Essentialism

My childhood sweetheart, Samuel Burton, once promises that he will marry me the moment we graduate from college. But on our wedding day, he shows up late. When we finally find him, he's tangled in bed with my stepsister, Vivian Holcomb, in a hotel room. In front of everyone, Ethan Fuller, the heir to the wealthiest family, steps forward and boldly declares that I am the one he has secretly loved for years. Five years into our marriage, he remembers every little thing I say, and I truly believe I am the person he cares about most. Until one day, when I'm doing housework and accidentally find a confidential folder hidden deep in his desk drawer. The very first page is Vivian's resume. On it is his own handwriting. He has written, "Priority. Above everything else." Behind it is a hospital operations report I have never seen before. The date matches the night of my car accident. I was rushed to a hospital owned by Fuller Group, yet no surgeon ever came. By the time I woke up, the baby I'm carrying was gone because I had lost too much blood. I cried in Ethan's arms until my voice broke, but I never told him the full truth. I didn't want him to worry even more. But now I finally know. Vivian was also injured that night, and the order Ethan sent to the hospital was— "Pull every specialist available. Treat Vivian first." My tears soak into the page, blurring the ink. "If I'm not your top priority, I'll disappear from your life then."

Surrounded by luxury and comfort, Dominique Le Blanc does not miss anything, except excitement. His life as the owner of the largest casino in Monaco requires a lot of time and dedication to enjoy this refined and electrifying, but unimportant, environment. Bets and money are no longer able to excite you. Could that change with a gunshot-covered escape in a hospital parking lot? Without knowing why, a young woman flees from her armed captors. The reason for the chase is unknown, but the escape leads her to get into the first open car she sees. Driven by the instinct to fight for her own life, she hides in the vehicle, while the passengers agree to flee the scene quickly. The young woman carries nothing with her, no belongings, no clothes, no name and much less memories. What is the first thing she should look for? “An Inconsequent Desire” is a dark novel full of action and chaos, with two protagonists who know very well what they want… or almost. Tension, desire, luxury and danger mix as Dominique and the fugitive try to resolve their relationship and their desires in a world as opulent as it’s reckless. Violence and attraction go hand in hand for a couple covered in the past, immersed in the present and with almost no future. What is the price of unearthing their memories? How much can it change what is yet to come? Love or obsession. Salvation or ruin. In the end, everyone has something to lose... and maybe that's everything.

Anya Moore is a pop sensation with lots of people who look up to her, though her passion is something else. Sadie Ozoa wants to chase her dreams and doesn’t want to take no for an answer, but it feels like she doesn’t have a choice. But unexpected decisions they made had created unfaithful circumstances that have brought two different individuals together. Next unthinkable move: run as far away from the situation that could have led to their wishes. They don’t know how they ended up walking together and they don’t know why. But all they want to do is to escape from the environment they were surrounded in. Anya and Sadie thought they would be distant but with every step they took, they started to know so much about each other and what they have one thing in common: they hated how the world has become. They then thought what if they rebuild Earth where it is all ruled by them--and only both of them. The two then thought what if we start to make it a reality? As they go on the journey to create their own world, Anya sees that Sadie is more than an outcast and Sadie sees that Anya is more than just a star--they are each other’s world. But with the world that is against their odds, will they be able to show their truth? In this first debut comes a coming-of-age story about realizing that in order to survive the world, you must choose whether to follow the rules or break them for the sake of doing something right.

Clarice and Kyle both followed the same travel vlogger. I didn’t think anything of the situation since the three of us had been friends since high school. The strange thing was that they had a private group chat that didn’t include me. I only found out because Kyle accidentally sent a message in our group chat. “I got us a table reservation at that restaurant for Sunday. Don’t be late.” It took less than a second before the text was deleted. I asked, “What restaurant? Let’s go together.” Kyle typed back, “Oops. Wrong chat. I’m having dinner with a colleague.” Clarice stayed silent throughout. It took some time, but I started connecting the dots. Whenever the three of us had something planned, one of them would cancel at the last minute. Previously, Clarice said she’d get the tickets for the music festival, but somehow, she could only secure two. Those went to her and Kyle. During our last camping trip, Kyle said that he only managed to borrow two sets of gear. When I offered to rent my own, Kyle brushed me off, saying that it was just too much of a hassle and that there was always a next time. That same weekend, Kyle and Clarice posted photos from that exact campsite, twenty minutes apart. For six months, I convinced myself that I was just unlucky. Looking back now, I realized that I had been singled out. So I left the group chat. No explanations. No accusations. I muted notifications from travel apps, ticketing apps, and restaurant bookings. Then, I booked a solo trip to Lake Tahoe, a ticket with no refund and no amendment allowed.

David Lee was supposed to be dead. Nineteen years old, terminal cancer, nothing left but hospital beds and webtoons about gang fights, brotherhood, and underdog heroes. But when he opens his eyes again, he’s not David anymore. He’s Seo Joonwoo — fifteen, awkward, quiet, and newly enrolled in the most infamous school in the city: Taeyang Technical High, where fists rule the halls and teachers look the other way. It should’ve been a nightmare. Instead… it’s everything David used to dream of. And when his first fight begins, a strange blue screen appears before his eyes: [Romanticism System Activated.] “The stronger your conviction… the stronger your punch.” Now, armed with a second chance, Joonwoo isn’t just here to survive. He’s here to live the kind of story he once only read about — a story of loyalty, friendship, fights under flickering lights… and maybe even love. This isn’t just delinquency. This is romanticism.

Have you ever dreaded living a lifeless life? If not, you probably don't know how excruciating such an existence is. That is what Rue Mallory's life. A life without a meaning. Imagine not wanting to wake up every morning but also not wanting to go to sleep at night. No will to work, excitement to spend, no friends' company to enjoy, and no reason to continue living. How would an eighteen-year old girl live that kind of life? Yes, her life is clearly depressing. That's exactly what you end up feeling without a phone purpose in life. She's alive but not living. There's a huge and deep difference between living, surviving, and being alive. She's not dead, but a ghost with a beating heart. But she wanted to feel alive, to feel what living is. She hoped, wished, prayed but it didn't work. She still remained lifeless. Not until, he came and introduce her what really living is.