Being Grateful For What You Have

Lumi-as someone who's being told what to believe and hope in everything as she grows up-reckons that living is a way to comply with and entrust one's entire life to serving superiors on top of the hierarchy. Who will not think of that way anyway? Being harbored in the lands of Castellanos, it is engraved in her mind that she lives to pay her debt of gratitude to the family who sheltered her, who protected her from all the cruelties the outside world has to offer behind those fences. What they're doing is to protect her life and welfare-that's what they told her. So there's no other way to live but be the gullible and obedient yokel of the Castellano clan, because they're doing everything just for her safety. But that's before her life turns upside-down as she discovers a strange note from the attic. "To whoever finds this message, they erased us. This is all that remains. Remember us, please." What does the note want to convey? Is it just one of those mundane trivial stuff found in an attic like the usual when someone decides to clean it? Or is it something connected to her... "safety?" For sure it is for her safety. That's what they always tell her. But what one hears is not always the version of reality. Most of the time, it is the most convenient scheme to twist and bend the truth. That... That's what they will never tell her.

​Amelia Hayes has 30 days to save her niece. ​A judge’s ruling demands the 35-year-old heiress present a stable family unit to win custody of her niece, or the child returns to her abusive father. With time running out, Amelia rushes to secure the only perfect solution: her own bodyguard. ​Her solution? Adrian Cole. ​He’s 25—loyal, quiet, and financially desperate. For a staggering sum, he agrees to a two-year contract with one unbreakable rule: No love, no intimacy, strictly business. ​But when their fake wedding night turns into a real assassination attempt, Amelia realizes her calculated bargain has made them targets. Now, fighting a vengeful ex-friend and a killer lurking in the shadows, Amelia and Adrian must fake their way through a deadly war. ​The contract was just a lie. But the way he risks his life to protect his 'wife' might just be the terrifying truth.

I was the belle of the school, good grades and all. But I wasn't the nerd they thought I was. I had been secretly dating my adopted brother's sworn enemy for three years. Lucian Palma had a strong desire for intimacy, so I went along with him in unlocking countless places to make love. He promised that he would marry me after graduation. Once he took over the family business from his wealthy father, he would make me the happiest woman alive. I believed him, even indulging him in his kink of recording us sleeping together. Lucian assured me that those videos were for his eyes only, and that no one else would ever see them. But then, I accidentally overheard a conversation between Lucian and his friends. "Lucian, you had deliberately staged a hero saving the damsel in distress situation to make Nina Etienne fall for you, all just to get it back at your archnemesis, Aaron North. If he found out his little sister had been sleeping with you, wouldn't it kill him with rage? "You've filmed hundreds of intimate videos, haven't you? When do you plan to release them? We'd love to see the nerd stripped bare under you." I didn't confront him about this. Instead, I quietly walked away and agreed to meet the fiance my father had arranged for me.

Just as she’s starting her new life in Las Vegas, she gets an urgent call to return home to Atlanta. Deila Barbson could be stubborn, witty…among other things but she wasn’t the rogue her family thought her to be so she answered with equal urgency oblivious to what awaited her— her past. She’s faced with the person that’s haunted her beautiful nightmares everyday for two years. Betrayed by her heart, she found herself running again from whom she still longed for as the very air she breaths. Breathing was as difficult as commitments. Would she stand unbroken or she melt under his touch? Time they said healed every wound so why did his heart still bleed at the sight of the woman that left him shattered sixteen months ago? Hard-headed as he was, James Martin felt open as if it were yesterday he got stood up on his planned proposal dinner. He wanted answers, from her, from himself; why didn’t he feel anger towards her for breaking his heart? Why was his heart still thudding with hope at the sight of her? Why did Deila still unman him as if he wasn’t the macho CEO that intimidated even the Mayor? And most importantly, why did she return? Behind the unwilling woman and broken man was the dark secret both their families shared. What would be keeping them apart? Their ego? Or the family secret? Warning: This book contains mature words and sexual encounters that aren't suitable for readers under the age of 18.

The day I signed the divorce papers, I voluntarily gave up custody of my daughter. Because that day, in the courtroom, she clung to her father’s neck, sobbing with all the fury a six-year-old could muster: “You don’t even love me… do you? If you leave Daddy, I’ll stay with him… and you’ll be all alone forever!” In my past life, I had ignored her childish threats. I fought tooth and nail for her custody. I poured every ounce of myself into raising her. And yet… she spent her entire life hating me. Not once did she ever call me “Mom” until the day I died. On her wedding day, she even invited her father’s mistress to the stage to give a speech of thanks. Now, opening my eyes again, seeing that same cruel little face staring back at me, I simply nodded. “I don’t care.” After all… I never wanted a daughter like her anyway.

After suffering all kinds of infertility treatment, Mango was finally pregnant with Nathaniel’s child. But it turned out another woman had already conceived Nathaniel’s child for 5 months. Just after claimed her pregnancy, she was kidnapped by Nathaniel’s bodyguard and almost died in the fire he set. It was universally acknowledged that she was dead. But that’s not true. After five years, Mango came back to Nathaniel’s side as a famous international car designer seeking revenge. Except for a different title, she also had a different face which looked more gorgeous and a different identity, mom. Her son Zion, a four-year-old boy, who shared the same beautiful almond-shaped eyes with Nathaniel was much more mentally mature than the kids of his age and also sought revenge for Nathaniel. However, revenge wasn’t the main purpose of them coming back...

At eighteen, all of Riley’s friends had shifted and found their wolves. Now, at twenty, Riley had yet to experience that beautiful transformation she had dreamed of her entire life. Along with her family’s poverty, her father’s absence and her mother’s unspeakable reputation, her inability to transform led everyone to believe she was cursed, doomed never to have her wolf or find her mate. Then, everything changed. The most desired twin Alphas of the city, began to show interest in her. As both Alphas vied for her attention, Riley sighed in relief, thinking her happily ever after was finally within reach. But her joy was short-lived. She soon discovered that the Alphas had used her to further their own schemes. Devastated beyond measure, Riley suddenly experienced the transformation she had longed for—she shifted and found her wolf. The next day, she learned that the two Alphas were actually her mates. Faced with the truth, she questioned if she could accept mates who had played with her emotions and made her suffer. Determined to escape, Riley made a bold move to flee. Tragically, one wrong step in her desperate escape led to her death. But the Moon Goddess had other plans. Riley was given a second chance; her soul was brought back to life. But under what consequences?

Three days before my wedding, Eric Foreman's childhood love returned to the country with her terminally ill mother. She wanted to marry Eric to fulfill her mother's dying wish. I objected furiously to it in my last life, and Eric eventually rejected Naomi Corbin's request. Naomi appeared with her mother's funeral picture in the middle of our wedding and accused Eric of being heartless. Eric got the bodyguards to kick her out, and our wedding continued without a glitch. However, he did not return home that night. Since then, he insisted that we sleep in different rooms. He would rather get drunk than touch me. When I questioned him about this, he said to me drunkenly as his eyes glazed over, "Ayla, every time I look at you, I'm reminded of the look of despair in Naomi's eyes and her mother's dying face… I regret making that decision!" His answer depressed me, and I eventually died from it. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day Eric tried to convince me to give Naomi our wedding. This time, I agreed. I called my family as I watched him leave happily. "I agree to the marriage alliance. We can hold the wedding in three days."

Lia lives a quiet life in a small two-bedroom home on the outskirts of a major city. Between playing piano at a piano gallery, waitressing at a high-end restaurant, and her never ending love for books, she never thought there would be anything more to life. She was content. At least she thought so. It wasn't until she went out with her best friend and had a hot encounter with a large and sexy stranger. One moment they are flirting in a booth, the next she's rushing out of an expensive hotel room after waking up naked beside the handsome stranger. After living through her first one-night stand, she decided to leave it at that. But what she wasn't expecting was to be hunted down by the most dangerous man in the country. Turns out, the man from her one-night stand held more mystery than she thought. Now she must determine whether to find some way to be comfortable with his lifestyle and embrace the kind of love she only seen in her romance novels or to stick with her morals and let this relationship go. That is, if he lets her...

I was in love. He was handsome and seductive. However, what was supposed to be love became a marriage contract. When my family lost everything, including dignity, I was forced to marry, not out of love, but out of interest. My husband never knew the real reason I accepted his proposal, and I pray he never finds out.