Baki Mother

The moment I was born, my mother implanted a chip in my brain and began shaping me into her idea of a perfect daughter. She blocked my sense of hunger so I would only have simple meals daily to maintain the "ideal" figure. She erased my ability to feel pain so she could inject me with endless chemicals to keep my skin smooth and flawless. She tampered with my senses, deleting every trace of negative emotion from my mind, all so I could remain eternally innocent. I couldn't tell right from wrong. I didn't know sadness or anger. I only knew how to smile. When the neighbor's dog died, I smiled and was scolded harshly for being heartless. When my classmates bullied me, I smiled and became the class freak. When my grandfather passed away, I smiled again, and my relatives cursed me for being soulless. Eventually, my father couldn't take it anymore. He left us. Mom, however, didn't seem to care. "They don't understand," she told me. "Everything I've done is for your own good. One day, you'll thank me." … On my 18th birthday, she planned a grand live broadcast, ready to show the world her perfect creation. She never knew that the day before her grand broadcast, I had already lost myself completely. By then, I was no longer human. I had become a machine.

For Maya Bennett, a one-night stand was supposed to be just that—one night. But when she walks into her mother’s house and finds the man from that unforgettable night standing there as her mother’s new boyfriend, her world tilts on its axis. Daniel Hayes is everything Maya swore to avoid—powerful, devastatingly handsome, and emotionally unavailable. But the sparks that ignited between them can’t be extinguished, no matter how wrong it feels. At first, they promise to leave what happened between them in the past in order not to hurt Helen, but then when the small marketing firm Maya works for is acquired by Daniel’s company she is sent over to the executive department as part of the transitioning team. Things start to get heated and they eventually start to cave into their desires. Can love survive when it was never meant to exist? Or will it destroy everything in its wake?

If it was my sister being bullied, Mom and Dad would have believed her right away and fought for her without a second thought. However, it did not matter anymore. In my next life, I would pick parents who really cared about me.

In order to protect my father, I was tortured for ten hours, but my father was busy celebrating his adopted daughter’s eighteenth birthday. With my dying breath, I called my father and said, “Dad, it’s my birthday today. Could you wish me a happy birthday?” “You crazy monster! You got your mother killed in order to celebrate your birthday! How could you still ask me to celebrate your birthday? You should just die!” With that said, he hung up. The next day, my corpse was placed in different flower pots and put in front of a police station. My father was in charge of inspecting my corpse, and he could immediately tell that the murderer did this for revenge. What they did to me was cruel and made a mockery of the police’s authority. But he did not manage to tell that the deceased was the daughter he hated.

My mother was and is a lot of things, but I never knew she would dare leave her Billionaire husband on the Alter stranded. My soon to be step-father was a lot of things, but he wasn’t one to accept humiliation. And for that reason he made me Amelia, the daughter of my runaway mother to take her place on the alter.

Umambon sa Baguio nang gabing iyon, at si Lia Santiago, heartbroken sa betrayal ng ex na pinsan niya, ay napadpad sa Luna Azul bar. Doon niya nakilala si Rafael Ilustre, mysterious, commanding, at intense, at nagkaroon sila ng gabing puno ng tawa, tequila, at titig na nag-iwan ng hindi malilimutang connection. Nagising si Lia na wala si Rafael, pero may ring sa daliri at note na nagsasabing “No regrets”—at doon niya na-realize na siya ang live-in partner ng ina niya. Sa brunch at dinner, lumabas ang forbidden attraction at guilt, habang unti-unting nabunyag ang nakaraan nina Rafael at Vivian. Sa terrace at villa, bawat dialogue at sulyap ay puno ng tension at emosyon, habang lumalalim ang mystery at personal stakes. Ang nobela ay isang emotional rollercoaster ng forbidden attraction, family secrets, at choices na magbabago sa buhay, at magpapa-question sa puso at isip ni Lia sa bawat sandali.

Pagkalipas ng apat na taong pagkukulong sa maliit na mundo niya, ipinasya ni Amber na piliting kalimutan ang mapait na karanasan sa buhay at makipagsapalaran sa Maynila para muling bumangon at tuparin ang kaniyang mga pangarap para sa kaniyang pamilya. Pero ang hindi niya napaghandaan sa kaniyang pagbangon ay ang muling pagsasanga ng kanilang landas ng lalaking pilit na niyang kinakalimutan. Sa muli nilang pagkikita ng dating kasintahan ay mapapatunayan niyang mahal pa rin niya ito sa kabila ng pagdaan ng mga taon. Muling nagmahal ang puso niya para sa lalaking ang nararamdaman sa kaniya ay pagkasuklam. At wala itong ginawa kun'di ang sariwain ang sugat na nag-iwan sa kaniya ng napakalalim na peklat. Darating pa nga ba ang pagkakataon na malalaman nila ang tunay na dahilan kung bakit sila nagkahiwalay noon, o pinagtagpo lang silang muli para tukdukan ang kanilang relasyon na sinubok ng panahon?

Walang modo, bully, bad boy at siga, ganoon si Shawn Rebato kung ilarawan ng mga taong nakakakilala sa kanya. Kilala ito bilang leader ng fraternity sa isang University na pinapasukan nito. Lahat kinakatakutan si Shawn, ang mag-angas at humamon sa binata ay makakatikim nang matinding parusa. Hanggang sa isang transferee student ang malakas ang loob na kontrahin at hamunin ito. Si Charlene Dimagiba, isang transferee student. Nasunugan ng bahay sa Maynila kaya walang ibang pagpipilian ang magulang ni Charlene kung hindi ang bumalik sa Davao kung saan nakatira ang ibang kamag-anak nila. Back to zero sila. Kaya labag man sa loob ng dalaga ang paglipat ng school ay wala na itong ibang nagawa. Subalit hindi inaasahan ni Charlene na sa unang araw pa lang nito sa University, imbes kaibigan ang mahahanap niya. Isang kaaway pala ang makikilala nito agad. Lumaking palaban si Charlene kaya kahit anong pang pambu-bully ni Shawn ay hindi uubra sa kanya. Ngunit, pagdating sa insidenteng puri na ng dalaga ang nakasalalay ay ibang usapan na. Sa paanong paraan ba makakabawi si Shawn kay Charlene? Maniwala kaya ang dalaga kung aamin si Shawn sa totoong damdamin nito? Pero paano na lang kung malaman ni Shawn na may ibang mahal si Charlene? Kailangan na ba ni Shawn na magparaya?

After almost a decade, muling nagbalik sa Pilipinas si Zam galing Australia. Kung siya lamang ang masusunod ay hindi na niya gugustuhin pang bumalik ng Farm nila sa Mindanao, pero mapilit ang Kuya Marco niya. The place reminded her of so many bitter memories in the past. Mga alaalang ayaw na sana niyang balikan pa. Ngunit masyado nga namang mapaglaro ang tadhana. Dahil sa muling pagbabalik niya sa farm ay hindi niya akalaing mag tatagpo rin muli ang landas nila ni Caleb, her brother's Bestfriend. Isa kasi ito sa mga nanakit sa puso niya noon at naging dahilan kung bakit agad niyang tinapos ang kanyang pagbabakasyon noon. At sa muli nilang paghaharap ni Caleb ay naramdaman niyang muli ang sakit ng nakaraan. Sakit at damdamin na matagal na niyang kinalimutan. Maniniwala ba siya rito na mahal siya nito, gayong mariin siyang pinagtulakan nito noon papalayo?

A web of secrets and lies threatens to destroy a marriage and a friendship. When Sophia sacrifices her son to save her friend's marriage, she never expects the truth to come back to haunt her. But as deception and betrayal unravel, Luciano is left with an impossible choice: his wife or the truth. Will Hanna's greed prevail, or will Sophia's selfless love redeem them all?