Jars Yuma

My mother's honey shop served only women, and she sold only one type of honey. The honey was contained in small glass jars, and it had an eerie name—Heart-Eroding Honey. Whenever women came to buy honey, my mother would personally lead them through the shop and into the mysterious beehive room in the backyard. Shortly after the door was closed, there would always be faint, suppressed moans coming from inside. I never knew whether it was from pain or satisfaction. However, when the women reemerged, they would all have rosy faces and radiant smiles, as if they had been completely nourished.

Shantali Mae Cross, a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Ancient Arts, encounters an impossible phenomenon during her night shift—smoke from the heating vents coalesces into the form of a cobra near ancient Egyptian canopic jars, showing her visions of possible futures. She sees herself accepting a promotion, arguing with a dark-haired man in a hospital, wearing a wedding dress, and standing at a graveside in autumn. Shaken by the experience, Shantali becomes obsessed with understanding what she witnessed, diving into research about serpent smoke divination practices. Her investigation reveals that others throughout history have experienced similar visions at crucial crossroads in their lives, but those who became consumed with interpreting and controlling their prophetic glimpses inevitably destroyed the very relationships and opportunities the visions had shown them. As Shantali spirals deeper into her research, she begins shutting out her boyfriend David, a fellow security guard who loves her deeply. When David witnesses the cobra phenomenon himself, he helps ground her in reality rather than obsession. Through her studies, particularly the warnings left by Dr. Amelia Thorne—a researcher who died alone after chasing similar mysteries—Shantali realizes the cobra's true message: choose love over fear, presence over obsession. The visions weren't warnings of tragedy but glimpses of a life fully lived with all its ordinary struggles and profound connections. When David proposes, Shantali chooses their real relationship over her pursuit of supernatural answers. She completes her research by writing a fictional novel about her experience, transforming obsession into art while helping future cobra witnesses understand that some mysteries are meant to guide rather than be solved. The story explores themes of choice versus destiny, the danger of sacrificing present love for future certainty, and the wisdom of embracing life's uncertainties alongside those who love us.

Most people often see marriage as a reincarnation for women. So, countless foolish women jump into one without a second thought. Many people see my husband as the perfect husband. He cared for me and loved me in every way. Yet, he still cheated on me right under my nose. Faced with the hypocrisy and ugliness behind his facade as a perfect husband, I've decided to serve him karma on a silver platter!

After a one-night stand with Garvin Berret, the Powerful and cold CEO, Iris Parker was smitten and she thought there could be something between them. Her hopes crushed by his harsh words, "I don't eat the same food twice." Broken, she returned to her city to manage her family business but soon realized that a seed had been planted. Giving birth to a set of twins, she could not endure raising them alone, when they looked exactly like him. She sent one of them to Garvin with a note, "dessert after supper." Garvin frowned when he received the parcel, his son. He sent people to fetch that blondie but it was as if she disappeared from the face of the earth. After five years his son asked, “Daddy, why does everyone have a mama except me?” The other twin said to Iris, “Mummy please, I want my daddy. A lot of women were ready to marry Garvin and be the mother to his son but he said coldly to each one of them, “only one woman can be my wife and that is my son's biological mother.”

Lily is one of the six children of Alpha Edward, but she is not like the rest. While her sisters excel at everything and stand out, Lily is less than perfect and hardly anyone notices her. When she meets Alpha Osiris at a dinner they both dislike each other. Alpha Osiris tries reluctantly to find a mate, while Lily tries to think of a future that isn't dictated by whom her future mate will be. But the Moon Goddess has other plans for the both of them.

Deborah was abused all her life. During her childhood, she was mistreated by her stepmother and stepsiblings, causing her to lose her ability to speak due to the trauma. As an adult, she thought things would change when she married the man she loved, Roger Peterson, but he hated her with a passion and considered her a nuisance for being mute. Roger was always distant and never cared about the pain he caused her. Instead, his attention fell entirely on his childhood sweetheart, spoiling her and making her his mistress. Afraid of being alone, Deborah endured her marriage to Roger for three years, thinking that if she loved and understood him, he would notice her worth and leave his mistress. But she soon realized that would never happen and had reached her limit. Deborah wanted a divorce to seek her own happiness. Even if Roger refused to out of pride, she wouldn't give up because she had found a reason to fight for her right to live a happy life.