Instant Karma

“Mana yang lebih kau sukai, Tara? Bercinta dengan seorang detektif atau membunuh para plagiator?” "Aku lebih suka ini, Sir." *** Warning & Disclaimer: 1. Memuat konten dewasa yang tidak sesuai untuk pembaca di bawah 21 tahun 2. Mengeksplorasi tema BDSM konsensual, power play, dan hubungan dengan intensitas emosional tinggi, yang mungkin sensitif bagi sebagian pembaca 3. Semua karakter dalam cerita ini telah berusia legal (di atas 21 tahun) 4. Semua peristiwa dalam cerita ini hanyalah fiksi belaka *** SINOPSIS Gregory Evans adalah detektif prodigy yang terobsesi menaklukkan kekacauan, satu-satunya benteng melawan trauma masa kecil yang menghantuinya. Tara Bradley adalah pustakawan sekaligus penulis penyintas trauma kekerasan dalam hubungan yang tidak lagi memerlukan penyembuhan. Hanya ingin merebut kembali kuasa atas kedaulatan dirinya. Sebuah kasus pembunuhan eksentrik dengan motif plagiarisme, yang meniru naskah Tara, mempertemukan mereka, dua jiwa yang sama-sama rusak dengan luka masing-masing. Batas antara penyelidik dan tersangka, antara fakta dan fiksi pun runtuh. Bagi Greg, Tara adalah cermin dari monster yang paling dia benci sekaligus dia dambakan. Juga bukti hidup bahwa hukum tidak selalu menjadi jawaban. Bagi Tara, Greg bukan sekadar seorang detektif. Dia adalah algojo pilihannya untuk menghancurkan dirinya. Bukan di balik jeruji, melainkan dalam kendali mutlak pria itu. Dalam permainan berbahaya di mana setiap sentuhan adalah interogasi dan setiap puncak kenikmatan adalah hukuman, Greg terpaku pada pilihan mustahil: Mempertahankan lencananya dan kehilangan Tara selamanya, atau mengkhianati sumpahnya untuk memiliki wanita yang hanya merasa hidup saat dihancurkan olehnya.

My grandfather, Terry Sims, suffered from bipolar disorder and was prone to anger and mood swings. My mother, Catherine, was his only chill pill. On the day they were hunted down by enemies, my mom went into early labor and lost her life in an attempt to save him. Devastated, my grandfather could not see a way out of his disorder and poured all his love into me. He would pull out the tongues of those who mocked me and fed them to the dogs. The families of those who hurt me would meet their end. It was known to the people of Mistvale that the granddaughter of Terry Sims was untouchable. Due to my congenital heart disease, he reluctantly sent me abroad for medical treatment. After my surgery, I rushed back to his side for his birthday, thinking of giving him a surprise. However, I was mistaken for a gold digger by a carer and locked in the basement. “Of all the things you can do for your age, you throw yourself at men. Since your parents won’t restrain your behavior, I’ll have to do it for them.” She pulled out my tongue, dumped acid all over me, and dug out my snewly transplanted heart to give as a birthday gift to my grandfather, who had been waiting for my return. “Mr. Sims, the skank tried to impersonate Ms. Sims, but I got everything sorted out for you.”

My mother despised me because I was the unintended consequence of a one-night stand. She poured all her love and attention into her students, treating them as if they were her own flesh and blood. One day, when her favourite pupil confessed his feelings for me, she flew into a rage. She slapped me hard across the face and called me a whore. Years later, as Alzheimer's clouded her mind, she forgot I even existed, yet still remembered every single one of her precious students. The irony was that not one of them ever came to visit her in the nursing home. They all loathed her just as much as I did.

Yasa selalu muak dengan sikap istrinya, Qiera, yang hanya bisa berdiam diri di rumah tanpa bisa melakukan apa-apa. Rumah dibiarkan berantakan, anak-anak menangis, dan cucian kotor di mana-mana. Akan tetapi, Yasa merasakan ada sesuatu yang hilang ketika Qiera berubah. Bahkan sikapnya pun menjadi dingin. Apa sebenarnya yang membuat Qiera berubah dan apa yang akan dilakukan Yasa untuk mengembalikan istrinya? Atau justru Qiera memilih untuk mundur?

My husband’s first love and I were kidnapped at the same time. As a professional negotiator, my husband rushed to the scene as soon as possible to save us. When the kidnappers agreed to release one hostage, he chose to let them keep me to protect her. I knelt on the ground, desperately begging him to save me first, but his face was expressionless. “Tammy is still a virgin. If she’s raped, she won’t be able to handle it.” “You’re different. You’re already married to me. Even if something happens to you, I won’t hold it against you.” He shoved me toward the kidnappers. He probably didn’t know I was three months pregnant, and he was about to become a father.

The financially disadvantaged student I was sponsoring secretly went behind my back and sold my small island, which was worth two billion dollars. I was furious and confronted her, but she publicly slandered me in front of the entire school. She exclaimed, "I saw you doing unspeakable things with eighteen men on that island! You're still young and you can't keep making mistakes like this. I sold the island for your own good!" I was so enraged that I kicked her to the ground and prepared to call the police, but my brother stopped me. He and my fiancé stood in front of the student, protecting her. They accused me of being violent and in need of medical treatment. Before I could resist, they joined forces and threw me into a psychiatric hospital, where I died that night from food poisoning. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day I discovered the island had been sold.

Aku dan Mas Rama sudah menikah selama tiga tahun. Dari awal menikah tak ada yang aneh dari suamiku itu, kami juga tinggal disebuah rumah di kota dan ia bekerja disebuah Pabrik kain. Karena permintaan Ibu mertua yang ingin mengurus cucu pertamanya akhirnya kami pulang ke desa disaat usia kandunganku memasuki sembilan bulan. Sementara Mas Rama berhenti bekerja dan katanya ia ingin membantu bisnis keluarga. Dahulu aku tak menemukan adanya hal aneh saat beberapa kali berkunjung ke rumah ibu. Tetapi sekarang keanehan demi keanehan muncul didepan mataku, membuatku merasa takut. Apakah mungkin suami Sarah dan keluarganya orang jahat? Apa rahasia besar yang disembunyikan suami Sarah dan mertuanya? Sanggupkah Sarah menguak semua rahasia itu?

When my boyfriend, Mark Jamison, gets in a car accident that leaves him paralyzed, I pawn the ring my mother left to me before she died to help him. With hands that have never been used to do any work or a single household chore in my life, I start lugging around delivery bags. In the middle of a rainstorm, I get assigned to deliver a food order worth 10,000 dollars, with a 100-dollar tip. Just as I happily celebrate my luck, I overhear the raucous laughter coming from inside the villa. "She actually believes you got paralyzed in a car accident? She now spends all day doing deliveries just to support you financially? She even sold off her dead mom's ring?" "She'd probably cry her heart out if she ever finds you're actually a wealthy scion worth tens of billions of dollars, who's just pretending to be poor!" Mark twirls the wineglass he's holding and says, "A lowly woman like her was born to wait on others. She brought it upon herself by always being better than Rosie back in school. Messing with her is the punishment she deserves." I continue to stand in the rain, tears rolling down my cheeks. This is how I find out Mark has spent the last two years faking his condition just to help his childhood sweetheart get back at me. His so-called paralyzed legs, deceased parents, and helpless tears are all just part of a meticulously executed lie. I haven't talked to my father, the richest man in town, for years. But now, I have finally decided to call him. "I lost, Dad. I'll accept the marriage alliance and marry the guy you picked for me."

My best friend, Cassidy Braun, earned a modest monthly salary of 2,800 dollars, only to constantly trash her doting husband with an annual income of 600,000 dollars, labelling him a broke loser. “That incompetent husband of mine can’t even afford a 20-carat diamond ring! “I have the looks that can bag me a billionaire. I must have been out of my mind to marry that piece of trash.” I chimed in. “You’re right. You’re practically a goddess. Only a Greek God stands a chance with you.” Eventually, Cassidy left her husband and hooked up with a trust-fund kid, just as she wanted. A year later, she was scammed out of every penny she owned and diagnosed with cancer. Fragile and broken, she came to me. “I heard that ex-husband of mine remarried and that he’s loaded now. Judging by the way he used to worship the ground I walked on, I bet he’ll drop the woman in a heartbeat if I ask to get back together.” I gave a dismissive nod while running my fingers along the new Birkin bag my husband had bought. “Oh, absolutely. He’s pretty wealthy now.”

Dua hari sebelum tahun baru, pacarku, Dylan Stevens, malah bawa asistennya ke pantai untuk merayakan tahun baru. Aku tidak marah, aku bahkan dengan tulus bantu dia berkemas. Namun, Dylan malah mengejekku. Dia bilang, aku jadi lebih tahu diri setelah hamil. Begitu dia pergi, aku langsung melakukan operasi aborsi. Karena di kehidupan sebelumnya, setelah aku mencoba menahannya dengan anak kami, asisten itu justru tewas secara tragis di pantai. Di luar, Dylan tampak tenang dan tidak peduli, tapi saat aku hendak melahirkan, dia belah perutku dan bunuh anakku dengan kejam. Saat itulah aku tersadar, dia menyimpan dendam padaku selama ini. Di kesempatan kedua ini, aku akan membuatnya kehilangan segalanya.