Less Is More

I had moved out of our house, but my boyfriend—the one I had given up everything to run away with—had no idea. Neither did his possessive younger brother, the one who used to knock on my door calling for me. My boyfriend's first love had taken up all their attention. They no longer listened when I played the piano. They even forgot about my cat fur allergy and brought that woman's cat home. My boyfriend, Ian Blake, had snapped, "If anyone's leaving, it's you. There's no way Eva's cat is going anywhere." His brother, Sebastian, had said, "Sienna, Eva is my girlfriend. How could I give up her cat for you?" When I woke up in the hospital after going into anaphylactic shock from my allergy, I decided to leave them. Back home, I made my first call to my mother. "Mom, I'm ready to accept the arranged marriage."

"Aku bukan pelakor, tapi sebutan itu disematkan padaku karena ulah mantan istri Anugrah." Dokter Bella menjalin hubungan serius dengan Anugrah setelah pria itu resmi berstatus duda, namun siapa yang menyangka, hubungan tersebut menjadi awal kehancuran hidup dan karirnya. Saat masih menjalin kisah asmara dengan Direktur Rumah Sakit Ibu dan Anak itu, Bella terus diteror mantan istri Anugrah, hingga akhirnya dia menyerah dan meninggalkan sang Direktur. Lama tak mendengar kabar dari Anugrah, ternyata pria itu kembali menjalani rumah tangga dengan mantan istrinya. *** Berjumpa kembali setelah dua belas tahun berpisah, menjadi pertemuan paling mendebarkan bagi Bella dan Anugrah, yang masih menyimpan perasaan cinta satu sama lain. "Dua belas tahun aku mencari keberadaanmu. Aku pikir kita sudah benar-benar berakhir. Ternyata, ada ikatan yang tidak akan pernah bisa dihapus oleh apapun." Anugrah menatap wajah Bella, lekat. Kedua manik matanya berkaca-kaca, berharap bisa memeluk wanita cantik itu seperti dulu. "Bastian hadir bukan karena kesalahan, tapi keinginan kita berdua. Kamu ingatkan ... berulang kali aku mengatakan, aku akan menikahimu."

On my birthday, I personally prepare 16 dishes. After setting up the candlelight, I open a bottle of red wine. I take a photo and send it to my husband, Eric Sinclair. "I'm working late tonight. Don't wait for me," he replies. I choose to believe him. But after midnight, I notice an Instagram story posted by Shirley Huxley, his secretary. Eric was there with her, dressed in the trench coat I once gave him. They sat side by side in the VIP seat of football stadium where my favorite Super Bowl take place. Entwined in a passionate embrace, they kissed beneath a sea of shimmering lights and the roar of thousands of fans. That game is the one I have always longed to experience with him. I look down at the cold food on the table. Eric's words keep ringing in my head. "I hate kissing." "Marriage is a partnership, not about love and kisses." Though we've been married for ten years, we've never shared a single kiss. Meanwhile, he's out there, kissing Shirley openly and passionately. Despite it all, not a single tear falls from my eyes. The next day, Eric settles into his chair, completely unfazed. "Return the gallery to Shelly," he commands. I nod quietly, saying nothing. Suddenly, Layla Sinclair, my daughter, comes running down the stairs and throws herself into Shirley's arms. "Aunt Shirley, you're my favorite. I don't like Mom!" In that instant, it hits me—the home I devoted my heart and soul to means nothing anymore. It doesn't matter that I've been married to Eric for a decade. Now, all I want is to find myself again. I decide to accept an invitation from the Parisoir School of Fashion Design. From this moment on, I won't wait for them to come home, and I won't look back.

He is supposed to be my best friend—at least I have been seeing him as one—doing a lot of things with him together. We go to school together, share the same hobbies, and love the same sports. He is my day one, my buddy. Up until after the summer vacation when we started a new life in the same college as freshmen. That is when I discover that I have developed a soft spot for him, which accounts for the way I missed him during the summer vacation. I have never missed Liam like that. I mean, I do miss him but not compared to last summer. I wanted him around me and his image occupied my mind's eye. Starting college with a crush on my best friend is not an ideal way to begin the academic year. No matter how I try to suppress it by going on dates and accepting relationship proposals from guys, instead of it going away, it doubles. Worse still, he sees me as his buddy. He has never looked at me the way he looks at other girls. I know I am a bit of a tomboy. My other friends tell me that my dress sense is a bit masculine. I try changing my fashion sense but to no avail. Sadly, all I am to Liam is his day one bestie and buddy. I do not want to tell him about the feelings I have because I do not want to put our friendship in jeopardy. I had already given up hope Until the dare at one of my other friend's parties _ Evie. The dare for Liam to kiss me. The kiss opens another chapter; I would never have believed in my entire life to be possible—Liam actually likes me!

My elder sister, Emma Rothschild, longs for a life of luxury. As such, she requests to marry the prince of Northia, Matias Redburn. On the other hand, I'm married off to an elven scholar visiting human territory, Aleron Glintwood. After the wedding with Emma, Matias leaves Northia and visits the giant clan's territory to establish a trade route. He's never heard of again. Meanwhile, I accompany Aleron to Empiria. He obtains a teaching position at the Royal Academy of Magic by virtue of his elven talent for magic. As for me, I become a highly envied professor's wife. Emma continues to live alone in the Northian Frozen Plains. She's later discovered to be having an affair with a human knight. When the Draconian Council of Elders exiles her from their lands, our father—Gareth Rothschild—furiously declares that he's severing ties with her. She's thus forever cut off from the Rothschild family. While I'm on my way home for the festival, Emma forcibly stops my carriage. She begs me to take her home and put in a good word for her. Along the way, she suddenly grabs the reins. As a result, the carriage goes out of control and tumbles over a cliff. When I regain consciousness, I see Emma on the floor. She's crying and demanding a change in engagement plans. At that moment, I realize that she's also been reborn. However, Emma doesn't know that life with the elves isn't as wonderful as she imagines. I immediately begin preparing for the magic academy's entrance exam. This time, I'll spare no effort to be admitted into the academy myself.

Lois had decided to use alcohol to numb her pain and forget everything she had gone through. She had caught her boyfriend in bed with another woman, and now the child services agency was threatening to take her sister away from her. To add to her woes, she had also lost her job. As she sat in the bar, she encountered some problems that almost resulted in her being raped. However, Leo came to her rescue and saved her from the manager. He then offered to help Lois, but with a condition: she would have to marry him in return. Desperate for help and without a second thought, Lois accepted Leo's offer.

Saat hari pernikahan dan hendak melaksanakan ijab kabul, Luna malah dikhianati oleh calon suaminya, yaitu Agam. Pria itu terang-terangan menggandeng sahabatnya sendiri dengan begitu mesra. Harusnya, saat itu menjadikan hari yang sakral dan paling bahagia untuk Luna. Akhirnya, keduanya gagal untuk melanjutkan pernikahan. Agam lebih memilih sahabatnya daripada Luna. Keluarga masing-masing pun merasa malu. Lantas, di tengah rasa sakit hati dan terpuruk karena cinta, Luna malah bertemu dengan seorang pria tampan nan manis. Akankah Luna bisa menerima cinta pria itu dan mampu membuka lembaran baru bersamanya?

I had a cousin my age. She overslept and was late for her SATs. Yet, she pinned the blame on me, saying that I made her take some fever medication. She stole 300 thousand meant for Grandma's surgery, claiming it was to buy me a car. She even insisted I was at fault when she accidentally got pregnant and took the wrong abortion pills, leading to severe bleeding. She vehemently insisted I pushed her, causing her to fall. My boyfriend stood by her side time and time again. Eventually, he finally gave up on me, telling me it was over. My aunt shoved me down the stairs, accusing me of ruining her daughter's life. My boyfriend witnessed the whole thing, but he told them I had fallen by accident when the police came. I died without ever seeing justice for myself. When I thought my life was finally over, I opened my eyes. I had returned to the day my cousin stole the money meant for Grandma's surgery.

Noami grew up with an abusive mother, and so when she turned 18, she decided to hunt her ex-stepfather down as he was the only one who ever truly cared about her. She absolutely adores him, and he adores her right back. Can their love survive, albeit changed a drunken reunion, bullies from the past, and unwanted suitors? Or will everything they face tear them apart when they just found each other again? Or will his money play a part in his demise? I tilted my head back as I fell against his chest and he immediately lowered his head to press his lips against mine. Oh, God! Not again. This was bad. I needed to pull away. Why wasn’t I pulling away? Why was I opening my mouth so he could deepen the kiss? And why were my hands going under his shirt to stroke along his muscles? Fuck! I closed my eyes as I leaned against him, enjoying the kiss more than I should. When he finally pulled away, I looked up at him mesmerized by our kiss for the second time. He grinned down at me as his eyes danced merrily. “So, were you serious about what you said?” he asked huskily, confusing me. “What did I say?” I replied. His hands moved down my body until his hands were gripping my ass. “You said you were going to let me have you.” When my mouth dropped open in shock, he groaned. “Or we can start with that if you prefer.” I snapped my mouth shut when what he meant registered in my head. “Oh, God!” He chuckled as he pulled me up his body a little so that I could feel his erection. “Say yes and I’ll make you scream that.” “I-I…yes."

Born in a hunter family as a girl was tough for her from the beginning of her life when her family had stereotypes thinking that females were born for handling the household work and the family. To prove to her family that she was worthy to be a hunter, she trained harder and trained to be the best. But knowing that she wouldn’t get any chance by sitting at home, she started traveling to the cities, hunting for evil supernatural creatures and punishing them for their crimes but it wasn’t enough. She needed one strong and powerful supernatural creature who couldn’t be killed by anyone, and by killing him or her and that was when she found her perfect target, a handsome vampire, who she wanted to kill and kiss at the same time. She couldn’t decipher her feelings. She thought to trap and kill him but instead, she was getting trapped by him in the name of feelings that she didn’t want to decipher. Realizing that she was about to be trapped by him, she escaped and he chased her. The situation was flipped totally when the predator became the prey and the prey was now the predator. Let’s see who was to hunt and who wanted to be hunted?