Hands Down

Anna Vendal, in a bid to prove that she isn’t a total failure in life, agrees to her father’s plan to marry her off to Christopher Hanson, the rich CEO whom everyone knows has lost his mind. Anna’s journey to redemption soon spirals out of what she’d prepared for when she gets to see the vulnerable side of Christopher who is plagued by many losses. Several events lead to her developing a bond with Christopher as she tries to fix what is left, emotionally, of this man who makes her feel better than she is. However, the business games from both families soon catch up and Anna realizes that she can’t keep her budding love for Christopher and her loyalty to her family. Things take a uglier turn as more and more secrets erupt from both ends of the family, threatening to turn Anna’s and Christopher’s love into bubbling hate. Now, she has to risk her life and dig deeper into the secrets or risk losing everything, including Christopher.

When my older brother, Ivan Goldsmith, gets drugged, I'm forced to strip down and use my body as an antidote for him. After I get pregnant, Mom and Dad tell us that we're not blood-related siblings at all. They then ask him to marry me. Ivan nods in agreement. But on the same day, he gets into a car accident after he goes racing. I don't mind him having crippled legs. In fact, I insist on becoming his bride. I thought Ivan would be touched upon hearing my declaration and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. On our wedding night, our villa goes ablaze. After waking up choking on the thick smoke, the first thing that pops into my mind is to save Ivan from the inferno. Unexpectedly, I see him smashing a vase right into my head. Before I pass out, I hear his icy voice. "You, Mom, and Dad have ruined my love life! I've given all of our assets to Vicky just to make amends to her! Since all of you have ruined my life, then you might as well die!"

Think of this as a cyberpunk Bridget Jones’ Diary, if Bridget were a self-destructive tech refugee with a cocaine habit and a holographic archangel for a conscience. This is adarkly comedic character studyset in a near-future that feels just a few software updates away. It’s a story about addiction, both chemical and digital, and the messy, painful, and sometimes hilarious struggle to reclaim your own messy life from the algorithms designed to “optimize” it. At its heart, it’s the story of the most dysfunctional friendship imaginable: between a woman who is her own worst enemy, and the godlike AI she reprogrammed to be her partner-in-crime. It’s raw, it’s visceral, and it explores whether real connection can be found once you’ve burned all your bridges, and broken your operating system.

To repay his master’s kindness, Cyrus was forced to get married. But to his surprise, his wife is a beautiful female CEO, and she offered him thirty million dollars as a wedding gift…

During my wedding, hundreds of photos of me being sullied flutter down from the top of the church, landing before the guests below. My fiancé instantly calls off our engagement and turns to kiss my sister. Devastation washes over me. Just then, my childhood friend Derek Church, the Capo of the Church family, the East Coast's most powerful mafia family, pulls me into his arms. He kicks the church's door open and presses a check worth a million dollars into my father's hands. He pulls me to the priest and has him announce that we are husband and wife. I'm so touched that I agree to marry him. From then on, I become the Capo's wife. Two years later, Derek and I finally conceive through IVF. I want to share the exciting news with him when I overhear his conversation with his subordinate. "Lilyanne is afraid of pain and becoming ugly, so we can use Nicole to give birth to her child. Once she produces an heir for the Morse family, her position will be solidified. Then, the Morse family will become the Church family's MadeMan." "As expected of you, boss. You knew the Morse family is full of politicians who would never accept a sullied woman into the family. The only way for Lilyanne to marry into the family was by having Nicole sullied." My blood runs cold when I hear this, and the pregnancy report in my hand feels unbelievably heavy. The man I thought was my salvation was actually the devil who pulled me into the abyss. I dry my tears and call the Capo of the West Coast's mafia family, Derek's nemesis. "I have a way to help you become the mafia Capo dei capi. Do you want to work with me?"

History repeats itself in many ways. Maybe for the family, the love, or even for yourself. Would you be willing to go back to the past to be able to change the history? Sacrifice yourself and change the fate of those who are in the present and in the future. Like Lia, living in a modern world, who is very contented in her life despite being adopted and having a risky relationship in the meantime that can end her in many ways. And that is why, some things, some pasts are better kept hidden and not known. Would she go back to where history started and change it for the better? Then Lia stays in the past, stuck on her own fate. Will it be the further destruction, or the salvation of her history?

Mary Ann “Maan” Perez resigned from her work as an office secretary in their province to apply as a Customer Service Representative (call center agent) in Manila. After receiving a message from her prospective employer for a scheduled interview, she decided to contact her cousin to tell her to fetch her at the bus terminal in Manila for she will be staying with them for a week. Unfortunately while on her way to Manila, her cousin Joan, had an emergency to attend to and would not be able to fetch her. Instead Joan’s cousin from her mother's side of the family came to fetch Maan. Virgil ‘Gil” Velasco (Joan’s cousin) who lives in his own apartment brought Maan to his house with an agreement that Joan will be fetching Maan that day. Later that day, Joan called to inform them that she could not fetch Maan because her mother is suspected to have contracted COVID-19 and needs to be under observation for at least 14 days and if it wasn’t bad news enough, an announcement was made that night that the government decided to put National Capital Region (NCR) and the entire Luzon under lock down. Going in and out of the area is prohibited for 1 month!Locked in together for a month, will they catch the virus called love and start a romance or will it end when the lock down ends?

Jothea Alvandra doesn't like the new sub-professor who is in charge of their math subject, calculus. Well, she wasn't interested in the subject itself in the first place. She always came late and ruined everything for Professor Ismael Mondalla, but little did she know what would happen after they came up with a ridiculous agreement, which would lead to a hugely chaotic life for them both. "What does love mean? I'll make you feel it the second time you attempt to slap me again."

My withered rose Every night I sip from a glass of wine trying to forget this beauty and get it out of my head. But I'm back and shocked that I couldn't do it.. All women after you are far from being slaves under my feet.

The last thing that feisty Andra, a tomboy, expects from her father is to be forced into a marriage with Dominic, an attractive and resilient stranger who becomes a threat to her wayward lifestyle with his formidable disposition.