bitter notes by aly beck

In the magical Yarran World, a group of extraordinary professionals ventured into dangerous places for knowledge, wealth, thrill, and honor, exploring secrets hidden in the depths of time. Coexisting with dangers, they were given a fitting name—adventurers. With so many adventurers around, there would be a few oddballs, of course. Take for instance, the swordsman who used to be a thirsty hedonist and now spent his days looking for ways to put his life in danger; the knight who saw gold coins as his ultimate pursuit; the schizophrenic and overly curious priest, and the genius mage who was prone to zoning out and could not care of himself. What kind of strange stories would these kooky individuals create when they came together? Alright, all the above are just nonsense. In truth, this is a casual story of an abnormal, unscrupulous middle-aged man and a few problematic girls undergoing self-therapy- I mean, seeking redemption. You have been solemnly warned that this story is purely fictional. If there is any glaring similarity, you probably need self-therapy too.

In the world of the elite Hebert family, whispers abound about Elsa Hebert, their adopted daughter, harboring an unrequited love for Mr. Frank. To his disdain, Mr. Frank went as far as imprisoning her for five long years, shattered by her affection. When Mr. Frank finally tied the knot, it was expected that his bride would be someone else. Yet, to everyone's astonishment, the woman with a criminal past, Elsa Hebert, stood before him at the altar. Anticipating his cruel retaliation, onlookers eagerly awaited the humiliation of this audacious woman. But fate had other plans. On the fateful wedding day, the bride vanished into thin air, leaving Mr. Frank seething with anger. Determined to bring her back, he dispatched his men to retrieve her. When he captured Elsa, a storm raged in his eyes as he pinned her beneath him. His voice dripped with intensity as he posed the ultimate question, "Will you marry me or face the consequences?"

Teela married King Heavenly because she loved him, but life in the Heavenly household was anything but euphoric. Lettie, her hard-as-nails mother-in-law, treats her like an unpaid servant. The family treats her like an outsider. King treats her like a shadow, transparent and forgettable. When Lettie presses Teela to prove her value to the family or get out, Teela has a decision to make. But she’s not leaving without a fight. King Heavenly rules Heavenly Industries with an iron fist, but he leaves his home life to his mother to manage, and that includes the management of his boring little wife. Teela has never complained. She’s never done anything interesting, for that matter. She’s just one more responsibility in a long line of responsibilities that King shoulders on a daily basis, and that is exactly how he treats her — as a responsibility that he’s delegated to his mother. Suddenly Teela steps out of the shadows and into a fight with him and his whole family, and King is baffled by the ruthless actions of his now daring wife. He’d always heard that vengeance is a dish best served cold, but Teela is coming in hot!

Frida, a first-year medical student, has always been focused on academics, with no time for relationships or intimacy. Though her friends tease her for being a prude, they don’t know about the wild fantasies she keeps locked away, wondering if anyone would ever see her for who she truly is. Laziel her ex-best friend turned enemy, a tech genius and adrenaline-fueled F1 racer who’s every girl’s dream but her personal nightmare. Their shared past is full of unresolved tension and high school scandals she’d rather forget. When Frida starts receiving mysterious red sticky notes promising to bring her most forbidden fantasies to life, she’s intrigued and terrified. But as the anonymous promises heat up, her imagination betrays her, and the faceless lover in her fantasies starts to look a lot like Laz. What happens when desire crosses the line into obsession? And what if her enemy is the one person who knows exactly how to make her wildest dreams come true?

''Wait... something's not right?!'' Song Xia walked over to the mirror and her eyes-widened, who was the one looking back in the mirror? ''Who are you?! Where did my face go?!'' She changed a lot! At the age of 20, Song Xia faced a lot of problems in her life. She was forced to marry a rich CEO who had a mistress in his company. She only found out that she was cheated on that night, her best friend had fooled her, her ex-boyfriend was going to marry her best friend, and so on. She drank too much and drove her car that very night. Alas, she got into a car accident and was in a coma for more than 1 year. Now, she has returned as Tang Xuan (ALICE) who looks completely different from the 'ugly' Song Xia in the past. She'll finally get the revenge she was longing for 2 years! [Little Drama] Alice: [How have you been, Dear Fans?] Fans: [Totally fine, how about you?] Alice: [*Sob* I'm getting bullied by my brother! Someone help me!] Fans: [Who is this brother?! Tell us his address! We'll get our weapons ready!] Tang Yan: "..." Hey, hey, where's the justice? Weren't you the one who bullied me by playing a prank on me?? --- Song Xia: I have great fashion sense, okay you lazy and slacking doctor! Tang Yan: *Scoff* You call that fashion sense?! You totally look like an orange! Ellen: *Sigh* Yet my girl won't stop shopping with that guy while using my card.. [The book cover is not mine. Credits to the owner.]

Courtney Valdez runs a small, cozy coffee shop built on warmth, routine, and the quiet comfort of everyday life. After growing up with abandonment and emotional scars she never fully healed from, she learned one rule: don’t rely on people who might leave. Renz Cortez is the opposite. A powerful CEO known for his cold precision and emotional detachment, Renz lives a life built on control, efficiency, and distance. Feelings are liabilities. Attachment is weakness. Love is unnecessary. Their worlds collide when Renz unexpectedly walks into Courtney’s café and orders something as simple—and as revealing—as a black coffee. What starts as brief, sharp exchanges quickly turns into a strange routine: he keeps coming back, and she keeps serving him more than just coffee. But comfort becomes complication. As their encounters grow more frequent, Courtney begins to see cracks in Renz’s composed exterior, while Renz finds himself drawn to the one place—and one person—that disrupts everything he believes about control. Their connection deepens slowly, quietly, dangerously. However, the past refuses to stay silent. Renz’s former lover, Bianca, returns, reopening old wounds and forcing unresolved emotions into the present. At the same time, Renz is pulled deeper into his corporate world, where expectations and obligations threaten to erase everything personal he has begun to feel. Courtney, already guarded by years of emotional fear, starts to question whether she is becoming just another temporary part of someone’s life—or something more that was never meant to last. As misunderstandings build and emotional distance grows, both are forced to confront painful truths: * Love is not always soft. * Timing is not always kind. * And sometimes, the person who stays longest is the one who leaves first. When Renz finally pulls away, believing it’s the only way to protect them both, Courtney is left with silence, unanswered feelings, and a heart caught between wanting to forget—and wanting him back. Because some loves are bitter before they are sweet. And some are worth breaking for—before they are rebuilt.

In Sicily, destiny passes by when you are a child, often announced by a dream. A dream that must be told, precisely, to your mother, before the day breaks and the first light of dawn erases its memory. If the dream is good, your mother will give you a piece of bread to eat immediately, to make that dream come true. If the dream is bad, your mother will make you spit on the ground three times, to dispel the ominous premonition. Belinda's destiny announced itself one day when she was just a child. She had not yet learned to read or write, yet she began to write poems, to create rhymes. They were very long poems, full of images and words that she herself struggled to understand. She wrote them on every piece of paper she found: on the back of receipts, on old school notebooks. She drew shapes and symbols that only she could decipher. She was a singular child, she had a strong personality and spoke a lot, "tutto d'un fiato" (all in one breath), and her hair, red like fire, reflected her fiery and impulsive character. But she was also a dreamer and loved to look at the stars at night and lie down in the grass to watch the clouds chasing each other in the sky, imagining they were animals or people. One day she showed her poems to her mother, Caterina. Her mother, usually busy with a thousand chores, stopped to listen to her. Caterina was a practical and rational woman, not at all inclined to listen to dreams or strange stories. She was always focused on facts, on work, on caring for her family and her two children. She spent her days between the sewing machine, creating beautiful clothes, and the kitchen, where she prepared delicious dishes for everyone. Yet, that day, she listened to Belinda intently, with a serious face. Perhaps she sensed in her daughter's poems the same power, the same "current" that flowed within her own mother, Belinda's grandmother, the "mavara" (witch) who guarded the ancient secrets of the earth. Caterina listened to the words, then looked at her daughter and said: “A mamma non si cunta u distinu!” (You don't tell destiny to Mom!). She looked at Belinda with eyes full of fear, then hugged her tightly and told her not to show those papers to anyone, and above all, not to tell anyone what she felt, not even her best friend. Not even her father, who, if he had found out, would have made a scene and then, like the good Christian he was, would have taken her to exorcise the devil. Belinda had not understood much, but she knew that those words of her mother were a warning, a sign that she should hide those secrets well, far from the eyes of others. And so she did. For many years, Belinda kept those poems, those images, those symbols, locked away in her heart, silencing that inner voice, that powerful call that tried to emerge from her soul, like a river in flood. She tried to live a normal life, a life like that of other girls, but that force, that "current," that invisible river, continued to flow within her. It was destiny, and destiny cannot be stopped.

When shy teen musician Kael uploads a rough demo, he never expects it to grab the attention of a rising studio. Thrown into the underground music scene, Kael must confront doubt, pressure, and his past as he fights to find his voice—on the mic and in life. Story was written 1 year ago

For your convenience, Dear You. Volumes 01 & 02 will be combined into one stunning collection! - Dear You. Notes To My Future Child. Volume 01. A collection of old journals for a child that was never born, and still has yet to be. ----- Dear You. Notes To My Future Child. Volume 02. More notes to a child that never was to be, and still may never come to be. If that hits home with you, dive in. Young Me would have really appreciated it and you. Welcome back, Folks. Welcome back, Kid... Well, if you ever came to be, yeah? Enjoy!

She smiled like spring. He stayed quiet like winter. Lin Keqing, the soft-spoken new girl, never meant to stand out. Gu Yuyan, the cold top student, never meant to care. But one day, a note appears. “I heard your rhythm.” “I wrote you a reply.” A secret paper exchange begins— and with it, an invisible thread between two people who never expected to be seen. As whispers grow louder than voices, and silence becomes their only language, Lin Keqing and Gu Yuyan must choose: Hide their hearts—or risk letting them bloom. A tender coming-of-age story about music, memory, and the quiet kind of love that heals.