Meal Management

Tristan Lee has only three things he values in his life: his friends, money, and his beloved mother. He comes from a family of entrepreneurs who only focus on benefits and profits. Like every other heir, his life is already planned from a young age. He will inherit his family business, and he needs the right education for that. As the good, obedient son that he is, Tristan Lee takes up Bachelor of Science in Business Administration majoring in Financial Management at one of the country's top schools, De La Salle University. He relentlessly pursued excellence. Tristan believes that his life is on the right track with his high grades as a Dean's Lister and good reputation at the university, until he meets Kai Alvaro, the person who makes him question everything that he believes in and the one who turns his carefully crafted world upside down. Tristan finds himself torn between his family's expectations and a love he never knew he needed. _9HEARTS

Nathan and Mitchell were friends because their parents' were friends. They were so close that they visited each other almost everyday and attended the same school. One day, Nathan asked Mitchell out and she accepted. Mitchell thought they would have a good relationship because of the fact that they have been friends for long, they understood each other and loved each other. Everyone in the school knew about their relationship but their parents weren't aware of it. They kept it from them for the entire time they were in college. He was always seen flirting with every lady and this made Mitchell always feel like she is one out of his numerous girlfriends. Now that they are in a relationship, he hardly has time for him compared to when they were still friends. Nathan Flirtatious that brought a lot of stress to Mitchell. She complained to him, but there was no change. One of the last days in school, Nathan secretly recorded a sex moment between himself and Mitchell without her consent, he then posted it on the school platform. They started spreading the news and it got to the school management, he was ordered to delete it, which he obeyed.

A simple 2nd year college student taking management accounting hardly surviving everyday of her miserable life. Her name is Lyrical Hayze Montero. She's an only child and a province girl. She's underprivileged, but is still doing her best to survive. She may look innocent, but she has the kinkiest mind that was influenced by her stripper friend slash classmate. One day, she suddenly received a call from an unknown number and because of her stupid curiosity, she answered the call. The husky and baritone voice was on the other line saying to meet him in one of the most expensive cafe in town. And since she is as stupid as a one year old girl, she went in that cafe. Only to find out that she just went to a gun trafficking business deal. And the freaking mafia lord just suddenly started claiming her. She never imagined that her one simple life would turn into a roller coaster ride. But, there was one problem. She was mistaken by the mafia lord of someone else. And they both found out about it a little too late.

My son has an aortic dissection and needs surgery. My husband is a cardiac expert, but I don't bother calling him. Instead, I take a cab straight to the hospital. In my past life, upon begging my husband, he came home with the ambulance to pick our son up. He also arranged for our son to be admitted. But because he forgot to bring his phone, his childhood sweetheart died of a heart attack when she couldn't reach him. He went missing for three months and suddenly returned one day, looking perfectly normal. He even volunteered to prepare the meal on our son's birthday. It turned out he only wanted to poison the food. He strangled me and cut my neck open. "You forced me to come home to pick our son up. Ciara wouldnt' have died if I'd answered her call that day. You and your son are murderers—you have to pay with your lives!" When I open my eyes again, I'm back to the day my son has an aortic dissection. This time, my husband manages to answer his childhood sweetheart's phone. But why is he on his knees before me and begging for forgiveness?

The world plunged into a new Ice Age. As the frozen apocalypse spread, 95% of humanity perished. In his first timeline, Cyrus Knovell's kindness cost him everything. The people he had helped betrayed him and left him for dead. Fate, however, granted him a second chance. He awakened one month before the world froze, gaining a dimensional ability that let him store anything without limit. Now he hoarded supplies by the billions and built a fortress no one could breach. While others shivered, starved, and traded their dignity for a morsel, Cyrus lived in comfort. The desperate came begging. The manipulative vixen: "Cyrus, let me into your shelter, and I'll be your girlfriend, okay?" The spoiled rich heir: "Cyrus, I'll give you all my money for just one meal!" The greedy neighbors: "Cyrus, you shouldn't be so selfish. You should share your supplies with us!" Cyrus remembered their betrayals. Lounging in his steel fortress and savoring his private paradise, he sneered, "Your survival has nothing to do with me. I'd rather feed the dogs than feed you."

"It is nice to see you again, my cheater, slut, gold-digger ex-wife." -Rome Wilson. Without saying a word, Faye Reagon left her husband, Rome Wilson, and replaced him with the old, wealthy guy, Benjamin Sorsuela. Her husband tried to search for her to come back, but he failed, only did he recognize that his wife had cheated on him which made his life turned to miserable. He became furious, swearing at her wife. When he eventually discovered himself, he developed successfully when he met his real parents, who gifted him to run the company they had founded 47 years ago, and able to complete the Business Management course. He became a billionaire but was also a womanizer, cold-hearted, and ruthless. They finally met five years later. Faye is one of the applicant chosen, unaware of what kind of job, but she has no idea that her ex-husband is her boss. His rage goes up and he moves up to make plans to punish his ex-wife, and make her pay for what she did, so he immediately hire Faye as his secretary and his maid, and that the beginning of his sweet revenge.

My husband, Alex Walter, was the head of the Bodyguard Association. When I was about to be killed by the kidnappers, he was comforting his childhood crush, Susan Miller, who was sobbing in his arms. While the kidnappers stopped for a meal, I called Alex five times calmly. He was angry when he finally answered. "Susan was just rescued from the kidnappers, and she needs me. If you want me to come home, stop using your own kidnapping as some excuse to compete for attention. It is pathetic!" Hearing Susan's sweet and delicate voice in the background, I had no time to argue with him. Instead, I called the Bodyguard Association. The operator informed me that Alex had pulled all the city's bodyguards away thirty minutes earlier to rescue Susan. When the kidnappers returned, they mocked Alex's heroic efforts to save Susan, mobilizing the entire force for her. If I remember correctly, this was Susan's twenty-eighth kidnapping this month. As the kidnappers approached me with guns and tasers, I closed my eyes in despair. Before I died, I used all my strength to send Alex one last text message, [No matter what, I loved you. Move on from me.]

My name is Ivy Lawson. At 3:00 am, I get a call from Christina McSpire, a parent of one of my students. "Hello, Ms. Lawson, I noticed Zoe only spent five dollars on her meal yesterday. Did she not eat any meat?" she asks. Pushing through my exhaustion, I reply, "Don't worry, Mrs. Street. I'll check on it tomorrow." Another half hour goes by, and she calls again. "It's supposed to rain tomorrow. Can you remind Zoe to bring an umbrella?" I can hardly keep my eyes open. "Got it," I reply absentmindedly. A few minutes later, my phone rings once more. "Please make sure Zoe brushes her teeth for three minutes. It's also important that she scrubs each side of her face at least three times." Suppressing my frustration, I calmly respond, "Zoe is in her senior year of high school. I'm sure she's capable of taking care of herself." I expect that to be the end of it, but when I wake up, my silenced phone shows over a hundred missed calls.

It was about time because my dad got a new girlfriend and said he wanted us to have a meal together to introduce the new woman into our lives. On the day we met, my college roommate saw my chat background, which had a photo of me and my dad, along with a series of transfer records. She lost her mind. She enlisted the support of our other roommates, who rarely paid me any attention and began to attack me, insisting that I was a side chick who deserved to die. I did not expect that my roommate would soon become my stepmom. Before I could explain, she accused me of trying to seduce my dad behind her back, shouting, "Shameless side chick! Going behind my back to seduce my boyfriend! All those times you said you were out studying?! Who knows if you were just meeting up with him?" I was once physically assaulted, stripped of my dignity, and forced to the restaurant for a public confrontation wearing ragged clothes. Then my dad came running to where I was hardly breathing and barely moving on the floor, bruised to the extreme. “Sweetheart, who did this to you?!”

It's Thanksgiving, and I'm waiting for Zeke Jones to come home after cooking up an extravagant meal. When Zeke returns, he doesn't even glance at the meal I've prepared for him. Instead, he proceeds to pack a bag. "I can't celebrate Thanksgiving with you this year," he says. I take another bite of my turkey and say nothing. At the stroke of midnight, Zeke's first love posts a new photo on her social media page. In the photo, she's lying on Zeke's back with a bright smile on her face. The moon outside the window is bright. "Happy to spend Thanksgiving with good company," her caption reads. Instead of hysterically questioning Zeke about the post, I just tap on the "like" button without reacting in any way. Zeke calls me. His voice sounds panicked as he tries to explain himself. "Please don't misinterpret the post. I will definitely spend Thanksgiving with you next year…" I freeze for a few moments, letting out a small laugh. I don't offer him a reply. Next time, he says? Oh, Zeke, I'm afraid there won't be a next time.