Novel & Cerita Less Is More

Before our marking ceremony, my fiancé, Adrian Conner, insists on bringing his childhood sweetheart along on our trip—all because Flora Wooledge says she also wants to see the northern lights. He switches my first-class ticket to Flora's name. He says, "I'll fly first class with Flora. You can take connecting flights by land. The doctor said it's not good for a pregnant woman to stay at high altitude for too long." I don't cry or argue. Instead, I calmly push him toward Flora. He snorts. "You've finally learned to behave. You're not as clingy and troublesome as before." After he leaves, I quietly sign the abortion consent form at the hospital. Then, I book a ticket to the southern hemisphere. In my past life, I begged and clung to him, hoping to keep him with our pup. But on that trip, Flora was attacked by rogue wolves and torn apart in the snow. Adrian kept a calm facade. Yet on the night I was about to give birth, he dragged me back home and cut open my belly with his own hands. He stood there and listened as our pup's cries slowly faded away. He poured all his hatred onto me. He believed I caused Flora's death and that I ruined his chance to become the Conner family's heir. To him, I was nothing more than a sacrificial pawn. In this new life, when I step off the private jet, I see Adrian standing there with his eyes bloodshot. He stares at my belly and asks, "Where's the pup?" Before I can answer, his half-brother wraps an arm around my waist. "Adrian, show some respect to your sister-in-law."

All along, I've been following a social media account that's dedicated to a couple sharing about their romance. It doesn't have a lot of followers, but the posts are all very heartwarming. The owner of the account records all the little details about his relationship with his girlfriend. They get into arguments over a plate of pasta before breaking into laughter and calling each other an overgrown child. They climb up the hill to hold each other under the sky full of stars, wishing they could make time pause at that very moment. Even though the owner of the account never reveals his face, I am always moved by the words he writes. The day before my wedding, the owner uploads a new post. "This marks the end of our ten-year relationship. From now on, she'll be his wife, and I'll only be his friend. There won't be any more updates to this account. I wish nothing but the best for my best friend and the woman he loves the most." The picture uploaded with this caption is one of my fiancee and me, taken from behind.

My boyfriend, Leon Kramer, goes on a ten-day trip. When he comes back, he suddenly makes a casual remark as we lay in bed after an intimate session in bed. He says, "I've never noticed how fair you are." After he falls asleep, I take a look at the photo gallery on his phone. There are hundreds of photos featuring him and the woman he's been with over the last ten days. She has tanned skin and isn't as fair as I am. I put his phone back without a word. Actually, my new target isn't as fair as Leon is. I keep quiet about it, afraid of exposing myself.

When Maya transfers to Raven High, all she wants is a fresh start not a fight with the school’s queen bee or an entanglement with the mysterious Zane Walker. But secrets don’t stay buried, and neither does the pain both teens carry. As whispers turn into scandals and stolen glances into heart-throbbing kisses, Maya and Zane find themselves caught in a dangerous game of love, lies, and survival. With enemies disguised as friends and a past that won’t stay silent, will their hearts survive the storm or will it tear them apart forever?

Three years into my marriage with Shawn, I found out I was pregnant. I nervously but joyfully prepared to surprise him with the news. Yet what I received was the news of Shawn’s accidental death. Devastated by the blow, I miscarried the child and killed myself in despair. However, after death, I saw him drinking and mocking me with his rowdy friends. “Samantha is so dumb. I can’t believe she really fell for that prank. Does she really think I’d be fooled by her? I’m not an idiot like her. What, she’s pregnant? If she was going to make up something to fool me, she should have at least made it more believable.” But our child really was gone, and I had really died.

I've been in a three-year relationship with Antonio Bianco, the successor of the Bianco family. Everyone knows very well how much he loves me. But everything has changed the moment Antonio's older brother passes away, leaving behind his newly-widowed wife, Rosetta Serra, who's also pregnant. Antonio heeds Augusto Bianco's last wish by taking great care of Rosetta. He even ditches me at the altar numerous times for her sake. On our 51st wedding, Antonio still ends up leaving with Rosetta, who keeps crying her heart out. I just gaze at the way Antonio scrambles to come up with a new excuse. I notice how skillfully the wedding planning company is cleaning up the wedding venue in advance. I also spot the flash of a provocative smile Rosetta has shown to me behind Antonio's back as she links arms with him. Suddenly, I feel like a total joke for being with such a man over the past three years. When the hotel manager gives me the bill, he asks casually, "When will the 52nd wedding be held, Ms. Marino? We can make the preparations in advance." "There's no need for a wedding anymore," I respond with a smile. "Even if a wedding is to be held, the groom won't be the same person anyway." After leaving the hotel, I dial the number of the person in charge of the International Medical Organization. "Hello, I'm Cecilia Marino. I'd like to accept your invitation to join your organization, and I can leave anytime soon."

The only way where someone can ever be more than a man is when the person is a woman pretending to be a man. It was never Penn wish to don on male clothing and act like a man but it was the only thing she could do if she wanted to survive. Living on the streets before she came across a man whose character was erratic and unpredictable, the man offered Penn to be his heir and Penn had no choice but to accept because her life depends on the protection which the man could offer. Penn secret was discovered by her new adopted father who wanted her to remain in her guise as a man to deal with certain issues and cause an insurgency which the man was convinced that Penn was perfect for. Keeping her identity a secret from others and at the same time planning to take down the empire is more than enough work for anybody could handle and as if that was not enough. She just had to learn some deep secrets about her family that seemed to tilt everything she believed in and fall for the Prince even when she knows that she was trying to dethrone his father. Yeah, Penn life was capital letters COMPLICATED. ••

“A love timed too soon, a secret held too long.” After a one-year trial marriage born from heartbreak, MaiMai disappears with a vow: to raise their child alone, never revealing the truth to Rayn Jasper. But fate flips the script when her CEO-friend’s latest client turns out to be him. And now, seven years later, Jasper is no longer the heartbroken man she left—he’s powerful, distant... and suspicious. What happens when love’s biggest secret demands to be heard?

Vera is the daughter of a Spanish ambassador and lives under his control ever since her mother died. But she also wants to have fun and the only opportunity for her to enjoy life again is to begin a dangerous game with her bodyguard. Although Enzo can be a killer, he has a soft heart for the daughter of his boss and that since High school. What she doesn't know about is, that he was in love with her for years before she even got to know him. But he won't give up on her and make her his as fast as he can, to protect her from guys that are obsessed with her too, because he isn't the only one at all. See how his plan will go and what will happen if it's not working like he wanted it to.

Emery Warden was an average eighteen-year-old girl--as average as one can be for having a terminal illness. She wanted to keep life simple and get through what time was left unscathed. No hurt, no pain, no heartache, so being a loner was her remedy for life. Emery just wanted to get through school and reach all the goals she had set for herself. None of that included meeting and falling in love with Austin. Austin Murray never got into trouble. As part of the elite at school--the football team--he never had to own up to any trouble. That all changed when trouble caught up with him. The last thing he expected when he began his mandatory volunteer work at the hospital was a girl who had no interest in him at all. He couldn't say the same: the more he got to know Emery, the more he fell in love with her. She was different from every other girl he’d ever been involved with and had no idea how that would change when he uncovered her secret...