Anong Tawag Sa Joke

On Valentine's Day, I wait for my wife, Nancy Curtis, to get off work after preparing a candlelit dinner for our date. But she only texts me at 9:00 pm. "I have something going on at the company. There's no need to wait for me." Soon, I see a Facebook post made by Nancy's secretary, Derek Jones. "I'm on a business trip with my female boss on Valentine's Day. The thing is, the hotel's fully booked. Oops, this is getting awkward…" The photo in the post features a feminine silhouette standing in front of a floor-to-ceiling window while draped in a bathrobe. Everyone in the comment section compliments Derek for being lucky, seeing as the boss of his has a smoking hot figure and is extremely charming. Derek merely replies with a cheeky emoji. So, it turns out that Nancy's "business" is having fun with her own secretary, eh? I take a screenshot of Derek's post before uploading it to my own social media feed. I even include a smiley as a caption. Immediately, Nancy calls me on the phone and starts berating me. "Derek was just cracking a joke! Why are you being so petty, huh? And here I thought you were mature!" I end the call immediately before texting her, "Let's get a divorce."

At Evermont High, Aria Valdez is the girl no one notices—the quiet shadow in crowded hallways, the name no one bothers to remember. But everyone knows Zachary Knight. Feared, admired, and impossible to ignore, Zachary rules the school with reckless charm and a cruel reputation. A notorious heartbreaker and relentless bully, he thrives on power and attention. So when he sets his eyes on Aria, it starts as nothing more than a game. A cruel bet. A harmless target. A girl too invisible to fight back. But fate has a twisted sense of humor. The more Zachary tries to break her, the more he finds himself drawn to her quiet strength. The girl he planned to humiliate becomes the one person who sees through his arrogance… and reaches the fragile heart he never lets anyone touch. What begins as a joke slowly turns into something dangerously real. Love. But just when Aria finally lets herself believe in their impossible story, the truth shatters everything. Zachary's time is running out. And the boy she fell in love with only has 100 days left to live. One hundred days to laugh. One hundred days to love. One hundred days before goodbye. In a race against time and fate, they must face the most heartbreaking question of all— Can a love that started as a lie survive when time itself is the enemy?

When the college admission notice arrived, I suddenly developed a high fever and was bedridden. My sister encountered a kidnapping on her way to help me collect the notice, and her life was uncertain. My parents hated me deeply. After tearing up my admission notice, they forced me to give up my studies and work in a factory. Later, I experienced a kidnapping as well. After narrowly escaping, I hid in an abandoned factory and sent them a message for help. My dad called me and shouted at me without restraint, “Lena, are you even human? How could you play such a joke on us on Jessica's memorial day!” “Do you have any idea how much your mom and I wished it had been you who died back then?” In my last moments before death, their insults echoed in my ears. I was tortured and killed, turned into a monster, and my body was thrown into a stinking ditch for three full days. Even my father, the most experienced forensic expert, couldn’t recognize me. When my sister returned home with the guy she eloped with years ago, my dad had just restored my appearance through technology. They knelt before my decaying corpse and cried until they fainted.

Before my wedding, my vision which I lost after saving Bruce unexpectedly returned. Overjoyed, I hurried to share the wonderful news with him, but as I stepped into the living room, I froze. Bruce and my cousin, Kerry, were in a passionate embrace. "Bruce, the baby is perfectly healthy now. The doctor said we can sleep together again! Why don't we do it right here in the living room? Also, isn't it thrilling to do it here while Nancy is asleep in her room?" "Shut up! Don't joke about my wife like that!" Bruce snapped at her, but his reprimand was accompanied by a kiss. I stood there, watching in shock as their movements grew more intense and their breathing became heavier. Only then did I piece it all together. Their sudden shared enthusiasm for indoor workouts six months ago wasn't about fitness at all. Covering my mouth to stifle a sob, I turned back to my room and shut the door. I decided then and there: Bruce didn't need to know I had recovered. Reaching for my phone, I dialed my mother. "Mom, I'm not marrying Bruce anymore. I'll marry the comatose heir of the Blakes instead. I don't need Bruce in my life."

After the tragic death of my best friend, I took her younger brother in and treated him like my own. Everyone knew how much Zach Lawson meant to me, so much so that I vowed not to marry because I could not bear leaving him. The day he turned eighteen, he got on one knee and asked me to marry him. With tears of joy streaming down my face, I took the bouquet from him, only to realize they were made of writhing snakes. Everyone laughed at my misfortune. It was an artfully crafted joke, at my expense. Thalia Lewis laced her arm through Zach's and grinned. "Sorry about that, Sydney. It was just an innocent prank. Zach is willing to do anything to make me smile!" Zach gave me a look of utter disgust. "Is this what you think of me? You're my sister! How can you even think of marrying me? This is vile! Is this the reason you took me in? Have you been secretly pining for me since the start?" My whole life had come crashing down around me. I was overcome with shock, misery, and despair, until Connor Grey showed up and asked for my hand in marriage.

At our college graduation, my fiance suddenly proposed to Lillie Stewart, my best friend, in front of everyone. I became a joke in front of everyone. Right after Lillie accepted my fiance’s proposal, Lloyd Becker, heir to the biggest mafia family on the West Coast, publicly said he loved me. Lloyd was known in the mafia world for being serious and never getting involved with women. So, when he showed an interest in an orphan like me, it made the news. We got married, and for five years, he was so sweet and treated me like a princess. But one day, I accidentally overheard him talking to his friend. “Lillie is already set to become the future lady of the Gacira family. Are you really going to keep the act up with Nelly?” “If I can’t have Lillie, it doesn’t matter who I marry. As long as I’m with Nelly, Lillie can live peacefully.” He even gave Lillie the symbol of the Becker family’s lady. He helped Lillie build her career while letting me fade into the background. After five years of marriage, I finally understood. On our fifth anniversary, I pretended to die in a shooting so he could be with the woman he truly loved. But instead of being happy, Lloyd completely broke down.

One year ago, my life was picture perfect. I have a loving family and a boyfriend who adore me, Elias. He is wolfless but his Alpha father think him capable of leading the pack, and I was to become his Luna. Jasper, Elias’s younger brother took advantage of his good-natured wolfless brother and forced him out when the old Alpha died suddenly. When I saw the blood on Jasper’s hands, I knew I would never see Elias again. Then I find out this evil usurper is my mate. Jasper’s unstable temper and lust became a constant in my life. My body craves him, the bond between us was undeniable, a cruel joke played by the moon goddess. Then one day, with his cold voice he told me he is going to reject me, and he did. At the coronation ceremony of his new Luna, I discover that my second chance mate is actually the mysterious Lycan King. What’s even more shocking is that except for the color of his eyes, this Lycan King looks exactly like my dead Elias. Who is he? Will he be my salvation or another nightmare? If he is Elias, how can I face him?

Katherine Dalton was once the pride of the Blackwood Pack. As the Beta’s daughter, she thought she had everything, a happy family and a bright future—to be Alpha Harrison’s Luna. She loved Harrison deeply for five years. But fate had other plans. Her best friend was claimed by Alpha Harrison as his fated mate, only to die shortly after, and Katherine became the prime suspect. Faced with the Beta rank and her brother’s future, her parents abandoned her. Alpha Harrsion threw her into prison, despite her countless repeated that she never killed Elisa. In prison, she endured endless torment and lost her connection with her wolf. She never thought she would be freed again by a stranger. But Harrison hasn’t done with her. He forbade any pack from taking her in, unless she became a slave or a whore. Katherine vowed she would never forgive him. Until the Moon Goddess played a cruel joke, binding them together as second chance mates. As the secrets behind the murder begin to unravel, Harrison regrets and refuses to let her go again. But is it already too late? And Harrison’s rebellious half-brother turned to be the very man who freed Katherine from the jail. Now we have a broken woman, two unwilling Alphas, and two mate bonds.

“I, Julius Armstrong, reject Doris Charles as my mate.” The laughter came right after. This was the second time my mate rejected me because I cannot talk. In the pack, they call me dumb not because I am stupid, but because I am mute. When I turned eighteen, my first mate rejected me for that reason. Today, it was the Gamma. He is twenty-one, the same age as the Alpha and Beta. This was his third rejection. The first girl was too fat, the second was too short and now, I was dumb. I never wanted to attend the mating ceremony. I knew how it would end, but my stepmother forced me to go, and my stepsisters came just to watch me get mocked again. The next day, wolves who had found their mates returned to officially claim them before the Alpha and pack leaders. I went only because I was forced, just to stand there and watch my stepsister get chosen. Then something happened that no one expected. The Alpha claimed me as his mate in front of everyone. Was I shocked? Yes. Did I believe him? No. Did I think it was a cruel joke? Absolutely. Because no Alpha would choose a rejected, mute girl like me.

Nang tawagin ng isang bata si Lucien Cortez na “Papa,” nabasag ang limang taong lihim. Pinili ni Althea Reyes na itago ang bunga ng isang gabing pagkakamali. Para sa kanya, sapat nang manatili sa mundong tahimik at malayo sa lalaking hindi niya kailanman naging bahagi. Ngunit sa isang hindi inaasahang pagkakataon, napadpad siya sa mansyon ng mga Cortez at muling nagkrus ang landas nila. Hindi siya maalala ni Lucien. Ngunit hindi rin niya magawang iwasan ito. Habang unti-unting lumalabas ang katotohanan, mas nagiging komplikado ang lahat. Lalo na nang mabunyag na ang alaala ni Lucien ay unti-unting nawawala kasama ang anumang koneksyon niya kay Althea. At sa gitna ng pagkalimot, may isang bagay na nananatili. Isang damdaming hindi niya maipaliwanag ngunit hindi rin niya kayang bitawan. Kapag ang alaala ay tuluyang nawala, sapat pa ba ang damdamin para manatili ang pag-ibig?