Lateral Thinking

The new project was short on staff. Over everyone's objections, I pulled three former colleagues out of an overlooked department where they'd been warming the bench for years. The four of us became the project's core team. The bonus was generous, the workload light. They all said I was their lucky charm. Three months later, with delivery just around the corner, I passed the break room and overheard them talking. "The biggest credit for this project belongs to the three of us. Why should Chloe get an equal share of the bonus just because she recommended us? She barely did any real work." "Exactly. Let's talk to the director. We'll say all the core work was done by us, that she's not up to the task. We'll apply to have her removed from the contributors list." "Just thinking about not having to split those tens of thousands with her—it feels amazing." I pushed the door open. They stared at me, stunned. I smiled. They wanted to kick me out? Too bad. I was the director who parachuted in to evaluate them.

Bella Flynn lived her life of privilege. There was an arranged marriage between her and her childhood Friend, Michael Sean, and this made him to detest her, thinking she forced their parents due to her obsession for him. Jealous and filled with rage, Bella set out to destroy Mandy, her husband's lover and in the process committed many sins. But her sin caught up with her and she died and untimely death. But her story doesn't end there, she finds herself reborn with her memories intacts. In her new life, she is determined to avoid any path of destructions she had taken in her past life. "Like you've always wanted. Let's get divorced." She told her husband and he was shocked to the bone. She thought everything will be fine and they will separate but michael Sean is not making it easy as he is not ready to divorce. Okay then, she will be the most powerful socialite and later divorce her husband. But who is she Kidding, Michael Sean is not ready to divorce. "Mrs Sean, you are tied to me forever. Till death do us part."

“I want a divorce!” Angela said, staring at her young and handsome husband with her head high. “You had the nerve to tell me that? Fine! Who wants to stay married to an ugly and stupid woman?” Sky Mars scoffed, looking at her from head to toe. “How much do you want from me?” He asked, thinking she only married him for his money. “I don’t need your money, Sky. Only that,” Angela pointed at the beautiful handmade quilt on the bed. “Not only you’re ugly and stupid, but you’re also crazy. Take this, sign the divorce papers, and don’t ever come back,” He took the blue peacock design comforter on the bed, throwing it at her. She picked up the quilt that landed on the floor and turned her back on him, hugging the soft fabric as she walked toward the door. She did not bother correcting him that she is not ugly and stupid, but crazy? Maybe. She was probably insane falling in love with Sky, that not only the name and status is beyond her reach but also his heart.

Beatrix paused for a second to think about what Miss Lorelei had just said. "The offer was tempting. Was Paxton really going to change her life if she agrees to spend a night with him?" She had to think this through. "Well, permit me to think about it" she said after being silent for some minutes. "Okay, but you know how these billionaires are! It's hard to come by this kind of opportunity" "Yeah, I know" Beatrix nodded still thinking hard, she knew she needed to think fast before the opportunity slips away. Beatrix is a young lady who tries to balance her life between two jobs. Working in a coffee shop could pay some of her bills but that wasn't all she wanted, she had always dreamt of living a comfortable life, her quest for that kind of lifestyle and her love for dancing made her go into stripping. After so many requests by a famous billionaire, Paxton to spend a night with him, she finally agrees! Will spending a night with the billionaire change her life for better or worse?

All my life, I've been thinking about the same thing...That because of who I was, I was destined to be alone forever... But who would've thought, that I was actually destined to be bound to Death himself... "His fingers went under my chin, coaxing me to look back up at him and as soon as I did, my heart started racing again, noticing the way his haunting eyes were now trained on my lips as he huskily said those two words again, "Forgive me." And before I could utter a single word, his soft, plump lips crashed against mine in a chaste, yet passionate kiss, sending warm tingles all over my body, making my heart almost jump out of my chest as we stayed like that for a few moments, before he suddenly pulled back, staring at me a little shocked, only now realizing what he had just done, then turned around and quickly walked away, leaving me standing there, speechless."

"I am not perfect. You aren't either, and the two of us will never be perfect. But if i can make you laugh at least once, cause you to think twice, and if i admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto me and give me the most you can. I am not going to quote poetry, I am not thinking about you every moment, but I will give you a part of me that i know you could break. Don't hurt me, don't change me, and don't expect for more than i can give. Don't analyze. Smile when i make you happy, yell when i make you mad, and miss me when I am not there. Love hard when there is love to be had. Because perfect guys don't exist, but there's always one guy that is perfect for you” As I held the letter in hand, a single tear fell off my face and I clench my jaw together, I will be doomed if I let him go without a fight.

“His skin is white as porcelain, his blonde hair flows flawlessly through the air. His pulpy lips were luscious as.. No, what are you thinking? He’s just a character, he’s not real. He’ll never be real” Natalie Smith, an inspiring Romance novel writer, got caught in an accident and was woken up in an unfamiliar place that soon she’ll learned was old wales, the place of the current story she’s been writing of. She somehow transported to the novel she’s been writing up and decided to play along as she was trying to figure out how she will returned back to her own reality as she becomes one of the palace housemaids to survive. “She’s just a mare servant here in this castle, yet she piques up my interest” Alex Evans, the coldhearted first Prince of Wales took notice of Natalie as she becomes a housemaids in their royal household. He then took her as his personal servant and as time passed love blossoms between them. “How did I entangled myself with the male lead?!”

The novel consists of several mini-stories about therapy sessions at a therapy clinic named "Soulmate", but the letters "m-a-t-e" were broken in a storm. Each mini-story is narrated by both the psychologists and the patients, describe the patients' worldview, why they do what seems "mentally ill" to us. We often say that the patients' head is abnormal, that their way of thinking is so weird. But is there any possibility that it's because they received different (whether right or wrong) information, so they react differently? Is that just because we "normal people" haven't got enough understanding about this world? Throughout the story, we could see that therapy sessions are a two-way arrow. While the experts are affecting the patient, the patient is also influencing them,“When you look deeply into the darkness, the deep darkness is also looking into you". The story does not make any conclusion about who is right or which world is real, maybe all of them are real, maybe they are all virtual, or maybe, it all doesn't matter. Isn't the world where we live? Wherever you live, that's your world.

Life has never played a fair game and when she found herself competing with giants, Alex ran away. Moon saved her from a fate far worse than hell, she renounce herself from that place. All she's known is torment and blind sighted betrayal. What is next? University. Fate. Love. And power. She knows there's more to her than just her abilities, she's just yet to meet chaos her old friend. He is the next heir to the werewolf throne in Blue. He hates thinking about the future, nothing good comes out of limiting time. College is four years, which is all the time he has to enjoy his youth. And a path that led his best friend, Toby, to find love, became his destination. Broken people have a way of breaking others. Where is the fine line between love and loss? College promised freedom and chaos unleashed fate. Noah knows building a house near an erupting volcano is dangerous, so is falling in love.

‘State you name.’ Luke said. His voice of authority. ‘Vera Rayne.’ He seemed to look like he was in thought. The interview went on. Vera feeling on edge and uncomfortable. Luke, he was just sexually frustrated. ‘Are you married.’ He suddenly demanded. Luke couldn’t help it. Vera was confused as to why he would ask. ‘No,’ she answered, frowning. ‘Boyfriend then.’ Vera frowned deeper. Luke thought it made her look just as beautiful. Vera didn’t know why he would want to know. What it had to do with him. Luke grew irritated by Vera’s silence. His mind going insane thinking that silence meant that she did indeed have a boyfriend. Then he began to imagine, if she did have a boyfriend, what would he look like. What was her type. And so on. ‘No.’ She had finally answered. Luke thought she wasn’t going to. ‘OK,’ he said feeling relieved. Though he would never show it.