

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.

Aria Vale loves her idol Noah Rivers so completely that his fictional death feels like a personal injustice. Then she blinks and finds herself inside the novel, in a world where the cities are overrun and the story is already in motion. Reinventing herself as a mysterious talent manager, she finds the boy before anyone else does and helps him become exactly who he was supposed to be, rewriting the ending she couldn't accept. Her phone knows what's coming, which helps. What she doesn't account for is how quickly depending on each other becomes something neither of them has a word for.

Diana is blamed for poisoning the Larson family on the eve of her wedding and becomes the most hated criminal in the world. Everyone believes the orphaned girl betrayed the family that raised her and killed them all. But when a live stream reveals her hidden memories, the truth finally comes out. The real killers are exposed, and everyone who condemned Diana is left begging for forgiveness. Her fiancé Victor, who once hated her, spends every day at her bedside, drowning in regret.

Evan, the skating prince, is as cold as a swan on ice; Max, the wrestling team captain, is as wild as a beast trapped in a cage. Due to an unexpected burst water pipe, Evan's school skating team was forced to use the changing room of Max's wrestling team. Two individuals from entirely different worlds suddenly collided within that cramped space, filled with hormones and sweat. Max viewed this "beautiful newcomer" – who had intruded upon his territory – with a mix of mockery and desire for conquest; using the right to use the arena as leverage, he coerced Evan into signing a humiliating "flexibility training partner" contract.

The moms at the company post about me online, claiming the free daycare I provide for their kids is a "prison" and a vile tactic to force them to work overtime. What they don't know is that the daycare was set up with imported equipment and staffed by internationally trained professionals. It costs nearly eight thousand dollars a month per child to operate. The internet curses me out, calling me a show-off and disgusting capitalist. So I grit my teeth and send out a company-wide announcement. "To support everyone's desire to handle their own childcare, the company has decided to close the free daycare program. Effective immediately, it will be replaced with a childcare benefit. Eligible mothers will receive 200 dollars a month." As soon as the notice goes out, the moms panic. They crowd outside my office, begging me not to shut it down.

For five years, Diana quietly supported her husband Nathan’s career, paying their bills and secretly fixing every mistake made by his favored employee, Zoey. But Nathan took Diana for granted, giving Zoey her credit, her money, and even the honeymoon Diana had waited five years for. Finally heartbroken, Diana walks away—quitting the company, cutting off his financial support, and filing for divorce. Only when his company begins to collapse does Nathan realize the wife he pushed aside was the one holding everything together. Now Diana is building a new life, while Nathan is forced to face the price of losing her.

On her thirtieth birthday, Madison thought she was about to receive a marriage proposal from her childhood sweetheart, Gideon. Dressed in her wedding gown, she rushed to the civil affairs bureau—only to discover that the proposal was merely the punchline of his bet. Devastated and unwilling to compromise any longer, she turned around on the spot and married Henry, the wealthy CEO she had just met through a blind date. When Madison walked down the aisle on her lavish wedding day, arm in arm with her new husband, the once proud Gideon collapsed completely, consumed by endless regret…

Stacy Barn’s six years of devotion to Roger Nord fall short in the face of a single lie from his first love. She throws the divorce papers in his face and turns against Norden Corp. She brings the cunning first-love to her knees, humiliates her ex-husband, and transforms into a powerful businesswoman, with both her career and love life flourishing. When Roger eventually discovers that the young woman he once corresponded with was actually his ex-wife, he embarks on a long and arduous journey to win her back...

After our eighty-eighth canceled wedding, I called my business partner. "I'm taking the Haviana market project." There was a beat of stunned silence. "Seriously? That's ten years overseas. You just got married—well, weren't you? Does your husband even know? What about your parents? You always said staying close to them was everything." I glanced around the empty church and let out a sharp laugh. "There was no wedding. No husband. And my parents? They've got Cindy. That's all they need." Another pause. "Alright. Pack your bags. You leave tomorrow." After the call, I ran a hand down my wedding dress. One last tear slipped out, quiet and pointless. Cindy had another "episode" today. Claimed she'd off herself. Andrew canceled—again. I'd looked at him, drained. "It's the eighty-eighth time." He dropped his head, guilt all over him. "Just a little more time, Viv. She's been off since the accident. I'm scared she'll actually do it. I swear, I'll talk to her. For real this time. Then we'll get married. Promise." My parents didn't hesitate. "Vivian, let Andrew go. If Cindy hadn't gotten kidnapped trying to save you, she wouldn't have these breakdowns. Are you really putting a wedding over your sister's life?" "How could you be so selfish?" I'd heard it all before. Used to fight it. Not this time. If neither my fiancé nor my parents wanted me around, then fine. I'd leave.

I was dragged online by one of my own employees. According to her post, I was a stingy boss who refused to give out holiday gift boxes for Memorial Day weekend. What the internet did not know was that my company already had a long-standing tradition. Every holiday, and even every employee birthday, each person received a $300 gift card without fail. But once the whole internet started tearing me apart, I decided to give everyone exactly what they claimed they wanted. I issued a company-wide notice. To respect everyone’s demand for a more “thoughtful” holiday gesture, this year’s Memorial Day gift cards would be canceled and replaced with holiday gift boxes for all employees. The moment the notice went out, the entire company exploded. Employees crowded outside my office, begging me to bring the gift cards back.