrash three years ago.
As for my wedding with Brandon, I didn't want something extravagant or lavish. I was grateful that Brandon didn't want any of that as well. We had just twenty guests who were basically business associates and few friends. Samantha was my maid of honor and my only bridesmaid. Brandon had simply one groomsman who was also his best man.
"Voila! We're done. Let's go outside and wait for Dillon." She said, giving me a bouquet of flowers.
We waited for close to an hour and yet Dillon hasn't shown.
"What time is the wedding again?" Samantha asked, her fingers tapping on the table lightly.
"Nine am."
"Oh, wow! This is twenty minutes past ten." Samantha said, looking at her phone screen.
"Are you serious? What could be the problem?" I was getting nervous.
"Stay here. Let me go outside and know what is going on."
As Samantha was about leaving the room, Brandon's best man, Malcom burst in.
"Malcom, what's happening?" Samantha questioned him. Her hands on his shoulder.
"We're looking for Brandon. Is he here?" His eyes were everywhere, balls of sweat on his face.
"I'm sorry, what!" I rose up from my seat immediately. I wanted to be sure that I heard him clearly.
"The priest will cancel the wedding in the next thirty minutes if he fails to show up. Some of the guests have left."
"Have you tried calling him? Have you gone to his room?" I was getting frantic. My heart was pounding so fast.
"Belle, please calm down." Samantha came to my side, holding my hand.
"No, Sam." I shook my head. "I can't be calm." My anxiety was growing. 'Something was seriously wrong.' I thought.
"His line is dead. I don't think I have gone to his room though..."
I hurriedly went to my room. With shaky hands, I picked up my phone and dialed Brandon's number. It wasn't going through. I tried again for the second, third and fourth time and yet, it gave the same response. His line was dead.
"Why is he not answering? Where are you, Brandon?" I muttered to myself.
I went for his second line and it went straight to voicemail. My heart fell. He was deliberately avoiding my calls. Suddenly, I remembered his words as well as Samantha's, about the bad omen stuff. 'Maybe, I shouldn't have let him see me.'
I took a deep breath. I didn't want to think that Brandon would do this to me. Still in doubt, I went to his room. Samantha and Dillon were there already. They were not aware when I entered, because they had left the door open.
"That fucking bastard has the guts to embarrass my sister!" Dillon yelled. "I have always warned Belle about him, but no, she wouldn't listen. Now see." He rubbed his face in frustration, sighing. "The idiot has fled. His car is not outside."
"What do we tell Belle? She's going to be so broken."
I looked around, my gaze on the corners of his room. None of his stuff were anywhere. His room was empty.
My anxiety turned to panic when the realization hit me that Brandon had actually left me on our wedding day. Tears filled my eyes. My heart was slowly shattering into bits.
Suddenly, the room around me began to spin. I tried to reach out to hold onto something, but I couldn't.I felt myself falling and my phone slipped from my fingers. Everything went black. I was vaguely aware of the screams and the sound of my name being called. But it was all distant. I couldn't respond.
I was out cold, my body overwhelmed by the shock and heartbreak of Brandon's betrayal.
In the previous life, Maggie Johnson was so cowardly, gullible and stupid that she was coaxed by her fiance and stepsister and then broke her legs and lost everything including her fortune, love and even life. However, she was so lucky that she was reborn in the year before everything happened. Since her life restarted, how could she repeat a previous tragedy? Therefore, in this life, she took the opportunity to improve herself and take revenge on the ones who had ever insulted her. Facing the people who had humiliated her previously, she became smart and experienced to break their frames and tricks that had caused her to hurt in the previous life. Finally, no one could stop her pace to amaze the world any more.
"I heard you're going to marry Marcelo. Is this perhaps your revenge against me? It's very laughable, Renee. That man can barely function." Her foster family, her cheating ex, everyone thought Renee was going to live in pure hell after getting married to a disabled and cruel man. She didn't know if anything good would ever come out of it after all, she had always thought it would be hard for anyone to love her but this cruel man with dark secrets is never going to grant her a divorce because she makes him forget how to breathe.
"I stood at the edge of my heart and watched him choose her. In the end, I was not the one he needed. I was simply the one he settled for." - Noelle ~~~~~~~ I thought I was the one he loved. But a few days before our wedding, I saw him in a way I never had before. His eyes softened as he spoke to her. His first love, and the very woman who had left him in pieces. Heartbreak was something I knew too well. And as I watched the love he still held for her in his eyes, I realized what I had to do. I couldn't marry a man who wasn't truly mine. With no means to cancel the wedding and lacking the courage to confront him, I made a desperate choice to leave. I painfully gave his first love my treasured engagement ring thinking it was for the best and the only way to free myself. But when he saw that ring on her finger, the fragile world I had tried to escape began to shatter. His obsession to find me and bring me back ignited a dangerous game of cat and mouse.
Her fiance and her best friend worked together and set her up. She lost everything and died in the street. However, she was reborn. The moment she opened her eyes, her husband was trying to strangle her. Luckily, she survived that. She signed the divorce agreement without hesitation and was ready for her miserable life. To her surprise, her mother in this life left her a great deal of money. She turned the tables and avenged herself. Everything went well in her career and love when her ex-husband came to her.
Betrayed by her mate and sister on the eve of her wedding, Makenna was handed to the ruthless Lycan Princes as a lover, her indifferent father ignoring her plight. Determined to escape and seek revenge, she captured the interest of the three Lycan princes, who desired her exclusively amid many admirers. This complicated her plans, trapping her and making her a rival to the future Lycan queen. Entwined in jealousy and vindictiveness, could Makenna achieve her vengeance in the intricate dance with the three princes?
After two years of marriage, Kristian dropped a bombshell. "She's back. Let's get divorced. Name your price." Freya didn't argue. She just smiled and made her demands. "I want your most expensive supercar." "Okay." "The villa on the outskirts." "Sure." "And half of the billions we made together." Kristian froze. "Come again?" He thought she was ordinary—but Freya was the genius behind their fortune. And now that she'd gone, he'd do anything to win her back.