Cerita Pendek Mistress Romance & Novel Face Slapping

Right after I had my uterine scraping procedure, Ian called. "Construction on Tina's new home officially starts today. I'm going over to keep an eye on things, so don't wait for me for dinner. "You're on your period today. Don't wander around outside for too long. Go home and get some rest." I touched my flat stomach and couldn't speak for a long time. All this time, Ian and Tina had been the design firm's poster children. One was a specialist in hard finishes, while the other was a prodigy in soft furnishings. Even our marital home had been designed by the two of them working together. But every time we discussed the plans, Ian would pull out another set of blueprints he had painstakingly refined and patiently explain to Tina the entire hardscape design he had created specifically for her new home. Every detail was a perfect replica of the dream house he and I had once imagined together. "Tina lives alone, and the house is small. Designing it for her is no big deal. "Besides, you're not pregnant yet. Once we have a baby, we can renovate the entire house, including the nursery, all at once. It'll save us trouble." For the sake of 'saving us trouble,' I had waited three years in a house where not even the walls had been painted. All I got in return were Ian's repeated excuses and empty promises. He didn't even know I was pregnant. He had mistaken the symptoms of my threatened miscarriage for a normal period. Tina's flirty voice came through the phone. "Ian, don't slack off! Come help me double-check the measurements we left for the bathroom cabinets!" The call ended abruptly. I took a deep breath as I listened to the harsh beeping tone. After waiting three years for this unfinished house, I suddenly didn't want to wait anymore.

The day the company is exposed for accounting fraud, my wife, Megan Grant, immediately holds a press conference to protect Liam Johnson. She shifts all the blame onto me, publicly declaring that I will be punished by the law. Liam puts on an act of heartbreak, saying, "Flynn, I warned you a long time ago that you can't just take the company's money. Why didn't you listen?" My coworkers stare at me in disbelief, expecting me to defend myself. Instead, I smile, take responsibility for everything, and resign. Megan thinks I've finally come to my senses and quietly promises me, "Once this blows over, I'll find a way to get your position back. I'll also tell everyone about our marriage. Consider it my way of making it up to you." However, there's one thing she doesn't know. In order to protect the company's interests, the chairman ordered me to install monitoring software on all the company's computers on the day we opened our doors. Once he retrieves those system logs, their lies will fall apart! When the truth comes to light, they won't just be facing massive financial fines; they'll be facing prison time too!

The night my girlfriend, Lesley Cohen—whom I've financially supported for years—officially announces her relationship with Archie Gould, the System determines that I have failed my mission and strips me of my "saint's heart". From that moment on, I stop caring about her future and focus entirely on my career, eventually landing a spot among the Fortune 500. However, once I withdraw all financial support, Lesley confronts me with tearful eyes. "You always said that loving someone means giving them everything they want or need without asking for anything in return!" I'm baffled. She is the one who finds my money filthy, so why is she suddenly being so calculating about it now?

The day before our wedding, my fiance, Brandon Foster, and his girl bestie pulled out their wedding certificate at the casino. Brandon shrugged as he said, "It's just a joke—we'll be divorced tomorrow, and everyone knows that Wanda and I are strictly platonic." Wanda Stiles, however, was smiling provokingly. "Come on—they say marriage is sacred, so you guys can quit gawking already and hand us our wedding presents!" Everyone around the table laughed, with someone saying, "Alright! I own a business in the West End, and you can have it for your wedding… if you beat me at the dice game. Table rules." I didn't argue and merely sat at the table, smiling faintly as I met Brandon's frown. "The dice roll decides the wedding gift, no? I'll play too."

When my boyfriend, Caleb Steele, loses his family and everything he has, I walk away. After he makes a comeback, I come to see him every year. The first year, I hold my daughter, Claire Sutton, in my arms. Caleb throws fifty thousand dollars at me and tells me to stay away. The second year, I bring my late-stage cancer diagnosis, and he doesn't even look at it. Instead, he gives me a hundred thousand dollars and tells me to disappear for good. In the third and fourth years, I vanish just as he wants. Then, in the fifth year, he gets a call from Claire. "Mommy, when are you bringing me dinner? I'm hungry."

During our beach vacation, my wife, Carla Locke, lets her guy best friend, Alex Dugan, rub sunscreen all over her. "What have you been eating lately? Feels like you've gone up a cup size." The moment I see Alex's hand lingering on Carla's chest, the drink slips from my hand and shatters on the ground. Carla gets upset and tells me off for being so insecure. "We're just messing around. Why do you always overthink everything?" Alex shoots me a challenging look. "Don't be upset, Hubert. Carla and I are just friends. Sometimes, I wish I'd been born a woman. Then, people wouldn't keep misunderstanding our relationship." Carla leans into his embrace and shakes her head as she looks at me. "I wish you'd stop being so sensitive about this. Stop trying to ruin our friendship." However, Carla and Alex don't know that I'm from another world. After completing my mission in the previous world, the system rewards me with one wish. Since they insist they're just best friends, I'll be more than happy to grant his wish to become a woman.

Yvonne Sharp, my fiancee, and I are at the city hall, intending to get our marriage certificates for the 27th time. The staff member has just called our number when Aaron Sutton, Yvonne's stepbrother, suddenly bends over and grabs his stomach. "My stomach is killing me, Yvonne…" Yvonne immediately supports him, saying, "I'll take you to the hospital right now." Aaron quickly shakes his head. "You don't have to do that. It's a very important day for you and Charlie, so I'll just tough it out, Yvonne." He keeps a tight grip on Yvonne's sleeve despite saying so. Yvonne furrows her brow and says, "You don't have to tough it out. I'll take you to the hospital this instant, Aaron." She hands me the queue ticket after saying that. I look at her and say, "It'll only take ten minutes to register our marriage. Is that too much to ask for?" Yvonne doesn't even spare me a glance. "You've already waited for this moment 26 times. What difference will one more make?" I let out a sudden chuckle after hearing how casual she sounds about it. It turns out that she has always known all along—she has just never taken my waiting seriously. "If we don't register our marriage today, there won't be a 28th time, Yvonne." Yvonne helps Aaron along. She doesn't even bother to look at me as she says, "That's enough, Charlie. I'll go take care of Aaron first." I look down at my phone and pull up the contact information of someone I haven't reached out to in a long time. "Grab your personal documents and get to the city hall within ten minutes."

My buddy, Jayden Jenkins, has come over to my place again to mooch a free meal. It is scorching hot outside, and I am sweating over the stove in the kitchen. Meanwhile, Jayden is lounging in the air-conditioned living room. After biting the tip off a strawberry, he pulls my wife, Willow Simpson, into his arms and casually pops the rest into her mouth. "Here, Willow. Help me finish it," he says with a wicked grin. "It's rare enough that this cheap bastard Caius finally buys strawberries. Now he'll complain that I wasted one if I don't finish it." I wipe the sweat from my forehead and glance toward the living room, just in time to see Willow swallow the half-eaten strawberry. The thing is, she is a serious germaphobe. We've been married for years, and even kissing me is something she rarely allows. I remember another sweltering evening. After playing basketball, I bought a Coke and offered her the half-finished cup. "Willow, you must be thirsty. Here, take a sip. It's nice and cold. It'll cool you down." She slapped the cup away and snapped, "Caius, do you have any idea how many kinds of bacteria are in saliva? Don't ever do something that disgusting again." On that crowded field, people stared at our exchange, some barely hiding their amusement. I froze, my hand still hovering near her forehead as I tried to wipe away her sweat. I knew I would never forget the humiliation I felt in that moment. But I told myself she was simply distant and hard to please. Again and again, I reminded myself not to be so sensitive and to respect her boundaries. Turns out, that wasn't the case. She can set aside her fear of germs. She just isn't willing to do it for me.

I was the famously sickly daughter of a great general. A cold breeze could make me cough blood. Unfortunately, I also had echopraxia, which made me compulsively imitative. Whatever I saw, I copied, and nobody could stop me. When I was three, one of my father's mistresses staged a hanging to win his attention. I thought it looked interesting, looped a sash around my own neck, and copied her. By the time a maid found me, my eyes had already rolled back. The physician forced three bowls of restorative down me through the night before he got me back. When I was five, my half sister threw herself on the floor screaming for candy. I copied her and stayed unconscious for seven whole days. My father even issued one iron rule throughout the Ashford estate: No crying. No tantrums. No dying in front of me. Then, at sixteen, an imperial decree married me to Crown Prince Adrian.

The day we go to pick out our wedding rings, I show up half an hour late trying to save five dollars on the cab fare. By the time I arrive, my boyfriend Travis White and best friend Evelyn Moon have already picked out two rings. They're too busy talking and don't even notice me standing behind them. "This 20 thousand dollar ring is your birthday present. And this 800-dollar one is for Sadie." Evelyn playfully punches Travis's arm. "Stop it! You've already been pretending to be broke to test Sadie for three years. Isn't that enough? "If you dare treat my best friend badly after getting married, you'll have to answer to me!" Travis sighs. "I checked her bank balance last night. She's only got two thousand dollars. She spends too much and doesn't know how to save." I freeze. So, the luxury purchases and property acquisitions I've seen on his phone aren't sent to the wrong person after all. "Whatever. As long as she doesn't get greedy when she chooses the ring, I'll tell her the truth at the wedding," Travis adds. But I think it's time to put an end to his little test.

My boyfriend, Callum Fletcher, is bringing me to meet his parents, but the venue is picked out by his childhood friend, Sasha Mercer. Sasha arrives fashionably late to the local steakhouse, where she gives Callum a playful punch. "I just mentioned it on a whim yesterday, but you actually held the gathering here? Vivian might get upset, you know." Callum gives her a teasing glance as he wipes down her utensils. "Vivian wouldn't mind that. She's not like you. You've been petty since we were kids." Sasha's face turns red, and she retorts in a small voice, "Who are you calling petty?" Callum's mother, Brenda Hayes, simply smiles as she watches them banter. She eagerly nudges the basket of dinner rolls in Sasha's direction, urging her to eat something while we wait for dinner to be served. However, Callum stops her. "We're ordering the ribs. If she fills up on dinner rolls, she won't have room for the protein." I stare at the dinner rolls piled up on my plate. I remember how I've been politely declining Brenda's offer just now. I've glanced desperately at Callum for help, but he just gives me a goofy grin. As it turns out, he actually does know how to defuse the situation, but he only does it for Sasha. Callum and Sasha exchange glances and smile at each other. I know that smile all too well. Callum is my and Sasha's superior, and every time he throws me under the bus to shield Sasha from the heat, they'll share that exact same smile. This time, I've decided I won't be going to the branch office with them anymore. Instead, I'll stay at headquarters and take Callum's place.

My husband, Benji Morrison, is a system guide from another world. His mission is to get me pregnant so that I can give birth to his successor. However, although I've already gotten pregnant seven times, I suffer a miscarriage each and every time. "Your uterus has been severely damaged due to the amount of times you've suffered a miscarriage," the doctor explains. I'm racked with guilt. I resign from my job and stay at home to focus on getting pregnant again. When I get pregnant for the eighth time, a comment appears before my eyes just as I'm about to share the good news with Benji. "She's so pitiful. She's nothing but a tool that the male lead is using to get together with his first love." "The vitamins are actually drugs that will trigger a miscarriage, but the female lead keeps thinking that she's the problem every time." "It's already the eighth time. If the male lead still doesn't return, he'll be stuck there forever." I freeze in place. Benji walks in while holding a glass of milk. He smiles at me warmly and says, "I've added some vitamins into the milk, Harper. Drink it while it's warm. It'll help you conceive." I reach out and take the glass of milk from him. My fingers are trembling slightly when I drain the entire glass in one breath. If Benji doesn't want to leave, he can stay here forever! My stomach begins to ache. I call one of the directors of my company, saying, "I want to take back Weller Group, Richard."

Everyone in high society whispered that Tristan Webster kept a tame, submissive trophy girlfriend on his arm. That image shattered at a yacht party when a newcomer pointed at me and asked the room, "Wait, isn't she the legendary woman who slept with Tristan's best friends in one night just to get back at him for cheating?" The room fell dead silent. Tristan's childhood friends sat around the poker table, their expressions unreadable. Tristan, however, simply swirled the wine in his glass and lounged against the leather sofa before casually beckoning me over. "Come here." I walked over without a word and lit his cigarette for him. "Sorry, she caused such a scene back then," he said smoothly, blowing a stream of smoke into the air. His tone gave nothing away. "She certainly gave everyone something to talk about. But after spending a year at the treatment center, she's much calmer now." "Definitely," someone quickly chimed in, trying to lighten the mood. "She's practically trained now." "Yeah." Tristan stubbed out his cigarette, then tipped my chin up with two fingers. "Next month, I'll finally give you the wedding you've been waiting for." "Okay." I looked into his deep, searching eyes and obediently pressed my lips to his. What he didn't know was that I'd stopped caring about that wedding a long time ago.

My boyfriend, Sean Conway, tells me he wants to get married and asks me to wear a wedding dress to the company's annual party. I think he's finally going to propose. So I show up in the most beautiful wedding gown I can find, bouquet in hand, and confess my love to him in front of the entire company. Suddenly, his sweet, innocent-looking secretary, Hannah Sloan, storms over and dumps an entire cup of coffee on me. "You shameless, ugly bitch! Just because you landed a nine-figure deal, you think you can steal my husband? You slut! Keep running your mouth, and I'll shut it for you!" Sean has always been a stickler for the rules, but instead of standing up for me, he accuses me of violating company policy and hands my project over to Hannah. Everyone looks at me with pity, waiting for me to make a scene. But instead of arguing or getting angry, I simply take off my employee badge and toss it to Hannah. "So you're the CEO's wife. My mistake. Consider my director position a wedding gift to you both." What Sean doesn't know is that Dad practically forced me to take on that nine-figure project in the first place. Now that I'm stepping down as project lead, Sean won't be able to move forward with the deal. And since he replaced the project lead at the last minute, his company will be in breach of contract. Bankruptcy will only be the beginning. He'll be left drowning in debt too.

When I found Silas Pembroke, he was carefully untangling a strand of another woman’s hair from his tie clip. The two of them were wrapped around each other, far too close to pretend otherwise. He let out a mocking laugh. “Jenna, what exactly are you going to accuse Sienna and me of this time?” Sienna Vale smiled sweetly. “Mrs. Pembroke, you stayed away longer than usual this time.” I steadied myself and said, “I’m not Jenna. I’m her twin sister, Summer Sinclair.” Silas burst out laughing. “What is this, your latest stunt?” Then his expression hardened. “Keep pushing me, and I can’t promise you’ll stay Mrs. Pembroke forever.” I only looked at him and said quietly, “Silas, my sister left three keepsakes behind for you.”

All 30,000 relief meals my company produced are deemed unsafe and destroyed in an incinerator. Jack Lumber, my husband and the deputy director of the city's Department of Health, is the one who orders them destroyed. The woman who reports my company is Shirley Watson, his childhood friend and a former investigative reporter. This is already the third time she has gone after my company. The first time, she reports one of my trucks for illegal parking, and Jack forces me to issue a public apology. The second time, she accuses me of violating packaging and labeling regulations. Jack immediately fines my company and orders us to suspend operations for a month. Every time, he takes her side and makes me pay the price. This time, a major disaster cuts off power and water in the region. I rush relief meals to the area overnight, but they block my trucks, claiming that my food is contaminated. I hold out the inspection certificates and plead with Jack. "People are waiting for these meals. If anything goes wrong, I'll take full responsibility!" Jack waves me off. "Shirley is a reporter. She wouldn't make something like this up. Destroy all the meals immediately!" Two days later, the lab report confirms that every ingredient meets safety standards. However, it's too late. The relief meals have already been destroyed, and accusations that my company sent contaminated food to the disaster zone are spreading online. My company is facing a massive online boycott, and our biggest clients are canceling their contracts one after another. Jack looks at the lab report, uneasy but still arrogant. "Shirley made a mistake, but she meant well." Finding this ridiculous, I pull off my wedding ring and say, "I've given you three chances. Let's get a divorce."

For three years, my husband and I had lived apart because of our long-distance relationship. Then I landed a bridal makeup job in the city where he often stayed for work. I planned to surprise him after I finished the job, but three days before the wedding, I sprained my wrist. I explained the situation to my client and offered her a full refund, but she refused. "Everyone only gets one special day like this in their life, Felicia! I want my husband to see me at my prettiest on the most important day of our lives! I don't wanna be anything less for him..." I couldn't convince her otherwise, so I decided to bring my apprentice, Dakota McCree, to apply the makeup while I guided her. Then I stepped into the reception hall and came face-to-face with a gigantic banner that made my blood run cold. The groom looked exactly like my husband. He even had the same name. Panicked, I spun around and scanned my surroundings. My own little brother was at the entrance, greeting guests. My childhood best friend was dressed as a bridesmaid, busy making sure everything went according to plan. Dakota hurried over to me with our cosmetics case, her face bright with excitement. "Come on, Felicia! The bride's waiting for us!" I stopped her, unwound the bandage around my wrist, and flexed my fingers. "Change of plan. I think this calls for my personal touch."

To help his childhood friend secure a spot in a high-ranking institution, my boyfriend, Frederick Linton, steals my academic report. The two of them use my work to publish a research paper before I can. Then, they proceed to accuse me of plagiarism. After they twist the truth and spread it online, I become the target of a vicious wave of cyberbullying. Eventually, the relentless harassment drives me into severe depression. Meanwhile, Frederick's childhood friend, Elaine Anders, rises to prominence in the academic world using my work. On the day Elaine receives her award, Frederick gets down on one knee and proposes to her. I, on the other hand, end my life by jumping off a rooftop. When I open my eyes again, I find myself back on the very day I finished my research paper.

Ronan Blackwell was wrapping his arm around some girl as they stepped out of the hotel elevator. I was sitting right there on the lobby couch, snacking on nuts. The second Ronan locked eyes with me, his face went paler than a three-day-old corpse. The girl in his arms reacted first, shoving him away with a sharp gasp. "Miss West, wait, it's not what it looks like!" she squeaked. I rubbed my forehead. "Alright, drop the act. You're practically bursting at the seams trying not to laugh." Honestly, it wasn't just her. I was barely holding back a massive grin myself. Ronan getting caught red-handed cheating meant I was walking away with ten percent of the family company stock. Jackpot.

My husband, Calvin Meyer, has been taking breakfast for a female coworker for three years. I only found out about it earlier today. He left his phone on the coffee table, and a message from her popped up on the screen. "The fried egg is a bit burnt today, but I still love it." I scrolled through their messages and discovered that he's been making breakfast for her every day for the past three years. He's been getting up an hour early every morning to cook for another woman, while I eat cold sandwiches from the convenience store. Because of this, I ask him for a divorce. But he only frowns, clearly unable to understand why I'm so upset. "You're divorcing me over something this small? Do you really have to make such a big deal out of it?" I don't argue or make a scene. Starting the very next day, I have lunch every afternoon with a male coworker who's been pursuing me for two years. Less than a week later, Calvin storms into my office and grabs me by the arm. "What's the meaning of this?" I pull my arm free and say, "It's just lunch. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"