7 Years Old

All her life, Nicole was told that a woman isn’t supposed to have a voice or speak up for herself. She was raised to obey and to say yes to everything they wanted, and she did just that. She said yes to them taking everything from her and agreed to marry the man her family chose because he was deemed the right match to help the family business. They told her he was the best man for her, and she believed them. She gave in back then, but no more. All they said were lies. He wasn’t the right one for her, nor would he ever love her as much as she loved him. Or was she mistaken? In a maze of deceit and manipulation, she decided to take control of her life and end it all. They think she’s powerless, but she’s not. As Nicole embarked on her new journey, she faced several unexpected challenges. Hidden truths from her past came to light, alongside dramas and plots from those who wished her harm. Could Nicole put her past behind her and embrace the future, or could she get the love she had wasted for so many years?

赤城和也（あかぎ かつや）との結婚登録を約束されながら、七度目もすっぽかされた日、私はついに全ての縁を断ち切った。 友人たちの集まりには、彼が来るなら私は欠席する。 母校の記念祭で彼が演奏すると聞けば、私は早々に席を立つ。 会社が彼と契約するとなれば、即座に辞表を提出した。 大晦日の夜、彼が我が家に挨拶に来ても、友人訪問を口実に外出した。 電話番号はブロック、SNSは削除——完全に清算したのだ。 私から連絡することはなく、彼と顔を合わせることもない。 三十年にわたる人生の大半を、私は彼に恋い焦がれ、彼の世話に明け暮れてきた。 七度目の婚姻届提出の約束を破られたその日、ようやく私は目が覚めた。 こんな人生、もう続けられない。 たとえ独りぼっちでも、虚しい約束で空っぽの部屋を見つめる日々よりはましだ！

ย้อนเวลาไปสมัยต้าชิง แต่ไม่ใช่ปู้ปู้จิงซินไม่มีหม่าเอ่อไทลั่วซี มีเพียงหมาน้อยเก๊ามู่เฉินที่จะมาสร้างความวุ่นวายพร้อมกับองค์ชายที่งอกมาอีกหนึ่งองค์

During a turf war, I took a bullet for Daniel Wilson. When I woke up in the family hospital after three years in a coma, I discovered that Eva, the showgirl I'd saved from a black market auction, had usurped my place in the Wilson family. My husband Daniel, the family's Underboss, saw that I was awake, and his first words to me were: "The entire underworld recognizes Eva as the woman by my side now. Why did you have to wake up at a time like this?" "Alice and I both love her. She's the one who's been by our side these past three years. And you? You've just been a body in a hospital bed, absent from our lives." "We're through, Sarah." Watching the man I once loved so deeply speak such heartless words, I didn't put up a fight. I simply nodded and gave him what he wanted. But he had no idea the Wilson family was about to burn to the ground.

Buried deep in the Aster estate was the Heartwood—ancient, sacred, mine. Told my husband, Julian Aster—back when he actually listened—that if it ever fell, I'd die with it. At first, he freaked out. Flew in glacier water, hired a whole squad of plant experts to nurture it 24/7. Then one day, just because his childhood friend—Isabella Duvall—got a scratch from the bark, Julian had the Heartwood ripped out. The second it crashed, I choked on glowing blood—ichor. My power? Gone. Barely standing, I grabbed his arm. "You knew. If the Heartwood dies, I—" He laughed. Straight-up mocked me. "Sera, come on. That fairy tale? Only Grandma still believes that crap. Is that mayo on your mouth? Relax—it's a tree. I'll buy you a forest if you want." Overnight, my hair turned gray. Skin cracked. Eyes dulled. Still, I dragged myself to his grandmother, Henrietta. "I kept your family safe for two hundred years. That's why the Asters thrived. But the Heartwood's gone. Debt's paid. One day left. Whatever happens next? Not my problem."

For the hundredth time, my dad hints at us that he really wants to become a grandfather during New Year Eve's dinner. Lydia Cooper, my wife who has insisted on living a childless life for the past decade, just smiles before placing more food on his plate. After dinner, she ducks out to the balcony and murmurs into her phone, "Be good, now. Mommy will visit you a few days later." I can feel my blood running cold in my veins as I stand in the living room with a glass of water. As I approach Lydia, I do my best to keep my voice light and teasing. "I just heard you say the word 'mommy.' Do you have an illegitimate child out there somewhere?" Lydia rubs her nose, her tone now awkward. "You might be hearing things. It was just my friend's child…" My heart plunges into my stomach pit at her words. I've been in love with Lydia for ten years. It's only natural that I know how she acts whenever she's lying.

In my previous life, my brother and fiancé teamed up to sabotage my company for the sake of my so-called best friend. After I went bankrupt, they stood beside her watching me collapse in the pouring rain, laughing mockingly at my pathetic state. "Linda Turner, you look as pathetic as a drenched dog!" they sneered. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the project bidding meeting three years earlier. In my previous life, when my company was just starting out, my brother and fiancé had warned me against using the Turner and Peterson family connections. They claimed it wouldn't be fair to others, but then turned around and handed projects to my best friend under various pretexts, just to see her smile. Now that I was back, I watched them secretly manipulating things just like before, giving my projects to my best friend. I finally gave up on them completely. When they found out I was leaving the country, my brother and fiancé set off fireworks all night, celebrating that they'd finally gotten rid of me, the burden. But three years later, at the Trada Corp's bidding meeting, I took the stage as the CEO's wife—and they couldn't hide the redness in their eyes.

　惑星考古学者ミリアム・ヴァシュティが発掘したのは、三千年前の「雅歌」――だが、そこには見たことのない一節があった。「あなたの声は計算されず、あなたの息は測定されず」。 　謎めいた遺伝子アーキビスト、アデム・カインとの再会。測定できない違和感。聞こえない心拍音。そして、政府の「ヒューマニティ測定」が下した判定――測定不能。 　自分は人間なのか？　それとも――？ 　真実の鏡が映し出したのは、三千年前に失われた子供の記憶。人間と機械の境界で苦しんだ、オリジナルの自分たちの姿。彼らが遺した問いかけ。 　「測定は愛のように愚かであり、愛は測定のように確実である」

Gia Glass. But I'm not made of glass. I've mingled with sharks and wolves all who have the intension of swallowing me whole. I'm drowning in debt and the only solution I have is to marry a ruthless loan shark or become a high class proustite. That's until Bradley Wolfe shows up in my life, he doesn't save me, but I will have to marry him in order to save my estranged father from his own harrowing fate. Bradley is everything I feared he would be, but in the end will he be my saving grace when my world continues to spiral or the thing that pushes me down? Book #2 Sold for Gold & Bells (Lilly's Novella) Emilia or Lilly as her friends call her is meek, predictable and does everything to make everyone else happy. When Rocco a loan shark recognizes her at her best friend's wedding it sparks a passion that should never happen. Lilly finds herself in a web of lies she can't get out of. It gets worse when her boss leaves her thousands of dollars in debt before he flees the country. All that lands her back into Rocco's arms and living a double life to clear the debt. Will good girl finally break free and choose passion and adventure or will the dangers of the new world she's found drive her back to safety?

From Honest Trailers: Follow the girl with Stockholm Syndrome, Marina, the idiot who has a mate, but ends up falling in love with her captor instead. Because bad boys are sexy. 7/5 Would write again.