Istirahat Total

Right after finishing a meeting, I opened a forum and saw a warning post. The location tag was our company. The title read: “Red flag! What a cheap company. Anyone who joins is a total sucker. They can’t even afford a decent coffee break.” The photo attached showed the expensive coffee and five-star desserts I had just asked my assistant to distribute to everyone. I frowned and tagged the entire group chat, asking if anyone had suggestions about the afternoon tea. A Gen-Z intern who had just joined, Julian Hayes, instantly replied with a voice message: “Boss, no offense, but these assembly-line desserts are full of trans fats. Nobody would eat them.” “A truly humane company hires a Michelin chef to cook and slice everything fresh on site. That’s what real respect for employees looks like.” I laughed in disbelief. Our company’s daily coffee break budget was thirty dollars per person—already considered top-tier in the industry. So I replied, “Since it’s impossible to satisfy everyone’s taste, we’ll cancel afternoon tea from now on and convert the budget into cash for everyone instead.” Less than five minutes later, that post was updated: “Guys, can you believe this? I made a perfectly reasonable suggestion and the lame boss immediately canceled the whole coffee break perk! This is the true face of corporate greed—can’t handle even a little bit of honesty!”

¿Cuánto me llegó a amar mi esposa? En aquel entonces, me pidió noventa y nueve veces que nos casáramos. Fue recién a la centésima cuando su insistencia terminó por conmoverme. El día de nuestra boda, le regalé noventa y nueve vales de reconciliación. Prometimos que, mientras le quedara uno solo, yo nunca me iría de su lado. Tras cinco años de casados, ella canjeaba un vale cada vez que salía a ver a su alma gemela. Al usar el número noventa y siete, ella notó de pronto que algo en mí había cambiado. Ya no había lágrimas ni escenas, ya no le suplicaba que se quedara a mi lado. Una vez, mientras ella perdía la cabeza por atender a su joven y mimado secretario, le pregunté en voz baja: —Si te vas con él, ¿puedo cobrar un vale de reconciliación? Se quedó pasmada un segundo y, extrañamente, cedió: —Está bien. Total, apenas habremos usado unos sesenta. Úsalo si quieres. Asentí y la dejé irse. No se imaginaba que era el noventa y siete. Ni que solo nos separaban dos vales del final.

After I won a total of one million dollars from the lottery, I planned to spend four hundred thousand dollars paying off my wife Jocelyn's debts, then buy our son, Sean, the sports models and Lego set he had always wanted. But after waiting and waiting, the only thing I got was a call from my son. "Dad, there's an event at the kindergarten today, so go eat by yourself. Mommy and I will miss you!" I said nothing. Because just half a minute earlier, a screen of bullet comments had suddenly appeared in front of my eyes. "The supporting male lead is just so sad. He's working three jobs to pay off the female lead's debts, and even his stomach is bleeding due to pure exhaustion. Meanwhile, the female lead is out buying the male lead a gold watch!" "But if the supporting male lead doesn't work himself to death, how are the male lead and female lead supposed to end up together?" At first, I did not believe those comments. But just then, my phone buzzed, and a credit card charge alert came in. My stomach dropped. I never would have thought the wife who always seemed to love me so deeply and the son I had worked so hard to raise would lie to me like this. In that case, my ten million lottery winnings had nothing to do with them anymore.

I don't help people, Lara. I own them." Five years ago, Lara’s life was incinerated. Her "deadbeat" father betrayed her, her mother was drugged and vanished into a psychiatric ward, and the mother’s vast bloodline inheritance was stolen by a predatory stepmother. Now, on her twenty-fifth birthday—the day her mother promised her "the beginning" Lara finds her fiancé in the arms of her stepsister. The betrayal is the final straw. The girl who believed in love is dead. In her place stands a woman with a heart of ice and a single goal: Total Annihilation. To get her revenge, Lara approaches the one man the world fears Xavier Vane. He is a cold-blooded billionaire who treats people like pawns. Lara offers herself as his ultimate tool, whispering the words that will seal her fate: "Yes, Use Me." Xavier knows she’s using him to destroy her family. Lara knows he’s using her to satisfy a dark family legacy. But as the lines between predator and prey begin to blur, a deeper secret emerges. The diamond heirloom Lara seeks isn't just jewelry it’s the key to an empire that dwarfs even the Vane fortune. In a game of masks, hidden mothers, and lethal obsession, who is truly using whom? "Break me if you must, Xavier. Just make sure that when you’re done, there’s nothing left of them but ash.

Maya's marriage to Leo is a silent, polite tomb. Once passionate artists of their own lives, they are now buried under the mountains of parenthood, two ghosts co-managing a household. Desperate to resurrect the man she loves and the woman she lost, Maya makes a radical choice. She doesn't want just a date night-she wants an adventurous detonation. She orchestrates a forbidden fantasy: a single, explosive night with a captivating stranger. The experience is a mirror, reflecting back their boldest, most alive selves. For a glorious moment, it works. But the adventurous high crashes into a brutal dawn. Misunderstandings poison their paradise. Maya's possessive fears twist every glance into a betrayal, while Leo's possessive longing feels like a sentence. The very fantasy meant to unite them becomes the weapon that drives them further apart than ever before. Facing total collapse, they must confront the raw truth: the fantasy didn't break them-it exposed the fractures they'd long ignored. To save their marriage, they must embark on a more perilous adventure than any night of passion: navigating the wreckage of their trust, where every misunderstanding dismantled is a step toward a new foundation, and where possessive love must evolve into a chosen, fiercely protective partnership. This is a raw, intimate story about the wild in lengths we go to save what we love, proving that sometimes, to find each other again, you must first get completely lost.

Stella diadopsi saat dia masih kecil. Sebuah mimpi yang menjadi kenyataan bagi anak yatim piatu. Namun, hidupnya jauh dari kata bahagia. Ibu angkatnya mengejek dan menindasnya sepanjang hidupnya. Stella mendapatkan cinta dan kasih sayang dari seorang orang tua dari pembantu tua yang membesarkannya. Sayangnya, wanita tua itu jatuh sakit, dan Stella harus menikahi pria yang tidak berguna untuk menggantikan putri kandung orang tuanya demi membiayai pengobatan pembantunya. Mungkinkah ini kisah Cinderella? Namun pria itu jauh dari seorang pangeran, kecuali penampilannya yang tampan. Dirga adalah anak haram dari keluarga kaya yang menjalani kehidupan yang sembrono dan nyaris tidak bisa memenuhi kebutuhan hidup. Dia menikah untuk memenuhi keinginan terakhir ibunya. Namun, pada malam pernikahannya, dia punya firasat bahwa istrinya berbeda dari apa yang dia dengar tentangnya. Takdir telah menyatukan kedua insan itu dengan rahasia yang dalam. Apakah Dirga benar-benar pria yang kita kira? Anehnya, dia sangat mirip dengan pria terkaya di kota itu. Akankah dia mengetahui bahwa Stella menikahinya sebagai pengganti saudara perempuannya? Akankah pernikahan mereka menjadi kisah romantis atau bencana total? Baca terus untuk mengungkap perjalanan Stella dan Dirga.

In two steps he was on her, yanking her up straight and turning her around to face the wall. She gasped at the change in dynamic: her teasing and taunting were shoved roughly to one side and now he was in full and total control. Jo trembled as he dropped a slow, sexy kiss on her right shoulder, then lightly nipped her soft skin before moving his mouth to her ear. “Don’t you move, angel,” he murmured. “Keep facing forward.” **** Jolene Angeles is fresh out of a nightmare marriage and parked at a roadside biker bar hunting for one thing: Mr. Right Now. In a few days, she’ll have a new job, a new city, a new life, and a single, forgettable one-night stand feels like the perfect way to burn the past down. Then she meets Zeke. Silver-eyed, dangerous. Exactly the kind of mistake she wants. One night, no names, no aftermath. Zeke “Silver” Bennett doesn’t lose control. Ever. He learned that lesson once, and it nearly destroyed him. So when he spots the dark-eyed woman across the bar, he knows the rules: one night, clean break, no complications. Until fate throws them together again... and secrets start detonating. They didn’t tell each other the truth. Now they’re forced to decide: can trust be built on lies? And if the truth finally comes out – raw, painful, unforgiving – will either of them be brave enough to risk real love?

At our daughter’s three-month milestone party, my husband Garrett’s so-called "best friend" publicly humiliated me. “Hey, Vivian. I heard you're a little loose down there after popping out the kid.” "If it's that bad, you better get some tightening surgery quick—don't wanna mess up your marriage vibes!" Garrett shot her a playful glare and snapped, "Knock it off, Scarlett! You can't just say whatever pops into your head." Then he turned to me with a breezy shrug. "She's just like that—total tomboy. We grew up together; she means no harm." Scarlett shook her half-exposed breast and pouted, "Oh, come on, don't take it personally, Vivian. Honestly, I'm kind of jealous of you." "See, my problem is the opposite. I'm way too tight—hurts like hell during my period. No clue who's gonna get lucky with this later." Then she cut her eyes toward Garrett with a playful wink. " Oh right, you've tried it before, haven't you?" The room went dead silent. Every pair of eyes drifted toward me, barely concealing their curiosity. I smiled, set down my wine glass, and looked at Scarlett with fake concern. "That's strange. I don't remember making it that tight when I did your surgery."

When my colleagues find out that I'm pretty good at cooking, they start organizing dinners at my place. Lucy Holt, one of the junior accountants, suggests that we split the groceries evenly between us. As a result, I don't think I can reject their request without being rude. On my last day of work, the group gathers at my place for one last meal. "You're such a good cook, Jess! We'll all be transferring you 500 dollars later. It's just a token of our appreciation," Lucy declares with a bright smile. But the very next day, she sends me a message. "Hey, Jess. You know it's illegal to operate an unlicensed catering business from your home, right? Your house will get sealed off for further investigation. More importantly, the value of goods has passed the threshold of 10,000 dollars, which means the fine you'll have to pay is probably going to be about 20 times that amount. "Since we worked together, we decided not to report you to the authorities. We'll just settle this matter privately. All you have to do is give us the fine you would've had to pay instead." This is how I realized that, combined with yesterday's meal, the total amount they've given me for groceries thus far is exactly 10,001 dollars.

Paano kung may makilala kang tao na lahat ng ayaw mong ugali ay nasa kaniya? Isang taong papahirapan at guguluhin ang mundo mo. Meet Zoe Yaffeh Madrigal--- ang babaeng may pagka-boyish at head over heels sa bestfriend niyang lalaki. Isang babae na lahat ng gugustuhin ay makukuha niya, pero maliban sa isa. Meet Dylan Rodriguez--- ang tahimik, matalino, mayaman, guwapo at masasabi mong Perfect Guy. Ang bestfriend ni Zoe. Dalawang magkaibigan na magka-iba ang ugali. Nagkalayo dahil sa isang maling pangyayari, pero magsasama muli dahil sa isang kasunduan. "Bibigyan kita ng sariling anak, pero lahat ng atensyon mo na para sa mahal mo ay dapat nasa akin," nakangising sabi ni Zoe. Nag-aalinlangan man si Dylan ay tumango pa rin siya. "Deal!" sagot ng binata. One Deal! One Secret! Isang sekretong magpapabago ng mga mundo nila. Isang sekretong may kapalit. Pero paano kung maging malapit sila sa isa't isa at tuluyan nang mauwi sa love? Are they going to prove that total opposite attracts? O maghihiwalay din sila in the end? "He is my secret. My beautiful little secret," nakangiting sabi ni Zoe sa kaniyang sarili habang nakatingin sa papalayong si Dylan.