Charles Dickens First

Di hari putriku meninggal, aku berniat meletakkan papan arwahnya di aula leluhur Keluarga Gunawan. Namun, Jefri Gunawan yang berusia lima tahun malah melempar papan itu ke lantai dan menginjak-injaknya sampai hancur berantakan. “Dia bukan anak Keluarga Gunawan, apa haknya diletakkan di sini? Bahkan kalau kamu mati pun, aku nggak akan sudi menaruh papan namamu di sini!” Aku melirik ke arah papan arwah seorang wanita yang terpajang di aula itu tanpa mengucapkan sepatah kata pun. Begitu melihat arah pandanganku, Jefri langsung berdiri menghalangi penglihatanku. “Kamu pikir kamu siapa?! Emangnya kamu pantas dibandingkan dengan ibuku?!” “Pelakor selamanya akan jadi pelakor! Selamanya nggak akan pernah punya harga diri!” Aku tak menyangka anak yang kubesarkan dengan tanganku sendiri, ternyata bisa begitu mirip dengan ayahnya. Menatap putra kandungku yang berdiri di hadapanku, aku pun jatuh ke dalam keputusasaan yang tak berdasar. “Jangan kira karena sudah mengurusku beberapa tahun, kamu bisa jadi ibu kandungku. Ibuku hanya satu selamanya!” “Kalau hebat, pergilah dari rumahku!” Dia tak tahu kalau papan arwah yang dia hancurkan itu adalah milik kakak kandungnya sendiri. Namun semuanya sudah tak penting lagi. Putriku sudah tiada dan tak ada gunanya lagi aku bertahan di sini. “Nggak perlu mengusirku, aku akan pergi hari ini juga.”

Bestselling romance novelist Emma Chen has built her career writing about passion she's never truly experienced until her new editor turns her perfectly ordered world upside down. Jake Morrison is everything Emma tries to avoid: cocky, unpredictable, and dangerously attractive. When he's assigned to edit her latest manuscript, their professional relationship quickly becomes a battlefield of creative differences and undeniable chemistry.As they clash over every steamy scene Emma has written, Jake challenges her to dig deeper, to write what she really knows about desire. But Emma's carefully constructed walls exist for a reason she's never recovered from a betrayal that left her heart and career in shambles three years ago. When Jake pushes her to experience the passion she writes about, Emma must decide if she's brave enough to let someone past her defenses, or if some risks are too dangerous to take.With a manuscript deadline looming and their attraction reaching a boiling point, Emma and Jake must navigat it the thin line between professional collaboration and personal desire. But when Emma's past threatens to destroy everything she's built, including her growing feelings for Jake, she'll have to choose between the safety of her solitary life and the terrifying possibility of real love.

Samantha White, a young woman who grew up in foster care, has always struggled to survive on her own. At 22, after losing her job at a dog daycare, she takes an unexpected opportunity to work as a caretaker for billionaire Blake Hawthorne. Despite hearing rumors about the high turnover rate for caretakers in his estate, Samantha accepts the job and is welcomed by the housekeeper. Things take a dramatic turn when Blake, intrigued by Samantha's presence, decides to keep her on-abruptly shutting down the hiring process for other candidates. Soon, she finds herself caught between Blake and his dangerously alluring twin brother, Alan Hawthorne, who is also drawn to her. As tension between the brothers rises, Samantha must navigate their world of power, wealth, and hidden desires-ultimately forced to choose between them, unsure which one will truly save her.

20 year old Crimson studying tourism at Bridge university lives her life with utmost simplicity, rotating from school to home like a rollercoaster. Her life soon takes a drastic change when she meets Charles her long lost best friend and the closest thing she had to a family besides her dad. Things intensify when Charles could not reveal his reason for disappearing for a whole five years. Crimson battles with her growing anger while Charles fights to gain her love and hide his dark past from Crimson. What will happen when Charles reveals his secret feelings for her and becomes her university substitute lecturer while battling to hide his secret work from her? What will Crimson do when she finally realize that the man who was like a brother to her have been in love with her? Will Crimson be able to get over the past and see him more than a brother or will she give in to the temptation and desires he brings.

When event planner Sophia Martinez crashes billionaire Ethan Cross's exclusive charity gala, she's just trying to steal enough food to feed her dying mother. She never expects to catch the attention of New York's most ruthless CEO or to accept his shocking proposal. Ethan offers Sophia five million dollars for six months of her life: pose as his devoted fiancée to make his ex jealous and secure the biggest business deal of his career. The rules are simple no real feelings, no physical contact, just perfect public performances as the ideal couple. But Sophia harbors a devastating secret. She's the daughter of the man who destroyed Ethan's family empire five years ago, and she's been living with the guilt ever since. As she falls deeper into the charade, the lines between pretense and reality blur. Every stolen glance, every fake smile, every staged kiss pulls her further from her mission and closer to the man she's supposed to hate. Ethan finds himself breaking his own rules. The woman he hired to heal his wounded pride is awakening feelings he thought were dead. But when business rival Marcus Reid begins circling like a vulture, threatening to expose their arrangement, Ethan realizes the game has become far more dangerous than either of them anticipated. As corporate espionage collides with family secrets, Sophia must choose between protecting the man she loves and saving herself from a past that refuses to stay buried. When Ethan discovers her true identity, their contract becomes worthless but their hearts have already signed a deal that could destroy them both. In a world where billion-dollar empires rise and fall on trust, can love survive the ultimate betrayal? Or will the truth shatter more than just their fake engagement?

He betrayed me, and I made him my nephew. My first boyfriend, my first kiss, my first everything, he was supposed to be my first and only husband, instead he had other ideas, that idea was banging my best friend in my house while I was away for work. Heartbroken, Angry and hurt all I want is to make them pay for the humiliation. One night with a stranger gave me the chance to do exactly that when it turned out that the stranger was my ex’s Uncle. I was all too happy to comply. He was ruthless and powerful when it came to business, known for being a tycoon playboy around the ladies. Not one of those ladies could melt his ice-cold heart until he met a Bubble, Fierce Soraya Reed.

"Marriage was never meant to be a love story. It was simply a transaction. But the heart doesn’t follow the rules." Eliza Foster thought she had no choice. With a sick mother and debts swallowing her family whole, she sees a marriage to Maximilian Grey, a ruthless billionaire, as the only way to survive. Cold, calculating, and emotionally closed off, Maximilian has no use for love. To him, Eliza is nothing more than a pawn in his high-stakes game, a tool to further his empire. But as they begin to live under the same roof, something unexpected stirs between them. Eliza, initially weak and defeated, slowly uncovers a hidden strength that even Maximilian can’t ignore. He begins to see more in her than the fragile woman he thought she was—her tenderness, resilience, and the quiet love she offers without expecting anything in return. As Eliza begins to understand the layers of pain Maximilian hides beneath his cold exterior, questioning everything. Can she continue loving a man who may never return her feelings? Or will Maximilian’s painful past shatter what they are beginning to build? Their marriage was never meant to be about love—but sometimes, the heart has a way of rewriting the rules. Will Maximilian allow himself to love, or will his dark past destroy their chance at happiness? Read now to discover whether love will win or if Eliza’s heart will be left broken.

"You slept here?" George asked. "Yes, I…um,” Irene gulped, licking her lips and making a quick calculation in her mind on what to say, “I um…I was feeling hot when reading, so I decided to take a shower and might have fallen asleep after it. You just woke me up, have-have you been standing here? Um what's up, are you ready for work?” She asked while getting up to put on her nightwear. George watched her then sighed, “Irene, can I ask you something?” His eyes was burning red, and he was bitterly angry which was showing on his face “Why did you do this to me, what have I done to deserve the betrayal from you, What haven’t I done for you, what else do you need from a man i’ve not given to, why didn’t you tell me you want to be a model, why do you chose to let me know this way, do you want a divorce?” Irene and George had met in school and fallen in love, then their relationship had led into a beautiful marriage where she had been most happy until she had miscarried two pregnancies. Down and broken, George had decided to make her better by hiring a cook who would bring all her online delicacies to their dining table for her. But who would have expected that her one night of mistake would not only change her but would fill her beautiful marriage with lies? How is she to avoid her sins despite knowing it was wrong and still craving for it? How would she face her darling husband and tell him her darkest secret? But even though the sin was addictive, she had no idea what other secrets lies between, waiting to shatter her heart.

Caroline Margareth was abused by her husband and her mother-in-law, Victoria. She was constantly mistreated and neglected at home, eventually being thrown out by her husband, Johan Charlotte. After leaving the house, Caroline Margareth met Benjamin Charles, the owner of Eclipse Charles Corporation. Benjamin Charles was completely infatuated with her. However, Caroline was not yet able to accept the sincerity of Benjamin’s love, as she was still haunted by the trauma of her past relationship. Will Benjamin Charles ever be able to win Caroline Margareth’s heart, and will they be able to be together forever?

Aurora Sinclair dies betrayed, robbed, and erased by the very people she loves most. But when she opens her eyes again, she is twenty-one, alive, and armed with everything she knows. This time, she isn't the victim. She is the threat. Enter Sebastian Reed. Cold. Ruthless. Untouchable. The last man she expects to need and the only one she can't outrun. What starts as convenience slowly becomes obsession, and obsession becomes dangerous for them both. Because someone already knows she comes back. Someone is three steps ahead. And the closer Aurora gets to the truth, the more she realizes dying once is the least of her problems.