Sic Semper Tyrannis

Bata pa lang si Jessica ay malaki na ang pagkainggit niya kay Carla—ang kanyang best friend. Nasa kanya na kasi ang lahat ng wala siya. Masayang pamilya, pera, at pinag-aralan. Tila umayon sa kanya ang pagkakataon ng mamatay ang ina ng kaibigan. Isang malaking plano ang nabuo sa kanyang isipan. Ang akitin ang ama ng kaibigan niya. Noong una ay kayamanan lamang ni Carla, at pusisyon ang hinahangad niya. Pero nagbago ang lahat ng makilala niya si Lhiyeon. Hindi niya akalaing ang lalaking iniwan niya sa gabing may naganap sa kanila ay ang siya ring magiging nobyo ng kanyang kaibigan, kaya naman kahit iniwasan niya ang lalaki, ay nauwi pa rin sa isang relasyon ang namagitan sa kanila, isang uri ng pagkakasala na idaragdag sa kanyang mga lihim na kasalanan, may oras pa ba para sa pagsisisi, lalo na kung hinahangad na rin niya ang makapiling ang lalaking una namang naging kanya. At ang pagnanasang maagaw ang lahat kay Carla ay isa ring dahilan ng lahat. Saan kaya siya dadalhin ng kanyang mga lihim na pagnanasa?

For the nine hundred and ninety-ninth time, the system in my mind warned me. [Warning! The lovesick part of your brain is highly active! If you refuse to leave John Miller, you’ll die an hour later!] I looked at my husband. He was scolding me for the sake of his secretary, who was his first love. I once burned down all of my award-winning drawings just because he disliked them. I calmly gave the system in my brain an order. “Since the cause of the malfunction is the lovesick portion of my brain, I hereby grant you the highest authority to remove it. Do the surgery now!” An hour later, John stopped me at the door of the ward. His eyes were bloodshot. “Grace Stone, what are you trying to pull?” I raised my head and watched him coldly and calmly. “Mister, you blocked the light. Based on an analysis, this constitutes an illegal detention. Do you need my help calling the cops?”

In a music competition show, my rival unexpectedly played the melody I had in my mind before I could. Shocked, I confronted her, asking why she plagiarized me. However, she turned the accusation against me and said, "You said I stole your work, but do you have any proof?" However, I was unable to provide any concrete evidence. Thus, I was labeled as a bully and a plagiarist, ultimately meeting a tragic end. Even in my final moments, I couldn't figure out how she managed to steal something from my mind. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on that same stage. Seeing that my rival was about to play her part, I stopped her and said, "This time, it's my turn to go first."

On the third day after my death, my body was sent to the police station in different packages. Jonathan Walsh, my husband, and Frank Stone, my junior at work, saw my corpse and frowned. “If only Elena were here, she would have been able to find some clues.” Frank sighed as he stared at my horribly mangled remains. “Don’t mention her. She’s not even worthy of being a forensic scientist!” I stared at my husband with a conflicted look. He analyzed each part of my body and deduced the manner of my death with familiar ease. “The murderer is a monster…” Frank’s face turned pale, and he sighed again. Jonathan calmly used all that I had taught him and perfectly pieced out the entire process of my death based on the clues from my dismembered body. I could not help but feel proud. Unfortunately, he was still a little off the mark. He did not manage to figure out that this body belonged to me, his wife.

Jessica is a hard working woman struggling to balance work, school and build a career. Destiny places her right in the path of a brighter future as she meets her first love and paves the foundation for her career. Everything is going well until she falls in love with another man. Can she love two men or is this a recipe for disaster?

El camión rumbo a la universidad iba atascado de gente. A propósito, me pegué contra una estudiante de nuevo ingreso; se veía tiernita e inocente. Llevaba una minifalda escolar. Se la levanté sin dudarlo para frotárselo contra su trasero jugoso. Y para colmo, como venía de una familia pobre, su ropa interior tenía un agujero. Justo cuando estaba a punto de entrar en su intimidad, me hice para atrás rápidamente. Pero ella me agarró con fuerza, y dijo: —¡Señor, empuje duro, no se suelte!

Jessica adalah seorang agen properti profesional. Pada suatu hari ia menunjukkan rumah yang dipasarkannya kepada klien Moses, temannya yang merupakan agen properti kantor lain. Alangkah terkejutnya gadis itu mengetahui bahwa klien tersebut adalah Tommy, mantan kekasihnya. Pemuda itu sedang mencari rumah bersama calon istrinya yang akan dinikahinya enam bulan lagi. Mantan pasangan kekasih itu berpura-pura tidak saling mengenal. Namun keesokkan paginya Tommy tiba-tiba muncul di depan rumah Jessica untuk mengajaknya berbicara empat mata. Hal apakah yang hendak dibicarakan Tommy? Apakah hubungan spesialnya dengan Jessica akan terjalin kembali? Lalu bagaimana dengan rencana pernikahannya sendiri?

"I love you but you love me?" "I sacrificed all my youthful feelings for you, but you refused?!" "If the door of the heart is closed, don't open it again!" ... "You gave me everything, you pursued me for more than 20 years? Is that why forcing me to love you?" "Leave me alone, find someone new!" "Love me, what's the use of you? Apart from sickness and pain, I don't give you anything!" "If that's the case, don't expect to escape from my hand!"

As I walk out of the emergency room, a woman rushes over to me. "You're a doctor, right? My son scraped his knee. Hurry up and come treat him!" I am about to explain, but she glares at me and questions indignantly, "Isn't a doctor supposed to save people? You have time to slack off, but you have no time to treat my son's wound. Is that it?" She grabs my collar and drags me toward the ward. I try to explain, "Ma'am, I’m not—" But she doesn't listen at all and slaps me across the face. "Not what? Are you blind? Can't you see my son is bleeding? Instead of helping my son, you treat those poor nobodies! If you keep delaying my son's treatment, I won't let you off! "Get on your knees and apologize to him right now! Otherwise, I'll file a complaint and have your license revoked!" I endure the sharp pain and struggle to lift my head. In my five years of practicing medicine, this is the first time I have ever been complained about by a living person. "It's not that I won't treat him. I am a forensic pathologist..."

That year, during the Sicilian arms trafficking conflict, my lover of three years, Silvio, deliberately betrayed my transport routes at a critical moment in a deal with the rival "DiMarco" family, causing me to lose all my territory. He immediately defected to the DiMarco family's leader Marina, becoming her lover. As he left, he didn't even bother to disguise his betrayal, coldly tossing out, "What we had was just business, nothing personal." While I was burdened with my family's blood debts and pushed to the edge of a cliff, Lorenzo, who had secretly harbored feelings for me since childhood, found me and offered his family's entire fortune. "Isabella, don't be afraid. In my eyes, you'll always be Sicily's most formidable Queen of the Arms Trade," he said. He took the Colt pistol from my hand, and his voice was gentle yet resolute. Five years later, my power resurged. I was about to completely crush Marina's smuggling network and reclaim everything I had lost. My caporegimes, the captains of my organization, were ready and waiting for my command. But on the night before the operation, my weapons warehouse suddenly exploded, turning priceless arms into worthless scrap metal. I barely escaped through the thick smoke, my body covered in burns. In a secluded monastery, I overheard Lorenzo and Silvio whispering outside my door. "You really had the guts to blow up the arsenal. Weren't you afraid of blasting her to pieces too?" Silvio's voice carried a mocking tone. "If she died, just died. I've always loved Marina. If it weren't for that unlucky family marriage lottery five years ago, I wouldn't have had to endure this ugly bitch for all this time." Lorenzo's voice was ice-cold and unfamiliar. I closed my eyes, feeling like a dagger had pierced my chest. Explosion. Arranged marriage. Ugly bitch. So those five years of shared hardship were just his unwilling choice after losing a high-stakes gamble. "I married her to keep watch. If it weren't for me paving