Collected Fictions

Zara Storme was the ghost in the machine at Sterling Global. For three years, she wasn’t just Mark Sterling’s fiancée she was The Architect. The unseen force who patched his weaknesses, outplayed his rivals, and quietly engineered a billion-dollar empire while he collected the applause. Then, over an elegant dinner, Mark slid a severance check across the table instead of a ring. To him, Zara was indispensable but temporary. Brilliant, yes. Loyal, certainly. But she lacked the pedigree required for his permanent throne. So he chose optics over love, trading her for a strategic merger and a well-bred socialite. Mark expected tears. Begging. A woman unraveling. What he didn’t know was that abandonment had trained Zara long before him. Her father had taught her the art of leaving without looking back. Fueled by a quiet rage, Zara committed one final act of treason which was leaking Mark’s most valuable upcoming deals to his greatest rival, Asher Vane. It was meant to be her clean exit. Then fate intervened. She was pregnant. Five years later, Zara returns to the city reborn as the formidable CEO of Lucent Capital. No longer the woman behind the throne, she is the throne. A venture-capital titan whose influence eclipses every man who once dismissed her. At her side is Luca her five-year-old masterpiece. Disciplined. Brilliant. And unmistakably the son of the man who walked away. When Mark Sterling’s empire begins to collapse under the weight of its own lies, desperation drives him to seek salvation from a firm powerful enough to save him. He comes to the boardroom expecting mercy. Instead, he finds Zara Storme seated at the head of the table untouchable, and finally holding his fate in her hands. This time, she’s here to watch it burn.

Maria Inna Esperanza is an architecture student studying in their country home, the Philippines, despite her parents' best effort to urge her into studying abroad. Naiisip rin niya ang kagandahan abroad pero mas gusto niyang makapagtapos sa lupang sinilangan, mag disenyo ng istraktura kung saan mas makapagbibigay serbisyo sa kababayan niya at higit sa lahat may pakiramdam siyang di niya maintindihan, na parang may humihila sakaniya na manatili dito. Things changed weeks before her 20th birthday, she began having weird detailed dreams that made her anxiety grew more and it did not help when her cousin Kyle made a bet she thinks is stupid but ended up doing it in exchange for Kyle to stop pestering her. Dito niya unang nakita si Kyran, nagkakilala at naging magkaibigan. Sa pag pasok ni Kyran sa buhay niya aminado siyang umiba ang ikot ng mundo niya. However, the weird detailed dreams did not stop and it seems that it's a story that bounds to continue, she began lucid dreaming. May panahon na pakiramdam niya may napupuntahan siya pero wala naman. Habang gumaganda ang samahan nila ni Kyran ay ganun din ang pagbabago ng mga gawi niya. Nagsimula siyang mahulog kay Kyran. Kasabay ng nararamdaman niya para kay Kyran ay ang pagtindi ng di niya maipaliwanag na deja Vu lalo pa ng malaman niyang nagpaplanong maghiwalay ang kaniyang mga magulang. Before she finally decided to admit her feelings for Kyran and after she has collected a good amount of courage to face him if he rejects, she uncovers the truth about the story she has been dreaming of all along. A story that ends tragically. She knew she wants to fix the ending, she did her best to gather information and find the man from 1780.

During the two months that I was away for a competition, my neighbors insulted me in the neighborhood’s common group chat. [The girl living on the ninth floor, you look like a decent girl. Why are you bringing so many men back home every day?] [Can you moan a little softer? I don’t care if you’re a sex worker, but if you keep making loud noises until midnight, don’t blame me for calling the police!] [Don’t call the police yet. I haven’t had my turn. How much are you charging, Charlene?] My heart sank. Before I left for my competition, I had asked my boyfriend, Jacob Smith, to take care of my luxury river-view apartment. That way, he could keep an eye on my expensive paintings. What was happening? I rushed home in confusion, but when I opened the door, I was further dumbfounded. My 3,000-square-foot apartment had been partitioned into 30 rooms. Meanwhile, Jacob’s childhood friend, Prissy Black, was holding a string of keys as she collected rent money. When they saw me, everyone started laughing. “What? Are you here to rent from Prissy after learning that she’s providing cheap rooms in such a pristine location? “Too bad everyone knows that you’re eyeing her boyfriend. You won’t be able to benefit from doing such a thing!” I was extremely furious as I approached Jacob to talk about it. However, he told me that it was Prissy’s dream to be a landlady. He asked me not to pay it any mind and to treat it as doing a good deed. “You’re rich anyway. Don’t be so calculative. Everyone’s happy now, so what’s wrong with that?” The keys tinkled in Prissy’s hand as if they were taunting me. “This house doesn’t welcome stray animals like you. You have yourself to blame for not having such a nice boyfriend.” The two of them acted all lovey-dovey in front of me, and I immediately called the police. “Someone’s trespassing on my property, and my painting that’s worth 15 million dollars has gone missing. What type of punishment would this entail?”