Like Water

My name is Akira Sy, or rather, Akira Sy Montenegro—18 years old. Yes, I’m married to the man I love most, Kyle Xavier Montenegro. He’s a businessman—handsome, incredibly successful, and has everything. I fell in love with him when I was 16, always dreaming that one day we’d be together, and yes, my dreams came true. The next morning, I woke up to a cold sensation on my face. I opened my eyes and realized it was water, soaking my entire face. I looked up and was met with Kyle’s dark, piercing gaze. I immediately felt a wave of anxiety. “K-Kyle,” I stammered, my voice trembling. He closed his eyes tightly, as if burdened by a huge problem. “Stand up, wh*re. I’m hungry. Cook for me, NOW!” he ordered with authority, making me scramble to get up without even bothering to wipe my face or change clothes. No, we don’t sleep in the same room. He’s in the master bedroom while I stay in the guest room because he finds me disgusting. It hurts so much when those words come from him. He’s always like that. I rushed down the stairs, tying my robe as I went, heading straight to the kitchen to prepare his breakfast. Yes, I’m his secret wife. No one knows except our parents and a few friends. Since we got married, there hasn’t been a day when he didn’t remind me that he doesn’t love me. Not a day goes by without him hurting me, but it’s okay because, like I said, I love him so much that I’m willing to do anything just for him to love me back.

To transfer my sister, Suri Voss, who was 13 years younger than I was, to a new school district, I took 7 days of annual leave and went back to my hometown. I pulled strings, delivered gifts, called in favors, and finally forced a spot for her in the best middle school in the city. At last, when I could pause long enough to catch my breath, I told Mom, who was heading out to buy groceries, that I wanted grilled pork ribs for dinner. Suri walked over with a cold expression, then threw a full glass of icy water straight onto my head and pointed at my face as she exploded. "You country leech, mooching off our family for years, eating our food and living in our house whenever you feel like it. I let all that slide. Now you want to steal my mom too? Do you have any shame at all?! "Listen carefully, Mom only has one child. She will only ever love me!" I stood there, stunned. Suri had no idea I was Mom’s biological daughter, too. All this time, she had treated me as some freeloading relative. I looked toward the doorway, where Mom was changing her shoes to go out. She seemed not to have heard a single word of Suri’s disrespect. She merely said casually, "Suri doesn’t like ribs. Let’s have grilled shrimp instead." She had forgotten that I’ve been severely allergic to seafood since childhood. I lowered my head and let out a quiet, self-mocking laugh. Unbeknownst to them, if I could secure Suri a place in that school, I could just as easily make sure she lost it.

My dad called me right after I got paid. He said my little brother needed money for school, Grandma had medical bills, and there was still the rent, water, and electricity. Then, at the end of the call, he admitted he’d lost money gambling. I sat in the security booth, rubbing my bad leg, completely lost for what to do. A car horn blared, and I quickly raised the security bar. Just one look and you could tell how expensive the car was. It belonged to the boss, who had a thing for amputees. Damn it.

After confessing 101 times to my childhood sweetheart, Morgan Lambert, he marries his first love, Cassandra White. With my heart in ruins, I leave him behind and marry his younger brother, James Lambert, who has pursued me relentlessly from the start. After marriage, James dotes on me to an extreme. His love is bold and intense. Everyone says I am unbelievably lucky to have married such a devoted man. As Cassandra and I sink into the water together, I can only watch as James dives in recklessly. He struggles through the water toward her, giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. I thrash and struggle in desperation, begging him to look at me even once. He never does. His entire focus is on getting her to shore, leaving me behind to be swallowed by the sea. While I am unconscious, I hear him and Morgan fighting violently in the hospital, arguing over who gets to stay by Cassandra's bedside. He roars in anguish, "I sacrificed myself by marrying Elsa so she wouldn't stand in the way of you and Cassie's happiness. Can you at least let me see Cassie once?" That is when I finally understand that none of them has ever loved me. I immediately arrange to fake my death, preparing to vanish from their lives completely. Yet after hearing the news of my so-called death, James—who's always calm—loses control. He pushes Cassandra aside, bends over, and coughs up blood. Overnight, he seems to age decades.

As the end of the year approaches, my wife, Sylvia Small, who is five months into her pregnancy, accidentally falls into a lake. Our neighbor who is a police officer, Raven Weber, jumps in and rescues her. Unfortunately, she slips into a coma after her heroic feat. As I rush over, I see that a crowd has gathered at the scene. Sylvia is drenched from head to toe, wrapped up tightly in a blanket. Water droplets keep dripping from the tips of her hair. "Are you alright, Sylvia?" I ask, drawing near. The moment Sylvia sees me, she moves toward me and burrows herself into my arms. She clings to me like she is clinging for dear life. "You're finally here, Zach!" she exclaims emotionally. I frown and push her away. "Just say what you have to say. This suit is expensive. Don't dirty it," I said indifferently. My words make Sylvia's eyes go wide with disbelief and shock. But that only lasts for a second before an anxious look replaces it. She holds my arms firmly and says in a choked voice, "Officer Weber is in a coma because of me. Please transfer a sum of money to me so that I can thank her for saving my life." I glance at Sylvia impatiently and reply, "What's that got to do with me? Why should I transfer you my money so that you can give it to her?"

They killed me. Betrayed me. Buried me like I was nothing. I was Sera Nightshade, Luna of the Crescent Moon Pack, the most powerful werewolf territory in North America. For five years, I stood beside Damien Blackwood, my Alpha mate, believing in our bond, our love, our future. I gave him everything: my loyalty, my body, my soul. On the night of our official mating ceremony, with the full moon as our witness and the entire pack gathered to celebrate, he made his choice. Her. Vivian Cross, his childhood sweetheart, his secret mistress, the she-wolf he'd been hiding in the shadows for years. In front of everyone, he rejected our mate bond and claimed her instead. The pain of a broken mate bond should have killed me instantly, but I survived. Barely. That's when things got worse. They couldn't let me live. A rejected Luna who knew too many pack secrets, who had too much support, who might challenge his rule. So Damien and Vivian made sure I'd never speak again. They poisoned me, wrapped my body in silver chains, and threw me off Widow's Peak into the frozen river below. I felt every second of my death. The silver burning through my veins. The ice-cold water filling my lungs. The darkness swallowing me whole.

After checking my final exam results, I hand the bottle of water given by my mother and the amethyst bracelet given by my childhood friend to the school bully with AIDS. In my previous life, my exam score of 1250 was swapped with the score of 600 of my younger adopted sister, Adelia Quentin, right after I drank that bottle of water. My health immediately deteriorated in the following days. I had a high fever and kept on coughing up blood. I was even nearly bedridden from severe pain. On the other hand, Adelia miraculously recovered from her stomach cancer. I begged my mother to send me to the hospital. But not only did she refuse, but she even mocked me and accused me of faking my illness. She then locked me in the basement. They celebrated Adelia's enrollment in university while I writhed helplessly in pain. In the end, I died in the basement all alone. After my death, Adelia used my exam score of 1250 to study at a renowned university. She also officially started her relationship with Thomas Haynes, my childhood friend. It was only then that I finally realized that the bottle of water my mother handed me had been cursed. My exam results would be swapped away when I drank it. Meanwhile, the amethyst bracelet Thomas gifted me would swap my health condition with Adelia's three days after I wore it. I'd get Adelia's stomach cancer and die a painful death. Just as I open my eyes again, I find myself back on the day I checked my exam results.

To scrape together my mother's surgery money, I worked myself to the bone at this company for three straight years. My performance was always number one. By myself, I supported half the sales department. Then, a newly hired HR director decided every desk needed an AI camera, claiming it was to optimize efficiency. Every blink, every breath I took was measured and calculated by the system. "Warning. Employee Nathan Gray blinked more than twenty times within one minute. Mental distraction detected. Fine: 50." "Warning. Employee Nathan Gray took 3.5 seconds to drink water, exceeding the standard by 1.5 seconds. Slacking detected. Fine: 100." "Warning. Employee Nathan Gray's mouth corners drooped for over thirty seconds. Suspected spread of negative emotion. Fine: 200." The most ridiculous part was the way he stood in front of the entire department, pointing proudly at my data on the giant screen. "See that?" he said smugly. "This is the power of technology. In front of AI, you lazy freeloaders have nowhere to hide. Nathan, your bonus for this month has already been wiped out by the system. If you don't like it, get lost. Plenty of people are lining up to take your place." What he didn't know was that the AI system he trusted so blindly had its core code written by me. Tonight, I was going to show him what happened when he angered the one who built the machine.

My fiance, Simon Rossi, is a mafia Don with a reputation for brutality. He suddenly takes in an orphan girl and spoils her rotten. He names her Giara, saying she's pure, like a beam of light. But that is the name he has promised for our future daughter. He thinks he's hidden it well. But the night before our engagement party, I notice his cufflinks. The ruby ones I gave him are replaced with cheap plastic cartoon cats. I don't believe he's really cheating, so I abduct Giara to get answers without hurting her. Then Simon bursts in with his men. 50 people die, and three armories go up in flames. "Ivina Coleo, consider this a lesson. But don't worry. I'll send her away. Remember, this is the first time you touch her, and the last." But at the engagement party, Giara sits with Simon's parents, smiling right at me. The sight sparks a fury I can't control. I lunge forward, determined to send her away myself. Simon tells Giara to leave, coaxing me through the ceremony. But that night, he binds my limbs with stones and sinks me into the sea. "I told you that was the last time." Cold water fills my lungs. When I open my eyes again, I'm back on the day I first abducted Giara. This time, I don't want Simon or the wedding anymore.

My best friend has always been stingy to the bone, so the moment she volunteers to buy a bottle of water for the heir to Bellaris' most powerful family, who collapsed from heatstroke, I know she has been reborn, too. In my previous life, she and I sat for the college entrance exam together, and when the results were announced, we both got the same high score. Both of us had our eyes on Kingsley University, yet the admissions quota was limited, and neither of us wanted to jeopardize our friendship, so we kept delaying our application. In the blink of an eye, it was the last day to file our applications, and as I was about to start on mine, I stumbled upon the heir to Bellaris' most powerful family, who happened to be suffering from heatstroke. I not only bought him a bottle of water, but I also held an umbrella over him until he came to. By the time he regained consciousness, I had already missed the submission deadline. My best friend submitted hers just in time and got accepted into Kingsley University. Because I never submitted mine, the opportunity to attend university slipped past me. However, the heir apparent was touched by my act of kindness, and he asked for my hand in marriage. In the end, I married him and became a socialite, whereas my best friend, despite getting into Kingsley University, was overwhelmed by the demanding curriculum. Watching me live with more money than I could spend, she was fueled with jealousy until one day, she snapped and stabbed me. The moment I open my eyes again, my best friend and I are back on the day the heir to Bellaris' most powerful family passes out from the heat.