Last Words

Number 1: Kidnap the Mafia's Wife. Number 2: Great, the bitch is gone. Stage an accidentally-on-purpose meet up to get his attention. Number 3: Have his eyes on me the whole night. Number 4: Let him take me home. Number 5: Experiment: take one; put a gun to the bastard's head. The last thing Indigo Mae expected was for a terror from her past to come knocking on her door at midnight. And by all means, the last thing she could have possibly hoped for was this little visit being the reason she gets roped into a twisted and deadly experiment, using the most dangerous man in the continent as her labrat. All Indigo ever wanted was a breakthrough. Unfortunately, life has other surprises. And it all begins with her getting thrown, hands tied, into a sinister Mafia world of conspiracies, lies, desires and death. Or, in other words, this mad man called Alessandro Ferrara.

"Sign the papers, Serenity. I don't love you." Those were the last words Jackson said to me before he threw me out of his villa. He chose his first love over his pregnant wife. I left with a broken heart, hiding the secret of the twins growing in my belly. Five years later, I returned as a top jewelry designer. But why is my ex-husband blocking my way, looking at my children with red eyes? "Serenity, are they mine?" I smiled coldly. "No, Mr. Billionaire. They call another man Daddy now."

I broke my leg in a car accident last week and had been stuck at home recovering, unable to go anywhere. Just as I was starting to go stir-crazy, a couple moved into the house next door—the one that had been empty for ages. I pressed my ear to the wall, catching every sound of them making love, and even recorded quite a bit. Still, I never expected something so sinister to happen. The man next door sounded exactly like my dead husband! I moved my phone closer to the wall and listened carefully. Suddenly, a scream exploded through the wall. “Lindy, you’ll die for this!” My scalp went numb. My husband was mute. The only time he ever spoke in his life… was the night I forced his head into a bucket of water. How did the man next door know my husband’s last words before he died?

Standing against the corner of the wall, her entire drenched body was shivering, both in fear and cold. Her arms were tightly wrapped around herself. Her head was downcast. "Didn't I warn you not to step out of this house without my permission?" A shiver ran down her spine, hearing that intensely rugged voice questioning her. She didn't answer, not only just because she was a mute but also because she didn't know what to answer that person before her. Her shivering turned vigorous when she heard those heavy footsteps coming closer to her. That tall sinewy figure towered her. "You know what will I do to you if I have to repeat my fucking self again," She slowly took her head upward, hearing his threat. Her teary golden brown eyes met with his icy blue ones. His words immediately reminded her what he had done to her last night. Anger and hatred brimmed up in her watery eyes, and she didn't even need to use her words to tell him that. Her tears told him the intensity of her hatred towards him after what he had done to her last night. His jaw clenched. His nefarious gaze hooded. Grabbing her fragile neck with his brawny palm, he pushed her against the wall more and hovered her. "You consider me as a monster, don't you?" Hearing him whispering those words in her ear, her heart froze in terror, realising the worst things he was capable of doing to her. He gripped her neck tightly, causing a tear to slip down from her eyes. He leaned closer to her face, causing their noses to rub against each other. "Then tonight I will really become one for you and will torment this innocence of yours, Kaya Haiden……."

"One wish,” whispered Rica. “A love that will last forever.” Rica jumped out of her bed when she saw a man lying in the bed next to her. She stared at him, fascinated by his handsome face. He had an attractive aquiline nose which complemented his projecting cheekbones and alluring lips. His black glistening hair was coiffed to perfection. She closed her eyes. “This is just a dream,” she told herself pinching her own skin to wake herself up. “This is not a dream and I am your husband.” Her eyes widened as she stared at the manly figure standing in front of her. His perfect amber-colored eyes met hers. She opened her mouth, trying to speak, but no words came out. She was so confused. Yesterday, her boyfriend broke up with her, and now a stranger has appeared claiming they were married to each other. Is he the one she has been waiting for? A love that will last forever?

I am Angel Lim. An avid fan of a popular novel called, 'The Angel They Adored'. It was a reverse harem story where countless men fell in love with the heroine. It's a great masterpiece but I always hated it whenever the greatest villainess harrases her. Yes. That's what I thought before reading the last chapter of the novel. It was the dying moment of princess Ledecia and for the first time, she reminisced her life. "Why did I even exist in the first place if all in my life I'll be in pain?" Those are the last words she utters before dying. And It was very painful. *Knock knock* I paused my thoughts when I heard a loud knock coming from the front door of my apartment. "I'm coming" "Delivery from lily's shop ma'am" I opened my door as I slowly approached the man standing before me. "Oh sorry? But I didn't---" realizing what he said, I immediately tried to said that I didn't order anything but my words were interrupted by a sudden pain. A sharp thing, pierced through my stomach I groaned as I see the blood flowing from my chest. How unfortunate. I wish I had treasured my life more. In the middle of losing conciousness, my honest feeling came out If I'll have the chance to live once again, I'll live free and happy. But then when I opened my eyes, I was transported into Princess Ledecia's body - a villainess from my favorite novel!

"Have you ever loved me, even once?" I hummed when I herd that. Ridiculous. The tall man falling in a pool of blomanod. The scarlet stained his still perfectly delicate face. I never expected a proud Mafia King of all the underground, in the last few minutes of his life, would humbly say this insane words to me -- One who dreams of sending him to hell every day and night; one who could only become his eternal enemy. "No," I didn't spare even a glance to the man on the ground, replied ruthlessly and clearly in hatred, "Never."

“Last night was a mistake. Don’t tell anyone, or you’ll regret it.” Those were Leonard’s words after spending the night with Roberta Arantes—the ugliest girl in college. What was supposed to remain a secret spread through campus, and Roberta faced humiliation and rejection from everyone, even her best friend. But she had a plan. She refused to stay a victim—so she hired Miguel Carrascal, a charming and mysterious man, to pretend to be her boyfriend. What began as a scheme to spark jealousy and reclaim control over her life quickly turned into a tangled web of secrets, lies, and unexpected passions.

"Olivia, I want to live in this moment forever. I don't want to see no daylight" Those were his last words to her * After the death of Olivia Grimes neighbor and lover, Olivia found that that she was was pregnant with his baby and had no heart of carrying it. She tried to abort the baby but the baby proved stubborn. When her parents found out about the pregnancy, they threw her out of the house without a care in the world. She became homeless and lost everything Eight years after, she met a powerful businessman who changed her believe about what happened to her lover eight years ago

SHE WAS a typical student who always got bullied in the Stoneheart University, not because of her looks but because of her magic. She always believed that she was just a weak enchanter since the first time she used magic. However, things started to change the moment she encountered a weird guy who seemed to love black at an abandoned building's rooftop inside their school. Slowly, her unknown fate started to unfold. Out of the ten types of magic existing in their world with a lot of subtypes, why would she have to possess such a controversial one? Instead of not being able to use mana the way she wanted to, why must she have to obtain the one that is unwanted? Dark. Black. Two similar words that were always seen by people as evil. Light. White. Two words that were always regarded as good. In a world where everyone has a negative thought about black magic, could a person born with it last until the end while assuming she has such a difficult task she didn't even wish for? Book cover by Ate Angelica Maghirang