Allergic to Cheer

When Ella chooses a cash bonus over a chocolate gift box, her coworkers and a spiteful intern accuse her of lacking team spirit. The situation turns lethal at the Christmas party when the intern, aware of Ella's severe nut allergy, forces her to consume nut-filled chocolates. After sabotaging Ella’s emergency medicine and replacing it with candy, the intern mocks her life-threatening struggle. Gasping for air, Ella must reach out to her father, the CEO, to survive this corporate malice.

Chapters

Chapter 1

Christmas was just around the corner, and the head of the company asked us to choose between a bonus and a Christmas gift box for chocolate. I was not much of a sweets person, so I was the first to vote for the bonus.

The intern collecting the votes immediately called me out by name in the team chat.

"Ella, Christmas is supposed to be about the holiday spirit. Isn't choosing the bonus a bit materialistic?"

Even the department manager tagged me.

"Ella, the company values team spirit more than anything."

In the end, everyone else picked the gift boxes. I was the only one who did not.

When the Christmas party arrived, the intern had bought gift boxes filled entirely with nut chocolate.

She knew I was allergic to nuts, yet she forced me to try some in front of everyone to show my team spirit.

"Ella, this was bought with everyone's bonus money. You cannot just refuse, can you?"

The next moment, I was struggling to breathe and a rash spread across my body.

The intern looked at me with pure disgust.

"Seriously, Ella, do you have to ruin the mood when everyone else is having fun?"

I frantically searched my bag for my allergy medicine, but all I could find were a few pieces of chocolate.

Seeing me in such a state, the intern laughed.

"Medicine is only one part of it. You need more sweets anyway. I swapped your medicine for the chocolate in the gift box."

My breathing was getting worse by the second. I quickly grabbed my phone and texted the CEO.

[Dad, I'm having an allergic reaction. I'm at the…]

A couple of days before Christmas, our department head surprised us in the work chat with a holiday reward.

Then came the follow-up message.

[Team, you've all been amazing! With Christmas right around the corner, the company wants to show its gratitude with two special gifts.

[Choose between an $800-holiday bonus or an exclusive company-branded Christmas gift box for chocolate.

[Vote within the department. The majority rules, and the department head will report our decision.]

The chat went wild.

[Wow, our team lead is the best! Totally in love with this!]

[That Christmas gift box sounds so luxe! I'm all for the gift box!]

[Come on, who wouldn't want the $800? Think of all the stuff you could get!]

I stared at my phone and did not think twice before voting for the cash.

I could not help but think, who in their right mind would skip the cash for some company swag?

However, no sooner had I cast my vote than Yvette Sullivan, the intern tallying the votes, pinged me in the group.

[Ella, looks like you're the lone wolf who went for the cash. Might you have voted by mistake?]

I scrunched my eyebrows, but before I could type a response, she sent another message.

[Isn't Christmas all about the vibe? The company's gift box is meant to be a heartfelt token. Going straight for the cash, doesn't that seem a tad materialistic?]

The lively banter in the chat came to an abrupt halt, and the mood shifted subtly.

I inhaled deeply and responded, [I just voted based on what I personally need, that's all.]

Right after my message went out, Keith Johnson, our department head, joined the conversation, tagging me.

[Ella, Yvette's making sense here.]

[We youngsters should look at the bigger picture, not just the quick buck.]

[The company was all about team spirit and sticking together, and that fancy gift box? It was like the department's collective face.]

Keith had a way of steering the crowd. Once he chimed in, the whole mood shifted. Those who had been hollering for cash bonuses did an about-face.

[Mr. Johnson's got a point! I was thinking too small!]

[All for the gift box! Nothing beats team spirit!]

[Yvette is such a gem, always keeping us on track with the team vibe!]

Right on cue, Yvette dropped a cutesy emoji in the chat.

[Thanks for the praise, but really, I just believe we've got to stick together. Can't let personal choices mess with our department's groove.]

Watching the back-and-forth in the chat, with everyone rallying behind the gift box, I felt queasy.

I was the one who had dared to vote for what we all truly wanted, and I suddenly became the bad guy, labeled as selfish and short-sighted.

The vote was a foregone conclusion. Everyone but me went for the gift box.

Keith was all smiles in the chat. [Excellent, this shows our department's rock-solid unity!]

[I've sent off the results, so get pumped for the company's Christmas gift box!]

The chat lit up with cheers and a parade of brown-nosing: Keith was a genius, the department unbeatable.

Yvette even slid into my DMs with a smiley face. [Ella, don't be mad, okay? I'm just thinking of the team.]

I forced a smile, left her on 'Read', and shut the chat. I had had enough.

Continue to next part

Betrayed by his girlfriend and second-in-command, a firefighter dies after she cuts his safety rope to avenge her childhood friend. In his past life, he had stopped that friend from lighting a cigarette during a gas leak, only for the man to die in the ensuing chaos. Now, having regressed to the moment of the leak, he watches as the same man reaches for a lighter. This time, he chooses silence, letting fate take its course in this tense mystery and action-driven tale of retribution.

Action Modern Mystery

9.1

After My Fiancé Filmed My Assault, I Ruined His Family

9.1

Betrayed by the man she trusted, a young woman suffers a horrific assault that her fiancé heartlessly captures on film. Instead of collapsing under the trauma, she transforms her agony into a calculated quest for vengeance. To dismantle his life, she systematically targets his family's prestige and wealth. This high-stakes modern drama follows her journey as she executes a ruthless plan to ensure those who exploited her lose everything they once held dear.

Action Modern Romance

8.2

Alpha Chose “True Love”, I Took Back Everything

8.2

The Alpha King’s daughter raised Alex from a starving rogue to a powerful Alpha, only for him to demand a mate bond dissolution for a healer named Vivian. After a wolfsbane-induced miscarriage and a year of Alex’s performative devotion, she discovers his secret: he never banished Vivian. Witnessing their continued romance while pregnant again, she decides to strip him of the status she provided. Now, the man who chose “true love” over loyalty is begging for her mercy.

Action Fantasy Mystery Romance Werewolf

9.0

Chained to the Devil

9.0

Elena’s life shatters when her father’s massive debts force her into a cold arrangement with Dante, the lethal heir to a criminal dynasty. Trapped in his dangerous world, she becomes a pawn in a brutal power struggle where loyalty is scarce. As they navigate a landscape of betrayal and violence, an unexpected spark ignites between the captive and her tormentor. Elena must find a way to survive the darkness or be consumed by the devil himself.

Action Mafia Romance

8.7

Escaping The Ruthless Don's Golden Cage

8.7

I stood at the gala, draped in diamonds worth millions, playing the role of the perfect Mafia wife. But the illusion shattered when his mistress walked in wearing a necklace identical to mine—a cattle brand dipped in gold. When I confronted them, Liam didn't defend me. He shoved me aside to protect her. I hit the floor, and as my blood soaked into the white stage, I realized he had killed our unborn child. But the nightmare didn't end there. I woke up to find that Liam had ordered me sedated to "manage my hysteria." The complications from his control and the trauma had forced an emergency hysterectomy. He hadn't just killed his heir; he had stolen my future. Yet, he still tried to lock me in his estate, convinced he could force me to love him again if he just kept me hidden long enough. He thought I was broken. He thought I was his property. He was wrong. With the help of a doctor who had loved me from the shadows for years, I faked my death and vanished. Six months later, the great Don found me in a small-town bookstore, falling to his knees to beg for a second chance. I looked at the man who destroyed me and handed him a single dollar bill. "Loyalty is the only currency, Liam," I said, quoting his own vow back to him. "And you are bankrupt."

Action Mafia Romance

9.2

Just A Placeholder: Dying For His Mistress

9.2

I stood on the tarmac clutching white magnolias, watching the man I loved hand his loyalty to the woman born to destroy me. Dante Cavallaro, the Ruthless Underboss, didn't just leave me for Sofia Moretti. He revealed that for two years, I wasn't his lover. I was a human shield. The heavy iron bangle he forced me to wear wasn't a gift for my protection. "It's a Malocchio anchor," he sneered as I lay paralyzed on the floor. "It drains the wearer's luck to keep Sofia healthy. You are just the filter." My body began to rot from the inside out, my nerves dying one by one. When I was finally on my deathbed, unable to move or speak, Dante didn't cry for me. He cried because his tool was broken. He forced the cursed bangle onto his own wrist, begging the universe to keep me alive so I could continue to suffer in Sofia's place. "Please," he sobbed into my sheets. "Don't leave me alone with the bad luck." I used my last breath to make a wish—not for him, but for my freedom. I closed my eyes and died. Exactly one hour later, Dante's phone rang. It was his father. "Sofia just collapsed," he said. "Her heart just stopped." I was the vessel. And now that I was gone, the poison had come home to the King.

Action Mafia Romance

Allergic to Cheer

Chapter 1

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