After Reading

The silver blade sliced across my throat, and I collapsed in a spreading pool of blood. I called Ethan ninety-nine times. My brother ignored every single call, but on the ninety-ninth try, he finally picked up. “What now?” Irritation dripped from every word. “Haven’t you caused enough trouble already? I’m in the middle of planning Lyra’s coming-of-age ceremony, and if you don’t show up, I’ll make you regret it.” “Ethan, please—help me—” My voice came out broken and ragged. He hung up. I tried reaching through our blood bond, desperate for him to feel something—anything at all—but he’d severed that connection two years ago. My phone battery was dying, and I watched the last bar flicker before the screen went black. I stopped struggling. The silver blade pierced my heart, and my wolf let out one final whimper before she died with me. Days later, the patrol found a body. The face was destroyed beyond recognition, torn apart and mangled. But Ethan still recognized the scar on the wrist—the one he’d sworn he would never forget.By then, it was too late.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

What hurts more than falling in love with a person who could never love you back? Eloise Rivers, being in dire need of money for her brother’s hospital fees, agrees to marry multi-millionaire Vaughn Ryder and become his surrogate. The catch? Vaughn gets to stay with his long-term girlfriend and divorce Eloise after she gives them the baby. However, in the worst circumstances, Eloise falls in love with Vaughn when Vaughn could never love her back. And now that she is pregnant, Vaughn suddenly wants to call off their deal? “I’m pregn—” “Let’s get a divorce,” Vaughn coldly said. “What?” Eloise looked at him with wide eyes. “Let’s call off the deal while you’re still not pregnant. Alina already said that she’s willing to start a family with me.” ‘But I already am,’ she wanted to say. But in the end, Vaughn had already made his decision. He didn’t want the baby.

Everyone envied how my best friend and I mated to the Alpha twins of the Creek Pack. But the pack didn't know that Victoria, their widowed stepmother, was the one the Alpha twins truly loved. My best friend Cathy and I planned to run away, but the night before our escape, she poisoned herself with wolfsbane. I called her mate Damon, but he sneered, "Luna, my brother says, your and Cathy's little tricks are getting really old. Are you going to jump off Silver Cliff tomorrow?"

Isang trahedya ang nagpabago sa buhay ni Amanda, ngunit ito rin ang nagdala sa kanya sa masaya at magandang buhay. Subalit ang kapalit nito ay ang pagkalimot niya sa kanyang nakaraan at mabuhay ng iba ang katauhan. Maayos na sana ang lahat kung hindi lang niya nakilala ang isang Jeremy Dawson. Ang Hot and Gorgeous Hotelier na isa rin sa Founder ng Hotel sa Venice Italy kung saan siya nag-attend ng OJT. Dahilan rin ito kung bakit nagsimulang malito ang kanyang puso. Ngunit hindi niya maitatanggi na ito rin ang nagturo sa kanya nang tunay na kahulugan ng pag-ibig. Nanaisin pa ba niyang balikan ang kanyang nakaraan upang makilala ang sarili o mananatili na lang sa buhay na puno ng kasinungalingan? Paano kung ang katotohanan pa lang ito ang mas higit na sisira sa kanyang pagkatao? Gugustuhin pa ba niyang malaman ang totoo o mas gugustuhin pa niyang baguhin na lang ang kanyang kapalaran? ___ Kaya ating tunghayan ang laban ng dalawang pusong nagmamahal. Ngunit walang kalayaang ibigin ang isa't-isa. Dahil sa pag-ibig palaging may nasasaktan at nagdurusa. ***** By: LadyGem25 06-28-22

Akala ni Elena ay handa na siyang umalis sa nakaraan matapos ang pagkakanulo ng kanyang pamilya at ang planong kasal na para lang sa kapatid niyang paborito. Sa isang gabing wasak ang puso at puno ng galit, nagpakalunod siya sa alak at sa yakap ng isang estrangherong lalaki-gabing akala niya'y mananatiling lihim magpakailanman. Pero hindi niya inaasahan na nakatakda na pala silang muling magkita. Ngayon, boss at sekretarya ni Enzo Monteverdi. Sa bawat titig na puno ng alaala at bawat sandaling sila lamang ang magkasama, unti-unting nabubuhay ang isang pagnanasa na hindi dapat maramdaman. Isang pag-ibig na kailangang itago. Isang lihim na maaaring sumira sa kanilang reputasyon, pamilya, at prinsipyo. Hanggang saan sila lalaban kung ang pagmamahal ay bawal... at ang mundo ay handang humusga?

Six years ago, I married this man, with all the love, trust, and loyalty in my heart. I loved him so much; I stayed with him when he had nothing, built with him, and we grew stronger together, hoping that we're going to be parents, soon… Now, he's cheating? Not with any other women out there, but my best friend. After everything we've been through together? That evening, I had walked in on him, half-naked on the bed with my best friend Sherry. But what shocked me the most, I was mocked for being barren. I couldn't bear the betrayal from the two people I cherish the most, so I left everything behind after he proposed to divorce me and marry her and gleaned into the night. Five years, later. I'm a mother of twin babies, have a business of my own, and married his boss at work. Guess who came running to me for forgiveness? My cheating husband! Should I forgive him or push him away?

Matapos ng tatlong taong pagiging martir at pagkakakulong sa sagradong kasal ni Alyson Samonte kay Geoffrey Carreon ay tuluyan na itong sumuko sa asawa. Sa kabila ng pagtulong ni Don Gonzalo Carreon na pigilan 'yun ay nangyari pa rin. Muntik na sanang magtagumpay ang Don, kaya lang isang pangyayari ang naganap. Nalagay sa alanganin ang buhay ni Alyson at ng mga batang nasa sinapupunan. Iyon ang naging daan upang tuluyang talikdan ni Alyson si Geoff na akala niya ay pipiliin na siya. Lumabas siya ng bansa. Pilit na bumangon, nangarap at nagsikap sa tulong ni Oliver Gadaza, sa pag-aakalang kaya niyang kalimutan ang dating asawa sa paglipas ng maraming taon. Sa pagbabalik niya ng Pilipinas bilang isa ng matagumpay na CEO ng sarili niyang kumpanya, muli kayang magsanga ang landas nila ni Geoff, ngayong nasa iisang industriya na sila? Ano ang mangyayari sa muli nilang pagkikita lalo pa kapag nalaman ni Geoff na nagkaroon pala sila ng triplets na mga anak ng dati niyang asawa na naging lingid sa kaalaman niya ng apat na taon? "Bakit ganyan ang hitsura mo? Ang payat mo. Pinapabayaan mo ba ang—" "Ano namang pakialam mo sa kung anong hitsura mayroon ako?" Napasuklay na ng buhok si Geoff upang supilin ang awang nadarama. Medyo guilty siya na baka dahil iyon sa annulment nila. "Kailangan kong makialam sa'yo Alyson dahil hindi ka pwedeng mamatay hangga't hindi pa tayo annul. Narinig mo? Ayokong gagamitin mo hanggang kamatayan ang apelyido ko!" "Huwag kang mag-alala, hindi pa ako mamamatay. Ayoko rin namang gamitin ang apelyido mo at ilagay sa magiging lapida ko."

My sister, Laura Ward, died the year we were ten, the year we snuck out of school to play. From that day forward, my mother’s grief turned into a burning hatred for me, convinced that I was the reason my sister was gone. She treated me like a servant, like an unwanted burden, and filled the void by adopting a perfect, obedient daughter to replace my sister. She took everything from me without a second thought — my rights, my freedom, my very existence — and even demanded that I give up a kidney for her precious adopted girl. Alright, Mother, if you want a life, I’ll give you mine! But it was only when my body lay cold, my breath long gone, that she finally turned and looked at me.

The day Naomi Blake would be the happiest of her life turned out to be the worst and it changed everything. Dumped by her fiancée two hours before their engagement party, Naomi drowned her heartbreak in alcohol. She woke up the next morning hungover…with a stranger in her bed. Desperate to forget the night, she left him a note calling him the worst mistake of her life and walked away certain she'd never see him again. But fate had other plans… Weeks later, the same man appears with a contract that could erase her family's crushing debts if she agrees to marry him, now Naomi is caught between danger and desperation. Six months. That's all rehearsal requires: six months of marriage, six months of pretending. No falling in love, no digging into his past, no breaking the contact, the rules are simple enough. Will Naomi be able to walk away after six months or will this dangerous arrangement turn into something real she can't escape?

In my previous life, everyone in my family could hear my mother's inner thoughts. I managed to land a new job. The pay was high, and the benefits were great. Instead of being happy for me, she was deeply anxious. She thought, "With her education and her abilities, how could she possibly get a job like that? She must've slept her way to it." After my father heard that, he refused to let me go to work. He stormed into my workplace, made a huge scene, and got me fired. I was furious and decided to move out for a while and stay at my boyfriend's place. On the surface, my mother supported my decision. Deep down, however, she was desperately trying to stop me. She thought, "What should I do? That boyfriend of hers has been married for years. He even has a child. She's someone's mistress. "If she really moves in, that man's wife will surely have a go at her. She'll embarrass the rest of us!" To keep me from leaving, my younger brother broke both my legs with a stick. Then, they locked me inside the house and leave me to suffer on my own. My wounds festered and became infected. I begged them to take me to the hospital, but my mother sighed inwardly, thinking, "She's so rebellious. No matter what anyone says, she insists on leaving this family. "In truth, there's nothing wrong with her legs at all. Once she gets to the hospital, she'll definitely escape." After that, everyone ignored my pleas and left me to die in agony. Even at the very end, I never knew who was to blame for my death. When I open my eyes again now, I realize that I, too, can hear my mother's inner thoughts.