Birthday Wishes For A Princess

It has always been the fairy tale princess life for Melissa Jones, a young and beautiful 21 years old upcoming model, who is also a daughter to a famous business mogul, until her 22nd birthday. Things fell apart for her, as she lost everything, including her three years old relationship to jason -- her Oddish temperamental boyfriend -- after she got to know, she had been betrothed to her father's friend right from childhood. However, unkown to her, there were still many troubles ahead, and secrets were still left untold, as Jason would do anything to keep her to himself.

On Christmas people should be with their loved ones in the safety of their homes, but I don't have any loved ones, and I'm in the one place that I hate, where I swore never to come back, afraid that I'll get even more broken, and it seems that the more I try to get away, the more obstacles I encounter. "I know a shop not very far from here, and they have the best mechanics in town. If you want, I could come with you and give you directions, I'm heading that way anyway, and for your kindness, I'll make your biggest wish come true," Said the old crazy Santa that jumped in front of my car out of nowhere. "Can you teleport me from here? In another city, country, even on a deserted island? Anywhere but here?" I know that it wasn't nice of me to be sarcastic, but he's the reason why I have to prolong my say here. "No." His short answer was said in an amused tone of voice, but I don't find anything funny right now. "But that's just because that's not your biggest wish." He states it as a fact as if he's never been more sure of anything in his life. I bite my tongue and pray that I won't see the two people I used o love the most, and which now, I despise the most, the two people responsible for my nightmares and my broken being.

As my murderer's claws tear into my abdomen inch by inch, my father and brother are seated in our family's banquet hall. They're celebrating Carly's 18th birthday and coming-of-age. "You'll always be my little girl." "Happy birthday, Carly." They light 18 pink candles for her. On top of the exquisite red velvet cake is a wolf figurine that they carved for her, and there are well wishes and laughter all around. Meanwhile, I'm curled up in a sewer filled with liquid silver as I bleed to death. My phone has been crushed, and I can't get out. I can only cry for help. A few days later, my father and brother show up together at the autopsy room. My brother stands by the operating table with a scalpel. He slices open the body and sews it back up like it's nothing. My father just covers his nose as he shoots a disgusted glance at my body. He urges my brother to hurry up with the autopsy report. "The victim is a young female wolf presumed to be of pure lineage. Before her death, she was subjected to prolonged captivity and torture. Her throat is nearly severed, her cervical spine is dislocated, and her chest cavity has collapsed. She was also injected with liquid silver before death." Hearing the report, my father looks so calm that it's just like a case study of no consequence. Neither of them can recognize that the body belongs to me—their daughter and sister!

This is a story of two close friends (Courtney and Judy) and the odds that meet them as soon as Courtney turns 18. They hope for a bright future together but have no clue on things that are yet to unfold in their lives.

After twenty-five years of trying to win over Gus Harding, I failed and died by his hand. But he didn't know that. He kept threatening, demanding I show myself immediately. The real heiress slapped him hard. "Genevieve is dead, and you didn't even care enough to see her one last time." Gus scoffed, claiming it was just another one of my tricks. Only when he saw my cold, lifeless body did he finally understand. I was gone for good. And this time, it drove him mad.

By our sixth year of marriage, Derrick hadn't touched me in three months. Said he was swamped at work. Always tired. After everything, I still believed him. Then on my birthday, I caught his friend talking in Garmenian—a language Derrick didn't think I understood. "You cut off the side piece yet? You were with her nonstop. Surprised you didn't drop dead. Your wife cool with that?" Derrick let out a smoke ring. "Haven't touched Audrey in months. Sabrina's insane in bed—I'm not over her yet. Sucks she got pregnant. Audrey doesn't want kids, so I gave Sabrina some cash. She'll have the baby overseas." My hands curled into fists. Silent tears streamed down my face. He glanced over, nervous. "What's wrong?" I smiled. "The cake you made is amazing. I'm really touched." It was sweet—but when you understand Garmenian, all you taste is betrayal.

After my twin sister Harper died, my Alpha mate hated me for ten years. For a whole decade, I was his Luna, and I tried every possible way to be good to him. One day, he said, “If you really want to please me so much, then just die.” So when a truck was coming at me, I didn’t even move, but I had never expected that Noah would push me out of the way to save me. He was badly injured. Before he died, he looked at me and whispered, “Charlotte, if only I had never met you, everything would have been better.” At Noah’s funeral, all the elders and members of the pack came. “I should have let Noah choose Harper as his Luna. I regret forcing him to choose you back then. You killed him!” Noah’s mother was overcome with grief. Noah’s father also said, “You know? Noah saved your life three times! He was such a kind-hearted Alpha. Why didn’t you die instead?” Everyone at the funeral stared at me with blame. Finally, I was thrown out of the funeral, lost and devastated. Three years later, with the help of a witch, I returned to the past through her spell. This time, I have made a decision. No matter what, I will never be Noah’s Luna again.

On my birthday, the dining table was loaded with all my favorites. My mom had been cooking and baking the entire afternoon, insisting everything be perfect for when Mike got home from work so we could celebrate together. But then, he called and said his first love had been drugged at a bar, and he had to go help her. I stopped him and begged him not to go. Mike snapped at me. "Jesus, Em, don’t pull this jealous wife crap. She’s alone, defenseless, and unconscious—I can't let some random dude take advantage of her!" My mother heard those words and was so enraged that she had a heart attack. She died on the spot. Just like that, my mom died on my birthday. I called Mike, asking him to attend my mom's funeral. But before he could reply, I saw Cathy Miller's latest Instagram post, captioned: [Mikey… after all these years, it was always you.] Mike had liked it. My thumb moved before my brain caught up, typing out the only words that mattered: [A homewrecker and a lying bastard. Hope you rot together.]

Pangarap ni Mavie na makatanggap ng birthday cake, buong-buo at walang bawas ang icing. Mahirap ang kanilang pamilya ngunit nagagawa ng kanilang magulang, kapwa magsasaka, ang patapusin sila sa pag-aaral. Matalik na magkaibigan mula pagkabata sina Hugo at Mavie sa kabila ng magkaiba ang estado ng kanilang buhay. Nag-aaral ng political science si Hugo sa bayan at nangangarap magtrabaho sa gobyerno. Samantala, nag-aaral naman ng engineering si Mavie sa kanilang baryo na nangangarap na maipa-renovate ang kanilang kubo. Isang kalihim ng samahang ARC (Arts with Responsibilities Creatives) si Mavie. Sa tulong ng kanyang kaibigang si Salome, namulat siya sa paglilingkod sa kolehiyo. Ang mga dokumento ng samahan na maingat niyang hinahawakan ang magiging susi ng pagmulat ng kanyang mga mata sa totoong takbo ng kolehiyo, maging ang iba pang organisasyong humaharap sa mala-butas ng karayom sa pagre-request ng budget ng mga gaganaping programa para sa mga kapwa estudyante. Samantala, ang pangarap na birthday cake ni Mavie para sa kanyang sarili ang magiging pinto ng kanyang tadhana upang hanapin ng kanyang puso ang lubos na sinisinta. Ito ay sa kabila ng mga kinakaharap ng mga pagsubok sa gitna ng tagumpay.

Molly absolutely loves Christmas. Candy canes, egg nog, mistletoe, the works. She can't get enough of it. And so it's only natural that she works at the local Christmas store, Christmas Wishes. But when the Scrooge-like Nicholas comes to town, looking to sell his father's business out from under him, it looks like Molly's dream job is disappearing. Worse yet, she's starting to fall for Nicholas, despite everything telling her not to. With one last chance to save the store, Molly appeals to the power of Christmas itself, attempting to convert Nicholas to seeing the beauty of the holiday. Can Christmas magic really make Christmas Wishes come true? Fans of Hallmark Christmas movies will be swept away by Christmas Wishes, a small-town standalone holiday romance with mistletoe and magic. Grab a glass of eggnog, sit by a warm fire, and enjoy!