Hometown Smile

Prologue The cry of a baby is heard and a maid screamed it's a girl, it's a girl. A smile creapt unto the mother's lip as she carries her child in her hands. She kissed the child , prayed for her and blessed her. I name you Alaina meaning light. She gave the child to the maid. "Please take her to a Faraway place where no one can find her, please help me and protect my child. She's our last hope" the maid nodded with a worried face and took the child. "May the spirits be with you Alaina

Acquaintance Party and some students already at the center of the hall. Dahan-dahang tumingin si Leighton Wajeeh sa kanan niya kung nasaan ang isang babae. "Eun-ji... M-May I d-dance with you?" he stuttered. With a sweetest smile he's ever seen, the girl answered, "Sure, Waj!" Right after she accepted his hand, they then walked towards the center of the hall. "Alright, on my cue, wear your masquerade mask!" the host suddenly announced nung nakita niyang marami nang nasa gitna. Matapos nilang hinanda ang mask, the host then muttered, "Mask on! Music, maestro!" Romantic song then played as they wore their masks. Slowly, Leighton Wajeeh puts his hands on Nikolina Eun-ji's waist while she put hers on his shoulders. "E-Eun-ji, I..." sabi ni Leighton habang unti-unting tumingin sa labi ng babae. Leighton's heart pounded fast. He is wanting this moment to come. Eun-ji just stared at him. With that, he stared at her eyes... deeply. "I like y---" Ngunit, hindi niya natuloy ang kaniyang mga salita. Leighton's mouth gaped open and his eyes suddenly widened. Napaatras siya dahilan upang mapatigil sila sa pagsasayaw. This can't be... "Waj, what's wrong?" Eun-ji innocently asked. She tried to reach him ngunit umiwas si Leighton sa kaniya. His hands and lips trembled while still looking at the woman's face covered with mask, highlighting her eyes. Those eyes... Those eyes that brought him trauma for how many years... Similar to the eyes who killed his father!

Born into an extremely influential family in the Far West of the United States, Janis Walter, of course had every right to throw her weight around in every way she could. She possessed characteristics most people believed was supposed to be for the male gender, and unfit for a feminine goddess like her. But you know what? They were wrong. Janis considered them all wrong and they dared not challenge her. On the opposite side was Jax Storms. Not wealthy, not poor...Just in between. Sure, like every western man, he was masculine, but what happens when he comes in contact with Janis who was overbearingly domineering? And in the most unlucky way too. They had a one night stand! ~. .~ Janis gasped in shock when she saw Jax, after haven not seen him since that night. Memories from that night immediately hit her and her cheeks flushed red immediately. He didn't look like he did the last time she had seen him; he looked very different, and more sophisticated. To her surprise, he turned out to be the CEO of the corporation that was closely in competition with hers. "Hello." Janis spoke and his eyes narrowed immediately, before giving her a fake smile that didn't even reach his eyes. "How are..." "I didn't come here for a reunion." Jax cut her off. He didn't like how she smiled at him, he believed it was fake and she was just like her younger sister, who looked down on people who had no status attached to their name. "Then what did you come here for?" She asked, unable to believe that the CEO standing in front of her had been the Uber guy who got her pregnant. "I want custody of my child." He deadpanned and the smile drained from her face.

He was an arrogant and cold man but he cherished her the most. She was beautiful and innocent. She felt safe only in his strong arms as he used to protect her from the cruelty and ugliness of the world. "Why are you so good to me?", she used to ask him while blinking her beautiful and innocent eyes. "Because you live here", he pointed at his heart. But life is not a fairytale for everyone. "Sky! Where are you going??", Elliot asked her while grabbing her arm. "I can't live here anymore", Sky said as she stood in the heavy rain. "But where will you go??", he panicked. "I don't have any home now, everyone has abandoned me. I'll go wherever destiny takes me", Sky said as she looked away. "But, didn't you say? I'm your home." Elliot asked with immense love and affection in his eyes. Sky bit her lips for a while but then she asked, " what about your family?" "You are my family Sky!!! You're my everything." Elliot held her tightly as he said that. Finally she smiled while crying heavily as she hugged him back, thinking about him being the only person she could trust. As she was sure, he won't abandon her no matter what. But, no one knows what future holds for them! A shadow sneered while looking at them, "I'll see how long she's gonna stay here, I'll make her life a living hell!" She took out her phone and dialled someone's number, "Is it Sean Hill?" "Yes, who's this?", the man asked arrogantly. "I know who you've been searching for your whole life! And I guess, I've found her", she said with an evil smile as she looked at the two figures embracing each other in the heavy rain.

"Huh," she said awkwardly, looking at her hands. Seriously, Grace, just die; she cursed herself. "But you know the funniest thing..." he said, now standing in front of her, since when, she wondered. As he traced the line of her ears with his thumb, she shivered in excitement. Boy! Who would have thought she was sensitive in that area? He forced her head up with his hand. "I am going to fuck you here, Grace, and it won’t be a joke." Grace Bush, the only child of a prominent Canadian family known for her selflessness, and sweetness, experiences a tragic incident on the happiest day of her life, resulting in the loss of her entire family. Left as the only survivor, she undergoes a profound transformation from a sweet innocent child to a wild and self-centered individual. In order to claim her late father's wealth, she decided to train herself in a well-known firm, facing unexpected challenges. Just as she contemplates giving up, fate presents her with a life-altering job opportunity, offering an escape from her troubled hometown, or did it? Noah Creed, the handsome billionaire CEO of The S.O publishing industry in New York, appears to have it all – wealth, looks, and success. Despite being divorced three times, a father, and engaged, he has never truly understood or desired love until he encounters Grace Bush, a wild and unpredictable newcomer in his film industry. Little does he know, their meeting will open a new chapter in his life.

Elena stifled a smile, but he already saw her mouth start to curve upwards and he grinned at her. She ignored him. "I'm serious, Chandler." His smile was instantaneous. "Noted." She licked her lips. Her eyes were wide and nervous, and she tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "And you can't me." Chandler tilted his head to the side and studied her. Pushing away from the car, he took a step closer to her. She held her ground, lifting her chin at his approach. "What if you ask me to you?" he said quietly. "Then can I?" Elena exhaled shakily. "I won't do that." "No?" Carefully, he touched his thumb to the curve of her chin. She shook her head, and his hand fell away. "Maybe you won't," he told her. "But hear me right now, love, I'd love it if you asked me for a ." —------ When Elena Davis decided to move to Vacaville, she had just one thing in mind — to start her business over after she'd failed the first time she tried. It'd be nice to live in the same city as her twin sister, and getting reunited with her university crush, Elijah Kendrick doesn't seem like a bad idea. But fate, however, has its own plans and she finds herself drawn to someone else—his brother, Chandler Kendrick.

"I love you," he gazed at her eyes which are dropped on the floor while he cups her cheeks with his palm. She doesn't look at his eyes. She seems scared. But with what he doesn't understand. "Do you not like me? Even a little bit?" his voice enunciates but she doesn't response to it. He waits for her answer but she doesn't reply him. He tries to back away from her. But as he is leaving, she holds his hands suddenly. "I don't know. I don't know whether I like you or not. I just don't want you to go away. I just don't want you to leave me," she says with the tears sparkling on her eyes. "Esther!" He presses his forehead against her as his breaths fasten. He can feel that along with his, her breaths are quickened as well. He realizes that the fire is burning on both side and she is equally anxious as she is. A smile creeps on his lips as he feels that. "I love you, Esther. You're made for me and I am made for you. We are made for each other," he smiles and presses his lips against her. "You're day dreaming one more time? What the fuck are you dreaming about Esther? Is it about my old man? Are you dreaming about him?" He pushes her against the wall and punches hard on the wall making his knuckles be red and bleed. "Nooo...Nooo... Caden! You're wrong," she cries.

Hindi ako nagkamali sa nakita ko, alam ko siya ‘yon. Hinding-hindi ako magkakamali pagdating sa kanya. “Daddy!” it was a heart melting voice who called me. “There you are!” I said as I carry my son. I can’t do anything; it pains me seeing her walk away. I want to ask how her life is going, if she has someone new, if it’s still me. I really wanted to hear her talk, see her smile, and met her eyes once again. “Babe? Let’s go,” A soft voice called me, Solange. I turned my gaze in her direction once again, but I lost her… again. Ang pakiramdam na pilit kayong pinaglalayo ng mga alon ay sobrang sakit. Animo’y protektado siya ng malalakas at matatayog na alon kaya hindi malapitan dahil pilit kang itinataboy nito papunta sa dalampasigan. She’s an ocean wave that I can’t keep, an ocean wave that I can only see and admire from afar. ‘Till next time…

Cassana has only wanted two things: to be a wizard and to get away from her small village. However, certain circumstances have been holding her back. Now it seems like she's going to be stuck in her hometown forever, but she is not quite ready to give up on her dreams yet. Minos is not a difficult man to like, charming, eloquent and brash, he has all the makings of a swashbuckling adventurer. So when the mysterious Prince of Zephyrus called for an expedition to find the missing Sword of the Godslayer, the only weapon known to have killed a god, Minos was the first one to step up to the task. Cassana and Minos met under stressful conditions, and it's made evidently clear that they don't like each other. But if they both want to achieve their goals, then they have no other choice but to put aside their differences and learn how to work together.

She coveted everything about me. My possessions, my experiences, and even my men. So one night, my mother pushed me into an older man's bedroom. The next day, she asked with a smug smile, "Nina, how was your night with the older guy?" I rubbed my sore waist, recalling his broad shoulders, long legs, and trim waist from the night before. I smiled as I answered her. "That fiancé of mine is all yours now. Just remember—I’ll be your Aunt-in-law in the future.”