

Reality-warping anomalies descend on the world, and with them comes a lethal labyrinth of survival rules that no one fully understands. Mia Townsend, a former homicide detective, now reborn into the body of a seventeen-year-old school girl, is selected as a national representative and sent into the trials.Where everyone else fixates on simply not dying, Mia refuses to think that small. She brings a detective's precision to each forbidden prohibition, treating every rule not as a wall but as a riddle with a seam running through it. Layer by layer she peels back the lies, finds the life hidden inside each trap, and moves forward while the world around her stands frozen in fear. She isn't surviving the anomalies. She's outplaying them.
![[ENG DUB] The Kiss Was Just the First Step](https://acfs3.goodshort.com/dist/src/assets/images/pc/common/f901131c-default-book-cover.png)
Serena Rivers spends three years in prison for a crime she didn't commit and uses every single day of it. She trains under four of the most formidable masters the underworld has ever produced and walks out as something entirely different from the woman who walked in. On her first day of freedom she corners the cold prison warden Xavier Stone against the water dungeon wall and kisses him without apology. He is her insurance policy and she knows it. Outside, the fake heiress has stolen her shares, her younger brother demands she kneel, and her former fiance has already moved on with a new bride. She tears up the rejection notice on the spot. Moments later, the Stone family motorcade arrives, the warden reveals himself as the family patriarch, and he shows up with a hundred billion in betrothal gifts and absolutely no intention of letting anyone touch her again. Together, they dismantle every person who had a hand in her three lost years.

Gillian lost her parents in a tragic car accident three years ago. After being betrayed by the man she trusted most, she is left with nothing but heartbreak and despair. Just when she thinks she has lost all hope, Charlie—the boy she had secretly loved for eight years—returns and becomes the light of her life. With unwavering love and devotion, he helps her heal from the wounds of the past and realize that the love she had been waiting for was with him all along.

Serena Rivers spends three years in prison for a crime she didn't commit and uses every single day of it. She trains under four of the most formidable masters the underworld has ever produced and walks out as something entirely different from the woman who walked in. On her first day of freedom she corners the cold prison warden Xavier Stone against the water dungeon wall and kisses him without apology. He is her insurance policy and she knows it.Outside, the fake heiress has stolen her shares, her younger brother demands she kneel, and her former fiance has already moved on with a new bride. She tears up the rejection notice on the spot. Moments later, the Stone family motorcade arrives, the warden reveals himself as the family patriarch, and he shows up with a hundred billion in betrothal gifts and absolutely no intention of letting anyone touch her again. Together, they dismantle every person who had a hand in her three lost years.

At his brother's engagement banquet, elite tycoon Larry Nell stunned society by marrying an outsider, Coral Baker, a whirlwind union fueled by rumors of a scandalous public kiss. In truth, she was just a paid stand-in, hired to play the dutiful ""Mrs. Nell"" amid his mercurial whims.What began as a transaction, his need for a decoy, her need for cash, slowly defied the contract. Amendments piled up, each edit eroding the cold terms with unspoken desire.By the end, no one remembered the pretense. Only the love story remained.

Nora Whitman had been in love with New York lawyer Elliott Mercer for seven years, but on their wedding day she discovered that he had kept a flirtatious voice message from his young assistant, Tessa. Confronted with Nora’s ultimatum—“If you leave now, don’t come back to marry me”—Elliott still rushed off to comfort Tessa, who claimed she was having a panic attack. Nora stopped waiting and publicly called off the wedding. Soon after, Elliott’s father was hospitalized from the shock. At the hospital, Nora discovered she was pregnant, only to see Elliott continue protecting Tessa. She refused to reconcile, packed her things, and left, but amid the relentless emotional and physical trauma, she lost the baby. It was only after Nora completely refused to forgive him that Elliott admitted he had not been without a choice: he enjoyed being needed by Tessa, and he had been certain Nora would always be there waiting for him. Nora moved to London and resumed the career she had once set aside for him, growing from a crisis PR consultant into a strategist who could hold her own. Three years later, they met again at an old café in New York. Elliott finally admitted that he had taken her love for granted, treating it as something that would never disappear. But Nora no longer needed this belated regret. She said goodbye to the past and finally understood that a complete life is not about waiting for someone to choose you, but about no longer giving up yourself for love.

Evan Cole was once a powerful business figure who chose to hide his brilliance for ten years as a full-time husband.Yet his family saw him as useless. His wife Bella Bell never forgot her first love Aaron Hayes, and even their daughter grew closer to Aaron than her own father. When his daughter is injured, Evan rushes to the hospital—only to find Bella happily on a date with Aaron. Heartbroken, he leaves and accepts a CEO role at Greystone Corp, returning to rebuild his legacy.

After their parents passed away, Tonia Hays and her sister Lena lived together. To avoid burdening Lena, Tonia agreed to go on a blind date with Yandel Zane, the grandson of Lady Zane, whom she had unexpectedly saved. When they first met, Yandel thought Tonia was a gold digger. So he hid his identity as the richest man and the Zane Group's CEO, pretended to be poor, and married her immediately. Later, they had many amusing incidents as they got to know each other, and he gradually fell for her. He fiercely defended her at a banquet and dealt with her vicious relatives.They became closer, but due to some misunderstandings, they signed a one-year marriage contract.Because of his love rival and a rich young lady, Yandel's identity nearly got exposed. After many twists and turns, he realized his true feelings and wanted to get Tonia back. She also gradually became dependent on him. Eventually, through misunderstandings and protection, this contractual marriage changed into a real one.

Lena Clermont fell hard for her dad's friend, Andrew Rohan—twelve years older. The first time she saw him, he was all sharp suits and broad shoulders, effortlessly standing out. He smiled, patted her head, and handed her a princess dress. Fast forward to twenty. He got drugged at a banquet. She wore that same dress, offering herself as the cure.

Adopted by werewolf hunters, 18-year-old Staysha's mission to kill her first werewolf changes when she unknowingly spends a night with the charming Alpha King, igniting a forbidden romance.