The Leaf Thief Read Aloud

While inspecting the hotel owned by my family, I start to feel hungry after ordering some food at the hotel restaurant. Before the food is served, I munch on a small piece of bread roll for the time being. Suddenly, the lobby manager comes up to me and hands me a piece of paper. "Hello, sir. We do not allow outside food here. It has been 8 minutes and 30 seconds since you entered our restaurant. The total cost of your meal is 1,500 dollars. You'll be fined 1.28 million dollars." I am briefly stunned as I look at the piece of paper detailing the amount I should pay. Then, I take a picture of the piece of paper and send it to the group chat that has all the members of the board of directors. I tag my elder sister in the next message I send. "I've received a fine at the hotel owned by my family. Is this how you've increased the hotel's revenue?"

On New Year's Eve, I prepare a feast. The clock strikes twelve, but my husband, Vincent Porter, still isn't home. My daughter, Lorelei Porter, tugs at my sleeve and holds up my phone. "Look Mommy, Daddy is at this lady's house!" Vincent has posted an update on Twitter. He is with Christine Snow, his childhood sweetheart. They are smiling at the camera, with a boy who looks about ten standing between them. In front of them sits a swan-shaped cake. The caption reads, "The most special day for the most special you." My heart sinks into my stomach. A marriage that came later in life can never compete with a pair of childhood sweethearts. I accept defeat.

At ten years old, I watched my mom jump to her death in a rainstorm. That same night, my dad brought home a glamorous woman and her nine-year-old daughter. I had feared and hated rainy days since then. My husband once helped me face that childhood trauma, staying by my side through every storm and promising, "Don't worry, Lena, you'll never face your fears alone." But when I refused to pick up his new assistant, he abandoned me on a highway in pouring rain, saying, "Marie is your sister, and you left her out there? Walk home!" That night, the rain never stopped, and I walked thirteen hours along a dark, endless road. That was when I decided I was done with him.

There was a ten-year gap between me and my sister-in-law, but we got along surprisingly well, especially given that we were both in an absurdly rich family. Then, one day, she came to me, bawling and clutching a photo in her hand. "Your brother is cheating on me! He has a family somewhere else! For more than ten years! I'm getting a divorce!" Crying, I showed her a message I got from my husband's mistress. "That bastard Christopher has a mistress! I'm leaving this home!"

At six months pregnant, I joined a moms’ group chat to learn parenting tips from other mothers, and one of them couldn’t resist showing off. "I’m so jealous of you guys, getting to cuddle your babies all day. Not like me—I'm handing mine off to a free nanny right after giving birth!" 'Free nanny? Since when are nannies free?' I tapped on her profile picture—and the sight of that hand draped over her shoulder made cold sweat run down my back.

At the company's celebration dinner, the new HR guy slapped a bill on the table—$860 for A/C and venue costs from our last all-nighter. I shot a look at Sherry—my girlfriend, my boss—thinking she'd have my back. Nope. She latched onto HR's arm and said, "Quentin, this isn't your daddy's company. Quit freeloading." And just like that, nine years of busting my ass for this company, and turns out—I was the discount item on the menu.

Uri is a descendant of the vampire king. A human family raised him. When he was living happily with his family, an organization called Red Leaf found him and wanted to kill him. After escaping death, Uri learned about a community of people like him; they were hunted by the Red Leaf organization and driven to the brink of destruction. So what is the Red Leaf organization? What does Uri do to find a way to survive?

"They were entwined with each other, luxuriating in the throes of passion, the man's robust body..." I was hiding in my office, secretly penning the next development in my story, when a voice from behind me began to read my words aloud, one by one. It was the new intern, a young man. I trembled, pleading with him, "Please, don't tell anyone." He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, his hands bracing the edge of the desk, trapping me between his arms. "So, this is what you like?" His throat bobbed, and a smile played on his lips, "Then, why don't we... try it out, just the two of us...

Secara tak terduga Litha menerima lamaran dari pria yang pernah hadir satu malam dalam hidupnya. Awalnya Kalandra hanya ingin bertanggungjawab pada Litha yang tak lain adalah ibu dari putrinya. Setelah setahun tinggal bersama, Kalandra mengutarakan perasaannya. Namun, Litha akhirnya mengetahui Kalandra menutupi sesuatu darinya. “Apa kamu masih memikirkan masa lalu?” “Tidak, Litha. Aku sudah melupakan masa lalu jauh sebelum aku menyatakan cintaku padamu.” “Lantas kenapa butuh waktu selama itu buat kamu untuk mengatakan kebenaran sama aku? Kamu bikin aku mikir kalau kamu masih terbayang masa lalu kamu sama Indira.” Benarkah Kalandra mencintainya? Atau pria itu hanya ingin mempermainkan Litha?

Reading and studying history was Aimi Allecxiannie’s primary source of excitement in her mundane life. One day, the unexpected happens— she is transported into the body of Avery Allecxiannie Lopez, a general’s daughter who happens to be engaged to a man she despises. It’s 1942, and the Japanese forces have just begun to conquer the Philippines. Will Aimi be ready to look Death in the eye or will she give up? Will she find love in the midst of a war? Will she forever be stuck in Avery Allecxiannie’s body? What happens when a 21st-century history major gets transported to the body of a 1940’s woman in the dawn of the Second World War?