Rotten Apples

I was born with a strange condition. I couldn't recognize faces and could only identify people by their clothes. Vincent Lancaster, my boyfriend, never minded. He said it didn't change the way he loved me. That was, until our wedding day. He answered a phone call. His childhood friend, Grace Langley, was in labor, life hanging by a thread, and she demanded he come immediately. My voice shook with despair. "Vincent! If you drive away now, we'll never be husband and wife!" But he left anyway, not looking back. Grace had always loved seeing him in white, so he threw aside the black suit I had sewn for him with my own hands and changed into white. A year later, Vincent returned. By then, my belly was swollen with life, and I was holding onto another man while hosting a baby shower. And the man wore the black suit Vincent had thrown away. Vincent went mad, claiming he was my husband, but no one believed him.

My mom gets buzzed at the family dinner and insists on burning my admission letter. She says, "You're a guy, and yet you can't get into Horvard University! What makes you think you can study at any university now? You might as well quit studying altogether!" I try to stop her from doing so, only for my dad to stop me instead. "It's just a stupid scrap of paper. Don't put a damper on your mom's mood, now. Can't you just retake the college admission exam?" Just like that, my fruit of labor gets burned to ashes. When I'm studying for the exam again, Mom keeps inviting people home for drinks. All I do is utter one complaint, and I get beaten to death by her drinking buddies. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the night of the family dinner. This time, I've swapped out my admission letter to the IOU her boss has told her to safeguard. Go ahead and burn it. Two years later, I'll be sure to visit you at your grave, Mom.

I specifically accompany my wife, Sophie Caldwell, to visit her family during the holidays. My mother-in-law, Margaret Jackson, brings over a basket of apples. Then, she says in a half-teasing manner, "These apples are meant for the Jacksons. Once you've had your apple, you'll be blessed with a life as sweet as these apples. By the way, outsiders aren't allowed to take the apples." Everyone begins fighting for the apples happily. So, I grab an apple of my own too. The next thing I know, the atmosphere in the living room goes eerily quiet. Sophie drags me to a corner and starts berating me. "Are you so poor that you can't even afford to buy your own apple? Must you steal apples from my family? "Didn't you hear my mom saying that outsiders aren't allowed to take the apples? Why did you even take one from the basket? "Thanks to you, now Julius doesn't have an apple!" I look around my surroundings. It turns out that there are only eight apples in total, while we have nine people sitting in the living room. So the "outsider" she was talking about is me. I decide to hand the apple over to Sophie's godbrother, Julius Sterling. Then, I call my dad on the phone. "Dad, you don't have to bring the holiday gifts over now."

The tree I fell from was rotten. It's leaves were rotten, it's bark was rotten, and it's roots were rotten. Unfortunately, I am an apple that didn't fall far from that rotten tree. I was groomed in the shadow of that rotten tree and sprayed with poison to ensure I would be nothing but it's germinated seed. My earliest memories are dark and painful. My most vibrant memories are coated in crimson red and shame. The small pieces of my soul that I kept hidden and protected are the only parts of myself I can tolerate. The rest of who I am... The despicable trash that haunts my dreams... I hate. Death is the only answer to my life. Not love. I don't deserve love. A tainted apple is never put amongst the ripe juices apples. It is thrown away, discarded... As I should be.

"One word. Surrogacy." "Two words. Not happening." Elodie shook her head her response very fast. ———————————— Elodie, co-owner of the Gates Tech Company, a multinational technology company is forced to opt for surrogacy when she can't stand her husband, Micah Gates; a sexist, egoistic, manipulative, and power-hungry man; the thought of carrying his child repulses her. Allegra, her best friend suggests a surrogate app that allows users to find their perfect surrogate mother. Eira Faez has been a surrogate for four years, after joining the surrogate app she finally gets a match with a mysterious profile only to realize a wealthy couple needed her. A lot hid behind closed blinds. What is brought to light a facade created by PR stunts to boost the image of Gates Tech Company. However, nothing remains in the dark for long and everything is revealed to not only the families, but the public. Love unexpectedly blossoms between Elodie and Eira who are instantly smitten with each other in their first encounter.

"You can lie to yourself, but your body doesn’t lie, Elena.” He chuckled. “Don’t stop.” I whispered. “Fuck Elena” the curse slipped past his lips before his lips crashed into mine again. When Elena Carter’s mother marries a wealthy businessman, she is forced to move into a mansion and start a new life. But everything changes when she meets Logan Pierce, her arrogant and dangerously attractive new stepbrother. Their chemistry is undeniable, but their relationship is strictly forbidden. He's off limits but forbidden apples taste much better.

My three older brothers, Marcus, Jeremy, and Andrew Graham love me to the moon and back. Marcus clumsily practices peeling apples for me when I lie on a hospital bed. Jeremy blushes as he buys sanitary pads and prepares a warm drink for me when I have my period. Andrew spends all his pay to buy me new clothes and even declares, "Whoever bullies you will pay the price." He isn't shy to express his brotherly love for me. I once believed that my life would stay happy like this forever. However, my adopted sister, Mackenzie Falk, accuses me of swapping the graduation thesis she has been working on for three years. I suffer a heart attack on the spot.

‘Why are the tastiest apples always forbidden? Why do we have to sacrifice our love because our parents got engaged?’ These questions rushed through my mind as he kissed me deeply, pinning me against the wall. I knew that after this, he would say cruel things to me with those same lips, but I couldn't resist him. I loved him but I hated myself for loving him. “Marcus, please. We can't keep doing this.” I begged. But as usual, he ignored my pleas and continued in his caresses, making me want him more. We were lost in our forbidden desires once again, not realizing that the door was left unlocked. Why does my stepbrother keep seducing me? What if our parents discover our secret affair?

"Get the hell out of my room", he shouted as soon as I entered his room. Is he for real? How can he be this peaceful when I'm not able to sleep a wink last night after that kiss. I really want to smack him now. "Dude..who want to enter this stinking rotten room? I'm here to inform that your parents and my parents are visiting our home today", with that I turned my back and left. He gritted his teeth yet confusion laced in his eyes. "Exactly. You heard it right. You stinking rotten rat", I stuck my tongue out shutting the door. "Isabella Kingston. Come here right now", he roared while I rolled my eyes running fast to my room locking it up. ---------------------------------------- Meet Isabella Collins, 23, CEO of I&C industries, stubborn, sweet woman, who fears romantic relationships. Meet Aaron Kingston ,25, CEO of Kingston industries, arrogant handsome man who doesn't believe in romantic relationships. When Mr.Arrogant and Ms.Stubborn got into an arranged marriage will they fall in love or will they need a divorce to escape from each other? Read for more.

Beautiful young Roxanne gets caught up in a mysterious deadly experiment of survival created by a multi billion dollar company known as International body of evolutionary divergence aka IBED. If she fails the entire world dies but if she survived the world escapes a deadly world war III... "She was met with two terrible things, the choking smell of rotten corpses and a room full of dead bodies hanging from ropes attached to the roof. Slowly she began to make her way passed the corpses one after the other"