Short Stories & Novels

To win Samuel Zane’s heart, I lost everything. My family was ruined, and I was forced onto an operating table so he could take my heart and save his adopted sister, Xenia Zane, whose organs were failing. At the critical moment, William Zane disguised himself as a doctor and rescued me. We left the country and started a new life overseas. I used all my points to change my target from Samuel to William. “Host, I need to remind you that if you fail again after changing your target, you will be reincarnated as an animal and never become human again.” I looked at William as he knelt before me with a ring in his hand. I said firmly, “I do.” But when I gave birth to our daughter, I saw two figures standing outside my hospital room. William handed our daughter to Samuel and said, “Samuel, you’re rushing this. We need to wait until her organs are fully developed before we can take them.” Samuel’s expression remained cold. “Thanks to your plan, we were able to grow a healthy, young heart for Xenia. Don’t worry. We can just use an organ maturation agent.” “But…” “William, don’t tell me you’ve fallen for that woman.” “Of course not!” I heard him deny it immediately. “I endured everything for Xenia.” The moment he finished speaking, the system’s robotic voice rang in my mind. “Host, your mission has failed. In one month, you will be reincarnated as an animal.”

To stop the Moonshadow Pack and the Black Pack from slaughtering each other, I volunteered to form a mate bond with Kael. He was the heir of the Black Pack and the boy who had grown up beside me. I had loved him for ten years. I believed that once we completed our mating bond, the hatred between our packs would finally end. After the ceremony, he held me for three days and three nights, refusing to let me go. Years later, Kael personally led the Black Pack warriors into my territory and destroyed my home. My father, mother, and brother had all died in the war. Then Kael leaned close to my ear and asked coldly, “Eileen, did you really think becoming my mate would make me forget that the Moonshadow Pack murdered my parents?” That was when I finally understood. Kael believed my parents had ordered his parents’ deaths. What he did not know was that the woman who truly killed them and started the war later became his Luna. After the war, Kael became the Alpha of both packs. He made Selena his Luna and locked me inside an abandoned dungeon, forcing me to repay a blood debt that had never belonged to my family. Whenever I tried to end my life, he ordered his men to dig up one of my relatives’ graves. “You do not get to die without my permission.” So I stopped fighting. I stopped explaining. It no longer mattered. Ten years ago, I swallowed a nest of blood worms to save his life. Now they had reached my heart. I would be dead in three days.

At the scene of a massive chain-collision accident, my police officer fiancé was being interviewed by the media. Facing the public’s praise for being “selfless and just”, he calmly stated that prioritizing the rescue of the female officer trainee riding in the same car was merely a police officer's instinct. It wasn’t until the cameras turned away that he tiredly rubbed his temple. He turned his head and asked the colleague beside him in a low voice, “Where is Lea? The core area was in critical danger just now, so I had to prioritize evacuating the injured Willow. Did the other teams manage to get her out?” His colleague looked completely taken aback. “Bro, your fiancé was trapped right there in your passenger seat! When everyone saw you carrying Willow out, we all assumed you were going to turn right back around to save her…” Shawn’s expression instantly twisted into a mix of fury and shock. Yet, he forced his emotions down and said sternly, “If that’s the case… then this is simply her fate as a family member of a police officer. By sacrificing herself to save those in greater need, she died an honorable death.” Meanwhile, I was sprawled in the freezing mud and water over a dozen meters away from the wreckage of the car. Just two minutes ago, the fire had engulfed the passenger seat. In a desperate bid to survive, I had used a shard of broken glass to slice through my seatbelt with my bare hands, crawling out of the sea of fire with a fractured right leg. At that very moment, what kept me awake even more than the excruciating pain of my broken bone was the death of my heart.

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 we took our engagement photos, the photographer said my smile looked a lot like my brother Wesley's. Stefani Lundberg, my fiancée, immediately had Wesley change into the same white tuxedo. "Perfect chance to get a few keepsake shots." When it was time to pick the photos, everyone crowded around Wesley's. Mom said he was born to wear a white tux. Dad said he looked more distinguished than me, the actual groom. Stefani studied the screen for a long moment, then pointed at a photo of Wesley looking back over his shoulder. "Let's put this one at the wedding reception. It looks great." I asked where my photo was supposed to go. Only then did she seem to remember I was there. "You and Wesley look so much alike. The guests won't even notice the difference. "Besides, he's never getting married. It's not every day he gets to wear a custom tux." I let out a quiet laugh. From the time we were kids, life had always been harder for Wesley. That meant I was the one who had to give in. If he wanted something, I was expected to hand it over. If he couldn't have it, neither could I. Even my wedding had to become the dream he never got. I slipped the only photo of Stefani and me out of the album. I was standing beside her, trying hard to smile. Now it felt like I was looking at strangers. Spring hadn't failed to come. I'd just spent too long standing in someone else's shadow, waiting for it. This time, I was done waiting.

In the third month of working the night shift at a convenience store, a woman with flawless makeup comes looking for me. Brenda Marsh, Adriana Hampton's secretary, eyes my grease-stained uniform with disdain and hands me a black card. "Mr. Graham, Ms. Hampton says the PIN is your birthday. Use it to buy some decent clothes. She's embarrassed to see you dressed like this." Over the years, plenty of wealthy women have tried to make a kept man out of me, the fallen heir. But there's only one person who throws money around like this, with that patronizing, holier-than-thou attitude. I let out a cold laugh and flick the card into the trash can right in front of Brenda. "Go back and tell Adriana Hampton this money is filthy. It's stained with my mother's blood. She better pray spending it doesn't bring the dead to her doorstep."

My roommate, Florence Myers—who happens to be from a low-income family—is obsessed with AI. She relies on AI to determine whether the food she eats will bring her good or bad luck, and she even lets AI plan her daily outfits. On our very first day of orientation, she refuses to lock the window, claiming an AI dating app has matched her with her soulmate. I warn her that our dormitory is located deep in the mountains and leaving the window unlocked is dangerous. Florence threatens to end her life if I don't let her have her way. "Cora AI said my true love will break through the window tonight!" I don't want to pick a fight, so I wait until she's sound asleep and quietly lock the window shut. However, when I wake up in the middle of the night, I catch a thief climbing in through the window. I'm about to call for help when Florence clamps her hand over my mouth, looking ridiculously excited. "Don't make a sound, Cleo! I just woke up to unlock the window, and he showed up! This is fate. We're meant to be!" Her cheeks are tinged pink. "If I go over and greet him right now, do you think he'll confess his love to me first?" Ignoring her attempts to stop me, I decisively call the cops and have the thief arrested. I think this matter's behind us, yet on the night orientation ends, Florence corners me against my bed, shoving the latest news headline in my face. "This is all your fault! The thief from that night is the richest man's long-lost son! You ruined my chance to marry into wealth!" The very next second, she strangles the life out of me. … When my eyes fly open again, I realize I've been reborn back to the very first day of college. This time, I scoff, grab my luggage, and walk out the door. Since Florence wants a love story that begins with a home invasion so badly, I'll gladly step aside and let her live out her dream!

After finishing the SATs, my class organized a picnic by the river. Just as everyone was enjoying themselves, Graham Spencer, our class president, suddenly suggested we go for a swim. "Let's experience the thrill of swimming in the middle of roaring river." Several clueless classmates eagerly agreed. Startled, I rushed to stop them. "This stretch of the river used to be an illegal sand-mining site. The riverbed is riddled with deep pits, hidden currents, and whirlpools." Graham only sneered. "You're a swimming champion, yet you're acting like a wuss. Did you buy that championship?" Zara Valentine, the school beauty, raised her phone and started recording me. "Can you believe this? Our school's swimming champion is actually a total coward. What a joke." Fine. If they were all so eager to throw themselves into the river, I'd see their end.

Five years after having a son with a feared mob boss, she wept until her eyes turned red by my hospital bed. Taking advantage of her business trip, I went to see my personal doctor to beg him to keep my terminal illness a secret. Instead, I overheard a conversation outside the door between her, our son, and her right-hand man: "You don't get it. He's just like Oscar when he was younger. Being with him feels like falling in love with Oscar all over again." "Yeah! He's way gentler than Dad. I like Daddy Theo way better!" It turned out that her "business trip" was straight into my personal doctor's bed. If that's the life she wants, she can keep it. I don't want this mother and son anymore.

When Lisa from Human Resources informs me that I'm being laid off, she casually mentions one more thing. According to her, I'm not a company employee—I'm just a temporary contractor. I freeze for a moment before nearly bursting into laughter. After dedicating three years of my life to the company, I discover that I have no employment contract, non-compete agreement, or confidentiality clause. To make matters even better, I am the patent applicant for the company's core risk management system, which has generated over a hundred million dollars in revenue. I am also the original owner of the source code repository. The higher-ups tell me to pack up my things and leave that very day, while the director who got his position through connections slams his hand on the table. "You're nothing without this company," he declares. I look at him and almost feel sorry for him. After all these years, someone has finally reminded me of how much freedom I actually have. Alright then. I'll leave—but I'm taking everything I own with me.

At my bachelor party the night before my wedding, my wedding ring starts talking to me. "In a few minutes, your childhood friend Christopher will hand you a hangover pill. Once you take it, you'll fall into a deep sleep and be taken into a private lounge. "He'll unlock your phone, take out a multi-million-dollar loan in your name, then hire escorts to stage a scandal that ruins your reputation." It goes on, "On your wedding day, your alleged sex scandal and crushing debt will be exposed. Your fiancee, Annabelle, will call off the wedding. "Your father, who rushes in from out of town, will die of a heart attack. Unable to bear the shock, your mother will jump to her death. "Debt collectors will hunt you down, and you'll contract a sexually transmitted disease. In the end, you'll die alone in a dumpster." That night's party was Christopher Larson's idea, and everyone here is a close friend or family member. I figure I'm just drunk and hearing things. But a second later, Christopher hands me a pink pill. "Take this hangover pill, Marvin. Big day tomorrow. You can't afford to mess it up," he says. He looks genuinely concerned, but my wedding ring suddenly heats up. "Don't trust him! Leave now, or you'll be completely ruined!" I sober up almost instantly and reach out to Christopher. "My phone's dead. May I borrow yours to make a call?" If he had already set a trap for me, there was no way he'd let me walk away. Then, I call my fiancee, Annabelle Sterling. She answers immediately, and her voice is tight with worry. "Chris?" Hearing her say his name like that makes my heart sink. "The wedding's tomorrow. Make sure you take good care of Marvin," says Annabelle. I let out a breath of relief, guilt creeping in. But my ring keeps getting hotter. A beat later, it says, "Annabelle is more than a month pregnant." I freeze in place as a chill runs down my spine.

My CEO girlfriend, Stella Nielson, wants to groom me into the most loyal and perfect boyfriend for her. So, she freezes my bank accounts, and I'm forced to report all of my expenses to her. I comply because I love her. I ruin my health for the sake of her career development, and now, I have to rely on expensive medications to even stay alive. My doctor says that my condition has severely deteriorated, and I require immediate treatment. But when I can't even scrape together 15,000 dollars for the surgery and call Stella asking for a loan from her, she mocks me instead. "Seriously? A grown man like you, asking me for money? Have you no shame, Noah Mendoza? I'm having cash flow problems at the company right now. I don't have any money to lend to you." She tells me not to be unreasonable, but she goes ahead and celebrates her childhood sweetheart, Damon Hayes' birthday on social media in an ostentatious manner. She even purchases a 50-million-dollar villa for him and books a lavish cruise party for the entire night. This time, I don't beg her for the money anymore. Instead, I decide to just disappear from her life.

My wife's first love—the man who had disappeared ten years ago—finally came back. She still believed I was the one who had torn them apart, and she hated me just as much as she had back then. To make him happy, she withheld the money my mother desperately needed for treatment and said to me, "Honey, I'm not heartless. But you ruined my relationship for money. You brought this on yourself. "Now it's time to pay for what you did. Kneel before Gideon, bow your head a hundred times, and say 'I was wrong' a thousand times. Do that, and I'll give you like, five or six million dollars, so your mom can get the best treatment." To save my mother, I slammed my forehead against the floor until it split open and apologized until my voice gave out. My wife was finally satisfied. She pulled five one-dollar bills from her pocket, tossed them at me, and burst into laughter. "I meant five dollars or six million dollars. You actually fell for it." I cried and begged her to at least give me back the money I had saved. My gravely ill mother needed it. She looked at me with nothing but contempt and kicked me aside. "It's been ten years. I thought you'd grown up by now. Instead, you're still the same. You'd even lie about your own mother being sick just to scam me out of money. You're a disgrace to her." To punish me for what she called my greed, she locked me in a walk-in freezer for ten hours. When I was finally let out, the only news waiting for me was that my mother had died. Then my wife sent me a six-million-dollar transfer. "This money is for your mom. Don't you dare keep it for yourself. I'll check with her myself to make sure every cent goes to her." Without even looking at it, I sent the money back. She never knew that the one who had betrayed her and ran away ten years ago was Gideon. The only reason I agreed to deceive her was to repay the debt my mother owed her family. Ten years had passed. The debt had finally been repaid. And it was time for me to leave.

The night I found out I was pregnant, my six-year-old pointed at a child influencer on his tablet and said, perfectly calm, "She's my little sister." I didn't know whether to laugh, so I flicked him on the forehead. The girl posted from Harborcrest, halfway across the country from us. Caleb had never so much as met her. "She's got millions of followers. Don't make things up. "You want a sister that badly? Should Mommy have one for you?" I watched him, nervous and hopeful at once, afraid I'd miss whatever crossed his face. Instead he pulled up one of her older posts, no expression on him at all. "The purse in this picture, that was from me. Dad says she's the only sister I'm getting, so I have to take care of her." My stomach dropped, and the smile set on my face. "Mom. Dad and I are tired of pretending." He put a hand on my belly and looked up at me with flat black eyes, nothing behind them. "I promised Dad I'd protect her. So you can't have another annoying baby. "You'll do what I say. Right?"

On the third New Year’s Eve since I reunited with my parents, I bumped into their former adopted son, who stole the happy life that I was supposed to have for the past twenty years. Adam Scott was once an arrogant, wealthy young man. However, he was now working as a food delivery rider. As he was more than ten minutes late delivering the food, he kept apologizing to me. “Sir, I’m really sorry. The roads are slippery because of the snow. I fell and spilled your food. “I can compensate you twice the amount. Please don’t leave a negative review for me.” Before I could speak, my parents already teared up and comforted him out of habit. “Don’t worry about the food, Adam. Are you hurt? It’s New Year’s Eve; come in and join us for dinner.” My hand tightened around the doorknob as I reminded them, “Mom, Dad, we only have enough utensils for three people.”

After my song was cut short at karaoke, I found myself back at the song selection machine. I just had to wait for 28 more songs until it would finally be my turn again. The next song was called "The Answer". My boyfriend, John Aldama, and my best friend, Selena Summers, gave each other a look of mild disdain but decided to sing the duet to prevent an awkward silence. Their voices, one cool and one sweet, complemented each other perfectly. Ever since high school, they'd been neck and neck on the honor roll, always vying for first and second place. Even after joining a top-tier company, they'd constantly bicker over projects. Even years after graduation, the people in our high school group chat were still "shipping" their "love-hate dynamic". No matter how hard I tried, I always remained the forgotten third person, an overlooked backdrop. Listening to them sing, I suddenly felt so tired. I no longer felt like singing the song that I had to wait endlessly for. I quietly deleted the song I'd selected and sent a confirmation to the email that asked me to be relocated abroad for work.

Anna Stark spent ten years finally winning Neil Irons's heart—an anonymous admirer bearing unrequited love, now at last Neil's fiancée whom he personally acknowledged. And yet, just two weeks before the wedding, she gave up. "Hey, chief," she said calmly, putting the filled form on the supervisor's desk. "I'm volunteering to transfer to the northwestern research center—just add me to the list." The supervisor looked up in shock behind his computer. "Wait, I thought you were marrying Neil next month!"

In my sixth year as a body diver, I finally tracked down my son's body. My husband had just come back from the construction site. That was when he calmly told me the truth. "Asher never died. I was the detective who lied and told you I couldn't find him. "I was also the city's richest man—the one who refused to pay your ransom to save him. "I never went bankrupt, either. Every time I told you I was off hauling bricks at some construction site, I was really just back at the mansion, hiding from the smell of the dead on your skin." It hit me like a blow to the head. I stood there, numb. My brother, Rick Forrest, was the one who spoke next. "That best friend you've been pouring your heart out to online this whole time—that was me. I'm also the one who made you think you'd gotten the kidnappers angry and gotten your son killed. "That's not all. Our parents didn't die in that kidnapping, either. The truth is, they were the kidnappers." Cold flooded through me. Not until I saw my parents standing there, alive, did the pain finally tear a sound out of me. "Why—" My parents' brows furrowed, distant. "It's because you made such a scene! You knew Valerie's position as a false heiress was already humiliating enough, and you still let her get into that car accident that left her unable to have children. "You owe her this much. As long as you stop going after Valerie, we can still be a family." I stood frozen where I was. Right as the pain peaked, a long-unheard chime sounded in my mind—the System, back after all this time. [Host, do you wish to abandon this redemption mission and leave this world?]

My genius lawyer boyfriend, Shane Falkner, is always white-knighting for my community college bestie, Sabrina Langford. Sabrina can't find a job after graduation, so Shane recruits her into the law firm despite fierce objections. I am tasked with reassuring our annoyed colleagues instead. At the banquet we're holding for our major clients, Sabrina orders all the child-friendly dishes, complete with juice boxes and everything. To win back our clients' trust, I am forced to go out there and get blackout drunk. Every time I cry and make a fuss about it, Shane just responds airily, "Marina, you know I love protecting vulnerable people. Moreover, if it weren't for the fact that you and Sabrina grew up together, I wouldn't have gone so far for an idiot like her." He's had me under his thumb, and I've had to grin and bear it for three years. But that ends today. Shane has forgotten about our anniversary. Instead, he tells me in a frazzled tone, "Your trainwreck of a bestie got in trouble again. I can't believe she misplaced something as important as the IPO filing drafts for Verity Group. She's really dejected, so I'm taking her out to get her mind off things. "Marina, I'm sorry, but I need you to figure something out." Looking at the resignation letter I've already written, I put on a faint smile. "Sorry, Mr. Falkner, but I'm afraid I can no longer help you with that."

Winter came again, and my husband and son broke out in rashes the moment the cold settled in. No doctor identified the allergen. To keep themselves safe, they drew a hard line and moved to a separate house for the season. It did not matter that I slipped and cracked my head open, or that I ended up in the hospital after a car accident. I fought every battle alone. We became strangers who shared a family name, and I became the thing that could kill them. I endured the bitter cold by myself, lonely and aching. I counted the days hoping that spring would bring my family back to me, until I overheard a conversation I was never meant to hear. "Daddy, we only get to see Daphne in winter. Cannot the allergies last a little longer?" Daphne Bullman, my husband's childhood sweetheart. My husband ruffled our son's hair. "All that allergy medicine is not good for you, and Daphne would worry. I will bring you to see her when I can." My son clapped his hands. "Yay! I love the mango candy Daphne gives me in winter, and I get to see her!" Mango. That was the fatal allergen I spent years keeping out of my son's reach. I stood in the freezing wind for a long time before I quietly walked home. Spring returned, and I stopped caring. "Eat whatever you want. If you think I am abusing you, call the police. I do not want custody anyway."