Shook

I was reborn. The universe spat me back to the year of my SATs, eighteen again, right when Noah Ritchie confessed his love for me. Turned out, it was the last year he'd ever love me. That was the year he met her… the one who'd actually own his heart. For Carla Davidson, he didn't hesitate to confess his love to me, not out of sincerity, but to distract me from my studies. Because of him, I missed my shot at a top university and barely got into a second-tier one. He even staged a car accident to keep me from attending an academic competition, just so Carla could win first place. When Carla suffered from severe blood loss in an accident, he convinced me to donate so much blood that it permanently damaged my health and left me unable to bear children. Later, Noah was forced to marry me, but he spent every day brooding over a photo of Carla. And when he learned she was getting married, he abandoned me without a second thought, choosing to die for love. But in this lifetime, I'm wide awake. I won't love him again. I'll be selfish. I'll live for myself and no one else. So when Noah looked at me with his usual arrogance and asked, "Tiffany, will you be my girlfriend?" I met his gaze calmly and shook my head. "No."

“Tell me what’s going on?” I snapped, tired of the unnecessary suspense. “I don’t know what’s going on either but it’s not safe here. Please stay where you are, I can’t afford to lose another person tonight.” He murmured as his voice shook with impatience. “Lose another person? What are you talking about?” I froze, thrown into oblivion. He sighed as tears mixed up his words. “Chelsea, your mother and your sister are gone.” ****************************************** After a series of life threatening events, Chelsea Ambers steps out of her shadows to defend her family and investigate the murder of her sister. After landing the most envied position in the business industry, Chelsea is faced with more trauma and confusion as all traces of her sister’s death leads to the two men she loves the most. Would Chelsea bury the past and let love reign, or would she avenge as she swore she would? ****************************************** “She was just a victim of a bad mood swing. Your father broke the deal, Chelsea Ambers.” He scoffed like her life meant nothing to him.

All because of Leo Cullen’s words, I gave up a place at a top-tier university in Ceres and stayed behind to retake the entrance exams with him—three times. By the fourth year, a girl arrived at our cram school, and Leo forgot the promise we made. He started skipping class, picking fights, smoking—doing everything but studying. One day, I stood at the school gate, blocking his path with a textbook in hand as he tried to ditch class. He smirked, unimpressed, and blew a bubble with his gum, letting it stick to the ends of my hair. “Naomi…,” he began, “who still cares about studying these days?” So I stopped caring and avoided him entirely. When he fooled around in the classroom, I went to the library. When he played basketball, I sat in a quiet corner with my books. Even when I craved noodles from my favorite shop, I’d scan the room first to make sure he wasn’t there. “Are you avoiding me, Naomi?” he asked later, his face in a frown. I shook my head. “Why would you think that?”

"What is this? Are you dying anytime soon? How many days do you have left?” “I believe you know how to read clearly. Go through the results. I’m sure you will be the one leaving anytime soon.” She said confidently. I stared at her once more and proceeded to read the contents of the paper. “You are pregnant,” I said and she smiled. “Yes darling, and guess who my baby’s father is?” I shook my head at her disbelievingly and she nodded her head. “Yes, Eliott is the father of my unborn baby.” “Do you expect to believe such baseless accusations? I am not dumb, Emma. “I know it’s hard for you to believe but, Eliott never broke up with me. Did you think that all the excuses he gave were real? Even Elon Musk doesn’t have a schedule that’s as tight as that. He spent most of his time with me and that is how we made a baby.” She rubbed her abdomen and I chuckled hard. She was lying. She had to be. *** “Mr. Winconstin, your ex-wife is back!” I raised my head from the magazine I was reading. It was no news that Oleander was back in San Francisco. She took over her family's company and was bent on restoring it's lost glory. I should admit it, she never seemed like a business lady to me. “She didn't come alone.” I sat up. Has she moved on already? “She came back with two children and the boy is your carbon copy.” Instantly, blood filled my nose. Was she pregnant then? Why didn't she tell me? Why did she decide to keep my children away from me? “Get the car ready. We are heading to the Thayer's company immediately.”

A perfect wedding and a marriage full of love and faithfulness—these were what Tymm Arces Narciso always dreamed of. In a world where she witnessed so many failed marriages, she longed for her own love story to be the complete opposite. But fate didn’t cooperate. One life-altering incident shook her family, forcing her into a marriage with Harrison Salvador—the eldest grandson of her grandfather’s close friend. In a moment, her dreams of a fairy-tale wedding and a blissful married life vanished. But what if the marriage, despite starting off on the wrong foot and without love, could actually work? Will she be brave enough to take that risk?