Appointment In Samarra

I've been married to the prince of the underworld for ten years and have endured countless life-or-death situations by his side. My hands, once trained to play the piano, are covered in calluses from holding guns and stained with blood. But at 28, my husband ends up falling for a young woman from the slums. She's as delicate and pure as a chamomile. She's his well-kept little secret—until I run into them at the woman's prenatal appointment one day. I storm up to him, demanding an explanation, only for him to nonchalantly hand me divorce papers. "Sonia is a devout follower of the church and can't have a child before marriage. I must make an honest woman out of her. Sign these, and you'll get 40% of the company's shares." I refuse to do as told, so he corners me. In the end, he has my crippled younger brother tied up and forced under a hydraulic compression machine. "Sign the papers, Maeve, or watch your brother become a human mince pie. The choice is yours." I fall on my knees and beg him to stop. As the machine turns on, my hands fly to my aching lower belly, and I scream as I lose consciousness. When I wake up again, I'm back in the hospital, in the same spot where I ran into my husband and his mistress at her prenatal appointment. This time, I don't confront him. Overnight, I make arrangements with a sanatorium abroad, get divorced, and run away from home. Yet the moment I truly disappear, my husband loses his mind.

Sebastian Sterling was the CEO of the Sterling Group, ranked third among the world's wealthiest business leaders. We had a five-year-long relationship, three years of which we lived together. He told me he loved me so much that he was willing to sacrifice himself for me, yet he never gave me the title of Mrs. Sterling. During those three years of living together, he betrayed me three times, pushing me into hell with his own hands. The first time, he secretly obtained a marriage certificate with his close friend's widow. However, he knelt before me, crying and begging me to believe that it was just for protection. The second time, under the spotlight of media cameras and thousands of watching eyes, he held her hand and announced that she was his wife and the lady of the Sterling family. Backstage, he gripped my hand and swore in a low voice that he would marry me once everything ended. The third time, he spent a passionate night with her and got her pregnant. I discovered the truth when I saw them at the hospital, attending a prenatal appointment together. Loving him was death by a thousand cuts. I forgave him again and again, yet he betrayed me every time. One day, I finally walked away. In my pocket was my positive pregnancy test—I was carrying the child he had always wanted. Only then did Sebastian collapse to his knees in regret, crying out my name with a broken voice. However, he had lost not just me, but the heir he never knew existed too!

On the day of my wedding, the video I had painstakingly prepared was suddenly replaced with intimate photos of my fiancé and my foster sister, Lindsey Remmington. Within minutes, it hit the top of the trending list. Overnight, I, a celebrated actress, became the abandoned bride of a wealthy family and a public laughingstock. Just when I thought I'd reached rock bottom, Connor Presley, the heir of Elluel City's most powerful family and the boy I'd grown up with, returned from abroad. In front of flashing cameras, he knelt with a diamond ring and proposed, silencing every rumor and every sneer. After we married, we appeared inseparable, our affection the picture of perfection. The only flaw was his infertility—his condition made it nearly impossible for me to conceive. For three long years, I underwent countless rounds of IVF. At last, I became pregnant. Connor was overjoyed. To celebrate, he threw an extravagant party in honor of our long-awaited child. But in the middle of the revelry, one of his closest friends, drunk and unguarded, muttered in Russian, "Connor, you've gone too far. Just because Lindsey was afraid pregnancy would ruin her figure, you put the zygote into Rachel's body and let her carry the baby for you two? If she ever finds out the truth, you'll regret it for the rest of your life." Connor's expression didn't waver. "This was Lindsey's only wish. I had to grant it," he replied coolly. "Besides, having a child with Lindsey has always been my dream. Only her child deserves to be the heir of the Presley family. The days ahead are long—I'll make it up to Rachel, eventually." I stood frozen, my body trembling uncontrollably. That night, I made an appointment for an abortion. When Connor stormed into the hospital, raging like a madman, I looked up at him with chilling calm and said, "I understand Russian."

Shamia Gyllette Sandler. Filipino-American. A famous Enterprenuer who owns the biggest magazine company, the Shamia’s Magazine located in London, the agency also have offices in New York City, Los Angeles and here in the Philippines. And as for the moment she’s giving her full attention in the SM that located in the Philippines.In her status in life she badly needed a skilled and trusted bodyguard that can protect and defend her in anything that may happen to her. She also wants the kind of bodyguard that she can bring anywhere around the world because she has many appointment and meetings around Philippine premises and abroad.Kaya lamang ay tila mahihirapan siya sa paghahanap ng ganoong klase ng bodyguard dahil hindi niya kayang ipagkatiwala ng basta ang kanyang buhay. Lalo na sa estado ng pamumuhay ng dalaga.Marami na siyang agencies na nakausap dahil na rin sa suhestiyon ng kanyang pamilya pero wala siyang natipuhan sa mga tauhan ng nasabing agencies. Hanggang sa may agency na nabanggit ang kaibigan niyang si Krystaleen. The good thing in the said agency is that she can choose whoever she wants to entrust her life. At nang papiliin at iharap na sa dalaga ang mga tauhan na maari niyang pagpilian nakuha ang atensiyon ni Shamia ng isang lalaki.Lalaking nag-ngangalang Kaiser Pineda. Ang lalaking pakiramdam niya’y ligtas siya sa mga bisig nito at kapag nasa tabi niya ito. Kaya’t ginawa niya ang sa tingin niya’y tama. Ngunit tama ba ang desisyon ng dalaga? Paano kung mahulog ang loob niya sa kaniyang bodyguard?Ngunit paano kung ang binatang kaniyang iniibig ay may mahal na palang iba? Ipaglalaban ba niya ang pusong umiibig o magparaya at palayain ang binatang minamahal, para sa sarili nitong kaligayahan?