2021 Christmas

Impian hidup seperti apa yang sudah dirangkai oleh Aneira Zahna Nalani, sepertinya tidak akan pernah terwujud. Kepribadiannya yang cerdas, penurut, rajin, baik, dan segala bentuk sempurna seorang gadis remaja kebanggaan orangtua serta guru tetap tidak menjamin hidupnya terbebas dari masalah. Ketika di usinya yang baru tujuh belas tahun, selain tanggung jawab belajar dengan giat, tiba-tiba ia dihadapkan pada sebuah tanggung jawab besar mengurus keluarga. Bermula dari tragedi kematian papanya yang meninggalkan sebuah misteri, membawa ia bertemu dengan sosok Keanu Atlan Bumi. Cowok berwujud sempurna, tampan, kaya, cerdas, yang selama ini berkeliaran di sekitarnya, namun tidak pernah terbayangkan akan menjadi bagian dari kisah hidupnya. Kisah hidup monotonnya yang seakan sudah tertulis harus banting setir ketika mengenal Atlan juga orang-orang di sekitar cowok itu. Tidak ada lagi siklus "sekolah untuk belajar, lulus, kemudian kuliah, lalu bekerja." Yang terjadi justru "sekolah untuk mendapat masalah dan musuh." Lalu, kisah seperti apa sebenarnya yang akan diukir Atlan untuk Neira? • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • KISAH DI PENGHUJUNG SMA (Teenfiction) Fhyfhyt Safitri 02 Oktober 2021

Clarabella Sutomo, diusianya yang sudah kepala tiga itu dia harus terpaksa tetap melajang karena sang kekasih yang notabene sudah memiliki isteri itu memaksanya menjalani hubungan terlarang dengan dokter jantung yang sudah dipacarinya sejak lama. Arga Yoga Saputra, dokter jantung dengan sejuta pesona itu harus terpaksa menjalani pernikahan atas kehendak orang tuanya, menikahi Indira Yustina Pramudhita, anak pemilik rumah sakit tempatnya bekerja. Arga sampai kapanpun hanya mencintai Clara, membuat dia melakukan segala cara untuk bisa tetap memiliki kekasihnya itu. Lantas bagaimana dengan istri dari Arga? Dan bagaimana jika ada pria ambisius lain yang datang dan menginginkan Clara? Apa yang akan terjadi dan siapa yang akan memiliki hati residen anestesi itu sepenuhnya? Sebuah cerita yang menyadarkan kita bahwa sebenarnya perselingkuhan itu bisa terjadi pada siapa saja, dengan alasan apa saja. Bahwa sebenarnya bukan cinta yang mendasari semua itu ada, melainkan nafsu dan ambisi yang perlahan-lahan mendorong manusia untuk berbuat tidak selayaknya. Surakarta, 9 September 2021

Je me suis toujours demandée comment les choses allaient se terminer pour moi... Après avoir perdu mes parents de façon étrange, ma vie n'a plus de sens et mes envies perdent de leur couleur. Mais il a fallut d'un seul renvoi de mon lycée à Wilmington, en Caroline du Nord, pour changer tout ça. Je devais à tout prix m'éloigner de cette ombre qui me hantait, et volait mes sommeils. Mon petit-ami, Jack, s'inquiétait beaucoup pour moi... donc le mieux était de prendre du recul, et aller à Boston, avec la soeur de ma mère. J'ai été sauvée lors d'une balade en moto par un membre de la famille Williams, et cet homme a changé mon existence... mais mon addiction a vite grandit. Sean Williams est devenu ma raison de vivre, mais j'étais pour lui sa raison de tuer. // Date de publication 14 mai 2021 // Couverture : l'auteur

Even before marrying Wayne Cooper, I knew he had a fierce sister-in-law. He would always tell me to never get into a fight with her. After we marry, we spend Christmas Eve at his parents' house for the first time. I'm forced to bustle around in the kitchen as I prepare a feast for over a dozen people. Meanwhile, Wayne's family lounges in the living room. They chatter away while enjoying the fruits I've washed and sliced. As I place the last dish on the table, Wayne's brother and sister-in-law, Kyle Cooper and Lucy Wren, arrive. When I want to take my seat, I discover there isn't one for me. That's when Lucy snorts and says sarcastically, "I heard you're a good wife who's obedient and easygoing, Melanie. I have to say that your cooking is… mediocre, though." This infuriates me. I'm about to retort when she turns to my mother-in-law. She says, "I think you should do the cooking from now on, Gloria. Your food is delicious…"

On Christmas Eve, my six-year-old, Yule, was dying from cancer, and all he wanted was a gift from his dad dressed as Santa. I called Peter, my husband, begging him to come. His reply? "Can you stop blowing up my phone? I don't have time for this! I'm helping Tracey find Puffy. Do you know how upset she is?" Oh, Tracey. His first love. And Puffy? Her dog. I told him Yule might not make it through the night. His response? A straight-up dagger: "Don't act like this isn't your fault, Freya. If Yule hadn't kicked Puffy, none of this would've happened. Tomorrow, make sure he apologizes to Tracey." Then he hung up. That night, I sat with Yule, crying as I helped him celebrate his last Christmas. By morning, Peter's social medias were still full of posts about that freaking dog. Mine? Yule's obituary. Ten years of marriage, gone.

We're releasing balloons on Christmas Eve when Milton Jenning's lover deliberately sets off fireworks. They explode on me, burning me severely. My back, already torn and raw from skin grafts for her, becomes even more of a bloodied mess. However, I don't ask Milton for help. Instead, I shield a recently reunited heir of a wealthy family beneath me, risking everything to save him. In my past life, Milton kicked me in the back and told me not to stand in the way of him taking his lover to the hospital. "Is it funny to you to use a child as a cover, Larissa? Even if you're pregnant, you and your baby are just walking skin providers for Rita! I must've spoiled you—how dare you do something as heinous as this!" I was blacklisted by all hospitals and ended up dying while pregnant. My heart was filled with hatred as I breathed my last breath. When I open my eyes again, I see Rita Atkinson secretly aim fireworks at the night sky and set them off. I hear her laugh manically as she says, "You and your child can die together!"

After Nathan Seville stands me up for the seventh time we're supposed to register our marriage, I finally cut all ties with him—completely and on my own terms. If he shows up at a gathering, I don't go. If he's invited to perform at the college anniversary, I leave early. The moment my company decides to work with him, I resign on the spot. Even on Christmas Eve, when he shows up at my house with gifts, I make up an excuse about needing to visit someone. Calls? Blocked. Socials? Deleted. My strategy is simple—cut it all off. I don't reach out, and he has no way of finding me. For the first 30 years of my life, I spent most of it loving him with everything I had. I cared for him, supported him, and waited for him. But after being left hanging for the seventh time at the City Hall, I finally wake up. I don't want to live like this anymore. Even if I end up alone, it's still better than spending night after night waiting in an empty house that never feels like home!

It was Christmas Eve. Once again, my parents left me alone at home, chasing triple pay at work. However, after twenty years of the same lonely holiday, I couldn’t take it anymore. I didn’t want to sit in the quiet house by myself again, so I packed up some sandwiches and went to them. What I didn’t expect was to see them stepping out of a luxury car, arms linked with a boy who looked about my age, laughing like they didn’t have a care in the world, heading straight into a five-star hotel. “Mom, Dad, is it okay to leave Suzie all alone at home like that?” My mom waved it off and said, “It’s fine. She’s used to it.” My dad just brushed it off with a chuckle. “She’s nothing like you. You're our real treasure.” Upon hearing that, I turned and walked away. They'd been pretending to be broke all these years, lying to me about working overtime, about scraping by. Well, fine. If they don’t want me, I’m done wanting them, too.

Jordan Sanders had a one-night stand at a Christmas party after having too much to drink. She woke up the next morning with no memory of the night and her thought now was of the interview that she might be late for. After entering the office of Cameron Carter (CEO) of Carter's Enterprise Holdings, he said something she never expected. "It's you." "Yes, I'm here for an interview." "No." He shook his head. "Yes." I nodded mine. "Don't you remember? We spent last night together." He declared. I lurched back at his words. "Maybe I can jog your memory." He gave a lopsided smirk. Before I could process what he was doing, his lips were on mine. Kissing me deeply. After her failed interview, Jordan's life seems to spiral out of control, she learns that Cameron Carter blacklisted her from ever being able to get a job in America. Her mother is sick and her past is catching up to her. But despite all this, Jordan has yet another one-night stand. This time with Jasper Morgan. But who will Jordan choose when both men start to show interest in her?

I've raised my son, Caleb Bennett, for nine years, but today I found out he was never mine. Claire Bennett, my wife, shamelessly tells me to leave with nothing. She says Caleb's real father is Lincoln Lancaster, heir to the most powerful family in Berglaton. The Lancaster family has few direct heirs left, so if Lincoln acknowledges Caleb as his son, Lincoln can easily surpass his frail uncle and become the rightful successor. Caleb says, "You think you deserve to be my dad? My real father could crush your whole family with a snap of his fingers!" Margaret Quigley, Claire's mother, adds, "If Claire hadn't gotten pregnant with Lincoln's child back then, do you really think we'd have let someone like you marry into our family?" I don't fight back. I just sign the divorce papers in silence. After that, I take out my phone and call my father, James Lancaster, who has been waiting for me in Berglaton all these years. "Come pick me up on Christmas Eve," I say. "I'm ready to go home and take over the family."