Why We Are Reading Novels & Stories

The new intern in our department, Astrid Stokes, had a soft, harmless look people viewed as innocent. She also claimed she could see a countdown over people's heads, ticking down to their deaths. Most of us just laughed it off and told her she had been reading way too many web novels. When an elderly man was rushed into the ER, she told the department head, Melanie Brooks, not to bother. She said the man wouldn't make it through the day. Melanie ignored her and pushed ahead with everything we had. The old man still died. The attending doctor even got slashed by the patient's family during the fallout. After that, people started to waver. During a team outing, Astrid suddenly screamed and told us not to get on a specific bus. She said if we did, we would all die. With no other choice, we switched vehicles. By the time we reached our destination, news came in. The bus we were supposed to take had lost its brakes and gone off a bridge. After that, almost everyone believed her. Everyone except me. The next day, she pointed straight at me. "Ruth shouldn't be a doctor anymore. If she stays, she'll get caught up in a medical dispute, and the whole department will end up dead or injured." Just like that, Melanie reassigned me. I went from doctor to janitor, handling medical waste. One day, I got scratched by a contaminated needle. Yet, no one would treat me. "Astrid already said it. This is her destiny. Anyone who gets involved will die, too." My body rotted from infection, sores breaking open across my skin. I died alone on the street, full of fury. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day Astrid first claimed she could see those death countdowns.

"We are not related by blood, there is nothing wrong in what we are doing." He assured her. "What if Dad and Mom find out?" She asked. "That's why we have to keep it a secret," he said, caressing her cheeks as their lips locked. Camilla falls in love with her stepbrother, Andrew who is one year older than her. He is twenty-one years old while she is twenty. Everything about him drives her crazy. Things seem to be perfect as their little secret is kept hidden not until Derek, Andrew's best friend, gets their shady acts on tape and threatens her with it. Is it advisable to screw two best friends? Will Andrew believe she was only doing him a favor?

The fifth time we went to the courthouse, James Ceasar and I still weren’t officially married. We had picked a good day for it, but right before it was our turn, he got a call and rushed off in a hurry. With my eyes turning red, I pointed at the screen showing the waiting numbers, trying to stop him. “We're next. It won't take more than ten minutes. We can get it done fast. Once we’re officially married, you can go and deal with whatever’s so urgent. It won’t take long.” James was the CEO of his company, so he had full control over his schedule. That was why I said it like that, not thinking it would be a big deal. However, he just glanced at the screen, handed me the ticket with our number on it, and looked annoyed. “I can marry you anytime,” he said. “But right now, I’ve got something I need to take care of. Don’t make a fuss.”

A gas explosion kills both me and my wife, Riley Sawyer. When I open my eyes again, we have both returned to our lives before we ever got married. In our previous life, Riley and I grew up together. We were inseparable as kids, and after we married, our relationship only deepened. People envied how well we got along. But in this life, she doesn't choose me. She accepts the romantic pursuit of Benjamin Prescott, the son of the wealthiest man in the city. I quietly erase every trace of her from my life and act as if she never existed. Five years later, the two of them announce their engagement in the grandest way possible and invite all our former classmates. When I show up wearing the same custom suit Benjamin has on, a diamond ring in hand, Riley's face tightens with anger. "Jared, it's been years. Why can't you let me go?"

Will someone really go on with a life that is so miserable? A life that is full of painful and thorned paths. Why would someone continue a life so devastating that it robs a person of the happiness they deserve? Why? And with the mistakes we leave, how would you go on and continue to strive and find the person you wished to make better since yours is not? Johannes Alejandro is a man who has everything. Nathalie Taylor is a woman who has everything but is robbed of the things that make her happy. When life decides their lives be connected, will they be able to tie the knot together... or will their circumstances make that knot rot? This is the billionaire's mistake.

On the day I was supposed to donate my bone marrow, my mother called me. “You’re pretending to be sick again? We’re just asking you to donate some bone marrow. Why are you acting like we want you to die?” My brother agreed. “How could you be so horrible? You owe her this one! Even if she’s asking you to die, it’s because you deserve it!” Even my boyfriend could not hide his anger. “It’s just a bone marrow donation. We’re not asking you to die. How could you be so selfish?” They did not know that I would indeed die if I donated my bone marrow. Since they wanted me to die so much, so be it.

"Sign this!" pleaded Sebastien, who handed Chloe a document. "Divorce papers?" Chloe asked after reading the paper she had to sign. .... "You're going to regret treating me like this, Sebastien Jones." "Why would I regret leaving you, when I have Jennifer Logan by my side? You're just trash compared to Jennifer." ... After sacrificing a year of her marriage, Chloe finds herself divorced by Sebastien, her husband, who prefers a model. However, Sebastien has no idea that Chloe is the granddaughter of a wealthy tycoon. Seeking revenge, Chloe agrees to her grandfather's terms to marry Alexander Volkovich. Chloe returns as a rich woman who will take revenge for the betrayal she has received. Like she said she would make Sebastien regret ever treating her badly. But what if that revenge leads to another?

“Natalie, you know you want me, we are married, why are you trying to resist?” He whispered grabbing her neck seductively and pulling her closer, Nicole took in a much needed breath, no he didn’t under, even in this moment, she wanted him so much even though she knew just how wrong it was, she wasn’t Natalie, she wasn’t his wife, he just didn’t know it… Nicole Evans had just one job, and that’s to help her twin sister keep her man until she gets back herself and return to her marriage, but why was this so hard for her to pull off and why can’t she keep Rafael Salvador out of her head and off her bed?

"You will not wear that to my pool party, okay?" He was so close now, I could practically inhale his breath. "Why?" "Because I'm your brother and I say so." I scoffed involuntarily. "Yeah, right. You mean my stepbrother, whom I don't and will never accept as my stepbrother?" "Whether you like it or not, we are stuck together. And although I do not like it either," he stepped closer, his body pressed against mine and causing my heartbeat to increase erratically. "I would prefer not to add to my suffering by watching you flirt with some other guy." I swallowed, confused and conflicted. Does my stepbrother want me or not? Which is impossible, because seven years ago in high school, I was so convinced Liam Shedrach hated my existence. Why the sudden change after he found out we would be step siblings? Did anything change? Will the pretense to keep up the loving siblings appearances even last for long?

In the sixth year of my marriage with Zach Elroy, his workplace finally allocated us a small, two-room flat. I was overjoyed. I told our daughter she would finally have a bed of her own. But Zach said coldly, "This room is for Jennifer and her daughter. You and Kathy can keep sleeping on the floor." In my past life, we fought bitterly over it. He eventually gave in. But while I was away on a work trip, he went back on his word. He brought Jennifer Cross into our home and made our daughter, Kathy, sleep on the floor. That night, when Kathy came down with a high fever and cried out that she felt sick, he was reading Jennifer and her daughter a bedtime story. Our daughter passed away that night. Now, in this life, I calmly laid out the bedding on the floor and said, "Whatever."