Author: Felipe

Chapter 1 Ever since I was a kid, I’d been a menace. I got expelled from college for fighting, spent my days loafing around, starting trouble, and driving my parents’ blood pressure through the roof. Eventually they reached their limit, pooled their savings, bought me a secondhand apartment, and kicked me out so they could…

Read More “Ever since I was a kid, I’d been a menace. I got expelled from college for fighting, spent my days loafing around, starting trouble, and driving my parents’ blood pressure through the roof. Eventually they reached their limit, pooled their savings, bought me a secondhand apartment, and kicked me out so they could finally have some peace.” »

I woke up on a hard clay bed with my wrists and ankles tied so tight the ropes had already burned my skin. The room was small, smoky, and suffocating. A rusted stove sat in the middle, throwing off weak heat. Three men were crouched beside it, passing dirty looks back and forth like they…

Read More “I woke up on a hard clay bed with my wrists and ankles tied so tight the ropes had already burned my skin. The room was small, smoky, and suffocating.” »

Chapter 1 My daughter locked herself in her room, crying so hard her whole body shook. I forced the door open and found her clutching a test paper that had been torn into pieces and taped back together. It was a Math Olympiad qualifying exam. Perfect answers. A glaring zero. “Mom,” she sobbed, “Mrs. Henderson…

Read More “My daughter locked herself in her room, crying so hard her whole body shook. I forced the door open and found her clutching a test paper that had been torn into pieces and taped back together.” »

Chapter 1 We were in the middle of dinner when Mark suddenly set down his fork. He looked at me and asked, “Who is Walter Briggs?” My chopsticks froze midair. My heart skipped a beat. Walter Briggs. It was a fake name—something Cecilia and I had invented. One drunken night, we made a pact: if…

Read More “We were in the middle of dinner when Mark suddenly set down his fork. He looked at me and asked, “Who is Walter Briggs?”” »

Chapter 1 After falling off the cliff, Katherine Calhoun seemed like a completely different person. In the mornings, she no longer rose before dawn to simmer the mushroom soup her husband, Nicholas Padilla, loved. She no longer endured the midday heat just to pick him up. The desperate need to steal a few minutes of…

Read More “After falling off the cliff, Katherine Calhoun seemed like a completely different person. In the mornings, she no longer rose before dawn to simmer the mushroom soup her husband, Nicholas Padilla, loved.” »

Chapter 1 After my divorce, I washed off the ugly makeup I used to hide behind and posted a bare-faced selfie online, jokingly asking for a date. The post broke the internet, hitting number one on trending. Countless people flooded my comment section. “Is this level of gorgeous even real?” “Not even AI could render…

Read More “After my divorce, I washed off the ugly makeup I used to hide behind and posted a bare-faced selfie online, jokingly asking for a date. The post broke the internet, hitting number one on trending. Countless people flooded my comment section.” »

Chapter 1 My roommate thought her online boyfriend was a control freak and wanted to hand him off to me. “He’s always checking my location and even telling me what to wear,” Stella complained. “You never had a dad, so maybe you’d actually like that kind of controlling older guy.” I was about to slap…

Read More “My roommate thought her online boyfriend was a control freak and wanted to hand him off to me. “He’s always checking my location and even telling me what to wear,” Stella complained. “You never had a dad, so maybe you’d actually like that kind of controlling older guy.”” »

Chapter 1 The woman living with me is ridiculously attractive. I mean, drop-dead stunning. She was in the bathroom taking a shower, and I was in the living room shoving takeout into my face while scrolling through Netflix. Separating us was nothing but a flimsy piece-of-junk door with a broken lock. Then a bloodcurdling scream…

Read More “The woman living with me is ridiculously attractive. I mean, drop-dead stunning. She was in the bathroom taking a shower, and I was in the living room shoving takeout into my face while scrolling through Netflix. Separating us was nothing but a flimsy piece-of-junk door with a broken lock.” »

Chapter 1 My roommate sleepwalked in the middle of the night. When she woke up the next morning, we asked her what she had been dreaming about. She said she had dreamed of cutting open a watermelon, but it was not ripe yet. We all laughed. But the next night, I woke from a dead…

Read More “My roommate sleepwalked in the middle of the night. When she woke up the next morning, we asked her what she had been dreaming about. She said she had dreamed of cutting open a watermelon, but it was not ripe yet. We all laughed.” »

Chapter 1 For six months, the woman from upstairs had been mooching off my private EV charger. I had reminded her before. She rolled her eyes and said, “Electricity from your place can’t cost that much. Why are you so stingy?” I just smiled and said nothing. The next morning, I started driving to the…

Read More “For six months, the woman from upstairs had been mooching off my private EV charger. I had reminded her before. She rolled her eyes and said, “Electricity from your place can’t cost that much. Why are you so stingy?”” »

Chapter 1 I was born with a cursed mouth. Whenever I spoke of something bad, it came true. When I was four years old, I dropped a single grain of rice at dinner. My grandmother flew into a rage, yanked me by the arm, and dragged me toward the old outhouse behind the house. “You…

Read More “I was born with a cursed mouth. Whenever I spoke of something bad, it came true. When I was four years old, I dropped a single grain of rice at dinner. My grandmother flew into a rage, yanked me by the arm, and dragged me toward the old outhouse behind the house.” »

Chapter 1 During the weekly wrap-up, the new intern suddenly switched the projector to my attendance record. The eyes of the CEO and the entire company locked onto me in an instant. The intern, Madison, tilted her chin up with a smug grin and slammed a stack of photos onto the mahogany conference table. “Nate,…

Read More “During the weekly wrap-up, the new intern suddenly switched the projector to my attendance record. The eyes of the CEO and the entire company locked onto me in an instant.” »

Chapter 1 For my sister’s birthday, she wanted a porcelain doll. My father said, “Go on, slap your sister and I’ll buy it for you.” And so, I got a hard slap across the face. When I was seventeen, my father sent my sister to study abroad but refused to pay for my college. I…

Read More “For my sister’s birthday, she wanted a porcelain doll. My father said, “Go on, slap your sister and I’ll buy it for you.” And so, I got a hard slap across the face.” »

Chapter 1 When my mom won a million dollars on a lottery ticket, she handed each of her three kids an envelope. My younger brother and sister each pulled out a bank card. Mine held two one-dollar coins that clinked onto the floor. Mom caught my expression and shifted uncomfortably. “Cashin,” she said carefully, “Logan…

Read More “When my mom won a million dollars on a lottery ticket, she handed each of her three kids an envelope. My younger brother and sister each pulled out a bank card. Mine held two one-dollar coins that clinked onto the floor.” »

Chapter 1 I had just posted vacation photos with my boyfriend when some random “relationship tester” slid into my DMs. “Hey, sweetie. Your boyfriend looks like a player. Give me his Instagram and I’ll test him for free.” “Okay,” I shot back. “Scammer. You’re probably just a homewrecker trying to slide into other people’s relationships.”…

Read More “I had just posted vacation photos with my boyfriend when some random “relationship tester” slid into my DMs.” »

Chapter 1 The night before our wedding, I caught Lewis hooking up with my best friend on the couch. I completely lost it and ended up sleeping with all three of his friends. I made sure to leave proof everywhere—on his desk, in his sports car, at his office. But when Lewis found out, he…

Read More “The night before our wedding, I caught Lewis hooking up with my best friend on the couch.” »

Chapter 1 I’d been secretly dating my brother’s best friend for a whole year. I was still trying to figure out how to tell my brother when he suddenly dragged me into a 7-Eleven. “Ashton’s mystery girlfriend? Yeah, she’s getting exposed today.” I froze. Before I could say anything, my heart stopped. Some girl was…

Read More ““My Brother Dragged Me to Expose His Best Friend’s Girlfriend… But the Girl on His Arm Wasn’t Me.”” »

I fought with the so-called “true heiress” my entire life, only to discover right before I died that both she and I were fakes. The sweet, innocent little cousin we both doted on was actually this family’s real biological daughter. This family of bloodsuckers had fed off us for years, living a life of luxury…

Read More “I fought with the true heiress for my entire life, only discovering right before I died that both she and I were fakes.” »

In the third year of trying to win over Arthur Sterling, the system suddenly told me it had made a mistake. It wasn’t that it got the target wrong. It got the player wrong. “I misheard. The player is supposed to be Chloe, not Zoe. Hehehe. Chloe will be at the class reunion tomorrow. Zoe,…

Read More “In the third year of trying to win over Arthur Sterling, the system suddenly told me it had made a mistake. It wasn’t that it got the target wrong. It got the player wrong.” »