Pot Calling Kettle Black

It was New Year's Eve. We were streaming live when my brother called. I spoke first, "I wish you peace and a happy, long life." He gave a cold laugh. "Yeah, well, I don't want you to have any of that. I hope you spend the rest of your life in misery." I'd cut him off the year he was flat broke. Now that he was successful, this was the first thing he did—get back at me. I kept my tone calm. "I wish you peace and a happy, long life." He sounded annoyed. "Cut it out. There's no way I'm wishing you well. If I have to say something, then I hope you stay miserable forever." The host hesitated, then chimed in, "Ben, that was just a recording of Hailey's message. And yes, when she left… she was in a lot of pain and quite miserable, just like you hoped for."

Right before the SAT, our scatterbrained airheaded group favourite, the school belle, Priscilla Ashford, volunteers herself to safeguard everyone's admission tickets. My firm refusal of her offer earns me the displeasure of my childhood sweetheart, Justin Kylemark. "You're picking on her again," he says. I ignore his rebuke. On the exam day itself, I personally double-checked every single admission ticket to make sure nothing could go wrong. However, the moment Priscilla gets hers from me, she burst into tears, claiming that I lost her ticket. Justin snatched my admission ticket and tore it to shreds. I run until my legs give out, barely managing to get it reissued before the bus leaves. However, my classmates all kicked me off the bus together. "You lost Priscilla's admission ticket. Do you think you deserve to sit for the exam?" They carry with them the exam prediction I had prepared for them. Thanks to that, they each achieve excellent scores. I have no choice but to repeat the year and become the top scorer. By then, Justin and my other classmates, who are already in prestigious universities and colleges, all return together. They produce fake evidence, accusing me of cheating in the exam. Unable to defend myself, a candidate who flunked the exam poured gasoline on me and set me on fire. When I open my eyes once more, I see myself handing the admission tickets over to Priscilla… except for my own.

At 3:00 p.m., Rose Jenkins, the new hire who had barely been here a few days, suddenly tagged me in the company group chat with a few hundred people in it. [Hi, can you stop hammering your keyboard? The noise is making my stomach hurt! The baby I'm carrying is sleeping. If you shake it into a concussion, I swear I'll make your whole family pay for it!] I rushed to explain. I was racing to finish a proposal that was due soon, and I was using a silent keyboard. But she wouldn't believe me, no matter what I said. I kept my patience and explained it over and over. To avoid any more trouble, I even asked if I could move out to the hallway to work. What I didn't expect was that a week later, she would storm into the break room with a kettle of freshly boiled water and dump it straight over my head. I collapsed in a pool of scalding water, my skin blistering and tearing open. She kept screaming as if she had lost her mind and smashed my head with her high heels, over and over. "It's all your fault! I lost the baby! Your keyboard noise shook my son to death!!" My vision blurred. By the time everything went black, I still couldn't understand how a silent keyboard could possibly kill someone. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day she first went off on me in the group chat. This time, faced with the same insults, I didn't back down. I went straight into the chat and fired back. [Stop pretending you're pregnant. You've got more going on down there than your dad does!]

"Stop," he said huskily. "Turn around." Something in his voice made her obey. His was a voice used to commanding, used to getting him his own way. Usually she hated being spoken to that way, but not tonight. Tonight she wanted to obey every command he gave to bring the evening to its logical, inevitable and very satisfying conclusion. She turned, slowly, giving him full view of her butt and the cotton thong slicing her cheeks in half. Aware of his black eyes on her, she did something she'd never done for any man. She swayed to a rhythm in her head. With her back facing him, Abbey ran her hands down her waist, round her gyrating hips and placed one on each cheek. She let them explore across her skin, enjoying the way she felt and knowing he wanted to do the same. She glanced over her shoulder, cheekily giving him a view of her breasts and behind at the same time. His face was distorted with desire as he stood, mesmerized. She turned to face him fully. "I want you," he whispered. ………………………………………………. A cheating husband. A hidden camera. A desperate woman in too little clothing. Abbey thinks she’s prepared to seduce Damien Vane for a paycheck—until his hands, his voice, and his body turn the assignment into something wickedly irresistible. One night was supposed to fix her life… not set it on fire.

Harry Pate fails in his plan to secure a fortune from my family. He tries to drug me, hand me over to his friends, and even film it to control me. Luckily, a kind netizen overhears him plotting with his mistress at a restaurant. The netizen posts a missing person alert online. "Please share widely. Looking for Freya White. Her boyfriend is trying to drug and assault her." I see the post and quietly pour the drug into the pot they are about to drink from.

After Noah's death, what greeted him was an AI system calling itself Black, offering him a job working for the World and Soul Management Bureau.  He has to travel to many different worlds, taking over an identity of some unfortunate soon-to-be-dead dude, and live out the remainder of his new life there however he wanted. Easy-peasy! ...Right? ...Ok, sure, there are a few small kinks here and there... like terrorist attacks, murder plots, zombie apocalypses, and the like... but one should always look at the bright side! Noah: "...Blackie, is it just me, or is this good brother of mine looking at me like a hungry wolf seeing a juicy piece of meat?" (°△°|||) Black: "Don't worry, host. He is just a bit excited due to nearly losing his life back there. You know, adrenaline." (¬‿¬) Noah: "…are you sure that's what's really going on here?" (っ °Д °;)っ Black: "Absolutely!" (≖‿≖) … ~ Many worlds later ~ Noah: "This secret mission that you can't tell me about… it can't possibly be to get fucked by the least appropriate target?!" (°ㅂ°╬) Black: "Of-of course not! Ho-how could that possibly be, eh?" (; ﾟ 3ﾟ )~♪ ML: Right, right, that's just a very (not so) coincidental bonus. Ψ(╹ڡ╹ )Ψ 💠 Author Note 💠 * SSC has long arcs. Each world is a fully-fledged novel on its own. * Don't let the summary (or the cover) fool you! While SSC does have an occasional explicit smut, it is primarily a fluffy and hilarious romance! * Pairings are one-on-one and taboo-ish. (E.g. hired assassin and his target, monster tamer and his tamed beast, master and disciple, siblings, brothers-in-law, etc.) * More info in the info chapter Author website: lucypandora.com Support the author on ko-fi: ko-fi.com/lucypandora Discord: lucypandora.com/discord

Zahra Rosalind was born in the human world. She was living a happy perfect and complete life with her parent. Then suddenly, the perfect life suddenly disappeared and turned out to be her greatest nightmare. Her parents died during a car accident that leaves her a trauma. She was living with her grandmother near in the forest in their province. Then after that incident she's always having an odd dream. Fangs, pale skin, forest, moon and other things that made her felt a familiar feeling. Years passed, she's still having an odd dreams. A voice of a guy in the forest that keeps calling her name in her dream. The day came that he did not expect in his whole life. Suddenly the sky darkened and around him he suddenly let go of his Grandmother's hand and suddenly a man in black appeared and covered it. And a goddess also came and said that she was destined for a prince and that she would take her to the world of Ambrogio. She would not have gone but the goddess said that in the world of Ambrogio the black creature brought his Grandmother. What will be the course of his life? She did not even know the world of Ambrogio. And which prince is destined for her? Is she really destined for that prince? Is this prince the man who always calls her name in her dreams? * Photo not mine. Credits to the rightful owner *

Where this story goes no one knows. Tif a young girl looking for her place in the world. Siron a strong Alpha looking for his mate. Will these two be lovers, will they be truly mated? What the fates have in store for them will become clear as they walk their paths coming ever so close to finding their deepest desires.

Cassandra never imagined her life would change so drastically after she caught her future fiancé, Alaric, making out with her best friend. Cassandra vowed to avenge her hurt in the same way. She makes the impulsive decision to approach Caspian, Alaric's father, and ends up becoming partners in a one-night stand. In no time, the game of revenge turns Cassandra and Caspian into a relationship that goes deeper than the charade of infidelity. However, additional problems arise when Cassandra belatedly realizes she may be pregnant. At the same time, her dark past comes back to haunt her, shattering everything she has built. Amidst family conflict and deep resentment, Cassandra's older brother forces her to choose between two hard decisions against her will. Meanwhile, Caspian announces a big plan that takes everyone by surprise. But is this really the end of their game - or the beginning of something much darker?

Elliot Carter never loses. Not to his father. Not to anyone. And definitely not to the infuriating 'golden' boy who suddenly moves into his house. When Elliot’s father marries Asher Brooks’ mother, his already broken world cracks even more. Asher is everything he despises—calm, disciplined, admired by everyone at university. The kind of guy who smiles like he has nothing to prove. From the moment they meet, it’s war. Elliot thrives on pushing buttons. Asher refuses to be provoked. Their fights are sharp, personal, and relentless, until one night, anger turns physical… and something far more dangerous ignites between them. A line is crossed that neither of them can uncross. Asher refuses to feel guilty. Elliot refuses to admit he wanted it. Now they’re trapped under the same roof, and the more they try to hate each other, the more dangerous the attraction becomes. Because this isn’t just rivalry. It’s obsession. And when control becomes the weapon of choice, someone is bound to break. The only question is... Who will break first?