Today Novels Novels & Stories

Sharon Deleon, the campus belle, has secretly stuffed a folded piece of paper into my pencil case five minutes before the start of the postgraduate admission exam. A series of comments streak across my vision. "The paper is filled with answers to the exam questions! Sharon has already lodged a report to the teachers. The school proctor will be here soon. Once that paper is found in Cassandra's pencil case, her admission recommendation will be terminated immediately!" "Hmph! This is all that nerd's fault for standing in Sharon's way to success! The proctor is Sharon's uncle, after all! Cassandra's doomed today!" The next thing I know, the proctor strides into the classroom angrily. He makes a beeline to my seat right away. "Someone has reported you for cheating. Dump out the contents in your pencil case right now!" I just do what I'm told with a blank look. There are only a few pens in sight. The folded piece of paper, however, isn't there. Sharon widens her eyes in shock. "How could this be? But I'm very sure that I—" Before she can finish speaking, a folded piece of paper containing the answers falls out of her pocket. Everyone doesn't know that I'm capable of reflecting misfortune by nature. Whoever sabotages me will get a dose of their own medicine instead.

I was out wandering the streets with my brother, Ethan Stone, when a streamer suddenly rushed over with her camera crew and shoved the lens right in his face. "Congrats, handsome! You just got picked as today's lucky passerby. You'll get 100 bucks if you work as my servant for three days!" Before my brother could even respond, she barked orders at her team. They forced an apron and rubber gloves onto him and shoved a bucket full of rags into his hands. "First task: clean my shoes!" I had never seen Ethan look this pathetic before. I was already cracking up when I noticed the veins at his temple start to bulge. Oh, boy. The devil of Avensville was pissed. The streamer's assistant caught it, too. She crept over nervously, tugging at our sleeves as she whispered, "We're live right now. That's the heiress of Stone Corporation, the only daughter of the richest man in the city. If you offend her, you won't survive in Avensville." Wait a second. She was the Stones' only daughter? Then what were Ethan and I supposed to be? I pulled out my phone and called my father, Arnold Stone. "Dad, did you disown Ethan or something? Have you finally decided to leave the whole inheritance to me?"

BLURD I never imagined my life could fall apart so suddenly. Not today, especially not on the day I was supposed to celebrate my engagement to my boyfriend. That night, I had a feeling that things might go wrong, but I chose to ignore it. After three years with Daniel, I thought I had it all figured out, of us having a perfect life and living happily ever after. But I was mistaken. I walked in on my fiancee and sister being intimate. It really broke me. They had no remorse, just justification. I didn’t scream or cry. I simply walked away. I don’t remember how I ended up at that club or how many drinks I had. All I recall is the burning anger heavy enough to suffocate my breath. And then… him. Older, calm, looking at me as if he understood every broken piece I was desperately hiding. I knew I should have walked away. But I stayed. One night. That’s all it was supposed to be. But there was a reckless mistake, a fleeting moment of weakness that I couldn't hide and forget. But the next morning, when I truly saw his face everything changed. Because the man I had just spent the night with… was my ex-boyfriend’s uncle. And that? That was just the beginning.

Our usually reliable nanny, Emma Spencer, called me three times in a row today, sounding completely panicked. "Ma’am, something’s wrong. The kindergarten security won’t let Noah in, no matter what! They said the name that shows up when they scan the card doesn’t match. The card belongs to a kid named 'Gabriel', not our Noah at all!" My hand paused over the report I was reviewing, my brows furrowing. "Emma, didn't my husband hand the card to you himself last night?" On the other end, she sounded like she was about to cry. "Yes! But the scanner shows the name 'Gabriel Cooper'. The guard says we must have the wrong card and keeps questioning me!" That didn’t make any sense. To get Noah into the top-tier Starlight Bilingual Academy, I had pulled every string I could half a year ago and paid a $300,000 donation just to secure a spot. For the past month, my husband, Scott Shaw, had been the one driving our son to school every day. This morning, he said he was busy and couldn’t take Noah, so Emma went instead. So how did it suddenly turn into someone else’s school card the moment she took over?

The 100th time Dexter Carrington ditches me to help my best friend with her lab work, I write the final line in my diary and break up with him. Dexter is exasperated, to say the least. "I genuinely don't know how your amygdala is wired. Your emotions have completely bulldozed your rational thinking." My best friend, Brianna Holt, laughs. "That's cruel. You're insulting her intelligence in words she can't even understand." She's right. I don't understand. The two of them dominate the biology department rankings every year, taking first and second place, and are the kind of prodigies even their professors defer to. I'm just an ordinary student at the music school next door. When they talk about how cells have their own rhythms, the only thing I can think to ask is what time signature those rhythms are in. Dexter always hates that. "If you don't understand, don't chime in." So now I listen. I don't chime in anymore. Because the first page of this diary reads, "Today is my birthday, but Dexter chose to go over data with Brianna. "By the time this diary is full, I'm leaving him for good."

Destiny is something written in books, a fictitious fantasy. I’ve always believed that what we do today is one step towards our future. We make our own choice, and we decide on who we will be until I met him—Elijah Valentin. He made me question what I know and what I feel. Just his mere presence messed with my head in more ways than one. The push and pull of emotions, the exhilarating feeling every time we crossed paths, and the gut-wrenching agony in my chest when I saw him with someone else. For the first time in my life, I hoped that the fictitious fantasy was real, that he was my destiny. He stirred my life in beautiful chaos, knocked down the ten-foot wall I built around my heart with just the flick of his fingers. But he also showed me how painful it is to want something that I could never have—him. ~~ "You are bound to me, Rory,” he said, eyes glowing like the silver moon above us. His touch flickered fire under my skin, a frizzling electric shock that stirred the desire inside me. “You are my salvation, but I am the hellfire that will burn your life to ashes.” [Mature Content]

I came into this world like a queen ascending her throne, flanked by three fierce guardians sworn to defend my reign. My husband is the best lawyer in Ardenfield. Though he's unbeatable in court, he doesn't dare stand up to me when I scold him at home. My childhood sweetheart leads the criminal investigation team and is a genius at solving cases. He even vows to eliminate any threat that surrounds me. Meanwhile, my adoptive brother is a rising star in the business world. Having inherited the Joplin family's business empire at an early age, he spends money on me without hesitation. Today marks both my seventh wedding anniversary and my birthday. I spend the entire day waiting for them at a rooftop restaurant, clutching a pregnancy test report in my hands. But instead of basking in celebration, I receive the heartbreaking news that my five-year-old daughter has drowned. To make matters worse, my husband decides to defend the culprit in court. When I cry out in agony, my childhood sweetheart puts me in handcuffs. My adoptive brother even goes to the extreme of reclaiming everything he has ever given me. "Louise, it was just an unfortunate accident between two children. Will you let Violet's son go now?"

When I find out there's a tumor growing in my brain, the Kane sisters are in the middle of celebrating Evan Kennedy's birthday with him. If I undergo the tumor-extracting surgery, I'll risk losing my memories. I don't want to forget the sisters at all, so I call them in hopes of seeking their help. But all three sisters don't hesitate to berate me on the spot. "Why can't you be more understanding, Declan? It's Evan's birthday today! Nothing is more important than his birthday!" Heartbroken, I feel immense pain wrecking my head. That's how I end up collapsing three times in a row later on. When I regain my consciousness in the hospital, I see a text message sent by Evan. "Declan, the Kane sisters have given me three protective charms just to protect me." In the photo, the "protective charms" are actually the very same charms I have managed to obtain after spending ten hours climbing a mountain while groveling all the way. My heart has officially died at that moment. So, I decide to fly overseas on my own to undergo that life-saving surgery and forget all about the Kanes. Weirdly enough, the sisters go crazy right after I've forgotten about them.

For as long as I could remember, a family scorecard hung by our front door like a corporate dashboard. At the end of the semester, my older sister Ava ranked first in her class, and Dad stuck a bright gold star beside her name. I had studied until my eyes burned, but my score still came in exactly three points lower than hers. Dad shook his head in disappointment and drew a huge red mark beside my name. "Mia, do you know how much money you cost this family this month?" He tapped at his calculator and said in a cold, businesslike tone, "Tutoring, supplements, private coaching. Five thousand dollars altogether. Terrible return on investment." "Starting next month, your allowance is in the negative by two thousand. You can work it off by taking over every chore in this house." Ava's eyes curved into a smile. "Mia, according to the performance rules, starting today you have to handle my laundry for a whole year." I clenched my fists, but all I could do was nod. That night, I hid in the bathroom and searched how to raise grades fast. A strange forum link flashed onto my screen. "Do you want to make a trade?" "Give up what is yours. Receive what you desire." "Tap to begin."

The witch told us my older sister would die at sixteen, and her prophecies had never been wrong. From that moment on, my sister became the most important one in the family. The best venison was saved for her. The rare white fox fur was given to her. Every night, our parents told her bedtime stories. I knew she was pitiful, but I still felt hurt and resentful. Then, on the day she turned sixteen, a sharp pain spread through my chest. Afraid I would cause trouble, my parents locked me in the basement. “Mom, please…” I cried, pounding on the door. “I can feel my wolf spirit getting weaker. Let me out…” However, Mom said without hesitation, “No! Today is an important day for your sister. “She only has one day left. Just bear with it…” When I finally closed my eyes and my soul drifted out of my body, I saw the living room filled with warm candlelight. My parents were holding my sister who was alive and well as they cried. Only then did I realize that the witch’s prophecy had never been wrong. The one meant to die was never my sister.