Empty Smiles

"Can I taste you down there?" He said and I swallowed. "I want to claim you." His words disrupted my thoughts and I inhaled in a sharp breath. "When you fell on my hands before practically falling on the floor, I knew I just had to have you." His deep voice reverberated throughout the empty room. He was sounded confident—no he was confident. "Even if it's for a night." “I want to feel your skin on fire. I want to inhale the sharp of your breath as blood rushes through your body. Tell me bunny, are you wet right now?” He asked and I inhaled sharply. He growled. She was Fire, and he wanted to consume every bit of her. It was supposed to be a one night of fun, letting go and celebrating graduation from college. That was all Emma had bargained herself for. He was Gideon, the owner of the biggest club in New York and few other countries. A typical player? No that wasn't the type of man he was, but that didn't mean he didn't mind having some fun occasionally. Or maybe more than occasionally. What then happens when the one night of fun revolves into a forever when an unnerving situation binds both parties together? Would they be able to make the best out of the situation or would it turn out to be a disaster?

When the power meter in the house trips, Mom's foster daughter, Juniper Hawthorne, is trapped in the dark for five minutes. Even though I have claustrophobia, Mom locks me in an empty, pitch-black room. "You knew Juniper was terrified of the dark, yet you intentionally shut off the power just to frighten her! I'll teach you how to behave today!" I cry and beg her not to, but all I receive in return is a harsh slap. "Claustrophobia? That's just what happens when a kid grows up too spoiled." Late that night, I sense someone breaking into the house. The first thing I do is to call Mom, a renowned criminal psychologist, for help, only to be yelled at. "You're still really getting into this role just to fight Juniper for attention, aren't you? "Kidnappers, huh? Well, go ahead and die so you'll stop bothering me!" As she wishes, I'm brutally tortured and killed. My body is buried beneath Mom's favorite flowerbed. After I die, my soul is trapped in the body of a cat. All I can do is helplessly circle Mom until five days have passed. The police arrive with a mangled body and request her help in creating a portrait of the killer.

I ,like every Nigerian teenager, has a dream. Something I prayed and fantasized would one day come true. My siblings saw it as empty dream, something to build up my imagination and that it would never come to pass but I stood strong, determined to catch that dream and one day live and fullfil it. I know you would be wondering, what is this so called dream of mine that I held so high and cherished. Well,it was traveling Abroad, I know what you would say. "Who doesn't want to travel Abroad"? Everybody does, but mine felt different ,for me it felt like something I was born to do,it felt like a norm that I must accomplish. I want to be a popular and well known script writer, someone who writes plays and works for the biggest movie industry but looking down on my family,it was that I couldn't reach, but I still push ahead with an unquenchable determination. Join Serena Williams on her journey to achieve her dreams. Being faced by discouragement , betrayal and having to choose between her dreams and her lover. What would be the outcome of her friendship with James, what brought the betrayal, will she chose to stay or to leave? Find out in dreams.

One day, a wealthy couple is invited to give a speech at my university. My childhood sweetheart, Henry McGregor, tugs me along, eager for us to sneak out to the cafeteria and do some part-time work. He tells me to go grab the empty bucket from the shelf. But just as I take a step, a flood of messages suddenly appears in front of my eyes. [Don't touch that bucket! It's filled with scalding soup that Henry prepared. He wants to ruin your face!] [Three years ago, Henry had his first love impersonate you, becoming the long-lost daughter of the Wright family. Now, he plans to disfigure you so you'll never be able to return.] [You'll endure severe burns all over your body and undergo countless skin grafts. In the end, the fake heiress will poison you by swapping your medicine.] [Meanwhile, that scumbag will marry into the Wright family. Along with the impostor, they'll drain the Wrights of everything they have.] [You need to go back right now and let Mrs. Wright see your face. This is your only chance to reclaim your rightful place as their daughter!] At that moment, I hear Henry urging me again to hurry and move the bucket. As I glance at the flood of messages once more, I freeze, stopping dead in my tracks.

"It's just...I don't think this is working out,” he gestured at the empty space between us. My mind reeled. "What do you mean? We're fine, aren't we?" I asked, holding onto hope. "Honestly, Kalynda, I deserve better." "What's wrong with me?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. Jake's gaze dropped to my body, and he didn’t even try to hide his disgust. "It's just...your weight, Kae. It's...unattractive." Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. "You're ashamed of me," I stated, my voice cracking. Jake shrugged. "I'm just being honest, Kae. You need to lose weight if you want to keep a guy like me.” "You're breaking up with me because of my weight?" I asked, incredulous. Jake nodded. Kalynda hits rock bottom when her boyfriend breaks up with her and she realized he’d been using her all along. The bullying and ridicule from her peers, including her step sister, increased, and Kae wants to end it all. But the brooding Max steps in and stops her. She sees life in a new light and works in herself. What happens when she returns as a completely different person?

On their third wedding anniversary, Clark Summer gifted his wife a diamond necklace named "Love Nyla," broadcasting his devotion to the world. But while the public swooned, Nyla sat alone in their empty home, staring at a photo sent by a stranger: her husband’s new secretary, Jordyn, wearing that same necklace, tangled in Clark’s arms. For three years, Nyla had been the perfect, submissive wife. In return, she received betrayal, humiliation from her mother-in-law, and Clark’s sickening justification that his affair was merely a "physical necessity" while he still loved her. He believed Nyla was trapped, tethered to him by her father’s astronomical medical bills. He thought she would swallow the insults and raise his mistress's child. He was wrong. Selling their mansion, gathering evidence, and delivering irrefutable proof of her infidelity… Nera turned and left, donning a white lab coat instead of an apron, transforming overnight into a top-tier pharmaceutical researcher who had astonished the industry. When Clark, with belated repentance and red-eyed pleading for her return, saw his icy ex-wife being gently embraced by his uncle Damon, he saw the aloof man before him. The superior man coldly glanced at his nephew, his voice low and dangerous: "What are you calling 'wife'? Call her 'auntie'."

She was deeply suffering inside, but she chose not to open her mouth about it. He's ignorant about her pain. Until one day, she chose to give up. _______ Fatima Jane Robles, whenever she's with people, she only shows them her faked and staged smiles. Sa bawat matatamis niyang mga ngiti, may nakatagong mga sekretong takot siyang ipaalam sa kahit na sino. She was running away from the past, but the past kept on hunting her. She was silently battling all her struggles alone. Her smiles may be faked and staged because of a different level of pain she felt, nagagawa niyang maramdaman ang tunay na kasiyahan dahil sa iisang lalake, si Vishnu Lloyd Conception. Whenever the both of them were together, enjoying each other's company, especially in bed, she always gives him her genuine smiles. And, her smile never fails to caught him off guard. And as the saying goes, 'love comes in so many ways'. Hindi mo na lang mapapansin na tinamaan ka na pala. Until one day, she just realised that she already had fallen for him. But the thing is, it was too late.

A woman runs, holding onto her torso as she keeps glancing behind her. Tears spilling from her already wet cheeks. She catches her breath and screams as the hurt in her chest tore her up internally. "Why... why?!" She cries as her clenched fist hits her broken heart. Her lover tried to rid her of their unborn baby. She was hurt. She felt betrayed. She grew to hate him with all of her being. Still, memories of the love they shared still plagued her. How could she possibly still trust him? And yet, despite her anxiousness, she still held onto a small scale sliver of hope. All she could do now, was to leave him and keep their child safe. *** 16 years passed and there stood a young boy with silver hair and bright amethyst coloured eyes. He smiles at the horizon, staring at the capital city of the country of Enoch. Finally, he was old enough to venture out into the great city. Said to be the largest and most prosperous of the kingdom. He holds firmly onto the hope of an exciting journey as he kissed his mother goodbye. Thinking of all the warning she gave him before his journey could begin. Once in the city, his life changed forever and his perilous struggles began.

Sizzling hot in red pair of swimsuit, Raya walks confidently in the runway. She smiles genuinely and owns the stage like a queen. Napakuyom na lamang ng kamao ni Damielle Villacorda. Paanong ang namayapa niyang asawa ay nasa national Television ngayon at rumarampa bilang contestant sa beauty pageant? Soon, his question was answered. Ang nasa likod ng lahat ng iyon ay walang iba kundi si Rio Costor, ang pinuno ng kalaban nilang Mafia. But no one can stop Damielle, not even danger. Hindi siya papayag na hindi niya makuhang muli ang babae. By hook or by crook ay aangkinin niyang muli ang kanyang misis. Ngunit ang tanong, paano niya sisimulang makalapit sa kanyang asawa kung wala itong maalala sa nakaraan at ang kinikilala nitong pamilya ngayon ay ang pinuno ng kalaban nilang Mafia? Ano ang kayang isugal ni Damielle sa ngalan ng pag-ibig? Handa ba siyang palitan ang kanyang katauhan, maangkin lamang muli ang kanyang mahal? At mapapanindigan niya kaya ang kanyang desisyon kung ang kapalit ay ang unti-unting pagguho ng organisasyong pinaghirapan niyang itatag?

For someone who nearly dies because of an accident that wipes the memories of her 23 years of existence - the only thing that Sammia Avileigh can do is to depend on everything that her family told her. With the help and support from them, she did her best to live a normal life. She follows everything that her parents told her about who she was, what she likes, what she does, what she wants, what's her favorite, how she dresses, what she hates, and what she's not good at. A year later, she finally recovers, she's happy with her life despite forgetting those memories that define her. But her almost perfect life turns upside down when she saw a strange note on the empty abandoned room on the back of their house. 'Aliano Silvanus Rivvero, you need to kill him. Remember that.' What does the note mean? Why does she feel like it is connected to her? And if that's the case- why would she kill the man she is bound to marry? The man that she really likes, according to her parents? They say a memory can be a star or a stain, and Sammia Avileigh didn't know that the latter defines her lost memories. And that's, what they will never let her know...