Into The Storm Smith

I was pregnant. On my way to deliver documents to Tristan Goldberg, a flash flood struck. Desperate, I dialed his number, praying he’d answer. After a few rings, the call connected. But instead of Tristan, a woman’s voice answered. "Tristan, whose number is this? Do you want to answer it?" There was a brief pause, and then Tristan’s voice, cold and indifferent, cut through. "It’s just my maid. Ignore it. Hang up." And just like that, the call disconnected. Staring at the torrent rising around me, my pulse quickened. I texted him, begging for him to send a rescue team. Minutes passed as the waters climbed to my waist, churning and relentless. Then, a message from Tristan finally appeared. Tristan: [What kind of ridiculous story are you making up now?] Tristan: [Emily, do you think you're eighteen, playing these childish games? I want that document in my hands within thirty minutes, or we're getting divorced.] A surge of terror shot through me as I looked up, catching sight of a heavy branch snapping loose and crashing down. In an instant, everything went dark.

During a typhoon alert, Joyce Lane calls me and tells me to pick her up from her company. On the way there, I receive a text from her. "You don't have to pick me up anymore. I'm going to stay over at Fin's place for a few days." I opt not to start anything with her. Instead, I calmly text back, "Okay." In the middle of the night, Finley Jones, Joyce's junior at work, uploads a social media post that's meant for my eyes only. Joyce can be seen huddling against Finley while feeding him some snacks in the photo. The window outside depicts a storm. The caption writes, "It's only befitting for me to tide out the worst weather with the woman I love the most." I leave a like on the photo calmly. Suddenly, Joyce calls me and demands what that like means. I reply coolly, "It means we're breaking up."

During Black Friday, the intelligent system I develop helps the company run highly targeted ads and brings in 30 million dollars in revenue. But when I apply for the project bonus, the director rejects it. "The system is just an auxiliary tool. The performance belongs to the sales department." I hold back my frustration and pull up the system logs. "88% of the orders come from the system's targeted pushes. According to company policy, I should receive a 0.5% commission." The director glances at me, twirling his pen. "If the sales commission doesn't go to the sales department, should it go to you? And your lousy system exceeds the API limit and racks up extra fees. You still owe us a hundred thousand dollars. We'll deduct that from your salary." Three days before Christmas sales are set to begin, the system completely shuts down because of API restrictions. Late at night, the director calls me. I stare at my computer screen. "Since the system is just an auxiliary tool, why don't you start with manual targeting?"

Yvonne Sunderland married Zach Frank, who had been with her for ten years. In the second year of their marriage, Zach passed away due to a plane accident. But when Yvonne turned forty-three, she met her supposedly dead husband! Before she could even ask any questions, disaster struck. An avalanche suddenly struck. During the critical moment, Zach was buried under the snow in order to protect her and that woman. His final words were, “I’ve repaid you all of your favors with my life. If I can redo my life, I don’t want to marry you and would rather meet her first…” When she opened her eyes again, Yvonne found herself back to the first year she married Zach.

Have you ever lived a life that looked perfect—but felt like nothing? Felt yourself slipping away every day… yet still couldn’t call that life your own? Well, Serena Beckett has. The perfect daughter. The perfect wife. Invisible in her own story. Born into a wealth she was never allowed to claim. Married into a life she didn’t choose, but ended up loving endlessly as she thought she could finally have a thing of her own. Until the night her husband walks in with a stranger… and divorce papers. That night, something breaks in her. And something far stronger takes its place. Serena doesn’t crumble. She doesn’t leave. Not until she decides who she really is—beyond the Beckett name, beyond the lies, beyond the mask she’s worn for far too long. Is she the girl her family tried to tame? The wife Eliot thought he could throw away? Or someone neither of them ever saw coming? And when Eliot finally sees her… Will it be too late?

When a hurricane comes, my husband, the leader of a rescue team, takes away everything we've stored at home so he can save his true love. I plead, "Leave some for me. I'm pregnant." He shakes me off. "How can you be so evil? The windows at Lottie's home have already been blown away. Don't tell me you're going to sit by and watch her die! She's not like you—you're not afraid of everything. The hurricane will be over soon, so you won't need any of this stuff." After that, he leaves without another look back. What he doesn't know is that there's also a crack in our home's windows.

The Hidden Piece is a creative fictional story about the life of a young girl with a promising future. Faced with many life challenges that she didn't handle well, she had regrets and wished she behaved differently. Each phase of her life contended to activate her inward strength when confronted with these challenges, but she easily gave up which almost affected her dreams and aspirations. The only required tool to push through her difficult moments was using the power of her mind, which was also the strong force opposing her progress. This story is highly recommended for young adults searching for headway through life storms.

Saraswati Mahiswara atau yang akrab disapa Saras, seorang gadis yang mempunyai masalah dengan tiap laki-laki yang menyatakan perasaan cinta dengan tulus. Pasalnya, setelah itu mereka akan menghilang tanpa kabar. Saras bertemu dengan Brian, sang senior yang punya kesan dingin dan kasar yang tidak mampu mengekspresikan perasaan sesungguhnya. Love in the first sight yang tadinya ia anggap klise, menyerangnya. Pesona Brian menenggelamkannya pada pandangan pertama. Saat itu, ia bertekad untuk lebih mengenal Brian. Dengan bantuan Radit, sahabatnya, dan juga Sekar, sang senior baik hati yang diam-diam menyimpan rahasia, membantu Saras untuk lebih mengenal Brian. Harapannya hanya satu, jika mereka benar-benar ditakdirkan bersama, Saras berharap Brian tidak menyatakan perasaan cintanya. Agar ia tidak menghilang seperti para laki-laki sebelumnya. Namun, siapa sangka nyatanya Brian tenggelam dalam perasaan kelam, yang menyangkut masa lalunya, sejak lama.

"I don't think it's a coincidence."Those words were not an opinion rather a point measured with assurance. She didn't look at our differences but focused on what's our strength. She began playing with a purpose and I was just her card by mistake. But everything she did make me who I am today and so are the others. That mysterious girl can be sometimes unreasonable but all I could do was to trust the process.

Tom could make my body ache with just a word. The closer he stepped towards me the more I would crumble to my knees, ready for what he had in store next. I couldn’t imagine a normal relationship anymore.. this was more. This was my more…. . “Yes master”, I responded bringing my mind out of deep thought. ~~~~~ Anna was newly 21, heartbroken and looking for anything but complicated, and that’s when Tom entered her life. He was everything she didn’t know she wanted. But he came with his own set of likes. If you don’t like explicit, erotic, steamy novels, turn back now! As unsure as you are about where this story is going, I’m just as in the dark. Follow along with me as Anna and Tom’s story unravels.