He Was Satisfied Not Overjoyed

My boyfriend is a forensic doctor. I've been abducted and tied to a bomb—there's only ten minutes to detonation. The abductors force me to call my boyfriend, but all I get is a scolding. "What the hell do you want, Michelle? What are you playing at, using your life as an excuse just because you're jealous? "Vi's cat has already been stuck in a tree for three days. She loves it like it's her life! If you delay me from saving it, you'll be a murderer!" I hear a coquettish voice ring out on the other end of the line. "Thank you for this, Kev. You're amazing!" I recognize that voice—it belongs to my boyfriend's childhood friend. I text my boyfriend when the bomb is about to explode. "Farewell forever. I pray we won't meet each other again in another life."

Akala ni Elena ay handa na siyang umalis sa nakaraan matapos ang pagkakanulo ng kanyang pamilya at ang planong kasal na para lang sa kapatid niyang paborito. Sa isang gabing wasak ang puso at puno ng galit, nagpakalunod siya sa alak at sa yakap ng isang estrangherong lalaki-gabing akala niya'y mananatiling lihim magpakailanman. Pero hindi niya inaasahan na nakatakda na pala silang muling magkita. Ngayon, boss at sekretarya ni Enzo Monteverdi. Sa bawat titig na puno ng alaala at bawat sandaling sila lamang ang magkasama, unti-unting nabubuhay ang isang pagnanasa na hindi dapat maramdaman. Isang pag-ibig na kailangang itago. Isang lihim na maaaring sumira sa kanilang reputasyon, pamilya, at prinsipyo. Hanggang saan sila lalaban kung ang pagmamahal ay bawal... at ang mundo ay handang humusga?

Aurelia has spent three years in a loveless marriage, holding on to a man who was already slipping away. She thinks it can’t get worse until his first love returns. He divorces her without hesitation. He doesn’t know she’s pregnant. Alone, heartbroken, and with nowhere to go, Aurelia is hit by a car. She wakes up to three powerful billionaire brothers claiming her as their long-lost sister, and they take her away from the life that broke her. Five years later, Aurelia is no longer the woman he abandoned. She runs AURELIA, a global luxury fashion empire. Untouchable, cold, and emotionally closed off. So when her ex-husband walks back into her life, begging for another chance, she doesn’t hesitate. “Unless it’s business, you don’t exist to me.” And when he discovers he has a son, he tries to claim him. The child looks at him without recognition and says, “My father is dead. I only have my mummy and my uncles.” For the first time, Dominic is forced to face the full weight of what he lost. Now, the man who once threw her away is the one begging to stay. But Aurelia doesn’t believe in second chances. And this time, walking away might not be his choice.

On campus, Emily was surrounded by several girls. Each of them slapped Emily's face and insulted her with dirty words. Emily wanted to stand up and fight back, but her arm was stomped heavily on the ground by one of them. There were many people around who walked indifferently, as if they were no longer shocked by this scene. The second girl kicked Emily's face, "Omega is the lowest level of trash, you should have died long ago..." Suddenly their phones rang, and one of them exclaimed, "The four Alphas are having a party! They actually came back home!..." They all picked up their phones to read the text messages, "I received an invitation to the party..." "I received it too!"... They kicked Emily a few more times and cursed a few times before leaving, leaving Emily alone. Emily got up from the ground tremblingly. She picked up her phone a few meters away. Emily found that there were more than a dozen missed calls from Luna. She suddenly panicked and called back nervously. Luna's voice pierced her eardrums, "Where did you die? The four Alphas and the guests are all at home now. Come back here quickly..." Emily was stunned for a moment after hearing the words of the four Alphas, I felt even more panicked.

Laura Azzahra Alibasyah, seorang gadis remaja yang terlahir dari keluarga harmonis. Namun, dimasa lalu terjadi suatu insiden yang menyebabkan Laura kehilangan ingatannya serta mengubah keseluruhan dari tatanan kehidupan Laura. Kepribadiannya yang sangat ceria, seketika berubah menjadi dingin. Laura berusaha untuk mendapatkan kembali ingatannya sekaligus mencari jawaban atas kebencian sang bunda pada dirinya. Dalam perjalanan kehidupan Laura, ia bertemu dengan sosok Rafael yang mengajarinya tentang arti kehidupan. Tapi, siapa sangka jika mereka dipermainkan oleh takdir. Apakah Laura bisa mendapatkan kembali ingatannya? Dan apa yang akan ia lakukan jika berhasil mendapatkan ingatan itu? Baca lika-liku kehidupan Laura dalam novel Not Allone.

Rheyner Aditya Effendi dan Nadira Almira adalah sepasang sahabat yang tumbuh bersama sejak balita. Di akhir masa putih abu-abu Rheyner menyadari kalau ternyata dirinya memiliki rasa sayang sebagai seorang pria pada Nadira. Rheyner menahan diri untuk mengungkapkan perasaannya. Namun, ia sudah mulai merancang masa depan untuk dilalui bersama Nadira. Rheyner akan menjadikan Nadira ratu dalam kehidupannya kelak. Sayangnya, tidak semua hal berjalan sesuai jalan pikiran Rheyner. Apalagi sejak dirinya mendapatkan beasiswa ke Jepang. Kesalahpahaman kerap menghampiri. “Nggak usah peduli sama aku lagi. Jangan jadi sahabatku lagi. Jangan lagi urusin kehidupanku. Kamu urusin aja hidup kamu. Kita sampai di sini aja. Kalau perlu kita nggak usah saling kenal lagi. Kamu bebas sekarang." Air mata Nadira sudah membanjiri wajah. Ia hempaskan tangan Rheyner. Ego Rheyner tersentil. Amarah menguasai diri. “OKE, GUE NGGAK AKAN PEDULI SAMA LO LAGI! GUE NGGAK MAU JADI SAHABAT LO LAGI!” Nadira segera berlalu dari hadapan Rheyner. Napas Rheyner terengah. Matanya memerah. Kedua tangannya masih terkepal. Pelan tapi pasti cairan bening keluar dari sudut matanya. Apakah semua benar-benar akan berakhir sampai di sini? Apakah pernikahan yang dibayangkan oleh Rheyner tidak akan pernah menjadi nyata?

"Mama!" Maya Lin never expected that child would come to her and utterly transform her life. He was clearly not her own flesh and blood, yet who would believe it when they saw just how strikingly alike they looked. The scandal that had rocked S city about her made Maya Lin entangled with her ex-husband, Samuel Ren. She struggled to break free from the man, but she couldn't. She was compelled to be trapped once again in a marriage that only rekindled painful memories from the past. Maya Lin was forced to accept the boy named Stelio Ren, but she couldn't, for he had taken everything that should have belonged to her deceased son. Behind all of this, there was a hidden secret deliberately concealed.

On the fifth year after marrying Giovanni Santoro, the Don of the Santoro family, he decides to make a public appearance with his mistress, Valentina Conti. He no longer denies the truth behind the romantic scandals. Videos of them that have been taken in secret, as well as salacious gossip featuring the two, are spread like wildfire in New Albion. It's an act of declaring ownership over Giovanni that he himself has silently permitted. There are even busybodies who don't know their place and decide to prod me for answers with smiles on their faces. "Does this mean someone else is going to replace you as the Donna of the family?" That night, the underworld of New Albion secretly goes through a thorough purge. I file for a divorce with Giovanni immediately before marrying his biggest enemy, Franco Messina. After that, the Santoro family goes into bankruptcy. Their power and authority easily crumble into dust. Giovanni kneels before me. With tears running down his face, he begs me for forgiveness. I just smile while waving the divorce agreement in my hand. "Sorry, but we're already divorced."

On our sixth wedding anniversary, my cheeks burn as I dodge my husband, Ethan Grant, leaning in for a hungry kiss. I push him toward the nightstand for a rubber. What he doesn't know is that I've tucked a surprise in there, a positive pregnancy test. I can already see it, the way his whole face will light up the second he finds it. But the moment his hand goes for the drawer, his phone goes off. His best friend, Henry Miller, comes on the line in Danish. "Mr. Grant, how was last night? That new love couch our company rolled out is treating you okay?" Ethan lets out a low laugh and answers in Danish, "The massage feature's great. Saves me from having to rub Sandy's back myself." He still has me pulled tight against him, but his eyes look straight through me, like he's seeing someone else. "This stays between us. If my wife ever finds out I slept with her sister, I'm done." It feels like someone just put a knife through my chest. What they don't know is that I minored in Danish in college, so I catch every single word. I force myself to stay calm, but the arms I have looped around Ethan's neck won't stop shaking. At that moment, I stop hesitating and decide I'll take the offer from that international research project. Three days from now, I'll be gone from Ethan's world for good.

“Is trusting you a sin?” Hannah asked. “It wouldn't have been a sin if you were nothing but sand under my feet. You’ve always had it all—the grades, the charm, the spotlight. Teachers adored you. Boys wanted you. Even James, the only one I ever looked at like that, fell for you despite your boring look.” Her best friend’s laugh was dry. Cruel. Hannah’s heart squeezed, her breath catching in her throat. “You think you’ve won?” she said, voice shaking. “Because you slept with my husband and fed him lies?” “I don’t think, Hannah. I won.” “You didn’t win. You settled. You crawled into my leftovers and tried to wear my skin like it would turn you into something better—but it didn’t.” --- On her first wedding anniversary, Hannah Reyes was drugged—by her husband and her best friend. The betrayal shattered her world, and cost her the one thing she was holding onto: her unborn child. The next day, still lying in a hospital bed, her husband handed her divorce papers... then ordered her thrown out. Lost, bleeding, and alone, she was hit by a car. But fate wasn’t done with her yet. The driver? Matthew DeLacruz—her husband’s former friend, now bitter enemy, and a man he once scammed. And Matthew made her an offer she couldn’t ignore: "Be my vice president, and I’ll help you destroy him." What began as revenge turned into something else, something thrilling, empowering, and dangerously beautiful. And just when she thought she had nothing left to lose, Matthew made her a different offer: Marriage. Now Hannah must ask herself: Can she truly trust again? Or will this new beginning become just another ending?