Bella Staring Out Window

Our wedding anniversary also happens to be our son's birthday. A month in advance, I carefully plan a family trip for the three of us—me, my husband, and our son. But right before we're supposed to leave, both of them suddenly disappear on me. I'm left standing alone in the pouring rain, dialing their numbers. On the other end, my son's young voice comes through, sounding cold and impatient. "Dad's having dinner with Ms. Moore. We don't want to go anymore." The call ends, and I'm blocked. Later that night, they intentionally lock me out of the house. I'm left standing in the freezing cold all night long. Soaked from the rain, I come down with a high fever and develop pneumonia. Meanwhile, my husband and son are off vacationing with Sophia Moore, smiling for a happy family photo with just the three of them. And in that moment, I know this marriage has truly come to an end.

There's a famous catchphrase since time immemorial: The more you hate, the more you love. Alam ni Dennis na iba siya kompara sa ibang mga lalaki. Imbes na sa babae, sa lalaki siya nakakaramdam ng kakaiba. At may lihim siyang pagtingin sa isa sa mga barkada niya, kay Ervin. Subalit hindi niya ito sinasabi kahit kanino man dahil alam niyang ang taong gusto niya'y may iba ng mahal. Kaya mas lalo siyang determinado na itago sa binata ang kakaibang nararamdaman niya rito. Sa hindi inaasahan, may nakaalam ng kanyang sikreto sa hindi niya malamang dahilan. Raymond, the man who hates his guts. All this man do is to pick on his faults that sometimes, he wants to punch his stupid face. Well, the feeling is mutual. He equally hates the other. But then, Raymond's attitude turned 180°. Kung dati, nararamdaman niya ang inis nito sa kanya, ngayon, si Dennis na mismo ang nagugulat na to the rescue si Raymond tuwing may problema siya. Akala niya ba ayaw nito sa kanya? Wait, this is not a story about love. Maybe?

My dad is a fan of tough love parenting. When I was a kid, there was a time when I obtained full marks on two subjects. But he told me, "Your grades don't mean anything in life. If you were a true man, you'd leap down five floors without batting an eyelash." Some time later, I was awarded for my act of bravery. But Dad scoffed in my face. "Not even a hair is harmed on your head. Why should you be awarded anyway?" I thought Dad wanted me to go through more training in life. On Christmas Eve, he ditched me on a snowy mountain under the guise of wanting me to go through more training. He didn't give me a tent or a lighter. Later on, Dad even brags about his parenting method to his relatives and friends. "A real man should survive and thrive in a desperate situation! I told Julian that he can forget about being my son if he can't even make his way back to the summit!" But the red dot on the GPS tracker installed in his phone hasn't moved for the past three hours. The truth is, I've already frozen to death in the mountains. Trapped in my fist is a scrap of paper detailing the SOS number that Dad had torn apart earlier. Meanwhile, my soul is currently floating above the dining table while watching Dad brag about his tough love parenting.

A college student named Avaelena discovered that she is pregnant. She met a wealthy businessman named Kairos at a bar. After what happened, he became her fuck buddy. Avaelena became his fuck buddy to hide her pregnancy from her parents while claiming that she is working in Manila while studying. Kairos proposed a deal to her: become his fuck mate, and he will pay her a week to prove to her parents that she is indeed working and studying hard in Manila.

Our family is planning a ski trip at a luxury resort. However, my mother gives my snow-view room to my adoptive sister and makes me, her biological daughter, stay in the storage room. I'm about to protest when my father and brother accuse me of being selfish. "We've always given Madie the best of everything; she won't be able to sleep in any other room." "Madie is our family—she's the one who's lived with us this whole time. We're a family, so we have to stay together." I'm the one who shares their blood, yet they consider me an outsider. If that's the case, they can go on vacation without me. I board a cruise and travel the world for a month without ever going home. That's when they panic.

The day Noelle Rutherford finds out she's pregnant, she braves the rain to go to a club that Chester Gray frequents. She stands outside a private room and pats her soaked hair dry with some tissues, wanting to surprise him when his get-together ends. Through the ajar door, she hears laughter. "Chester, your wedding to Noelle is in a week. Is your surprise for her ready?" "Of course," Chester says, his usually cool voice laced with tipsiness. "I'll make it a memory she'll never forget." Noelle pauses, and her lips curve upward in a sweet smile. Throughout her three years with Chester, he has truly cherished her like a treasure and loved her with all his heart. "Ha! Do you think she'll have a meltdown and lose her mind on the big day when she finds out I've been toying with her while pretending to be you this whole time?" Someone laughed. "She'd never in her wildest dreams imagine that Chester has an identical twin brother! When she finds out her boyfriend's brother has been playing her for three years…"

"She is betrayed, left broken and then reborn." Kaelis Veylaris thought she had everything. Well, until the night her husband pushed her from a tower. She is the only daughter to the Alpha of the Ashfang Pack and destined to be the first female Alpha in years. When her rule is objected to, she agrees to get married to Valrik Dreadmoor, a warrior in her pack. She helped him rise, helped him soar, and what she got in return was a cheating man because she was unable to conceive. Then he chose to toss her over the window when she confronts him. She awakens in the territory of the enemy with no memory, chained and imprisoned. There she discovers that she's not just any wolf. She is a hybrid, burning with the fire of veganance and possessed by two spirits. Now she is caught between two men: Orin, the fierce biker who saved her, and Draven, the powerful rival who once tormented her. Both want her heart. Both could destroy her. Kaelis is confused on which choice to make just as an ancient prophecy rises. The seer tells her that her heart can not serve two masters. One will fall. And if she fails to choose, all of them will fall with her. In a world where power is survival and love is a battlefield, the first female alpha must make a decision. Will she reclaim her throne? Or will the fractured spirits within her tear everything -and everyone- apart?

I return to my hometown after becoming the wealthiest person in the world. I stand beside a luxury car I bought for my father and call him—I want him to be surprised when he picks me up. However, this backfires on me. I joke with him and tell him my company has gone bankrupt. My debtors are coming after me, so I'm home to flee from them. I end up standing under the sweltering sun until the sky goes dark and it starts to pour—my father never shows up to see his gift. I brave the rain as I head home. Before I even enter the house, I can sense my sister-in-law's panic. "Listen to me—don't tell that jinx that Dad has just won a million dollars!" My mother says, "I knew having a daughter was a bad decision. It's bad enough that she doesn't have money for us—why is she coming home when she's in trouble? She should just die out there!" My father sneers. "Well, we can sell her off to that cripple in the village. Maybe she'll fetch a good price!"

My sister-in-law is eight months pregnant. One day, she gets pushed to the ground and starts bleeding heavily. She's then taken to the hospital right away. As I drive by, I quickly roll up the window and pretend not to notice. I step on the accelerator and speed away. In my past life, though, things were different. The moment I saw her collapse, I sprang into action and took her to the hospital without delay. She was in critical condition. After the heavy bleeding, she developed amniotic fluid embolism. My husband was the city's top obstetrician. Thus, I called him urgently, pleading for him to come straight to the hospital. However, he accused me of jealousy. He was having dinner with his first love's family, after all. He claimed that I was exploiting my sister-in-law's accident to force him to come back. By the time my in-laws arrived, my sister-in-law had already succumbed to the amniotic fluid embolism. Her family blamed me for her death, convinced I had stirred trouble with my husband and brought about her demise. Having just returned from out of town, my brother-in-law believed their accusations without question. Overcome with grief, he stabbed me to death at the funeral. Opening my eyes again, I realize I've been transported back to the very day my sister-in-law is knocked down.

Twenty-three-year-old Samantha Peters has been a good girl her entire life. She's never broken the rules, never did anything crazy, and never stood out in any way. When her best friend conveniences her to go to New York for the weekend, she has her first one nightstand. No big deal, right? No one back home will ever know and she'll never see him again.