

When my parents divorced, their lawyers drafted a custody agreement. My sister and I would live with separate parents, then switch homes at the start of every school year. The handoff happened every August at La Serata, the Moretti family's restaurant. Every year, my parents fought over who got more time with Sofia. "Come to St. Barts with me for Thanksgiving," Mom coaxed. Dad's face hardened. "Sofia is with me this year. She spends the holidays with me." Mom pulled up her calendar. "You dumped her on me for nineteen extra days last year. I get those days back. Every single one." "Two of those days were school overnights. They don't count." Sofia rested her chin on one hand and gave them the helpless smile of a princess burdened by too much devotion. "If only there were two of me." Half an hour later, my parents compromised by booking the trip together. Only then did Sofia glance my way. "What about Emilia?" Dad picked up his water and looked past me. "She's not my responsibility this year." Mom finally met my eyes. "The hotel group closes an acquisition next month. I don't have time for this. St. Gabriel still has rooms in the senior dorm. You'll board there." They had just counted every hour Sofia had spent away from them. When it came to me, they could hand off an entire year without blinking. Under the table, I smoothed the napkin I had crushed in my fist. My phone lit up. [Ms. Harper: Your record puts several top East Coast schools within reach. Westbridge Institute's research scholarship would also be a great fit. Which one is your first choice?] I looked at California on the other side of the map and typed my answer. [Westbridge.] Three thousand miles ought to be far enough to leave my family for good.

Three days before the long weekend, the Department of Labor called me. "We got an anonymous complaint saying your company is forcing employees to go on a holiday retreat..." I went still. Then I checked social media. Yep. There it was. An intern who'd started a month ago had shoved me onto the local trending page. [Greedy boss turns holiday weekend into mandatory company retreat. Employees are basically free entertainment.] [They say it's optional. Yeah, right. Who's brave enough to say no?] Thousands of comments rolled in, absolutely roasting me. Except our retreats had always been elite. Fully paid. No cheap corporate nonsense. This time, I was paying out of pocket. Seven days in the Maldives. Everything covered. A $2,000 travel stipend each. Senior employees could bring family. But apparently, a free luxury vacation was oppression now. Cool. I told the labor officer, "We'll fully cooperate." Then I dropped a notice in the company group chat. [Per Department of Labor guidance, the long weekend company retreat is canceled. Everyone should take the holiday off as usual.] [The travel stipends and retreat budget will be moved into this quarter's employee benefits reserve.] The second I hit send, something slammed into a desk outside my office.

Sherlyn is a traditional medicine prodigy who spent years raising her son alone, coming down the mountain with nothing but her child and her medicine kit and asking no one for anything. Then she walks straight into Lucas Taylor, her son's father and the head of one of the most powerful families in the city. A rare hereditary condition surfaces, tangled identities unravel, and rival healers with hidden agendas start circling. Through every scheme and confrontation, Sherlyn fights back on her own terms, with her son beside her and her instincts sharper than any prescription. Three lifetimes of unfinished feeling, it turns out, have a way of finishing themselves.

"Morgana, a brilliant software engineer and AI specialist from the slums, is the devoted wife of Kael Moretti—the powerful heir to a vast gold-mining empire with deep mafia ties. Publicly, Kael is the ultimate devoted husband who sacrificed power for love. Privately, he has maintained a long-term affair with his childhood friend Bianca Rizzo and secretly fathered twin sons with her. While pregnant after years of failed IVF, Morgana discovers the truth through photos, DNA evidence, and Bianca’s calculated provocations. Heartbroken and determined, she stages her own death by orchestrating the explosive collapse of Kael’s main gold mine, vanishes with his fortune, and starts a new life under a false identity."

Three months after the divorce, I promised my ex-wife I’d take my stepdaughter to college… Yet late one night on the train, the stepdaughter climbs into my bed… A three-day, two-night trip on the California Zephyr, from Chicago to San Francisco. Derek’s plan: Finish this journey and leave for good. Scarlett’s plan: Use these three days to win him back. Chloe’s plan: She’s waited six years, and this time she decides to make her move. But plans never go as expected. Caught between his ex-wife and his stepdaughter, what choice will Derek make?

Underworld boss Yara Jenkins dies saving Nina Shaw from a push off a building and wakes up in Nina's body. Hoping to leave her violent past behind and attend college, she discovers she's the school's worst student—and that Nina was bullied by the Shaw family's fake heiress and the entire household.Yara strikes back ruthlessly, crushes the Shaws, and reunites with her former right-hand men. But her exiled sister is secretly returning, vowing to seize power.

Tiana, the daughter of the Chudy family, was abducted when she was born. Her brother Bennett, fearing their mother's blame, swapped her with another baby, Roslyn, at the time of the abduction, falsely claiming that the kidnapped child was a janitor's daughter. Tiana was raised by Liala and eventually employed by Chudy Group due to her talent. On her first day at the company, she was bullied by Roslyn for saving a colleague. Bennett noticed the resemblance between Tiana and his long-lost sister, delved further into the investigation, and uncovered the truth, confirming that Tiana was indeed his sister. He vowed to protect his sister from harm. With the mystery of Tiana's identity unraveled, her future got brighter under her brother's protection.

On Valentine's night, nurse Lydia Hale saves a dying stranger—then learns he's Soren Moretti, a feared mafia king. He offers a brutal ultimatum: marry him or die. Trapped in his dangerous world, desire clashes with defiance. As a 30-day love contract ends, Lydia must choose freedom—or life beside a ruthless mafia king.

Brandon Smith has flown for eight years. I've been with him since the time he was an assistant pilot, all the way until he successfully rose to the ranks as the head pilot. In the year Brandon's busiest with his career, I resign from my job and begin cooking according to his aviation schedule. Just once, I bring up the question, "Can you please show me the sight of being thousands of feet in the air in the near future? Just once, please!" Brandon continues eating from his plate. "The plane is a workplace, not an amusement park for you." I reply, "Okay." Since then, I never bring up that matter in front of him. That is, until I find myself suffering from insomnia one night. That's when I accidentally come across an encrypted photo album tucked away in Brandon's phone. There are over 40 photos in the album, all from his perspective as a pilot. There are seas of clouds, sunsets, double rainbows after a downpour, as well as the Milky Way in the night sky when the plane is over thousands of feet in the sky. Every photo has been sent to the same person with a bear's emoji as their name. The latest photo is a photo of the beautiful evening colors from three days ago. Half of the sun can be seen in the clouds. The caption that comes with the photo says, "Today's sky is still beautiful as ever. When you come over next time, you can take the observation seat on the right. It gives you the best angle of the sky." The bear emoji person responds with a hugging emoji and a short sentence. "Wait for me to go on my break." I put Brandon's phone back where it belongs without changing the password and deleting the album. Once the morning sun is up, I brew myself some coffee as usual before finishing it quietly. Then, I turn on my computer and book myself a flight ticket to Dalco. It's been eight years. Finally, I don't have to chase after Brandon's flight routes and wait for his mealtimes. I no longer have to stay in an empty house while guessing which flight destination he's headed

Driven to the edge, Rachel Yale makes a desperate gamble—using herself as bait to draw close to Louis Brown, Newfork's most untouchable power figure. He is ruthless, distant, a man said to have no heart. He sees her motives clearly—yet allows her closer. What begins as disdain and indulgent play turns into dangerous attraction. The god of power falls from his pedestal, becoming her shield, her storm, and her only refuge.