The Cursed Bride
Agatha Christie · Ongoing · 6.2k Words
Introduction
Over three years, I planned twelve weddings. Each one left me bleeding.
The first time: a runaway truck crashed into the bridal boutique, crushing my right leg.
The second time: the church ceiling collapsed during rehearsal, leaving me broken and bloodied.
The third time: poisoned champagne at the reception nearly killed me as I foamed at the mouth.
...
Manhattan's elite whispered that I was cursed.
But I still loved him desperately.
Until the thirteenth time. That bloody rainy night, three thugs cornered me in an alley and stabbed me seven times—two to the chest, three to the abdomen, two to the back. I lay dying in my own blood, yet somehow survived.
After I healed, I accidentally overheard Damian talking to his assistant.
"Mr. Thorne, she almost really died this time... Maybe we should stop? If your grandfather finds out..."
"We can't stop," Damian said wearily. "Her father saved my life. Grandfather is hell-bent on me marrying her. But DAMN IT, I love Selena, not her."
"As long as she won't give up, these accidents have to continue until she gets the message and leaves on her own."
I trembled as I touched the bandages covering my wounds, tears falling silently.
All these years, the man I desperately loved had been meticulously planning my death.
But he didn't know that this time, he really wouldn't have to marry me anymore.
Chapter 1
To marry Damian Thorne, I almost died thirteen times.
Over three years, I planned twelve weddings. Each one left me bleeding.
The first time: a runaway truck crashed into the bridal boutique, crushing my right leg.
The second time: the church ceiling collapsed during rehearsal, leaving me broken and bloodied.
The third time: poisoned champagne at the reception nearly killed me as I foamed at the mouth.
...
Manhattan's elite whispered that I was cursed.
But I still loved him desperately.
Until the thirteenth time. That bloody rainy night, three thugs cornered me in an alley and stabbed me seven times—two to the chest, three to the abdomen, two to the back. I lay dying in my own blood, yet somehow survived.
After I healed, I accidentally overheard Damian talking to his assistant.
"Mr. Thorne, she almost really died this time... Maybe we should stop? If your grandfather finds out..."
"We can't stop," Damian said wearily. "Her father saved my life. Grandfather is hell-bent on me marrying her. But DAMN IT, I love Selena, not her."
"As long as she won't give up, these accidents have to continue until she gets the message and leaves on her own."
I trembled as I touched the bandages covering my wounds, tears falling silently.
All these years, the man I desperately loved had been meticulously planning my death.
But he didn't know that this time, he really wouldn't have to marry me anymore.
Ivy's POV
I wiped away my tears. Instead of confronting him, I turned and made a phone call.
"Dr. Harrison, about those test results... I need to know the exact timeline."
Silence on the other end for several seconds.
"Ivy, I'm so sorry... The brain tumor has spread. You have a month at most."
One month.
I leaned against the cold wall, stunned for a moment, then inexplicably laughed.
Damian wanted me dead, but the cancer cells were more efficient than he was.
"Ivy?"
I turned. Damian stood in the study doorway.
"You look terrible." He frowned, studying me. "Are your wounds still not healed?"
I stared at him steadily. Before, I would have been moved to tears by this show of concern. Now, I only felt the irony.
Facing my silence, Damian grew impatient. "What now? Still throwing a tantrum about the wedding?"
"Nothing."
"About the wedding..." Damian paused, then said soothingly, "I know I've been putting it off lately, but you have to understand, I've been really busy. But don't worry, I won't shirk my responsibilities..."
"No rush." I cut him off coldly. "Anytime is fine."
Damian froze, surprise flashing in his eyes.
For three years, every time a wedding was "accidentally" interrupted, I would urgently reschedule. This was the first time I seemed so indifferent.
Before he could speak, a sickeningly sweet voice drifted from the staircase.
"Damian~ Where are you? I feel so dizzy..."
Selena Blake—Damian's childhood sweetheart, slowly descended the stairs, pale as a ghost. After her heart condition flared up three months ago, she'd moved into the Thorne mansion to "recuperate," becoming the real mistress of the house.
"Selena?" Damian immediately rushed to her. "What's wrong? Another episode?"
"Just low blood sugar..." Selena leaned weakly against him, then looked at me. "Ivy, you look quite haggard. Do your wounds still hurt?"
"I'm fine."
"Good to hear." Selena turned to Damian with a pout. "Damian, I'm craving strawberry tarts from Ladurée. The doctor said sweets are good for my condition... But today's the last day for the limited edition. There'll definitely be a long line. Could you have Ivy get them for me?"
I watched this performance with a blank expression. This scene had repeated countless times over the past three months. I was Damian's fiancée in name but essentially a high-end servant.
"Of course." Damian nodded without hesitation, then looked at me matter-of-factly. "Ivy, go to Ladurée."
"I'm busy."
The hallway fell silent.
"What did you say?" Damian's eyes narrowed.
"I said I'm busy."
"What could you possibly have that's so important?" Damian's face darkened as he stepped closer. "Ivy, are you throwing a tantrum? Because of the wedding?"
"I'm not throwing a tantrum."
"Then go." Damian commanded. "Selena isn't well. You won't even do this small favor?"
Selena tugged at his sleeve at just the right moment. "Damian, forget it... Maybe Ivy really does have something urgent. I can go myself."
"No need." Damian stared at me coldly. "She'll go."
"Why?" I met his gaze directly. "Because I live here, I must obey every command?"
"Ivy Green!" Damian warned. "You'd better think carefully about what you're saying. This is the Thorne house. You use everything here, so you should follow the rules."
"And if I don't?" I laughed coldly. "What will you do? Throw me out? Make me 'take the hint'?"
Damian's pupils contracted sharply.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Selena sensed something was off. "Ivy, what's wrong with you today? You're talking so strangely... Are you feeling unwell?"
"I'm fine." I turned to leave. "But I won't be buying any strawberry tarts."
"Ivy!" Damian's voice was sharp. "If you don't go, I'll freeze your accounts."
I stopped dead in my tracks.
Damn. That was my emergency fund.
"Are you threatening me?" I slowly turned around.
"This isn't a threat. It's a fact." Damian said coldly. "Want to keep living here? Do as I say. Otherwise, pack your bags and GET OUT."
"Don't forget," his words stabbed into my heart like blades, "without the Thorne family, you're NOTHING."
I looked at him quietly, my last illusion crumbling.
"Fine. I'll go."
Freezing rain fell like needles. I waited in line at Ladurée for three hours.
Brain cancer-induced headaches attacked in waves. I nearly fainted several times. Passersby whispered:
"God, that girl looks like death."
"Still waiting in line in this rain. Poor thing..."
If they knew my "fiancé" was ordering me to buy sweets for his true love, what would they think?
By the time I finally got the strawberry tarts, it was completely dark. I was soaked through, completely disheveled.
On the way back, I passed an upscale restaurant and glanced inside.
Then I froze.
Through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, I saw Damian tenderly feeding Selena. In the amber candlelight, his eyes were full of tenderness as Selena laughed sweetly, dabbing the corner of her mouth with a napkin.
They looked so perfect together, so happy.
I stood in the freezing rain, the dessert box getting soaked in my hands.
They had forgotten all about the strawberry tarts.
Forgotten about me.
I watched the warm scene inside the restaurant and smiled.
Ten years. Since the day my father died saving his life, I had loved this man for ten whole years. I thought my sacrifices would move him. I thought someday he would see my worth.
But now I understood.
In his eyes, I was nothing but a burden, a responsibility he was forced to bear. He would rather try to kill me repeatedly than give me even a shred of genuine feeling.
I pulled out my phone and dialed an international number.
"Grandfather Thorne? It's me, Ivy."
An aged, authoritative voice came through the phone. "Ivy? Child, why are you calling me? Has something happened?"
I took a deep breath.
"About my engagement to Damian..."
I paused, watching the embracing couple in the restaurant.
"I want to break it off."
Last Chapters
You Might Like 😍
Accardi
“I thought you said you were done chasing me?” Gen mocked.
“I am done chasing you.”
Before she could formulate a witty remark, Matteo threw her down. She landed hard on her back atop his dining room table. She tried to sit up when she noticed what he was doing. His hands were working on his belt. It came free of his pants with a violent yank. She collapsed back on her elbows, her mouth gaping open at the display. His face was a mask of sheer determination, his eyes were a dark gold swimming with heat and desire. His hands wrapped around her thighs and pulled her to the edge of the table. He glided his fingers up her thighs and hooked several around the inside of her panties. His knuckles brushed her dripping sex.
“You’re soaking wet, Genevieve. Tell me, was it me that made you this way or him?” his voice told her to be careful with her answer. His knuckles slid down through her folds and she threw her head back as she moaned. “Weakness?”
“You…” she breathed.
Genevieve loses a bet she can’t afford to pay. In a compromise, she agrees to convince any man her opponent chooses to go home with her that night. What she doesn’t realize when her sister’s friend points out the brooding man sitting alone at the bar, is that man won’t be okay with just one night with her. No, Matteo Accardi, Don of one of the largest gangs in New York City doesn’t do one night stands. Not with her anyway.
The mafia princess return
The Biker's Fate
I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Dani," he pressed. "Do you get me?"
"No, Austin, I don't," I admitted as I pulled my robe closed again and sat up. "You confuse me."
He dragged his hands down his face. "Tell me what's on your mind."
I sighed. "You're everything my parents warned me against. You're secretive, but you're also honest. I feel wholly protected by you, but then you scare me more than anyone I've ever known. You're a bad boy, but when I dated a so-called good one, he turned out to be the devil, so, yeah, I don't get you because you're not what I expected. You drive me crazier than anyone I've ever met, but then you make me feel complete. I'm feeling things I don't quite know how to process and that makes me want to run. I don't want to give up something that might be really, really good, but I also don't want to be stupid and fall for a boy just because he's super pretty and makes me come."
Danielle Harris is the daughter of an overprotective police chief and has led a sheltered life. As a kindergarten teacher, she's as far removed from the world of Harleys and bikers as you could get, but when she's rescued by the sexy and dangerous Austin Carver, her life is changed forever.
Although Austin 'Booker' Carver is enamored by the innocent Dani, he tries to keep the police chief's daughter at arm's length. But when a threat is made from an unexpected source, he finds himself falling hard and fast for the only woman who can tame his wild heart.
Will Booker be able to find the source of the threat before it's too late?
Will Dani finally give her heart to a man who's everything she's been warned about?
Alpha Nicholas's Little Mate
What? No—wait… oh Moon Goddess, no.
Please tell me you're joking, Lex.
But she's not. I can feel her excitement bubbling under my skin, while all I feel is dread.
We turn the corner, and the scent hits me like a punch to the chest—cinnamon and something impossibly warm. My eyes scan the room until they land on him. Tall. Commanding. Beautiful.
And then, just as quickly… he sees me.
His expression twists.
"Fuck no."
He turns—and runs.
My mate sees me and runs.
Bonnie has spent her entire life being broken down and abused by the people closest to her including her very own twin sister. Alongside her best friend Lilly who also lives a life of hell, they plan to run away while attending the biggest ball of the year while it's being hosted by another pack, only things don't quite go to plan leaving both girls feeling lost and unsure about their futures.
Alpha Nicholas is 28, mateless, and has no plans to change that. It's his turn to host the annual Blue Moon Ball this year and the last thing he expects is to find his mate. What he expects even less is for his mate to be 10 years younger than him and how his body reacts to her. While he tries to refuse to acknowledge that he has met his mate his world is turned upside down after guards catch two she-wolves running through his lands.
Once they are brought to him he finds himself once again facing his mate and discovers that she's hiding secrets that will make him want to kill more than one person.
Can he overcome his feelings towards having a mate and one that is so much younger than him? Will his mate want him after already feeling the sting of his unofficial rejection? Can they both work on letting go of the past and moving forward together or will fate have different plans and keep them apart?
I Slapped My Fiancé—Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis
Technically, Rhys Granger was my fiancé now—billionaire, devastatingly hot, and a walking Wall Street wet dream. My parents shoved me into the engagement after Catherine disappeared, and honestly? I didn’t mind. I’d crushed on Rhys for years. This was my chance, right? My turn to be the chosen one?
Wrong.
One night, he slapped me. Over a mug. A stupid, chipped, ugly mug my sister gave him years ago. That’s when it hit me—he didn’t love me. He didn’t even see me. I was just a warm-bodied placeholder for the woman he actually wanted. And apparently, I wasn’t even worth as much as a glorified coffee cup.
So I slapped him right back, dumped his ass, and prepared for disaster—my parents losing their minds, Rhys throwing a billionaire tantrum, his terrifying family plotting my untimely demise.
Obviously, I needed alcohol. A lot of alcohol.
Enter him.
Tall, dangerous, unfairly hot. The kind of man who makes you want to sin just by existing. I’d met him only once before, and that night, he just happened to be at the same bar as my drunk, self-pitying self. So I did the only logical thing: I dragged him into a hotel room and ripped off his clothes.
It was reckless. It was stupid. It was completely ill-advised.
But it was also: Best. Sex. Of. My. Life.
And, as it turned out, the best decision I’d ever made.
Because my one-night stand isn’t just some random guy. He’s richer than Rhys, more powerful than my entire family, and definitely more dangerous than I should be playing with.
And now, he’s not letting me go.
The War God Alpha's Arranged Bride
Yet Alexander made his decision clear to the world: “Evelyn is the only woman I will ever marry.”
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother
"What is wrong with me?
Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?
It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.
He’s my boyfirend’s brother.
This is Tyler’s family.
I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.
**
As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.
Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.
When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.
I'm falling for my boyfriend's brother.
**
I hate girls like her.
Entitled.
Delicate.
And still—
Still.
The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.
Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.
I shouldn’t care.
I don’t care.
It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.
It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.
I’m not here to rescue anyone.
Especially not her.
Especially not someone like her.
She’s not my problem.
And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.
But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.
Invisible To Her Bully
Rise of the Banished She-Wolf
That roar stole my eighteenth birthday and shattered my world. My first shift should have been glory—blood turned blessing into shame. By dawn they'd branded me "cursed": cast out by my pack, abandoned by family, stripped of my nature. My father didn't defend me—he sent me to a forsaken island where wolfless outcasts were forged into weapons, forced to kill each other until only one could leave.
On that island I learned the darkest edges of humanity and how to bury terror in bone. Countless times I wanted to surrender—dive into the waves and never surface—but the accusing faces that haunted my dreams pushed me back toward something colder than survival: revenge. I escaped, and for three years I hid among humans, collecting secrets, learning to move like a shadow, sharpening patience into precision—becoming a blade.
Then, under a full moon, I touched a bleeding stranger—and my wolf returned with a violence that made me whole. Who was he? Why could he wake what I'd thought dead?
One thing I know: now is the time.
I have waited three years for this. I will make everyone who destroyed me pay—and take back everything that was stolen from me.
My Possessive Alpha Twins For Mate
My drunk stepfather remained indifferent, his weight suffocating, making it hard to breathe as my heart raced.
Suddenly, the door slammed open, and two figures burst in.
"Get off her!" a deafening roar echoed.
I didn't expect the twin brothers who'd bullied me at school to come charging in like gods to save me.
After my grandmother passed, I had to move in with my mom and stepdad, who treated me like a servant. I prayed every day for my 18th birthday to come, so l could leave and escape this broken home.
However, on my first day at my new school, l encountered the legendary twins everyone feared.
To make matters worse, the Moon Goddess revealed they were both my mates!
After helping me out with my stepdad, my twin mate cornered me, played with my hair, and whispered possessively, "You belong to us, our little mate..."
The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates
"Let me go," I whimper, my body trembling with need. "I don't want you touching me."
I fall forward onto the bed then turn around to stare at him. The dark tattoos of Domonic's chiseled shoulders, quiver and and expand with the heave of his chest. His deep dimpled smile is full of arrogance as he reaches behind himself to lock the door.
Biting his lip, he stalks toward me, his hand going to the seam of his pants and the thickening bulge there.
"Are you sure you don't want me to touch you?" He whispers, untying the knot and slipping a hand inside. "Because I swear to God, that is all I have been wanting to do. Every single day from the moment you stepped in our bar and I smelled your perfect flavor from across the room."
New to the world of shifters, Draven is human on the run. A beautiful girl who no one could protect. Domonic is the cold Alpha of the Red Wolf Pack. A brotherhood of twelve wolves that live by twelve rules. Rules which they vowed could NEVER be broken.
Especially - Rule Number One - No Mates
When Draven meets Domonic, he knows that she is his mate, but Draven has no idea what a mate is, only that she has fallen in love with a shifter. An Alpha that will break her heart to make her leave. Promising herself, she will never forgive him, she disappears.
But she doesn’t know about the child she’s carrying or that the moment she left, Domonic decided rules were made to be broken - and now will he ever find her again? Will she forgive him?
The Biker Alpha Who Became My Second Chance Mate
"You're like a sister to me."
Those were the actual words that broke the camel's back.
Not after what just happened. Not after the hot, breathless, soul-shaking night we spent tangled in each other's arms.
I knew from the beginning that Tristan Hayes was a line I shouldn't cross.
He wasn't just anyone, he was my brother's best friend. The man I spent years secretly wanting.
But that night... we were broken. We had just buried our parents. And the grief was too heavy, too real...so I begged him to touch me.
To make me forget. To fill the silence that death left behind.
And he did. He held me like I was something fragile.
Kissed me like I was the only thing he needed to breathe.
Then left me bleeding with six words that burned deeper than rejection ever could.
So, I ran. Away from everything that cost me pain.
Now, five years later, I'm back.
Fresh from rejecting the mate who abused me. Still carrying the scars of a pup I never got to hold.
And the man waiting for me at the airport isn't my brother.
It's Tristan.
And he's not the guy I left behind.
He's a biker.
An Alpha.
And when he looked at me, I knew there was no where else to run to.
