Novel & Cerita Why Can't Homelander See Through Zinc

On my fifth birthday, my parents showed up at my birthday party later than usual. They brought with them a skinny little girl who couldn't seem to speak at all. I rushed over, hoping to hug Mom, only to get knocked down by her. That was how I fell into the ten-foot cake that my parents had specifically picked out for me. Buttercream filled my nose and mouth, suffocating me to no end. When I managed to climb out of the mess, I burst out in tears and asked Dad to cuddle me. But Dad retracted his hands while looking conflicted. "Don't blame your mom, Willow. From now on, you must take good care of Maple, your little sister. As long as Maple is happy, your mom will be happy." Later on, the mean kids in the neighborhood shove Maple Thompson, my new little sister, into a pile of sand. I rush over to protect her immediately. Once we get home, I mimic my parents by drawing a bath so that I can clean Maple up. That's when Mom suddenly barge into the bathroom and slap me heavily across the face. "You've already enjoyed our love for the past five years! Why are you still greedy for more? I can't believe you're trying to drown Maple right now!" Mom's eyes have gone bloodshot. She drags me by the hair and stuffs me into the washing machine. "Only a washing machine is capable of cleanse that filth out of your soul! You can only scramble out of the washing machine and apologize to Maple once you've decided to quit bullying your sister!" In the living room, Dad lowers his voice. "Keep your voice down when you're chewing Willow out. Maple is about to fall asleep. Don't go around waking her up now." Mom doesn't want to look at me anymore. Instead, she slams the lid onto the washing machine forcefully. I can't get out of the machine. What she doesn't know is that the washing machine will activate. "The 212-degree-Fahrenheit wash cycle has been activated." Scalding hot water is soon dumped onto my body. It hurts so much that I gradually lose my consciousness. Will Mom love me again once I'm squeaky clean after the wash cycle?

For ten years, Kim Danielson loved Nathan Pearce. But when she finally became his wife, he made one thing clear—he could never love her back. She spent two years chasing an emotionless man and fighting for his attention, which left her heartbroken and exhausted, turning her love into bitter resentment. Determined to reclaim her happiness, Kim demands a divorce. But Nathan refuses to let her go. Just as Nathan starts to soften toward her, his first love returns, ready to take her rightful place by his side. At the same time, Kim’s old friend, Giovanni Ferraro, steps in, offering her the love and devotion Nathan couldn't give her. Caught between a man who will never love her and one who’s ready to give her the world, Kim faces an impossible choice—fight for the marriage she built on pain or embrace a future filled with passion with Giovanni Ferraro.

They replaced me as a wife. They replaced me as a mother. So I replaced them with a life they could never reach. They buried her while she was still alive. Not with dirt— but with betrayal. After eight years of marriage, she was nothing more than a replaceable wife. A husband who chose another woman. A daughter who called someone else “mom.” A family that erased her existence. And then came the final blow— six months to live. So she walked away to die… But instead, she was reborn. Years later, she returns with power, wealth, and a name that shakes the world. Now they finally see her worth. But she’s no longer the woman they destroyed— and this time, she’s the one deciding who gets left behind.

On the day I get released from prison, Joshua Caldwell's adoptive sister, Madeline Caldwell, hosts a live stream to welcome me home. She makes sure to shove the phone right in my face. "This is my older sister, Victoria. Even though she has gotten violated by 13 people, she still has the courage to continue living in this world." The comment section explodes instantly. Joshua frowns slightly, but Madeline merely sticks her tongue out at him with a cute smile on her face. Instead of going hysterical like I did three years ago, I just smile at everyone. "A woman's body is never her weakness. The offenders are the ones who deserve to die, not me." After returning home, I don't stop Joshua from letting Madeline visit our parents' graves on their death anniversary on my behalf. I don't mind Joshua giving my room away to Madeline and telling me to stay in the storeroom. Even when Madeline pushes me into the water once again, Joshua chooses to save her despite her knowing how to swim. After I get rescued by a passerby, I just go home on my own silently. Mixed feelings swirl in Joshua's eyes as he looks at me. "That three-year sentence has changed you for good, Vicky." I just smile softly in response. All I've done is finally see reality for what it is and not harbor any hopes for him at all. Moreover, the system, which I've lost contact with, has finally returned three days ago. It told me that it could take me home in seven days. But why is it that Joshua loses his mind after I've left this world for real?

I was the belle of the school, good grades and all. But I wasn't the nerd they thought I was. I had been secretly dating my adopted brother's sworn enemy for three years. Lucian Palma had a strong desire for intimacy, so I went along with him in unlocking countless places to make love. He promised that he would marry me after graduation. Once he took over the family business from his wealthy father, he would make me the happiest woman alive. I believed him, even indulging him in his kink of recording us sleeping together. Lucian assured me that those videos were for his eyes only, and that no one else would ever see them. But then, I accidentally overheard a conversation between Lucian and his friends. "Lucian, you had deliberately staged a hero saving the damsel in distress situation to make Nina Etienne fall for you, all just to get it back at your archnemesis, Aaron North. If he found out his little sister had been sleeping with you, wouldn't it kill him with rage? "You've filmed hundreds of intimate videos, haven't you? When do you plan to release them? We'd love to see the nerd stripped bare under you." I didn't confront him about this. Instead, I quietly walked away and agreed to meet the fiance my father had arranged for me.

Elliot Sinclair has it all—money, power, a picture-perfect fiancée, and the eyes of the world watching his every move. But behind closed doors, his life is anything but perfect. Because Elliot is in love. With Jonah Hartfield. A man. Jonah is everything Elliot shouldn't want—fierce, reckless, possessive. Their affair is a powder keg of passion and danger, one kiss away from destruction. The world can't know. His family can't know. And Clara, the woman he’s supposed to marry for the cameras, definitely can’t know. But Jonah is done playing games. He doesn’t care about appearances. He doesn’t care about the cameras. He just wants Elliot. Completely. And he’s not interested in sharing. When jealousy boils over and secrets get harder to hide, Elliot is forced to choose: keep pretending for the world—or burn it all down for the man he can’t live without.

"Mama!" Maya Lin never expected that child would come to her and utterly transform her life. He was clearly not her own flesh and blood, yet who would believe it when they saw just how strikingly alike they looked. The scandal that had rocked S city about her made Maya Lin entangled with her ex-husband, Samuel Ren. She struggled to break free from the man, but she couldn't. She was compelled to be trapped once again in a marriage that only rekindled painful memories from the past. Maya Lin was forced to accept the boy named Stelio Ren, but she couldn't, for he had taken everything that should have belonged to her deceased son. Behind all of this, there was a hidden secret deliberately concealed.

A scandal forced them into marriage. Love might be what tears them apart. After a single reckless night with billionaire Adrian Hollingsworth, Clara never expected the world to know—let alone force them into a marriage built for reputation, not affection. For two long years, Clara lived in a house overflowing with luxury but starved of love. She hid her growing feelings while Adrian openly clung to his first love, convinced he had given Clara everything a wife could want—status, security, and a flawless image. But affection? Never. When Clara finally files for divorce, Adrian refuses. “You have everything here,” he said coolly. “Why throw it away?” “Because none of it is you,” she whispered under her breath with a sad smile. Determined to reclaim her life, she leaves. Some time apart but she runs into him again, this time, Adrian intercepts her and drags her back to his grandfather’s estate. There, faced with the only man in the Hollingsworth family who ever showed her warmth, Clara’s resolve shatters. For the first time, Adrian sees the wife he never bothered to understand slipping through his fingers. And Clara? She already stopped loving a man who never looked at her twice. But now Adrian is looking—and he’s not letting go without a fight.

Elena Rosewood agreed to marry Edward Ashford to save her family from ruin. For two long years, she endured a cold, loveless marriage and the constant scorn of the Ashford family—all for a love she was carrying alone. But everything changed the night Edward gave her a devastating ultimatum. Divorce him… or sleep with another man to give him an heir. With her mother’s medical expenses entirely funded by the Ashfords, Elena has no choice but to agree. Yet what was supposed to be her final sacrifice becomes the beginning of an even greater downfall… when the man Edward sends to her bed turns out to be Cedric Ashford—his own adopted younger brother.

I woke up in a nightmare—blood on my hands, and my parents dead. I know I killed them because of my erratic powers. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. I’m engaged to the Alpha, Rafe, but what happens when he finds out the truth, takes away my wolf and rejects me?