Not Everything Is As It Seems

I lead my team to develop a new drug formula that passed its first clinical trial. It becomes the key to the company's IPO. So, the board votes unanimously to award me an additional 5% in shares. But at the celebration party, my shares turn into three hams. I assume it is a prank by my colleagues. But to my surprise, Draco Faraday looks at me with disgust and says, "Don't think I don't know. You used your position as team leader to assign all the experimentation to Avery. Then, you take the credit for the results. This reward should go to her. As for you, you should be satisfied with the ham!" Seeing Avery Blake looking both flattered and overwhelmed, I am rendered speechless. I argue, "Avery is an art major. Does she even understand chemical formulas?" Draco's expression darkens. "Cross-disciplinary expertise is her strength, not a weakness. I won't argue with you this time. If it happens again, I'll fire you!” When I try to defend myself, he snaps, "Starting today, Avery is the team leader. You should get a taste of how it feels to be exploited." I look at him in disbelief for a moment before nodding forcefully with a sneer. "Fine. From now on, I won't assist if the projects run into any issues. Don't regret it." Draco looks at Avery approvingly."The only thing I regret is not making Avery the person in charge sooner."

Soulmates? Terkadang sulit sekali membedakan antara Soulmate dengan Pasangan hidup. Tapi Aku yakin pasti ada yang membedakan dua kosakata itu. Yang pasti, Aku menginginkan dua kosakata menjadi satu dalam hidupku. Hidup yang bahagia selamanya. Bersama.__Erina Eshal Mislav_14 Feb' 1990, 27 Tahun. Cinta yang tulus? Aku tidak yakin itu ada dalam hidup sekarang ini. Selama bertahun-tahun, Aku tidak pernah merasakan Cinta yang tulus itu. Semuanya Munafik. Tapi...semuanya berubah saat Aku bertemu denganmu, dan berubah lagi saat tidak sengaja Aku melukaimu.__Arthur Eryk Shaquile_12 April 1989, 28 Tahun. Semua orang di dunia ini sama saja. Selalu saja tidak bisa lepas dari yang namanya“Uang. Apalagi saat hati dan cinta kita sepenuhnya untuk seseorang, tapi seseorang itu lebih memilih "Uang" dan pergi meninggalkan ketulusan Cinta kita, apa yang terjadi padamu? Yup, Dalam sekejap merubah pribadiku menjadi sedikit apatis terhadap Wanita.__Zhafar Basrian Rafael_27 Nov' 1988, 29 Tahun.

I am the only daughter of the Alpha King. When I was eight, I rescued a starving rogue pup named Alex from the border. I begged my father to take him in, and we grew up together. At eighteen, I discovered he was my fated mate. My father happily gave me to him in marriage, carved out a stretch of territory, and made him an Alpha. Everyone said we were a perfect match. Until a year ago — while I was pregnant — the boy who had always protected me and adored me fell in love with a Healer named Vivian. He told me that he'd always seen me as a little sister. He got on his knees and begged me to let him go. He was willing to give up the entire territory and his Alpha title. My hands trembled as I signed the Mate Bond dissolution agreement. But before it could take effect, that healer slipped wolfsbane into my medicine. I miscarried. When I finally opened my eyes, Alex rushed to my side with bloodshot eyes, held me tight like he was terrified of losing me, and apologized over and over. He said he was wrong. He swore he would devote himself to me completely. I was consumed by hatred. I ordered Vivian's execution. But Alex grabbed my hand and stopped me. He told me he'd already banished her permanently. For the next year, Alex was perfectly devoted — attentive to my every need. Then, seven months into my second pregnancy, I stumbled upon the woman who should have been long banished — Vivian, quietly settled at the edge of the territory. And Alex, leaning down to kiss her tenderly. If he loves Vivian that much, then I'll take back everything I ever gave him — and let him have his "true love." But if that's what he wanted... then why is he on his knees again, begging me to come back?

TW:VIOLENCE. THERE WILL ALSO BE MM AND MF SEX. Olivia Brown’s life crumbles just before her inauguration as heir when scandalous photos of her with a mysterious man surface online. To make matters worse, her fiancé accuses her of infidelity and breaks off their engagement on the eve of their wedding. Disowned by her family and betrayed by her sister, who takes her place as heir, Olivia is left feeling like a laughingstock. Seeking solace, she leaves her hometown behind when she discovers her fiancee was behind it all. Six years later, Olivia Brown, now the wife of billionaire mafia boss Alessandro Combs, returns home for Christmas Eve to introduce her son to her family—and to seek a little revenge. However, her return complicates her life in unexpected ways. The enigmatic billionaire William Jerkins appears at her doorstep, demanding to see his son. William recognizes Olivia at first glance. He has spent years searching for the woman who captured his heart, and now he discovers she has his child. He proposes a deal: “Marry me since you have my son. Let’s be a happy family.” But how does Olivia explain this to her husband, Alessandro—the very man who sheltered her during her darkest times and with whom she has a complicated past?

The richest man in the country, Sebastian Vance, has a ring custom-made to my exact measurements, worth billions of dollars, for the woman who will be his bride. In the first life, my stepsister, Mia Lowe, slips on the ring and marries him. Sebastian claws her face, shouting, "She's not the one!" In the second life, my other stepsister, Lorraine Lowe, loses 30 pounds before marrying him. He shoves her down the stairs anyway and says, "She's not the one either." In the third life, my stepmother, Vivian Cole, grits her teeth and slices off a piece of her own flesh just to force the ring onto her finger. Sebastian sneers and pushes her under the bathwater, holding her down until her body goes limp. By the fourth life, out of options and terrified, they finally send me. I slide the ring on, and it fits perfectly. My entire family lets out a sigh of relief. But the second Sebastian lays his eyes on me, he draws a knife and stabs me to death. "Why is it still not her? Where is she?" In the last life, he has his assistant, Owen Hayes, deliver a ring to us. All four of us insist that it won't fit. Owen shoots us a strange look. "Mr. Vance said the rightful owner of this ring is among you."

A tale of two souls, intertwined by fate: One soul, cloaked with isolation and grief, was a solitary figure who struggles to connect with others. The other soul has a heart hardened against the possibility of love. Florence “Flo” Emry, now twenty-one, has retreated into a life of solitude following a traumatic car accident that occurred when she was sixteen. It changed her life forever. The accident left her completely deaf in one ear and partially deaf in the other as she needs hearing aid for it. She was devastated when she found out that she became disabled, but she was more broken when she also found out that she had tragically lost her parents and older brother in only one night. Feeling abandoned and worthless, Florence, who was filled with debt from her student loan, has become deeply disappointed and resentful towards herself, seeing herself as a useless human being. One fateful day, a chance encounter with a mysterious man named Zacchaeus “Chaos” Spencer Battenkurt the filthy rich billionaire playboy, 26 years old, turned her life upside down. This charismatic, very polite and respectful man, seemingly ordinary, was actually hiding a deep dark secret. These two souls, so different yet intertwined by fate, must navigate their own internal struggles while also confronting the challenges of their external world. But the question remains: Will they be able to break down their barriers and find solace in each other’s company or will their differences prove to be insurmountable obstacles?

My daughter, Vivian Montiago, is born with a heart condition. To protect her, I decide to spend 200 million dollars on building a prestigious preschool for her in the company's park. I don't want her to be lonely, so I also decide to allow the other employees' children to attend the preschool for free to keep Vivian company. However, on the first day of preschool, Vivian's smartwatch alert keeps going off. When I rush over to the preschool, I find out that Vivian is all tied up and left to die under the hot afternoon sun. Her skin is red and blistering, and her lips are purple as she teeters on the edge of death. "Are you all blind? Call the ambulance!" I yell in anger, grabbing Vivian and rushing out of the place. However, Hailey Lester, my husband's secretary, gets in my way. "You seduced my husband and birthed an illegitimate child. How dare you try to get away without being punished?" she screams, slapping me hard in the face. "I'm telling you that this preschool is a gift to me and my son from Rhett! And you're not allowed to step out of this place without my explicit permission!" "Her life is in danger! We'll talk about that later!" I exclaim, not wanting to argue with her. However, she kicks me to the ground and says, "So what if his bastard daughter dies? He can have a daughter with me if he really wants one!" The company employees don't seem to care about Vivian's health condition at all. They point at me and say, "Ms. Lester is Mr. Montiago's beloved wife, and she also owns this place! You're nothing but a homewrecker trying to take advantage of the free preschool program. Get down and apologize at once!" Fine. Since everyone is as blind as my husband, Rhett Montiago, in realizing who the real deal is, I decide that I am not sparing a single one of them.

Ace breathes heavily as he stares into her eyes. The right words always leave him in her presence. He's always afraid he'll say the wrong thing and she'll turn tail and run but he has had it with all the running. "I love you," he says, noticing that she's about to say something contrary like she always does. "don't......don't speak, just listen," he says with such seriousness that she has never seen on him before. "I LOVE YOU," he reiterates louder, bolder using his hands to make gestures at himself and her. ********** Sky Baker has known love like no other, but she has also known loss- a great deal of it- and now she's afraid, afraid to let herself fall again because she knows she'll lose it just like she lost it before. what is the point of loving only to lose it in the end? Ace Reed had never known love. He was born to parents who didn't want him and cared more about their work than they did him and he has only used girls, for one thing: to satisfy his carnal need. What happens when one glance at a pair of sky blue eyes makes his heart do things his brain doesn't understand? What happens when he finally understands his feelings? What happens when the object of his affections wants nothing to do with him?

Someone pushes me off a cliff when I'm eight months pregnant before taking their life on the spot. Meanwhile, blood pools underneath me as I'm rushed to the hospital. As despair washes over me, I hear Jacob Langley's voice come from outside my hospital ward. "Are you sure it'll work this time?" "Yes, Mr. Langley. Mrs. Langley has taken good care of herself during her pregnancy, but the branch pierced her belly. There's no chance of the baby surviving this, and she won't ever be able to conceive again." "Good. Make sure the culprit's family has been sent away. I won't let anything go wrong before the Adkins agree to adopt Clara." "Yes, sir. Still… why did you need to push Mrs. Langley off a cliff if you wanted to adopt Ms. Jennings' daughter? Mrs. Langley is kind; I'm sure she would've treated the child well." Jacob snorts. "What do you know? Why would Selene agree to adopt Clara if she had her own child? She'll only treat Clara as her own once she can't have children and leave everything she has to Clara. I couldn't marry Kaia back then; this is all I can do to make it up to her." The voices slowly fade away, but they reverberate loud and clear in my mind. I've spent six years by Jacob's side, yet all I've gotten in return are lies and betrayal. His so-called love for me is nothing but a trick to steal my inheritance for someone else. Since this is what he wants, I'll make his wish come true.

In the third year I've decided to support my girlfriend, Iris Fulton, by opening a flower shop, she has gone into bankruptcy once again. The first time she went bankrupt, I sold the house my grandma had left for me so that I could clear the debt of 700 thousand dollars. The second time she went bankrupt, I was able to locate the bank passbook Mom had left for me as a wedding gift. That was how I paid back one million and six hundred thousand dollars. The third time Iris has gone bankrupt, however, I can only grip the note with my filthy rich dad's phone number while staring at her lost and dazed expression. At that time, I'm debating whether or not I should call him. But that night, I accidentally notice the chat history on Iris' group chat that's displayed on her tablet. "Hey Iris, how many figures are you going to fill into the sum of the bankruptcy contract that's supposed to be cleared this time?" "Let's put ten million dollars. Otherwise, that flower-selling plaything will be able to clear the debt in one go. It'll make things very boring." "As expected of you, Iris! I heard that the plaything waters flowers in the morning and waters your flower garden at night. You're never tired of him, are you?" I put down Iris' tablet before calling my dad right away. "You want me to take over the family business and marry your student, right? Fine, I'll do it. Get your men to pick me up in three days."