Essential Reads Novels & Stories

Amelia Young was like any other girl. After graduating from college, she got a job as the President’s personal assistant at her dream company, DRIVEA; it’s considered the biggest car manufacturing company in Japan and the only one who specializes in high-tech cars. It’s owned by the most influential and powerful group in Japan; the Pearce family. Kael Pearce is the President of DRIVEA and Amelia’s childhood crush. She’s been fantasizing about him for years and now she finally has the opportunity to meet him. But she was quickly dismayed when she found out that her cousin, Natalia Bradley, was dating the President. Not wanting to make trouble, she decided to hide her feelings and confided in a diary which she carefully kept hidden. But an unfortunate event leads Natalia to find the diary. She reads it and is overwhelmed by her cousin’s feelings. Without talking to Amelia first, Natalia breaks her relationship with Kael giving him the reason that Amelia wanted to pursue him and she was forced to break up with him. Enraged, Kael confronts Amelia. Confused, Amelia tried to explain but Kael refused to listen. As his revenge, Kael decides to make Amelia’s life in the company hell. He also refuses to let her resign thus leaving her no choice but to stay and suffer.But Amelia held a secret. A secret she never told another soul. If her secret will be revealed, what could be in store?

It took me ten years to become the right hand to Damian Costello, the Consigliere of the Costello crime family. From a nobody to the woman wearing his engagement ring. But two weeks before the wedding, I decided to throw that ring away. Everyone in the family knew how hard I had fought all these years just to stand by Damian's side. I gave up the chance to become a top trader on Wall Street, willingly becoming Damian's assistant, his shadow. This man was infamous for his coldness and exacting nature, keeping everyone at arm's length. So I hid my sharp edges, spending a decade wearing down his icy exterior with gentleness. I cleansed the blood from every dollar he made. I became a necessity to him, as essential as the air he breathed. I thought that after ten years, I had finally made my presence indispensable. And finally earned what looked, to outsiders, like a glimmer of his affection. The family's notoriously aloof genius actually remembered my birthday. He even made an exception, letting me spend the night in his private study when I was unwell. He didn't even push me away when, emboldened by wine, I pressed a kiss to the side of his neck. If the Don's daughter, Isabella, hadn't returned from Italy, I might have kept playing my part, clinging to that false dream forever. But sadly, there are no ‘ifs’. I am going to give up everything here and leave you.

On Christmas night, I've roasted a whole turkey and paired it with the finest red wine. Then, I quietly wait for my boyfriend, Don Carlo Carlione from the Carlione family, to come home to me. When Carlo steps through the front door, he doesn't even spare me a glance. Instead, he throws his blood-stained coat onto the couch and starts undoing his cufflinks. "Something important is going on at the family HQ tonight, so I can't celebrate Christmas with you tonight." He sounds very casual, as though he's talking about the weather. I don't respond to him at all. Instead, I just slice my turkey quietly. Later on at 1:00 am, Carlo's ex-girlfriend, Lucia Caruso, uploads a social media post right on time. In the photo, she can be seen resting her head against Carlo's shoulder. The background shows a night sky filled with fireworks overcasting a grand bridge. The caption reads, "He told me he can always keep me company as long as I say the word." I don't hurl my phone in a fit of anger, nor do I call Carlo to demand for answers hysterically. Instead, I just leave a like on the post. 30 seconds later, Carlo calls me. For once, his voice is tinged with a hint of alarm. "This is just a misunderstanding! I'll definitely celebrate next Christmas with you!" I just shake my head with a soft sigh. "It's a shame that there's no next Christmas for us ever again."

Alexander Gracias is the youngest CEO in Littleton Global’s history. Brilliant, ruthless, and utterly untouchable. Women are easy distractions he never lets too close… until the night he sees her. A mysterious stripper with hypnotic green eyes who vanishes before he can get her name. But fate has a wicked sense of humor. On day morning, she walks into him. demure, professional, and wearing a name tag that reads Mackenzie Jordans. His new secretary. His forbidden temptation. Mackenzie has spent years hiding a dangerous secret, one that could destroy the life she’s carefully built. By day, she’s the perfect assistant. By night, she’s Ramona the seductive performer stripper Now he’s determined to own her in the boardroom and beyond. But the closer he gets, he see she was a hard shell to crack. In a game of power, desire, and dangerous secrets… Who will break first? Excerpt from the book: “You look like you don’t scare easy,” she murmured as she came closer, her voice a low purr barely audible over the music. “I don’t scare at all,” he replied, taking a slow sip. She smiled at that, circling behind him. “We’ll see about that.” Her fingertips brushed along the back of his neck, feather-light. Then she came around to face him again, planting one heel between his knees. With a languid roll of her hips, she lowered herself onto his lap, her hair spilling over her shoulder, brushing against his cheek.

My husband, Henry Gibbons, is a man with a heart of gold. He has sponsored Felicity Lambert, an impoverished female college student who has come from the mountains, and yet I've never seen this person before. During the New Year holidays, Henry has traveled to the mountains to give Felicity some well-needed resources, but he ends up getting trapped there because of a blizzard. My heart aches for him, so I've shared the local news while praying for his quick return. But that's when I come across a video clip featuring a comic convention on the trending list. Henry, who claims that he's trapped in the mountains, can be seen wearing a cosplaying outfit. In the video, he's kneeling on the floor while helping a scantily-dressed young woman tie the bells to her ankles. The woman titters as she pats him on the head. "Thank you, Henry!" The caption of the video reads, "Daddy's love is the salvation meant for me and me only." I tap into the uploader's profile picture. The pinned post is a photo of the luxurious goods meant to be flaunted to the Internet. A pregnancy report sits next to those goods as well. "Daddy has told me that once that hag of a wife dies, these things will be mine!" In the comment section, Henry's smurf account has responded, "Be patient, my little minx. Her time will be up soon." At that moment, I find myself staring down at the New Year's dinner that I've just whipped up. Then, I dump everything into the trash can without hesitation.

After the Ig publication S.H.I.T Journal goes viral, I search its website out of curiosity. The satirical journal bills itself as a home for all things academic garbage. The moment I open the site, the top trending article catches my attention. It reads, "A Research on How to Deceive a Gullible Foster Mother With Face Blindness and Trick Her into Raising Me as Her Biological Daughter for Twelve Years". "Keywords: deception, face blindness, self-delusion, false family bonds" I freeze and click into the full article with trembling fingers. The more I read, the more terrified I become. "1.1 Definition of face blindness and how to swap daughters to deceive the foster mother" "2.1 Practical uses and drawbacks of the foster mother" "3.1 How to profit by exploiting the foster mother through her face blindness" The content sends a chill through my entire body. The comment section is already in chaos. "Does this mean the author is actually the daughter of the mistress, and her father swapped her to be raised by his wife for twelve years?" "That's not all. Didn't you read 2.1? The wife had her own daughter, and the husband deliberately handed her over to traffickers!" "What the hell… In 3.1, it even says that because the wife has face blindness and can't tell people apart, the author makes deals with single fathers of classmates and sends the wife to…" At that point, my phone slips from my hand and crashes to the ground. The screen shatters instantly. I have severe face blindness, and I have a daughter who was kidnapped and only found again after three years.

During the ten years since I was found and brought to my biological family, Sonia Baxter, the girl who took my place, and I have been as close as real sisters. Even Mom says that Sonia cares more about me than a real sister would. I once swore I'd give my life to protect our special family of four. When Sonia is rushed into emergency surgery with a ruptured cerebral aneurysm, I am in my office, calmly practicing a basic suturing technique on a surgical simulator. On the screen, the robotic arm threads the needle with such precision that it looks like a work of art. A few minutes later, my boyfriend, Oliver Lyons, slams open the office door and shouts at me, "Amelia Baxter! Sonia's in critical condition. Only your micro-dissection skills can save her! Every expert in the hospital is waiting for you! We've got less than an hour before the window closes!" He looks at me with hopeful eyes. I'm the only person in the country capable of performing a surgery this complex. My hands are even known as the "Hands of God". However, I simply reply with a hum and continue fiddling with the model. Suddenly, my parents rush in. Mom grabs my arm and cries out, "Amelia! That's your sister in there! How could you just stand by and watch her die?" I gently pull away from her and hold my right hand out in front of them. This hand, which had once created countless medical miracles, is now trembling slightly. "Unfortunately, since yesterday, I've been showing symptoms of essential tremor. Dad, Mom… this hand is ruined."

'Zsystem' is where I found myself as the sole survivor of the apocalypse. The system is supposed to be my mother's "in sample" antidote to cure the virus. She was a mad scientist of the base where uninfected humans habitats to survive from the outer world. While she is burying herself with works, I decided to be the useless child and the only one she has. Isn't it amusing! Being treated as the daughter of a crazy woman who is obsessed with antidotes. Even after failing hundreds and thousands of times. She should know my well-being but she didn't. No matter how much of a genius I am, it's worthless! I am still garbage in her eyes...! I tried so hard to make her proud but all she cares about is the antidotes and saving humanity! She even left me under my aunt's care. Not looking back even once...! Well, that is what I thought before the zombies conquer the base and being forced to drink a certain red liquid which is the antidote! Alast, being thrown into a foreign system. ________________________________________________________________________ From the useless garbage to the only human that holds the opportunity to change the world. Will Ava overcome the mission to level up and obtain the honour of saving the people she loves? Or will she abandon it and faced a wrongful death? ___________________________________________ Author: Thank you for reading The Zombie's Leveling... And please share my story with others... To be honest it's not scary at all! This story is more to fantasy because... I want to, so don't complain people.... I will try to update every Saturday so that I will not just do whenever I want...:O And whoever reads this... Do support my work if you like it.

Happily married for 2 years, I thought all his grumpiness lately was only temporary. Maybe not the richest man, but he definitely puts his work as his priority, and I want to support him with all I have. I gave all the millions of dollars of my family wealth to him to build up his company, and didn't regret that. I love him. All I wanted was a family with him, a child for me to focus my attention on. But he often says he doesn't want a child before his career is stable. I understand, and I am willing to wait, until last night-- I found out that I had adopted his mistress's child thinking he was mine. On the day of our anniversary, I received a message from an unknown number. It's a picture of him with a woman in bed. And the text reads: he has been mine from the beginning. Three days later when he comes to the house that he shared with me in the past two years for one last time, he sees the divorce paper I left him, together with the necklace he gave the girl who saved him ten years ago! Pain and regret burst out in his chest, but this time he couldn’t find me anywhere. Five years later I came back to Arizona with beautiful quadruplets who have resemblance to the most powerful Alpha King in the world, but there's a problem: he isn't ready to let me go even though he's damaged and causes me nothing but pain.

On Christmas Eve, my parents and my fiancé, Ivano Dominici, finally agree to accompany me to Iberion to see the aurora. But when I arrive there, they never show up no matter how long I wait. I send messages to ask. They reply helplessly that something urgent has come up at the last minute and tell me to go to the observation point and wait. I stand alone on the icy field, turning back every few minutes to look at the road behind me. When my hands grow numb from the cold, I scroll my social media feed and see a recent post from my younger sister, Giada Soave. Holding gifts in her arms, she sits beneath a luxurious crystal Christmas tree with my parents embracing her from both sides. Ivano stands behind her with his hand resting lightly at her waist and his eyes full of tenderness. The caption reads, "Merry Christmas, I'm grateful to spend the holiday with those who love me most!" The comments section buzzes with blessings, praise, and envious messages. I stare at the screen for a long time without moving. This is not the first time they break their promise to me because of Giada. But this time, I do not argue or make a scene. I simply type and send one line calmly in the comments, "I wish your family of four a Merry Christmas." I finally let go of my obsession and stop waiting for people who will never come to me. But when I quietly step away, the ones who cannot let go turn out to be them.