Cherry Blossoms After Winter Muctau

The moment Ava saw the word "DIVORCE" printed in bold letters, her stomach twisted into a painful knot. For a second, her brain refused to process it. "You... you're joking," she managed to say, her voice barely above a whisper, her throat dry like sandpaper. "I'm not."

Five years after my death, my daughter, Emma, dialed Xander Green’s number. She cautiously asked, "Do you like my mom?" She was trying to get an answer to the question I once wrote in my diary. "Xander, do you like me?" Unexpectedly, the voice on the other end sneered, "Did your mom put you up to this? Using her own daughter like a pawn? What an unfaithful woman! She’s already with your dad, yet still trying to rekindle things with me?"

The daughter of my father's first love suffered from heatstroke because she was left in the car, so he tied me up in a fit of anger and locked me in the car boot. He looked at me with utter disgust and said, "I don't have a vicious daughter like you. Stay here and reflect on yourself." I begged him, apologized to him, and pleaded for him to let me out, but all I got in return was his ruthless order. "Unless she dies, no one is allowed to let her out." The car was parked in the garage. No one could hear me no matter how much I screamed for help. Seven days later, he finally remembered me and decided to let me out. However, he had no idea that I had already died in that trunk and could never wake up again.

"I want you back." Iyan ang mga katagang lumabas sa bibig ni Tyson matapos ang ilang buwang pakikipag-hiwalay kay Mariana at muling magpakasal sa babaeng una at tanging minahal nito, nakaluhod at umiiyak, nagmamakaawang tanggapin siya muli ng babaeng itinapon niya ng ganon ganon na lang. Talaga nga namang nasa huli ang pagsisisi. Sa tatlong taon nilang mag-asawa, ni hindi nito pinaramdam kay Mariana ang pagmamahal at pag-aaruga. Sakit at pighati ang isinusukli ni Tyson sa pagmamahal ni Mariana, hindi lang mula sa kanya, maging sa ina at kapatid nito na tila isang basura ang tingin kay Mariana. Matatanggap pa kaya siya ni Mariana? Gayong may iba nang lalaki ang pumupuno sa mga bagay na hindi pinaramdam ni Tyson sa kanya noong sila ay kasal, ang lubos na pag-aalaga at pagmamahal na matagal na niyang gustong maramdaman kay Tyson, ay pinaparamdam na sa kanya ng ibang lalaki na mas karapat-dapat sa kanya.

Everyone envied how my best friend and I mated to the Alpha twins of the Creek Pack. But the pack didn't know that Victoria, their widowed stepmother, was the one the Alpha twins truly loved. My best friend Cathy and I planned to run away, but the night before our escape, she poisoned herself with wolfsbane. I called her mate Damon, but he sneered, "Luna, my brother says, your and Cathy's little tricks are getting really old. Are you going to jump off Silver Cliff tomorrow?"

My boyfriend is a forensic doctor. I've been abducted and tied to a bomb—there's only ten minutes to detonation. The abductors force me to call my boyfriend, but all I get is a scolding. "What the hell do you want, Michelle? What are you playing at, using your life as an excuse just because you're jealous? "Vi's cat has already been stuck in a tree for three days. She loves it like it's her life! If you delay me from saving it, you'll be a murderer!" I hear a coquettish voice ring out on the other end of the line. "Thank you for this, Kev. You're amazing!" I recognize that voice—it belongs to my boyfriend's childhood friend. I text my boyfriend when the bomb is about to explode. "Farewell forever. I pray we won't meet each other again in another life."

I wrote this story for the broken-hearted girl who walked away from love, only to find it in the most forbidden place. This book is messy, fierce, and aching because healing after betrayal never looks perfect, but it can still feel damn good. I poured every ounce of pain and longing I’ve ever felt into these characters, hoping readers feel seen in their chaos and rebirth. It’s not just about forbidden love, it’s about owning your desire, even when the world tells you it’s wrong. I write women who’ve been burned, but come back with fire in their eyes and someone unexpected at their side. I didn’t write this story to be safe, I wrote it for the ones who’ve tasted betrayal and still dared to crave. For the woman who walked out of her marriage and into her stepbrother’s arms—not out of weakness, but power. This isn’t just forbidden love. It’s about finding comfort in danger, desire in the unexpected, and a second chance in the arms of the one she was never meant to want.

I was diagnosed with stomach cancer, so I went online to hire an undertaker in the hopes that he would collect my body. That way, I could die and be buried. I would like to finally be at peace, even if it meant that I could only achieve it after death. I packed up my bags and left home in search of a place to die, only to receive a message from my undertaker. [Sorry, something came up. I can’t come now.] …Excuse me? I’m already half-dead, and you’re blowing me off?

คิดว่าเราเหมาะสมกันไหมล่ะ?! ฉันเป็นสาวบาร์ทำงานกลางคืน ส่วนเขาเป็นหมอสูติลูกครึ่งญี่ปุ่น! ทำงานโรงพยาบาล! หมอสูติ x สาวบาร์ = มันเป็นไปไม่ได้!! แต่ฉันดันไปมีสัมพันธ์ลึกซึ้งกับเขาน่ะสิ!! ฉันคิดว่ามันแค่ฉาบฉวย แค่สนุก เพราะเราอยากเมื่อไหร่ก็เจอ เสร็จเมื่อไหร่ก็แยก.. แต่มันไม่ใช่แค่นั้น อยู่ๆฉันก็เสพติด เป็นโรคขาดเซ็กส์เขาไม่ได้!!

Everyone knew how much I was in love with Alex Carter. I was willing to do anything for Alex just to see him happy and never bothered if they ruined my dignity or worth. But to Alex, I was seen as a desperate shameless lady who wanted him by all means even though I knew he always had a lover. After we got married, he treated me like dirt and threw me in prison, accusing me of financial crimes. Killed by a jailer sent by him, I died with regret of loving him. When I woke up again, I found myself back on my wedding day with Alex in my previous life and realised it was an afterlife, a second chance at life. This time, I wouldn't let him ruin me twice.