Let's Start From The Beginning Novels & Stories

"Alexia, don't take any of the company's holiday bonus boxes. You're not one of us—there's nothing for you." My manager, Kevin Davis, delivered the notice coldly, as if he were commenting on the weather—routine, impersonal. My hand stilled on the mouse. "The rest of you, come with me. We're heading to the company gala to collect your million-dollar bonuses!" My colleagues filed out in high spirits. I watched their retreating backs and answered with a bitter, "Okay." I was a contract worker. For seven years, I had always been the odd one out in the department. Our ID badges said it all—blue for full-time employees, gray for me. Time off was no different. Full-time employees had weekends; I got one day off a month. As for pay and benefits, they enjoyed meal allowances, housing subsidies, team outings, afternoon snacks, holiday gifts, year-end bonuses… I received a fixed salary of three thousand dollars a month. I sat down, opened my computer, and returned to the candlestick charts of my stocks. They didn't know that I was the company's largest anonymous individual shareholder. And they certainly didn't know that tonight, at the company gala, I would step onto the stage as the new Chairman—and my very first proposal would be to lay off their entire department.

My adoptive younger brother, Jonathan Arden, is getting married soon, so he has invited me to his wedding. It turns out that the bride is Charlotte Vaughn, my childhood sweetheart-slash-fiancee. My parents think that I'm going to steal Charlotte from Jonathan and cause a huge ruckus at the wedding. That's why they've hired 100 bodyguards, who soon have me surrounded. When things are getting tense, Jonathan rushes down the stage and starts pleading with me. "Mom, Dad, I'm sure Harrison showed up without an invitation just so he can give me his blessings. Please don't blame him." Charlotte takes my hand and says to me pleadingly, "Jonathan is diagnosed with cancer. He's afraid that you might be worried about him, so he's hidden his condition from you. I'm pretending to marry him just so he won't die single." I express my understanding toward the couple before giving them my blessings. Delighted, Charlotte promises me, "Don't worry, you're the only one I view as my actual husband. Once the wedding is over, we'll register our marriage right away." What she doesn't know is that I've already booked an appointment in a fake-death program. A week later, I will leave this place for real. After all, I don't want anything to do with my parents and Charlotte anymore.

"I will divorce you as you want, but only on one condition." "We'll have to be a real couple for one month. If you can do this, then I'll divorce you afterward. Do we have a deal?" ******** Bella makes a deal with her cruel billionaire husband to sign his divorce papers if he can be an idle husband for a month. She had learned she was going to die in a month and needed her last days to be appealing. When the final day approaches, an eager Phill throws a party with his girlfriend, Isabel, to celebrate his freedom, inviting Bella to attend. But instead of her, he gets a shocking letter from her last day, sending him on his heels to find her. But it was too late. Six years later, Phill gets a picture from his bodyguard showing Bella with a son at an airport. "Sir, she's alive! And she has a son that looks almost like you." "I said stop her from leaving! I won't forgive you if she leaves. I am going there now!"

The sirens knew how to do only one thing. Kill. Usually, it was just those who travelled their seas, until the greedy ruler of Greake, captured their queen. The sirens ventured into the lands at midnight in search of their Queen, bringing chaos along with them. So many lives were lost from the midnight invasion, as such the humans had a powerful witch, Adora, summon the Pombero to keep the sirens off their lands. King Edwardo got greedy again. With his sword in hand, dripping the blood of their victims, and Adora by his side, he haunted the sirens who were retreating into their seas. The few who survived the slaughter were enslaved by the king and exploited for riches until they died a miserable death. Edwardo didn't stop there. His quest for wealth and power clouded his sense of reasoning. Sick of the bloodshed, Adora performed a dark ritual that brought a temporary calm to both sides. Adora didn't give much thought to the consequences, until she pushed the hideous child out of her womb. Years later, the throne of the Golden seas remained empty, as none of the sirens were powerful enough to contain the darkness that enveloped the throne. Given that half of their powers were locked away in the other half of their hearts given away by the sea to human mates, whom they were bound to love for the rest of their lives for the sake of peace. Princess Almira was not looking forward to finding love. All she needed was the other half of her heart to take over her mother's throne. Since the mates were immune to their manipulative melodies, Almira decided to go in search of him herself with only one plan. Drive a dagger through his heart and retrieve her property.

On the third anniversary of our engagement, my fiancé—Dominic Corleone, heir to one of the most powerful Mafia dynasties in New York—told me he was not ready to form a new family so that our wedding would have to postpone. I told myself to wait for some time, the bond between the Corleones and the Valentinos—our families’ sacred alliance—would hold us together. But what followed were his endless betrayals and tortures. I walked into a bridal boutique and saw him laughing with Liliane, the childhood friend who always lingered too close. I watched him destroy the wedding gown I had spent months designing—then crush my hand beneath his heel until it bled. And when I thought I had hit rock bottom, he proved I was wrong—by getting behind the wheel and running me down. He thought I’d beg and cling to him, terrified of losing the Corleone name and privilege that came with it. But instead, I made one phone call and insisted firmly on canceling the engagement. However, that call didn’t just end a marriage arrangement. It unearthed a secret that had been buried for over a decade…and turned a marriage born of duty into a story of dark devotion.

I had been dating Lily Foster for three years, and she strictly insisted on splitting every expense. When my mother needed surgery and I was short twenty thousand dollars, she looked troubled. “Aaron, we agreed on financial independence.” I went everywhere trying to borrow money, while she turned around and bought her brother a Ferrari outright. When I confronted her, she answered without a hint of guilt. “That’s my money. What does it have to do with you? “And besides, you’re a man. You can’t always expect a woman to support you, right?” Her brother drove the sports car right up in front of me, showing off. “My sister said it herself—your money is her money, but her money is still hers.” I laughed. Because just a moment ago, I had activated the “Malice Cashback” system. For every trace of hostility someone directed at me, I would receive a hundredfold cash return. Lily stood in front of me, frowning in disgust. “What are you laughing at? You look like an idiot.” [Ding! Received 20 hostility points from Lily Foster. Cashback of $2,000 has been credited.]

Abandoned in the pouring rain, Aleira Tan was left to pick up the broken pieces of her life while carrying her unborn child. For five years, she endured heartbreak, judgment, and the struggles of single motherhood—until a mysterious man once held an umbrella over her head and vanished into the night. She never expected to see him again. Now desperate for a fresh start, Aleira applies for a job at Montenegro Group—one of the country’s most elite companies. But nothing prepares her for the shock of discovering that her new boss is none other than him—Brent Montenegro. The cold, powerful billionaire who pretends not to recognize her… but whose eyes betray a different story. Strict. Mysterious. Untouchable. Brent hires her without explanation, keeping his distance—but always watching. Their unspoken tension grows with every encounter, and soon, secrets from their past begin to surface. Behind Brent’s icy exterior lies a man fighting his own battles—and Aleira might just be the light he never knew he needed. But can a billionaire torn between family expectations and buried emotions fall for a struggling single mom? In a world full of secrets, status, and silent stares… Will love find a way to rewrite their fate?

After Rowan Blackwood and I get into a car accident, we get reborn at the same time. In my previous life, I was one of the candidates who were groomed by the Blackwood family from a young age as the Blackwood brothers' potential wives. It was he who had personally selected me to become his fiancee as well. But Rowan never announced our relationship in front of the outsiders, though he had no problems being all lovey-dovey with me in front of the Blackwoods. That was, until I witnessed him pinning Lyra Whitmore, who used to be a fellow candidate but got freshly widowed by his older brother, against a corner with slightly reddened eyes. "I regret my decision…" In this lifetime, when it's time for the Blackwood brothers to choose their wives, Rowan didn't approach me. "Mom, Dad, I want to be the one who makes his choice first! I want her to become my fiancee!" Young Rowan takes Lyra's hand without even sparing me a glance. That's when I suddenly realize the reason why Rowan never shed a tear, although I suffered from massive bleeding during my labor in my previous lifetime. It turns out that he has never loved me at all. "Well, it seems that you shall be my fiancee, then." As I look at Adrian Blackwood's gentle smile—the very same man who died early in my previous lifetime—I nod in response. This time, I decide to grant Rowan his wish.

Elin was supposed to marry the crown prince and become the queen. That's what her father the duke had always told her, and that's what everyone believed. That is until the day the crown prince mysteriously loses his life in a tragic event leaving Elin drowning in grief, anger, and guilt. Fingers point out at her in suspicion as the next in line for the throne. As the conflict between noble parties began she's thrown into a fight for succession with her cousin and childhood friend, Louis. That's when the king interfered, sending Elin to study with her cousin at the royal academy postponing the announcement of the next heir, and giving her the perfect chance to realize her goals. Taking that as her chance, Elin begins to orchestrate her plans to investigate who killed her fiance while looking for a way to let her cousin win the succession battle. If only they would let her step down from the throne. She didn't expect that Louis too had his own plans in all this madness. And that she would meet someone else who would make her reconsider her decision and shake the fragile balance she was standing on.

On the day I'm set to go into labor, I plead to my husband, Timothy Langford, to take me to the hospital when I'm two centimeters dilated. However, a pissed-looking Timothy orders his men to lock me up in a sauna room that's heated to 356 degrees Fahrenheit. This is all because my estimated labor date is one day earlier than my widowed sister-in-law, Natalie Thornton. Since Timothy is bent on making Natalie's baby the oldest grandson of the Langford family, he instructs his men to inject me with 100 labor-suppressant injections. No matter how much I beg Timothy to spare our baby, he remains unmoved. Having received 99 injections, I feel a world of pain crashing down on me, seeing as I'm already suffering from contractions to begin with. But Timothy is the one who injects the final labor-suppressant injection into my huge pregnancy bump. As he gazes at my agonized and writhing form, he says coldly, "It's already difficult for Natalie to survive in this world after losing my older brother. As her brother-in-law, I'm merely fulfilling her wish to become a mother. "Still, you refuse to spare her. It's not enough for you to force her to survive overseas on her own; you even plan on receiving labor-induction injections just to give birth to your baby on an earlier date! "It seems that I've spoiled you far too much for you to have the guts to pull this stunt off! The doctor already told me that once I've given you the labor-suppressant injections and leave you somewhere extremely hot, it can stop you from giving birth. You're only allowed to give birth once Natalie is out of labor." At that moment, I've completely given up on life. The moment Timothy witnesses Natalie's baby being born, his eyes are filled with tears of happiness. He sets off firework after firework to celebrate the grand birth. Later on, as Timothy gazes at Natalie's newborn, he finally remembers me and our unborn baby. When he's about to order his men to take me to the hospital, he receives a phone call from his assistant. "The hospital has called to inform you to take Mrs. Langford's body away."