Cambrian's Omniverse (a Collection Of Short Stories)

I died on my birthday, but neither my parents nor my husband noticed. They were too busy pouring all their attention into planning my twin sister, Esme Shaw's, birthday party. While she was surrounded by people helping her pick out a gown, I was tied up and thrown into the basement. With what little strength I had left, I forced my broken fingers to press in the code—9395. It was a signal my husband, Edwin Grant, and I had once agreed on. It was a straightforward way to call for help in the event of danger. I never thought I would actually need it one day. But when I sent it, he didn't believe me. His reply was cold, "Claudia, just because I didn't take you shopping for a new dress, you've decided to put on a show? "You can still wear last year's gown. Stop making trouble. I'll see you at the party later." What he didn't know was that Esme had already shredded that gown into pieces. And what he couldn't imagine was that the moment after he hung up, I was already gone. So, when the celebration began, I never appeared. But when everyone saw the birthday gift I had prepared for Esme ahead of time, the entire room lost its mind.

"Are you sure you want to change your name, Ms. Anderson? You'll have to change your degree certificate, documentation, and passport once you do." Noelle Anderson nods. "I'm sure." The employee tries to talk her out of it. "It's quite troublesome for adults to change their names, and your current name sounds nice. Are you sure you don't want to think about it?" "No, I'm done thinking." She signs the form. "Sorry for the trouble and thanks." "Alright, then. The name you're changing to is… Aria Byrd, right?" "Yeah." Aria Byrd—it means a flight to freedom.

For two years, Rivera Royce lived in Italy with a man she thought was her husband. Her real husband, Reagan Royce was in prison in Italy and the man she lived with was her husband's best friend, Luke Ivan. On the day that her husband was released from prison, Luke finally broke the news to her. When Reagan Royce reappears, everything changes. He seems cold, distant, controlling, cruel, and impossible to trust, yet she feels drawn to him. But Reagan carries a burden Rivera cannot see. Will their love survive the multiple tests that will come or has she really fallen for his best friend Luke who she spent the past two years with?

“Your body belongs to me, Kitten.” He rasped out, cold index finger reaching out to trace over my fluttering pulse. I took an hesitant step backwards, but he took one forward, closing in on me even further and making my breath hitch. “Say it.” I gulped and averted my gaze instead, clutching on my towel harder. His grip on my chin was firm as he tipped my head upwards. I trembled in immense fear. “My b- body belongs to you.” I stuttered shakily, and a dark grin broke out on his face, making my blood run colder. “That’s right. Now, take this off. I don’t think we’ll be needing this tonight.” —— When an underboss’ territory gets raided and his wife and eldest son gets captured, what better way to rectify the situation than to seek help from the most popular Mafia Don in Italy and give his only daughter away in exchange for said help. Catherine has a deep rooted fear of men, and had secretly planned on eloping before she comes of age in which her hand would be given out in marriage, but when the unexpected happened and she had to be the sacrificial lamb, she knew her entire life was doomed. Damien’s was cold, ruthless and emotionless. He had no idea of what to do with his new wife who trembled around him like a lost kitten– but, he knew he could never let her go. Ever since he set his eyes on her and saw the tears running down her flushed cheeks, he knew he had to have her, protect her and keep her all to himself. That might just be hard to do, since danger was never, ever far away from him.

Ethan Billionaire Ethan White was only in Colorado to support a friend. Without his help, Mia’s fundraiser for the kids could pull in less money. There was no way that he wanted to run into an old flame. Not at all. Well, maybe just a little… Laura Laura Corbett hated a certain billionaire with every fiber of her being. She thought he crushed her heart on purpose. So when he showed up at the same charity fundraiser that she was working, she thought it was the worst thing that could happen to her night. Not until her little brother went missing in the blizzard did she realize how bad it could become. Ethan and Laura must work together to find a missing child before its too late. Will this draw the once-lovers back together, or push them further apart? Will they find the boy in time?

Wynter Aguilar is ordinary woman and a café owner. Isang lang naman ang tanging hiling niya sa buhay. Ang maayos at tahimik ang buhay na ibinigay naman sa kaniya. But everything changed when she met the man named, Cassiuz Velasquez. A drop-dead gorgeous man, rich and ideal man to every woman’s dream. Hindi lang maintindihan ni Wynter kung ano ang nagawa niya sa lalaki at lagi itong nakasunod sa kaniya. What she didn’t know that Cassiuz Velasquez will like her to the point of no return. Hindi rin naman maintindihan ni Cassiuz ang sarili dahil unang beses na pagkakita niya pa lang kay Wynter, nahulog na agad ang loob niya rito. Right at the moment, he wanted to make Wynter as his wife and he starts pursuing her. “You’re the one whom I want to be with.” – Cassiuz Velasquez.

The day Joe Tanner’s parents died and his classmates cornered him in cruel bullying, I was the one who jumped into the river to save him—and lost my heart to him in that moment. For the next ten years, I poured everything I had into him. I hid my own admission letter to Great Eastern University. I washed dishes until my hands cracked, hauled bricks until my shoulders bled, even sold the pocket watch my mother left me—all so he could study without worry. I watched him rise from a ridiculed illegitimate child to a celebrated professor at the very peak of academia. All I ever wanted in return was a home we could call ours. But the day he achieved success, he forgot the woman who had built his world. So, I made my choice— If he could abandon my love, then I would walk away without looking back.

A young lady named Gwyneth Hope Gabriel have no wings to fly. But, is it really necessary to have wings in lrder to fly?Then, she met someone who changed her life-full-of-drama. A man who desires to become a lawyer because of his mother. Gwy said that the true artist is in the heart of a good lawyer. But, what if everything turns upside down? What if the man who promised her the world became someone she'll despise forever? But, what if he needed to be bad to fight for something good?

Haven Prado's mother sold her in slavery to her business partner, Marco Madrigal. She manages to escape the night Marco attempts to do something terrible to her. But due to fatigue she lost conciousness in the middle of a dark road and was rescued by a billionaire named Aries July Spinster. Nang magising si Haven sa isang hindi pamilyar na silid at nagulat ng makita si Aries na kamukhang-kamukha nito si Marco, ang nagtangka sa buhay niya! Ang ipinagtataka ni Haven ay walang alam si Aries sa kanya at pinandidirihan siya kumpara kay Marco na gustong-gusto siyang angkinin! Natagpuan na lamang niya ang sarili na ikakasal sa binata and this eventually leads Aries to hate Haven for putting him in a bad situation. "Now that we're married, paano kung tutuhanin ko ang paratang mo sa'kin? Will I convicted of sexual assault by my own wife? sarkastikong sabi ni Aries at muli't-muling nakaramdam ng takot si Haven Saan hahantong ang kapalaran ni Haven gayong sa mas malupit na tao siya napunta? Magka-iba nga ba sina Aries at Marco o iisa lamang sila? Paano kung pati ang puso niya madawit sa gulong kinasangkutan niya?

Joy Jones was a seventeen-year-old kind and optimistic girl working in her grandpa's flower shop, but she had a secret. She was suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and wanted nothing, but to die peacefully. That was until Logan Kellerman, a young man with suicidal tendencies came storming into her life and stole roses from her grandpa's flower shop. Instead of running away with what he came for, he found himself falling deeper and deeper into her as she made his heart skip in delight, for she was, in her own words, a little bit of Joy.