Familiar Of Zero Louise

Lagi akong ikinukunsidera ng pamilya ko na tagapagdala ng kamalasan. Dahil ito sa nakikita ko ang countdown bago mamatay ang mga kamag-anak ko. Sinabi ko sa kanila kung kailan mamamatay si lolo, ama, at ina. Nagkakatotoo ito dahil sa iba’t ibang mga aksidente. Ang tatlong mga kapatid ko ay kinamumuhian ako mula sa kaibuturan nila dahil sa tingin nila isinumpa ko ang mga magulang ko at lolo. Ang nanay ko ay namatay matapos iluwal ang nakababata kong kapatid na babae, pero ang mga kapatid ko ay walang tigil siyang iniispoil. Sinasabi nila na siya ang suwerte nila dahil nagiging okay ang lahat para sa pamilya sa oras na iluwal siya. Pero hindi ba’t namatay si Ina noong iniluwal siya? Sa ika-18th kong kaarawan, nakikita ko ang death countdown kapag tinitignan ko ang sarili ko sa salamin. Bumili ako ng urn at naghanda ng pagkain. Gusto ko kumain ng huling beses kasama ang mga kapatid ko, pero walang nagpakita sa kanila noong nag zero na ang timer...

My mom, Susan, had a habit of sending me to get her shopping. However, she would always leave out a zero when paying me back what was owed, blaming on her poor eyesight. I never minded. In fact, I would just cover the cost without another word. Then, Summer, my sister, had to throw shade. “Mom sends you money whenever she wants something. You never show us the actual costs, though. I bet you’re making a nice little profit off Mom behind our backs.” Susan smiled and didn’t even bother to defend me, as if confirming Summer’s accusations. My heart sank. Over the years, I had bought her things from major appliances to the smallest groceries, and each time, the payment she sent was short. Susan would just brush the whole thing off by saying, “Oh, my eyes aren’t what they used to be. My bad.” I had poured hundreds of thousands into her expenses, only to end up with a reputation as a thief who cheated her own family. When Susan sent me money for the New Year’s Eve catering, I simply booked food that fit the budget she paid for.

Only days after her eighteenth birthday, Iris finally joins her pack in attending the Winter Solstice, a gathering of the four Western packs in the United States. Even though she is a Beta’s daughter, Iris plans on keeping her head down at the party, a task that proves more difficult when she runs into the notorious Alpha of the Black River Pack. Alpha Sergio has still not recovered from the tragic, mysterious loss of his first mate. So when he bumps into a young girl from a rival pack and feels the familiar fire reignite in his core, he thinks Fate is playing a cruel joke on him. Intent on keeping Iris out of harm’s way, Alpha Sergio decides to push his young mate away. But Iris, and her dormant wolf, are determined to teach the broken Alpha how to love again.

Ignoring the ridicule of others, Dahlia Green pursued and stayed with arrogant Mr.CEO Gideon Evans for nine years, from the time she entered second year of college until the present. The people around Gideon always looked down on her and mocked her for being just a lucky gold digger. Until one day, Dahlia decided to regain her self-respect and leave Gideon. They started betting to see how many days she could stay away from him. She calmly sipped a glass of wine: "I bet my whole life." From behind, Gideon hugged her tightly: "Haven't you caused enough trouble yet?" She slowly left the familiar warmth, her eyes no longer filled with love like before: "Mr. CEO Evans, please pay attention to your actions, we have broken up."

I woke up inside a novel, and not even as an important character. I became a pretty background extra in a smut novel. My brother, however, was the only normal person in the entire story. His character setting was the one man the soft, delicate heroine could never win over. He was the cold, unattainable Prince Charming she could never conquer. When the heroine cried and confessed her love, he was studying. When she offered him her whole heart and body, he was busy starting a company. When she spiraled into scandals and nightlife, he was already a billionaire, calm and untouchable. I thought he would live a quiet, ascetic life forever. Until one night, I walked in on him at midnight… holding a piece of clothing I recognized all too well, murmuring a name over and over, a name so familiar that my scalp tingled.

I was married to Chad Caldwell for ten years. I met all his girlfriends during our marriage. Whenever he got bored and wanted to move on, I was his best excuse. "If you marry me, you'll end up like her. Too familiar and no spark left." On our anniversary, I wiped tears for his latest ex, a college girl, while he was at the movies with his new fling. She used up a pack of tissues, and I seemed to see my old self in her. Afterward, I asked Chad for a divorce. He was confused. "Why not wait a bit? Maybe I'll turn over a new leaf." I gave a faint smile but said nothing. Instead, I booked a plane ticket and flew across the ocean. If he wouldn't turn around, I'd take the first step.

After Uncle Frank and Aunt Gina died, my older cousin, Izzy Kramer, moved in with my family. To make up for the fact that she has lost her parents, everything she has is hers and hers alone. I'm not allowed to even think about touching them. Summer comes along, and my parents get Izzy a brand new bathtub. I happen to glance at it for just a second longer, and Izzy immediately breaks into tears. "If you want all of these things, Melanie, go ahead and take them! I just want my parents back!" Mom and Dad are furious, and Mom storms over to slap me. "Why are you acting like such a spoiled child? What, have you never seen a bathtub before? Why do you keep staring at Izzy's bathtub, huh?" My cheek stings. Ever since then, I've grown too scared to even look at any of Izzy's things. One day, Izzy invites me to have a soak in her bathtub. Thrilled, I carefully step into the water, but it's not as warm as I expected. In fact, the icy water instinctively gives me the urge to draw backward, but Izzy gives me a hard shove from behind. She swiftly locks the bathroom door shut after. "Since you like eyeing other people's things so much, you jealous brat, I'll make sure you have a nice long soak in the tub this time!" Having lost my footing when she shoved me, I bash my head against the side of the bathtub. I feel something warm trickling down my forehead, but that sensation is quickly replaced by the icy water that surrounds me. I don't know how much time passed, but eventually, I find myself hovering in the air. I hear Izzy's voice coming from the other side of the door. She complains to my parents, "Uncle James! Aunt Louise! Melanie snuck into the bathroom to use my bathtub!"

On the night before Elide is send off by his Queen Mother to leave for Arryn. Her brother Malik, gave her a few hours of freedom to do whatever it is that she likes with her life. Elide wanted to experience what a party between people at her and her brother's age is like. She promised Malik that she won't cause him trouble the reason why he agreed to bring her over in his friend's villa whose hosting a rave party. The two of them part ways in the party and agreed to meet each other again once the party is over. While she's drinking beer for the first time. Elide met a stranger, his presence feels so familiar to her. Elide ends up spending the hottest and most passionate night with the stranger whom she thought she'll never see again—that's what she thought.

“Luna…!” I sobbed, collapsing onto the cold, unforgiving pavement, barely avoiding the indifferent gaze of the crowd. “I...I desperately fought to hold her back. I begged her to remain by my side,” I wailed, my tears blurring the world around me. With every strike of my trembling hands against the unyielding ground, my heart shattered into a million irreparable fragments. *** When Luna was killed, Ginevra’s life turned upside down. Luna was her everything, not just a sister. The bond she shared with her was beyond the world’s imagination. When she tried to commit suicide, she found solace in the care of Emiliano who saved her from drowning. She later got married to him. Then Luna returned in the body of a familiar face. Her mind is set on revenge that will either brighten Ginevra’s future or ruin it completely.

She loved the wrong Whitmore. Now she works for the one she can’t stop thinking about. Elara was always just a friend to Noah Whitmore, the boy she quietly adored for years. When he married her best friend, she had no choice but to move on. Now, four years later, she’s working as the assistant to Lucian Whitmore, Noah’s older brother. Cold, brilliant, and infuriatingly controlled, Lucian is everything she shouldn't want. But behind every clipped command and long silence, there’s a heat simmering just beneath the surface, one she tries hard to ignore. Then Noah returns. Divorced, familiar, and unexpectedly present. Suddenly, Elara finds herself pulled between the past she thought she buried and the man who makes her question everything. Noah never meant to break her heart. But Lucian might.