Brilliant Brin

Sa araw mismo ng Christmas Day, isang “surprise” ang natanggap ni Shiena—pero hindi ito ang pagbubuntis na inaasahan niyang ikatutuwa ng asawa niya. Instead, she discovers the cruel truth inside the hospital lounge: she was never the wife he truly wanted. Isa lang siyang kapalit. A shadow of the woman her husband, the brilliant and untouchable doctor William, could never forget. Shattered by betrayal, humiliation, and the child growing inside her womb, Shiena chooses to walk away from the marriage she fought so hard to protect. But leaving the man she loved turns out to be the biggest mistake. Because the moment she disappears, the cold doctor who never explained, never cared, and never looked back begins to realize the one truth he was too blind to see: the woman he pushed away was the only one who ever truly loved him. Now that she’s rebuilding her life, chasing the dreams she once sacrificed for him, William is determined to get her back. But what if the woman he broke no longer wants to be healed by him? And what if the child he never knew existed becomes the proof of the doctor’s greatest mistake? … Napaatras si Shiena nang mariin nitong isinara ang pinto ng office. His hand slammed against the wall beside her head, trapping her between his body and the cold surface. His usually calm eyes were now filled with desperation. “You left without a word… and you think I’ll let you disappear again?” “Too late, Doc. You already chose her.” Then he lowered his gaze to the little boy hiding behind her legs. For the first time, the great Dr. William De la cruz looked cruletely shattered. “He’s… mine?” “That was the child you threw away before you even knew he existed.”

After the college entrance exams, my parents left me at home and took their adopted daughter on a trip to the beach. A typhoon hit, and the three of them never came back. When the news reached me, I did not cry or throw a tantrum. I had their deaths registered right away and pulled out the life insurance I had bought in advance. I received one hundred million in compensation. My fiance scolded me for caring only about money. What he did not know was that I had been reborn. In my past life, after I learned about their deaths, the huge debts they had left behind fell on me. I gave up the chance to go to college and started working to pay everything back. I fought to protect our ancestral home from debt collectors. My fiance stayed with me and cheered me on when I came home late at night from delivery runs. But he never gave me a single cent to help. At thirty-five, I finally cleared every debt. On my birthday, I bought myself a ten-dollar cake to celebrate. Just as I was about to blow out the candle, the door opened. My parents and their adopted daughter, who should have died in the typhoon, walked in dressed in designer clothes. They smiled at me smugly. “Well done! We can finally believe that you aren’t greedy for money. You’ve passed the test. From today, you are qualified to be the daughter of the Jameson family.” “Jane, this brilliant idea was all thanks to you.” My adopted sister smiled. She leaned close and blew out my candle. The only light left in my twenty years of lifetime went out with it. My body gave in to exhaustion. My heart failed. I collapsed and died on the spot. When I opened my eyes again, they were about to head to the beach in the middle of the typhoon. I bought a massive accident insurance policy for them on the spot. This time, all I wanted was for them to disappear from this world forever.

Sa mundo ng mga trillionaire, hindi sapat ang pera upang makuha ang lahat—ngunit para kay Fortuna Han, isang pastry chef na lumaki sa simpleng buhay, kaya niyang gawin ang lahat, kahit pa ito’y maging kasalanan, basta’t mapasakanya ang lalaking matagal na niyang minamahal. Si John Tan, isang brilliant, CEO ng isang IT company, cold-hearted computer engineer at tagapagmana ng pinakamalaking business empire sa bansa, ay may isang pangakong kailangang tuparin—ang mapangasawa si Senyora Abedida, ang tanging babaeng tinatangi niya simula high school. Ang mundo nila ay naaayon sa isa’t isa, at walang puwang para sa isang babaeng tulad ni Fortuna. Ngunit hindi iyon naging hadlang kay Fortuna. Sa isang mapanganib na laro ng pag-aakit, pagsisinungaling, at panlilinlang, ginawa niya ang lahat upang maagaw si John mula kay Senyora. At nang tuluyan niyang nakamit ang lalaking matagal na niyang inibig, isang hindi inaasahang rebelasyon ang bumulaga sa kanya—matagal na palang nakatakda ang kasal nila ni John dahil sa isang arranged marriage na pinlano ng kanilang mga pamilya noon pa man. Dahil sa galit at panlilinlang, si John ay napilitang pakasalan si Fortuna sa ilalim ng isang kontrata—dalawang taon lamang silang magiging mag-asawa, at pagkatapos noon, tuluyan na siyang mawawala sa buhay nito. Para kay John, ito ay isang laro ng kapangyarihan. Para kay Fortuna, ito ang katuparan ng kanyang pangarap. Ngunit paano kung sa gitna ng kasunduang ito, may isang gabi ng kapusukan ang tuluyang magtatali sa kanila magpakailanman? Paano kung ang babaeng itinuring niyang mang-aagaw ay siyang magbibigay sa kanya ng bagay na hindi niya kailanman inakala—isang anak? At paano kung sa paglipas ng panahon, ang malamig na poot at galit ni John ay unti-unting mapalitan ng isang damdaming pilit niyang nilalabanan? Si Senyora Abedida, na hindi kailanman papayag na maagaw si John nang ganoon lang.