Karma

When the fire broke out, I called my husband, Hector. He didn't answer. Instead, he ran straight into the flames—to save my sister, Emma. They held each other, clinging to life, while I was trapped in the basement, watching my calls go ignored until all hope burned out. Afterward, Emma played innocent, twisting everything. She told him, "Hector, don't blame Sienna. She didn't leave me on purpose... she was just scared." Her lie made me the villain, and everyone bought it. Fueled by hatred, Hector spat, "She's so vicious—why didn't that fire just take her?" Three months later, the police found my body.

After my husband picked up his secretary and our son, they went into the hotel for a business meeting. Photos of them were trending online. I gave him a call to ask him about it, but he hung up on me impatiently. “I’m meeting a client. Obviously, we’re meeting at the hotel! Can you stop being unreasonable?” I was busy contacting IT support to retract the trending topics. Two hours later, I received a call from the emergency department of the hospital. When I reached the hospital, my son was already dead. In his hand, he was still holding a staff ID tag. The secretary’s name was on the tag. I broke down crying. My husband, Zac Davis, had blocked my number so I could not reach him. After I completed the hospital procedures, Zac finally returned my call. He sounded very angry and impatient, “Did you fetch our son? Why didn’t you inform me? Don’t you know that we’re all waiting for him to pass us the agreement? Just send the document over now!” After that, he immediately hung up and blocked my number again. I stared at the notification on my phone and sneered. I was going to snatch your clients and force you into a dead end!

Aku dan James bersama-sama menghadiri reuni dan ditanya kapan menikah. “Belum memikirkannya.” “Tanggal 11.” Kami berdua menjawab bersamaan. Dia tiba-tiba menatapku dengan pandangan bingung dan mempertanyakan. Mengabaikan pandangannya, aku memalingkan wajah dan menjelaskan dengan serius pada teman-teman: “Aku akan menikah pada tanggal 11 nanti, silakan hadir.” Aku tahu apa yang ingin dia tanyakan, setelah delapan tahun berpacaran, dia tidak pernah membahas soal pernikahan denganku. “Bukankah kita bilang untuk menunda soal pernikahan? Apa maksudmu sekarang ini?” Dia menarik aku ke sudut dengan wajah marah, aku melepaskan jarinya yang memegang tanganku. “Kamu tunda saja, aku tetap menikah.” Dia sudah bosan denganku, memilih perempuan muda, mengira bisa menyembunyikannya dengan baik. Untungnya, orang yang akan aku nikahi, bukan dia.

To encourage overall development, the kindergarten had asked each student to create a hand-drawn poster. My daughter Holly refused my help and insisted on doing it all on her own. Little did I know, most of the other children had their parents do the artwork for them. In comparison, Holly's delicate strokes were quickly dismissed. Not only was her work discarded into the trash, but her teacher also called her out in the parent group, criticizing her for being careless with the assignment. As I racked my brain trying to figure out how to help Holly regain her confidence in drawing, I was surprised to see Holly's artwork among the winning entries in the state-level children's art competition. But the signature wasn't hers—it belonged to another student from her class.

My daughter hid inside the cabinet, her trembling hands dialing her father—James, the Alpha of our pack. "Mommy's bleeding a lot. Please, come back and save her," she pleaded. "I'm busy. Don't bother me," James said coldly. "If she's going to die, make sure she does it far away." As he wished, I never bothered him again. Because I really did die, right in front of our wedding photo. When he found out, he went mad, completely mad.

Delima baru saja kehilangan suaminya ketika masalah beruntun menimpa. Utang yang begitu besar melilitnya sehingga dia harus berhadapan dengan debt collector yang mengancam kehormatan dan nyawanya. Keluarga dan sahabat tidak bisa menolong, sedangkan dia tidak punya sisa barang yang bisa dijual. Untunglah, kenalannya yang sangat misterius menawarkan bantuan. Muak dikejar penagih utang, Delima bersedia menjadi istri dengan semua syarat yang diajukan. Namun saat hari pernikahan tiba dan pria itu menunjukkan diri, Delima sangat terpukul melihat fisiknya. Pernikahan yang dia anggap sebagai solusi justru memberinya banyak masalah baru.

Rania memutuskan selingkuh dan menceraikan suaminya karena hanya dijatah lima puluh ribu setiap hari, profesi pria itu hanya ojek online yang dinilai Rania tak bisa memberi kehidupan layak. Namun, beberapa hari kemudian Rania terkejut mendapati mantan suaminya turun dari mobil sport dengan memakai setelan formal. Bukankah pria itu hanya ojek online? Kenapa sekarang penampilannya bak orang kaya? Apa ada yang pria itu sembunyikan selama pernikahan mereka?

"Mrs. Gardner, are you sure you want to hire our team to stage a fire and fake your death in ten days?" Camellia Shaw paused for a moment. Just as she was about to reply to the message, a video call suddenly popped up. "Camellia, look! Andres is spending a fortune on you again!" The video was of an auction in progress. At the front, a man of striking elegance and charm was decisively bidding on several antique collectibles worth hundreds of millions. The crowd was already abuzz with excitement. "Mr. Gardner is so good to his wife! He bought all these antiques just to make her smile!" "$400 million is nothing! I heard Mr. Gardner even built her a private estate and named it Eterna Haven. Just the name alone is proof of how much he loves her." A wealthy businessman nearby sneered. "It's all for show. Who knows what he's really like behind closed doors?" That comment immediately sparked a wave of backlash. Many argued back, talking about how devoted Andres Gardner was to his wife. As she listened to their murmurs, Camellia forced a bitter smile.

Pada tahun kelima pernikahannya, Stella pergi untuk mengajukan permohonan akta nikah yang baru. Tapi dia malah baru menyadari bahwa akta nikahnya itu palsu dan istri sah suaminya adalah orang lain. Cinta yang dijalin selama lima tahun ternyata palsu. Setelah kembali ke rumah, terdengar suaminya Felix dan pengacara berkata, “Tania sedang kerja keras membangun kariernya di luar negeri, hanya dengan status Nyonya Felix, dia baru bisa punya pijakan di dunia bisnis, aku harus membantunya.” “Sedangkan Stella, dia sangat mencintaiku, demi diriku dia juga putus hubungan dengan keluarganya, jadi dia pasti nggak akan pernah meninggalkanku.” Stella merasa patah hati setelah mendengar ini. Pada saat Felix mendapatkan akta nikah yang asli, Stella sudah pergi jauh dan dia tidak akan pernah bisa menemukan wanita itu lagi.

Sahabatku mengajakku ke salon kecantikan untuk perawatan wajah, dan di sanalah aku didekati oleh seorang pria muda yang tampan. Pria muda itu tinggi, tampan, punya cara yang lihai, pandai merayu, membuatku merasakan kebahagiaan menjadi seorang wanita. Aku tak peduli lagi bahwa aku masih punya pacar, dan membiarkan diriku tenggelam dalam pesona dan godaannya. Namun aku tak menyangka, di balik kelembutan itu, tersembunyi akibat yang sangat besar.