The Nineties Novels & Stories

A few minutes later, he came back and said, "Something came up at the office. I need to go on a quick business trip." He didn't dare look me in the eye. I just said, "Oh," kept my eyes on my book, and asked, "Will you be back by the 18th?" "The day after tomorrow?" Jason froze for a second, then seemed to relax as he stepped closer to me. "Of course I'll be back by the 18th. I wouldn't forget." "Our nine-year anniversary," he added. "Good." The corners of my mouth turned up slightly. But I wasn't planning to celebrate our anniversary. I was planning to break up with him that day. To put a period at the end of this nine-year sentence.

It was no wonder he could not access her location, even as the Alpha. Rowena had once served as an Archivist. The lost northern continent was exactly the kind of destination favored by elite research teams. "Book me a flight north," Garrick said at once. "I am going to find her." - The journey north was perilous. Even research teams under military escort required more than a month to reach the Fallen Temple. Garrick traveled alone. Despite his status as the strongest Alpha of the Snowclaw Pack, he nearly lost his life more than once.

There was no place for me here anymore. I casually packed my clothes into an old suitcase and looked at the diary filled with 99 entries of hurt and disappointment. I didn't take it with me and left it in the corner of the room. When I was little, I wrote an entry every time I felt ignored. I had believed that if I were obedient enough, my parents and brother would one day notice me and love me a little more. But I was wrong. No matter how good I was, no matter how much I tried, I could never compete with Yvette's slightest frown.

Five minutes na lang. "Okey lang yan...kunging train pa sa pabilisan ..."si Fihn. Lumapit na rin si Sinai... Hawakang artwork niya. Ngumiti siya sa akin... "Pati stroke niyo pareho ni Sinai oh." Biglang hinampas ni Sinai si Fihn. "Mag-uumpisa ka na naman sa kakahalintulad mo." For final touch... Wala ng oras eh. "Di na bumalik si Jin?.."

She carefully picked up each piece from the trash. She worked patiently to put them back together. There were exactly ninety-nine make-up cards. She remembered five years ago when she had looked at the cards with sincerity and said, “Yoel, don’t worry. I’ll never give you a chance to use them.” She also remembered all the times she had casually offered to use them over the years. The feelings she had worked so hard to save had been wasted in the two years with Connor until they were completely gone. Yvette, who had always been careful about numbers, seemed to lose all sense of the ninety-nine make-up cards whenever Connor was around.

She did not look like someone who was dying at all. She hid the phone behind her back and looked up with a soft smile. "Enzo, did you need something?" He stood in front of her and dropped the medical report on the coffee table. "Dr. Rossi has confessed. Your records were forged. There is nothing wrong with your heart. You were never dying." Chiara's smile froze. Her lips began to tremble. "Enzo, I just... I just wanted a little attention. I was missing for twenty years. I just wanted you all to care about me a little more. I..."

I nodded and agreed. On the last piece of paper, my handwriting was so messy that it was hardly legible. It was as if I'd used up the last of my strength to write it down. "The system told me I'd failed to win Quinn's heart. I have three days left, but that's fine. I can finally stop trying." Quinn's hands shook violently. The papers slipped from between his fingers and scattered all over the floor. It turned out I'd made 99 attempts. Every time, I started off filled with hope. And every time, he personally squashed out that hope.

“Who are you talking to? That cousin again, or someone I don’t know?” I had just finished confirming my flight. I locked the screen. “I was reading the news.” His face darkened even more. He snatched the phone from my hand and demanded the passcode. “Our anniversary,” I said. Nine years together. Six simple digits. He entered them once. Then again. Then a third time. The phone stayed locked in his hand. By the time we returned to Blackthorn House, neither of us had spoken another word. The car had barely stopped before he helped Lyra upstairs, one arm wrapped around her waist as if she might break.

"When did you become like this?" Then he went after her. The crowd scattered quickly. No one dared look at me for long. I lowered my head and wiped at the cream on my skirt, but it would not come off. In that moment, the last warm thing in me went cold. So that was what he thought. Wanting my own birthday back was me fighting her. Wanting him to choose me once was me fighting her too. Then my phone lit up. The family system sent a notification. 【Underboss resignation approved.】