Arti Shut Down Anyway

"Aku masih menjaga kamu dalam pikiranku AUSTRALIA." Haidar bangun dari tempat tidur. Mengusap wajah dan memandangi dinding kamarnya. Di sana ada brosur pendaftaran magister salah satu universitas di Australia. Sekolah yang menjadi impiannya saat ini. Namun semua itu tidaklah mudah untuk di wujudkan, bertahun-tahun ia dan ibunya berpindah-pindah rumah demi menutupi jati diri mereka. Tinggal di rumah yang reot serta makan dari hasil belas kasihan orang. Semua pekerjaan dilakukan ibunya agar dia bisa sekolah seperti anak-anak Aceh pada umumnya. "Kau anak seorang pejuang. Kakekmu juga seorang pejuang. Jangan ada air mata untuk setiap masalah yang kau hadapi." Kalimat itu yang diulang-ulang ibunya setiap kali Haidar menangis karena ejekan teman sekolah. Terpaan ibunya tiap hari membuat keteguhan hati Haidar menjadi sekuat batu. Sama seperti namanya, Ibnu Haidar. Nama ini dalam bahasa Arab artinya, si Anak Batu.

Setelah terlahir kembali, hal pertama yang dilakukan Amalia Moore adalah berlutut di hadapan kedua orang tuanya. Setiap kata yang terucap dari bibirnya penuh dengan sarat ketulusan. "Ayah, Ibu, tentang perjodohan dengan Keluarga Lewis, aku memilih untuk nikah dengan Joey Lewis." Mendengar pernyataan putri mereka yang begitu tiba-tiba, orang tua Amalia tampak benar-benar terkejut. "Amalia, bukankah orang yang kamu sukai itu Hugo? Lagi pula, Joey adalah paman Hugo." Seakan teringat sesuatu, sorot mata Amalia sedikit berubah. Suaranya mengandung kepedihan yang sulit disembunyikan. "Justru karena aku tahu konsekuensi dari mencintainya, aku nggak lagi berani mencintai." "Ayah, Ibu, selama ini aku nggak pernah minta apa pun dari kalian. Sebagai nona dari keluarga terpandang yang telah nikmati kemewahan dan nama besar keluarga, aku sadar nikah bisnis adalah tanggung jawab yang harus kupikul. Aku hanya punya satu permintaan ini. Tolong, penuhi permintaanku."

Perbedaan status yang memisahkan mereka yang diakhiri dengan kerelaan gadis itu melihat pasangannya memiliki kehidupan yang bahagia bersama dengan keluarganya, itulah cerminan cinta sejati dari gadis lugu itu.

Bilang isang bastardang anak, nagsumikap si Mia para kilalanin at tanggapin siya ng matagumpay na negosyanteng nagmamay-ari ng Blacksmith Hotels na si Vincent Ferrer, ang amang kaniyang tinitingala. Hindi siya nabigo at dumating rin ang araw na sa wakas ay kinilala siya ni Vincent bilang anak nito. Kinilala rin nito ang kaniyang talino sa larangan ng negosyo at hinirang siya bilang bagong CEO ng Blacksmith Hotels. Sa parehong araw, ay inalok siya ng kasal ng kaniyang nobyong si Oliver. All at once, she had it all. But all at once, she lost them... Nagkaroon ng malaking problema ang Blacksmith Hotels, at siya ang sinisi ng kaniyang ama. He threatened to remove her from her position, ngunit kusa siyang nagbitiw. On the same day, she discovered that Oliver and her half-sister, Natalia, were cheating on her. Pumunta siya sa isang bar para uminom ng alak at pansamantalang makalimot. Just a few shots, and she got dizzy. Isang estranghero ang umupo sa tabi niya at um-order ng whisky. She could tell that he was hot even with her eyes half-shut. As he was about to drink his whiskey, she snatched the glass from him and drank it right away. The next thing she knew, she found herself in the stranger's bed. In his arms, she went straight from a tough, independent woman to a damsel in distress. She let down her walls, and she has given him what's left of her— her virginity! Was it just a one-night stand? Or has she found her knight in shining armor?

The night before the company went public, my wife told me she had a surprise for me and reminded me to dress up for the occasion. I thought she was planning to reveal our secret relationship, and I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep all night. However, the next day, in front of everyone, she announced that I was a creepy obsessive admirer. On top of that, she revoked my promotion and gave my position to her first love who had just returned to the country. Everyone was waiting to see me humiliated. I froze for a moment but quickly composed myself, walking up to her first love with a faint smile. Then, I took off the badge on my chest and placed it on him. “As the new director, you should celebrate, shouldn't you? How about a wedding? I’ll officiate for you two.” Glaring at me coldly, my wife told me to get lost and stop embarrassing myself. What they didn’t know was that I was the key connection holding the entire company together. If I left, none of the investors would back them anymore.

I'm about to marry Andre Lawson, a Waller Street tycoon, while my boyfriend of ten years, a blue-blooded attorney, still has no idea. His first love returns from Galoria, and now his phone floods with intimate photos of the two of them reliving their Lierre League alma mater days. On Valentine's Day, he reserves a private room at one of Zradstin's top Talision restaurants and orders a mango-nut cake, completely forgetting I'm allergic to both. We end up in a full-on whipped cream fight before he recalls my allergy. When the doctor arrives, I'm the one signing the emergency paperwork alone. That's also the moment I agree to the marriage my family arranges.

As Christmas drew near, my little sister claimed she’d seen Santa Claus in the house. “He had four legs, real long, like dead branches. He crawled on the floor like a dog. His mouth was full of teeth, and I saw him with my own eyes, climbing out of the chimney. His bones were making this clicking, clacking sound.” The Santa she described was nothing like the legends. My parents and I thought it was just her imagination. Until I posted about it online. A user named “NocturneNotes” insisted my sister wasn’t lying, and that the thing was dangerous. Panicked, I asked him what we should do. He gave me three rules: “On Christmas Eve, from 11:30 PM to 2:00 AM, the entire family must ‘sleep’ by the Christmas tree.” “You can’t actually fall asleep, or you’ll die in your sleep.” “No matter what you hear or feel, you absolutely cannot open your eyes or stop pretending to be asleep. Once it hits 2:00 AM, it will leave on its own.”

On the day of the state-wide exam, the Johanson family's real daughter accused me of cheating. Two perfect-score papers lay side by side, identical in every detail. No matter how I argued, I could not clear my name. Everyone sided with her. They branded me a cheater and cast me out of the Johanson family in front of everyone. To appease her, the Johansons went even further. They used their influence to blacklist me across every industry within their reach. I ended up sleeping on the streets. One hardship followed another until my thoughts dulled and a car struck me with such force that it sent me airborne. Even at the end, one question haunted me: "Why did my paper match hers?" Then I opened my eyes and found myself back in the exam room. This time, I turned in a blank sheet. I wanted to see for myself how someone who scored zero could possibly copy anyone.

She’s done surviving for everyone else. Now she’ll live for herself—even if it kills her. Kylee has always kept her head down. At school, she’s invisible. At home, she’s broken—caught between a stepfather’s rage and a mother who refuses to see the damage. The only way to cope is silence. Numbness. Disappearing. But then Price moves in next door. He’s all wrong for her: too charming, too curious, too determined to see what she’s worked so hard to bury. Still, Kylee can’t help but let him in. And with Price comes something else—something she can’t explain. Scratches on her skin she didn’t make. Whispers in the night she swears aren’t hers. Visions of a girl who looks just like her, begging to be remembered. As her grip on reality frays, Kylee must choose: stay hidden in the shadows of her pain, or face a truth darker than she ever imagined. Because someone is watching her. Someone who wants her to forget. But this time, Kylee won’t be anyone’s ghost. A haunting, emotional slow-burn romance with a twist of the paranormal. Because sometimes the bravest thing a girl can do is write her own heartbeat—and choose to live it out loud.

My husband and mother-in-law fell off the cliff in my past life. I was pregnant and fell into a coma. I could not take the blow and had a miscarriage. A few days later, the neighbors informed me that my child could not be saved and urged me to see him for the last time. The corpses of my husband and mother-in-law were nowhere to be found. A year later, our house was demolished. However, I accidentally consumed paraquat. I saw my husband and my mother-in-law when I was dying. "Finally, we got rid of you. My grandson and my daughter-in-law can finally marry." Next to my mother-in-law was Jessie Charles, the girl next door, and a little boy.