Novel & Cerita Remorse: The List

Ever since Stanley jilted Petals in front of the entire school by calling their relationship a fake based on bets with his friends, she couldn’t bring herself to fall for anyone. She stayed hidden and never attended school reunion to avoid running into him for years. Her friends informed her about Stanley too not attending so she had nothing to worry about and forced her to go that particular year thanks to a game she couldn’t avoid with her friends only for her to meet him in the party. She tried her best not to interact with him but he was pushy, as a CEO, he had what she needed desperately, a job. He offered her a job in return for sleeping with him and she was caught between choosing the job that will turn her life around or letting the past be just as it is even if everything in her life was upside down. Unknown to Petals, the job she took on will be the one to solve all the mysteries and unanswered questions in her lives all these years. She is able to unravel all the hidden and deep secrets surrounding everyone around her and herself. What will be the fate of two people who still have a thing for each other beneath the deep hatred? Will their love be able to spring forth and prevail amidst all those storms?

A rich scion of Jelthorne, Owen Waller, loves cycling. I am invited as a special guest competitor to take part in the cycling competition he organizes. But at the starting point, I see my wife, Reyna Cleveland, who brings along her junior, Timothy Spence, to compete. As soon as I walk over, she slaps me in front of everyone. She fumes, "Are you really this paranoid? Do you have to follow me wherever I go? Do you even know how to cycle? Why come here and make a fool of yourself?" I am just about to take out my invitation pass when Timothy lets out a derisive laugh. I smile in response and propose, "Then why don't we compete?" Timothy replies, "Sure. If I lose, I will jump into the lake and swim naked. But if you lose... You'll divorce Reyna!" I nod calmly. What they do not know is that I was once the most talented pro rider in the country.

On the night before our engagement ceremony, Jeremiah Clarke's childhood sweetheart, Kylie Yates, used the opportunity to set an explosion in my marital home while I was out on a gathering with my best friends. She insisted on having a candlelight dinner at home. Before she left, she didn't turn off the gas, nor did she blow out the candles. A short while later, the concentration of gas in the atmosphere exceeded the safety limits. The moment it made contact with naked flames, the entire house went up in a ball of flames and hot air. That was how my parents and my younger sister, Aurelia Shaw, died in their sleep. I rushed to the scene like a madwoman. The moment I did, I saw three charred bodies getting carted out of the wreckage. Heartbroken, I bolted over to hug Aurelia's skinny and frail corpse. Finally, I broke down and wailed at the top of my heart. But Jeremiah, on the other hand, just hugged Kylie gently. "Don't be scared, Kylie. This is just an accident. I'll protect you." With an enraged shriek, I rushed over to attack Kylie. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to rip her apart. But Jeremiah shoved me away, causing me to fall to the ground. "That's enough, Olivia Shaw! This is just an accident! It has nothing to do with Kylie!" Later on, Jeremiah had the audacity to destroy all the clues related to this incident just so he could protect Kylie. Overwhelmed by despair, I used the same method to take down Jeremiah and Kylie with me to hell. When I open my eyes again, I've actually returned to the day before my engagement! This time, I quickly arrange for my parents and Aurelia to stay in a hotel instead. Unexpectedly, an explosion still occurs at night. Three charred bodies are still found at the explosion site. This leaves me feeling very confused. Who are they? What are they doing in my home?

My mother has volunteered at our neighborhood church for over a decade. Christmas drives, Sunday service, any neighbor in trouble, she's the first one there. Everyone says God sent her to us. She thinks so too. She says God wants her to be generous, so she is. The thing is, when no one's watching, the generosity always comes out of my pocket. After she remarried, she doted on my half-sister Serena. Serena picked up a box of cold medicine for her, and Mom handed Serena the keys to my Tesla. Serena mentioned she needed to renew her car insurance, and Mom wired her the surgery fund I'd been saving for two years for my daughter Emma. That afternoon, Emma collapsed on the floor, lips turning blue, gasping for air. Her medicine was crushed into the carpet. Mom fished the last pill out of her pocket and dangled it in front of me. "Apologize to your sister, and I'll give Emma the pill." I got on my knees. But that same day, she gave away the cardiology appointment I'd spent three months getting. She gave it to Serena. What she didn't know was that the name on the appointment was her own.

My mother was once adored and protected by three men. As such, I had three fathers. After her death, I was raised by one of the greatest doctors, the richest man in Theala, and an award-winning actor. For 13 years, I was showered with overwhelming adoration. That was until three years ago—the day they adopted Erin, an orphan girl. From then on, they began to dote on her. When she accused me of stealing her necklace, they tore my room apart in their search, smashing my most cherished music box in the process. They only felt remorse when they saw me sobbing over the shards. As compensation, they bought me every music box they could find. When she claimed I mocked her for being an orphan, they forced me to write a hundred apology letters as punishment. They only massaged my hands in remorse upon seeing them trembling so badly that I could no longer feed myself. When Erin accused me of shredding her gown, they locked me in the dark basement, starving me for three whole days. When I was let out, they were filled with remorse upon realizing how much weight I had lost. Their bloodshot eyes watched over the grand feast they prepared as an apology. All of that lasted until Erin poisoned my cup of water. I kept coughing up blood as my body grew weaker by the day. Daniel only diagnosed me with malnutrition and made me take prescribed supplements. Unbeknownst to him, those supplements only hastened the poison's effects. After I collapsed at school, I went to the hospital for treatment. "You only have three days left to live," the doctor said. Why then… Why did my fathers drown themselves in sorrow and kill Erin after my death?

I decided to die on my 28th birthday. It was not suicide but homicide... by my dear sister, Susan Bruno. I had always known that she would kill me. I told my older brother, Barry Bruno, and he said, "Charlotte, don't always think so badly of Susan." I told my fiancé, Calvin Simmon, and he said, "You're making up a story to draw attention again." Hence, I decided to give them the evidence they wanted most—a corpse. I installed seven cameras, set up an automatic sending program, and wrote a farewell letter. I left clues for the killer, bait for Susan, and a time bomb for my family. Today, Susan texted: [Charlotte, Dad has something for you at the safe house.] I replied: [Coming.] Before leaving, I checked my to-do list one last time. Everything was checked off, except for one thing: death. I would die. They would never know that the moment my heart stopped beating... the countdown to revenge had only just begun.

After my adopted sister, Bella, borrowed my phone, she forgot to log out of our family's secure channel. I was about to log her out when an encrypted group chat message popped up at the top of the screen. "To celebrate Enzo, the Moretti heir, handling his first piece of business for the family, we're having dinner at the private club tonight." I tapped on it without a second thought. The member list in the channel was painfully clear, showing only four avatars: my father, my mother, my brother, and Bella. My brother, Enzo, replied a moment later, "Just the four of us. Don't call Aurora." "If she comes, she'll just find another excuse to bully Bella." I stared at the words, frozen. It dawned on me then. In this family, I had been the outsider all along.

My mother gained access to an exchange system the year I turned eighteen. She swapped my college entrance exam scores with my sister, Poppy's. She swapped my high-paying job for Poppy's, too. She even wanted to swap my perfect boyfriend and hand him over to Poppy. However, she had no idea that I had deliberately found him at a wife-killer club. When my boyfriend suddenly fell for Poppy and fell out of love with me, I smiled. I had been waiting for this day for a long time.

On the party of our seventh year anniversary, Luca Romano wheels me into the venue. Both of us are dressed to the nines. Our daughter, Sofia Romano, suddenly leans into Luca's ear and says in fluent Bellavian, "Dad, Ms. Celia is eight months pregnant now. Once she gives birth to my little brother, will they be living with us?" Celia Amato is Sofia's private tutor. At the moment, she's staring at us jealously from a short distance away. Luca lowers his head and tucks in the blanket on my lap lovingly. Then, he replies in Bellavian, "I've made a vow to your mother that I will never betray her. So, once Celia is done with her labor, I'll send them to another country overseas. If you miss your little brother, we can visit them together." Once he's done speaking, he tries to kiss me. I lower my head quietly to avoid the kiss. Luca doesn't know that I understand Bellavian because I've grown up in Sisse, Bellavia since I was a kid. He also has no idea that my legs were fully healed a week ago, and that I've uncovered the evidence of his affair with Celia in the estate's wine cellar. Of course, he doesn't know that I've promised my grandma that I'll return to Bellavia and take over the family business. Once all the paperwork is done, I'll set off on a lone journey, and I will never return.

On the day Moon Spencer received the Medal of Honor, she made a public declaration of love on live television to her accompanying military medic, Xavier Quinn. “If it weren’t for Xavier, I’d have died in that storm at sea. He is the most important person in my life.” At the same time, her husband, Nathan Johnson, was lying on his deathbed at home. For years, he had taken care of Moon’s parents and raised their child alone. The strain destroyed his health, and he had little time left. He never expected that after twenty years of sacrifice, he would not even hear a word of thanks from her. What truly broke him was their daughter’s comment. “Dad, don’t you think Dr. Quinn and Mom are perfect together? You should leave sooner and make room for him.” Nathan collapsed in fury and regret. He died that night. When he opened his eyes again, he was back to the night before Moon left for her coastal deployment. This time, he refused to stay behind as the forgotten man who kept everything running. In this life, he would pursue his own dream.