Face Smacking

I'm the top salesperson at a tutoring center. Payday comes, and my commission is 50 cents. I'm so furious that I march straight to my boss to demand answers, but his secretary, Sasha Watson, steps in front of me. She digs through her pocket, pulls out 50 cents, and flicks it straight at my face in front of everyone. "Here's your 50 cents!" My ears ring. Heat crawls up my neck and into my skull. "Ms. Watson, this has to be a mistake. I closed 1.5 million dollars on my own last month. My team pulls in over three million dollars. My commission should be at least 200 grand." Sasha rolls her eyes. She reaches into her wallet, pulls out a dollar bill, and slaps it against my cheek. "Stop barking! Fine, I'll throw you a dollar. Keep the change!" I'm about to lose it. "My mom is still waiting on that 200 grand for her surgery. Without it, she could die." The coworkers around us start whispering. "50 cents? For the top salesperson? That's insane!" "Lower your voice. She's the boss's niece! What she says goes. Unless you want to get fired, pretend you didn't hear anything." I turn away, pull out my phone, and dial our biggest competitor. "I'm in. Five million dollars a year."

For a decade, my world had been measured in laundry cycles, grocery lists, and the ever-growing pile of dishes in the sink. I was elbow-deep in soapy water, scrubbing the remnants of another family meal, when it happened. A sudden, silent cascade of text flickered at the edge of my vision, like subtitles for a movie only I could see: [Gosh, the heroine is so tragic. Her husband's entire family has been feeding on her luck like parasites!] [Her husband stole her graduate school admission and her career!] [The in-laws are literally siphoning her health away. No wonder she's always sick.] [And the sister-in-law took her "romance" stat! No wonder her love life is a desert.] [Heads up! Her husband's about to give her another "gift." Let's see how much more he takes from her this time.] My hands, clutching a greasy plate, froze. Right on cue, my husband, Tristan, sauntered into the kitchen. A smug, self-satisfied smile was plastered on his face as he took my wet hand. He slid a flimsy, garishly colored plastic bracelet onto my wrist. "Look what I got for you, sweetheart," he announced, his voice dripping with pride. "I made a special trip after work. Found it at the dollar store. It's romantic and economical, just like you always say you want. You love it, don't you?"

My mother-in-law, Kylie McGowan, told me that she wanted to experience the life of the younger crowd, so I took her to my husband Jerome Callen's newly opened upscale bar for a quiet drink. I had just ordered her a signature cocktail when a woman from the booth across the aisle sauntered over, wine glass in hand. Her eyes flicked over the menu on our table, and she laughed mockingly. "Seriously? You ordered the cheapest drink on the menu? Did you bring this old lady here just to enjoy the free AC? People like you should stay in the gutter. This place isn't meant for penniless people!" I rose to my feet, holding back my temper. "We're paying for our drinks here. What does our drink choice have to do with you?" But she suddenly snapped, grabbed a half-finished beer bottle off a nearby table, and swung it at my head. "My husband's the owner of this bar! I could smash your skull in and still afford the damages! Get out, you pauper! Don't be an eyesore here!" I wiped the liquor off my face as my entire body shook with anger. Then I turned away, started my livestream, and spoke directly to my followers. "Look here, everyone! I'm going live to catch a cheater. Let's go explore my husband's other home."

After my engagement to Simon Page, he secretly planned a trip abroad with Yara Watson, the woman he had loved for years. The day before their departure, he was chatting with his friends and Yara in the lounge of a golf club. "Simon, you just got engaged, and you're already taking Yara on a trip. Aren't you afraid Rosalyn will find out?" Simon scoffed. "I hired a guy to pose as her suitor. He’ll keep her so occupied that she won’t have time to bother me. "If something really happens between them, even better. I can use it as an excuse to officially end the engagement and be with Yara openly." Standing outside the door, I trembled as his words sank in. Tears streamed down my face as I looked at the handsome man behind me, his expression filled with guilt. "Then let’s grant him his wish and get married." But just as I was preparing for the wedding, Simon suddenly knelt before me in agony. "Rosalyn, I was wrong. Please, don’t marry him!"

“Please… please don’t kill me,” Lily begged with blood and tears streaming from her face as the big wolf hovered over her. “I’ll give you anything you want… money… anything!” she sobbed. The big wolf studied her for a few seconds and then in one haul, he pulled her car from the ditch where it was upturned and set it on the road. But as soon as it set the car on the road, Lily pumped the ignition as fast as she could and sped off leaving a wake of dust in her trail. As she drove, her eyes darted between the road ahead and the rearview mirror nothing with fear that the Big Wolf was chasing her. He was gaining in on her… it was only a matter of seconds before he’ll get her and tear her apart. She drove as fast as she could, crying and begging on the universe to save her. Suddenly the path curved, surprising Lily who wasn’t expecting the path to take such turn. With full speed, she veered of the road and drove right into a tree. She could hear the pounding paws of the Big Wolf… even in her dying state, he didn’t want to relent. “Moon goddess, please!” she murmured in her head, tasting her blood which was flowed from her face to her mouth. Just before the darkness enclosed her… she saw it rush towards her, was this really her end?

Married to her fated mated for years, bound by the dying wish of her mate's father, Imogene's fate hangs on the thin thread of luck as Orion overrides and humiliates her publicly by making her a trophy wife, flashing his Mistress right in her face but an accidental case of a missing necklace becomes the last straw that breaks the Camel's back. Imogene, hurt and broke knowing that the man she loves was willing to get rid of her, signs divorce papers and disappears. Five years later, the tables are turned. It seems like her ex-husband had changed his mind.

Nadin has sworn for revenge, as her husband of three years had betrayed her and had a thing with her stepsister. Then, before her eyes, her stepmother murdered her dad. Afterwards, she used acid on Nadin to kill her but only succeeded in damaging her face and body, which demanded plastic surgery. Fast forward to the present time, a year after she got out of a coma as a result of the acid poured on her. “I want revenge. I want all of them to go to hell.” This was Nadin trying to kill herself after she got out of being in a coma for a year, and she had been reflecting on how she had been betrayed and hurt by people that used to matter to her the most. “If you must do that, then you need at least to stay alive. Besides, the doctor didn't save you just for you to harm yourself.” Luciano, her adoptive guardian, tried to give her reasons to live. Nadin is back with a new face and identity to his ex-husband’s life with her little game of revenge, as she remembered every pain, betrayal, and heartbreak they caused her. Meanwhile, her ex-husband was desperate to do everything for her to turn heads over heels with her, as he had attained the height he wanted but lacked just one thing, which was true love. The woman he failed to cherish and love before now, currently he wants to love her unmeasurably in another face, as she reminds him of his ex-wife a lot. When revenge meets desperation for love, could Nadin's ulterior motives change along the line and her ex-husband get her love back?

I have been dating my manager boyfriend, Caleb Frost, for five years. He calls off our wedding 52 times for Gina Lowe, an aspiring actress on the set. On the day I am ready to give up on him and walk away, Gina falsely accuses me of using expired makeup on her that caused an allergic reaction. So Caleb shoves me into a sealed cellar and locks me inside. As he pushes me down, his face is twisted in disgust. "It's one thing to pick on Gina, but to use expired makeup on her and cause an allergy? Do you know how important an artist's face is? "Stay down there and think about your wrongdoings." With that, he drags the crying Gina to the hospital. The cellar's air vent is blocked. Every breath I take grows harder until I suffocate to death inside. Three days later, Caleb remembers me only after attending a gathering with Gina. But little does he know, I am already dead from the lack of oxygen in that dark cellar.

My Alpha brother's Omega assistant had always wanted to be Luna. She didn’t know my identity and she mistook me as a rival trying to steal her place. She framed me for theft and tortured me without mercy. As I lay dying, it was my old companion—Rex, the Siberian war dog who had fought beside my brother and earned the highest military honors—who sacrificed his life to protect me. She dragged me by my hair, smugly satisfied, and threw me before the crowd like refuse. In her hands, she flaunted her "gift" made from Rex's fur. She had no idea she was about to face the fury of the entire werewolf world.

Devil’s own incarnation in sparkling designers. Zade Dalton Gomez is a man not to be trifled with, and Carla Meadows has always been aware of that, which was why she knew she was doomed the moment this man involved himself in her mess and forced her into a contract marriage with himself. Tycoon, big shot, and powerful with near-impossible connections, Zade was a conventionally attractive, highly sought after bachelor in the country. Carla, whose reputation in the country is completely ruined after going to prison in place of a man that ended up backstabbing her, has been deserted by everyone and is left to face her plight herself. She hoped for a miracle that would bring her out of this humiliating mess, and not a union with the devil himself, which is bound to leave her scorched in the end. Zade detests criminals. Zade loathed Carla. She and her ex-husband were responsible for a trauma of his, and he vowed to punish Carla while making use of her— to kill a handful of birds at once before discarding her. It’s just a contract marriage, but neither of them anticipated desire coming into play. A contract marriage born from raw hatred, a thirst for revenge, and punishment. What could go wrong? ~~~ Ex-husband showed up with divorce papers for me to sign. He thought I’d be crying, but I readily signed it with a smile. When he sighted me in the arms of his arch enemy, he instantly grew jealous and now, he wants me back. But, too bad for him, cause I’ve moved on from trash to diamonds!