Gothic Table Runner

On the first day of classes, my roommate gives me a crystal bracelet as a welcome gift. Without thinking, I quickly adorn it around her mother's wrist. In my past life, my roommate wanted to be a social butterfly. She was determined to have a hundred boyfriends by the time she graduated. But no matter how reckless she was, she never ended up conceiving. On the other hand, I kept getting pregnant and having countless miscarriages. But unlike her, I had never been in a relationship. The entire university mocked me, labeling me promiscuous and shameless. During my 66th miscarriage, I died on the operating table from severe bleeding. It was only after death that I realized the crystal bracelet my roommate gave me had somehow linked our wombs together. As soon as I opened my eyes, I realized I had gone back to the first day of the semester.

I gave my husband, Simon Fuller, a luxury cruise VIP card, one of only three ever issued worldwide. Yet, somehow, it ended up in the hands of a lowlife thug. Using the card, the thug strutted around the cruise ship like a king, barking orders and acting untouchable. No one dared to stand up to him. "This table is too low. You! Get over here. Kneel and hold the plate up while I'm eating." "With a skirt that short, who are you trying to seduce? Some big-shot CEO? Why don't you just come with me instead…" I couldn't take it anymore, so I spoke up. The next second, I was beaten by his men! The thug claimed to be my husband's brother-in-law. I was so angry I laughed. Then, I called my father. "Dad, please have the cruise turn back to port immediately. I want Simon Fuller gone and with nothing to his name!"

If there's only one year left in her life, she wants to die in the arms of her beloved man! A diagnosis of brain tumor drove her to make a crazy decision: to marry him and trade her perfect heart for his. One year later, she died, leaving that heart to the woman he loved the most. Naively, she believed that even in death, her heart would continue to beat inside the body of the woman he cherished, keeping him company... Unexpectedly, she became pregnant. A comprehensive physical examination revealed the truth: she was the most foolish woman in the world. She wasn't sick at all; he had always targeted her heart. The operating table was so cold, so icy; he was so heartless, and she was so desperate... But ultimately, her life shouldn't have ended. So, let all those who harmed her tremble. She has returned!

"I am pregnant," I say looking into his years intensely but his face is emotionless. "What?" He asked stunned, he paces around for a few minutes" I can't take care of a child right now" he snaps holding the table tightly. "We have to because I have nowhere to go," I say pleading for acknowledgment and understanding. "What do you mean?" He questioned eyeing me suspiciously. " my parents disowned me," I say looking down in shame. "I will take you in but don't expect me to care for you and your baby because all this means nothing to me" he glanced at me before walking out of his office. Tears run down my cheeks, feeling of embarrassment, and lost claws in my heart. I lost everything, my family, my self-esteem, I feel lost and worthless. Most of all I lost love.

It's my first time visiting my girlfriend, Jennifer Hayes' family for the holidays. At the dining table, her childhood friend, Duncan Foley, suddenly slams his cutlery down. "How could you bring a prostitute client home for dinner, Jenny?" The atmosphere becomes awkward immediately. Everyone initially thinks that Duncan is running his mouth because he's had too much to drink, but he continues to ramble in a matter-of-fact tone. "My buddy is a part of the anti-prostitution task force! As if I can get the person he's personally arrested wrong!" As he speaks, he tosses a copy of the public security administrative penalty notice onto the table. My name is displayed on it. The sight leaves me stunned. It's true that the anti-prostitution task force arrested dozens of offenders in the city last month. But I'm the one who gave the signature of approval as the newly promoted chief commissioner…

Marie’s mum is dying, and her only bet at survival is an expensive surgery that they could never afford. Driven by desperation, she seeks her step mother’s help, a brothel owner who gives her the condition of sleeping with an old rich client of hers. Disgusted and unable to do so, Marie finds solace in a city bar and unexpectedly finds herself talking to a stranger. Their conversation is easy, and somehow they manage to get drunk and have a steamy night together. When Marie wakes up to leave in shame and quiet, she sees his expensive golden Rolex wristwatch on the side table and makes a quick and risky decision then and there. Eight years later, on her first day of work at Prime Telecoms, she bumps into the stranger from her one-night stand years ago. Not only is he the CEO of the company, he also the father of her daughter, and the man she stole worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from.

"Remember the most important rule, don't get caught." *** I try to keep my expression neutral and give nothing away in my eyes, Eli is a smart man, smarter than he lets on and will know if something is different about me, "Everyone change, Eli, you definitely aren't the man you were when we first met, but the question is if the change is for the better or the worse." His hand reaches over the table and take mine in the gloves and though there is a barrier between our hands his touch is felt and the reaction sent to the rest of my body. "I love you, Anna and that's not going to change, but I have to admit that I like this side of you more. However, I am contented with whatever I get as long as I get to have you." These words are the words any woman wants to hear their man tell them and it is almost perfect to my ears... almost because I am not Anna...

Just for brushing against the hem of Eva Lawson, the heiress’s custom couture gown, Lucy Quinn's mother had her limbs broken, then thrown into the sea to die. The day Lucy dragged the arrogant heiress to court she thought that justice might finally be served. Eva was declared not guilty. Why? Because the defense attorney representing her was none other than Wyatt Grant, founder of the most untouchable law firm in River City, and Lucy Quinn’s husband. When the trial ended, the elegant and aloof man stepped down from the defense table and placed an apology letter in front of Lucy. "Lulu, sign it. You don’t want to be sued for defamation and end up in prison, do you?" His tone was calm and coaxing, but behind the lenses of his gold-rimmed glasses, his gaze was cold as ice. Lucy, tears stubbornly clinging to her eyes, looked up at him and said with a trembling voice, "Why, Wyatt, Why?"

She was deceived by people who were wolves in sheep's clothing and ended up dead on the operating table with both her eyes and uterus removed. However, God was kind enough to give her a second chance of life. She was gifted with ethereal beauty and a gaze that could kill. Every gesture and expression she made was as poisonous as opium poppy. Step by step, she laid out her scheme, swore to send people who murdered her down to hell and suffer in eternal doom. At the same time, she took great lengths to insinuate herself in the life of her ex-fiancé after breaking off the engagement in her past life for the douchebag. One day, she approached him with a seductive smile and said, "Mr. Gu, you might view me as wild and promiscuous, but in reality, I am a well-mannered lady. I am also loyal and faithful to my loved one. You will have to see past this facade in order to know the real me."

When I was seven years old, my younger brother went into anaphylactic shock after sneaking a handful of peanuts. Outside the emergency room, my mother slammed my head against the wall over and over, her face twisted with rage. "If you had been watching him like you were supposed to be, this never would have happened! You should be the one with a ruptured stomach, not him!" After that, whenever my brother so much as caught a cold, my mother forced me to eat spoiled leftovers as punishment. I once prepared an elaborate feast. She flipped the entire table and made me crawl on the floor to lick it clean. When I said I wanted to study culinary arts, she poured hot oil over my hands. My father wanted to send me to vocational school to learn a trade, but my mother clutched my brother to her chest and wailed. "She destroyed her brother's health! She owes him a lifetime of service!" When I was fifteen, my brother's gluttony cost my father an important business deal. I took the blame without even being asked, and the furious client forced me to drink more than half a gallon of hard liquor. By the time I was sent home with a bleeding stomach, my father had already scolded my brother. My mother took out her anger on me instead, slapping me so hard my ears rang and my vision went dark at the edges. "You useless thing! You should’ve choked to death at that table! I get sick just looking at you!" I coughed up black blood. From my pocket, I pulled out a piece of sour candy that had gone soft and sticky. It was the only treat my mother had ever given me with a smile, back before my brother's allergic reaction. I put the candy in my mouth and swallowed it down with the taste of stomach acid. The candy was so sour it made my throat burn. Whatever came next, I just hoped I would not have to be my family’s garbage disposal again.