Empress Mother

Napilitang mag-extra sa bar si Danica Olivarez bilang tindera ng sigarilyo at mga alak para sa mayayamang customer dala ng pangangailangan para sa operasyon ng kanyang ina. Hindi niya inakalang may estrangherong ubod ng gwapo at misteryoso na mag-aalok ng malaking halaga kapalit ng isang gabi sa kama. Dahil sa desperasyon, pumayag siya, at ang perang iyon ang nakatulong sa operasyon ng ina at pagtatapos niya sa kolehiyo. Pagkaraan ng tatlong taon sa Maynila, umuwi siya para sa kasal ng ina, ngunit halos bumagsak ang mundo niya nang makilalang ang mapapangasawa nito ay si Zachary Cuevas, ang gobernador ng probinsya, at ang lalaking minsang bumili ng kanyang dangal. Paano siya makikisalamuha sa magiging ama kung bawat tinginan nila ay bumabalik ang alaala ng gabing iyon, lalo na’t tila mas lalo pa itong lumalapit sa kanya?

Lily Peterson's childhood sweetheart, Sean Clements, ran over my 70-year-old mother in his car while he was drunk-driving. Because of that, Mom died on the spot. But Lily insisted on signing the letter of forgiveness for Sean. "My mother-in-law had planned on scamming Sean for more money, so she lay beneath the wheels on purpose. She should be the one taking on the entire responsibility." Not only did Sean get released as an innocent man, but he also received the ten-million-dollar payment given by the insurance company as compensation for his emotional distress. "Honey, I grew up with Sean since we were kids. I can't just sit by and watch his life get ruined by imprisonment! Can't you be more gracious and stop bringing this issue up?" After leaving the police station, Sean uploads a post on his social media feed in a high-profile manner. "Lily looks so gorgeous when she defends me in front of others! Childhood sweethearts will always be the closest people in life!" Lily leaves a like on Sean's post right in front of me. I remain eerily calm. "Let's get a divorce, Lily." She huffs coldly in return. "You just want me to console you, right? Tristin Foley, you're already 30 years old. Can you stop being childish?" I've already brought up divorce multiple times in the past. That's why Lily refuses to believe that I will leave her for real. But what she doesn't know is that I've snuck in a divorce agreement into the documents meant for the case closure registration, and she has personally left her signature there.

He was her stepfather. He made her breakfast every Sunday while her mother was still alive. He was at her graduation. He kept a careful distance that Aurora noticed — and never examined. When her mother died, Aurora left and spent two years telling herself she had processed everything properly. She had not. Now her grandmother has handed her a red envelope with one name inside it. The same name. Aurora holds the note for a long time before she gets on the bus. Julian Oswald is forty years old. Cedar Falls knows him as a quiet widowed chef raising his daughter alone. What Cedar Falls does not know — what the entire culinary world has been trying to discover for years — is that Julian is the Ghost Chef. The anonymous billionaire behind the world's largest culinary empire. A face no one has ever photographed. His five-year-old daughter Lily has not spoken a full sentence since her mother died. She has not eaten voluntarily. Not for anyone. Until Aurora walks through the door. Lily says one word after two years of silence — a name she should not still remember — and Julian goes completely still on the porch. That is when Aurora understands she is not walking into a contract. She is walking back into the most dangerous kitchen she has ever been in. The one where everything between them has always been unspoken. The one where he still knows her breakfast order without asking. He was supposed to be off-limits. He was. He memorized her breakfast order anyway.

Darlene is a woman rediscovered. After the dust of a divorce settled, she found herself trapped in a quiet house with a growing, restless hunger. What began as a fleeting, forbidden thought soon spiraled into an all-consuming obsession centered on the one person who was strictly off-limits: her son, Leo. What starts with stolen glances and secret thrills evolves into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse. From provocative signals in the hallway to the ultimate crossing of lines, Darlene and Leo navigate a dangerous path of mutual discovery. As they shed the traditional roles of mother and son, they replace them with a bond that is as intense as it is taboo. But a secret this heavy cannot stay contained forever. Between the looming threat of discovery by neighbors, the interference of old flames, and the life-altering reality of a pregnancy that binds them forever, their unconventional relationship is tested at every turn.

For Maya Bennett, a one-night stand was supposed to be just that—one night. But when she walks into her mother’s house and finds the man from that unforgettable night standing there as her mother’s new boyfriend, her world tilts on its axis. Daniel Hayes is everything Maya swore to avoid—powerful, devastatingly handsome, and emotionally unavailable. But the sparks that ignited between them can’t be extinguished, no matter how wrong it feels. At first, they promise to leave what happened between them in the past in order not to hurt Helen, but then when the small marketing firm Maya works for is acquired by Daniel’s company she is sent over to the executive department as part of the transitioning team. Things start to get heated and they eventually start to cave into their desires. Can love survive when it was never meant to exist? Or will it destroy everything in its wake?

If it was my sister being bullied, Mom and Dad would have believed her right away and fought for her without a second thought. However, it did not matter anymore. In my next life, I would pick parents who really cared about me.

In order to protect my father, I was tortured for ten hours, but my father was busy celebrating his adopted daughter’s eighteenth birthday. With my dying breath, I called my father and said, “Dad, it’s my birthday today. Could you wish me a happy birthday?” “You crazy monster! You got your mother killed in order to celebrate your birthday! How could you still ask me to celebrate your birthday? You should just die!” With that said, he hung up. The next day, my corpse was placed in different flower pots and put in front of a police station. My father was in charge of inspecting my corpse, and he could immediately tell that the murderer did this for revenge. What they did to me was cruel and made a mockery of the police’s authority. But he did not manage to tell that the deceased was the daughter he hated.

Zina thought seeing her boyfriend with his ex in his room was painful. Little did she know that seeing the man she had almost given her virginity to just last night engage and marry her mom would shatter her world. They both try to act like the line they tried to cross was invisible. But emotions can’t hide. Alex begins to break his well built wall of defenses and discipline while Zina’s love for him begins to grow. But he is her stepfather, and what they have is forbidden.

Maddy thought marrying her fated mate and flying to Greece to start a new life would fix everything. All she wanted was a perfect life with De-Shawn—far away from Alpha Rowan J. Grey, the man she discovered was also her mate. That was impossible. A werewolf could only have one fated mate—unless one died. Second-chance mates don't happen while both are still alive. Yet here she was. Both of her mates are alive. “Let’s go to Greece,” De-Shawn said the night he slid the ring onto her finger. Maddy wasn’t sure, but running felt safer than staying. Because Rowan couldn’t be her mate. He was married. He had children. Worse—he was her godmother’s husband. She escaped to Greece, hoping distance would weaken the bond forming between her and Rowan. Hoping marriage would save her. But It didn’t. Her fated mate destroyed her life; he killed their unborn pup, stripping her of everything she owned, and forcing her into a conservatorship. Left with nothing and on the verge of spending six years in rehab as a mentally ill patient, she turns to one person. One person she shouldn’t turn to, one person from whom she should stay far away.

Peggy Flannery, the new recruit who's being mentored by my husband, Eugene Shaw, insists on practicing how to carve words onto a patient's heart. It so happens that my mother-in-law has suffered from a sudden heart attack. So, I quickly take her to the hospital so that Eugene, who's also known as a genius surgeon, can save her life. Unbeknownst to me, Eugene is quick to entrust my mother-in-law to Peggy, who has barely joined the hospital for three days, so that she can practice her carving on her. Peggy is very careless with her strength. When she's in the middle of carving something onto my mother-in-law's heart, she accidentally punctures a heart valve, resulting in my mother-in-law's instant death. Once the death happens, Peggy wails to Eugene, "That hag is really frail and delicate! I'm not even done carving my name onto her heart! What should I do now?" Eugene wipes her tears away gently. There's heartbreak in his eyes as he says, "It's fine. No one will be able to bully you with me around." Once Eugene exits the operating theater, he declares that the surgery is a failure and that I should start preparing the funeral matters. Unable to accept reality, I grab him by the shoulders and keep questioning him. "Isn't this just a minimally invasive surgery? How did Mom die just like that? I want to see the surgical footage!" But Eugene responds by slapping me angrily. "Your mom is already old, to begin with! How dare you pin the blame on others when her frail and weak body is the main cause of her death! I haven't even begun to settle the score with you for giving Peggy such a huge fright! "Hurry up and sign the letter of forgiveness! If this incident does affect Peggy in any way, I'll file for a divorce right away!" Needless to say, I'm so furious that I can't even utter a single word after hearing Eugene's shameless words. Does he seriously think that my mother is the one who's dead? I merely chuckle icily in return. "Honestly speaking, you have more right to sign the letter of forgiveness than I do."