Bleach In The Gas Tank

"Quinn, I accidentally hit someone when I was driving earlier. I think… I think it was your son!" The day after my friend, Owen Jolin, gets his driving license, he insists on driving to the kindergarten to pick up his son by himself. I advise him to spend a few more days practicing his driving skills, seeing as that road is always packed with trucks. But he just rolls his eyes at me. "Don't worry about me. I'm super good at driving, you know!" After that, he stomps on the gas pedal and speeds away in his car. But a short while later, he calls me on the phone, and he sounds extremely frightened. He tells me that he has hit someone outside the kindergarten. He said the child is completely drenched in blood, and he somehow looks like my son, Elliot Shelby. I'm stunned, to say the least. Elliot has come down with a fever today, so he's skipped school for the day. Then… who on earth did Owen kill?

When I'm on my break, I decide to help my neighbor, Yvonne Cook, fix the gas valve, which has been leaking gas. But she instantly lodges a report, saying that I've gone against the rules. She demands compensation for the shock that she's suffered as well. I don't bother defending myself. Instead, I just write a reflection report. After that, my squad leader sentences me to disciplinary confinement. Yvonne wastes no time gloating in the tenants' group chat. "It's time to teach these power-abusers a good lesson, anyway!" Three days later, a fire breaks out in Yvonne's apartment. Thick plumes of dark smoke keep rising from the burning apartment. Yvonne wails as she bangs on my door and pleads with me. "Please crack open the door and put out the fire!" I can only sigh from behind my front door. "I'm under disciplinary suspension right now, so I can't break protocol. You should wait for the fire truck instead."

I, Cassandra Channing, don't stop my fiance, Hades Emerson, from rushing into the flames to save his non-biological niece, Olivia Emerson, this time. Instead, I watch as the fire swallows him whole. In my past life, a fire broke out at the hotel on our wedding day. Hades and I escaped in time, but Olivia was trapped inside. Seeing the flames grow bigger, I did everything I could to stop him from charging in to save her. When the fire was finally extinguished, Olivia was dead. Hades claimed he didn't blame me for the incident, and purchased diving tickets for me and our son on our third wedding anniversary. When we were 300 feet below sea level, he ripped out our oxygen tank and snarled, "You're the reason I couldn't save Olivia back then. Now, a life for a life." Crying, I begged him to understand that our son is innocent, but he swam away without looking back. In the end, my son and I suffocated to death. After dying, I learned that Hades had always been in love with Olivia. He hated me for stopping him from saving her. He blamed me for causing him to lose the love of his life. I am back on the day of the fire when I open my eyes again.

I accidentally ruined the cake at the fake daughter's birthday party. As punishment, my parents and brother locked me in the basement. "You’ve let your jealousy ruin a perfectly good celebration. Stay here and think about what you’ve done!" they shouted. They left me in the basement and went off to the Maldives to throw another birthday party for the fake daughter. When a gas leak occurred at home, I was still locked in the basement. As soon as they remotely turned the lights on, the whole house exploded, taking my life with it. After my death, my spirit drifted over to where my family was celebrating. I saw them gathered around the fake daughter on a beach. When a luxury three-tiered cake was brought out, they watched her make a wish with a smile. The fake daughter put on a show of concern about me. "Darling, you’re too kind-hearted. People like her deserve to be locked up and taught a lesson. Let’s see if she dares to take anything from you again," they said. Hearing that, I completely gave up on my family. When they returned home and saw the destroyed house, however, my parents and brother went mad.

Jack Saunders wanted one last hurrah before taking the mantle of DS Oil & Gas, the billion-dollar company that his father founded. His friend, Owen, let him borrow his mansion on a tropical island so that he could throw a final party before “marrying” the business that would dominate the rest of his life. He brought his secretary, Brandy, hoping that he could kindle a relationship that would last through the long days and nights of running a company. However, while the party was great, the gold digging woman he brought was not, and Jack resigned himself to a lifetime of loneliness. That was until he took a walk down the beach and met her. A woman who didn’t recognize him from the tabloids and only saw him, the man behind the money. Of all the women Jack had ever met, there was nobody like Emma LaRue. With one pretend marriage ceremony, she would change his life forever, and become the only one he ever wanted to give his saltwater kisses to. This novella is the first half of Saltwater Kisses written from Jack’s point-of-view, with a few bonus scenes thrown in as well.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, I took my boyfriend's sister to his flashy new influencer hub. Fresh off brain surgery, Benedetta Griffin needed a break from her recovery, and I hoped the trip would lift her spirits. In the hub, a streamer was hawking a face cream like a carnival barker. "Listen, fam! The boss lady is slashing prices. Get this $3,800 cream for just $398 today!" Benedetta tugged my sleeve. "That cream is bad news." She'd interned at the FDA last summer and could spot a scam from a mile away. "It's packed with steroids. Long-term use will ruin your skin." Driven by her sense of justice, she marched up to the streamer. "You can't sell this unlicensed junk. The steroids exceed legal limits. Pull it from the shelves." Morgan Lamb froze, but then her fake smile twisted into a scowl. "Who the hell are you to trash my product?" Benedetta didn't back down. "You're scamming people, and you know it." Morgan planted her hands on her hips. "I'm the boss lady here. How dare you slander my brand? Nobody leaves until you cough up $500,000 for damages." "Boss lady?" My stomach churned. My boyfriend's sudden venture into the streaming industry now made sense. He was sinking money into this hub to bankroll his lover. I fumbled for my phone to call him, but Morgan was faster. "Babe, get to the hub. Two haters crashed the party, trying to tank our business."

I knew perfectly well that open flames were forbidden at a gas-leak scene, yet as a firefighter, I still backed my girlfriend's childhood friend when he insisted on lighting a cigarette "to calm his nerves." In my previous life, a sudden gas leak erupted during a gathering. Her childhood friend insisted on smoking to steady himself. I slapped the lighter out of his hand and yelled at him for trying to get us all killed. Humiliated, he ignored everyone's attempts to stop him and stormed outside—only to be crushed by an advertising board blown loose by the explosion's shockwave. Later, when I saved a child who had fallen from a building and was left hanging in midair myself, my girlfriend—my second-in-command—maliciously cut my safety rope. She stared at my corpse and said, "If you hadn't humiliated George in front of everyone, he wouldn't have died." When I opened my eyes again, I was back in that room thick with the stench of leaking gas.

Celia never wanted trouble, just a quiet life, working hard to support her younger brother. But trouble finds her when Rafael, a ruthless mafia boss, walks into her gas station one night. He’s dangerous, untouchable, and completely uninterested in attachments, until she becomes the bait in an ambush meant to take him down. Rafael should have walked away. Instead, he kills for her, rescues her, and drags her into his violent world. Celia fights him at every turn, refusing to be just another possession. But with enemies closing in and no way back to her old life, she has no choice but to trust the man who claims to own her. What starts as a battle of wills turns into something far more dangerous. Celia is no longer just a captive, she’s becoming Rafael’s greatest weakness. And in his world, weaknesses get people killed. But Rafael doesn’t care. He’ll burn his empire to the ground before he lets anyone take her from him.

She’s the Editor-in-Chief. He’s the CEO who destroyed her heart. A year ago, August Wilmer walked out on Remy in the pouring rain, leaving her with nothing but devastation and a promise to herself: never again. Now, Remy is the successful Editor-in-Chief at the Daily Chronicles, a master of control. But her meticulously built world crashes when August returns as the company’s new CEO—and he’s engaged to a powerful heiress. Enter Cory, August’s charming stepbrother, who has patiently pursued Remy since the day August left. When the competition between the two brothers reaches a boiling point, Cory proposes a shocking solution to help Remy save face and protect her heart: a fake engagement, complete with a binding contract. Their sudden, high-profile 'relationship' successfully throws August into a jealous tailspin. But in the shark tank of the corporate world, Remy's integrity is questioned, forcing her to ask if her career—and her heart—can survive the dangerous game she’s playing. As the fake relationship starts to feel dangerously real, the Wilmer family’s secrets begin to surface. Remy realizes the mysterious circumstances of August’s departure, Cory’s devotion, and even her own job, are all tied to a painful, decades-old corporate conspiracy. To survive this war, Remy must choose between the brother who seeks to prove his love and the one who is fighting to reclaim her—before a legally binding contract seals her fate forever.

On the day there was an assassination attempt on the Don, my husband, the head of security for the Russo family, was busy coaxing his mistress, who had lost her temper and left. I did not call him for help but used my body as a shield to protect the Don while I was eight months pregnant. In my past life, my husband left his mistress behind and came back with his team of bodyguards to save the Don after I called him for help on the phone. My husband ended up saving the Don and was rewarded by the family with a promotion, but his mistress was killed in the process. Although my husband said nothing about it, he threw me into the shark tank on the day I was in labor. I was covered in blood when I looked at him for an answer. However, all he did was stare coldly at me. "Why did you have to get me to save the Don when he had so many other bodyguards to protect him? You forced me to come back because you're a materialistic woman who only wants fame and fortune! If it weren't for your phone call, Aurora wouldn't have died! You must pay for everything she suffered!" I ended up being torn apart by sharks, and even the baby inside my belly was not spared. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day of the assassination attempt on the Don.