Why Do People Hate California

I was dragged online by one of my own employees. According to her post, I was a stingy boss who refused to give out holiday gift boxes for Memorial Day weekend. What the internet did not know was that my company already had a long-standing tradition. Every holiday, and even every employee birthday, each person received a $300 gift card without fail. But once the whole internet started tearing me apart, I decided to give everyone exactly what they claimed they wanted. I issued a company-wide notice. To respect everyone’s demand for a more “thoughtful” holiday gesture, this year’s Memorial Day gift cards would be canceled and replaced with holiday gift boxes for all employees. The moment the notice went out, the entire company exploded. Employees crowded outside my office, begging me to bring the gift cards back.

As the wife of the Colombian cartel heir, Krystal Serrano is a symbol of diplomacy and control. Dressed in silk, wrapped in silence, and displayed like a crown jewel at the center of power. But behind the flawless smile lies a woman raised not just to survive, but to rule. When her husband's betrayal ignites a war with the Italian mafia, Krystal is taken. Kidnapped and hidden away by Zachary Romano, the young, ruthless Don who solves problems with bullets and buries questions with bodies. He thought he had captured a soft, obedient mafia wife. What he brought home was a storm in heels. Krystal doesn't beg. She doesn't break. Her silence provokes, her lips taunt, and her gaze slices deeper than any blade. Inside the stone walls of his private villa, control begins to slip. Hatred turns into tension. Tension burns into obsession. And in their world, love always comes with blood on its hands. The ring on her finger still binds her to a man who believes she belongs to him. But what happens when a woman like Krystal meets someone dark enough to understand her, broken enough to match her, and reckless enough to want her? Because there's a difference between loving a woman like Krystal… And trying to own her. And Zach Romano is about to learn—only one man can stand beside her. The rest will be buried.

On my 20th birthday, I called out toward the living room out of habit, "Chester, Milford, Collin... I'm 20 today. You promised you'd celebrate my every birthday." All that responded to me was silence. On the sofa sat the plush dolls of my brothers and my childhood sweetheart. They sat there with their round eyes open, quietly keeping me company just like they had on so many nights before. Only then did I remember that they had abandoned me long ago. When I was ten, I was diagnosed with kidney disease. My eldest brother brought home a girl from the orphanage, saying that her kidney matched mine and that she was the sister who came to save my life. But before she ever made it to the operating table, she became everyone's new favorite. After chemo, I couldn't eat spicy food, yet my eldest brother cooked spicy Thai and Mexican dishes for every meal. "Lena is going to lose a kidney. What's wrong with letting her eat what she likes now?" When she took a liking to my coming-of-age necklace, my second brother took it off me on the spot and gave it to her. "She's giving you a kidney. Giving her a necklace isn't too much, right?" My childhood sweetheart promised to accompany me to my follow-up appointment, but he broke his word to take her to a concert instead. "She might not have opportunities like this in the future. You can handle one night." Even my life-saving surgery was delayed again and again because she wanted to see the ocean, go skydiving, and chase the Northern Lights. And just because I mentioned that living in a massive house by myself made me scared and that I wanted to go out and play with them, they used it as an excuse to send me away to a rental apartment. The night I moved in, I made three dolls modeled after their appearances. They accompanied me to eat, sleep, and listened to me talk through every bout of pain. Today, I used the last of my savings to buy a second-hand car. I wanted to go see Lake Tahoe, the place we once promised to visit together. And after that, I'd never look back.

On the day my family buys a new car, everyone excitedly starts making plans for the future. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, they'll drive my brother, Jake Walt, to the science museum. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, they'll take my mom to the gym. Most importantly, they'll drive my younger sister, Emily Walt, to and from college every day. Even though she's required to live on campus, my parents can't bear to let her commute alone, so they'd rather make the six-mile round trip every single day. They map out everyone's schedule except mine. When I leave for graduate school, I take a rideshare by myself. But after Emily uses my payment account to buy herself a new phone, I no longer have enough money to pay the toll and the driver abandons me at a highway rest stop. Stranded under the blazing sun, I call home, hoping for help. Instead, I'm met with nothing but blame. My parents scold me for inconveniencing them. "We're taking Emily to school. You expect us to turn around and waste all that gas?" My childhood friend, Patrick Green, says I brought it on myself. "I warned you not to go so far away for grad school. This is your own fault." Jake mocks me. "You made good money over the summer, didn't you? You're old enough to figure this out yourself instead of expecting everyone to rescue you." Looking at the money left in my wallet—the rest of my summer earnings already "borrowed" to buy Emily's college supplies—I finally realize the truth. In this family, I'm never treated like a daughter. When the elevator is overloaded, they push me out without hesitation. When the new house's fingerprint lock only allows five users, they give the last spot to Emily's dog instead of me. If there's never been room for me in this family, then it's time to stop trying to force my way in.

“I hate you. I’ve always hated you.” He gruffed in annoyance and I snorted while folding my arms. “Best believe the feeling is fucking mutual.” “Care to explain why you’re always giving me the ‘look’ then?” He demanded, a smirk tugging at the sides of his lips. “What stupid look?” “Like you want me to fuck you.” ~~~ It was a hate-at-first-sight thing. Ava and Mason got off an extremely wrong foot and hoped to never cross parts again. Neither of them expected that the next time they’d be seeing each other again, is to be officially introduced to one another as step siblings. Things didn’t get better from there, it got worse. Especially now that they had to live in the same house. Things drastically take a left turn when their parents plans a ‘first family’s vacation’, but were unable to make an appearance as scheduled because of some last minute changes, leaving Ava and Mason by themselves, all alone on an island. For three weeks. Ava passionately hated Mason, until she didn't. Till she couldn’t pretend to not notice how insanely good looking he was… till she couldn’t pretend to be immune to Mason’s intense gaze and lingering touches… Till she couldn’t deny that she wanted Mason to play her curvy body like she was his favorite guitar… Till she couldn’t deny that she had gone ahead and fallen head over heels, for Mason.

"Everything here is at my command, including you." He said as he started to run his hands over my breasts. "Tell me, are you already wet for me?" "No." "Then if I touch you here, won't it fill with juice? Are you ready for my cock to slide in?" He whispered as his hand finally reached into my panties. He moved his fingers between my pussy lips. I let out a moan at the wonderful sensation... "Shit, you're a slut, aren't you?" He whispered. ------------------------------------------------------- Lia My life has never been perfect, but it used to be simple. That changed in the blink of an eye when my mother decided to move us to Riverside. It was supposed to be a new beginning for us, and it was. It just wasn't the one I expected. The simple life I knew before was no more. Rayan Riverside. The golden boy in town took one look at me and decided he hated me, turning everyone against me as he stood by and watched his minions turn my life into a living hell. I didn't know why he hated me, but little by little, as the torment progressed, I became a shadow of myself. And things got worse when he found out that he was soon to be my stepbrother and I wasn't ready for that. But by the time he decided to change his mind, I was already too far along in my attempt at self-destruction. Because hatred like ours can only end in death. Rayan As soon as I learned of her existence, I hated her. Lia Stevens . Because of her, I lost the most important person in the world to me. Then, I knew what she represented. I let my hatred rule all our interactions from the beginning.