
Life Beyond I Do
Marianna · Completed · 210.8k Words
Introduction
"Bastard," I gasped, but my pussy was clenching around him, pulling him deeper. "You're such a bastard."
"Say it." He reached between us, finding my clit, circling it with his thumb in that way he knew drove me crazy.
"Say you're mine and I'll make you come."
From college sweethearts to getting married at the end of sophomore year, Lily thought she was the happiest bride in the world. She was so in love with Ryan that she missed the worried looks from her friends and parents. She ignored the fact that their marriage was a secret, the smell of other women’s perfume on Ryan, and how he always left when his phone rang. For two years, Lily held the marriage together by herself. She even spent her whole senior year secretly helping Ryan’s company with her technical skills, using a false name.
She gave everything—her love and her talent—but only got disappointment in return. Ryan said he missed her graduation because of traffic, but Lily saw him on the news with another woman at the hospital. Lily wanted to leave, but Ryan’s apologies and their physical closeness kept pulling her back. As her love faded, the baby growing inside her became the one thing holding her to him.
Will Lily find the courage to leave and start over, or will she stay trapped in her golden cage?
Chapter 1
Lily's POV
The ivory silk felt cool against my skin as I turned slowly before the three-paneled mirror. The boutique's VIP fitting room smelled of expensive fabric and possibility—the kind of place I'd only ever walked past before. Now here I was, watching a girl in a wedding dress spin in the reflection, her face flushed with happiness that felt almost too bright to be real.
"I can't believe this is happening," I whispered, smoothing down the simple A-line skirt. "It feels like a dream."
"Lily, sweetie." Megan's voice carried that careful tone she used when she was trying not to hurt my feelings. She knelt beside me, adjusting the hem with practiced hands. "Are you absolutely sure about this? You're only twenty..."
"And you barely know him." Ellie crossed her arms, her frown deepening the tiny crease between her eyebrows. "Two years isn't that long, Lily. Plus this whole secret wedding thing—I can't even tell my parents? That's just weird."
My fingers tightened on the delicate lace of my sleeves. I'd known this conversation was coming. They'd been dropping hints for weeks, gentle at first, then increasingly worried. But they didn't understand. They hadn't seen Ryan's face when his grandfather died, hadn't held him through those endless nights when the weight of Carter Industrial threatened to crush him. They didn't know what it was like to be someone's only safe harbor in a storm.
"He has his reasons," I said softly, meeting their eyes in the mirror. "Family complications. You know how it is with these old money families—everything has to be timed perfectly."
The lie tasted bitter on my tongue, but what else could I say? That I didn't really understand it myself? That sometimes late at night I wondered why the man who said he loved me needed to keep me hidden?
Megan exchanged a look with Ellie. "Lily—"
The door burst open.
Ryan stood in the doorway, and my breath caught. He looked exactly like what he was: a man who belonged in boardrooms and private clubs, not boutique fitting rooms on a Tuesday afternoon. His charcoal suit was perfectly tailored, his cedarwood cologne mixing with the room's floral air freshener, but his eyes—his eyes looked haunted.
"Ryan?!" Megan and Ellie gasped in unison.
"You can't be here!" Ellie practically shrieked. "It's bad luck to see the bride in her dress before the wedding!"
Megan was already pulling Ellie toward the door, shooting me a worried glance over her shoulder. "We'll just... give you two a minute."
The door clicked shut. Suddenly the spacious fitting room felt impossibly small, filled only with the sound of my heart hammering against my ribs and the rustle of silk as I turned to face him fully.
"Ryan?" My voice came out smaller than I intended. "What are you doing here? I thought we agreed—"
He crossed the room in three long strides and pulled me into his arms with a force that knocked the air from my lungs. His grip was almost desperate, like he was trying to anchor himself to something solid. I could feel his heart racing against my cheek, could feel the tremor in his hands as they pressed against my back.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
"Lily." His voice was rough, muffled against my shoulder. "You know I love you, right? You know that?"
I froze. The question itself wasn't strange—we said it to each other all the time. But the way he asked it, the raw desperation in his tone, made my stomach twist with an emotion I couldn't quite name.
"Of course," I whispered, my arms coming up to hold him back. "Of course I know—"
"No." He pulled back just enough to look at my face, his hands gripping my shoulders. His eyes were wild, almost fevered. "I need you to say it. Tell me. Tell me that I love you."
The fitting room tilted slightly. This wasn't right. People didn't ask to be told they loved someone—they just did. But looking at his face, seeing the desperation there, I felt my heart crack open with a tenderness that hurt.
He was under so much pressure, I thought. The company, his family, everything. He just needed reassurance. He needed to know I believed in him.
I cupped his face in my hands, forcing him to meet my eyes. "Ryan Carter," I said slowly, clearly, "you love me. I know you love me."
His shoulders sagged like I'd cut some invisible string holding him upright. "I'm sorry," he whispered, pulling me close again. "God, Lily, I'm so sorry."
"Sorry for what?" I tried to pull back to see his face, but he held me tighter. "You haven't done anything wrong. You don't need to apologize to me."
He didn't answer. Just held me like that for what felt like hours but was probably only minutes. Then his phone buzzed—once, twice, three times. He ignored it until the fourth buzz, when I felt him glance at the screen over my shoulder.
In that brief moment, I caught a glimpse of the name on the display: Chloe.
My heart stuttered. I didn't know who Chloe was—he'd never mentioned that name before. But something about the way his whole body tensed, the way his grip on me tightened for just a fraction of a second before he let go, sent a chill down my spine.
First he'd broken the wedding superstition, showing up when he shouldn't have. Now a woman I didn't know was texting him urgently enough to make him look like that.
"I have to go," he said abruptly, releasing me so suddenly I stumbled slightly in my heels. "There's an emergency. I'll—I'll make it up to you. Tomorrow. I promise."
And then he was gone, leaving only the ghost of his cologne and the imprint of his fingers on my shoulders.
And that name, burning in my mind like a brand: Chloe.
I stood there in my wedding dress, staring at the closed door, trying to understand what had just happened. The silk suddenly felt too tight, too heavy, like it was trying to suffocate me.
The door flew open again. Megan and Ellie rushed in, their faces a mixture of concern and something that looked almost like anger.
"Lily." Ellie's voice was sharp. "Did you smell that?"
I blinked. "Smell what?"
"The perfume." She crossed her arms. "Ryan reeked of jasmine. Women's perfume, Lily. Not just a little bit—a lot."
Last Chapters
#190 Chapter 190
Last Updated: 4/13/2026#189 Chapter 189
Last Updated: 4/13/2026#188 Chapter 188
Last Updated: 4/13/2026#187 Chapter 187
Last Updated: 4/13/2026#186 Chapter 186
Last Updated: 4/13/2026#185 Chapter 185
Last Updated: 4/13/2026#184 Chapter 184
Last Updated: 4/13/2026#183 Chapter 183
Last Updated: 4/13/2026#182 Chapter 182
Last Updated: 4/13/2026#181 Chapter 181
Last Updated: 4/13/2026
You Might Like 😍
Alpha Of Glass And Gold
Four years later, Levi Kingston, the ruthless Alpha who traded his pack for power and built an empire in glass and gold, returns with a proposition that reopens every wound she buried.
A ninety-day marriage contract.
His terms: protect her twins from the enemies his rise created.
Her condition: never fall for him again.
She’s human, or at least that’s what she tells the world. He’s the heir to the city’s hidden packs, a man forged in dominance and secrets. Between them lies a history of rejection, desire, and a bond that refused to die even when they did.
In a world where loyalty is currency and love is leverage, Aurora must decide whether to guard her heart or the truth that could bring Levi Kingston’s entire empire to its knees. proposition that reopens every wound she buried.
Alpha, Billionaire, Strong FL, Fated Mates, Rejected Mates, Secret babies, Twins, A Marriage of Convenience,
Underwater: The Silent Luna
It sounded like fate. Like rescue. Like the moment the universe finally chose her.
Even with the suspicion clinging to the proposal, Meadow let herself believe it. She stepped into the marriage blindly, hoping love would fill the quiet spaces of her mute, colourless life.
But the truth comes fast, and cruel.
The Alpha never asked for her. Never wanted her. Luna Amber arranged everything without his consent, driven by selfish motives Meadow couldn’t see until it was too late. What should have been tender and sacred becomes a cage, and Meadow is trapped in a nightmare she can’t wake from.
What the Heart Wants (Book 1 of the Alpha Faros Series)
Not loving him will cost more.
Derek has one goal: survive high school without drawing too much attention or pissing off his pack’s alpha.
As the youngest son of the alpha, his life is governed by lycan hierarchy, tradition, and politics. With no signs of awakening a lycan spirit, his only value is what he can do for the pack’s image. He knows he’s only ever one misstep away from exile… or worse.
Then, he finds a boy trapped in a locker on orientation day, and everything changes.
Derek shouldn’t want Nikolias. He’s off-limits. A risk Derek can’t afford.
So why does it feel like he’s the only thing worth fighting for?
Nikolias has just lost everything: his parents, his home, and any sense of peace. Sent back to the town his family left years ago to live with his prejudiced and controlling uncle, who wants nothing to do with anything—or anyone—not human, he’s trying to do everything in his power to get out quickly.
But then he meets Derek again, and all of his plans vanish in the soft, yearning flecks of gold in Derek’s green-hazel eyes. He’s drawn to Derek in a way that’s impossible to deny, and he thinks Derek feels the same way, despite the danger their relationship holds for him.
As Moonshadow's politics turn deadly, Derek and Nikolai are caught in the crossfire of a war that had started long before they were born, and their bond becomes a threat and a lifeline that neither can afford to sever.
Because the heart wants what it wants….
And it never asks permission.
TW: Graphic Violence, Suicide Ideation, Suicide Attempt, Child Abuse, Cult-Like Behavior
The Alpha Who Hated Me
"Why isn't it working?" he demands.
"Because it's real," I whisper. "Whether you want it or not."
"Then I'll make it clear another way," he says.
He turns to address the entire cafeteria. His voice carries to every corner of the room.
"Let me be perfectly clear," he announces. "She's not my mate. She's not my anything. She's just a sad little girl who needs to learn her place."
The silence that follows is deafening. Hundreds of students stare at me with pity. With disgust. With relief that they're not in my position.
I sit there shaking. My wolf curls up in a corner of my mind and whimpers.
But he's not our mate anymore. He made that clear.
He's nothing to me.
She came to survive. He was born to rule. Fate made them mates. And that’s where the nightmare began.
Evangeline has spent her whole life on the edge, unwanted, unclaimed, and surviving in the shadows of Crescent Moon Pack. A omega by blood and an outcast by choice, she’s learned to keep her head down and her scars hidden. But when her dying uncle asks her to enroll at Blackclaw Academy, a school built on bloodlines, brutality, and unforgiving rules..... she agrees. For him, not for herself.
She expected whispers. Glares. Even cruelty.
What she didn’t expect was Ronan Nightbane.
Death By Breathing
Females are claimed. Controlled. Bred.
Alex swore she would die before becoming any man’s possession.
Fiercely independent and determined to escape the fate forced on women like her, Alex has spent years surviving under the radar. But everything changes when the powerful Vandicoff brothers—three ruthless Alpha rulers—discover she is their true mate.
The moment they claim her, war ignites.
Alex refuses to submit to their bond, their authority, or the dangerous pull between them. She fights every command, every touch, every instinct threatening to drag her under. But the more she resists, the more obsessed the brothers become.
What begins as a battle for control soon sends shockwaves through the entire Alpha world, threatening the Vandicoff empire itself.
Can Alex survive three possessive Alphas without losing herself in the process?
Or will the one thing she craves most—love—become the very thing that destroys her?
Bound by the Dragon Mafia
The head chef looked like he was silently praying for death.
I rushed forward. “Amara. Stop traumatizing these poor people.”
She spun around, delighted. “Sera! Good, you’re here. Taste this. It’s missing despair.”
The chef’s face morphed into existential crisis.
I grabbed her arm. “Put the spatula down.”
“But—”
“Down.”
With exaggerated offense, she dropped the spatula and muttered, “Fine. But if no one here has artistic vision, that’s not my fault.”
She went undercover to expose a mafia empire.
He offered her thirty nights to save her life.
When investigative journalist Seraphine Vale steps into the glittering underworld ruled by billionaire crime lord Dante Vescari, she thinks she’s chasing a story about missing women and corruption.
Instead, she uncovers a secret older than blood—an empire built on fire, sin, and dragons.
Bound to Dante by a forbidden pact, Seraphine finds herself caught between fear and desire, truth and temptation.
Each night pulls her deeper into his world of power, passion, and danger…
and closer to the monster hiding beneath his perfect skin.
Thirty nights. One bond.
And a love that might just burn the world to ash.
COLD (Ruthless Player)
“Please… Nick, wait.” He pulled out, thrusted back in. “How much? Twenty thousand? Fifty? Hundred?” With every question, he thrust harder and harder. My neurons are frying with the confusing feeling in my brain. Torn between pleasure, fear, and panic. I couldn't utter a single sentence to save my life.
His cold eyes pinned me in place while he plundered my body with deep thrusts, which only added to my confusion. My dumb body mistook the mixed signals, my pussy becoming even wetter than before.
“I hope she'd paid you well, because I'm going to fuck you all night long, hard,” he growled. “Sleep, then do it all over again. I want to feel you come for me, Andrea, want to feel you squeeze my cock, milking me.
Begging for me to give you the high only I can, I'm going to fucked you until I fuck all my wife's money's worth, I want you to remember how hard I took you while you're meeting her.” I sobbed, moaned, and tried to scramble out under him.
“No, please…Nick, let….let me explain.” Nick abruptly pulled out. His eyes were cold but hooded.
Andrea was sent to take down billionaire magnate Nicklaus Montgomery.
Her mission was simple: get close, seduce him, find the proof, and disappear. Instead Andrea finds herself exposed—cornered into signing a contract that binds her to Nicklaus's side as his lover. Now she’s living in his world of wealth, danger, and secrets… and the deeper she falls into his bed, the harder it becomes to remember what side she's on.
The Vampire Prince's Hybrid Bride
The Cursed Alpha King’s Wolfless Bride
The Unwritten Princess
My name is Mia, and everything I touch is dying.
The flowers beneath my mother's window turned black overnight. The herbs I gathered at dawn rotted in my hands. When the court wizard finally told me the truth—that someone cursed me, that my presence would kill everyone I love—I realized the prophecy everyone believed was never meant to save the kingdom. It was meant to destroy me.
So I ran. Not to fulfill some destiny, but to survive it.
Now I'm traveling with a hunter who lost his companions to the same curse I carry, chasing fragments of a prophecy the Fae sing differently. An elf took a baby from the palace the night I was born. And somewhere between the lies I've been told and the truth I'm hunting, I'm starting to suspect: What if I'm not the princess from the prophecy at all?
Omega Bound
Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life.
Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination











