Mga Maiikling Kuwento at Nobelang Hypocrisy Plot Twists

The human traffickers sold me to a remote mountain village when I was young. My parents spent a fortune searching for me and even offered a massive reward for my safe return. They finally found me when I was 16. My parents and three older brothers held me in their arms and wept. After that, they did everything they could to make up for the sixteen years we'd lost. I had more designer clothes than I could ever wear, more luxury handbags than I could ever carry, and a place at an elite private school. On my first day, my oldest brother tied a rosary he'd personally prayed over to my backpack. My second brother bought me the latest phone. My third brother patted me on the shoulder. "Valerie, tell us if anyone dares to bully you." Later, I ranked first in the school on the midterm exams. After class, Cassie Nolan tore my exam paper to shreds in front of everyone. "So what if you got the highest score? You're still just a country bumpkin." She ordered several girls to pin me against the wall, then stared at me with a smug smile. "Now go to the dean and tell him you cheated." "I didn't!" I fought back with all my strength, but Cassie slapped me hard across the face. The blow left me dizzy. What she didn't know was that I was the Miller heiress. My father, Nathan Miller, was the chairman of the Miller Group, a billionaire who controlled much of the city's real estate industry. My oldest brother, Zachary Miller, was a top attorney. A single due diligence report from him could send a publicly traded company's stock price crashing. My second brother, Tyler Miller, was the founder of Starwave Technologies. His company's technology powered nearly seventy percent of the country's smart-city projects. My third brother, Caleb Miller, was a superstar with eighty million social media followers and his own top-tier PR firm. Mess with me, and you'd mess with the entire Miller family. Cassie had just kicked the hornet's nest.

I have an ability that I can't tell anyone about—whenever I'm intimate with my girlfriend, I can see what she was doing exactly one hour earlier. In the past, what I see is her secretly buying sexy lingerie to surprise me; or her carefully following a recipe to cook my favorite dishes; or her nervously standing in front of a mirror, checking her makeup and dress over and over as she nervously prepares to propose to me. For seven years, everything she does in that one hour is always about me. Until three days before our wedding. The moment she kisses me, a vision suddenly flashes before my eyes. In a dimly lit lounge, she has my best friend, Tyler Reed, pinned against the door. He turns his head away, his voice strained as he speaks. "We can't keep doing this! Logan is my best friend. I can't betray him…" But Avery Goodwin unbuckles his belt, her voice hoarse with desire. "I'm marrying him in three days. Let's just have fun one last time." The scene vanishes in a flash. Back in reality, Avery is still nestled in my arms, gently kissing my cheek. "Logan, we're going to be married soon. Are you happy?" I stare into her loving eyes, and suddenly let out a soft laugh. So, it turns out there is a third person in her one hour after all.

I've just recently found out that I was switched at birth. Anthony Jefferson, the person who was raised in my place, and I end up joining an academic game show together—but he encourages everyone to ostracize me. "Sorry, Noah, but everyone on our team has a postgraduate degree. I don't think you'll fit in with us," Anthony says. Immediately, all the other contestants refuse to form a team with me. In fact, scathing remarks about me flood the internet, making me go viral. "Why did a brainless pretty boy like Noah Jefferson join an academic game show? He's obviously going to drag his teammates down!" "I heard he just returned to the family after spending his entire life in the countryside and didn't even graduate from high school." "You've got that right. Even though they're both sons of the Jefferson family, Anthony has already been hired by the National Institute of Physics! Meanwhile, Noah is nothing more than a total slacker." The comments going around online make me pause. Are they referring to me, the guy who was guaranteed a spot in the top universities in the country at just 14 years old? And what's this about Anthony getting hired by the National Institute of Physics? How is it that I, the director of the institute, am only now learning of that?

Nikita Ragland is a young actress who has only recently made her debut. After starring in a few romance short series, she starts to believe she's a real-life princess. After another argument with her boyfriend, Dwayne Ferguson, Nikita doesn't hesitate to abandon a production crew of more than 500 people and catch a flight in the middle of the night just to appease her beloved boyfriend. When filming starts the next day, Nikita is nowhere to be found, and her hotel room is empty. Dozens of messages are sent to her, but none receive a response. It isn't until that evening that she finally calls on video, completely unbothered. "Mr. Casson, I went to pacify my boyfriend. Let's put filming on hold for now." The director, Walter Casson, is livid. "Are you kidding me? The locations are already booked, and the rest of the cast has their schedules set. How can we just stop production?" Nikita puts on an innocent expression, but her tone is unmistakably condescending. "Well, what do you want me to do? My boyfriend won't let me film kissing scenes with other men. I'll come back if you make Dwayne the male lead. He has never acted before, but we're a couple. He and I will be the perfect onscreen pairing." After saying this, Nikita pauses and glances at me as I stand beside Walter. "As for the current male lead, he can just be Dwayne's sidekick." Walter trembles with rage. "Absolutely not! Jeremiah hasn't done anything wrong. How can I replace him just like that?" Nikita flashes Walter a lazy smile. "If you won't agree, then I'm not acting. You can figure things out yourself."

My younger brother, Victor Bishop, has a silver tongue. That's why our parents, Paul Bishop and Jenna Cole, treat him like a treasure. I am socially awkward and blind to social cues, so they send me to the countryside to train. They even say there's no need to treat me well. They feed me scraps and make me sleep in the barn. After I turn 18, they put me in the family company to test me. Because of me, the Bishops become the richest family in Caldera. But Victor teams up with our parents and steals the credit that should've been mine. Everyone in the business world treats him like a star. Later, a building he cuts corners on collapses and kills dozens of workers. He makes me take the fall, and I spend ten years in prison. After I get out, he's afraid I'll fight him for the family fortune. Because of this, he hires someone to kill me. When I open my eyes again, I'm back in my senior year of high school. This time, I'm living for myself!

Grandma is far too trusting of strangers. She can strike up a conversation with anyone and casually tell them all about our family. She always says, "There aren't that many bad people in the world." During summer break, she takes my younger brother, Theo, and me swimming. After she entrusts Theo to a lifeguard to take him to the men’s restroom, my five-year-old brother is abducted and sold. However, Grandma tells my parents that I deliberately made him disappear because I want to take his place and stay in the city. My parents get a divorce because of it. They had already left me behind in the countryside, and now neither of them is willing to take me with them. As I chase after my mother's car, I get hit by a car and die. When I open my eyes, I am back on the day when I was ten years old. The swimming pool is filled with cheers and laughter. Theo calls loudly to Grandma. "Grandma! I need to pee!" Grandma smiles, scoops him up, and starts walking toward Samson, who is standing nearby. My heart tightens. I quickly get to my feet and follow her. Then I grab Theo by the hand. “No, you can’t go into the men’s restroom.”

On my birthday, my acceptance letter from Mar University finally arrived. Mom even did something completely out of character: she ordered my favorite strawberry cake. For a moment, I thought my parents had finally remembered that today wasn’t just the day for my brother’s medical checkup—it was my birthday, too. However, right after I blew out the candles, Mom pulled out my brother’s acceptance letter from a local community college. “Mason, your brother didn’t do well in his SATs, so he’ll only be able to get into a community college,” she said. “His health is poor, and he can’t handle the stress of retaking the SATs.” Dad cleared his throat, assuming his usual stance as the head of the family. “You two are identical twins, and you look completely alike,” he stated. “So we’ve talked it over. We’re going to have Ethan use your identification and report to Mar University in your place.” The sweet smell of strawberries filled my nose, but it only made me feel sick to my stomach. I stared at Dad, wondering if I had misheard him. “What about me, then?” Mom instantly grabbed my hand. “You’ll use Ethan’s identity to retake your senior year and try again next year,” she urged. “You’re in good health, and you’ve always gotten good grades. Isn’t it just a one-year delay?” It was that same excuse again. Ever since we were kids, I had to give up countless things just because my brother was frail. But this time, this was my life, and I didn’t want to give it up anymore.

After the SAT results come out, the girl everyone knows as the school's scholarship case throws a lavish graduation party. That same night, I get a text alert saying my credit card has been maxed out. I go to confront her, but she's already in my boyfriend's arms, sobbing like she's the victim. "Just because I'm on financial aid, I'm not allowed to throw a party?" My boyfriend rushes to comfort her and turns on me instead. "Your family's loaded anyway. Spending a little on Lacey isn't going to kill you." Sure, my family has money, but I'm not a saint, and I don't see why I should be footing her bills. I refuse to back down. I call the police to make her pay me back, but my boyfriend retaliates by going after my family's company, pushing it to the brink of bankruptcy. On my way to meet potential investors, my boyfriend and Lacey Kemp conspire to run me off the road and kill me. When I open my eyes again, I'm back on the day of her party.

Brandon Hawthorne said if I wanted to marry him, I had to prove I was tough enough to be a Hawthorne. He took my bank cards, ditched me in a city I'd never been to, and made me figure out how to get home alone. When my fever hit 104°F, he still refused to let the family doctor through the door. Instead, I had to smile through dinner with a house full of Hawthorne relatives while I could barely stay on my feet. And every time I finally asked Brandon for help, he looked at me like I'd failed him. "You can't even handle something this simple. How are you supposed to be my wife?" But when his childhood friend, Patty Rowan, got blisters from her shoes, he picked her up and carried her away in front of everyone. She got a headache in the middle of the night, and he left me alone in the hospital to take the family doctor to her. I asked him why. He frowned. "Patty's fragile. And she's not the one trying to become a Hawthorne." Then came our engagement party. I accidentally ate peanuts. My throat started closing. I couldn't breathe. Brandon grabbed my EpiPen and locked me in the lounge. "This is your final test. If you want to marry me, tough it out." Then Patty called. She had a paper cut. Brandon immediately left with the doctor. "Hold out for ten minutes." I lost track of time. Right before everything went dark, I saw Brandon come back with Patty tucked close beside him. She had a Band-Aid on her finger. Through the haze, I heard the disappointment in his voice. "Patty was bleeding, and she didn't even cry. Are you seriously pretending to be dead?" Then came the final blow. "You failed the test. You're not ready to become a Hawthorne."

I return home from studying abroad and find a new future sister-in-law waiting for me. Sandra Zimmer acts like she's already the lady of the house and the Slater family's daughter-in-law. She even vows to put me, her sister-in-law-to-be, whom she's never met, in my place. But no one tells her that my older brother, Wallace Slater, is adopted. I'm the Slater family's only heir, and even Wallace has to answer to me.

How terrifying is a man who's a simp and knows that he's one? In three years of dating, I've transferred six million dollars to my girlfriend, Nadine Stark. I made sure every transaction was labeled as a willing gift. I know she only sees me as her personal ATM, but I still go along with it. We break up over something ridiculous. I'm a little late in transferring money to her once, and she screams at me to get lost over and over again. So I do. That's when Nadine loses it. She starts stalking and harassing me, and she spreads rumors about me. She claims I have an STD, that I've stolen her gold necklace worth 150 thousand dollars, and that I've abused her cat to death. In the end, I lose all hope in her and switch to being a simp for someone else instead. But she's still not okay with that. Nadine actually drops to her knees before me to apologize and slaps herself across the face. She breaks down in tears and begs me to take her back. She wants me to love her again.

At the company's annual awards ceremony, my boss personally presented me with the "Employee of the Year" award. The bonus was ten million dollars, and he promised it would go through immediately, right there on the spot. Hundreds of my coworkers rose to their feet and applauded. Champagne and confetti rained down around me. But the next morning, the police showed up and took me from my own home. The company had reported me, claiming I suffered from a severe delusional disorder, that I'd not only imagined receiving a ten-million-dollar bonus but had also attacked the finance system in an attempt to siphon off company funds. I pulled up the transfer record and the gala footage on my phone, only to find they'd both turned into garbled nonsense. I went to every coworker I could find. All of them looked at me with the same pitying eyes and said the same thing. "Man, wake up. You got drunk and made a scene onstage at the gala last night. There was never any ten-million-dollar bonus." In the end, I was locked away for attempted fraud and mental illness, and I died there, tortured to death in a psychiatric hospital. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of the gala, and my boss was walking toward me with a wine glass in hand, smiling.

When my biological parents bring me home, Edward Sullivan, the son they had raised in my place, strongly opposes holding a welcome-home party for me. Left with no choice, my parents have me draw lots in the form of blind boxes just to be fair. However, I draw negative responses all three times, so they postpone the ceremony by a week. Five days later, my girlfriend, Zoe Ludwig, drops by to discuss our engagement. Edward fell in love with her at first sight and immediately demanded that she marry him instead. Marriage is no trivial matter. My parents surely won't indulge him. To my surprise, they once again have me draw a blind box to keep things fair. I nervously selected a box. Once again, it contained a “No.” Believing that I had simply been unlucky, I felt frustrated and dejected. That is what I thought until I overhear someone speaking in Franich in the restroom. "Dad, thank goodness you and Mom thought of using blind boxes. If you hadn't fixed the blind boxes, I wouldn't have been able to be with Zoe!" That is when I realize that the blind boxes aren't intended to ensure fairness but are instead used as a cover for favoritism. Having lived in Franica for some time, they assume I don't understand Franich. However, my adoptive father, Howard Jordan, has long since obtained a permanent residence permit in Franica. Instead of exposing them, I quietly call Howard. Since I'm not welcome here, I'm not wasting my time on them any longer!

It is 1:00 am, and I'm still in the inspection office in the suburban power plant, compiling the equipment defect records for the week. Suddenly, there's loud kicking at my door. Brad Greer's panicked voice rings out. "Sam! Come with me right now! The pressure-regulating valve on the main steam pipe of Unit 4 is completely stuck! "The automatic pressure relief device didn't get activated! If it explodes, the three maintenance workers in the control room next door will be burned to a crisp!" Just as I grab my hard hat and am about to rush out, an anonymous encrypted email pops up on my office computer. It said, "Don't go there. The three maintenance workers have already been burned to death by the gushing steam. "He is the one who violated regulations by performing the pressurized maintenance after replacing the valve core with a substandard one, and now, it's completely stuck. He's just trying to make you take the blame. "If you touch the valve even once, you'll get your fingerprints all over it. The CCTV footage will show only you fiddling with it. You're going to take the fall for him and spend the rest of your life in jail. "You're going to have to pay tens of millions of dollars in compensation, and the victims' families will even have the right to sell off all your assets for compensation. You'll never have a peaceful life in prison either." The kicking at the door continues, and the hinges on the wooden door are about to fall off. "Samuel Williams! What are you dawdling for? You're the only one in the whole plant now who's received valve debugging training! You're the only one who can do it! "If you come out any later, those three maintenance people are going to be cooked!" I grip the computer mouse and withdraw my hand from the doorknob. I then say, "I'm sorry, but I'm only an inspector, not a maintenance technician. You need to call the plant's emergency number right away."

My husband, Nathan Sidney, is the top doctor in the municipal hospital. However, he refuses to treat my stepsister, Jessica Jepson. He tells me that it's because Jessica's mother, Janice Ferguson, is Dad's mistress, which makes Jessica a mistress' daughter. They don't deserve to be treated by him because they're the ones responsible for tearing my family apart. During a family get-together, we play the "Have You or Haven't You" game. When it's my turn, I confidently say, "I've been treated by Nathan. You haven't." Jessica smiles and pulls out a medical report from her pocket. "Sorry, Cassie. You've lost." Nathan's signature is penned on the report. As I clutch the medical report, I ask hoarsely, "When did this happen?" "Last Wednesday," Nathan replies. "She cut her hand. I can't just ignore her when she's bleeding right in front of me." He smiles and ruffles my hair, saying, "I'm a doctor. I can't ignore a patient. You're so kind, Cassandra. You understand why I had to treat her, right?" In the past, when Jessica secretly tried on my wedding dress, Nathan said that she just liked feeling pretty. When she pawned off the gold bracelet Mom left me, he said she was just greedy, while wiring me money as compensation. I was hospitalized for two weeks after accidentally drinking white wine instead of water because the doctors were trying to protect the pregnancy. When I tell Nathan that Jessica's the one who mixed up the drinks, he says, "She's just a little stupid. You're so kind, Cassandra. You understand that she just made an honest mistake, right?" Today, Nathan has not only broken his promise, but he's also trying to emotionally blackmail me. I simply smile and softly say, "I don't want to understand. I'm done being understanding, Nathan Sidney."

The day I discovered Sean's affair, I cornered him and my stepsister Tina in the company warehouse. A fire broke out afterward. Tina died saving me from the flames, and Sean was injured when a pillar collapsed on him. His shoulder was wrapped in bandages. "Joanna, are you happy now?" His ragged scream that day echoed in my ears for a long, long time. Two months later, the company went bankrupt because of the fire. To pay off the debts, Sean and I moved to a run-down neighborhood. I worked three jobs a day, all to ease the guilt eating me alive. A few years passed, and our relationship seemed to find its way back to what it once was—right up until Valentine's Day. That was when I spotted the supposedly dead Tina at the supermarket, shopping for seafood with Patricia, my mother-in-law. "Patricia, thank you. Without you, Sean and I wouldn't be this happy." "Don't mention it. If we hadn't gotten rid of that crazy woman back then, what would've happened to my precious grandson?" Patricia smiled and patted Tina's hand. "It's Valentine's Day. Sean reserved that rooftop restaurant just for you two. Go enjoy yourselves." My first instinct was to call Sean, but before I could even dial, a text from him came through first. "Babe, picking up a coworker's shift tonight. Night pay and the bonus come out to almost two hundred dollars. I'll bring you something good on my way back." I froze where I stood. So that was it. Three years of hardship, and all of it had been a lie they'd carefully woven around me.

My car broke down on the road, so I took off my jacket, popped the hood, and started checking the problem right there at the curb. A brand new convertible swung in and stopped in front of me, close enough to make a point. My ex-wife Sarah got out on the arm of a man in a tailored suit, one hand clamped over her nose in disgust. "Leo, all these years since the divorce and you're still a bottom-rung mechanic who reeks of motor oil." I wiped the grease off my hands. I could not be bothered to explain that this limited-edition supercar was one I had picked up brand new. When I stayed quiet, Sarah shoved a screenshot of her trading profits in my face. "See that? David got me into a tech stock. One day of gains beats everything you'll make fixing cars in a lifetime!" David Ashford looked down at me, his voice thick with contempt. "Sarah, what's the point of talking investing with a mechanic? He can't even read a price chart. "A mystery fund is buying this stock in batches. I'm already in at four-to-one leverage. I'm about to be set for life." Sarah laughed and threw a few bills onto my open hood. "Here's a tip. Buy yourself a decent coffee and stop cluttering up the view." I looked at the scattered bills, then at the ticker symbol on the screenshot. I knew that one well, and I smiled. That tech company's rally was nothing but a bull trap staged by a fund looking for cover while it unloaded its shares. Anyone still in it would be wiped out. I took out my phone and calmly sent a message to my trader. "We're up thirty percent. Sell it all."

I come home for the holidays to find four pairs of slippers beside the shoe cabinet. There's a pair for my dad, Dean Pratt, a pair for my mom, Nancy Kerr, and two pairs for my sister, Luna Pratt, including a spare. Mine isn't there. Although my sister attended school in another state, kept her room exactly as it was. Even her slippers sit by her bedside, waiting for her return. I had been away from home for three years. When I returned, I discovered that my belongings had disappeared one by one. And now, they hadn’t even kept a pair of slippers for me. I stand in the entryway, my feet bare. "Where’s my pair?" Mom pokes her head out. "You hardly ever come back, so I threw them away. They were taking up space." But the soles of my sister’s spare pair had already been worn smooth, and they were still neatly sitting in their original place. The next day, I buy a new pair for myself at the supermarket and put them beside the shoe cabinet. That night, I check the shoe cabinet and find them gone. Dad is watching TV on the couch. "Luna's classmate came over, so I gave them to her." "I just bought them." Dad doesn't even turn around. "It's just a pair of slippers. Get another one." Luna pauses. "Huh? I thought Mom had bought them for guests." It makes sense. Guest slippers were supposed to be thrown away once the guest had left.

After siring 18 princes, the current king, Henry Barton, finally sires me, his first princess. On the day of my birth, Father vacates the entirety of West Tower to be my personal place of residence. Not only that, but he also changes the rules, decreeing that no one is allowed to be alone with me. As a result, I remain mute even after I turn six. Father's new consort, Elizabeth Muller, is showered with love and attention even though she only moved into the castle three months ago. The first time we meet, she takes my hand and says, "You're so well-behaved, Princess Julia. Let me take you to look at the fish." After making sure that we're alone in the garden, she grips my wrist. Her smile slowly fades away as she sneers, "You're just a useless princess. Why does everyone in the castle have to bend to your every whim? Once I give birth to a legitimate heir, you and your brothers will have to grovel at my son's feet." My eyes turn bloodshot when Elizabeth digs her nails painfully into my flesh. "No crying. If you're mute, just keep your mouth shut. No one will believe you no matter how many tears you shed." What Elizabeth doesn't know is that I'm not actually mute. On the contrary, I'm actually too good at speaking. I've had an extraordinary talent for mimicking others since I was a child and can easily repeat anything I hear. That's why everyone in the castle is forbidden from speaking when I'm around. It's also why I have been silent for the past six years. The banquet celebrating the harvest festival is hosted one month later. It's extremely rare for all 18 of my brothers to be present at the same time. They take turns teasing me, hoping to get me to speak. As I curl up in Father's embrace, I suddenly blurt out, "Once I give birth to a legitimate heir, you and your brothers will have to grovel at my son's feet."

The year my sister turned fifteen, my father, Grant Davis, became obsessed with holding auctions at home. Everything in the house, from a plate of meat to a turn with the washing machine, from school lunch money to after-school activity fees, had to be won by bidding with family credits. I worked odd jobs until I dropped, sleeping only three hours a night, and finally saved up a thick stack of family credits, the paper soft and warped from my sweat. All Melody had to do was sit on the couch and shed a few tears, and my father would stuff fistfuls of credits into her arms. "Girls deserve to be spoiled. Can't have Melody feeling left out." That day, the item up for auction was an old necklace that had belonged to my grandmother, Ruth Bennett. Eyes burning, I pushed everything I had onto the table. "Eight thousand." Melody tossed out ten thousand without a second thought, her voice sweet and wheedling. "This necklace would go perfectly with my new dress." I begged my father through tears. "This is the only thing Grandma ever left me. Please." My father slapped me so hard my ears rang and my vision blurred. "Highest bidder wins. That's the rule! You're too poor to win, so don't blame anyone else!" Melody snatched the necklace, gave it a look of disgust, and casually tossed it into the roaring fireplace. "Oops, the fire's getting low. This'll make good kindling." I threw myself at the fireplace. The back of my hand split open instantly from the heat, the skin blistering and peeling away. They left, slamming the door behind them, complaining that my screaming was bad luck in the house. Later, I couldn't stop thinking. If I put my own life on the auction block, how many credits would you bid?