Hair Draw

Scarlett Grey was initially just a young college graduate unaware of the truth surrounding her birth. She leaves her home in Canberra and arrives on a tour to Birmingham city with her bosom friend only to discover too suddenly, the reality that she was the legitimate daughter of a billionaire tycoon. Faced with a new family that wasn't willing to accept her, she fights to fulfil her dead mother's desires amidst the chaos. However, the weight of responsibility seemed too much of a burden to her and she eventually finds herself torn between two men whose presence were of great importance to her life. As the battle for power and love intensifies between her and her half-siblings, Scarlett had vowed to never stop in her taste for revenge amidst it all. She was going to stop at nothing, protecting what was hers and securing the legacy of her late mother. And she doesn't plan to stop just at that, for she must make sure she brings havoc to the one who destroyed her family's chance at attaining happiness. And until she's gotten her perfect revenge, the fight must go on...

"I want to make you pregnant, Delaney. I need a child. An heir. If you bear my child, you won't have to worry about financial issues ever again. Isang kapalit lang ang hinihingi ko, Delaney." Lark Fletcher has a rule: never fuck the same woman twice. But when he met Delaney Deo at a nightclub and shared a one-night stand, Lark found himself breaking his own rule. He couldn't stop thinking about how she made him want more. And the same night, Delaney was in a desperate situation and that led him to steal money from Lark. He is the type of person who doesn't let go of those who did him wrong unpunished. He demands repayment for the theft in ways Delaney never imagined yet she couldn't ever refuse: and that is to bear a child for Lark.

Alessandra Cuevas is an ordinary girl who gave up in pursuing her dreams to support her family. However, she reached the point of tiredness. She then wished for a new life, an adventurous one. Eventually, her wish came true! There, she became Eliane and met new people that accepted and loved her, howbeit, she also experienced the alternate universe’s unjustness. Will Eliane continue to live her new life? Or will she find her way back to her world?

Being the only heiress of the Philippines' largest group of companies, living in luxury is indeed a privilege for Autumn Davis. She may be raised to be resilient but behind her cold personality lies a heart of a woman, yearning for true love. At the night of an intimate family dinner to formally announce her engagement with the country's sought after bachelor, Elliot Carson, the wall she had built to protect her image crumbled to ground when she found out that the only man, Kristopher Ferrer, whom she have ever loved is now her half-sister’s most-prized possession. Aurora Williams on other hand believes that she's nothing but a fruit of an affair by her late mom, Selene and Autumn's father, Benedict. Although life has been tough on her, she still managed to create a name in the shoe industry with the help of her father. In a society where wealth matters more than true love… half sisters, Autumn and Aurora will go neck and neck to get the throne and be crowned as the lone victor. Four lives intertwined by a cruel fate. Will another lie be able to conceal the scar of their pasts?

Ever since my mom gave birth to her second child, everything in the household is tied to drawing lots. Everyone has to draw lots in order to decide whose favorite food will be served for each meal. We have to draw lots to see who among us gets a hug from our parents. Every time, I end up drawing the short end of the stick, so everyone automatically assumes that my younger sister, Anabelle Madden, gets the better lot. She easily reaps my parents' love without having to do anything at all. Whenever I feel like crying because of the injustice, Mom will scold me instantly. "I bought the lottery box because I was worried that you might feel upset about this. I'm doing this just to be fair to both of you. "If you want something, you have to be the one deciding who gets what. Your father and I won't interfere with your decision at all. Since you can't draw the better lot, that just means you have bad luck." Hence, I keep practicing my lot-drawing skills every day, hoping that I can eventually draw the better lot in order to obtain my parents' love. But for ten years, I never get to draw the better lot. Not even once. On my birthday, Anabelle wants to go to the amusement park, so Mom tells us to draw lots once again. I secretly glue two short lots together before giving it to Mom in an attempt to get her to stay with me. Instead, she slaps me and berates me for being a disobedient child who cheats in lot-drawing. Then, she leaves the house with Anabelle. When I fall to the floor, I feel the short sticks piercing through my neck.

In the third year of chasing the famously untouchable Hayden Lane, I still hadn't managed to marry him. The Lane family had an old rule. Any woman who wanted to marry into the family had to personally draw a fortune stick and receive a supreme blessing. I tried ninety-nine times. Every single time, the result was the worst possible omen. Before my hundredth draw, I personally saw Hayden replacing every fortune stick inside the cylinder. "No matter how many times she tries, she can only draw the worst omen." At that moment, I finally understood that he truly didn't love me. But that was fine. I didn't want to marry him anymore either. I tossed the fortune cylinder aside and turned away. Then I called my parents. "I accept the marriage alliance with the York family."

Every Christmas Eve, the heir of the Marco mafia family—Adrian Marco, must follow the family tradition: Draw a name to decide whether he’s allowed to marry me. Because I, Irene Cast, am not mafia-born. Unless he draws the slip with my name on it, he can’t take me as his wife. For four years, Adrian has drawn four times. And not once did he draw my name. I always thought he fought with his family because of me— that he was willing to risk losing his position as the Don, just to choose me. Every time he failed, he held me so tightly and whispered, “It’s okay. There’s always next year.” And I loved him so much it hurt. Hurt enough that I was willing to wait, year after year. This year, I told myself: If he still doesn’t draw my name… I’ll secretly switch the result. I sneaked to the door of Adrian’s study, and heard his younger brother ask: “Don… every year you do draw Irene's name. Why do you pretend you didn’t? Is it because you still can’t let Sera go?” But he simply said, in a flat voice, “Sera needs me for something urgent. Do what you always do: swap Irene’s name for a blank one.” He walked out without looking back. Instead of swapping, he tossed the blank slip into the trash, left the one with my name on the table, and hurried after Adrian. I went inside, picked up the blank slip from the trash, and replaced the one with my name. Watching my own name fall into the garbage. Adrian…I don’t want to wait and marry you anymore. I’ll grant you your choice.

As Jason and I try to stay one step ahead of the Marching Tides and their nefarious associates, we draw ever closer to the shocking truth of who the mastermind behind the Marching Tides really is. Something tells me I’ll regret learning the answers at the end of my journey.©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Three years ago they got married with love in their hearts and promises on their lips. They were the perfect couple until everything slowly withered away. Aurora would have never imagined that her once loving husband, Adrian, would hand her divorce papers with no reason and walk away without a second thought. Eventually, she had to move on. Three years later, she is wiser, and free. But then Adrian returns, pleading for a chance to make things better, he wants to fix what he broke. Unfortunately, she isn’t the same woman who once waited for him. She was adamant on not letting him draw scars on her stars again, but he was persistent to draw stars by the scars he left. She tells him “the damage is too deep to mend.” He tells her “Don’t tell me it's too deep. Tell me what it'll take to make it right again, because I’d rather die trying to fix us than live without you.”

In the middle of the night, my smurf account gets added into a group chat called "lucky draw group". The rule of the group chat is rather weird. Whoever gets their hands on the lucky draw that's titled "lucky winner" must reveal their deepest and most shocking secret. I intend to watch the entire drama at first. But that's when a female user named Evie Sachs suddenly posts in the group chat. "My husband has always thought that he's the children's actual father. The truth is, he's not." Everyone in the group chat is quick to spam the chat with laughing emojis. "Miss, you can't just come up with a story that far-fetched without any logic!" "That's a really ridiculous story! Do you seriously take for all men to be idiots?" "We demand photos as proof!" Evie uploads a few photos of her sleeping with other men as well as the dates of her children's birth. The moment I glance at the birthdays, my hand goes slack, causing the milk bottle to fall to the floor. My daughters actually share the same birthdays as Evie's children!