Tanganku Massage

At my lowest point that year, I took a job at a pet shop, where I was assigned to take care of a "gentle-tempered" silver-white Alaskan Malamute. Every time I went near him, he would lift his head and bury his nose against my chest, breathing in low, rough sounds that felt disturbingly like a grown man holding himself back. Especially when my hand brushed through his beautiful fur, his body would heat up, and his eyes would darken and burn with unmistakable possessiveness. Thinking he was sick, I rushed to find the shop owner. The owner gave me a long, meaningful glance. "He's not sick. But he only acts like this with you. "You need to bathe him, give him a full-body massage, and try giving him a little kiss. Otherwise, he might lose control." I had my doubts about the whole thing, but I didn't really have a choice. I went along with it anyway. Eventually, I told the friend who had gotten me this job everything that had been happening. After she heard me out, she went quiet for a second. Then, she looked at me strangely and said, "Have you ever thought that maybe you're not looking after a dog at all? What if he's actually a werewolf who can take human form, and he's in heat, using pheromones to mess with you because he wants to… You know, sleep with you?"

I was born blessed by the god of fortune. No matter where I work, I can close major deals while lying down asleep. The underboss of the Castellano mafia family discovers this secret. He shows up at my door personally and invites me to join as a consigliere in name only. He offers me a six-figure annual salary and chauffeur service. He even installs a special ten-foot-wide massage bed in my office just for sleeping. After I join the Castellano family, arms deals finalize one after another. Several stalled collaborations come back to life. The Castellano family's reputation climbs steadily. Until the boss' girlfriend shows up to inspect for the first time. She grabs a pair of scissors and, in front of everyone, shreds my mattress to pieces. "Useless! We don't pay you all this money to sleep! "Starting tomorrow, you're working as a bar hostess. And you'll be paid like one too." I rub my sleepy eyes and stare at her in confusion. Last night, to help the Castellano family finalize that casino operation rights contract, I didn't sleep a wink. I barely fall asleep, so how am I useless? The soldato beside her breaks into a sweat. "Signora, she's…" "Shut up!" she cuts him off arrogantly. "From now on, I'm the one in charge of the Castellano family!" Fine. Since there's no place for me here, I'll find somewhere else to sleep. I hear the rival family's boss is willing to give me an entire luxury estate.

“You don’t always have to say something, you know that, right?” I said, my voice sounding strange in my ears. “You need to stop talking down on people just to massage your stupid ego!” ***** The worst thing about suddenly changing schools is the part where you think it's your chance to begin from the top—take life by the reins and navigate it in the direction you've always wanted. That was what Sydney Walker thought when her boyfriend, Chase Monroe, released private pictures of her right before he left the town. Then a week after, her father is found dead in the cold rain. She was forced to go live in a whole new city with her family which she barely knew, giving her hope that she could start afresh. But news flash: she's still the same plus size, introverted nerd even in her perfect sister's kind of clothes. And Tyler Sinclair—Lakeview’s golden boy, never called it a day if he didn't remind her that she was three times her sister's size, up to their senior year. But the more he punches her in the guts, the more circumstances around her push her to fight back. But when? And how would she finally square up to the one boy that toxic part of her secretly wants to see every day? And what about Tyler? Are his insults just mere “tease” or is there something going on in his family that no one else knows about?

Di hari ulang tahun pernikahan kami, pada saat ledakan terjadi di aula, Kenan malah menyelamatkan cinta lamanya yang datang untuk menantangnya. Sedangkan aku tidak di sana karena sedang melakukan operasi darurat. Saat aku kembali bertemu Kenan, ia sudah menjadi sosok yang berlumuran darah dan tak sadarkan diri di atas meja operasi. Setelah kejadian itu, ada yang bertanya mengapa ia rela mempertaruhkan nyawanya demi menyelamatkan orang yang tak ada hubungannya dengannya. “Karena istriku adalah malaikat berbaju putih yang menyelamatkan nyawa. Dia pasti tidak akan menyukai pria pengecut.” Orang-orang pun terharu mendengarnya. Namun di saat ia paling mencintaiku, aku memilih mundur dalam diam, pergi tanpa suara. Sebulan kemudian, di upacara pelepasan tim medis internasional, seorang wartawan mewawancaraiku. “Dokter Jennie, apa hal yang paling tidak sesali dalam perjalanan karier Anda?” Aku menatap kamera dan menjawab dengan tenang, “Meski tahu suamiku menahan gelombang ledakan demi cinta lamanya, aku tetap berdiri di meja operasi dan menyambung kembali tulang-tulangnya yang patah dengan tanganku sendiri.”

On our sixth wedding anniversary, my cheeks burn as I dodge my husband, Ethan Grant, leaning in for a hungry kiss. I push him toward the nightstand for a rubber. What he doesn't know is that I've tucked a surprise in there, a positive pregnancy test. I can already see it, the way his whole face will light up the second he finds it. But the moment his hand goes for the drawer, his phone goes off. His best friend, Henry Miller, comes on the line in Danish. "Mr. Grant, how was last night? That new love couch our company rolled out is treating you okay?" Ethan lets out a low laugh and answers in Danish, "The massage feature's great. Saves me from having to rub Sandy's back myself." He still has me pulled tight against him, but his eyes look straight through me, like he's seeing someone else. "This stays between us. If my wife ever finds out I slept with her sister, I'm done." It feels like someone just put a knife through my chest. What they don't know is that I minored in Danish in college, so I catch every single word. I force myself to stay calm, but the arms I have looped around Ethan's neck won't stop shaking. At that moment, I stop hesitating and decide I'll take the offer from that international research project. Three days from now, I'll be gone from Ethan's world for good.

Isabella Sinclair, a thirty-two-year-old billionaire heiress, dislikes men and never intended to get married. However, her convictions were put to the test when she had a one-night stand affair with a strange guy, Liam Blackwood. ********** Liam grabbed her wrist tightly and in a swift movement, he lifted her and dropped her on the bed. He pinned her hands on the bed with one hand, while the other hand slowly caressed her lower abdomen. A sudden gasp escaped Isabella’s lips as his gentle touch landed on her lower abdomen. He leaned into her and moved his lips near her ear. She flinched in fear. ‘Are you going to bite me like I did? Don’t be petty!’ she snapped sharply as Liam’s lips grazed her earlobe, his breath fanning against her skin. He chuckled slightly at Isabella’s outburst, and in an unexpected move, he flickered his tongue into her ear. She froze! She liked it and wanted him to do it again, but instead, he whispered, ‘Young lady, have you forgotten? No contact! Why do you keep throwing yourself at me, little girl!’ “What! ‘Little girl’? How dare he!” she screamed in her head, but in reality, she liked how possessive and dominant Liam is. He freed her, releasing his tight grip on her hands and jumped off the bed. He grabbed his car keys from the bedside table and walked towards the door. “Liam! The contract! Do you want me to change it? And by the way, this is your second night here, and you haven’t given me a foot massage yet,” Isabella called out as he placed his hands on the doorknob.

Aku didiagnosis menderita lupus eritematosus sistemik stadium berat dan akan meninggal tiga hari lagi. Setelah 188 kali telepon permintaan tolongku ditolak suamiku, aku membawa hasil pemeriksaan dan melangkah masuk ke kantor pelayanan perawatan akhir hayat. “Halo, tolong bantu jadwalkan proses kremasiku dan ajukan juga bantuan subsidi dari pemerintah.” Sepuluh menit kemudian, mereka datang. Belum sempat aku bicara, suamiku yang seorang pengacara langsung menamparku tanpa ekspresi. “Demi merebut perhatian dari Penny, kamu pura-pura sakit parah?” Kakakku yang seorang dokter merebut hasil pemeriksaanku, lalu membuka dan menatapku, sambil mencibir, “Lupus? Kalau mau pura-pura sakit, setidaknya yang masuk akal. Penyakit seperti ini hanya diderita satu dari sejuta orang.” Aku menahan rasa sakit di tubuhku, lalu kembali ke meja petugas dan menyerahkan formulir, serta hasil medis lagi. Melihat ruam berbentuk kupu-kupu di pergelangan tanganku, petugas itu tampak iba. “Aku sudah nggak punya keluarga lagi.” “Aku ingin mendaftar layanan kremasi tiga hari lagi, lokasinya bebas. Aku hanya berharap kematianku nggak menjadi beban bagi siapapun.”

Di meja makan, salah satu sahabat suamiku tiba-tiba berbicara dalam Bahasa Italia. “Tiga tahun lalu, demi membantu Liora mendapatkan surat damai dari Amara, kamu menikahi Amara dengan pesta yang megah. Selama ini aku melihat sendiri, Amara makin lama makin peduli padamu. Tapi kamu masih saja terus membohonginya. Jelas-jelas itu pil KB, tapi kamu bilang obat depresi. Kamu nggak takut, kalau suatu hari dia tahu kebenarannya… hatinya akan hancur?” Suamiku tersenyum pahit, wajahnya dipenuhi kerumitan. “Seorang anak yang nggak diharapkan, nggak perlu lahir ke dunia. Soal Amara… selama dia nggak mengganggu kebahagiaan Liora, aku akan menepati janjiku, melindunginya seumur hidupku.” Tak ada yang tahu, demi bisa mengikuti langkah suamiku, aku sudah menguasai Bahasa Italia sejak lama. Aku berdiri di ambang ruang tamu. Bekas ciuman masih membekas di leherku. Tanganku menggenggam obat yang katanya “obat depresi”, padahal… Tubuhku membeku. Jadi… semua rasa yang suamiku tunjukkan padaku hanyalah kebohongan semata. Yang kukira sebagai penyelamatan, rupanya hanya tipu daya yang direncanakan dengan rapi. Kalau begitu, aku memilih untuk merelakan mereka semua.

Berlatar setelah perang kaisar naga dengan kaisar darah, dimana dua kaisar telah bersatu menjaga semua alam dan dunia bawah. Di sebuah dunia kecil yang tidak ada makhluk abadi tinggal, hidup sepasang suami istri dengan satu anak laki-laki mereka. Kehidupan yang penuh kebahagian itu harus berakhir dengan hancurnya desa serta kematian warga desa tersebut. Anak yang kehilangan orangtuanya berusaha mencari jejak orangtua yang menghilang saat desa hancur dan semakin dia berjalan menuju jalan kultivasi, semakin dia mengetahui kalau dirinya ternyata telah terjebak dalam takdir yang sulit. Dia, apakah dia akan sanggup berjalan di jalan itu? Atau dia berakhir dengan kehilangan nyawanya sendiri? Ini adalah kisah sosok pemuda bernama Tian Sen, dia yang berjalan di jalan berdarah untuk mengetahui siapa dirinya, dimana orangtuanya? Tapi dia harus menjadi lebih kuat untuk sampai pada titik dimana bahkan takdir sendiri tidak dapat mengendalikannya. “Kenapa? Kenapa mereka tidak peduli dengan manusia seperti kami? Kenapa? Aku Tian Sen tidak menerima ini semua, aku akan berjalan menuju puncak meski tanganku berlumuran darah sekalipun. Kesepian tidak akan membuat diriku terpengaruh oleh omong kosong yang disebut takdir!”

Saat aku hamil delapan bulan, suamiku yang bekerja sebagai polisi inspeksi akhirnya sempat meluangkan waktu, untuk pertama kalinya menemaniku ke rumah sakit menjalani pemeriksaan kehamilan. Namun baru saja melangkah masuk ke rumah sakit, ponsel satelit terenkripsi miliknya tiba-tiba berdering darurat. Nama penelepon hanya sempat melintas sekilas, tetapi suamiku yang biasanya tenang justru segera panik. "Sayang, ada pemberitahuan merah darurat, ada buronan internasional masuk ke wilayah kita lagi, aku ... maaf ...." Dia sangat cemas, sikapnya penuh dominasi seperti seorang atasan yang tak bisa ditolak. Setelah buru-buru meminta maaf, dia pun segera pergi. Aku menatap tajam mobil off-roadnya yang melesat pergi, sementara lembaran hasil tes kehamilan di tanganku sudah kuremas hingga kusut. Dengan perut besar, aku menghentikan sebuah taksi dan cepat berkata, "Pak, ikuti mobil di depan itu." Heh, buronan tingkat tinggi? Bohongnya benar-benar terdengar konyol. Bahkan Badan Keamanan Nasional milik ayahku saja tidak menerima pemberitahuan, dia yang hanya petugas inspeksi pendamping, mana mungkin punya 'buronan' sepenting itu untuk dikejar? Aku ingin melihat sendiri, sebenarnya 'atasan' macam apa, yang begitu tergesa-gesa memberinya 'perintah'.