Open Water

I stood at his foot, looking him over. The way he kept up his arms, made the muscles of his arms bulge, leaving those on his abdomen flexed. He looked like a model posing for a casual photo. Just then, a disturbing thought entered my head as I stared at his body. I closed my eyes and shook my head to expunge the illicit thought that crept into it but the thought became vivid behind the darkness. I flipped them open and stared at him again. Then throwing caution and the thought of the dreadful future out the window, I crouched on all fours and crawled on both sides of him till I was face to face with his chest. Slowly, I laid my body on top of his, placed my palms on his chest, and rested my jaws on it. The body contact sent warmth and something sweet up and down my body, going to rest on its usual place below my waist. He still had his eyes closed but I knew he was awake because his face slowly lit up in a beautiful smile, then ever so leisurely, his arms slid down and wrapped around my waist.

As I sipped the water which HIS mother offered me.... I heard HIS voice. My heart skipped a beat. My mouth popped open and eyes went wide. He was standing right in front of me. Tall, handsome, his eyes met mine.... I forgot how to breathe. It was him. It was ARMAAN MALIK my one true love..... "Who's this girl Mom?" Mrs.Malik looked at me and then at him. "She's your fan." ***** Ayesha is your ordinary fangirl ....um.... not soo ordinary actually. Let's call her a crazy maniac. She just gets fits whenever she even hears Armaan Malik sing. He's her everything. All she does is think about him.... Even soo she studied hard and became a Chartered accountant just so that 1 day she could meet him and atleast work with him. But....is it that easy? Yep.... She met him and became his assistant manager...but the story won't be interesting with just work. How about a brew of romance and a spice of humour? I wonder how it might turn out.....

“Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” she whispered, pushing her hips against his. The way his pupils dilated nearly did her in. Ethan: There are only two things that make billionaire Ethan White's heart race: fast cars and Laura Corbett. Unfortnately, Laura wants nothing to do with his playboy ways. Ethan thnks that everyone has the wrong idea about him, including his stalker, and he's determined to prove them all wrong. When Ethan's business partner wants to open a new car R&D facility in Colorado, he jumps at the opportunity to be closer to his two passions. Laura: Thrust into the new responsibility of raising her siblings by the death of her parents, Laura Corbett doesn't have time for awkward hookups, let alone a relationship. So when the billionaire she had a one night stand with shows up in town, she pretends he doesn't exist. She can't let anything come between her and her family. But nothing can prepare her for the way that Ethan connects with her brother and sister. And she can't deny the fact that jumping in his bed makes her come alive. Everything seems like it'll be normal again, maybe even better than normal. But Ethan's stalker disagrees...

My flight was suddenly canceled, so I dragged my suitcase back home. As soon as I stepped inside, I saw torn black stockings scattered on the floor. This was the eighth time Simon Jones had brought a different woman home. The sound of running water and a young woman’s laughter echoed from the bathroom. I didn’t cry or make a scene. Instead, I sat quietly on the couch, waiting for them to finish. Everyone assumed I would continue being Simon’s devoted fool like before. But no one knew that the man I truly loved had returned. After tonight, Simon, the stand-in, would be discarded.

Right after Ethan and I announced our mating ceremony, his childhood sweetheart from the pack, Sophia, came rushing back. And she flat-out demanded I go through a "bloodline trial." "Someone like you, a wolf outcast, you're definitely up to no good. You have to pass this month-long bloodline trial before our pack will accept your mating!" With Ethan basically giving them the nod, Sophia and her pack betas put me through hell. They deliberately messed with my moonlight alchemy circle, almost tore my mind apart. The backlash from the moon energy tortured me until I almost broke. My body felt like it was being ripped to shreds. They contaminated my sacred water potions. The choking fumes nearly suffocated me. The betas were cruel and vicious. "She's just a lone wolf anyway. If she dies, no pack will back her up." Then, Sophia stole the Moon Goddess sacred artifact my grandma left me—the Moon Alchemy Cauldron. She taunted me, all cocky. "If you've got the guts, try summoning the Moon Goddess's power on the blood moon night to take it back! Otherwise, I'll use your family's crappy old cauldron as a chamber pot!" I’ve had enough. I’m so sick of these ‘trials,’ and there’s no way in hell I’m mating with Ethan.

My in-laws-to-be are poisoned, but my fiancé insists on going fishing with his true love. I don't stop him. In fact, I lend him my car. In my past life, he chose to take his parents to the hospital after I stopped him. However, his true love died at sea and ended up being eaten by the sharks. My fiancé was normal after her death. However, when we were on our honeymoon, he stabbed me and pushed me into the ocean. "It's all your fault, Fiona! I failed to save Lauren because of you! Now that she's dead, you don't deserve to live, either!" The scent of my blood attracted the sharks. They ripped me to pieces before I could drown. When I open my eyes again, I find my in-laws-to-be lying in their bed. My fiancé runs off to save his true love. Ultimately, he still regrets his actions.

Ean's face twisted with anger as he grabbed me by the arm, dragging me toward the old, rusted freezer in the corner of the warehouse. "You're going to feel what Helen felt," he spat. "Maybe that'll teach you not to mess with her." I struggled against him, panic rising in my chest. "Ean, this is insane! It was an accident! Let me explain—" He wasn’t listening. He shoved me inside the freezing metal box and slammed the door shut. The echo of the lock clicking into place made my heart pound in my ears. I banged on the door with my fists. "Ean, please! You can’t do this!" I screamed, but the sound of his footsteps grew fainter as he walked away. He left me with nothing but a single bowl of water, like I was some kind of prisoner. I slumped against the cold metal, shivering. The temperature plummeted almost instantly. The hum of the freezer kicked in, and I realized too late—it wasn’t broken like he thought. It was working, and I was trapped. My body shook uncontrollably as the cold seeped into my bones. I screamed for help until my throat was raw, clawing at the walls in desperation. My bloody handprints smeared across the icy surface, a silent plea for mercy that no one would hear. Seven days passed. When Ean finally returned, the look on his face was one of smug satisfaction. He had expected me to beg, to apologize. But when they pried open the freezer, all they found was my frozen body, stiff and silent, my suffering long over.

He lowered his head and angrily placed a kiss on my lips, I had felt the passion, love and compassion in his previous kisses but right now he was venting out all his anger. He bit my lower lip hard until it was completely swollen and began to bleed, I wanted to cry in pain but he didn't give me a chance and his tongue pried my mouth open and with the help of it he pulled my tongue into his mouth and then bit my tongue. At this moment he was completely consumed by anger and out of his senses, I wanted to use my magic to get rid of him but I could not do that too as he had one of my wrists twisted which was now turning numb with pain and the other was pinned above my head against the wall. Soon his fangs pierced my tongue and this time finally a sharp painful shout left my throat and hit his lips. My lips were now trembling and I just wanted to push him away but as much as I tried that, he kept pushing his body against mine making me loose my mind completely. My painful voice brought him back to his senses and his lips and teeth finally left my mouth, tears flowed through my eyes due to the pain and I looked at him angrily that was when he finally spoke "I told you to be careful but you do every possible thing to rile me up. Your scent is completely different from every person on this earth, it is so appealing and inviting that anyone can find you and that means that no matter how hard you try, you can't escape from me."

My mother-in-law spreads lies about me having contracted an STD during my sister-in-law's wedding. When I hear this, I want to demand an explanation. However, my sister-in-law stops me and begs me to prioritize her happiness since it's her wedding. I hold myself back and wait until the reception is over. Later, my mother-in-law merely sweeps the matter under the rug and say she doesn't remember anything because she was drunk. However, the lies spread like wildfire. My neighbors scorn me, and my colleagues isolate me, treating me like a walking bacteria. I become dispirited from the constant mental distress and end up getting knocked by a car when I leave the house one day. I die from the accident. When I open my eyes again, I'm taken back to the day my mother-in-law lies about me having contracted an STD.

My younger brother told me he was overwhelmed by school stress and had developed depression. I tried to help by encouraging him to seek treatment, drawing from my own experience with the illness. However, my mother blamed me, accusing me of passing the depression onto him. She took me to a witch, who locked me in the house. Every day, the witch used willow branches to drive away evil spirits, beating me until my skin was raw, forcing me to drink filthy water, and making me bleed. "This is the only way to banish the evil and bless your little brother." After enduring days of torment, my depression worsened, and I chose to end my life. However, when I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day my brother first confessed his depression. I looked at my body—whole and unharmed. This time, I will make them pay for everything I endured.