Leveling Up

She hides behind ugly suits and fake names. He's done trusting women. When they meet in a masked sex club, neither realizes they've been fighting each other across boardroom tables for eighteen months. At Taylor Industries, she's Joy Smith—the frumpy CFO who drowns her curves in shapeless polyester and wearing a wig. At home, she's the forgotten wife of a cheating lawyer who hasn't touched her in so long she's starting to wonder if she's broken. When she finds hot pink lace panties stuffed in her couch cushions...definitely not hers, it's not heartbreak she feels. It's freedom. Grayson Taylor doesn't do relationships anymore. Not after walking in on his actress fiancée with another woman. Now he channels everything into hostile takeovers and board meetings, especially the ones where his overcautious CFO fights him on every goddamn acquisition. Joy Smith is brilliant, infuriating, and funny when he pushes all her buttons. But Honey is tired of being invisible. Tired of never having felt real pleasure. So, when her best friend gives her the details of The Velvet Room—Manhattan's most exclusive masked club—she promises herself just one night. One night to find out if her husband's right, if she really is frigid, or if she's just never been touched by the right hands. She doesn't expect the masked stranger who claims her the second she walks in. Doesn't expect the chemistry that ignites between them, the way he makes her body sing, or the orgasms that leave her shaking. Doesn't expect him to hand her an email address with one command: "Only me. No one else touches you."

“You scrape by, taking me to cheap dinners, wearing the same old clothes, living like you're stuck in some broke college life. It’s embarrassing. You’re embarrassing!” Claire scoffed at Julian,“We’re done, Julian. Take your pathetic cheap gift and get out of my life. This is over.” -- Julian, a young man, barely getting by as a janitor, had always been belittled and looked down upon by society. He was constantly treated like he was worthless. Not caring what the world thought of him, he never stopped trying to make his fiance Claire happy, pouring every ounce of himself into their relationship. However,Julian uncovers the painful trut, that Claire has been cheating on him with his boss, leaving him broken hearted. That same night, he’s left homeless. Faced with the harsh reality, he was forced to reclaim his estranged family empire, to teach those who looked down on him, and treated him like dirt a lesson.

A love that is silent but never a secret. It is a soft scream that echoes over the years. At a young age, Lana Normina Delfin started developing simple admiration towards someone, her classmate, who constantly teased her because she's a transferee. Turns out that this boy had a crush on her and was just trying to get her attention. But right after she realized her admiration on him, he suddenly distanced himself and started treating her like a mere acquaintance. But even after leaving her confused and wondering, she stayed silent and kept her feelings. She was okay admiring him from afar, with few rumors spreading about it, hoping they would reach him. Until he left, leaving the country without any assurance of returning. Was it the end? He already left and there's nothing between them that she could hold on. Should she accept it already and live by? Because it's been years. An undeniably long years.

Suami dan anakku sama sekali tidak menghargaiku. Mereka malah membawa wanita lain yang baru saja bercerai, pulang ke rumah kami. Wanita itu licik dan penuh tipu muslihat. Dia terus mengadu dombaku dan suamiku, membuat kami jadi bertengkar. Karena sudah tidak tahan lagi, aku pun mengusir wanita itu dari rumah. Namun, suami dan anakku justru marah. Suamiku menyebutku cemburu buta dan tidak punya belas kasihan. Dia bahkan menyebutku tidak sebanding dengan wanita itu. Dan kalaupun harus ada yang pergi, akulah yang harus pergi. Bahkan anak yang sudah kukandung selama sembilan bulan pun lebih memihak wanita itu. Dia juga memaksaku minta maaf, kalau tidak, dia enggan menganggapku ibunya lagi. Hatiku hancur melihat suami dan anakku lebih memihak wanita lain. Aku pun memutuskan untuk bercerai. Wanita itu baru menunjukkan dirinya yang sebenarnya di hari aku dan suamiku mau bercerai. Dia sengaja mengunciku di kamar dan meledakkan tabung gas. Ketika suamiku yang merupakan tim pemadam kebakaran tiba, dia malah sibuk menyelamatkan wanita itu karena menganggapku sudah mati terbakar. Suami dan anakku sampai kaget ketika kami bertemu lagi, "Kamu bahkan sampai pura-pura mati demi membuat kami menderita ...."

Putraku tiba-tiba bilang dia terkena leukemia. Keinginan paling utamanya adalah melihat Tante Eva mengenakan gaun pengantin. Suamiku juga ikut menimpali. "Cuma nikah dengan Eva saja. Setelah putra kita menjalani pengobatan dengan tenang, kita baru nikah lagi." Aku pun menyetujui permintaan ini dan bercerai dengan suamiku. Tak lama kemudian, dari unggahan Instagram putraku, aku melihat putraku menghadiri pernikahan suamiku dengan teman masa kecilnya dengan penuh semangat. Judul unggahan itu tertulis : [Aku menjadi saksi dari kebahagiaan ayahku. Hari ini lagi-lagi aku tersentuh oleh perjuangan cinta sejati.] Aku tersenyum dan mematikan ponselku. Sembari memegang tangan orang di sebelahku, aku pun naik pesawat ke Navala.

I want a divorce.” Andy blinked. “Divorce? You’re joking.” But Anna wasn’t smiling. “No, Andy. I’m done. I won’t share a roof with you and your mistress.” Andy scoffed. “Be serious, Anna. You can’t live without me. You need me.” Anna’s smile turned deadly. “Oh, you think so?” She stepped closer, her voice sharp as a dagger. “Watch me, dear husband. I can live without you.” *** She walked away with nothing—except her pride. When Anna Roberts discovers her husband has moved his mistress into their home, she makes the boldest decision of her life: divorce. With only her son and her dignity, she steps into an unfamiliar world determined to start over. Mocked for her weight, underestimated by everyone—including herself—Anna transforms her pain into power. She works, she fights, and she rebuilds. Soon, she’s no longer the woman Andy could belittle… she’s the woman he’ll never deserve again. But then there’s Gerald Smith. Her powerful, disciplined boss. The man who never mixes business with pleasure. Until Anna. What begins as temptation spirals into something dangerous—something forbidden. Gerald knows one wrong step could ruin them both, but walking away from Anna might destroy him more. Anna thought her divorce was the end of her story. But it was only the beginning.

Tepat memasuki tahun ketujuh pernikahanku dengan Hans, cinta pertamanya, yaitu Yeni kembali dari luar negeri. Kini aku baru sadar bahwa Hans hanya menganggapku sebagai pengganti selama ini. Pada hari aku mengurus prosedur perceraian, aku juga memesan tiket kereta api. Satu-satunya anak yang kukhawatirkan, justru bersorak kegirangan. "Berarti Tante Yeni sekarang bisa menikah dengan ayah dan menjadi ibuku?" Anak ini memiliki selera wanita yang sama dengan ayahnya. Aku mengemasi barang-barang tanpa ragu, lalu pergi dari rumah. Tiga bulan kemudian, aku dan putriku tidak sengaja bertemu lagi dengan ayah dan saudaranya. Putriku bertanya dengan bingung, "Bu, kenapa anak laki-laki itu terus menatap ibu sambil menangis?" Aku menggandeng putriku dan langsung berbalik pergi. "Entahlah, ibu nggak kenal."

Tepat di hari peringatan 30 tahun pernikahan kami, suamiku masih dalam perjalanan dinas. Makanan di meja sudah dingin. Di tengah aku masih menunggu kedatangannya, aku menerima notifikasi suamiku reservasi hotel. "Aku masih dinas, bukankah wajar aku menginap di hotel?" Suamiku masih merahasiakan, lalu aku meminta bukti video darinya, tetapi dia tidak membalas pesanku lama. Putraku menyeletuk, "Bu, jangan bertingkah berlebihan. Bukankah Ayah bekerja keras juga untuk kita berdua?" Semua orang menganggap aku adalah ibu rumah tangga yang bahagia karena memiliki suami yang perhatian dan putraku memiliki karier yang sukses. Namun, ketika aku menerima notifikasi reservasi hotel, seketika aku merasa muak. Mereka mengira aku tidak tahu apa-apa. Aku ingin bercerai. Semua pengorbananku selama 30 tahun ini ternyata tidak dihargai. "Kamu bukan anak kecil lagi, berhentilah membuat keributan!" Suamiku memohon agar kami tidak bercerai. Dalam perjalanan pulang di tengah malam, suamiku mengalami kecelakaan mobil. Putraku marah dan mengatakan bahwa aku tidak becus menjadi istri maupun ibu. Melihat anakku emosi dan suamiku yang pura-pura terbaring lemah di ranjang, aku mencibir dalam hati. Kalau kamu suka pura-pura sakit, aku akan membuatmu lumpuh selamanya!'

Aku pergi menonton konser penyanyi favoritku sendirian. Saat sesi permintaan lagu, aku sangat gembira, berdoa semoga aku menjadi penonton yang beruntung. Namun detik berikutnya, suamiku yang sedang dalam perjalanan bisnis muncul di layar lebar dan di sebelahnya adalah cinta pertamanya, Desi Maulanda. “Aku ingin meminta lagu ‘Kembali ke Masa Lalu’, kembali ke tiga tahun lalu, Martin Sutanto tidak akan pernah putus dengan Desi.” Seluruh penonton bersorak, merayakan cinta mereka. Hanya aku yang menangis. Saat sesi permintaan lagu berikutnya, aku melihat wajahku yang berlinang air mata muncul di layar lebar. “Aku juga akan meminta lagi ‘Kembali ke Masa Lalu’, kembali ke masa lalu aku tidak akan pernah menerima lamaran Martin.”

I thought I was just a broke college girl with a traumatic past and too many cigarettes. I didn’t know I was born to lead a pack. I didn’t know I was being hunted. On the night of my twenty-fourth birthday, everything changed. One second I was at a club, pretending life didn’t suck. The next, I was being dragged out by a stranger with ocean-blue eyes, thrown into a black SUV, and told I was a werewolf. Apparently, I’m not just any werewolf—I’m the heir to a powerful bloodline, the only survivor of a massacre, and the center of a prophecy that could bring down one of the darkest witches in history. Now I’m stuck in a mansion full of secrets, locked behind doors I didn’t ask for, and shadowed by an Alpha who looks at me like I’m everything he’s ever wanted—and everything he’s not allowed to have. They say I belong here. They say I have power. But I didn’t ask for a bond I don’t understand, a fate I don’t believe in, or a love that might just break me.