Nine Perfect Strangers

In my previous life, everything I do to care for myself somehow ends up benefiting my new housekeeper instead. I apply expensive skincare, yet dark spots and fine lines spread across my face, whereas the 45-year-old housekeeper's face becomes silkier. I jog every morning, yet my body only grows heavier and bulkier, while hers becomes slender and toned. When my husband notices the stretch marks on my abdomen, his face twists with disgust, and he never touches me again. "I genuinely can't bring myself to touch you. How can you look worse than Mirabelle when you take such good care of yourself?" My housekeeper looks at me with a sinister smile. A chill crawls up my spine, and the strange feeling makes me fire her on the spot. Yet, as soon as she leaves, I start aging at lightning speed, entering menopause 20 years early and developing diabetes and high blood pressure. I see every doctor I can, but after hanging on for a week, I die from a stroke. When I open my eyes again, I'm back on the day she first reports to work. This time, I push away the royal jelly she sets in front of me with a pleasant smile. "I've been avoiding certain foods lately. You can have it instead."

At three in the morning, I stare at the unknown transaction record on my phone screen, my fingertips turning cold. The record is for a payment of 2980 dollars, made for an executive suite at the Wisteria. The time of payment was 8:00 pm last night. My husband, Tristan Griffin, is a detective. He was on the night shift last night. I clutch my phone, my knuckles turning white as I text Tristan, "I just saw your credit card bill for a hotel stay last night. What's up with that?" His reply is instant. "Our team had to work overtime at the last minute, so they put us up at the hotel. I forgot to tell you about it." I scan the text and sputter. The Wisteria is located in the western region of the city, which is on the other end from where his squad is stationed. I don't press him for more details and click on the bank app on my phone. Having found the vendor's address through the payment record, I sent it to my best friend, Rowena Sheffield, who works as a private detective. She replies instantly with an "OK" emoji and follows up with, "Give me a second. I'll find out everything you want in a jiffy!"

On Father's Day, I received a heartwarming gift. My one-year-old son called me Dad for the first time. But moments later, he convulsed, foamed at the mouth, and died before we could reach the hospital. My wife was shattered, and I was devastated. The doctors couldn't identify the cause of his death. Three years later, my wife emerged from her grief, and we welcomed our second child. But the moment this child called me Dad, they, too, died instantly. To spare her further pain, I suggested adoption. Yet, even our adopted children met the same fate. Unable to bear the losses, my wife divorced me. Everyone said I was cursed, never meant to be a father. Defiant, I remarried and had another child, vowing never to let them call me Dad. For years, we adhered to this rule. But when our daughter turned four, she came home from preschool, eager to celebrate Father's Day. Holding a card, she read aloud, "Dad."

I wasn’t even pregnant, yet I ended up popping abortion pills like they were candy. It was all because in my past life, the moment my widowed sister-in-law got pregnant, every single side effect of her pregnancy became mine. She strutted around happily with her big belly, consuming spicy tamales, while I was rushed to the hospital for violent nausea and stomach pain; she showed off her flawless skin in crop tops every day, while my stomach broke out in hideous stretch marks. When I told my husband what was happening, he just shoved me away impatiently. “Enough with the jealousy! My brother’s dead, and she’s carrying his only child. Of course, I should look out for her. Do you really have to put on such an act?” After that, my sister-in-law went even further. She kept testing her limits during pregnancy and even ate a mango she was allergic to. And me? I went into anaphylactic shock, landed in the hospital, and nearly died. Doctors couldn’t explain it. They just brushed it off, saying I was overly jealous and it was all psychological. Later, my sister-in-law tried to brand herself as a “hot single mom”. She went live, belly and all, to show off her weight-loss workouts. She jumped around for three straight hours. And me? My uterus literally gave out, and I hemorrhaged to death. When I opened my eyes again, it was the exact day she first announced her pregnancy.

On the seventh day after my daughter goes missing, I kidnap an entire kindergarten. I lock away all 27 students and two teachers in a classroom. I tell the police that if they can't find my daughter, I will kill a kid every 30 minutes. The principal falls to her knees, wailing and begging, "It's not my fault that your daughter is missing. Why should other children pay for it?" I glance at my watch. "29 minutes left. Find her." I know she's in this kindergarten.

My husband and I have been married for a decade. When I finally conceive for the first time in ten years, I realize my worst enemies are my family, who all want me dead. I've made a promise to return to the fertility shrine on the mountain and fulfill my vow if things work out, but my mother-in-law deliberately messes up the cable car tickets. In the process of hiking up the mountain for two hours, I lose my baby. In the hospital, I cry to my husband about all the vicious things his mother has done to me, but he kicks me in the stomach. "I had a vasectomy a long time ago. There's no way that bastard inside you is mine!" When he hands me the proof, I'm completely speechless. I break down in tears and run back to my parents' place. Not only do my parents hire a nanny to help take care of me, but they even move out of the house so I can rest in tranquility. When I'm eight months pregnant, I overhear them whispering in the bathroom. "We can never let Gina have the baby. I don't care if it kills her—we're all screwed if the child is born!" "Relax. The doctor already told me that Gina's got leukemia from all the formaldehyde in our new house. Even the baby's deformed!" Shocked, I burst into the bathroom to confront them, but the slippery floor causes me to fall hard. Instantly, blood snakes across the tiles. As I lie there in pain, I look up and see the cold, twisted smiles on my parents' faces before taking my last breath. I cannot fathom why my family wants me dead. I thought they'd been looking forward to his baby for a decade. When I open my eyes again, I return to the very day my mother-in-law insists on taking me to the mountain.

Spin off My Arrogant Lawyer Season 2 -- Bagi Yasmen Malya Sagara, hanya ada dua pilihan yang harus dihadapi setelah menikah dengan pria pujaan hatinya. Pertama, bertahan dan meneruskan drama di dalam pernikahan mereka, atau, melepas sang suami dan menyambut uluran tangan dari pria lain.

Aksi Diandra dalam membalas ketidakadilan yang diterimanya, terutama atas kematian sang kekasih malah membuatnya terjebak pada keadaan yang tidak pernah terbayangkan. Awalnya Diandra merasa sangat puas karena tujuan utamanya dalam balas dendam tercapai. Namun, ia harus membayar mahal perbuatannya, sebab aksinya tersebut mendapat pembalasan. Bahkan, membuahkan hasil. Diandra mengandung benih dari laki-laki yang dulu menjadi kekasih sang kakak. Laki-laki yang seharusnya sangat ia benci. Di samping itu, kejadian yang menimpa Diandra ternyata menjadi pemancing terbongkarnya suatu rahasia. Rahasia besar yang selama ini disembunyikan rapat-rapat oleh keluarganya sendiri tentang dirinya. Rahasia yang selama ini membuatnya mendapat ketidakadilan dari orang tuanya, terutama sang ibu. Rahasia yang sangat menyakitkan dan meremukkan hati setelah ia mengetahuinya. Akahkah Diandra bisa menjalani kehidupan pernikahannya bersama suami yang seharusnya menjadi calon kakak iparnya? Note: Baca juga Unexpected

Caraline Emilia Wattson mengambil keputusan paling gila dalam hidupnya saat tiba-tiba meminta pria lumpuh yang bernama Jacob Aberald untuk menikahinya di saat pertemuan pertama mereka. Meski terdengar tak masuk akal, Jacob Aberald atau Deric—sapaan kecilnya, akhirnya setuju untuk menikahi Caraline dengan syarat Caraline akan membantu perusahaan milik ketiga kakaknya agar selamat dari jurang kebangkrutan. Begitu syarat itu dikabulkan, keesokan harinya, Calarine dan Deric melangsungkan pernikahan dan memulai kehidupan baru sebagai pasangan suami-istri. Apa sebenarnya tujuan dari Caraline sesungguhnya? Untuk apa wanita itu menikahi Deric yang tuna daksa jika ada seorang pria sempurna bernama Diego yang jelas-jelas mencintainya? "Apakah kau benar-benar mencintai pria tak sempurna sepertiku?” - Jacob Aberald "Ya, aku mencintai pria tak sempurna sepertimu dengan cintaku yang sempurna.” - Caraline Emilia Wattson

“T-tidak ... Berhenti! Tolong aku mohon ... Aku mohon ... Tolong ... Aku minta t-untuk berhenti ... Tida'! Tidak! T-seseorang, tolong t-tolong m -. B-bantu aku." Aku lemah berteriak saat ia memukulku dengan kasar. Tanganku berusaha mendorong lelaki itu, ia terus memaksa, tetapi aku tahu ia sangat kuat, ia mampu menjatuhkanku ke tanah tanpa mengerahkan terlalu banyak usaha. Aku tak bisa bergerak, hanya bisa menangis minta ampun. Rambut hitam panjangku tersebar di tanah sementara gaun yang aku kenakan entah sudah berapa kali ia robekan. “Kulitmu sangat putih transparan, bersinar seperti mutiara di kegelapan.” Biji matanya seakan keluar, raut wajahnya menjadi gila penuh nafsu dan tanda tanya. Aku merasakan luka kecil di bibir atasku saat ia menggigit dengan paksa. Kini, aku wanita dengan paras lembut yang basah oleh air mata, tubuhku memar dan bekas luka. Aku tak tahu lagi harus menyebut lelaki itu sebagai siapa. Dia mulai mendorong dirinya di dalam diriku, mendengus ketika dia menemukan pembebasannya.