Married the Dead; Broke the Living

As Jastrelle's golden girl, I draw lots to pick my groom, and fate finally hands me Felix Ledger, the childhood sweetheart I've wanted forever.

During the impromptu wedding, a funeral convoy belonging to a scion of a rich family in Jastrelle passes right outside. I hate the omen.

Felix laughs, pulls me into his arms, and places the veil over my head himself.

"I'll take it as a good omen. With you, I'm covered from first breath to last," he says.

His adoptive sister, Winnie Ledger, hears him, bursts into tears, and bolts outside. The funeral convoy runs her down, and she dies.

Felix barely reacts.

Three years later, Dad is framed, driven into bankruptcy, and falls gravely ill. He dies, and I lose everything.

At the funeral, Felix sends everyone off, shoves me into the open grave, and buries me alive.

He spits, "You rigged everything to get me. You left Winnie ruined. She bolted outside, and that funeral convoy ran her down. For three years, remorse has eaten me alive. I want you torn apart!

"With your last protector gone, I can finally make you suffer a hundredfold the pain Winnie felt and ease my hatred!"

When I open my eyes, I'm back at the groom-selection ceremony. Dad smiles as he hands me the lots.

I shake my head, look out the window, and point at the funeral convoy passing outside.

"I'm not choosing anyone. I'll marry that dead man!"

Dad, who'd always pampered me, went pale and rushed over to feel my forehead.

"Ariel! What are you even saying? He might've been the Roosevelts' eldest and the heir to the richest family in Jastrelle, but he's gone. Don't even think about something that morbid!"

But all the other candidates were Jastrelle's infamous trust-fund brats, guys who lived to gorge and loaf. There was nothing they wouldn't stoop to. I would rather die than marry any of them.

The only man I ever admired, Felix Ledger, sat in the waiting area by the window, making eyes at his adoptive sister, Winnie Ledger. They were practically glued together, looking sweet enough to rot teeth.

"Felix, that bitch won't stop clinging to you. What if she actually picks you?" Winnie asked.

Tears streaked both her cheeks, leaving her small and fragile.

He snorted. "She thinks she has a claim on me just because she saved us when our family collapsed. She's vicious. If she's shameless enough to force me into marrying her, I'll make sure her married life is anything but easy!"

When I remembered how Felix had buried me alive in my last life, shovel after shovel, my resolve hardened.

The Roosevelts' eldest, Raphael Roosevelt, had been aloof and sharp-tongued since we were kids, and we'd never gotten along. But he would never speak again, and a quiet, peaceful life for me didn't sound like a bad trade.

I started to spin the lie. "I'm serious, Dad. Raphael and I practically grew up as childhood sweethearts. I loved him