A Thousand Times Before

Sinopsis : Axel Dandion adalah seorang CEO yang berwajah rupawan, bersifat kejam, serta memiliki kecerdasan yang luar biasa. Karena kecerdasannya inilah dia terkenal di kalangan para pengusaha dan sangat ditakuti oleh musuhnya. Namun, siapa sangka dibalik kesempurnaannya itu, ternyata ia hanyalah seorang laki-laki yang gagal move on terhadap cinta pertamanya. Suatu hari Axel sedang menyetir mobil, tiba-tiba di tengah perjalanan, Eleanor melintas tanpa melihat rambu-rambu lalu lintas. Kejadian ini, membuat Axel dan Eleanor saling membenci di pertemuan pertama mereka. Eleanor Freedy adalah seorang gadis mungil yang tidak takut akan apapun dan memiliki prinsip yang kuat. Ia merupakan anak dari seorang mafia. Suatu hari takdir mempertemukan mereka kembali dengan Eleanor sebagai mahasiswa magang di kantor Axel. Sejak itu, mereka berdua dipaksa untuk terus bertemu dan saling menyapa. Tetapi ketika mereka mulai mengenal satu sama lain dengan lebih baik, benih-benih cinta mulai muncul. Malangnya, mereka selalu mengalami hal buruk setelah cinta pertama Axel muncul. Tak hanya itu, ternyata mereka berdua dihubungkan dengan takdir yang rumit. Bisakah mereka berdua bersatu?

I just closed a deal worth 50 million. The room did its job, so I went to the reception to check out, and I got myself a bottle of water worth 2 dollars. That very same day, I got an email from the company accusing me of misusing company funds. They canceled three months' worth of KPI from my records and fined me 5,000 dollars. I ignored that, thinking that it was a mistake some new guy in finance made. When I went to work the next day, my access card was denied. It was canceled. I couldn't even get into the building. Furious, I called my CEO fiance, but his secretary took the call instead. "How many times do I have to tell you to follow the rules when it comes to money? Did you tell finance about that bottle of water? No? Then that's against the rules! Everyone else follows the rules, so why can't you? You're a veteran!" The CEO chimed in, "Christina, you're a veteran of the company. You must be an example. You're not allowed back to work until you finish your 8000-word reflection and read it out loud at the all-employee meeting!" They tossed the phone aside, and a moment later, moans of delight and passion traveled through the air. Stone-faced, I hung up and called our competitor's CEO. "I've got a 50-million-dollar deal and a sales manager who just got fired for you. Are you taking that deal?"

The story is a mixture of fantasy, a bit of comedy, unconventional romance, and addressing issues that people encounter everyday rolled into one. This ought to leave meaningful lessons about love, one's existence, new beginnings , and dealing with the different nuances of life.

"So Marcus, this is the end?” Mia asked, sad it would be the last time she lay in his arms. Marcus, with his last breath, muttered, “No, darling, this is only the beginning…” In life, they shared an unbreakable bond, loving each other unconditionally. In death, they took a sacred oath and swore to find each other again. When heirs to two rival vampire communities meet at a ceremony, Leo and Cris are instantly drawn to one another, haunted by flashes of memories of their past lives. Centuries ago, they died as lovers, bound by an ancient oath to reunite in their next lifetime. Now reborn, Mia as a different gender, into separate families with deep-rooted rivalry, rich traditions, power, and affluence, their souls recognize each other—but everything else stands in their way. Torn between duty, desire and age-long tradition, they must risk everything to reclaim a love that defies time, gender, and tradition - fighting enemies within and without.

My mother was the best portrait artist in the police station. She had a strong sense of justice and brooked no evil. However, all I got was a sharp retort when I called her to save me. "You know it's your sister's coming-of-age celebration today, and you're cursing her? Kidnapped, are you? Fine, the kidnappers can kill you for all I care." She assumed it was a prank call. So, she refused to go to the police station and do her job. I wasn't saved in time and was tortured to death. When the DNA report came out, she came to the scene all wobbly. She drew a portrait of me with my bones as reference, her hand trembling all the way. "Jessica? It can't be her. This is a mistake!" She tried again and again. Yet, it didn't matter how many times she redid it as the portrait showed my face. My mother, who had hated me my whole life, teared up.

When I died with a smile on my face, right before my brother's eyes, he looked as if the anguish might tear him apart. Yet, for twenty-one years, he hadn't stopped wishing I would meet this exact end. It all traced back to my fifth birthday—the day I had innocently hoped our parents would come home from their business trip to celebrate with me. They rushed back that night but never made it. A car accident took both their lives. From that moment on, my brother resented me, despised me. He didn't just stand idly by as our cousin snatched up my work as her own; he encouraged it. And when my landlord threw me out, it wasn't a random cruelty—it was my brother pulling the strings. All he had ever wanted, from the very beginning, was to see me die a miserable death. But when he finally got his wish… why did he cry, pleading for me to come back, begging me to call him 'brother' one last time?

The emergency center I worked in went haywire as the typhoon closed in on our town. That night, my husband’s first love made seven emergency calls in a row to me. However, she did not say anything when I picked up. By the eighth call, I thought it was a prank caller, so I gave them a piece of my mind. Then, I heard my husband’s angry voice. “Melinda! This is the eighth time Sadie's called you for help! Haven’t you made her suffer enough?!” After that fiasco, he decided to avenge Sadie by taping my mouth, tying my wrists and legs up, and throwing me into our basement for three whole days, despite it being flooded with seawater, I begged for mercy, but it was to no avail. “You knew Sadie couldn’t talk because she hurt her throat, yet you still hung up on her! I'm going to make sure you feel the same hopelessness she felt!" Those three days left me with a collection of severe infections. I ended up having to remove my kidney. Even after all that, that man still had the gall to kneel by my bed and beg me to give him another chance.

My show-quality service beastkin doesn't like me. He only wags his tail for my sister. I then bring home a low-grade venting beastkin. But he's now so upset that he's nearly in tears. "Layla Manfred, there can only be one hound, and that's me!"

Having dated for five years and been married for seven, she had never missed his birthday in the past 12 years. The 12 gifts from previous years were carefully placed in the storage closet. However, this year's birthday gift...

Megan Hurley orchestrated a bullying scheme to drive a wedge between me and my childhood friend, Eugene. I fell into her trap as she intended, but only saved Eugene Carson. The thugs she hired, however, proved reckless. As a result, she accidentally died. This enraged Eugene to the point of hatred. He was convinced I had set up the bullying that led to Megan's death. On our wedding anniversary, he pushed me off a high building, his face twisted with relentless fury. "This is what you owe me and Megan. Sherlyn, you deserve to die!" When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day of the bullying. This time, I didn't intervene. Later, he knocked on my window in the rain, saying hoarsely in despair, "Sherlyn, why do you no longer care about me?"