[MATURE CONTENT] Evanescence "Evan" Holz, a billionaire businessman, received a souvenir from an obscure country that creates adult dolls called "Eternity Women." These "Eternity Woman" are life-like and turn alive once activated. To activate them, you need to "use" them. There's only one way for anyone to use a toy: You "play" with them. But what if these Eternity Women weren't just dolls that magically come alive? What exactly is the mechanism behind Eternity Women that makes them into sentient beings in the first place? Is it just the pleasure, or there's something else, something sinister, that gives them life? That's for you to find out.
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.
Thank goodness, he still remembers what he learned from his high school health class about first-aid! He remembered how embarrassing it was CPR-ing that stupid life-size doll as if it was a real person--
Wait a minute.
He paused, staring at the woman in front of him.
Her eyes were empty, not because she was dead. She wasn't alive in the first place. She was inanimate. She wasn't a corpse-No, wait a minute. It's not even right to call it a 'she.' This was a life-size toy
A doll, to be precise.
***
Today was like any other day for Evanescence 'Evan' Holz.
This time, he shouted at a female intern for making his coffee black.
"Don't you people learn?!" He roared, throwing the coffee mug down to the floor. The sound of glass shattering echoed throughout the busy office. Once a bustling working area, the place became as silent as the dead of the night. "I told you to put five cubes of sugar on my coffee! Are you that stupid that you can't comprehend such a simple thing?"
"B-but, Sir..." The intern, who he assumed had the name Jane-oh wait, that was the other intern who quit yesterday-whimpered. "I just got here today, so I don't know your coffee pre--"
"Then why didn't you ask your co-workers?" Evan said, clearly not amused.
She gasped softly as if that idea never occurred to her. She looked at the ground, awkwardly avoiding his gaze. Evan sighed, returning to his work.
"Sir...?" The intern said weakly.
"Get out."
She blinked blankly.
"Oh, you mean out of the room...?"
"No, you dimwit." Evan rubbed his temples, annoyed. "Out of this company."
Her eyes widened. "You mean-"
"You're fired." He said in a tone as if he was talking about the weather. "Now get out of my sight, and never show yourself again."
"But, sir-"
"Get. Out."
And so she did. She ran out of the room, crying. Whispers followed her as she did; her former co-workers looked at her in pity.
"There goes another one." They murmured.
"Poor child." A woman who's been working here for years thought. "Thank goodness I was never assigned to bring him coffee."
"But wasn't he a little too harsh...? It's just coffee, after all."
"Shh!" Their voices became softer, but he could still hear them from his office. "He might hear you!"
"Goodness, gracious." Evan slumped on his office chair, making his voice loud so they'd know he heard them. "You educate them, and then they forget the most essential thing you expect from them: making food."
He heard whispers from various people saying 'sexist,' but he didn't care. He was just saying the truth.
He sat straight and returned to his laptop, typing this month's marketing reports and production. And then he heard someone knock on his door.
Evan opened his mouth and was about to shout not to bother him, but it swerved open without waiting for his permission. He clicked his tongue, not even bothering to look up.
"If you think you can cry your way into getting your job just because you're a woman, I'll have you know that it doesn't-" He looked up and saw the trespasser. "Oh, it's just you."
"What's with that voice of distaste, brother?" A tall blond man was casually leaning on his wall, looking as carefree as usual. "Are you not glad to see me? After all, I've been out of the country for three mo--"
"No." And his eyes went back to his laptop.
The blond man grabbed his chest, feigning hurt.
This man was the son of the company head, Blau Royall. His name was Freiheit Royall. He was 30 years old, just two years older than his adoptive brother. Unlike his father, a business tycoon, he had no business talents.
Even though they were opposites, they got along unexpectedly well.
"Aren't you going to ask me how my trip was?" Freiheit entered the office before jumping on the black and white sofa like an ignorant child.
"Let me guess," Evan said. The sound of pressing keys was both soothing as well as irritating. "You met some girl. You had sex with her. You found the most magnificent--" He even emphasized the word because he knows how his brother loves it "--scenery. You painted it. You dined at the most expensive restaurant in the country. You took a picture of your food before eating it."
The blondie was silent for a few seconds.
"Wow! Evanescence, are you a mind-reader or something? You summed it up quite well!"
He bowed mockingly but noticed something.
"What did you just call me?"
Freiheit hummed, feigning ignorance.
"I said," Evan gritted his teeth, annoyed at his brother for calling him the name that shouldn't be uttered. "What did you just call me?"
"Evanescence?" He said casually as if he didn't know the history of that name.
"Don't. You. Ever-" Before he could finish his sentence, the blond rose from the sofa and sat on Evan's office table.
"Yes, yes." He sighed. "That name reminds you of that woman, so you don't want anyone calling you that."
Evan continued glaring at him as if he was the reason there was no such thing as world peace.
"Speaking of women," Freiheit cleared his throat. "I saw one crying before I arrived here. Don't tell me you fired another one today?"
Evan looked away, biting the inside of his cheeks.
"And I assume because of the broken coffee mug and the stain on your carpet, she made a mistake with your coffee. Let's see, she made it black, didn't she?"
He remained silent.
The Freiheit knew it was a bull's eye.
"It can't be helped, Evan." He shook his head, laughing. "I bet no one would expect you to be such a sissy with your coffee. Men like their coffee black. You're the only intimidating man I know who likes his stupidly sweet coffee."
Ignoring his brother's insult, he answered.
"She's stupid. All the interns are stupid. All the population of women in this world are stupid."
Once again, the artist sighed, clearly unconcerned with his brother's thinking.
"I don't understand why you hate every woman in this world just because a single one wronged you."
"You don't understand." He said in a low voice; you wouldn't have heard it without listening carefully. "You don't understand how it feels to be betrayed by the first woman you loved."
Freiheit frowned.
He knew what his brother was discussing but struggled to understand his reasoning. Finding it suffocating that they were talking about such a deep subject, he thought of changing the topic to something lighter.
"Speaking of women," He started again, but with a light grin on his lips. "I brought you a souvenir!"
The solemn look on Evan's face was wiped out completely. Blue eyes dilated in horror, eyebrows furrowed in a way you can't describe. He opened and then closed his mouth and opened and closed once again.
The cycle continued again and again, and he looked just like a dumb goldfish. Once he gathered his bearings, he spoke.
"Please don't tell me you brought a foreign prostitute back home."
Freiheit decided to let his other statement go and started grinning once more.
"Oh," He smirked, eyes widening for emphasis. "Even better!"
The businessman slammed his face against his table, asking the Lord why he associated with this fool in the first place.
"Evan, my brother! Don't be so negative!" Freiheitlaughed wholeheartedly. "I know you'll love her!"
He rolled his eyes. "I doubt it."
The blond acted as if he didn't hear anything and continued.
"I left her in your condominium, by the way."
"In...?"
"Yeah, I said 'in'." Freiheit tilted his head to the side, thinking. "Did I speak incorrectly? Goodness, I learned too many languages. I forgot how to speak using my mother tongue!"
"How did you get inside my apartment?" He said, a look of pure disbelief painted on his face.
"Easy." The blond said in a 'duh'-tone. "I talked to the building owner."
"They just can't give my key card to random people!" Evan shouted. "Especially you, you bastard!"
"My brother, I know you know the skill called 'charming your way'." He winked teasingly. "After all, you also do it during work."
This is why Evan hated women! That stupid old hag! How dared she allow herself to be fooled by his brother's looks?! When he returns to his condo, he'll immediately go to her office and tell her to get her lawyer ready because he will sue her for her incapability to do her work correctly.
"If that woman turns out to be a thief," The troubled brunet covered his face with the palm of his hand. "Forget you ever had a brother."
"You're welcome." Freiheit patted him on the back.
He rolled his eyes. "I'll send her back to you once I get home."
"And what if you liked her?"
"I doubt that."
Her fiance and her best friend worked together and set her up. She lost everything and died in the street. However, she was reborn. The moment she opened her eyes, her husband was trying to strangle her. Luckily, she survived that. She signed the divorce agreement without hesitation and was ready for her miserable life. To her surprise, her mother in this life left her a great deal of money. She turned the tables and avenged herself. Everything went well in her career and love when her ex-husband came to her.
Rachel used to think that her devotion would win Brian over one day, but she was proven wrong when his true love returned. Rachel had endured it all—from standing alone at the altar to dragging herself to the hospital for an emergency treatment. Everyone thought she was crazy to give up so much of herself for someone who didn’t return her feelings. But when Brian received news of Rachel’s terminal illness and realized she didn’t have long to live, he completely broke down. "I forbid you to die!" Rachel just smiled. She no longer needed him. "I will finally be free."
"I stood at the edge of my heart and watched him choose her. In the end, I was not the one he needed. I was simply the one he settled for." - Noelle ~~~~~~~ I thought I was the one he loved. But a few days before our wedding, I saw him in a way I never had before. His eyes softened as he spoke to her. His first love, and the very woman who had left him in pieces. Heartbreak was something I knew too well. And as I watched the love he still held for her in his eyes, I realized what I had to do. I couldn't marry a man who wasn't truly mine. With no means to cancel the wedding and lacking the courage to confront him, I made a desperate choice to leave. I painfully gave his first love my treasured engagement ring thinking it was for the best and the only way to free myself. But when he saw that ring on her finger, the fragile world I had tried to escape began to shatter. His obsession to find me and bring me back ignited a dangerous game of cat and mouse.
In the previous life, Maggie Johnson was so cowardly, gullible and stupid that she was coaxed by her fiance and stepsister and then broke her legs and lost everything including her fortune, love and even life. However, she was so lucky that she was reborn in the year before everything happened. Since her life restarted, how could she repeat a previous tragedy? Therefore, in this life, she took the opportunity to improve herself and take revenge on the ones who had ever insulted her. Facing the people who had humiliated her previously, she became smart and experienced to break their frames and tricks that had caused her to hurt in the previous life. Finally, no one could stop her pace to amaze the world any more.
Due to the plight of her family, Phoebe had no choice but to embark on the path of selling herself. In an accident, she had a tangled night with Alexander. Everything began to derail, and even if she fled to the ends of the earth, she would still be found by him and entangled... *** Phoebe screamed in frustration, "What do you want from me?" What was this supposed to be? He raised an eyebrow wickedly. "What do I want? You'll find out soon enough." With that, he hoisted her up and carried her back into the office. The door slammed shut with a kick, and he cleared the desk with a sweep of his arm before laying her down on it, his body pinning hers in place, completely trapping her in his grasp. Every cell in his body was telling him he wanted her. He wanted to claim her again. This time, there would be no escape for her-he wouldn't let her slip away. Never again. If he had suffered for five years, then this woman wouldn't get off easily either!
Allison fell in love with Ethan Iversen, the soon-to-be Alpha of the Moonlight Crown pack. She always wanted him to notice her. Meanwhile, Ethan was an arrogant Alpha who thought a weak Omega could not be his companion. Ethan's cousin, Ryan Iversen, who came back from abroad and was the actual heir of the pack, never tried to get the position nor did he show any interest in it. He was a popular playboy Alpha but when he came back to the pack, one thing captured his eyes and that was Allison.