FORCED TO MARRY THE UNLOVABLE ALPHA KING

On the day of his funeral, I discovered that my fiance, Zachary Gray, had come back to life. He held another woman in his arms fondly and mocked my devoted acts of love over the past year. That was when I realized everything had been a prank he orchestrated to "have some fun", as he said it.

I called my father, Frank Klein.

He sounded perplexed as he said, "Bebe, didn't you cry your eyes out at his funeral just this morning? You even swore to remain a widow for him for life. Why are you cutting ties so thoroughly all of a sudden?

"Besides, the Gray family is in turmoil right now. Without our support, they may have a hard time surviving this crisis."

My father thought he had misheard me, so he solemnly sought my clarification.

I smiled bitterly and replied, "I just think I should focus on the future instead of being hung up. Life has to go on, doesn't it?"

Furthermore, Zachary had never once bothered to care about how I was doing. Why should I keep waiting for him?

By the time I ended the call, Zachary and his group had already left the cemetery. I walked over to his tombstone and used all my strength to scratch it up until it was in ruins.

I had painstakingly carved this tombstone after I spent three months flying around the world. During that time, I received an anonymous letter every day. They were photos showing landscapes from around the world and the back view of a man who looked very much like Zachary.

Everyone said it was a prank, but I didn't believe it. I kept flying across the globe without stopping to rest, heading to the locations I saw in each photo. I even hired detectives to search through entire cities.

But in the end, all I got were countless disheartening results. I had grown numb to the two sentences that I always ended up hearing.

"Sorry, miss. We couldn't find him."

"Miss, we've really tried our best."

Left with no other choice and feeling desperate, I even sought out a geomancer. He told me that building a tombstone might lead Zachary's soul back to me.

I did as he said. I carved Zachary's tombstone day and night for three months straight. In the end, he did return, alright. But it turned out everything was just a cruel joke he mercilessly played on me.

That day, when I returned home and turned on the lights, the first thing that came into view was our wedding photo. In the photo, Zachary smiled gently and lovingly at me like he loved me the most.

I couldn't understand why. If he didn't want to marry me, he could have just refused our union. Why did he pretend to be kidnapped the day after we took our wedding photos?

Exhausted, I collapsed on the couch. In my mind, his cold words from the cemetery kept replaying themselves in a loop.

"Phoebe relied on her status as the Klein heiress to make this marriage happen. She should've already prepared herself to go home to an empty house and be all alone after getting married. I'm just letting her get a taste of it in advance," Zachary said with a scoff.

He held the woman next to him tightly and added, "Don't worry, Lola. Even if I do go back to her later, I will never abandon you."

Lola Seaman was Zachary's first love and the woman he had loved for many years.

As Lola came from a poor family, Zachary's father, Philip, didn't approve of her. Because of that, Zachary had to break up with her. Who would have thought he had been seeing her in secret all along?

Thinking of them kissing in front of the grave made my stomach churn.

I stood up and tore the wedding photo to pieces. Then, I opened Facebook and published a new post. I wrote, "Singles night tonight. Everyone's invited. All expenses on me!"

In less than a minute, the comments section was abuzz.

"Phoebe, you just held Zachary's funeral and now, you're partying already? How could you?"

"Yeah. I thought you were heartbroken when you cried so sadly earlier."

"No wonder you rushed to arrange the funeral so quickly. Turns out you couldn't wait to be free and single again. What if Zachary suddenly comes back and catches you messing around with someone else? He'll cancel the engagement in anger!"

I read through each comment. Then, I swiftly published another post. "PS: Everyone's invited except for Zachary's friends."

After I posted that, I fixed my hair and put on makeup. But I froze when I saw the woman in the mirror with the sallow face and puffy eyes.

For the past several months, I had been constantly flying to places in search of Zachary. I'd get so busy that I'd often forget to eat. Even when I remembered to have a meal, the bad news I learned would take away my appetite.

Thinking of Zachary's ruddy complexion and how immaculately he dressed when I saw him earlier that day, I couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous my actions had been.

In the countless days when my meals were seasoned with my tears of grief that fell for him, he had been savoring candlelight dinners with his beloved Lola.

I slowly let out a long breath of air dejectedly.

No matter what, all of that was over and behind me.

I opened the drawer to pick the jewelry I would wear that night. My hand froze in mid-air as I realized the engagement ring Zachary gave me was gone.