Mga Maiikling Kwento tungkol sa Feel-Good Story at mga Nobela ng Bias na may Face Slapping

When I asked Avery to settle the bill for tearing down her walls, she jammed her car keys and a bank card into my hands instead. “There’s thirty million in this account. No password required.” While I was racking my brain trying to figure out how to give her change, I looked up and saw her clutching her pregnant belly, running straight for the balcony where I had just knocked down the guardrail. I dropped my sledgehammer, dove forward, and grabbed her by the ankle. “Don’t jump! If you jump, I become the prime suspect! I have an elderly mother and young kids to feed—you can’t ruin my life like this!” She kicked frantically, screaming in absolute despair. “My dad was practically sent to the ICU because of my ex! He even drugged me to try to force a miscarriage just so his mistress could move in! “He said someone like me deserves to be conned. I have nothing left now. I’m better off dead!” Ah, so she was just a poor soul systematically broken by a toxic scumbag. I slammed my sledgehammer onto the floor. “Why destroy yourself when you can destroy them instead? “Ever heard of the Scumbag Demolition Project? Not only will I get your house back, but I’ll also send him straight to federal prison to spend the rest of his life behind bars.”

The day after my parents finally find me and bring me home—18 years after my abduction—they announce their bankruptcy and plunge into massive debt. Over the next two years, I'm forced to drop out of school and work three jobs a day to pay off the family debts. I even lose hearing in one ear after a brutal beating from a debt collector. Through it all, Mom and Dad hold me close in the middle of the night, weeping and apologizing for failing me. Foolishly, I believe them. I tell myself that as long as our family is together, I can endure anything. Desperate to hear again, I buy a used hearing aid on a secondhand goods platform for 9.90 dollars. The comments section congratulates me on snagging a rare steal. But the seller replies indifferently, "This is something my housekeeper doesn't want anymore. I'm just giving it away as charity." Swallowing my pride, I travel to a massive luxury villa to pick it up. After taking the hearing aid from the young woman, I bow my head in deep gratitude. But as I look up, my gaze catches Mom and Dad in the garden behind her. They were calling out to her, saying, "Stephy, hurry back after meeting with that peasant. And be careful not to get your hands filthy."

On Christmas, I prepare a feast and wait for my wife to introduce me to her family after nine years of being married in secret. Just as I wait with anticipation, my wife walks through the door, holding her first love's hand. Their fingers are interlocked, and their eyes are brimming with affection. "Mom. Dad. This is Henry Cooper, my husband. We've been secretly married for the past ten years." "What a handsome young man. You two look perfect together!" My mother-in-law is grinning from ear to ear. They stand there chatting, looking like a happy family. Then my wife turns to me, her gaze icy. "This is my live-in housekeeper. Come try the food and see if you like it." My wife invites her family to take their seats, but Henry Cooper looks at me with a hint of disdain. "The host hasn't even sat down yet. How can the housekeeper sit first? Where are your manners?"

On the day my wife, Rachel Carter, receives her Ph.D., I rush back from overseas. But when I approach her with a carefully chosen gift, she slaps me in front of everyone. "I'm a married woman with a family of my own. Stop trying to make me your lover!" I watch as she turns away from me and makes her way over to a family of four. "Honey, Mom, Dad, don't mind him. This man is crazy. Let's go," she says gently. Refusing to give up, I catch up to her and grab her arm. "What happened, Rach?" I ask. "Who's this scary man, Mommy?" a child asks. "Why does he keep bothering you?" Rachel yanks her hand away and pulls out her phone. "I've already called the police. Stop harassing me, you piece of trash!" As I stare at her retreating figure, a wave of exhaustion suddenly washes over me. I pull out my phone and make a call. "Notify headquarters, William. Cancel all plans to relocate our global headquarters back to Jekovia." After I hang up, I toss the gift into a nearby trash can and walk away without looking back.

The day after my wife, Evie Sandoval, jumps into the river and commits suicide, her family, the Sandovals, hold a funeral for her. Upon hearing the news, I put on a bespoke suit and a red glittery tie, attending the funeral in full regalia. However, the moment I step inside, her parents begin hurling insults at me. "How dare you show your face, Michael Chandler! You murderer!" "If it hadn't been for you abusing her all these years, Evie would never have jumped into that river!" I simply smile at them and calmly pull out a Bluetooth speaker from my bag before blasting some disco music. "Come on, everyone! Shake your booty to the music with me!"

I get approached for legal representation by my ex-boyfriend, Dante Romano, once I become the most prominent lawyer in the country. I am Dante's secret lover—the woman he could never openly claim—four years ago. I am unable to reveal our relationship, receive a ring, and am forbidden from ever setting foot inside the Romano Famiglia estate. It is because of the century-old tradition governing the Romano Famiglia—only a woman who rolls a 20 on the 20-sided gold die 20 consecutive times can become the Donna of the Romano Famiglia. I try countless times over the course of four years, yet every single roll lands on a "one". I eventually become the laughingstock of the entire eastern side of the country, with them claiming I don't have what it takes to become the Donna. However, the return of my foster sister, Sofia Conti, changes everything. She casually tosses the die and rolls a "20" 20 times in a row, securing her engagement to Dante that same night. It is only later that Dante confesses to me. "I tampered with your golden die so that it would always land on a 'one,' Elena. Sofia comes from an ordinary background and needs a legendary story to earn her place in this world. You understand why I did it, right?" It turns out that four years of my humility, struggles, and being a laughingstock are nothing more than a stepping stone he paves for another woman. I leave Kingsbay and head to Ravenport alone while they celebrate their wedding of the century, starting from scratch as a low-level intern. Four years later, I eventually become a legendary lawyer with an undefeated record. Dante suddenly arrives at my office to plead his case, pushing a half-million-dollar check toward me while saying, "You're the only one who can win this, Elena." I look at him and smile faintly. I then pull open a drawer and place the same 20-sided gold die from years ago right in front of him. "I'll represent you as long as you roll a '20' 20 times in a row."

At the medical summit, my husband's precious first love thought the old professor's clothes were too shabby for such a grand occasion. So she dropped his conference badge into the trash. The old man shook with fury and threatened to pull his company's partnership with us on the spot. In my last life, I slapped her across the face right there, then bowed and scraped until the professor forgave us, and that was the only thing that saved our company. My husband, meanwhile, was heartbroken that his darling had been hit, and took her home to comfort her. Later, our company rode the professor's patented miracle drug all the way to its IPO. On the day of the celebration, indecent videos made with my face swapped via AI rolled continuously across the giant screen. And in front of a hall full of sneering guests, my husband pulled his first love tight against his chest. "You love slapping people in public, don't you? Today you get to taste what it feels like to be finished." I ran out of the hotel, sick with shame, and a runaway truck flattened me into the pavement. Then he turned around, threw the wedding of the century for his golden girl, and drove my parents into the street to die alone in the cold. When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the exact second she tossed that badge into the trash. This time, I didn't fly into a rage to stop her. Instead I curled my arm sweetly through my husband's and laughed louder than anyone in the room. "Babe, Tiffany's got such a sharp eye. Security should've thrown this ragged beggar out ages ago."

Just because Tristan Whitfield wants to know how long I can hold my breath, Celine Harper kicks me straight into the pool. I go pale, screaming for help, but nobody pulls me out until I've already blacked out. Someone nearby whispers, "Don't you think Celine went a little too far?" But she just scoffs, not the least bit worried. "Relax. Gavin's a pushover. Give him a plane ticket to go somewhere fun, and he'll forget all about it." When I come to, I do exactly what she predicts. I get on the flight to Ridgemont and never return. Two weeks later, Celine can't stand it anymore and flies out after me, furious. "You're really holding a grudge over that?"

The night before I officially registered my marriage, my friends convinced everyone to play a "mystery box game." The female guests each placed a gift into a box, and the gifts were randomly given to the men at the party. Everyone said it was the fairest way. When I opened my box, there was only a thin card inside. It said, "Thanks for participating." The entire room instantly went silent. Some people couldn't hold back their laughter. My fiancée, Charlotte Kilbourn, reached over and straightened my collar. "Your luck is still terrible." Lyra Sharpe, my childhood friend who grew up with me, whispered, "Just smile. Don't make people think you're a sore loser." Meanwhile, Connor Winfield got the hidden prize in the same round. Inside were a limited-edition mechanical watch personally chosen by Charlotte, a couples' island vacation package I had dreamed about for three years, and a handwritten note from Lyra that said, "We'll always protect you." I forced myself to laugh along, then placed the card back into the empty box. I thought winning a game was just about luck. But when I went to the restroom, I overheard the host checking the prize list in the lounge. "Ms. Kilbourn, you didn't give out the prizes wrong, did you? The hidden prize went to Mr. Winfield, and the participation prize went to Mr. Rayner." Charlotte answered calmly. Lyra laughed and added, "That's right. He won't take it seriously." Standing outside the door, I suddenly remembered the night I turned 18, when I stood in the rain waiting for the midnight fireworks at my debut party. Charlotte and Lyra had given the only umbrella to Connor. Then they turned back and told me, "George, you're closer. Just run a few steps and you'll be fine." That night, after I walked home soaked in the rain, I still believed I was just unlucky. But tonight, I finally understood the truth. They had never planned to give me that umbrella from the beginning. So this time, I tore the card into pieces and canceled my marriage registration appointment. I didn't want to play a "lucky game" they had already planned for me anymore.

The company booked a lodge at Osprey Lake for the Labor Day weekend retreat. All 35 other people in the company were invited, and I was not one of them. My team lead even posted a group photo from their kayaking trip in the chat, captioned with "One less person and the boat rides lighter." I did not reply. I turned off my phone, bought some tamales and a beer, went back to my apartment, and slept for 15 hours. When I woke up, I had 203 missed calls. The latest voicemail was my team lead, practically in tears. "Please, man, I'm sorry! Just pick up the phone!" I grabbed another slice and took a bite. I took one weekend off. How was the company already falling apart?

The It Girl, Kelly Hilton, claims she's an airhead beauty. When a D-list nobody like me joins her on a variety show, she takes my mother's keepsake pendant without saying a word. Then, she breaks it into pieces. Yet, Kelly shows no remorse, saying, "Oh, I'm just such an airhead. It's normal for me to break things by accident. Your mom is already dead, so just let it go, okay? Everyone has to move on!" I laugh in disbelief. "You think causing trouble is cute and having no manners is being genuine? 'Airhead beauty'? You're just an idiot. Don't try to make yourself sound better than you are." Kelly's eyes redden. "How could you scold me? I quit! I'll have my brothers deal with you!" The crew is stunned. "Is she crazy? Doesn't she know how protective the Litt family brothers are of their sister?" "They are obsessed with Kelly. They'd do anything for her!" I can't help but laugh. I've entered the entertainment industry in the first place because my brothers are too clingy. I may be a nobody, but I haven't lost my memory. How come I don't know that my brothers have a sister named Kelly?

During a street interview, the interviewer asks, "What's the craziest thing you did in high school?" My best friend, Juniper Young, looks shyly into the camera. "I secretly changed someone's college applications so we'd end up at the same college." My childhood sweetheart, Flynn Sadler, takes over the microphone and smiles casually. "I left the last question on the math exam blank, so when someone changed my college applications, they wouldn't have to feel so sorry for me." Carrying three orders of omelet rolls, I hurry back and fall flat on my face. Their answers stun me. Before I can gather my thoughts, Flynn reaches over and ruffles my hair. "Don't ask her. If she can't answer, she'll end up crying." My nose stings, and tears well up in my eyes before I can stop them. Juniper immediately grabs Flynn by the ear. "You idiot. You made Sophie cry again! This time, you're the one who's going to make it up to her!" He winces in pain. "Alright, my bad… But she's so timid. The chances of her doing something crazy are lower than the chances of her not following us around everywhere." The two of them shove each other, laughing and bickering. Before long, they have forgotten I'm still there. The day we submit our college applications, they have each come to me, asking where the other has applied. Out of a one-minute audio message, only the very first second has anything to do with me. The remaining 59 seconds are all about each other. So, naturally, they have no idea that I have also done something crazy. I have submitted my application to my dream university abroad. From now on, our paths will finally diverge. I will never trail behind them again.

Last night, I got my layoff notice. The official excuse? Too old, under-educated, and holding the team back. This morning, HR pulled me aside with a sympathetic sigh. "Look, Gina, you really pissed off the wrong person this time." I followed her gaze across the floor of Brown Media. Two weeks ago. Catherine Chase, the CEO’s niece, dropped into the sales department with a squad of her college buddies, branding themselves the "Elite Youth Squad." Yesterday, I rejected her project proposal. Catching my eye, Catherine smirked. "Some aging, uneducated women should just stick to being housewives. Save yourself the embarrassment." I didn't argue. I just signed the severance paper in silence. What she didn't realize was that I never needed Brown Media. They begged me to stay. Before walking out, I posted a simple status update… “Officially resigned. Let the fun begin.” Within seconds, my phone blew up.

My wife's lover accuses my daughter of dirtying his suit and calls her an ill-mannered brat. That very night, right in front of me, my wife chops off my daughter's hands as an apology to him. Consumed with rage, I grab that man's hair and slam his head against the wall until he's bleeding. Everyone thinks my wife, Celine Lynch, will have me arrested. Instead, she uses our daughter's life to force me into getting a divorce and leaving with nothing. "You useless trash, you can't even raise your own child right. Get out. Henry Judd and I had better not see you again," she says. After that, I take my daughter's ashes and leave for a faraway place. I vanish from their world and build up everything from scratch. Three years later, after establishing my own company, I meet Henry again at an industry summit. He stands there, wearing an expensive suit. With a wine glass in hand, he looks down at me and says, "Well, if it isn't Justin Yarrow, the poor loser who got kicked out? What, have you come here to freeload?" I laugh coldly. Then I grab him and slam him onto the table edge. My voice is icy as I say, "Looks like you forgot what it felt like to have your head split open. No matter. I'll remind you once more."

On my birthday, my husband, Tristan, gifted me a white rabbit. He claimed it was a familiar that would bring me boundless luck. I took great care of it, but the rabbit kept sinking its incisors into me. It went from sipping a few drops of blood to ripping open my neck, draining me day by day until I was deathly pale. When I tried to get rid of it, Tristan called me petty. "Sera is an anniversary gift. You can't even tolerate a little rabbit?" Even my daughter went on a hunger strike. "If you get rid of Sera, I'll hate you forever!" Ultimately, I was entirely drained of my life force, dying a gruesome death on our wedding anniversary. After death, my spirit watched the rabbit shed its furry pelt and transform into a breathtakingly beautiful woman. It was Tristan's former lover, Seraphina. Even my daughter threw herself at her, gleefully calling her "Mom." That was when the truth finally hit me. Tristan had always been after my golden Elven blood. He needed it to break the curse on Seraphina and restore her humanity. Even my daughter's body had long been possessed by their twisted love child through dark magic. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day Tristan gifted me the rabbit. I smiled at him. "I'll take excellent care of her." But the moment he turned his back, I threw the beast straight into a witch's boiling cauldron.

The yacht carrying my parents and my younger brother, Dylan Marsh, exploded at sea. There were no survivors. I came home to an empty house and a mountain of debt I had no way to pay off. Numb with despair, I climbed onto the roof, ready to jump—when a stream of comments suddenly scrolled past my vision, as if I were watching myself from the outside. [Plot twist: your parents actually won three hundred million dollars in the lottery. They took your brother abroad to live it up.] [Lol, Dylan has no idea the poor, blind girlfriend he dumped is actually the eldest daughter of the Ross family. She's just been playing along, pretending to be broke.] [Once Dylan blows through all his money and comes crawling back, Celeste Ross is going to lock him in a room and make him pay for it.] [Come on, cannon fodder, jump already. Everyone's waiting for Dylan's big comeback.] I decided, right then, that I wasn't going to die after all. That night, soaked to the bone and half-drunk, I knocked on Celeste Ross's door.

When my fiance, Evan Ziegler, and I wake up, the world as we know it has already ended. He's now the commander of the safe zone, and I'm clinging to his arm, pleading with him. "Don't send me out. There are infected people everywhere out there." However, he merely stands on a high platform. His expression is icy as he announces, "Resources are limited in the safe zone. Zoe is frail and has to stay. As for Daphne, she should be sent to the contaminated zone as bait since she doesn't have any abilities." I'm bound and stuffed into an armored truck. Right before the doors shut, Evan's first love, Zoe Lodge, gives me a gentle smile while nestled in his arms. She says, "Don't worry, Daph. I'll take good care of Evan for you." I lose all hope. Then, to my surprise, the satellite phone I've been carrying, which hasn't had any signal so far, suddenly lights up. It's a message from my brother, Dominic Sadler. "Daphne, how's the stay at our apocalypse experience center? Have you figured out what kind of man your fiance really is yet? Hurry up and give me the verdict. We hired over 3,000 extras, and they've been cooped up in the underground base for a month. They're about to lose their minds."

My parents fly across the country for the tenth time to meet my girlfriend, Sienna Holloway, yet she's nowhere to be found. She doesn't answer my calls or reply to my texts. Somewhere between my third and fourth cup of coffee, I see a new post from my buddy, Nolan Prescott, on my feed. It features eight photos of snow-covered mountains, and the last photo shows two hands laced together. The caption reads, "She joined me for the tenth trip. A perfect ten." I nearly crush my phone in my fist, my veins standing out across my knuckles. After 27 unanswered calls, Sienna finally picks up. "Where are you?" Wind crackles through the speaker, and her voice comes back distracted and flat. "Out. Why?" "Why? This is the tenth time. My parents are too old to keep flying out here, and you—" She goes quiet for a second, then sighs. "God, relax. Nolan and I are having fun skiing up at Ridgeline Pass. I just forgot. "Tell them to wait three more days. I'll come see them when I'm done here." Before I can get another word out, she hangs up. My reflection stares back at me from the dark screen, my lips pressed into a thin line. After that, I smile at my parents and say, "Since she won't show, let's set me up with someone new."

"Honey, maybe we should tell your mom to stop treatment." On Christmas Eve, after spending the day cooking dinner for my in-laws, I was getting ready to head to the hospital and keep my mother, Deborah Ramsey, company through the night. Just as I reached the door, my husband, Blaine Ramsey, stopped me. It took me a moment to process what he'd said. I turned and stared at him in disbelief. "What do you mean?" He lowered his head and stayed silent. My mother-in-law, Rosalia Ramsey, however, answered with an impatient glare, "It means exactly what he said. Your mother's treatment should stop. Her illness is nothing but a bottomless pit that's going to swallow who knows how much money." I immediately argued, "The doctor said she has a 90% chance of making a full recovery. After surgery and about two years of rehabilitation, she'll be fine. She has medical insurance, so after reimbursement, it won't even cost that much." My sister-in-law, Aviana Ramsey, rolled her eyes and chimed in, "Doesn't that still mean there's a 10% chance she won't make it? "And even if she does recover, she'll just be useless. She doesn't have a pension. She'll end up relying on Blaine to support her anyway. "So why not stop the treatment now? At least she won't drag everyone else down." I looked at Blaine. He kept his head down without saying a word. I didn't argue anymore. I picked up the lunch box and left for the hospital. Had they forgotten? The house they were living in—the one they called a burden—had been bought outright by the very woman they wanted to abandon. Three days later, Rosalia collapsed during a family dinner and was rushed to the hospital. It was late-stage cancer. Blaine and his family panicked, talking about selling the house to pay for her treatment. Leaning against the wall, I yawned. "Honey, I already sold the house. Maybe your mom should just stop treatment. It'd be a waste of money."

I ran my fingers over the bite mark on my neck, the one that still ached faintly. “Julian, let's sever the bond.” He pressed a hand down on my shoulder, the fire in his eyes almost spilling over. “Seraphina Hale, what are you throwing a fit about now? I only felt sorry for Daisy, so I kept her company for one night.” “That hurts.” His hand loosened on reflex, and I shook myself free of him. Ever since Daisy's engagement was broken off and she came back to the pack, Julian's heart hadn't belonged to me. One frown from Daisy and he'd be so anxious he could barely hold himself together. “Julian, you don't love me at all.” I looked at him, steady, but he only turned angry. “Seraphina Hale, you think you could even stay alive without me?” Three years together, and he had spent every one of them looking down at me from somewhere far above. All because I'd been struck by the wolfsbane curse, and every full moon I needed him to sink his teeth into my neck and hold me through the night. Otherwise the pain would drag me down until I blacked out. But I had never once said he was my only choice. I opened my contacts and tapped the name of the one person who reached out to me every single year without fail. [I'm willing to let you mark me.] The reply came back in a heartbeat. [I'm coming for you.] Julian's three years were already behind me.