Maiikling Kwento tungkol sa Plot Twists at Romance, at mga Nobela ng Independence na may Face Slapping

I was in a relationship with Luke Johnson for seven years. When we were finally about to get married, my younger sister, Nessa Reid, made a mistake at her teaching job. Her mistake left one of her students paralyzed. My parents bribed a lawyer to tricked me into signing a confession statement on behalf of Nessa and ended up in prison. In prison, I was bullied by the other inmates. Two of my ribs were broken, and one of my eyes was blinded. I endured five brutal years there. After I was released, Luke brought me back to the mansion and proposed to me in front of everyone. He promised to give me a grand wedding. However, a day before my wedding day, Nessa drove too fast and killed someone. The victim came from a very powerful family. I thought Luke would support me, but he and my parents put all the charges on me. "Violet, you've been in prison before. Nessa's health hasn't been the best ever since she was a kid. She won't be able to take it…" However, before I was put in prison for the second time, someone broke my limbs and threw me on the side of the road to perish. While I was about to die, my parents and Luke went insane…

On the day of the World Rally Championship finals, I pressed the accelerator to the floor, ready for the final dash. The next moment, the engine exploded in a deafening roar, and thick smoke instantly filled the cockpit. Flames spread toward the fuel tank. I yanked at the door, desperate to jump out, but the handle wouldn’t budge, and the brakes felt welded in place. In that instant of despair, my husband’s voice came through the comms. “Attention, all teams, no need to rescue her. My wife is the Iron Racer! “For today’s live broadcast challenge, let’s see if she can drive this burning car across the finish line!” His co-commentator, recently recruited onto the team, chimed in with excitement. “Thomas, the sponsor just confirmed! As long as Jane holds on to the end, they’ll increase investment. I can get a permanent spot!” I understood instantly then that the husband on the commentary platform I had supported for years was using my life to pave the way for his mistress. Smoke clawed at my throat. However, I forced down the dizziness and begged, “For the sake of all our years together…” Only for him to cut me off with irritation. “Save your energy for driving. You’re skilled. Just hold on a little longer. Mandy’s promotion depends entirely on you.” The cockpit had become an inferno; my skin searing with every second. I gripped the blistering wheel, steering through the smoke for the last time. This time, my finish line was the commentary platform where the two of them were huddled together.

Years after graduation, I walked into a college reunion with a freshly printed wedding invitation in my hand, ready to give it to the man across the table. His eyes turned red as he asked me a question. "Do you remember an upperclassman named Derek Ashford? The one who brought you breakfast every morning and spent hours with you in the library?" I smiled and shook my head. He pressed on. "Do you remember running two miles through a downpour for his birthday? He said he'd love you forever." I frowned instinctively, my hand pausing halfway across the table with the invitation. Nathan Sterling, the boy I'd grown up with, came over and slipped an arm around my waist. "Who's Derek Ashford?" I leaned into Nathan's shoulder and lifted our clasped hands for everyone to see. "Let me introduce you all. This is my husband, Nathan Sterling." The moment those words left my mouth, every pair of eyes in the room turned to the man who had just knocked over his cup of tea. Tea dripped off the table edge onto his pants, but he didn't seem to notice. His gaze was locked on the diamond ring on my finger. His reaction baffled me. Six months earlier, Derek had brought Selene Dawson, his graduate advisor's daughter, back to the apartment we'd prepared for our wedding. She claimed to have amnesia. I ran out into a rainstorm and was hit by an out-of-control truck. When I woke up, every memory of Derek Ashford was gone. The only person left in my world was Nathan Sterling, my childhood sweetheart and the man I had come to love all over again. We had just made it legal at the courthouse.

I made a fortune collecting breakup checks from the mothers of wealthy heirs. My first boyfriend's mother started it, and every mother after her came looking for me. Without exception, they waved enormous checks in my face and told me to leave their sons. I did it to help my father pay off his debts. So, I kept finding wealthy heirs to date until the mother of my fourth wealthy boyfriend handed me an enormous check and told me I absolutely could not leave her son...

I manage to drag Jared Sheppard from death's door. Since then, I've accompanied him from his poorest times all the way to the current moment, when he's now worth tens of millions of dollars. On the day his company goes public, he gets engaged to another woman. "Gabrielle, she's different from you. She's an actual princess of the elite. I need to give her an official title, so I can't fool around with you anymore." I never bothered defending myself. It's time for this farce to end, anyway. After all, there's still a man waiting for me at home, who's been calling me his princess since I was a little girl.

The villagers raised me as a child. So, when I became successful, I initiated a development plan for the village to repay their kindness. However, because of forced evictions, the village chief’s family, who were the kindest to me, four villagers, and two youngsters died miserably under the excavator’s shovel. I gave away every penny I had, knelt in the rubble to beg forgiveness, and was beaten bloody by the enraged villagers. I was left disfigured, crippled, and eventually thrown in prison for ten years. After I came out of prison, I went to a faraway place, changed my name, and worked on a construction site. I planned to just drift through the rest of my miserable life in obscurity. However, my ex-wife and daughter tracked me down. “Max, why didn’t you tell me when you got out? That whole thing has passed now. Weylon has built a great career. He can get you a decent job. “Come home. Our daughter and I miss you.” Our daughter, Josie, glared at me with grievance. “Who misses this murderer? He’s the reason I can’t hold my head up. Everywhere I go, people curse me. I don’t want a beast like him for a father. “Mom, you and Uncle Weylon are all the family I need…” I caressed the scar on my face, looked at my crippled right leg, and felt my numb heart ache once more. Back then, the person who skimmed the compensation money, forced the evictions, and caused those deaths was Weylon, my ex-wife’s foster brother. To protect him, she had threatened me with our daughter’s life and made me take the fall. At that moment, she was standing before me, offering charity from on high.

I am the only princess of Hawkridge. The moment the Skyveil opened, every ruler in the known world started looking at me strangely. "Mara, come back to Frostmoor with me." King Ronan Blackwood stood with a cold blade in hand, his eyes rimmed red. "You swindled three shiploads of gold out of me. How exactly do you plan to repay it?" King Sebastian Redfield advanced on me, working the counters on his counting board. "You even lied about dying..." Crown Prince Adrian Locke coughed blood as he clamped a hand around my wrist. My skin crawled. I tightened my grip on the treasury sigil I'd just lifted out of a hidden drawer and got ready to run. Then the door closed with maddening calm. Regent Elias Crowell blocked me inside his study, his expression cool and his gaze sharp as a knife. "Your Highness." "Your romantic debts out there are nearly settled. Now let's settle the account for what you stole from me."

Five years ago, I catch my husband, Henry Lancaster, cheating on me. He's a college professor, and the other woman is his teaching assistant, Vera Ashmore. Henry begs me not to go public, saying it'll ruin her reputation. I agree, but only if she drops out of school, leaves the city, never comes back, and signs a binding agreement. Everyone around me calls me vain, saying I care more about money than feelings. And yet Henry is willing to turn on his entire family just to protect her name. Five years later, I travel to that same city on a business trip to attend a lecture and end up finding a little boy wandering by himself. I take him to the police station so he can get in touch with his family. The officer dials the number the boy recites from memory, and a familiar voice comes through the line, "Hey, it's okay, don't be scared. Daddy's coming to get you right now." Less than half an hour later, Henry, who's supposed to be teaching classes a thousand miles away, rushes through the station doors. I'm sitting on a bench when our eyes lock, and he freezes on the spot. I smile and rise to my feet. "Henry, I had no idea you had a secret son behind my back this whole time. Looks like that spotless professor image of yours isn't going to last much longer."

After stealing 3,000 dollars, Eloise Maguire is taken to the main hall by her husband, Zander Pierson, to face punishment. Chase Pierson, the Pierson family elder, glances uneasily at her pregnant belly. "Our family has stood for a hundred years and is wealthy beyond measure. Eloise is eight months pregnant. Is there really a need to make such a fuss over 3,000 dollars?" Zander is dressed in a dark gray overcoat, which only accentuates his tall, commanding figure. His distant eyes and cold voice make it clear there will be no room for leniency. "Julia manages the household. If Eloise needs money, she can ask her for it. Instead, she goes behind her back and takes the money without permission. Even if it's only 3,000 dollars, taking it without permission is still theft. "We have rules in this family. Anyone who steals is punished by having all ten fingers crushed. As my wife, she should set an example, not giving the younger ones a reason to break the rules." Chase is at a loss for words. He can only urge Eloise to plead for mercy. But Eloise doesn't even spare Zander a glance. She supports her lower back as she slowly walks into the room. "I accept my punishment," she says calmly. "Eloise, have you lost your mind?" Chase hurries after her. "The punishment is having all ten fingers crushed in a finger clamp. Even a man couldn't endure that kind of torture! "Zander may be strict about the family rules, but you're his wife. He won't treat you like everyone else. Just beg him for mercy…" Eloise says nothing. She simply places her fingers into the clamp. The housekeeper pulls the rope tight, and a searing pain tears through her entire body. Cold sweat trickles down Eloise's forehead as her thoughts begin to blur. In this lifetime, she steals money twice. The first time is five years ago, when Zander is struggling to deal with the trouble caused by his sworn enemy. Eloise returns to her father, James Maguire's, house and takes the entire inheritance her mother left her from the family safe. Her father beats her so badly that she ends up with three broken ribs. She struggles back to Zander and hands him the bank card containing her entire fortune, telling him to use it to deal with his troubles. For once, even Zander, known for being cold and reserved, is visibly stunned.

On the seventh year after the breakup, I receive a package from Clarence Fraser. All 44 pounds of said package consist of the stacks of chat history I have with him in the past. Soon, Clarence's text appears on my phone screen. "Wanna meet up? I'd like to tell you something." I pause momentarily before responding with a "1". That number signifies rejection. Then, I turn my phone off. After wiping my sweat off with a towel, I pick up another crate of fruits and continue promoting them to the customers loudly, as though nothing has happened. It's been so many years, and I don't know why Clarence decides to text me all of a sudden. Similarly, he doesn't know that I've already become someone else's wife a long time ago.

At the hockey game, my neighbor Bianca confessed her feelings to the team captain, Hudson, right in front of everyone. The moment she finished speaking, someone dumped an ice-cold soda right over her head. "Look at this greasy freak. Does she really think she has a chance with our star player?" The bleachers instantly erupted into cruel laughter. I watched her soaked hair stick to her face as tears mixed with the dripping soda. I walked over and shielded her from the cruel jokes. Then I pushed through the crowd and offered her a tissue. She slapped my hand away. "Stop being so fake, Harper! You're the biggest hypocrite in this school!" The next morning, I woke up and realized I was in Bianca's body. Before I could process it, my phone rang. It was a FaceTime call from Bianca from my own account. On the screen, wearing my face, she gave a smug smile. "I paid a witch a fortune to swap our bodies." "Now it's your turn to see what it feels like to be a loser everyone steps on." "Your life as a top model is mine now. As for Hudson and his insane abs, I'm keeping them for myself!" I hung up, stared at myself in the mirror, and smiled. I finally escaped the toxic mother who was draining the life out of me. I was also totally free from that cheating jerk who only played games with my heart. This idiot had no idea what kind of nightmare was hiding beneath my supposedly flawless skin.

“Lenny, I’m not telling you to hand over your engagement to Ava for nothing. I will make it up to you…” The familiar voice echoed in her ears, and the pain made Lena snap her eyes open. In a daze, she realized with a jolt that she had been sent back in time to exactly one month before her wedding to Henry. Her father, Chase Johnson’s earnest, pleading expression was identical to the one in her memories when he had forced her to give up her engagement. “Fine,” Lena said, her voice slightly hoarse as she abruptly cut him off. Chase could not hide the joy on his face. “Lenny, you’ve finally come to your senses!” A cold, detached look flickered in Lena’s eyes, and her lips curled into a faint, mocking smile. “I want one billion dollars–” “One billion? Have you lost your mind?” Before she could even finish her sentence, her father's face turned a deep, angry purple, the veins on his temples bulging out. Lena casually tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, taking her time to finish the rest of her sentence. “Plus, a legally binding document cutting all ties with you. We will no longer be father and daughter.”

My Android Husband Cheated On our wedding anniversary, I waited at home from morning until well after dark. The dishes in front of me had gone cold no matter how many times I reheated them. My husband, Adrian Hart, finally came home carrying a shopping bag. Beside him stood his pregnant assistant, Rachel Palmer. She stroked her belly and gave me a smug, triumphant look. Adrian slipped an arm around her waist and spoke to me in a gentle voice. "Sophie, move out of the bedroom. Rachel is pregnant, so she and I will share it. That way I can take care of her." I froze, unable to believe what I was hearing. "You got her pregnant?" He nodded under my shocked gaze. But Adrian was an android. He could not possibly get a human woman pregnant.

Luna Smith was a famous tarot reader. When Dean Stark and I were going to register our marriage, she flashed three cards, saying that marrying this day would ruin his destiny and fortunes. Dean promptly called it off, and told me to wait a couple of days… which ended up being five years. When I got pregnant, she said that the child would be a jinx to its father, and I was hence forced to get an abortion… on four different occasions. When my mother was diagnosed with liver cancer, I begged Dean for $200,000 on my knees. Even before Dean said a word, Luna frowned and said, "Your mother and her family are jinxed. If the money changes hands, Dean's career will be over." Dean sighed as he pushed me away. "Death is inevitable. Just accept it." I finally went hysterical, but Luna slapped me across the face. "You're being hounded by jinxes. That's why things aren't going well for Dean lately!" Then, blushing as she turned to Dean, she said, "Just sleep with me once, and let your male vigor erupt to blow away the jinxes. That's the only way." Everyone else promptly told me to be understanding and think of the big picture, while Dean himself said, "I swear—this will happen only once, and I will close my eyes the whole time. "We will marry once it's over. You've waited a long time for this, right?" Hence, he scooped Luna up in his arms and strode into our bedroom. As everyone else laughed and cheered, I quietly left and took out my phone, texting the famous demon king ruling the city, "We should register our marriage today, as it says in the cards. Are you coming?"

After his eighteenth failed attempt to divorce me, Jesse Pellam suddenly stopped bringing it up. Before that, every single attempt had ended in complete humiliation and chaos. I had harmed myself, threatened to jump from a building, and plastered the company lobby with intimate photos of him and his female assistant, Gianna Seyfert. At a press conference, I had even publicly stripped Gianna, leaving her with PTSD. Jesse had every reason to despise me; however, he never mentioned divorcing me again. He came home on time every day and gave me full access to his phone. He checked in with me every hour to update me on his whereabouts. Even during his business trips, we stayed connected through video calls around the clock. But I still could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. Every day, I pressed him for an answer, asking why he no longer wanted a divorce. “Haven’t I done enough?” he asked. Yes, he was better than ever, almost too good to be true. It was not until he caught me following him again that he finally admitted the truth. With exhaustion evident in his eyes, he said, “I received a phone call from my future self, ten years from now. He told me that if I divorced you, I would regret it.”

My live-in husband used my family’s influence to climb all the way to the position of Deputy Fire Chief. Throughout our five years of marriage, he has stood me up on every anniversary by using work as his excuse. This year, he finally agreed to celebrate our anniversary with me. But he only did so out of guilt. He had manipulated me into staying abroad to handle matters for him, which made me miss saying goodbye to my sister while she was dying in childbirth. The dinner was just his way of pretending to be sorry. As our dishes were served, my husband saw a news report about a fire at a top-tier postpartum care center downtown. He immediately ditched me and rushed to the scene. The fire station headquarters was just one block over! And he had specifically taken leave that week. I accidentally answered a call on his personal phone, and that was when I realized why he had been away from me most of the time. This man would not even buy me a cheap birthday gift, yet he had spent a packet to book a stay at a postpartum center for his mistress! I had to see for myself what kind of woman would have him so spellbound. I was determined to make him pay back every single item he had gotten from the Grant family, with interest.

I've been with Christina Lockwood for nine years now, and she, a wealthy heiress, has just rejected my proposal for the 98th time. The reason she gives this time is as absurd as the first 97. "Liam, if you can accept that our kids will take my last name, then propose to me again three days from now. I'll say yes then," Christina tells me. Then she gets into Daniel Simmons' car and leaves with him, her childhood friend, while I remain down on one knee. In the evening, I receive an audio recording. In between Christina's panting, I hear her say sweetly, "Daniel, what should we name our future child?" "How about Christopher Simmons if it's a boy, and Danielle Simmons if it's a girl?" "Okay. Whatever you say." That night, I sit in the living room, smoking three packs of cigarettes. I end up listening to the audio recording 146 times. Once the sun has risen, I put out my last cigarette and send Christina a text. "There won't be a 99th proposal, Christina. Our relationship ends here."

I'm an orphan, and I spend all my free time volunteering at a nursing home. The elderly residents there feel sorry for me because I have no family, so they all treat me like their own granddaughter. Thanks to them, I have a pretty good life. That all changes when Jenna Olsen, the most popular girl in our department, uses her family's connections to take the spot I'd earned as one of Beyton University's top students. In front of the entire class, she tears my application to shreds and throws the pieces straight into my face. "Do you think an orphan like you can compete with me for this spot?" She pinches her nose and takes two steps back, looking at me with open disgust. "You spend all your time hanging around a bunch of old people who are practically on their deathbeds. You reek of old people! "You'd better know your place. Even if you take this all the way to the dean, no one is going to stand up for you." She folds her arms and gives me a mocking laugh. I bend down and pick up the torn pieces of my application, not bothering to say a word. What she doesn't realize is that the old people she looks down on are far more powerful than she could ever imagine. The old man I play chess with, Mr. Otis Larsson, is a former governor who once wielded enormous influence in the state. The old lady who dances with me, Ms. Nancy Jacoway, is a recently retired senior official at the Department of Education. Even Mr. David Wadsworth, who never stops trying to feed me snacks, is powerful enough to make the entire city of Beyton sit up and take notice.

Three years into our marriage, I finally learned from my husband. I went looking for love somewhere else. Three years ago, when his family went bankrupt, I handed him every cent I had. I nursed his dying grandfather. To support his entrepreneurial venture, I accompanied investors in drinking until I suffered stomach hemorrhages—time and time again. In the end, he honored his grandfather's dying wish and married me. Then he got blind drunk on our wedding day and walked out before the vows were finished. He said he hated me. Hated me for driving his childhood sweetheart Seraphina away. Hated me for costing him the only woman he ever loved. Our marriage was his revenge. Until the day Seraphina came home, and I slid the divorce papers across the table. The man who swore he hated me went red in the eyes, staring at the kiss mark on my throat…

On the Memorial Day weekend, Mason Hayes, the student my wife, Abigail Sullivan, had been sponsoring, insisted on riding with me back to his hometown. My car was small, the drive was long, and the trunk was already packed. There was no way to fit another adult, so I turned him down as politely as I could. That night, Abigail came home and stayed quiet for a long time before finally saying, "He ended up walking along the highway. His feet were torn up." I frowned, trying to make sense of it. "It's a holiday weekend. There are Ubers everywhere. He could've booked one in minutes." She nodded softly, the same gentle expression she always wore, and poured me a glass of water. I drank it. The next thing I knew, everything went black. When I opened my eyes again, I was standing under a brutal midday sun on an empty stretch of highway. Abigail leaned into Mason's shoulder, holding her phone up as she livestreamed. There was a faint smile on her lips, but there was nothing warm about it. "You said getting around was easy, right? Why don't you try walking home yourself?" The livestream was packed. The chat flooded with messages, people placing bets on how far I would make it. I looked straight into the camera, ran my tongue over my cracked lips, and said, "Done enjoying the show? Now come and pick me up."