Star Butterfly's Mom

My mom decides to implement an income-based rationing system. Everything at home is delegated to everyone based on their income. At a holiday dinner, I decide to grab myself an extra helping of pasta. As soon as I fill up my plate, my mom snatches it from my hands. "Hold on. Just look at the spread on the table. The sea bass is already worth 180 dollars. The scallops are worth 200, whereas the lobster goes for 300 dollars. "You only earn 3,000 dollars per month. If you want a second serving, you must pay up first. I'll charge you based on the family rate. It'll be three dollars, thank you very much." My mom sticks out three fingers while smiling at me.

Blurb: ️ Warning: This book contains explicit scenes, strong language, mature content, sexual kinks and dark themes that may not be suitable for some readers. Read at your own risk. Trevor Matai had already made himself an enemy of half the school just by being the smartest person in the class. So when he won the student body presidency, they just found newer and louder reasons to come for him. What he was not prepared for was jerking awake from a nightmare in the middle of class, calling out Sean Pierre's name in front of everyone, and having a very visible and undeniable ‘boner’ to go along with it. Does that mean he got ‘bricked up' for Sean. That was quite unbelievable because Sean Pierre, who is a star quarterback and the school's golden boy, happens to be the most aggressively straight guy Trevor had ever been forced to share oxygen with. So, Sean was the absolute last person his subconscious should have chosen. And now the whole school knew. What followed was supposed to be punishment as a result of the two clashing over school activity funds. Instead, something neither of them planned for started building because the closer Sean kept him, the harder it became to pretend that none of it meant anything. But Sean was the star quarterback and there were rules that came with that title. And wanting Trevor wasn't something the world around them was going to quietly allow. Two boys with two different dreams that couldn't both survive this situation, which seemed like a rivalry that had already drawn blood and a romantic feeling between them that refused to take note of that. Society had already written the rules, but they were about to break those rules and rewrite them.

Enzo Romano, what you do to me means nothing to you. But to me, your touch burns, Enzo Romano. It hurts! In a month and a few days, this round will be over, and we will each go our own way. You will go back to your stable life, to your lover who was always there. And me? I will go back with a huge emptiness in my chest, with a hole in my heart that aches like I am cursed! Who is going to pay the price in the end, Enzo? Huh? ********* "Enzo!" I breathed heavily, the heat burning in my throat. Damn, what is he doing? "Shhh. Stay like this for a moment, Celine. Please." He whispered with a faint voice, mixed with a strange madness, while I felt his chin rest on top of my head, his hot breath sneaking into my hair. "Enzo, what are you doing?" A tremble crept into my voice, and the heat rushed through me, making me feel dizzy! It was like my stomach tightened hard, as if I had suddenly caught a deadly disease! "Let me see it, Celine." He whispered, leaning his head more, his panting breath touching my bare shoulder, hitting the sensitive spot near my neck! "Enzo." I whispered his name like I was breathing him in, my eyes closed, and all the walls I built around myself started to fall without any fight! "Do not say my name like that, Celine." His voice shook just like mine did, as if we drowned in the same whirlpool, but why? He has a whole life. He already has a lover. A perfect woman, steady in his world, someone who does not shake and does not break. So why then is he playing with me?

There's this thing that my mom keeps repeating to me. "I love my children equally. I will always treat you and Brielle the same." It's true that I get everything my sister, Brielle Montgomery, has since we were children. If Brielle has a new backpack, I do too. If Brielle goes for piano lessons, I'll be given the opportunity to attend the same lessons. When I go home for the holidays, my mom digs out two beautiful shopping bags sporting luxury brand logos. With a smile on her face, she hands them to us. "I specifically went to the store to buy you nice coats. Both of you get a coat each. I'll have you know that coats with wool linings are worth thousands of dollars. I don't even have the heart to wear one of these coats. I only bought these coats for you two." As I gaze at the expensive-looking coat, I feel warmth surging into my heart. But when I try on the coat, I feel a weird, scratchy sensation coming from my armpits. After flipping the coat inside out, I notice a few strands of long, dry hair tightly entangled among the seams. I even smell a faint trace of mold mixed with a strong hint of rot that can't be covered up by the cheap fragrance on the coat.

真田准（さなだじゅん）は名門真田家の一人息子であり、唯一の後継者だ。 彼は現当主、真田怜士（さなだれいじ）の弟夫妻の一人娘、真田芽衣（さなだめい）を誰よりも可愛がっている。 彼女は13才年下で軽い知的障害があり、それ故に純粋で、彼にとってなんの思惑もなしに一緒に過ごせる相手だった。 だが准の婚約者の座を狙っている女性たちにとって芽衣は邪魔者でしかなく、彼女はそんな女たちによって陰で執拗に虐められていた。 准がその事に気づいた時、芽衣は深刻な病気に罹り既に余命宣告も出されていた。 彼は芽衣に寄り添いつつ、彼女を虐めた連中への報復をした。 「芽衣はお星さまになるの」 彼女の最期の言葉に、准の涙は止まらなかった。

My mom is an HR professional. She uses KPI to determine my entire life. "If you get into the top ten of your grade, you'll receive a B grade as well as a bonus of 500 dollars. If you can achieve a ranking at a state-level competition, you'll receive an A grade as well as a bonus of 1,000 dollars. Of course, if you can get into a top-tier university after scoring well in your SATs, I'll give you an S+ grade as well as a year-end bonus of ten thousand dollars!" I work my ass off in my studies and manage to earn the offer letter to a top-tier university. But that's when my mom puts a contract in front of me. "Congratulations on getting hired. From today onward, your allowances will be determined by the total of your base salary, KPI, as well as your full attendance award. "Your base salary is 500 dollars. It's to make sure that you won't starve to death, at the very least. In order to help you adapt to workplace stress in advance, I'll check on your progress randomly. If you don't meet my requirements, I'll deduct your salary." When I'm down with a fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit, my mom deducts my full attendance award, claiming that my physical attributes aren't up to par. In order to catch up on my studies, I've completely forgotten to submit my weekly report to my mom. Because of that, she suspends my allowances. So, I have to sell my blood to a hospital behind her back just so I can survive. At the end of the school term, I show my mom my grades as well as the certificate to my scholarship, thinking that I'll be eligible for the highest KPI and the bonus. But that's when my mom tells me coldly, "The company has decided to give your S+ bonus to your younger brother as a form of investment. After all, he has more potential to achieve better results compared to you." As I gaze down at the 200-dollar consolation prize, I can't help but laugh. It turns out that I'm not even worthy of being recognized as a good employee in my mom's company.

In my previous life, everyone in my family could hear my mother's inner thoughts. I managed to land a new job. The pay was high, and the benefits were great. Instead of being happy for me, she was deeply anxious. She thought, "With her education and her abilities, how could she possibly get a job like that? She must've slept her way to it." After my father heard that, he refused to let me go to work. He stormed into my workplace, made a huge scene, and got me fired. I was furious and decided to move out for a while and stay at my boyfriend's place. On the surface, my mother supported my decision. Deep down, however, she was desperately trying to stop me. She thought, "What should I do? That boyfriend of hers has been married for years. He even has a child. She's someone's mistress. "If she really moves in, that man's wife will surely have a go at her. She'll embarrass the rest of us!" To keep me from leaving, my younger brother broke both my legs with a stick. Then, they locked me inside the house and leave me to suffer on my own. My wounds festered and became infected. I begged them to take me to the hospital, but my mother sighed inwardly, thinking, "She's so rebellious. No matter what anyone says, she insists on leaving this family. "In truth, there's nothing wrong with her legs at all. Once she gets to the hospital, she'll definitely escape." After that, everyone ignored my pleas and left me to die in agony. Even at the very end, I never knew who was to blame for my death. When I open my eyes again now, I realize that I, too, can hear my mother's inner thoughts.

My sister and I got into a car crash. My heart was ruptured, and I needed immediate surgery if I were to live. My mother, being the director of her hospital, sent all the doctors to my sister instead, all just to check on her. She barely got hurt. I pleaded and begged for my mother to save me, but impatience got the better of her. She roared, "This isn't the time to take any attention away from your sister! She almost had a bone fracture!" And I died. I remember where it was. It was a freezing operating theater.

My esports team is engaged in a practice match at midnight. Suddenly, my coach hands a phone over to me. On the other end of the line, my dad cries hysterically. Amid his sobs, he tells me that my mom is currently unconscious in the hospital, and that the doctor has issued him a critical notice. Apparently, my mom's funeral is being prepared in advance, so my dad wants me home immediately. As I stare at the match-up diagram of the final round of the national-level competition as well as the seven-figure prize money, I reply icily, "I'm not going home. I must participate in the final round tomorrow. During the competition, my phone will be turned off. Don't disturb me no matter what."

Seraphine Vale is betrayed on her twentieth birthday, not celebrated. Drugged and abandoned by the family that despises her, she awakens in a luxury hotel suite beside Lucian Ardent, a powerful and untouchable billionaire feared across elite society. Their meeting is accidental and the result of a conspiracy, but by dawn, her life is already falling apart. When Seraphine gets back to her house, judgment takes the place of protection. Weeks later, her pregnancy is exposed at the family dinner table. She is locked up, forced into premature labor, and deceived into thinking her newborn child has died in the aftermath of calculated cruelty. She is exiled out of the country and pursued, narrowly avoiding being killed, and she then vanishes outside of its borders. She is ignored by everyone. She will never be seen again by her foes. She returns six years later. Seraphine re-enters high society transformed, no longer fragile but elegant, powerful, and emotionally untouchable. With mastery in medicine, a rising fashion empire, and alliances among the elite, she begins reclaiming what was stolen from her. Her presence disrupts the carefully constructed life of Lydia, the stepsister who stole her place, her identity, and her child. Lucian Ardent continues to look for the mysterious woman from that night despite the fact that he is unaware that she now appears before him under a different name and with different powers. Rivalry, suspicion, and an inexplicable pull that neither can ignore cross their paths. A brilliant young boy stands in the middle of them, drawn to the woman who thinks her child is dead. As deception unravels and buried truths surface, love and revenge converge in a world where reputation is power and identity is a weapon. Seraphine did not return for forgiveness but for the truth and revenge.