Behind Every Joke There Is Some Truth

I married Leander Ivanov for love – even if our life together was more steady than passionate. After two years of building a quiet life side by side, I thought we were finally ready to start a family. I planned to tell him I was pregnant on his 30th birthday, surrounded by his favorite meal and the custom watch I’d spent months creating just for him. But when I turn on the news, I see him with Wren Harris – his first love, back in town after five years abroad. They look like the perfect couple, and the way he looks at her makes my heart shatter into pieces. When he comes home, he claims it was just a coincidence – but then Wren shows up at our door, wearing my watch and revealing the flowers he gave me were meant for her. As Wren and her mysterious business partner Leon Rossi weave their way into our lives, I start to suspect there’s more to their return than meets the eye. The rumors about a hostile takeover of Ivanov Industries aren’t just gossip – they’re part of a dangerous plan to destroy everything Leander’s family built. Now I have to fight for my marriage, my unborn child, and the company that means everything to the man I love. But can I trust Leander to choose us over the woman he once thought was his soulmate? And will the truth be enough to save us when lies threaten to tear our world apart?

"Sa paglubog ng araw, ang liwanag ay naglalaho. Katulad ng mga ngiting sa kalungkutan natatago." Si Maureen Cruz ay isang masayahin na tao. Kahit na lumaki siya na hindi nakukuha ang lahat ng kanyang ninanais ay hindi iyon naging dahilan upang hindi yakapin at bigyan ng halaga ang buhay na mayroon siya. Primarya lamang ang kanyang natapos, at hindi na siya nakapag-aral pa dahil sa kahirapan. Gayunpaman, ginamit niya ang lahat ng kanyang mga pinagdaanan upang lumaban ng patas sa hamon ng buhay. Hanggang saan siya susubukin at dadalhin ng kanyang matapang na personalidad kung pag-ibig na ang sumukat sa kanyang dignidad? Mapanindigan kaya niya ang pag-ibig na itinanim nito sa kanyang puso at diwa? Hanggang kailan? Tunghayan ang k’wentong pag-ibig ng isang babaeng magtuturo, kung gaano kaganda ang buhay mula sa likod ng takipsilim. DISCLAIMER: No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the author's consent. Please obtain permission. Names, Characters, Places and Incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. ️ WARNING ️ It may contain mature scenes and words. Read at your own risk.

Kepopuleran seorang artis bisa membuat banyak orang mengidolakannya, bahkan sampai memimpikan bisa bersama hidup satu atap bersama. Pasti sangat menyenangkan, kan? Itu tidak berlaku bagi Rafael, seorang mahasiswa di salah satu universitas negeri. Baginya, kepopuleran artis hanyalah omong kosong belaka. Kekesalan yang ia alami bukan tanpa sebab. Sara, teman masa kecil Rafael selalu membuatnya jengkel, padahal wanita itu berlabel artis papan atas paling populer. Sama hanya dengan teman masa kecil, Rafael mengetahui sikap, perilaku, hingga kebiasaan buruk Sara, kebanyakan dari itu tidak dipublikasikan karena ditakutkan berdampak pada popularitasnya sendiri. Hingga satu ketika, mereka tumbuh dewasa dan candaan yang mereka lakukan sejak dulu berubah menjadi taburan kisah menyenangkan. Akankah mereka tetap mempertahankan persahabatan itu atau justru mulai menjalin hubungan yang lebih serius?

Four days after my death, my four-year-old daughter finally sensed that something was terribly wrong. The fridge door slammed into her forehead when she tried to get a snack. Normally, I would've been there in a heartbeat—arms open, kisses ready, whispering, "You're okay, sweetheart, Mommy's here." But this time, I just lay on the bed, cold and still.​ She didn't understand. She thought the sweet treat would make me respond. So she held the final piece of chocolate up to my mouth. "Here, Mommy. Have some chocolate..." But I didn't even blink. She climbed into my arms, clutching my clothes tightly. "Mommy... Mommy, wake up..." She waited for me to stroke her hair, to tell her that everything was going to be fine. There was only silence.​ Completely lost and scared, she found my phone. "Daddy, why is Mommy still sleeping?" she asked, her voice filled with desperation.​ In response, Oliver sent a photo of himself having Christmas Eve dinner with his childhood sweetheart. His voice was icy cold when he replied, "She's just sleeping, not dead. It's Christmas Eve, and I'm busy. Tell her to stop playing games and come apologize when she's done sulking." Then he hung up.​ But when the truth finally hit Oliver—when the coroner's report came, when the police knocked on his door right in the middle of his laughter, when he realized I'd been lying dead for four days while he toasted—he broke.

Annabella has spent her life as the invisible daughter, the "little mouse" her brother mockingly named her. As the Beta's third-in-line heir, she should command respect. Instead, she endures her father Eugene's abuse in silence, documenting everything with hidden cameras while treasuring anonymous gifts from a secret admirer who sees her worth. For three years, she's found solace in Lucious, the second-born Alpha Heir who defies his brothers' cruel jokes to love her openly. But on her eighteenth birthday, everything changes. The mate bond doesn't just snap into place with Lucious; it ignites with all six Alpha Heirs. A legendary sixfold bond, the rarest connection their kind has known in centuries. Before Annabella can process this revelation, her world shatters. Her father didn't just abuse her; he sold her. A contract with the Moon Slashers Pack, half a million dollars, and a plan to rip her from Lucious's arms and deliver her to another Alpha's bed. Her brother Tate, her supposed protector, helped orchestrate it all. When Eugene's betrayal explodes at her coming-of-age breakfast, Annabella's forced first shift becomes a desperate flight for survival. Six mates who failed to protect her now race to prove their worth. A father willing to destroy anyone in his path to power. A mother she believed dead for five years: alive, drugged, imprisoned. And hidden camera footage revealing a conspiracy that spans multiple packs, threatens the Alpha's reign, and exposes a trafficking ring built on selling she-wolves like livestock. The little mouse was never weak. She was waiting for her moment to roar. Six mates. One truth. And chains that are finally breaking.

Six teenagers, each born with strange alien abilities, make their way to an mysterious academy to find answers to their heritage. Only to discover that their heritage may threaten the planet they love The story starts with six teenagers. Each recently finding out that they were born half human and half alien. The teenagers are invited to the mysterious Zen Academy, an institution that is kept secret from the rest of the world. There they meet the alluring Chancellor Thorne, the pure alien head master that informs the teenagers they are safe and her true desire is to help them control and understand their strange abilities. This, however, is her biggest lie.The teenagers soon discover that many of the students that fail the training portion of this Academy have started to go missing and the true colors of the good Headmaster begin to expose themselves. As teenagers escape the clutches of Zen Academy, they gradually we find out the Chancellor's true motives and the depths she will sink to achieve them. Despite their conflicting personalities, the teenagers must come together not only for their survival but also for the fate of the world. They are dangerous. They are threatening. They are The Ominous.

I had been on a business trip overseas for less than six months when I suddenly received a call from the hospital. "Mr. Jones, your wife is having a difficult labor. Should we proceed with a C-section or try to continue with a natural delivery?" The words hit me like a bolt of lightning. I stood there, frozen. When I left, my wife had not shown any sign of pregnancy. How could she be giving birth less than six months later? I quickly dialed her number. The moment the call connected, I heard her cries of pain. "Honey, what's wrong?" From the other end of the line, I could hear a nurse urging her to push harder. However, my wife forced her voice to sound calm. "Sweetheart, I just slipped and fell a moment ago. It's nothing serious. You should keep focusing on your business trip. Don't worry about me." As I listened, the faint sound of a baby crying filtered through the phone. My grip tightened so hard around the phone that it nearly cracked. "Is that so? Then, get some rest," I said calmly. After hanging up, I immediately called my father, the richest man in the country. "Dad, Rebecca's cheating on me. She's in the delivery room right now, having another man's child. Stop all investments in the Harris family immediately. I want her thrown out with nothing to her name."

I'm three months pregnant when my husband, a doctor, personally performs an abortion for me. I can see the fetus in the trash can. Chuck Gross uses his doctor's coat to block Valerie Green's curious eyes. "Don't look, Val. You'll get nightmares." After the abortion, he throws a few tissues at me, looking icy. Then, he leaves with Valerie. Later, when Chuck learns the truth, he bursts into agonized tears. "Can we not get a divorce? Please?"

Two years of marriage. Two years of trust. Two years of secrets I never knew existed. I thought I was coming home to the man I married—surprising Nathan after my work trip ended early. Instead, I stood frozen in the doorway of our bedroom, watching my husband tangled in the sheets with someone I never expected. Someone whose face I only caught a glimpse of before she bolted—running out the back like a ghost escaping the scene of a crime. But I know that face. I’ve seen it every day of my life. Felt its presence in my laughter, my tears, my memories. That night shattered everything. The perfect husband. The perfect life. All of it was a carefully crafted illusion built on lies. Now, nothing is what it seems—and I have no idea where this road will take me.

On August 23, the Metropolitan Police entered a well-appointed flat at 36 Suffolk Street, in the heart of London. In the flat, they found an ensuite bathroom; in the bathtub, they found a padlocked bag, and in the bag, they found the body of Tina Davis Tina, a brilliant mathematician, worked in Cheltenham for GQHC, Britain's domestic eavesdropping agency. She lived in London on secondment to MI6, Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, and the block of flats where they found her body is an MI6 "safe house reportedly". Uninterested in potential national-security angles, the police immediately announced they were looking for clues to Tina's mysterious death in the details of her private life. But they didn't make much headway. A month after discovering her body, they still hadn't determined the cause of death, although they had admitted the case was "complex" and "unexplained." It seemed like a job for Quintus Noone Fortunately, he happened to be available.