The Food Lab

My in-laws, Melvin Gardner and Sharon Murphy, kept it a secret from us and traveled all the way to Metoville to surprise their daughter, Vivian Gardner. I brought them to the restaurant where Vivian worked as head chef, thinking she would give them a proper welcome and a great meal. However, Vivian called over her favorite pretty-boy apprentice, Tyler Lambert, and had him handle a batch of wild-harvested oysters from the deep sea. These rare specimens were notorious because they may carry Tetrodotoxin if not purged with extreme precision—a high-stakes task that even the seasoned chefs usually avoided. Tyler frowned and whined at her, "Oh come on, Chef, these oysters are so tricky to prepare. I'm not sure I can handle them..." Vivian just laughed it off. "Just give them a quick rinse, and you're done. They're just a couple of old country folks. There's no need to fuss." Melvin and Sharon ate the oysters. Within ten minutes, they were foaming at the mouth and collapsed on the table. When Vivian rushed over, she did not even bother to look at the two elderly people. Instead, she was busy comforting Tyler, who had gone pale and fallen into her arms. She said, "If they got food poisoning, send them to the hospital. But make sure they sign a liability waiver before they leave." She glanced at me casually, her tone suggesting the poisoned elderly couple had nothing to do with her. "Your parents are from the countryside, so they're probably not used to city food. Don't try to pin this on the restaurant or Tyler!" It hit me that she still had not realized the people who had collapsed at the table were her own parents. I looked at her helplessly and confirmed, "Are you sure you want to clear 'Tyler' of all responsibility?"

Mia Johnson's life has been filled with heartache and mistreatment, after her father leaves. Her life takes an unexpected turn when her mother poisons her and her father possesses the antidote to a poison that plagues her, but he remains distant, seemingly never to return. As Mia turns eighteen, her mother devises a shocking plan to secure a business , offering Mia's hand in marriage to a man named Carlos. Trapped and desperate, Mia's life seems destined for misery until a mysterious man enters her life. On a fateful night, a stranger quietly slips into Mia's room, offering food and concern for her well-being. Their chance encounter marks the beginning of a unique connection, one that will leave Mia questioning the true intentions of this enigmatic man named Dave. Days later, Mia meets the same handsome stranger in a shopping mall. She looked up at him. "You were the man in my room that night..." "Do you let men in your room at night? If you don't want visitors, don't skip your meals," Dave responds stubbornly. Mia discovers that Dave is adopted by her own biological father, a man of immense power and influence in the country. But their relationship takes an unexpected turn when Dave confesses his true feelings. "Big brother wants to you, Mia," Dave admits, leaving Mia shocked and confused. Struggling to come to terms with her emotions, Mia rejects the idea of romance with her "brother." However, Dave is determined to shed the brotherly label, longing to become her partner in love. “No… you are my brother and ten tears older than me…” she says while trembling. Dave takes a step towards her. “Who cares about being your brother? I want you… I want to make you mine, forever…”

Eve never believed in fate...until three ruthless alphas claimed her as theirs. Desperate to save her dying mother, Eve works as a masked dancer at Eclipse, the city's most exclusive club, where anonymity is her only protection. When the infamous Blackwood triplets—Damian, Damon, and Silas, offer her an obscene amount of money for a six-month exclusive contract, she accepts despite the terrifying rumors. Girls whisper about their brutality, their insatiable appetites, and the way they share everything... including women. The first night, Eve discovers the rumors don't do them justice. Together, they overwhelm her....three predators claiming their prey in the most primal way possible. But something is different about Eve. While other women break under the brothers' dark desires, she endures. She matches their intensity, craves their brutality, returns night after night hungry for more. The brothers don't understand why they can't stay away from her. Why her scent drives them to the edge of madness. Why the mate bond...something they never believed they'd find...pulls them to this masked human with increasing, undeniable force. Then Eve's body begins to change. After three days without them, she collapses, her body shutting down from a hunger no food can satisfy. When Damian touches her fevered skin, her eyes glow amber and an ancient binding spell shatters. The truth explodes between them in a wave of desperate, consuming need: Eve isn't human. She's a succubi—a creature who feeds on sexual energy to survive. And they are her fated mates. Suddenly, Eve's nightly visits become her lifeline. She needs them...needs their touch, their dominance, their insatiable desire....or she'll die. A dark paranormal romance of fated mates, brutal alphas, and a queen who was born to rule them all.

Curtis paused to savor the view. She was totally open to him, her lower lips slick and swollen. Her whole body trembled, and that more than anything showed him just how close to the edge she already was: she was losing control, and he loved seeing it. Not able to stand it for one second longer, Curtis kissed her inner thigh, trailed his tongue up its curve. Tessa gave a small gasp as he slid between her folds, his tongue gliding up to her pulsing clit. He gave it a teasing little lick, then moved down again. She moaned in frustration now, felt his satisfied grin against her pussy. **** Curtis Manning is built from silence and scars; an ex-boxer, former soldier, and bouncer at Dangerous Curves who learned early that love costs too much. Commitment was never an option.... until Tessa walked in, all blonde curls and emerald eyes, and claimed his heart without even trying. Curtis has loved her from the start. Now she’s destroying herself – and he’s powerless to stop it. Tessa Mahoney is a former ballet dancer clinging to control in a life that never gave her any. Food is the enemy, numbers are safety. She’s determined to shrink herself back to nothing, even if it kills her. When Curtis forces Tessa to confront the truth, he expects to lose her forever. Instead, she forgives him, and gives him everything he’s ever wanted. Then Curtis’s past comes roaring back, violent and unforgiving, threatening the woman he loves. As his darkest truths surface, Curtis must face the hardest question of all: once Tessa sees who he really is, will love survive? And if it does,will Curtis be able to live with himself?

Robin Weisz has always thought that he's the happiest man in the world. When he was a college freshman, he had gotten together with Angeline Sharpe. The next four years in college were the happiest time for him. As soon as they graduated from college, they got married right away. In the second year, Angeline gave birth to an adorable baby boy, Sam Weisz. Robin thought life would continue to be smooth-sailing for him from then on. But everything changes after one fateful day. Apparently, Angeline's first love, Oscar Linden, is back. That day, Robin finally finds out that he's been nothing but a replacement for Oscar right from the start. Oscar, Angeline, and Sam go on vacation trips together. They also attend concerts and watch movies together. It's as though they are the actual family of three. One day, Oscar seeks Robin out. "Hey, here's some food for thought. When Angeline is hugging you, do you think she's thinking about you or me? "The one who's not loved is the actual homewrecker here. You will always be a replacement for me." Since Oscar is being far too annoying, Robin doesn't hesitate to strike him. In the police station, Angelina keeps humiliating and insulting Robin. That's when Sam says, "I don't want you anymore, Daddy! I want the other daddy!" At that moment, Robin feels his heart shatter into pieces. It turns out that this is the only outcome he deserves despite all of the contributions and sacrifices he's made to this family. Fine. Divorce it is. Parent-teacher conference, you say? I'm already divorced, so why should I attend it? Your first love is actually rotten to the core? But I've already given up on you. Wait, this is the path you've chosen! Don't come crying to me now!

After I get pregnant with my second child, all the pets in my household start viewing me as their biggest enemy. The tabby cat who once loved clinging to me now poops in my nutritious meals every day. The parrot who only knows how to repeat "hello" begins cursing at me to suffer from a miscarriage. "Die, Leanne Foster!" When I feed the goldfish, they protest against my efforts by quitting food entirely. The next day, they are all dead. Even the terrier I've kept with me for ten years lunges at me like a mad bitch the moment she sees the baby clothes in my hands. After I almost suffer from a miscarriage, I plan on giving the pets away. But my daughter, Harper Steele, hugs the terrier and the cat as she pleads to me sadly, "Mommy, please don't give them away!" My husband, Adam Steele, is worried about my unborn baby, but he also doesn't want to hurt Harper's feelings. In the end, he comes up with a compromising solution. "Honey, there's still one month left till your due date. Just endure the pets for a month, okay? I'll lock them up in their crates and make sure that you're safe." Eventually, I agree to that solution after giving it some thought. But unexpectedly, on the day my water breaks, as soon as I dial Adam's number, the pets rush out of their crates simultaneously and begin tearing at my stomach with their claws and fangs. In the end, I close my eyes weakly from the sheer pain. I can never understand why my pets hate the unborn baby in my womb that much. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day I find out I'm pregnant with my second child.

When my boyfriend, Mark Jamison, gets in a car accident that leaves him paralyzed, I pawn the ring my mother left to me before she died to help him. With hands that have never been used to do any work or a single household chore in my life, I start lugging around delivery bags. In the middle of a rainstorm, I get assigned to deliver a food order worth 10,000 dollars, with a 100-dollar tip. Just as I happily celebrate my luck, I overhear the raucous laughter coming from inside the villa. "She actually believes you got paralyzed in a car accident? She now spends all day doing deliveries just to support you financially? She even sold off her dead mom's ring?" "She'd probably cry her heart out if she ever finds you're actually a wealthy scion worth tens of billions of dollars, who's just pretending to be poor!" Mark twirls the wineglass he's holding and says, "A lowly woman like her was born to wait on others. She brought it upon herself by always being better than Rosie back in school. Messing with her is the punishment she deserves." I continue to stand in the rain, tears rolling down my cheeks. This is how I find out Mark has spent the last two years faking his condition just to help his childhood sweetheart get back at me. His so-called paralyzed legs, deceased parents, and helpless tears are all just part of a meticulously executed lie. I haven't talked to my father, the richest man in town, for years. But now, I have finally decided to call him. "I lost, Dad. I'll accept the marriage alliance and marry the guy you picked for me."

My new husband always acted like a child. Before our son turned two, he would grab the boy’s food bowls every single day and refuse to let go. When our son turned four, he had developed an obsession with planting seeds and watering the little garden in our backyard. When our son turned five, I ran into my Christian ex-boyfriend after six years apart at a business event. He looked the same as before and narrowed his eyes at me with cold disdain. “Didn’t we agree never to see each other again after the breakup? “How are you still this pathetic after six years? You chased me all the way here?” In an instant, everyone turned to watch and whispered among themselves, wondering whether I would shamelessly beg him to get back together with me. After all, back then, I had used every trick I had just to win over William. It was how I had managed to get hold of a man who seemed aloof and almost otherworldly. No one knew that every time William slept with me, he would go to church and repent in secret before a photo of his foster sister. He even kicked me out of the Wells family for her sake. He forced me to donate over a quart of blood to his foster sister when I was hospitalized after a miscarriage. From that moment on, my heart was numb. I returned to my hometown and married my devoted husband. I never expected that six years later, I would see him again. William watched me in silence, then pulled an old diamond ring from his pocket and tossed it at my feet. “Pick it up, and put it on. I’ll marry you.”

Si Sabria Antonella Sienna ay lumaki sa isang mayaman at magarbong pamilya. She's the heiress of their family who owns the biggest shipping lines and logistics business in the country. Pero dahil sa problema sa negosyo ay kinailangan niyang isuko at talikuran ang lahat ng kaniyang mga ari-arian, kabilang na ang lalaking pinangakuan niya ng kasal. Meanwhile, Magnus Laurent Del Rio is a quarter Italian business magnate who owns a world reknown tech company, multiple chains of hotels and restaurants, as well as numerous businesses in the industries of cosmetics, food manufacturing, furniture manufacturing, airlines, and construction. He is a business prodigy and a young STEM genius that at age 18, he already had the highest net worth ever recorded in the Philippines, making him the youngest billionaire in the country. But apart from all of those successes, he only desired that one special thing that he believed to complete his bustling life — that is, a marriage with Bria. Kaya naman, nang hindi matuloy ang kasal nila ay para siyang pinagbagsakan ng langit at lupa. Still, so many questions remain unanswered. Why did Bria not ask for help when she faced bankruptcy? Why was it so easy for her to break up with him knowing that he can willingly offer his help? Why did she choose to break his heart? Didn't she love him enough to stay? Ang mga tanong na ito ang balak iwasan ni Bria habang nagtatrabaho siya sa mansyon ng mga Del Rio bilang isang maid habang ang mga tanong naman na ito ang balak bigyang-kasagutan ni Magnus. In the midst of their confusion and angst against one another, could really a spark of lust and desire for answers bring back their love that had been cut short 10 years ago?

When Elowen learned that she had been switched at birth, that her life as a princess was nothing more than a mistake, she quietly accepted her fate. She accepted being treated as an error. Accepted being hurt so deeply that even crying had to be done in secret. She believed she would fade away like this — silently, unnoticed, forgotten. Until one day — when despair pushed her to the edge — she felt a faint chill, as if someone were standing behind her, protecting her without a word. From that moment on, Elowen knew she was no longer alone. — Adrian survived a horrific car accident. His body lay motionless in a hospital bed, while his soul became bound to a wounded girl he had never known. He couldn’t hold her. Couldn’t shield her from harm. Yet when she was starved, warm food appeared in her drawer. When she was bullied, her tormentors met with inexplicable accidents. When she curled up crying in the dead of night, an invisible hand gently rested on her forehead—so tender it hurt. Adrian was there. Quieter than any living person. He witnessed every wound, remembered every tear, every trembling breath she tried to suppress. Affection grew in silence—slowly, carefully—as if one careless step closer would cause the girl to shatter. One was alive, yet denied a life. One was dead, yet still learning how to protect someone. Some forms of protection need no light. Some kinds of love cannot be touched. — Then one day, Elowen spoke seriously to her “Ms. Ghost”: Elowen: “Ms. Ghost, if you’re lonely…” “Maybe you could bond with a male ghost.” “I’d give you my blessing.” Adrian: … Then the “Ms. Ghost” coldly placed a hand on her forehead. Adrian: “Call me Mr. Ghost.”