Simply Lies

For the sake of her secretary, who was supposedly battling cancer, my wife, Sofia Griffin, made a shocking proposal. She would pay ten million for taking his virginity as an attempt to help him raise the funds needed. I had barely opened my mouth to object when she cut me down with a sharp rebuke. She said, "Chris has always been a proud man. Just giving him the money would seem like a handout and hurt his pride. "Can't you try to be compassionate? Do you really have to be jealous over something this small?" I said nothing. I simply smiled and nodded. What she didn't know was that, as an infectious disease specialist, I had already recognized the signs. It wasn't cancer... It was late-stage AIDS.

Every year, the village had to choose a girl of age to become the Blossom Bride. The girl who was chosen would be sent into the cave as the village god’s wife. She would spend the entire night with him. If she came out alive, she would be honored for the rest of her life as a village elder. Any child she bore was said to be blessed, destined for a life of effortless fortune. If she died, the village would simply wait for the next year, when another Blossom Bride would be chosen. The blessing of the Blossom Bride was believed to pass on to her parents and elders as well. However, no one wanted to be chosen. To escape the ritual, families quietly left the village, one after another. I was the only one who volunteered. I had a lust problem, and I had always wondered what it would feel like to be with a god.

When I was waiting for Theodore at City Hall from dawn to dusk, he was accompanying his first love on a hike. I called him dozens of times, but he rejected my calls instantly each time. He finally picked up on the twentieth call. "Why are you blowing up my phone when you simply didn't see me for a day? Why are you acting so desperate? Sammy's feeling unwell because of her heart and I still need to take care of her at the hospital. We'll talk later about registering our marriage." Ten years of love. This was the 100th time Theodore had left me alone in front of City Hall for his first love. I hung up and calmly tossed the wedding ring away. This marriage? I was done with it.

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.

Zoriana Gregory, a young woman of about 22 years, shares her secrets, dreams, her life experiences and desires about her future husband with her diary. Her fantasy of her ideal future husband soon turns reality when her diary somehow falls in the hand of someone she never thought she'd meet again after many long years. Her first love... Liam Whyte Liam visits his country again after closely 11 years, now a grown up and a successful young man. While on his quest to finding his childhood friends again, he came upon a diary during his meeting with an acquaintance of his brother. NOTE: THIS IS THE SYNOPSIS OF THE FIRST BOOK IN THIS ANTHOLOGY. AND IT IS TITLED 'DIARY OF ZORIANNA' IT WAS, A BEAUTIFUL BREAKUP; Is simply a collection of several short stories, combined into one. Each book in the anthology is a standalone.

“The beautiful world embraces you” is a story that is not too dramatic and full of drama. It is simply a love story between two very honest characters. Chan Phong -is a boy who cares deeply about his childhood friend, but an incident occurs that makes him entangled in plots and hatred. An Thu - a girl with a pitiful situation, always living in sadness, she only has a friend, Chan Phong, who has been with her to overcome all childhood sorrows, suddenly when the family separates, it's time. Her best friend left her. With the same pain and hatred, they finally met again at the age of 18, in a new environment but did not recognize each other, hurting each other. Through many trials, will they find each other again? Their love may not be the prettiest, but it is certainly the truest. Trials do not make our love worse but make us stronger and better.

The word “Marriage” is not in the vocabulary of an Alona Desepeda. She is known to be picky when it comes to men and doesn’t care about her love life. She prefers the life she has and believes she doesn’t have to get married to be content with life. But her outlook on life as a Man hater has suddenly changed, since he met Karlos Miguel Sermiento, the man who is mischievous, rude and often admired by women. When due to a tragic accident, Alona was forced to marry the son of their partner in the company, it was Karlos. At first, she didn't like him and often irritated when she heard the young man's voice. But as time goes on, she gradually falls into his charisma. Alona thought that Karlos really felt for her was true, but it was all just a show. Will she still love Karlos if she discovers his big secret? Or will she simply choose to be martyred for the sake of love?

Erin cole had it all, money, power, a penthouse in the sky. But one bad decision turned his world into a nightmare. Now he’s broke, hunted by loan sharks, and desperate to survive. When a strange job poster promises two million for a nanny position, Erin thinks it’s a scam. Instead, it leads him straight to Michele Galetto the most feared mafia boss in the city. Cold, dangerous, and untouchable, Michele is a man everyone fears. But to his young son, he is simply a father in need of help. Erin should run. He should stay far away from this world of guns, blood, and secrets. Yet he stay s. Because he needs the money. Because he needs to breathe. But the longer he stays, the more dangerous it becomes. Not from the mafia. Not from Michele’s enemies. But from the feelings growing between him and the man he should fear most.

　Just two weeks after their wedding, Raphael left for the other side of the world on business. Two years later, when he returned, Grace barely recognized her own husband. 　　 　　Everyone knew their marriage was nothing more than a business deal between two powerful families. To Grace, it was simply the last hurdle on her way to freedom. She barely knew her husband. All she really knew was that he was rigid, dull, and emotionally detached—like a financial machine. She figured he must find her just as insufferable—dramatic, and high-maintenance. When Grace placed the divorce papers in front of Raphael, stating that she wanted to end this loveless marriage, he merely looked at her, his gaze warm yet unreadable. He gently took her hand and murmured in a husky voice, half-smiling, 「Hmm? Did I not please you enough last night?」

A week before our wedding, my fiancee announces that she is pregnant using my younger brother's frozen sperm. "I'm grateful that our love can carry on in another way," she gushes on social media, showing off the test results. My brother replies, "Meeting you was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me." Then Mom chimes in. "Jenny, you've been through so much. Nathan's apartment should be under your name alone." I don't argue and simply reply with a single word—"Congratulations". My phone rings almost seconds later. "Your brother can't have kids anymore. It's just one child, and it's still related to you. Why are you being so petty?" she snaps. I laugh under my breath, hang up, and dial another number. "Want to get married?"