He Did It Again Didn't He

Chief Secretary na maaasahan lagi sa umaga, at isang nakakaakit na kasalo sa kama tuwing gabi—iyan ang buhay ni Bona Sobrevega sa mga bisig ni Sean Fernandez. Matapos ang tatlong taon na pagsasama at pag-aalaga sa isa’t isa, inakala ni Bona na pantay ang nararamdaman nila. Kung kaya’t nang alukin niya ang lalaki ng kasal, hindi niya inaasahang guguho ang mundo niya nang sabihin nitong walang halong pagmamahalan ang samahan nilang dalawa maliban sa kanilang mga katawan. Mula noon, umiwas na siya’t tinalikuran ang buhay kasama ang lalaki. Umangat ang kanyang karera at naging isang tanyag na abogada na walang tumangkang kumalaban sa kanya sa komunidad. Dumami ang mga manliligaw at dito’y nagkukumahog na gumapang pabalik sa kanya, puno ng pagsisisi, ang lalaking minsan na niyang minahal ilang taon na ang nakalilipas. Ngunit sa mga pagkakataong ito—wala na siyang nararamdaman para dito.

**“— One year! A damn year being your wife without ever being anything to you! — I spat the words, holding back my tears with clenched teeth. — And now you think you can just… keep existing in my life? Ace looked at me with that calmness of someone who had always won without needing to fight. But this time, it wouldn’t be like that. — I never stopped you from leaving, Luna. You’re the one who kept waiting for something I never promised. — I stayed because I thought that… maybe you would see me. That at some point I’d stop being just your obligation. But it doesn’t matter anymore, I’m finally managing to forget you. He stepped closer until his warmth brushed against my body. — Then why do you still tremble when I come near? — Because you scare me… — I whispered weakly. — Is that it? Is that really it? Or is it because you know that if I touched you even once… — his voice dropped lower, hot and provoking — …you’d never be able to walk away again.” Luna Bexter had loved Ace Montesino for a long time. She thought she was lucky to become his wife in a marriage of convenience, but after the one-year term ended, Luna grew tired of waiting for Ace’s feelings to change and decided to leave. Is it truly possible for them to go their separate ways?**

Before Christmas Eve, all of Nowevik was betting. Not on money. On me. Would I finally pull the winning lot? Would Leon Fabian finally take me to his family estate for Christmas? The Fabians had a rule. A new bride had to attend the Christmas Eve dinner with the whole family before she counted as one of them. I'd been married five years. Five years. The lot never landed on me. I'd become Nowevik's favorite joke. This year, the winning ticket went to a nightclub hostess. She lounged on Leon's lap and flicked it onto the table in front of me, smiling like she'd already won. The room went silent. Everyone waited— for me to lunge at her like I had the last four years. Claws out. A scene. But I didn't move. "Congratulations." Leon leaned in, breath warm at my ear, smiling like he'd just proved something. "Wynne, you're finally learning how to behave. Keep this up and you might actually become a proper lady of my house." I lowered my eyes and tore the ticket in half. My face stayed blank. Leon had no idea the five-year deal between my brother and me was already over. Soon, he'd come take me home.

Tess let a stranger claim her. He touched her like she was worth everything, then walked away when he learned something about her he swore never to get involved with. Now he's her boss, and he pretends she doesn't exist. Donovan has rules. But Tess almost made him break them. He touched her, almost claimed her, but had to force himself to stop. Now she sits outside his office every day, and he's haunted. He avoids her like a disease, becomes crueller than ever to suppress his own desires. Because if he lets himself feel anything, he won't ever be able to stop. His addiction had a face now, and she's destroying every defense he's built.

After my rebirth, I no longer stop my husband, Don Dante Moretti, from taking care of his dead older brother's widow and daughter, Sofia Bianchi and Lucia Moretti. I spent my entire life hoping that he would spare me a glance, after all. Only when I was hugging my son, Leone Moretti's icy corpse while dying in the snow, did I realize just how wrong I'd been. Once I'm reborn, I visit the law firm decisively and turn in my appeal for divorce. "I request to file a divorce with Dante Moretti. I'd like to terminate Leone's and my original identities." A few days later, Leone and I will disappear from Dante's life. Since he wants to stay with Sofia and Lucia, I'll grant his wish.

"You can't walk away," he whispered, his breath hot against my ear. "Not now." I never should've followed him. I knew it the second I saw his dark, predatory eyes lock onto mine across the bar. But I couldn't stop myself. I was drawn to him, to the danger simmering beneath his cool, controlled exterior. "One night," I told myself, "just one night." But it wasn't just a night. It was a raw, thrilling ride into darkness, where he took control in ways l'd never imagined. "Do you like it when I make you beg?" he growled, and I did. God, I did. By morning, I was tangled in his sheets, marked by his touch, my body still aching from the things he'd done to me. But when I opened my eyes and saw his face in the cold light of day, reality hit like a punch to the gut. The man l'd spent the night with, the one who made me surrender in every way possible, wasn't just a sexy stranger. He was a mafia kingpin-one of the most feared men in the city. And me? I'm the future district attorney, the one assigned to take him down. "You belong to me now," he said, his voice a deadly promise. And as much as I wanted to deny it, I knew he was right. But what happens when the lines between law and lust blur beyond recognition?

When my mother first told me about the arranged marriage, Noah Parker lowered his head and kissed me, pulling me closer as we became tangled together. After a haze of passion, he carried me into the bathroom. Warm water streamed over my skin, but his words sent a chill straight through me, as if I'd fallen into an icy pit. "Go home. And don't come looking for me here again." I thought he'd seen the text and was jealous, so I quickly clung to him and swore, "I won't marry anyone else—" His smile stayed, but the heat in his eyes cooled into something distant. "But I'm getting married." He brushed back my messy hair, ignoring how my body trembled under his touch. "My fiancée is gentle and kind—nothing like you. She’d never throw herself at her foster brother like that. We've already set a date. If you keep clinging to me like this, she'll be upset with me."

For the past years in Arra's life she only wished for her family to have good health and be safe. She's been a servant of god all her life kaya hindi siya nagkakasala intentionally pero dadating sa puntong susubukin ng diyos ang pananampalataya ng isang tao at yun ang nangyari kay Arra nung makilala niya si Prince isang criminology student mula sa universidad ng san juliano. Si Prince ay kagaya din ni Arra na isang servant ng panginoon at masunuring anak pero ang tahimik sanang buhay ng dalawa ay magugulo dahil sa pagtatagpo ng kanilang mga landas at ang sinless nilang pamumuhay ay mababahiran ng makamundong kasalanan na labis nilang pag-sisisihan pero huli na dahil parehas na silang nasaktan. Sa pag-alis ni Arra sa lugar kung saan niya naranasan ang unang sakit ng pag-ibig ay mahanap niya kaya ang kaligayahang matagal niyang ninais? Ano ang mangyayari kung sa pag-alis niya ay makilala niya si Marco isang mayaman at ubod ng bait na lalaking magmamahal sa kanya ng buo. Pero sadyang mapaglaro ang tadhana dahil muling magbabalik ang kanyang nakaraan para gulugin ang kanyang tahimik na kasalukuyan.      

She will never be enough for them. Sa tanang buhay ni Shane Umbrielle Reñeses ay palagi lamang siyang nasa likod ng kanyang nakatatandang kapatid na si Jane. Laging siya ang magaling, matalino, maganda at pinaka ipinagmamalaki ng pamilya, samantalang siya ay lagi lamang itinatago sa likod ng kapatid at itinuturing na pangalawa sa lahat ng bagay. She likes nothing but to please her parents kaya nang umalis at tumakas si Jane ay pumayag din siya na pumalit sa pwesto nito na pakasalan at maging asawa ng lalaking kinamumuhian siya at hindi siya gustong makasama, ang lalaking nagngangalang Matthew Elior Beischel.

My best friend's brother and I have been dating for half a year, and she has no clue. My best friend drags me out on Christmas for a singles' night out. Unexpectedly, we see her brother, Chris Lambert, holding hands and kissing a girl under the fireworks. "Damn, Chris finally got the school belle!" She looks thrilled and pulls me forward to say hi. Chris awkwardly rubs his nose and introduces me to his girlfriend, "This is my sister, and the one beside her is… sort of like my sister too." I smile silently. We have held hands and kissed, yet now, I am just sort of like his sister.