Food Lab

It's 11:30 pm. Home alone, I decide to order some takeout. When the map shows the delivery guy is zero miles away, I receive a call from him. I pick up, only to hear unsettling silence from the other end. I hang up, annoyed. The next moment, the guy texts me, "Sorry, I'm hearing-impaired and unable to speak. I called to notify you to pick up your food as soon as possible. I can't explain things over the phone, and I apologize for that." Then comes another text. "You must've been waiting for a long time. I've left your order at your door, so please pick it up as soon as you can." Just as I prepare to open the door, I see bars of live comments—reminiscent of livestream chats—floating right before my eyes. "Don't open the door! That dude isn't a delivery guy at all! He's a murderer!" "He called you to check if you're a woman living alone!" "Seriously, why are all thriller story protagonists always so dumb? The delivery guy is obviously suspicious, yet she still wants to open the door."

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.

In spite of all her horrible past, this woman felt in her heart that she had to keep moving forward, she had a daughter to take care of, but no matter how hard she tried, she was always in crisis, because she did not have a good job, it was always hard to pay the utilities and food, until one moment to the next she was fired. This woman was not very accepted in society for the little experience she had, in addition to having no study and being a single mother, until onShe is Charlotte Ramirez, a very pretty and sweet girl who behind her beautiful and bright smile hides many problems, such as the death of her mother Chloe White, by a criminal gang, which affected her greatly in her adolescence and the cancer suffered by her father Noah Ramirez at the time of his adulthood. e day love knocked on her door and in a magical encounter she met Sebastian Wright a beautiful man and also very mysterious that little by little was introduced in her heart, and it turned out that this was not the man that Charlotte imagined, because behind his beautiful appearance hid a dark secret which would be able to change her life forever. What will happen between these two? Will her thirst for revenge allow her to open her heart to love?

After I reincarnated, I went to the hospital right away to get an abortion. In my past life, I was suddenly found to be pregnant with fraternal boy-girl twins after a childless marriage of five years. I was told that I needed to abort one, or I could die due to the excess size of the foetuses, but while I hesitated, I heard my son's voice. [Mommy! You have to abort this brat—she's going to kill me! She's been stealing all the food!] [She's not my sister—she's Tina and daddy's bastard! They used black magic to move her here and kill me, while you would treat her like your own daughter… and she can then inherit all the family wealth!] Hearing that, I promptly went to the hospital to abort the twin daughter, keeping the son. But on the day I went into labor, he threw a fit, punching and kicking my room until he finally killed me. And just before I died, I heard him gloating. [Stupid broad! You really believed me and aborted your own daughter! Just die already! I'm going to meet my parents!] When I opened my eyes again, Tina was sitting right in front of me, telling me to abort one of my babies…

On the day I was supposed to swap marriages with my sister, Sylvia Hayes, I chose to be a battalion commander's wife instead. Then, watching Sylvia wither away from late-stage stomach cancer until she was nothing but skin and bones, a few strange lines suddenly appeared before my eyes. [Great news! The heroine is about to be reborn!] [What a joke. What good is being an officer's wife? That scumbag will take his mistress to live on base with him, leaving her to starve in that old house!] [After she's reborn, she should pick Miles Williams, the steel factory director! He secretly kept her photo and loved her his whole life!] Miles, the husband Sylvia used to mock as 'nothing but a money-grubbing brute,' was holding a tin cup, trying to give her water. Sylvia suddenly grabbed his wrist, her bulging eyes boring into me. "Laura Hayes...you had food saved up. Why wouldn't you help me?!" She died with her finger pointed at me. Miles' jaw was clenched so tightly that the muscles in his cheeks bulged, and then he suddenly lunged forward and wrapped his hands around my throat. When I opened my eyes again, the room's blackened mud walls were hung with an old, faded calendar.

Six years ago, a corporate acquisition deal I handled went up in flames, and 50 billion dollars vanished into thin air. Bankrupt investors spray red paint all over my front door for a year straight. Dad died from a stroke, and Mom lost her mind and disappeared. I ended up doing six years in prison for embezzlement. After I got out, I changed my name and started delivering food in downtown, running myself ragged for a few bucks per delivery. But then my ex-wife, Shirley Pearce, showed up, and the entire delivery station ground to a halt. She had become a financial powerhouse, a regular on the covers of business magazines. Reporters blocked my delivery scooter, shoving microphones in my face. "Mr. Marcus Quinn, Ms. Pearce has been single for six years, paid off all your debts, and she's been waiting for you to come home!" I stared at that perfectly made-up woman with her adoring eyes and felt nothing but disgust. That so-called "devoted" ex-wife of mine? Six years ago, she had forged company seals to help her boy toy short the stock market. Then, when everything fell apart, she threw me under the bus to save herself.

Caked in mud, her eyes bloodshot, my mother grabbed me by the shoulders. "Elliot, the company's collapsed. I… I killed a competitor. It was an accident. There's no way out now. You're the only one who can come with me." I believed her. I swallowed my fear and followed her into the mountains, deeper and deeper until there was nothing left of the world I knew. To keep her alive, I searched for food, forcing down insects, drinking whatever murky water I could find. When a pack of wolves began circling our shelter, my first instinct was to step in front of her. "Mom, I'll lead them away. You go." I glanced back at her one last time…and made my choice. I would give up my life for hers. However, when I leapt from the cliff and my body shattered against the rocks below… I still saw her. She was inside a descending helicopter, calm and composed, lifting a glass of champagne. Celebrating. That was when it finally clicked. The desperate escape that had driven me to sacrifice myself… was nothing more than a carefully staged show. She had been acting the entire time. I…was the only one who had actually died.

WARNING: R-18 l MATURE CONTENT l SPG l VERY SEXUAL l READ RESPONSIBLY After sharing a hot steamy night, she left him the last money she had in her pocket. A one thousand peso bill as a 'payment for his service'. One week later, the agency hired her and she and started working as a personal chef and housemaid to a man whose identity was unknown to everyone. She only knew him as a CEO whom he thought an old man with a fat belly and a bald head. Working for the old man without seeing him for almost a month was peaceful and pleasant. Cleaning the house, cooking the food and leaving him a note to cheer him up everyday was now her favorite routine. She enjoys serving him. She loves the peace and silence her work is giving. Everything is calm and perfect, not until the day, a young, drop dead gorgeous bachelor with a piercing blue eyes, who happened to be a single dad showed up with his five year old daughter. Who would have thought that the old man, she thought she was working for, is the same man he ridiculed and measured the 'service' lousy and dissatisfied, turned out to be her boss? Could she still run away from him? or Will she let herself be trapped in the midnight again?

“You cannot keep me here against my will, Mr. Lincoln!” My voice was hoarse from all the shouting. My wrists bruised from the chains locked tightly around them. “Eat.” He dropped a food pack on the bed. “You are a lunatic. I don't love you and never will.” He retreated to the door, unlocking it slowly. “We will see about that.” Jasmine Harrison never expected the most irresistible man in New York to fall in love with her. He was every woman's fantasy. Once, he had been hers too. But whatever feelings she once had disappeared the moment his condescending attitude surfaced and she met his meddling family. Now the last thing Jasmine wants is the heart of the man who signs her paycheck. What was supposed to be a one-night stand changed everything. Instead of walking away, he forces his way deeper into her life. He meddled in her choices. Controlled her world. And when another man came too close, he kidnapped her. Now Jasmine hates him. And just when she thinks things can’t get worse, she discovers she’s pregnant with his child. Wrecked and terrified, can she ever learn to love the man who has only made her despise him?

The day before Henry Baker and I are supposed to marry, my mother sedates me. She makes my twin sister marry Henry instead. A few years later, the company Henry established turns into a thriving empire. My sister, Diana Halliwell, flourishes with him. While I was at the lowest point in my life, my childhood friend, Jorge Ward, proposed. It's only after marriage that I realize he's worthless. Diana and Henry attend various parties. They enjoy delicious food and wear expensive clothes. Meanwhile, I end up exhausted after having to cook and clean for my family. One night, Mom speaks softly to Jorge when she thinks I've fallen asleep. "I was worried she would find out the truth about what happened back then, but it seems she's too dumb to notice anything." Jorge laughs. "You're a genius, Erica. You laced Laura's water with sleeping pills so Diana could marry Henry on her behalf. I'm glad to see how happy Diana is now." Mom sighs. "I just feel bad for you. You've always liked Diana, yet you're forced to live with a wash-out like Laura…"