Bias

Seven years into our marriage, my husband, Lucas Thorne, is hailed as a legendary astronomer in the field of astronomy. It is no secret that he absolutely adores me, his wife. He always keeps a polite, distant demeanor with those around him. Even when his new assistant, Serena Cox, asks for his number, he coldly turns her down. In the year he proposed to me, he named a star "LAW", which was an acronym for "Lucas Adores Wilma". Since then, every asteroid he discovers is named with initials that hold a special significance only the two of us know. To others, they might just be scientific achievements. But to me, they are unspoken love letters. This goes on until this morning, when I stumble upon an unfamiliar phone. I unlock it easily with my middle name, thinking it's yet another quiet gesture of his love. But to my horror, I find a string of explicit messages between him and another woman. The person who was at the receiving end of those messages was none other than… Serena, his assistant.

My husband, Tyler Stone, has been dead for seven years. One day, he suddenly comes back to life. Not only does he bring another woman home with him, but he even wants me to give up my position as his wife. "Ruth almost lost her eyes saving me, and I've promised to marry her. Sign the divorce agreement, and I won't kick you out of the house." I'm briefly silent before saying, "I've actually married someone else." He rolls his eyes. "As if. Everyone knows you're desperately in love with me!"

I'd been engaged to Ivan since we were kids. When he went off to the military, I stayed behind—ten years of caring for his paralyzed mom, putting my whole life on pause. By the time he came back, I was at the age where most women were settling down. And he showed up with someone else. Ivan laid it out, stone cold: "Nadia's my comrade's widow. If you want to marry me, you'll have to accept her too. Most of my pay goes to her. I promised I'd take care of her. She gets first pick of everything in the house. Don't like it? Then forget about getting married." I looked past him. Nadia stood there, tears dripping down her cheeks, playing the poor little victim. Right then, I ended it. No drama. No regrets. Signed up for the Rural Teaching Support Program the same day. Left love behind. Threw everything I had into teaching.

Samudera Gemintang Adnan, duda, 32 tahun, sudah berikrar untuk mencintai mendiang istrinya, serta bayi mungil yang hanya bisa ia lihat lewat foto usg. Tak akan ada yang lain seumur hidupnya selain keduanya. Dia cukupkan dirinya untuk mencintai dan merawat anak Kakaknya. Namun berbeda dengannya, keluarganya tentu tak mau Samudera melewati harinya sendirian hingga tua. Mungkin saat muda ia akan bisa melewati kesendirian itu, tapi sepi karena kesendirian sangatlah menakutkan bagi kedua orang tuanya. Di Tempat lain, Diani Abhimaya, single, 29 tahun, kehidupan membuatnya berikrar untuk menyukai siapapun. Ayahnya yang berselingkuh, suami kakaknya yang melarikan diri setelah kakaknya divonis tak lagi bisa hidup normal laki-laki beristri yang mendekatinya dan menganggapnya wanita murahan. Bagi Diani semua laki-laki tak bisa dipercaya. Keduanya bertemu karena dipaksa oleh keadaan. Memaksakan hidup yang tak pernah mereka bayangkan. Bisakah keduanya bertahan?

My father died of a serious illness. One day before his funeral, my fiancée returned home to get married to her crush. When I confronted her about her actions, she got annoyed with me. "His father has cancer. His last wish is to see me marry him.” "I just want to do a good deed. Can you stop being so selfish?" When I called her that night, it was her crush who picked up the call. "Helen's showering right now. I'll pass your message to her." I said nothing. All I did was hang up calmly. Later that night, my fiancée finally called me. She sounded exhausted. "I'll be having my wedding reception soon. Don't bother me with your dad's funeral." This time, I continued staying silent. However, I got rid of my engagement ring and canceled all of our engagement plans.

It was Christmas Eve. Once again, my parents left me alone at home, chasing triple pay at work. However, after twenty years of the same lonely holiday, I couldn’t take it anymore. I didn’t want to sit in the quiet house by myself again, so I packed up some sandwiches and went to them. What I didn’t expect was to see them stepping out of a luxury car, arms linked with a boy who looked about my age, laughing like they didn’t have a care in the world, heading straight into a five-star hotel. “Mom, Dad, is it okay to leave Suzie all alone at home like that?” My mom waved it off and said, “It’s fine. She’s used to it.” My dad just brushed it off with a chuckle. “She’s nothing like you. You're our real treasure.” Upon hearing that, I turned and walked away. They'd been pretending to be broke all these years, lying to me about working overtime, about scraping by. Well, fine. If they don’t want me, I’m done wanting them, too.

All it takes for me to be locked inside a sauna for eight hours is an accidental splash of hot water on Wayne Miller's secretary's hand. Right before I lose consciousness, he finally orders someone to let me out. He hisses, "Consider this a warning. If I ever see you lay a hand on Naomi again, I won't let you off so easily." I lie on a stretcher and answer with quiet composure, "Understood."

Disangka berbuat mesum, Damay digrebek di gubuk kosong dan dipaksa menikah saat itu juga dengan lelaki yang penampilannya seperti berandalan. Damay makin dihina saat lelaki bernama Saga itu hanya mampu memberi mahar seratus ribu rupiah. Perempuan murahan, membawa aib keluarga dan segala macam hinaan lain. Namun, saat perwakilan keluarga Saga datang, Damay baru tahu kalau ternyata suaminya mampu membuat keluarga dan orang-orang nyinyir itu bungkam. Baca kisah Saga dan Damay di cerita ini yuk ....

Ajeng memiliki tetangga baru yang memiliki sifat sangat menyebalkan. Bukan hanya sering memanfaatkan kebaikan Ajeng, sang tetangga juga sering berusaha menjatuhkan nama baik Ajeng di depan orang lain. Anehnya, suami Ajeng sering diam bahkan cenderung membela sang tetangga yang tak lain saudara sepupunya. Bagaimana sikap dan cara Ajeng menghadapi sikap tetangganya yang luar biasa itu?

'Terus pacar lo ...' Cia terkejut, Ferry bahkan tau bahwa Cia memiliki pacar, 'namanya Gevin kan.' "Iya ..." dia tak bisa mengelak. 'Anaknya Bernard? Lo serius pacaran sama dia?' Jika Cia berkata bahwa Gevin tau rahasiaya, pengacaranya itu pasti akan mengamuk, Cia harus mencari alasan. "Iya, gitulah." 'Lo tau, selain lo, dia punya pacar lebih dari 3?' Cia tau Gevin brengsek, tidak perlu di ragukan lagi. 'Putusin dia sekarang juga, nggak ada gunanya Cia. Ini bukan waktunya buat pacaran.' Cia tau itu, dia yang paling paham situasinya. "Gue ... nggak bisa." Dia sudah berjanji, memberi waktu 3 bulan pada Gevin. "3 bulan." 'Apa?' "Kasih waktu gue 3 bulan buat mutusin dia." Sekarang yang bisa dia lakukan hanya bertahan. Dia tidak boleh menyukai Gevin sedikitpun, walau bagaimanapun, Gevin adalah pria brengsek yang harus Cia hindari. Bagaimanapun caranya.