Story About Failure

End of the year. I was gonna use my bonus to treat Mom to a quick getaway. Instead? No bonus. Four hundred bucks sliced off my paycheck. I shot the HR supervisor a notice—three days to pay up. She laughed. Called me dramatic. Fired me right then. Coworkers backed her. Said I brought it on myself. Said I didn't care about the company. What they didn't see? I laughed the second I got that termination letter. Double severance? Come to mama.

Hailey has been in love with Derek since their first day in college. Just when Hailey finally works up the courage to confess, Derek’s highschool ex, Jessica, shows up again. And before Hailey can blink, Derek’s back in Jessica’s arms. Heartbroken and drunk, Hailey slept with the man who she believed was Derek. Similar face. Similar voice. Similar intoxicating pull. But by morning, Hailey realizes it was a mistake. Hailey’s world collapses even further when her mom announces a surprise engagement and takes her to meet her new fiancé. Her mother’s soon-to-be husband? Derek’s father. And his other son Tyler? Hailey's One-Night-Stand. Living under the same roof with these two stepbrothers is hard enough for Hailey, while more secrets about their family are just beginning to surface....

“You want one hundred thousand dollars for your body, fine. Produce me an heir within six months and the money is yours when the baby is born.” The coldness in his voice sends a shiver up my spine. “Are you serious?”“Yes.”“B-but what about the other part of my request?” I stammer out.“What other part?” he asks with his eyebrow raised.I clutch the contract close to my chest. “The part where I get to leave. If I have your baby, Ansel, can I take the money and walk away?”When I was bought at an auction by my ex-boyfriend whom I hadn’t seen for many years, he signed a contract with me, as long as I gave birth to him a child, I could get the money and leave. but after I gave birth, he regretted it.

After mating to the prince, I was brutally killed by my jealous friend during pregnancy! Luckily I was reborn and the ugly scars on my face were gone. My husband, who never cared about me, suddenly came to my door. How dare he let my son call him Daddy？ —— “Wake up,” I willed myself desperately, to my sunken and sallow body. “You can’t die. If you die, the baby will die.” Moon Goddess, are you here to answer my prayers? Yes, child. But there is a reason I am here to grant you life again; your bloodline is too significant and rare to expunge. This is why you paired Prince Aldrich and I, I muttered, realization surfacing. You are just as important as him, even more so. My body thirsted for water, for food and a bath and sunlight. But mostly, it thirsted for revenge at that moment. I must return, was all I said.

My younger brother had opened a high-end beauty salon, so I took my mother there for a facial. We picked the most expensive package, but the moment the mask was applied, Mom's face began to burn. When we peeled it off, her entire face was covered in rashes. I called for the director, but she looked impatient. "Oh, that's just a normal detox reaction." I was stunned. "Her face is practically ruined! What products are you even using?" "Ruined?" She flared up like someone had stepped on her tail. "Your mom's skin is just too bad to handle premium nutrients! Once our products are opened, they're non-refundable—got it?" I pointed to the brochure. "It says right here—'gentle and non-irritating, full refund if any adverse reaction occurs.' Is this how Stellan Fallow taught you to run a business?" She crossed her arms and lifted her chin high. "I am the boss! You and your mother look broke as hell—clearly here to mooch a free treatment. Now that it didn't work, you're trying to scam us for money? "Let me tell you something—this set costs 38 thousand, and with my emotional damages and lost wages, that's a total of 100 thousand. If you don't pay up today, I'll have the police take you both in!" A hundred thousand for a product that ruined someone's face? It was no wonder Stellan suddenly wanted to open a salon—it turned out he and his girlfriend were running a scam together! I was about to call Stellan, but before I could, she hit the video dial first. "Bubby, get over here—two broke idiots tried to freeload a treatment and now they're trying to shake us down for money!"

I have just secured a massive ten-million-dollar deal during the Black Friday Sales. I have endured several days of hectic work, yet I still find myself unable to turn down my girlfriend, Charlotte Ward. We spend the night in passionate abandon and finally fall into a heavy, restful sleep. The next morning, a loud thud jolts me awake. When I open my eyes, I realize that it's my luggage. Charlotte suddenly says, "This is the end for us, Robert. It's time for you to move out. I've already wired the money for your past services, along with your salary. So get going." I find myself caught in a daze and about to move to question her, but she stops me dead, jabbing her fingers into my chest. "Know your place, Robert. You're nothing but a gigolo to me. I might, maybe, let you keep your job in Ward Group if you beg." I almost reach out to grab her wrist but stop myself. Instead, I smile broadly and say, "You've got it all wrong. Your company wouldn't survive without me, Charlotte."

After I found my bf kissing his "childhood friend", I got drunk in a bar and my best friend ordered a skilled call boy for me. He was indeed skilled and crazy hot. I left cash and ran away the next morning. Later, I ran into the "call boy" in my classroom and found he's in fact my new Professor. Gradually, I realized there was something different about him... “You forgot something.” He gave me a grocery bag in front of everyone with a poker face.“What—” I began to ask, but he was already walking away. The other students in the room were staring at me questionably, wondering what he had just handed me. I glanced inside the bag and instantly shut it, feeling the blood draining from my body. It was the bra and money I had left at his place.

A Gen Z employee named Sylvie Mercer has reported me to the Department of Labor by claiming that I've forced all employees to work on the year-end holidays. But the truth is, I've given the entire company a nine-day vacation just to celebrate the year-end holidays. Those who are willing to work overtime shifts will be paid three times their usual salaries and given an additional five-thousand-dollar bonus. Sylvie keeps crying on the internet about how all the employees, including her, are forced to trade their lives for money. Thanks to her, the entire Internet keeps bashing me. So, I decide to follow the public opinion by releasing an announcement. "In order to ensure all employees' health, the company's doors shall be locked during the year-end holidays. Do note that the electric supply will be cut off as well. No one is permitted entry into the company." As soon as the announcement is released, the employees who plan on earning extra money in order to pay off their mortgages all rush toward my office in alarm.

One day, I come across a post on the Internet. The original poster keeps boasting about the fact that all three children belonging to his older brother are actually his spawn. "The funniest thing is, there was once when he suspected the origins of his children. So, he got someone to take the children to take a paternity test. "Guess who he ordered? That's right—it's me, his most trusted younger brother! I get to sleep with his wife whenever I want. The money he earns all goes to my sons. This means he's working for me for the rest of his life! "Just the thought of that makes me happy to no end! Ahahaha!" But the thing is, I'm the older brother who's mentioned in the post.

My brother-in-law started making a fuss about wanting to spend Christmas vacation at the beach, so I decided we'd make it a family trip. When my husband's adoptive sister got wind of it, she insisted on tagging along with her kid. Without a second thought, my husband went ahead and booked plane tickets for everyone—except me. He expected me to drive there with all the luggage. I thought at least someone in the family would speak up for me, but no, they all sided with him. Fine. If that's how they want it, then we'll go our separate ways—what's theirs is theirs, and what's mine is mine. But the moment I took that stance, the whole family suddenly started panicking…