Maybe This Time

I have been reborn 999 times, all to save my husband from the woman he can never forget. Each time, he hides the truth from me, only to be tricked by her into entering that room destined to go up in flames. He always dies in the fiery explosion. Nearly a thousand lifetimes pass, and I never once complain, even though loving him tears me apart. However, this time, I have made up my mind. I won't save him. This time, I will watch him die with my own eyes.

Di pinggiran sebuah desa, terdapat sebuah rumah tua yang dikenal dengan kisah-kisah menakutkan dan keangkerannya. Banyak orang mempercayai bahwa pemiliknya menghilang tanpa jejak, meninggalkan aura misterius dan arwah yang berkeliaran di dalamnya. Dalam suasana yang mencekam, Rani, seorang remaja petualang, memutuskan untuk mengajak teman-temannya—Budi, Mira, dan Andi—menjelajahi rumah tersebut. Mereka berharap dapat menemukan sesuatu yang menarik untuk diabadikan di media sosial, tetapi apa yang mereka temui jauh lebih dari sekadar barang-barang lama. Setibanya di sana, suasana seram mulai menyelimuti mereka. Suara langkah kaki misterius dan bayangan samar membuat ketegangan meningkat. Ketika mereka menemukan sebuah kotak kayu tua berisi benda-benda aneh, rasa ingin tahu Rani mendorongnya untuk menggali lebih dalam, meskipun teman-temannya mulai merasakan ketidaknyamanan. Malam semakin larut, dan kehadiran sesuatu yang jahat mulai terasa. Saat menjelajahi lantai atas, mereka menemukan cermin besar yang memancarkan aura aneh. Ketika Rani mendekatinya, dia merasakan kehadiran sosok lain di balik bayangannya. Suara berat menggetarkan hati mereka saat sosok misterius itu muncul, menuntut jawaban atas kedatangan mereka. Dalam sekejap, suasana berubah menjadi kacau saat pintu keluar tertutup dan sosok itu berusaha menyeret mereka ke dalam kegelapan. "Bayangan di Balik Cermin" adalah kisah horor yang menggugah, penuh dengan ketegangan, misteri, dan pertempuran melawan ketakutan. Saat Rani dan teman-temannya terjebak dalam rumah yang dihantui, mereka harus menemukan jalan keluar sekaligus mengungkap misteri yang menyelimuti tempat itu. Dengan ancaman yang semakin mendekat dan pilihan yang semakin sedikit, mereka harus berjuang melawan kegelapan yang ingin menguasai mereka. Dalam pencarian mereka, mereka menyadari bahwa tidak semua yang hilang bisa ditemukan, dan terkadang, rahasia yang paling kelam justru bersembunyi di dalam diri kita sendiri.

Candice had been by Alex’s side since she was eighteen, evolving from just a partner to something more. Power and wealth gave her confidence, which got her thinking she was one of a kind in his heart. However, Alex hired a new secretarial intern, Sonia, who was youthful, naive, and charming. Despite her innocent look, Candice felt threatened; not because of what Sonia might do, but because Sonia reminded her of her younger self, of when she first met Alex.

James Wesley has hated me for a decade after his childhood sweetheart passed away. He requests to be transferred to the frontier the day after we get married. I write him countless letters in those ten years to win back his favor, but his response is always the same. "If you truly regret it, why don't you hurry up and die?" However, after I am abducted, James storms the bandit's hideout by himself and saves me. He suffers multiple bullet wounds, but before he succumbs to his injuries, he uses the last of his strength to slap my hands away. "The thing I regret the most… in this life… is marrying you. If we get a second chance at life… please… don't bother me anymore." His mother, Felicia Axford, sounds regretful during the funeral. "It's all my fault, James. I shouldn't have forced you to marry her…" His father, Jeremiah Wesley, stares at me, his eyes burning with contempt. "You forced Emily to take her own life, and now you also caused my son's death. You're nothing but trouble, so you should just die!" Even Xavier Bowen, our troop commander, who was responsible for facilitating our marriage in the first place, shakes his head and sighs. "I shouldn't have played matchmaker. I let you down, Mr. Wesley." Everyone feels sympathetic toward James, including me. On the night I am discharged from the troop, I swallow some pesticide and die in the middle of an abandoned field. When I open my eyes again, I realize I have returned to the day before my marriage. This time, I am determined to fulfill everyone's wishes.

The year was 1934; I was twenty-two years old. I never thought of myself as anything special. I was barely making it through the Great Depression. There were many days I lived off of scraps. I was the king of odd jobs, just enough to get by. I had done it all, from being a field hand to a miner. It all changed one night when I stumbled across a traveling circus, Cirque du Lune. I had never seen such a sight. Instead of the usual menagerie, this circus was overrun with wolves. There was one performer who caught my eye; it was as if an angel had descended from heaven on a silk ribbon.

Everyone is envious of me for having someone like Dominic Cruz, who's love-brained, as a husband-to-be. He's rich, handsome, and highly educated. I smile without saying anything, but I nod happily. However, on the day I'm misdiagnosed, he goes missing. He's so engrossed in his secret lover that he forgets all about me. So, I jilt him before he can do it to me. I turn him into the city's laughingstock. Later, I hear that he drinks the bar dry every night. He scours Marina City but fails to find his missing bride.

***This book contains violence, cursing, sexual content, and talk of suicide, enjoy at your discretion.*** I was walking through an unknown foggy forest when I spotted a field of wildflowers. My feet had a mind of their own as they led me to wander through the flowers. I nonchalantly dragged my hands over the flowers. It was a beautiful and serene sight. I deeply inhaled the sweet scent of the flower and gave a little shudder of bliss. I closed my eyes and just absorbed the moment wanting to remember it. Suddenly the sounds of paws hitting the forest floor overwhelmed me. Then the forest was ignited with flames. Everything glowed vibrant oranges and reds as heavy smoke smothered me from above. I threw myself to the ground desperate for any trace of clean air. As I attempted to crawl out of the flowers a new sound harmonized with the thunder paws, screams and howls for help terrorized me. I clawed at the ground desperate to escape the menacing choir. Fire licked my skin and I screamed for help. Sobs escaped my lips as flaming branches fell on me from above. The smell of burning flesh was the only thing that consumed me as everything went dark.

Terlahir dari seorang selir, Qing Yuwen tumbuh jauh dari istana, ditakdirkan hanya sebagai panglima perang, bukan pewaris takhta. Namun, ketika titah Kaisar memaksanya menikahi Han Jiali, mantan tunangan pangeran mahkota, Yuwen menyadari pernikahan itu hanyalah awal dari intrik yang lebih berbahaya. Dari percobaan pembunuhan hingga jebakan politik, Yuwen terpaksa menghadapi kenyataan pahit: satu-satunya cara melindungi orang-orang yang dicintainya, termasuk ibunya dan Jiali, adalah dengan merebut kekuasaan yang seharusnya tidak pernah menjadi miliknya.

My husband's childhood sweetheart is a fake heiress. She and I are abducted at the same time. But when my husband, a doctor, arrives at the scene of the abduction with a medical team, he chooses to save her first. My legs have been broken, and I struggle to stay afloat in the ocean. I'm on the brink of death, and I beg him to save me and the child in my belly. He merely looks at me. Before leaving, he almost generously helps me call 911. Then, he says, "It's disgusting that you're lying about being pregnant just to save yourself. I've repaid you for saving my life—come to the hospital later today to sign the divorce papers." After listening to his words, I remove the hearing aid from my right ear with a trembling hand.

When I woke up that morning and happened to glance at the mirror, a scream tore from my throat before I could stop it. Because on the face I had always taken such pride in, there was now a jagged, horrifying scar. As terror gripped me, a cool, detached female voice cut through the air beside me. "What are you shrieking about so early in the morning? Scared by your own ugly face?" I looked up in shock and realized the voice belonged to my girlfriend, Alicia. Only—she wasn't the same girl from yesterday. Gone was the youthful innocence I remembered. In its place, every movement, every glance radiated the allure of a mature woman. The words slipped out before I could hold them back. "Babe… you're gorgeous…" But Alicia's brows knit together, her gaze colder than ice. "Kurt, drop the act!" Act? I was at a loss. Why would she accuse me of pretending? "Don't call me the way you used to five years ago. It's disgusting." Five years ago? But… I'm still twenty-three… am I not?