The Way Out The Books

My name is Themis and I am not supposed to be alive. I survived the hunt, saddled with a husband and still I have to waddle my way through so many things to remain alive at the end of the day. The one person I can count on other than myself is my new husband who saved my life from the get go. And my gift of prophecy. Maybe, just maybe, it is also enough to save the Dar Empire too. My name is Themis and this is my story.

Stanley Porter, my wife Jessica Evans’ close male friend, and I are both competing to be the next fire captain. In my first lifetime, I was chosen by a unanimous vote. On my very first night on duty as captain, Jessica came over to the fire station to celebrate with me. Sticking to my duties as captain, I didn't touch a single drop of alcohol. Yet, after drinking the chicken soup Jessica gave me, I fell into a deep sleep. That night, a massive fire broke out in the old district, resulting in the deaths of 58 people. Because I missed the station's alarm, I was accused of dereliction of duty and labeled as the main person responsible for the tragedy. The enraged families of the victims ended up beating me to death. In my second lifetime, I withdrew my name from the selection for captain. I handed the badge over to Stanley instead, saying, "You're better suited to be captain than I am." I'd assumed that this was enough to ensure that the fire couldn't be pinned on me. Yet, when the authorities looked into the fire, they ended up seeing me appear in the security footage from where the fire began. Everyone assumed I'd deliberately started the fire to get back at Stanley out of jealousy for losing out on the captain position. I now open my eyes again to live my third life. I watch as Stanley excitedly gives his speech on the podium after being made the captain. This time around, I submit a request for annual leave and take a cab straight to the airport.

During the holiday, my six-year-old son received his cleft-lip surgery. He wore a mask and sat quietly in our family bookstore, engrossed in a picture book. A young man came in, pinching his nose dramatically as he swaggered up to the manager. "Why did you let someone with an infectious disease in here?" he demanded loudly. "Get them out!" The manager winced. "Sir, I'm sorry, but I don't have the authority to remove other customers." Undeterred, the man marched up to me. "Be wise and get out of here. My girlfriend is Imogen Slater, CEO of the Slater Group. You don't want to mess with me." I froze in stunned silence. Imogen despised all men except me, and this guy claimed she was his girlfriend.

Cyril is a sophomore student who is just like any other teenager. Just recently before their freshmen year ended, he had admitted a secret to his clubmates, thus making him the bullies' target. This resulted in him losing his friends and be left with one true friend, Hera. Everything seemed chaotic already until they became classmates with a supposed to be senior student named, Kode. The older guy, on the other, is a loner. He has repeated the year level for 2 years already because he doesn't want to attend school anymore, but his parents force him to. However, after a long drive home from the prom party at the end of the school year all of their lives completely changed, though, they were unsure if the change was for better or worse.

This Thanksgiving, Elmer Fuller finally agrees to go on a trip with me. But when I wake up in the hotel, I don't see him anywhere. I spend the entire day desperately searching for him, only to stumble across a social media post from his first love. It's a selfie of her and Elmer having a cozy family dinner with her parents. The caption reads, "Someone's finally meeting the parents on Thanksgiving night. Mom and Dad can stop pressuring me to get married now!" Around her neck is the scarf my mother knitted for me before she passed. I left a comment. "Stop using my things to flirt with my husband. Take the scarf off—you can have him." Not long after, she posts an update. The scarf is shredded into pieces and tossed into a dog bed, with the caption, "What trash—too filthy even for a dog!" Elmer likes the post.

Five years into my relationship with a Godfather-to-be, I realized Cicio Russo had fallen for someone else. And I decided that the choice should be his. I laid the options right in front of him: break up with me, or send that someone else far away overseas. Cicio Russo stood outside my windows all night, down there with the coldness of the night cutting through him and fogging his breath. By morning, Cicio told me that he'd decided. His choice was me. Or at least - that was what I was made to believe. Surprise came on the very day of our wedding, a strange little boy ran straight down the aisle that was supposed to be mine to walk. “Daddy,” he cried at Cicio and Cicio’s face of stony indifference, “What about me? You have left mommy already. Are you going to abandon me, too?” The ring slipped from Cicio’s hand and hit the carpet with a muted thud. He turned his back on me and walked away without even looking back. I pulled off the white veil. And I snatched the microphone from the host. “If you take one more step,” I screamed into the microphone, “if you leave, I will give all this up. And you, too. Do you hear me? I will give you up.” He froze. For only one second. Then he stepped away anyway.

Isn’t it funny how love works? I have always loved Dreston, and he has always been the one for me—my first love. As a child, I loved him, as a teenager, nothing changed. And now, even as his wife, I still couldn’t love him any less. But he only ever loved Tina—my teenage best friend. She came into our lives and didn’t just take him away from me. She took my happiness, my laughter, and even the girl I used to be. I still remember her words to me: “You knew he was mine, yet you married him.” She made me feel like I was the villain. Maybe I was foolish to believe that love alone would bring him back to me. But nothing changed. He would always love her. I finally gave up the day I signed the divorce papers. I learned to let go, to move on, and to start fresh. And just when I had finally decided to start my life again—just when the universe rewarded me with a man who loved me unconditionally… Dreston came running back. Now he wants a second chance.

On the day of my wedding, the video I had painstakingly prepared was suddenly replaced with intimate photos of my fiancé and my foster sister, Lindsey Remmington. Within minutes, it hit the top of the trending list. Overnight, I, a celebrated actress, became the abandoned bride of a wealthy family and a public laughingstock. Just when I thought I'd reached rock bottom, Connor Presley, the heir of Elluel City's most powerful family and the boy I'd grown up with, returned from abroad. In front of flashing cameras, he knelt with a diamond ring and proposed, silencing every rumor and every sneer. After we married, we appeared inseparable, our affection the picture of perfection. The only flaw was his infertility—his condition made it nearly impossible for me to conceive. For three long years, I underwent countless rounds of IVF. At last, I became pregnant. Connor was overjoyed. To celebrate, he threw an extravagant party in honor of our long-awaited child. But in the middle of the revelry, one of his closest friends, drunk and unguarded, muttered in Russian, "Connor, you've gone too far. Just because Lindsey was afraid pregnancy would ruin her figure, you put the zygote into Rachel's body and let her carry the baby for you two? If she ever finds out the truth, you'll regret it for the rest of your life." Connor's expression didn't waver. "This was Lindsey's only wish. I had to grant it," he replied coolly. "Besides, having a child with Lindsey has always been my dream. Only her child deserves to be the heir of the Presley family. The days ahead are long—I'll make it up to Rachel, eventually." I stood frozen, my body trembling uncontrollably. That night, I made an appointment for an abortion. When Connor stormed into the hospital, raging like a madman, I looked up at him with chilling calm and said, "I understand Russian."

Livie thought she found her forever with long-time boyfriend Abel. Livie and Abel were just meant to be. At the age of eighteen, they sneak off to get married. On the night of their wedding, things go too far. A drunken Abel is tricked by Livie's sneaky cousin, Anna. Anna has been jealous of Livie their entire lives. Determined to wreck Livie's happiness, Anna does a terrible thing. When Livie discovers what Anna and Abel have done, she runs away, stepping out of their lives. A heartbroken Abel moves away when his band becomes an overnight success story. A sick Anna reaches out to make peace with Livie nearly a year later. Livie forgives her dying cousin. Suddenly, Livie is thrust into parenthood by caring for Annas young son, Fin. Fin's famous father adds to the distraction of Livie's new reality. Faced with the truth that it is time for her to move forward in life, Livie reaches out to Abel for a divorce. Unfortunately, Abel causes a stir when he declares he wants their marriage to work out. Livie must learn to navigate her feelings for Abel and her desires for a fresh start. Her fresh start may be with a new man or it may be with a second chance romance.

I sold out a mafia boss. A girl in debt, a mafia boss and a golden cop. Please this story starts off at a fast pace, but then it slows down to capture every scene I feel needed to be captured. But after that, it goes really fast I promise you. Lana Denver is a secret undercover girl for an FBI agent Charles Gregory. She owes him her life so in return, she decides to be his secret undercover girl, receiving crucial and vital information from criminals through her body, betraying them and even selling them out. She’s been doing this for years, making Charles the golden Cop, everyone thinks he’s such a genius, for always solving cases and gaining outrageous leads. Lana has been under the protection of Charles until he gives her another job, that is to get information from a deadly man known as Ricardo Borrelli. Lana never knew Ricardo is a ruthless mafia boss. With her wonderful body, she gets information out of Ricardo and when she does, after a night well spent, she slips out the next day and sells him out to Charles. In seconds, Charles had police swarm in, warranting an arrest for him and his gang. Ricardo knows the snitch couldn’t be none other than Lana and he swears to track her down and make her pay. But Charles protection over Lana is so strong or so she thought…