Hardship

Matthew Guerrero is the youngest son of a Mafia boss. He is a hot-headed man who always lets his fists act before his brain. But on the day he almost died at the hands of a treacherous client of his family, a man saved him—and that man was none other than Kaizer, someone who drifts from job to job. Their paths cross again when Kaizer becomes a bodyguard for the Guerrero family. Even though Kaizer once saved Matthew’s life, the two of them still constantly clash, both inside and outside the Guerrero mansion. Yet as time goes by, they slowly come to understand each other, and no one can separate these two men—through hardship and joy, they are always together. They get kidnapped together, shot together, end up in the hospital together, and even suffer food poisoning together from the street food they ate. After everything painful they have gone through, they are always side by side. Until little by little, what they feel for each other begins to change. Matthew thinks at first that it is just because Kaizer is his friend, but he realizes that what he feels for the man who is always with him is something far deeper. It is not easy for them to confess their feelings to each other before finally becoming a couple and doing the things only couples do. But behind those happy moments, Kaizer is hiding a secret—one that will shatter Matthew’s heart and world. A secret he has kept hidden for so long, one that will eventually explode and damage their love: a love born from trust and true affection… and lies.

Ariana Cooper stood by Caleb Miller through his rise to success, enduring every hardship life could throw at them. With the wedding just around the corner, she was on the verge of becoming his wife—only to be discarded once she'd outlived her usefulness. To make matters worse, Caleb even handed over the wedding funds as "compensation" to his long-lost first love, who returned with a son in tow. Watching the picture-perfect family of three bask in their happiness, Ariana made a clean break. She returned to her wealthy roots and got engaged to the heir of a trillion-dollar empire in Horghen City. Then the story flips. Ariana reemerges on the global stage as a top-tier designer, dazzling at the world's most prestigious fashion shows—now with a trillion-dollar tycoon husband by her side, the envy of all. Caleb was convinced Ariana—an orphan, hopelessly devoted—was only throwing a tantrum and would come crawling back in time. But as days turned into months, he began to lose it. … Ethan Skye was infamous in elite circles for his icy detachment, a man rumored to harbor a secret love he could never reveal. Ariana understood the rules and never pushed her luck, falling seamlessly into their role as a flawless, if hollow, society couple. One lazy afternoon, Ariana found a sketchbook tucked away in Ethan's private study. She flipped it open—and her breath caught. Page after page was filled with drawings of her. Holding it up, she went to reason with him. "Ethan, and you call this 'not close'?" He bent down, effortlessly scooped her up, and carried her toward the bedroom. "It's not too late to get close now."

The Mother That Fed the Dark is a study of inherited guilt, ritual, and the long reach of a mother's choices. Amahle, a woman who practices the old rituals in secret, believes that her younger son , Sipho, was born as a spiritual "door" to be sacrificed for the sake of power and protection. During the ritual she performed , she got interrupted by the older son, Thando, who died instead. While the community believes Thando's death was accidental, Amahle knows better: it was the wrong son who died, and the ritual was left unfinished. Drenched in fear and resentment , Amahle raises Sipho as if he is the love of her life, while at the same time working to destroy him. Behind closed doors, she feeds the supernatural force from the failed ritual, which weakens Sipho, making him fearful and dependent. As Sipho grows, so do the misfortunes that follow him, and an unseen entity begins to present itself-first in dreams and whispers, then in the physical world . What we see is that the ritual did not bind to the house but to Sipho's bloodline. When Sipho leaves home, the haunting grows stronger. After Amahle's death, Sipho finds her secret notebooks , which reveal to him the shocking truth: that his brother's death was a mistake and, in fact, Sipho was never meant to die but to be the vehicle for the ritual, which he indeed is. Setting the family home on fire brings only temporary relief , but the curse does not break. In the final revelation, Sipho realizes that he is not the offering but the keeper, the living portal through which harmony, hardship, and magical power flow. Unlike his mother, he comes to the realization that he has a choice.

My family was the wealthiest in River City, with assets worth trillions. On my eighteenth birthday, my brother, Calvin Chester, gifted me an entire jewelry production line while my parents built a private museum and named it after me. The greatest hardship I’d ever faced? Learning how to spend my inheritance. Then I met Dario Darwin. For him, I cut ties with my family and helped him build his empire from scratch. But when I was three months pregnant, he demanded I drink on behalf of his assistant, Fran Fallon, a woman “slumming it” as an intern while secretly being the heiress to another fortune. “Stop pretending,” he sneered. “You’re not like Fran, raised in pampered luxury. You’re older, so act like it and take care of your juniors!” Then, to the clients leering around the table, “My wife’s just being dramatic. She can hold her liquor. Don’t hold back—pour her another!” Amid their jeers, he left with Fran, abandoning me to a room of drunken men. Years of sacrifice, only to be humiliated. I scheduled an abortion and called him. “We’re done.” Through the phone, Fran’s simpering voice chimed in, “It’s my fault that Clea is upset… I should quit and go home to my family’s billions.” “Ignore her. She’s faking it,” Dario cooed back. On the day Dario signed the divorce papers, my parents and Calvin came to take me home. Our marriage came to an end, but his tragedy was about to begin.

Elizabeth Kennedy, an orphan who doesn’t want anything but a normal life. She wants a quiet life away from all the complicated fucked up, scheming life that others live. She doesn’t have money, friends, and family to call her own. A lone girl making her living with a part-time job and all the odd jobs she can to make money. Supporting herself is tiring sometimes but she has no other options. She just wants to complete her college and find a decent job to make life easier. She is a simple girl with a difficult life until she meets him. Christian Ford is a billionaire who can get everything he wants with just one word. People respect him, fear him, scheme around him but can never take advantage of him. He lives a carefree life. He never has such feelings until he meets Elizabeth. Something in her attracts him, and her blue eyes capture his heart. He is pulled towards her unconsciously. He decides then and there that he will make her his. But the question is that he has a secret. Will Elizabeth accept his Darkside and be willing to be with him? Somehow, Elizabeth ends up tangled in all the scheming, dangers because of Christian. She tries to escape; he finds her every time. Will she survive all the hardship and get together with Christian? Can Christian protect Lisa and make her his? Will Lisa be able to escape from his clutch? Or will she fall for him? Let 's read and find the answers.

At a very young age, Alfred Zephyr Cordova, also known as Alphy, the guitarist of the Pentagon Band, experienced all kinds of hardship: physical, emotional, and even mental. He worked various jobs just to survive. Due to his hard work and dedication, he was able to SAVED himself from poverty and hunger. At the age of nineteen, he became a self-made millionaire and continuously made a name for himself not only in the field of music but also in business. He made all impossible things possible and is now becoming one of the richest billionaire-bachelors in town. But can money really save us in a life full of injustice, especially if there's an unsolved mystery that happened to you in the past? Is he truly SAVED from the nightmares of the past, or is he just covering them with the fame and wealth he currently has? Aurora Genevieve Delos Santos, a girl with a perfect life-that's what she thought when her family was still complete. But when the truth came, and the moment her father returned to his original family while her mother fell ill, Gen's perfect life disappeared. She had to work in a club and offer her body to everyone just to earn money. When she thought she was able to save herself from what happened in the past few years, that was also the moment she needed to make the same decision because of the same circumstances. In a world full of judgment, is there a chance for her to be SAVED and experience once again her once-perfect life? Or will she suffer until the end because of a past she never wanted?

A 20-year old guy, Lucas Monreal, has to cope with the hardship and trials in life after being abused, failed, and accused of a crime he did not commit when he was 18. He had a dark experience with women, which caused him to develop gynophobia (fear of women). Wanting to help a needy family, he ventured to Manila and worked in different fast food restaurants as part time. Until he met a regular customer, Mike, who took him as an office staff member of his company. In Manila, Lucas met Nathaniel de Guzman, 25 years old, a man who, little did he know, was a policeman who volunteered to spy on him due to the allegations of his ex-girlfriend’s family. According to their accusation, Lucas raped the woman, causing her insanity. As the investigation progressed, the young policeman confirmed that Lucas was innocent. In fact, he is the victim. The guy had trauma whenever he attempted a sexual scenario. He suddenly gets scared and ends up fainting. His affection for him grew exponentially, and he soon fell in love with the young man, Lucas. Nathaniel has a muscular body and is handsome, so he can attract women at a glance... and even a guy like him couldn’t resist him. This triggered Lucas’ identity crisis, questioning himself why he felt it for him. To help each other, Nathaniel proposed a sex adventure, a process to find out what their sexual orientation really is. Sex adventure confirmed that they are of the third sex — or, as it is more commonly known, LGBTQ — among bisexuals. The adventure also clarified their feelings towards each other. So in the end, they will stand together to reveal what really happened and to bring justice to both victims. Sydney and Lucas.

Sophia Smith and Alexander Carter have been friends since high school, but she sees him as more than just a friend. When her father suddenly proposes marriage, she accepts without consideration and Alex was forced to abide by his grandfather's wish, so he married her, but her happiness fades as Alex's indifference takes hold. Determined to win his love, Sophia devotes herself to impressing him, but her efforts were all futile. A year into marriage, Alex files for divorce, accompanied by scandalous pictures that led Sophia to bear the burden of false accusations. Unable to face the distrust of people around her, Sophia disappears with her unborn child. Six years pass, and fate reunites them when Alex becomes Sophia's patient. Guilt clouds Alex's eyes, and his voice trembled with longing as he muttered "Sophia, I've spent years realizing my mistakes. I've regretted every moment since we parted" She spares him a glance "Regret won't mend what you shattered, Mr. Carter. The past is a chapter closed, I've moved on and so should you." He reached out for her hand but she moves away "And what about the twins?" he asks with a voice filled with remorse. Sophia responds curtly "The twins are mine. Alone." On one hand stands her ex-husband, prepared to endure any hardship to reclaim her, and on the other hand stands a friend who is willing to go to great lengths to have her as his own.

"You will stay in a room and wait to see who has purchased your precious cherry. No niceness, no pleasantries, just a night of f**k, A business contract, signed, dealed and finished with a d**k." Those words sent chills to her spine as she read the content of the contract before signing nervously. Isabella's life was a rollercoaster of hardship and tough choices. With her father's life hanging by a thread, she found herself in a heart-wrenching dilemma – watch her father die in the cold hands of death or sell her virginity to a total stranger, a man, Ricco, who felt a connection since the day they shared an intimate and passionate encounter. He vows to find her as they embark on separate journeys. Fate intervened when Isabella became a maid in his mansion by luck but danger loomed in the form of Roberto, his sinister elder brother, who relentlessly pursued her coupled with the cruelty she had to endure from Ricco's girlfriend and aunt. Ricco , deeply in love, couldn't bear to see Isabella in peril. He made a tough call to protect her, providing the means for her independence and preventing her marriage to her father's ruthless creditor. But destiny had crueler plans in store. Kidnapped by her father's enemies, Isabella was thrust into a harrowing life as a forced prostitute, trapped by her father's debts. Will she summon the strength to break free from this nightmarish ordeal? What happens when she finds out she was pregnant with Ricco's child while captured to work as a prostitute. Dive into a gripping tale of love, sacrifice, and Isabella's unyielding resilience as she battles to rewrite her destiny.

Deprived of his father's love and cursed by a blind witch, Zebulun has had his fair share of hardship and spite in life. Despite being the only heir to his father's throne, he happened to be his father's worst nightmare and the pack’s laughingstock. For who would desire a son that can't see nor speak? Moreso a King! A total disgrace to the royal bloodline and to himself at that. He realized that he wanted to be different, a different kind of King, irrespective of his disability. Just then he met his betrothed’s slave, a girl whose eyes burn with fiery fire and has a skin like silk. Then like a moth attracted to a flame he was lured towards her, but he tried to quench his feral attraction towards her even though he could hardly keep his hands to himself. Slaved and bought by different masters until she got to the last cruel one, Lucinda has seen and heard enough to last a lifetime or two. Hearing the sweet tales of having a mate, she has always looked forward to meeting hers even though she does not have a wolf, never had and it never bothered her. What happens when she meets the blind and mute prince and realizes that he was her mate, what worse? He happened to be her cruel mistress’ betrothed? Will she fight for their bond or run away like she has been running from the origin of her nightmares or will Zebulun fight through the everlasting darkness he has been innocently plunged into and break the curse? Will they both be able to keep their bond a secret or give in to their fated needs? Read to find out…