around the rosy

Clare was the woman Axel begged and coaxed for—writing 99 love letters—before finally winning her hand in marriage. By their fifth year,however, Axel grew restless and began spending time with a young nurse. The girl, Emma, came from a poor family yet carried herself with quiet pride. When she firmly rejected the black card Axel offered,declaring she would never be anyone's kept woman, he became obsessed. Axel started appearing around Emma more and more,drawing the attention of all their friends, while briefly forgetting the wife he had once courted with 99 heartfelt letters. Clare neither cried nor argued. Instead, each time Axel broke her heart, she burned one of those letters. And when the last of the 99 was reduced to ashes, it would mark the day she left him for good.

After Wendy had the baby and left the hospital, she found out Harry had let Sarah, an intern who looked just like his first love, sit in her usual front seat. Sarah was even wearing her custom designer gown. Wendy told her to get out of the car right then. Harry said he was sorry, but nothing really changed. The five-million-dollar pearl necklace that was meant for Wendy ended up around Sarah's neck, and on their anniversary, Wendy got some throw-in freebie instead. While Wendy was stuck at home recovering after childbirth, Harry gave her office to Sarah. Sarah even smashed her trophies on purpose and ruined the things prepared for the baby's full moon celebration. Wendy and Harry kept fighting, but Harry always took Sarah's side. He even gave Wendy the silent treatment and moved out because of Sarah.

"Upon discovering I was pregnant, I excitedly rushed to my husband’s company to put our baby down as our insurance beneficiary. However, I was shocked to read my husband’s file. Partner: Victoria Winston Children: Jack Hudson, Sophia Hudson. I froze. The HR manager said the woman was his legally wedded wife and the heiress to the largest hotel chain on the East Coast. Their children were already seven years old. It felt like my world was crumbling down around me. If she was his wife, what was I? His mistress of five years? His friend with benefits? Even more absurdly, I was now pregnant with his child. A child who would never be acknowledged by their father. An illegitimate child. I nodded dazedly. My whole body felt weak. The man I considered my husband was never mine. Even after death, his gravestone would not have my name!"

My father's adopted daughter was only locked in the cramped storage closet for around fifteen minutes, yet he punished me by tying me up and throwing me inside. He even sealed off the ventilation with towels. "As Wendy's older sister, if you can't take care of her, then you should also experience how scared she was," he declared coldly. He knew I was claustrophobic, but my desperate pleas for mercy, my terror, were met with nothing but heartless reprimands. "Let this be a lesson on how to be a good sister." As the last sliver of light disappeared, swallowed by the oppressive darkness, I struggled helplessly. A week passed before my father finally remembered my existence and decided it was time to end my punishment. "Let's hope this week served as a good lesson for you, Jennifer. If this happens again, you will no longer be allowed in this house." He would never know that I had already taken my last breath in that suffocating room. My body had begun to rot in the darkness.

"In my previous life, I gave everything I had to marry him, only to receive fifty years of cold indifference, betrayal, and my son kneeling by my bedside on my deathbed, begging me to ""let Father go."" Reborn on the very day we were to register our marriage, Sebastian was still the same impatient man, tapping his fingers on the table. This time, I picked up the pen and slowly wrote my sister’s name in the applicant column. Since she was the one you’ve always longed for, I’ll grant your wish. I personally helped her try on wedding dresses, slipped the ring onto her finger, and watched him take her away to the capital. Then I turned around and left for the prestigious finishing school for ladies in Southport, starting from zero, determined to live for myself. I thought the story would end there. But when he discovered that the name on the marriage certificate wasn’t mine, he went mad and came chasing after me."

When I realize that I've gotten reborn as a snake that's soaked in poisonous wine, I accidentally awaken a system amid my despair.With the power of devour, I gain my strength and power continuously until I get to escape the wine jar in the end.When I'm faced with the threat of getting hunted down by human beings and mutated creatures, I hide my tracks while growing even more powerful at the same time. Slowly, I evolve from a weak venomous snake into a formidable mutated beast. Later on, I get rescued by Faye Kirk, a kind-hearted human, and her family.During my time with them, I learn how to trust and protect the people around me.As the spiritual energy in this world gets awakened, natural disasters keep erupting all over the world.That's when I realize that only with constant evolution can I protect myself as well as my loved ones in this apocalyptic era.Hence, I step on a journey that allows me to explore the unknown and break my own limits.

When I realize that I've gotten reborn as a snake that's soaked in poisonous wine, I accidentally awaken a system amid my despair.With the power of devour, I gain my strength and power continuously until I get to escape the wine jar in the end.When I'm faced with the threat of getting hunted down by human beings and mutated creatures, I hide my tracks while growing even more powerful at the same time. Slowly, I evolve from a weak venomous snake into a formidable mutated beast. Later on, I get rescued by Faye Kirk, a kind-hearted human, and her family.During my time with them, I learn how to trust and protect the people around me.As the spiritual energy in this world gets awakened, natural disasters keep erupting all over the world.That's when I realize that only with constant evolution can I protect myself as well as my loved ones in this apocalyptic era.Hence, I step on a journey that allows me to explore the unknown and break my own limits.

On my birthday, one of my husband’s subordinates leaned close to him and whispered in Russian, “Sasha has a surprise prepared for you tonight.” My husband smiled at me as he finished cutting my cake. Then, in the same language, he replied, “She has quite a few tricks in bed. I’ll see her later. “Just don’t let Madam find out, or I’m afraid I’ll get thrown out.” Everyone around laughed and assured keep it quiet. None of them knew that I’d been fluent in multiple languages since I was a child. What they also didn’t know was that I’d found the hidden phone he kept in the false drawer, where all the filthy videos of him and Sasha were saved. I didn’t confront him. Instead, I contacted a few remaining connections in the Vegas and had them prepare a new identity for me. In three days, Claire Vega would no longer exist, and he would never have me again.

I was reborn, back to the day before my wedding. The first thing I did? I swapped husbands with my sister. Last time around, I married Julian, a mild-mannered tech mogul. He couldn't handle my fiery temper, and I couldn't stand how soft he was. Our marriage crashed and burned in a year. My sister, sweet and timid, was in an arranged marriage with Robin Kane, the Don of New York's biggest crime family. She couldn't handle the brutal, chaotic life. Tormented by Robin's so-called childhood sweetheart, Isabella, she fell into a deep depression and died. So when I came back, I made a decision. I’d be the one to marry the Don. But I never expected that after the wedding, the cold, stoic Don would become a different man. Every night, he’d be on top of me, kissing me like he was obsessed, whispering, "Good girl. I'll make you feel good. Just one more time, baby?"

Skyler Reid spends three years being the kind of husband most people only read about. He cooks, he tends the house, he keeps the light on when his wife Ruby works late, he asks for nothing in return. She is a celebrated lawyer with a demanding career and he builds his entire life around making sure she never has to worry about coming home. It works, until it doesn't. When Ruby's first love Brandon Lowe resurfaces with a divorce case that needs handling,everything shifts. She pours herself into his affairs without question, and when Brandon frames Skyler with a flimsy accusation, she doesn't pause to ask for his side. She just turns on him. Skyler looks at the woman he has quietly loved and served for three years and realizes she has never once looked back at him the same way. He stops fighting for something that was never quite his and lets go. Only then, when the warmth is gone and the light is finally off, does Ruby understand what she had in her hands and chose not to hold.

Layla Nott has been infatuated with Seth Upton since she was a teenager and even willingly gives him her vast inheritance to help him build Upton Group, transforming the Upton family into one of the most prominent families in Yeldon. However, ever since she married into the Upton family, her health has deteriorated. One day, after a visit for medical treatment, she returns home to find Seth fooling around with her stepsister, Sharon Black. Septh's mother, Susan Upton, is at home and clearly condones the affair. After being humiliated by Sharon and Susan, Layla is left shaken by Seth's confession—he has only ever been interested in her wealth and has never loved her. He has even purchased a massive life insurance policy on her and is now waiting for her death to cash in on the payout. Heartbroken by the revelation, Layla feels her life is pathetic. Impatient for her demise, Seth takes her to the rooftop and pushes her off. As she plunges to her death, Layla swears that if she were given another chance, she would exact her revenge and make sure they pay for their betrayal.

Layla Nott has been infatuated with Seth Upton since she was a teenager and even willingly gives him her vast inheritance to help him build Upton Group, transforming the Upton family into one of the most prominent families in Yeldon. However, ever since she married into the Upton family,her health has deteriorated. One day, after a visit for medical treatment, she returns home to find Seth fooling around with her stepsister,Sharon Black. Septh's mother, Susan Upton, is at home and clearly condones the affair. After being humiliated by Sharon and Susan, Layla is left shaken by Seth's confession—he has only ever been interested in her wealth and has never loved her. He has even purchased a massive life insurance policy on her and is now waiting for her death to cash in on the payout. Heartbroken by the revelation, Layla feels her life is pathetic.Impatient for her demise, Seth takes her to the rooftop and pushes her off. As she plunges to her death, Layla swears that if she were given another chance, she would exact her revenge and make sure they pay for their betrayal.

The end of the world was upon us, but there weren't enough spots for evacuation. The roars of the zombies echoed in my ears as my fiancé, Oliver, gritted his teeth and pulled me onto the rescue vehicle—securing the last available seat. I arrived safely at the survivor base. Lina, his first love, did not. The zombies tore her apart. Oliver still went through with our marriage, but I never expected that he had only done so to make me suffer. In his eyes, I was the one who had killed Lina. If she had to endure such agony, then I should, too. For five years, he hated me. My life was worse than that of a stray dog scavenging for food on the street. On the day my divorce was finalized, he kidnapped me, dragged me into the wilderness, and wrapped his fingers around my throat. Then, he threw us both into the swarm of the undead. When I opened my eyes again, I was somehow reborn on the day the apocalypse began. The rescue team was shouting impatiently, "One more! We have room for one more—hurry!" I turned to Oliver, watching his hesitation. Then, with a quiet smile, I took a step back and let someone else have the last seat.

Evelyn Summers is a formidable, self-made businesswoman who spent a decade building both her empire and her marriage alongside her husband, Aaron Quinn. From a modest street food stall to a publicly listed corporation, they rose together, and Evelyn took pride in what she believed was an unbreakable partnership founded on love and trust.That illusion shatters when she uncovers a devastating truth. Aaron had orchestrated a car accident that caused Evelyn to lose their child at eight months pregnant, leaving her unable to conceive again. Even more cruelly, he had been carrying on a secret affair with her younger sister, Natalie Summers. The life Evelyn cherished, her marriage, her family, her past, was nothing more than a web of lies carefully spun around her.Refusing to be broken, Evelyn fights back. She removes Aaron from his position as chairman and casts him out with nothing to his name. As the truth comes to light, Aaron spirals into madness and is confined to a psychiatric institution, while Natalie, the true mastermind behind the deadly plot, is brought to justice and sent to prison.Rising from the wreckage of betrayal and loss, Evelyn reclaims her power, her future, and her crown, proving that a queen is not destroyed by ruins, but crowned upon them.

Attending the ten-year high school reunion for the cheerleading squad and football team, I arrived in an old domestic Ford, while the parking lot was filled with Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Maybachs, and even a gold Bugatti. It was as if I were the only relic from another era. The moment I stepped out of my car, a former classmate, whose name I could no longer remember, looked at me with a sneer. “Well, if it isn’t the coach’s pet. How is it that after all these years, you’re still driving this beat-up old Ford?” “This thing looks like it belongs in a scrapyard from the last century!” During dinner, everyone gathered around the Bugatti owner, raising their glasses in celebration, while I was left ignored at the side. Only the cheerleading assistant sat next to me, raising a glass in my direction with a comforting smile. “Don’t let it get to you. Your car may be old, but I believe you’ll be driving a luxury car one day.” I let a small smirk curl at the corner of my lips and lowered my voice. “This car may look unimpressive, but it’s been fully upgraded with a carbon fiber body. It’s already worth over half a million dollars. Too bad, none of you even recognized its true value.”

At the party for our first wedding anniversary, I hit the floor—face-first on a red carpet, gasping like a fish out of water. Carlo Pipino, my husband, had his arm draped around Gianna Verde, his childhood flame, sipping champagne and laughing. Gianna knew I was allergic to nuts. So, obviously, she bathed everything in hazelnut dressing. One bite and boom—my throat locked, my lungs lit up, and hives popped like confetti. I reached for my allergy meds—came up with a fistful of melted M&Ms instead. Gianna laughed when she saw my face. "Surprise! Carlo swapped your meds. Seriously, Siena, one nut? Dramatic much?" I slid off my chair, wheezing, while the crowd placed bets on how long my "performance" would last. "Carlo... my meds..." I croaked. "Please. I'm gonna die." He sighed, annoyed. "God, you're so dramatic. Why do women always play dead for attention? You know I love you. Just stop this show already." Right then, my heart shattered faster than my lungs could. I stopped begging. Hit the distress signal. Called my real family.

Vivian, the bankrupt heiress, walks in on her fiancé and her best friend plotting to pull her father's ventilator plug at their engagement party. While fleeing, she falls into the arms of her fiancé's uncle—Alistair, the "Tyrant of Wall Street." He offers to save her father in exchange for a binding marriage contract. Vivian fights back: she gets her fiancé drunk and ruins his reputation, and sends her best friend to prison. But she mistakenly believes Alistair is the one who killed her mother, and teams up with foreign investors to short his conglomerate. When the truth comes to light—he is the boy who saved her from a fire ten years ago, his back bearing burns that never healed—the two powerhouses join forces. She takes control of the financial empire in the open, while he secretly deploys phantom funds to counterattack. The scumbag fiancé goes bankrupt, the best friend descends into madness, and the mastermind behind it all is left without access to medical care. At the pinnacle of their victory, he kneels and fastens a necklace around her ankle: "I am willing to be your prisoner." She lifts his chin with a smile: "We have been each other's captives all along."

When the blizzard apocalypse descends on the world, my family casts me out to the blizzard just so the fake heiress, Erica Kent, can sleep in the car's backseat. But I end up awakening the three-hunk system just when I'm about to die.The first hunk is CEO Jay, a haughty yet domineering CEO who has unlimited supplies in his inventory. The second hunk is Professor Finn, who specializes in the ultimate defensive techniques thanks to his high intellect.The third hunk is Zoomer Zach, a character capable of teleporting to anywhere he wants.When the entire city is suffering from the subzero temperature, I make myself at home in a luxurious villa, where the temperature is always regulated. With the hunks by my side, I dig into a nice boiling stew while watching my shitty ex-fiancee and the rest of my family erase what's left of their humanity in exchange for a slim chance of survival by killing each other.Apparently, those scumbags still have the nerve to crawl to my fence and beg for scraps of my food! I decide to send them to hell by turning on the switch of the electrified fence around my villa.In this lifetime, I don't give a damn about relationships at all. All I care about is my own survival. With the gorgeous hunks by my side, I can rest easy in this frozen era without any worries.