Male Empress

At the parent-teacher conference, Emery Carey's essay, My CEO Mom, won first place, earning thunderous applause from the class. But the mood soured when my daughter ran to me in tears, her cheeks marked with red handprints. "Emery hit me again. He said I don't belong in his class and spat in my face." I scooped her up and marched to the teacher to demand answers. The teacher brushed it off. "It's just kids' horseplay. Don't blow it out of proportion. Emery's mother is the CEO of Mills Group. Get the picture and pull your kid out. Don't affect the mood." I froze, shocked by the absurdity. Then I dialed my lawyer. "Prepare the divorce agreement. Olivia is leaving with nothing." She'd been using my money to fund her lover and his son. That betrayal would not go unpunished.

At the beginning of a new year, I stay at the hospital to take care of my mother-in-law on my own. My wife, Yelena Lipton, on the other hand, is on a vacation with her first love, Phillip Warren, in a tropical island overseas. Funnily enough, I'm the last one who finds out about her impending marriage with Phillip. When my mother-in-law hears about the news, her condition deteriorates to the point she gets sent into the treatment room immediately. I have to call Yelena over a dozen times for her to finally pick up the call. "Do you have a death wish or something? Why did you bombard me with calls? I'm in the middle of something right now, so leave me alone!" After that, Yelena ends the call. Since then, I keep failing to get in contact with her. During that time, my mother-in-law has passed away from the treatment failure. When I'm done organizing the funeral, I send Yelena a divorce agreement right away. "Have you gone nuts? It's just an announcement to cheer Phillip up! Are you seriously going to file a divorce from me?" After hearing Yelena's accusations, I reply calmly, "Mom's dead. I've already dealt with everything concerning her passing. You should come back and visit her grave."

In order to take care of my father, who got hurt from a fall, I gave up on my chance to get promoted and even took a week's leave. On the day he gets discharged from the hospital, my dad hands me a mysterious envelope with a wide smile on his face. "Thank you for your trouble over the past few days, Luther. This is a little token of appreciation from me. You can buy yourself a nice pack of smokes." I rub my hands together, feeling warmth surging into my heart. But when I open the envelope, all I see is seven dollars. Still, I comfort myself in thinking that the sum isn't important at all. It's the thought that counts, after all. But the next day, I come across a social media post of my younger brother, Felix Grayson, who never showed his face around the hospital during Dad's hospitalization. It features a photo collage of a luxurious villa, with a photo of the purchasing contract smack dab in the middle of collage. The caption writes, "I bought the top-tier riverside villa for seven million dollars! Thank you so much for your support, Dad!"

My in-laws, Melvin Gardner and Sharon Murphy, kept it a secret from us and traveled all the way to Metoville to surprise their daughter, Vivian Gardner. I brought them to the restaurant where Vivian worked as head chef, thinking she would give them a proper welcome and a great meal. However, Vivian called over her favorite pretty-boy apprentice, Tyler Lambert, and had him handle a batch of wild-harvested oysters from the deep sea. These rare specimens were notorious because they may carry Tetrodotoxin if not purged with extreme precision—a high-stakes task that even the seasoned chefs usually avoided. Tyler frowned and whined at her, "Oh come on, Chef, these oysters are so tricky to prepare. I'm not sure I can handle them..." Vivian just laughed it off. "Just give them a quick rinse, and you're done. They're just a couple of old country folks. There's no need to fuss." Melvin and Sharon ate the oysters. Within ten minutes, they were foaming at the mouth and collapsed on the table. When Vivian rushed over, she did not even bother to look at the two elderly people. Instead, she was busy comforting Tyler, who had gone pale and fallen into her arms. She said, "If they got food poisoning, send them to the hospital. But make sure they sign a liability waiver before they leave." She glanced at me casually, her tone suggesting the poisoned elderly couple had nothing to do with her. "Your parents are from the countryside, so they're probably not used to city food. Don't try to pin this on the restaurant or Tyler!" It hit me that she still had not realized the people who had collapsed at the table were her own parents. I looked at her helplessly and confirmed, "Are you sure you want to clear 'Tyler' of all responsibility?"

Bima, mahasiswa tua menghadapi kesulitan dalam menyelesaikan perkuliahannya yang sudah di ambang batas. Apalagi, dia harus berurusan dengan Monica, dosen muda yang terkenal galak di balik kecantikannya, sebagai pembimbingnya. Sore itu, di tengah keresahan Bima karena lagi-lagi draft tugas akhirnya ditolak, dia menemukan sebuah kacamata misterius yang ada di motornya di parkiran. Bima iseng-iseng mengambil alat itu dan membawanya pulang. Keputusan itu ternyata mengubah hidupnya, tidak hanya memuaskan keinginan liarnya, tetapi juga memberi jalan keluar dari masalah tugas akhirnya karena telah menaklukkan dosen pembimbingnya yang cantik. Namun, tidak sampai di situ saja. Alat itu membuka berbagai skandal yang berkaitan dengan para wanita yang telah dia taklukkan.

(Area 21++) Setelah dikhianati sang istri, Rangga berencana untuk membalas perbuatan itu. Namun, siapa sangka jika rencana Rangga justru direstui semesta, hingga mampu membuat istri, anak, dan menantu Rahul, pria yang berselingkuh dengan istrinya, tunduk di bawah dekapan Rangga?!etelah dikhianati sang istri, Rangga berencana untuk membalas perbuatan itu. Namun, siapa sangka jika rencana Rangga justru direstui semesta, hingga mampu membuat istri, anak, dan menantu Rahul, pria yang berselingkuh dengan istrinya, tunduk di bawah dekapan Rangga?!

Aku dimaki dan diperlakukan tidak manusiawi di rumah Om ku sendiri oleh Tante Dewi, hingga aku memutuskan untuk mencari kos-kosan dan tinggal di sana demi melanjutkan pendidikanku di kota itu. Untuk menutupi kekurangan kebutuhan sehari-hari, aku rela menjadi kuli angkat di pasar sepulang dari sekolah. Meskipun hidup pas-pasan namun aku lebih nyaman ketimbang harus tinggal di rumah Om Ramlan, namun masalah kembali datang ketika aku terjebak oleh birahi liar Bu Dola Guruku sendiri hingga membuat aku ketagihan untuk selalu melakukannya setiap kali Bu Dola mengajakku berhubungan badan. Masalah semakin runyam ketika hadir rasa nyaman di antara kami, hingga tumbuh benih-benih cinta. Akankah hubungan gelapku dengan Bu Dola terus berlanjut? Atau aku hanya sebatas pelampiasan nafsunya saja karena Bu Dola diketahui telah bersuami?

Arya (25), pemuda rupawan dari Kota Gudeg, Jogja, memutuskan merantau ke Jakarta. Keputusan ini didorong oleh patah hati mendalam setelah kekasihnya, Sita, dinikahkan dengan pria lain karena Arya belum memiliki cukup uang untuk melamarnya. Bertekad memperbaiki ekonomi keluarga dan mewujudkan mimpinya kuliah, Arya mencari pekerjaan di ibu kota. Lewat sebuah iklan di Instagram, Arya mendatangi rumah mewah Ibu Sonya (35), seorang bos perusahaan pengiriman barang ternama. Arya diterima sebagai sopir pribadinya. Sonya adalah wanita lajang yang sangat cantik dan kaya raya, namun di balik kesuksesannya, ia dikenal sangat galak dan keras kepala. Bekerja untuk majikan yang masih single ini, Arya mulai menemukan pengalaman baru, termasuk menghadapi pasang surut emosi sang bos. Kehidupan Sonya tak luput dari intrik. Adik perempuannya, Jessy, mati-matian mencarikan jodoh bagi kakaknya, tetapi selalu gagal karena sifat Sonya yang terkenal. Di kantor, dua anak buah Sonya, yaitu Cindy, sekretaris cantik nan agresif, dan Jaka, manajer keuangan yang terobsesi, menambah kompleksitas suasana. Jaka menyimpan ambisi gelap: ia ingin menikahi Sonya sekaligus menguasai perusahaannya, bahkan siap melakukan segala cara untuk mencapai tujuannya itu. Bisakah Arya bertahan di tengah intrik dan lika-liku kehidupan Ibu Kota? Mampukah ia meluluhkan hati majikan galaknya yang ternyata masih sendiri?

My mother is a hospital director. To give my brother, an intern doctor, more hands-on experience, she assigns him as the lead surgeon for my brain tumor operation. I beg her to let someone else do it and tell her it's my only chance at survival. But she slaps me hard across the face and screams, "How did I raise such a selfish, ungrateful child? Your brother has just started his internship—can't you help him improve his skills? Is that too much to ask?" Later, the surgery fails. I die on the operating table. And my mother seems to have aged decades overnight.

Andre pikir tidak akan ada hal aneh saat tantenya tinggal di rumahnya untuk sementara waktu. Namun, dia tidak menyangka jika tantenya yang katanya seorang janda itu malah memberi pengalaman menarik lain untuknya. Itu membuat Andre semakin yakin dengan kata temannya bahwa janda memang lebih menggoda.