Watame Face

I went to exactly one party in my new, wealthy neighborhood. Then my neighbor Brenda sued me. In court, she held her bruised and battered daughter, Tiffany. She accused my son of rape. Mid-hearing, Tiffany tugged her collar down. Red marks circled her neck. "He tried to rip my pants off," she sobbed. "He tried to force himself on me. I fought back. So he beat me. He ruined my face!" Outside the courthouse, protesters held up signs, calling my son a piece of trash, a spoiled rich kid. Online, a photoshopped memorial of me went viral. The caption read: The unfit mother should die with her son. My company’s stock plummeted. But I just sat there. Stone-faced. I asked for my son, Cooper, to be brought in. The courtroom doors opened. Cooper walked in. Everyone froze.

On New Year, my childhood friend, Maverick Kirk, asks for the passcode of my new home. Initially, I thought he wanted to give me a housewarming gift. But when I open the door, I'm stunned to see more than a dozen people gathering in my home. As Maverick smiles and approaches me, he makes sure to shoot me a look. "What are you doing here, Chloe? You're in luck—we're having a family dinner!" I just look very confused in return. Before I can even ask Maverick any questions, his girlfriend, Bianca Bennett, adopts a passive-aggressive tone instantly. "Is your childhood friend extremely charismatic? I'm curious as to how she managed to coax your home's passcode out of your mouth!" Maverick's expression turns grim instantly. "Chloe didn't coax it out of me! In fact, she got down on her knees and begged for it! She claimed that she didn't have anywhere else to live after she got into a big fight with her family and got kicked out of her home! You know how big of a softie I am, Bianca. I didn't think much about it when I gave her the passcode." Bianca's expression becomes one of disdain afterward. "Regular women aren't as shameless as her, you know. Maybe she's done the same thing to countless men just to obtain what she wants behind our backs." Maverick gives her a thumbs-up immediately. "Wow, you really are smart, babe! Previously, Chloe had stripped naked and begged me to buy her her favorite bag! I told you what happened afterward last time." Bianca covers her mouth and starts giggling. "Oh, so that was her, huh? She really is shameless!" The sight of Maverick's despicable face pisses me off to no end. So, I rush over and slap him right away. "Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you make my home your own while slandering me on the side! Now get lost!"

Before my grandmother passed away, she set up a will for the kids to inherit her pasta shop. My younger brother, Richard Lane, immediately pushed the responsibility to me so that he could take up a job offer that paid $4,000 a month. No one could have expected a fire to break out at the hotel during one of his trips, causing his entire face to be burned off. Meanwhile, things went great for me after I took over the shop. I fell in love with a billionaire's daughter and found my happily ever after with her. My younger brother poisoned me in a fit of jealousy. After we were sent back in time, my brother immediately chomped at the bit to take over the shop before I could do anything. I scoffed as I rolled my eyes. He was digging his own grave.

My partner, Derek Crawford, calls himself a traditional man. On our tenth anniversary, I bought him a pair of his favorite AJ sneakers. Instead, he gifted me a bag of pastries. "Your cake is extremely tiny, and yet it costs you a few dozen dollars! Look at the pastries I got you—not only are they cheap, but they are also huge in quantity! Now this is what I call worth it!" After that, Derek tells me that he'll make it up to me by throwing an engagement party. He has also invited my parents and my relatives to the party. With anticipation brimming in our eyes, we arrive at the restaurant, only to see Derek serving us with store-bought pickles and dinner rolls. "I'm a traditional man, you see. I'm not used to fancy food and foreign cuisines. This, right here, is the basics of a traditional dinner. You don't see patriotic men like me nowadays!" My relatives' expressions change drastically on the spot. Meanwhile, my parents look very mortified. I can only smile awkwardly at them while doing everything I can to stop them from leaving. But as soon as I leave the hotel, I receive a notification from the bank that 200 thousand dollars have been deducted from my account via a supplementary card linked to it. At the same time, Derek's childhood sweetheart, Renee Young, posts a photo of her 12-layered luxurious cake on her social media account. "When I told Derek that I wanted to celebrate my birthday, not only did he buy me the most expensive strawberry cake, but he also reserved a dozen or so tables that are served with the grandest feast! "If your man loves you that much, he won't need any lessons in pampering you! Traditional men definitely know how to love and pamper their queens!" I tighten my grip on my phone. As I look back at Derek, who keeps claiming that he's a traditional man stuck to his traditional ways, I suddenly find it exhausting to continue being in a relationship with him.

Five years after our breakup, I saw my ex-fiancé, Nico Luciano, showing off his newborn on social media. The next day, he cornered me at a private club and slid a black card across the table. “Lena, Sophia finally had a boy, the heir to the Luciano family. Now I can marry you.” He tried to soften his tone. “Having been widowed to my late brother for five years, she just wanted a child to care for her. I had no choice after the first two were girls. “Thank you for waiting these extra two years. The wedding is set for next Monday, and the invitations are ready.” What he didn’t know was that I was already married. I am now the lawful wife of Vincent Moretti, the don of the North Alumcian Mafia Commission, and a core decision-maker of the Moretti family’s financial empire. Watching Nico’s confident smile, I sent a message to my underboss. “Notify the elders of the five major mafia families. Next Monday, I’m removing the Luciano family from power.” Then I looked up and smiled at him. “Marry me? Save your own career first.”

Ethan Harper was infatuated with the widow, Grace Bowen, who lived downstairs. She made him special breakfasts and did not mind his hunched back or his loud chewing when he ate. He said, “My old hag of a wife is like an NPC. Whenever I get close to her, she just gives me chores to do. “Not like you. You’re so understanding, and you make me feel like a real person.” He envied her late husband, whom he said was luckier than he was for having married her. I decided to grant him his wish immediately. I was afraid if I waited even a moment longer, he might snap out of it.

After a team building event, my colleague, Matthew Wells, gives me a ride to the company so I can work overtime. That very night, his girlfriend throws a fit and claims I'm a homewrecker who tried to seduce Matthew. She even produces edited photos of us being intimate. The company's management speaks to Matthew and me—he claims I regularly harass him and pushes the blame on me. The management labels me as a troublemaker and fires me. My apprentice tries to speak up for me but gets bullied and sidelined. Ultimately, she quits out of depression. I charge over to the company to seek justice for my apprentice but accidentally get pushed down a staircase during an argument. I land with my head on the ground and die on the spot. When I open my eyes again, I'm reborn and taken back to when Matthew's girlfriend starts throwing a fit.

Everyone said I was too possessive when it came to my girlfriend, Amanda Crane. When Amanda first started taking photos of her childhood friend, Ian Lewis, I ripped apart all the rolls of film. When she helped him fix his computer, I called her 100 times in an hour. And when he called her from the airport, asking her to pick him up because the rain made it impossible to get a cab, I held a knife to my throat. I told her I'd take my own life if she went to him. Fed up, Amanda shipped me off to a psychiatric hospital that same night. When I got out, I vanished. Amanda was certain I was hiding somewhere, spying on her and Ian, but I never showed up—until the celebration party for a business project three years later. Ian put his arm around Amanda and swirled the wine glass he was holding. He shot me a taunting look, remarking, "You used to get so jealous, Steven. I'm sure you no longer mind if Mandy and I drink from the same glass now, right?" He waited for me to go berserk the way I used to three years ago, but I simply moved the bottle of wine closer to them. "I don't mind at all, of course. Have as many glasses as you want. It's great to see that your relationship has been progressing so well." Amanda paused. Her eyes started to redden. She stared fixedly at me and questioned, "Why don't you feel jealous anymore, Steven?"

"I hate you Thunder. I will never forgive you." Living a life becoming a wife of husband, how long would Jewel handle the pain cause by Thunder? Will it takes long for her to stay? Or she'll choose to stay away from him and continue her life without the presence of her husband? A question that keeps lingering to her mind and trying to find answers but she'll end up setting it aside and continue to focus being a wife. For this unrequited love she have for him. One year of being miserable, One year of being in pained, One year being unloved, One year of suffering, Jewel Mercyl Dawson, came from a rich family and the only daughter, wife of Thunder Alcantara. A brave woman that would do everything for her husband to love her, though her husband despise her so much she'll still choose to stay beside him because she still believes that Thunder will change. Thunder Alcantara, the only son and heir of the Alcantara Family, destined to marry the only daughter of Dawson family his parents bestfriend and also for the sake of their merging business. He's the CEO of Alcantara Group of Companies. He despise and loathe his wife so much and he will do everything to make his wife life a living hell, he also blames Jewel for taking his freedom away from him since they got married.

Ever since we were kids, I'd always known how to make use of my gentle childhood friend for things like sending him on errands, and borrowing his allowance. He never complained. Just silently indulged me. Things continued the same way until the day we got engaged. That's when everything snapped into place. That was the day we both woke up. I was just a throwaway character in a novel. He was the male lead—fated to fall in love and end up with the novel's heroine. I was stunned. Ready to walk away. But he was furious. Jaw clenched, eyes wild. He grabbed my hand and dragged me straight to City Hall. "Screw the novel. Screw the plot. The only thing I know is that I love you, and I want forever with you." After we got married, he treated me like I was made of glass. Gentle. Meticulous. We worked side by side, building a reputation as a power couple in the business world. The events of the novel faded into the background. I fell deeper in love with him. Three years later, the youngest daughter of a real estate tycoon started her internship at our company. That day, there was a fire in the office. In the chaos, the girl stumbled into a shelving unit. It came crashing down, headed straight for my husband. I didn't hesitate. I threw myself in front of him. Pain exploded in my skull. Blood poured down my face. The girl, in her panic, had fallen to the ground, crying out, "Aaron, help me!" My husband's face went pale. His expression—pure terror—as he ran toward her without a second thought. "Grace!" he cried. Lightning split through me. My face drained of color. The heroine in the novel—her name was Grace.