Funny You Should Ask: A Novel

Karapatan ko rin yata ang maging masaya't piliing tahakin ang landas na nais ko nang hindi ako pinupukol ng bato nang sinumang taong madaraanan ko.

The day before our engagement, Stellan Graves came shopping with me, but his mind was clearly elsewhere. I bought a chili dog from a street stall and held it up to his mouth only for him to swat it out of my hand, sending it flying to the ground. Fury flashed across his face as he snapped, "Ivy Stein, the Graves family needs a woman who can actually show her face in public. Stop buying cheap trash like this. You're embarrassing me. How do you expect my parents to accept you like this?" I picked up the food in humiliation, threw it into the trash, and nodded meekly for the sake of our four years together in college. "As you wish." … However, the very next day, he switched his fiancee to Amelia Lane. "Ivy, Amelia tried to kill herself just to marry me. She's in the hospital now. Once she's stable again, I'll come back and marry you." Four years later, he showed up at my tiny apartment with a diamond ring in hand. "Ivy, Amelia has already agreed to divorce me. We can finally be together. I told you before—once Amelia lets go of her obsession with me and stops hurting herself, I'll come and marry you." I frowned at Stellan's so-called heartfelt expression. I must have had terrible luck that day. Who'd have thought I'd run into this wacko when I'd come back to my place on a whim?! "Move," I demanded, shoving him out the door. "You're blocking the way. I need to pick up my kid from school."

No one knew that I was a sex addict until the company's team building exercise. I had forgotten to bring my medicine along for that night and was assigned to a tent with a male colleague. I was in tears as I climaxed right before his eyes, and now that there was no turning back, my impulses spiralled further away from control…

When the Earth slipped into a relentless, record-breaking heat, I exhausted everything I had to develop a constant-temperature shelter. Yet, my fiancée, Janine O’Connor, insisted on wearing a bikini and going out to sunbathe with her personal secretary. In my previous life, I stopped her. I warned her that an apocalyptic heatwave was coming, and that countless people would be burned to death simply by being exposed to the heat. However, her personal secretary looked as though he had suffered a great injustice. “I’m sorry, Will,” he said. “But I can’t bear to see Miss Janine stuck in a shelter for the rest of her life. I’ve done my research. This is a period of natural selection for the Earth. Only by adapting quickly to the environment can people truly survive.” Even so, I threatened my own life and forcibly brought Janine back into the shelter. Relying on the shelter I built, Janine survived the apocalypse and rapidly built a survivor base. However, on the second day after she became the base’s leader, she had me hanged outside the shelter and burned alive. “If you hadn’t forced me to come back, Mark wouldn’t have been devastated and killed himself in the heat! He was about to develop a new type of shelter, yet you stole all the credit! I’ll make you pay with your life!” Even after my death, her hatred didn’t fade. She ordered someone to skin me and turn my hide into a rug, stepping on it every day. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day I tried to stop her from sunbathing with Mark Davis.

Angelique hasn't seen her dad since birth; she grew up loathing her dad, who abandoned her, molding her into a strong and independent young girl. Angel's single mom raised her, living in a two-room apartment while trying to meet ends. She repays her mom by giving her best in school. Maddox came from a prominent family; his dad is a business tycoon. Despite the wealth they possessed, sadness finds its way to his heart. He is a lonesome boy who chooses to be alone with his trusted friends. Maddox became aloof after the untimely death of her mom until Angel came into his life. Their world collided when Angel got a strange scholarship to study in Maddox's expensive school. They are two worlds apart, yet they find happiness in each other's company and shrug their shoulders at whoever bombarded their friendship. Especially Cassandra, who happened to be interested in Maddox and named Angel as an outcast of their campus. Angel and Maddox surprisingly have too many things in common that falling in love was inevitable. It was a dream come true, like a fairy tale in a movie that they met at the right time they needed someone to shed light on their dark world. Angel gained a lot of haters at school, but Maddox got her back. They shared a genuine relationship until they found out who was behind Angel's scholarship. As if it was not enough, Angel's mom confessed a thing she's been hiding for so long. An event that is bound to change their status, which Cassandra took advantage of. Will Cassandra succeed? Or will Angel and Maddox's love for each other find its way back together?

Arthia Violette, a Fine Arts student, majoring in Painting, has always been sure that her sole purpose in this life is to become a wife. She would always cry over proposals and wedding scenes in movies or books. She believes in marriage and has always been so fond of marrying in her early 20's. But at 20, she still has the NBSB badge. And just when she had already given up dating and just decided to wait for what we call in God's time, Antonio Nicholas, an Architecture student, suddenly slid through her Instagram DM's. Not only that, he slid into her DM's, but he also turns out to be the son of her father's colleague, and Av being a die-hard fan of destiny, thought that maybe it was her shot at it. It was the start of everything. And finally, at 21, Av got a boyfriend! And at 23, she got married to the man of her dreams. At 24, she had her gallery, art workshop, and art store. She had her first successful major exhibit. She's living the life she has always dreamed of. What could possibly go wrong?

"You know what happens when you run, spitfire." Tobias nips my lower lip with his teeth then soothes the sting with the gentle caress of his tongue. "I catch you!" --- I should have known that Tobias Landry was behind the circus of my troubles. He, who once was a man I adored in my past life, is now a man who leaves nothing but devastation in his wake everywhere he turns. He can pretend all he likes that he is innocent, but the slight twitch in his left eye says a completely different story. I will fight him to the end to keep the bakery that I have poured my sweat, blood, and tears into! Even, if that means that I have to marry him and give in to his sexual desires. My name is Keri Appleton and this is a dangerous and sultry tale about lies, secrets, and the fine line between love and obsession.

Cleorine is from the province who vacationed in Manila to gain experience there before moving out. She met a new friend who became close to her, but she had to say goodbye because she would continue her studies in the province before going back to Manila. Will they meet again?

Olivia or Livy for short. She has been through a lot. More than you possibly can imagine. She has lost touch with her true self. Old Livy may still exist deep within her soul, but to others, she is nothing more than a girl with a stone heart who doesn’t feel pain. Caleb pretends to have the demeanor of a bad boy, but he is far from it. Yes, indeed! He is a popular jock, but he is not your typical bad boy. Perhaps he did not suffer as much as Livy did, but he witnessed someone close to him destroying his or her life. What happens if they cross each other’s path? Will they fall in love, or will they despise each other? Will Caleb be able to restore Livy to her former self, or will he push her even deeper into the unknown? This story will provide an answer to every question.

Madriagga— one of the most handsome and powerful tycoon in the country. A lot of woman fantasize about him. But, at the age of 27, he is already married to me. I can say that I'm lucky to have him as my husband. He never hurt me, he never made me feel unwanted. He always makes me feel happy, special and loved. Wala ka ng ibang hahanapin pa dahil nasa kanya na ang lahat. "I really love your perfume. It suits you well. Seductive and at the same time sweet"  he said that while still massaging my core. Napapaliyad na ako habang mahigpit na nakahawak sa kanyang balikat at leeg. Ang kanyang mga labi ay nasa aking leeg, humahalik roon at nag iiwan ng marka. "I wont stop until you beg me to." Pagkatapos non ay naramdaman ko na ang unti-unti n'yang pag pasok sa akin.   I am, Summer Jill Buenaventura - Madriagga.  We've become husband and wife, before summer.