Those Bygone Years

Buried deep in the Aster estate was the Heartwood—ancient, sacred, mine. Told my husband, Julian Aster—back when he actually listened—that if it ever fell, I'd die with it. At first, he freaked out. Flew in glacier water, hired a whole squad of plant experts to nurture it 24/7. Then one day, just because his childhood friend—Isabella Duvall—got a scratch from the bark, Julian had the Heartwood ripped out. The second it crashed, I choked on glowing blood—ichor. My power? Gone. Barely standing, I grabbed his arm. "You knew. If the Heartwood dies, I—" He laughed. Straight-up mocked me. "Sera, come on. That fairy tale? Only Grandma still believes that crap. Is that mayo on your mouth? Relax—it's a tree. I'll buy you a forest if you want." Overnight, my hair turned gray. Skin cracked. Eyes dulled. Still, I dragged myself to his grandmother, Henrietta. "I kept your family safe for two hundred years. That's why the Asters thrived. But the Heartwood's gone. Debt's paid. One day left. Whatever happens next? Not my problem."

In my previous life, my brother and fiancé teamed up to sabotage my company for the sake of my so-called best friend. After I went bankrupt, they stood beside her watching me collapse in the pouring rain, laughing mockingly at my pathetic state. "Linda Turner, you look as pathetic as a drenched dog!" they sneered. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the project bidding meeting three years earlier. In my previous life, when my company was just starting out, my brother and fiancé had warned me against using the Turner and Peterson family connections. They claimed it wouldn't be fair to others, but then turned around and handed projects to my best friend under various pretexts, just to see her smile. Now that I was back, I watched them secretly manipulating things just like before, giving my projects to my best friend. I finally gave up on them completely. When they found out I was leaving the country, my brother and fiancé set off fireworks all night, celebrating that they'd finally gotten rid of me, the burden. But three years later, at the Trada Corp's bidding meeting, I took the stage as the CEO's wife—and they couldn't hide the redness in their eyes.

I was locked in a fridge for 40 days while the uncensored photos of me spread like wildfire across the internet. In the face of the salacious rumors about me, my mother reacted by reposting them. Then, she turned to warn my sister, "Look at how disgusting the entertainment industry is. Don't join it, alright? Stay home and inherit your sister's assets instead. My dearest daughter must be innocent and pure, unlike her." She forgot. She forgot I only joined this 'disgusting' industry to pay for her cancer treatment.

I'm having a mental breakdown as I face a clogged drain with my feverish and fussing daughter in my arms. Meanwhile, my husband has reserved a hotel to celebrate another woman's birthday. My mother-in-law spits on the floor. "This is what you deserve. You can't even capture a man's heart!" I clench a fist around the winning lottery ticket in my pocket. I want to get a divorce.

When I'm eight months pregnant, my husband, Levi West, becomes a donor to help his ex-girlfriend get pregnant. He even brings her and their illegitimate child home, wanting me to serve them. I refuse, and he calls me inhumane. "Audie's lost her husband—what's so bad about her wanting to have a child? You're a woman, too! How can you be so cruel?" I leave the house in anger, but Levi doesn't care. "Where can a country girl like you go when you're so heavily pregnant? You're going to come back and beg me to take you in again!" I head to the hospital to get an abortion. Then, I return to the countryside and rear pigs with my grandmother. Later, when Levi sees my flat belly and asks to see our child, I throw a handful of ashes in his face. "There you go. It's all there."

After falling head over heels for Joe Smith for three years, I finally got the proposal I had been waiting for. However, on the day of our wedding, he did not show up until the wee hours of the morning. When I found him, Joe was drinking happily with a young girl in his arms. “I’m already tired of her clinginess. She’s a joke. Who else would want her?” Much later, he made me a wedding ring and proposed with my favorite jasmine flowers. But a muscular man opened the door instead. The man had two scratch marks on his neck and smirked at the disheveled Joe. “Isn’t it a bit too shameless of you to propose to a married woman?”

I was twelve when Henry Shaw took me home from the orphanage, gave me a new name, put me through school, and gave me a good life. Ten years later, his first love returned from abroad. Her name sounded like mine, and her face looked like a mirror image. I quickly realized I had been a stand-in all along. Crushing the diagnosis in my pocket, I decided that I was going to live the rest of my life for myself, even if I did not have much time left.

In front of the orphanage gates, Rebecca Schwartz, the impoverished student I had been sponsoring, stood glaring at me with a face full of disdain. "If you don't let Freddie come along, I'm not going to your house either," she declared, her tone sharp and unyielding. In the past, blinded by love and hopelessly infatuated, I would have caved to her demands, humbling myself just to keep the peace. But things were different now—I had been reborn. Staring at this despicable pair, who had once caused my tragic demise, a tidal wave of fury surged within me. Yet, it settled into nothing more than a faint, icy smile on my lips. "Then stay here," I said, my voice cold and steady. "Rot in this place alongside your precious Freddie. After all, trash like you belong in the garbage heap."

"Everyone has their own fears. The only difference they would make is have a bit courage to throw those fears into the bins." Apa persamaan dari si cuek fashion editor in chief dan si jahil casanova petenis? Suka makan. Lebih tepatnya cinta mati dengan makanan manis. Alexandra mempunyai tingkat toleransi rendah terhadap kaum Adam, sedangkan James di waktu senggangnya , memilih menjadi playboy yang mungkin sudah meniduri setengah populasi wanita di London. But, does the first impressions look as it seem? Keduanya bertemu lagi di Victoria Embankment setelah pesta dari mutual friend. Alex pun merasa menjadi protagonis konyol di film-film romance comedy kesukaannya saat James mengejarnya dengan semangat hidup seperti kecoak. Akankah misi James berhasil? Apakah Alex benar-benar akan mengizinkan James masuk kedalam kehidupannya?

Oza suka mencuri pandang ke arah Bahrain jika mereka disatukan kala bertugas sebagai penegak disiplin. Gadis itu bukan orang yang suka mengumbar rasa suka pada orang lain. Kecuali kalau orang terdekatnya. Cara Oza memandang Bahrain tentu orang lain tak akan tau jika gadis itu menyukai pemuda yang sudah memiliki kekasih tersebut. Sampai suatu saat dihari ulang tahunnya. Pemuda itu mengajak sang kekasih datang ke acara ulang tahunnya. Dan itu membuat hatinya patah, sang kakak yang dengan sengaja memperkenalkan temannya itu membuat gadis itu merasa shock hingga tak bisa berkata-kata. Bahrain yang memiliki masalah dengan sang ayah mau tak mau mengurus anak perusahaan dari milik ayahnya. Karena dipaksa untuk meneruskan usaha orang tuanya, Bahrain merasa malas ketika mengurus hal itu. Namun demikian ia terkejut dengan kedatangan peserta didik pekerja lapangan yang dikirimkan oleh sekolahnya adalah adik kelas yang ia kagumi. Cinta Oza gak sampai di sana. Gadis itu sering sekali ambyar hanya dengan perhatian kecil yang ditujukan untuknya dari Bahrain. Gadis itu suka bercerita tentang kisah asmaranya pada Badra dan membuat pemuda itu merasa tak suka. Badra meninggalkan Oza disaat gadis itu mulai sayang dan melupakan semua kenangan tentang Bahrain. Badra yang terpaksa pindah harus rela menahan rindu selama belasan tahun. Karena sudah lulus sekolah. Bahrain masih tetap mencoba merebut perhatian dari Grilloza walaupun ia tau cinta itu bukan untuknya lagi. Bahkan pemuda yang sering datang kerumahnya itu, suka membawakan hal-hal yang memberikan efek-efek kenangan indah pada Badra. Cidera hati Oza tak mungkin lagi bisa disembuhkan. Gadis itu sering kali melamun sendiri dan memikirkan orang yang sudah tak ia harapkan lagi. Arasya tak menyangka bahwa pertemuan tersebut membuat hati sang adik patah sedemikian rupa. Dampak yang diberikan oleh Badra luar biasa dahsyatnya. Sang adik bahkan rela gap years demi menunggu seseorang yang tak pernah tengok dirinya lagi. Hingga suatu masa, Badra.