But Whos Counting Novels & Stories

My daughter, Vivian Montiago, is born with a heart condition. To protect her, I decide to spend 200 million dollars on building a prestigious preschool for her in the company's park. I don't want her to be lonely, so I also decide to allow the other employees' children to attend the preschool for free to keep Vivian company. However, on the first day of preschool, Vivian's smartwatch alert keeps going off. When I rush over to the preschool, I find out that Vivian is all tied up and left to die under the hot afternoon sun. Her skin is red and blistering, and her lips are purple as she teeters on the edge of death. "Are you all blind? Call the ambulance!" I yell in anger, grabbing Vivian

Just then, the group chat for the concert's part-time workers was flooded with photos of Hannah at the concert. "I'm so jealous! She's Charlie Carter's superfan. She's never missed any of his concerts, and she always gets insider tickets somehow!" Hannah and I were living completely different lives. Most of the part-time workers in the group chat were Charlie's fans.

"She said we were destined to have no children, so she used her lifespan to trade for Brandon... The countdown was the countdown to her death, not Brandon's..." "Destined to have no children? But... but we had Heidi!" Mom covered her mouth in disbelief. I nodded too. Yeah, that's ridiculous. The countdown started as soon as I was born. How could they get it wrong? Dad paused when he heard this. He said doubtfully, "Maybe Mom was delirious from her illness?" Then, his eyes reddened again, "But, Brandon's..." "Impossible, we couldn't have made a mistake! I'm going back to get a clear answer from her!"

Her eyes were red, chest rising with every angry breath. "Cedric, who else are you thinking about? It's Reine again, isn't it?"

Tim frowned and turned to ask his gang, only to receive either a no or a headshake. "One." He began counting with an orotund tone. No one moved. No one spoke. "Two." The gang kept staring at the eccentric, long blonde hair figure, wondering what would happen on the count of three. "Three." As the counting reached three, they heard fingers flicking. The gang held their breaths, waiting to see what was to come. Even Sean peeked from behind the gap of the row of people to see the result. *Crickets* *Crickets* *Crickets*

We were relegated to a lonely table in the far corner. Vivian frowned and said, "It looks like we're the only ones at the very last corner table." And since the four of us had spent years at each other's throats, the four of us constantly sparked and clashed, making it impossible for anyone else to join us. In the end, it was just us at that table. The distant relatives hovered nearby but didn't dare sit with us. Mia blinked in confusion. "And it's literally only the four of us."

Half a glass of wine spilled down his pants, leaving a wet stain—who knew if it was wine or something else? Gina, clutching her face, which was now swollen like a balloon, shrank into the corner. Her scream got stuck in her throat, like a chicken being strangled. "Misunderstanding... It's all a misunderstanding!" Robert called out in a trembling voice. "I'm Robert Coleman from the City Agency's Construction Division! Did you guys get the wrong room? I'm one of you!" Just then, a stern-faced middle-aged man in a dark blue suit walked out quickly from behind the tactical officers.

Grandma's voice was trembling as she bellowed, "Linda Mills! Ash is your son, too!" Mom wanted to say something, but Grandma cut her off, saying, "I know Eli has a tragic fate, born with that cursed countdown. I also know you feel sorry for him and want to give him the absolute best to let him leave in peace."