Light Off

Ayahku selalu mempersiapkan kencan buta untukku, dia berharap aku menemukan pria yang cocok untuk dijadikan suami. Tapi kenyataannya aku tak menemukan pria yang cocok, bahkan aku sampai dicap sebagai 'barang dagangan ayahku' karena banyaknya kencan buta yang kujalani. Orang lain menganggap aku dijual oleh ayahku kepada para pria kaya. Aku tidak ingin membuang-buang waktu untuk berkencan dan sejenisnya. Aku hanya ingin sebuah kepastian, "Kalau tidak mau menikahiku, silakan pergi". Menunggu adalah hal yang paling aku benci. Oleh karena itu... Seorang pria di pesta malam itu membuat aku terpesona. Aku tidak ingin menunggu, aku langsung menawarkan pernikahan pada pria yang bahkan baru kutemui itu. Namun, siapa sangka setelah menikah aku terlibat kembali dengan mantan kekasih yang membuatku trauma akan cinta.

Jika ternyata benar manusia hanyalah segerombolan mahluk yang diternak oleh para dewa, apakah kesombongan manusia itu masih berguna? "Kau tidak punya pilihan lain selain melepas keserakahamu saat ini manusia!" Apakah kematian benar-benar akhir dari kehidupan?

Ares is her brother's best friend. Thirty-four, engaged to the perfect woman, and completely forbidden. Yet, Scarlett cannot stop watching him. At twenty-two, fearless, and cherished by her older brother, she knows she should do what is right and avoid the blue-eyed man across from her. Each forbidden glance and touch intensifies their bond, threatening to unravel their worlds and guarantee heartbreak. And Scarlett’s brother has just made her start her internship at his office. Someone is secretly watching, intent on destroying them. As Scarlett gets closer to Ares, the danger around her increases. Secrets, betrayal, and obsession meet at a crossroad in a love they were never meant to have. Yet, I can't resist.

The day Candice Larsen received the letter for her successful admission in Harvard University was also the day the news reported the involvement of her parents in a car-crash. Even after this fateful incident she refused to look at the world with bitterness. However, as she faces the real world, she discovered that in order to live, some dreams must be sacrificed. After failing the entrance exam to one of the world's prominent university attended by all of his older siblings Dylan Hearst certainly knew that he had also failed to make his father proud. Being a member of a historically rich family, known for their wits and creative inventions that has catalyzed the technological advancement of today, Tristan's existence was a shame. As their lives come into an unexpected encounter, it was not long when Tristan figured out that Candice complimented him in every way. Her weakness is his strength, and her strength is his weakness, and he certainly knew that breakthrough is set if they mastered how to use each other's gift for their own benefits.

The day my husband, Eric Johnson, brought his foster sister home from overseas, he gave her our master bedroom. "Yvonne just lost her husband. She's heartbroken, so I want her to feel comfortable," he said. I nodded obediently. "Okay." The next day was my birthday. Yvonne said she was feeling down and wanted her brother, Eric, to go stargazing with her. Eric turned to me and said, "She really needs me right now. I'll celebrate your birthday with you later." Still, I smiled and nodded. "Okay." Ten years of marriage and I was ready to walk away from it all… Because I have lived this life once already. In my previous life, I made the mistake of asking Eric to stay with me on my birthday. I did not let him go stargazing with Yvonne. She ended up falling into the water in her sorrow and was rushed to the hospital. After that, Eric shoved my head into a bathtub and held me there until I drowned. In this second life, when Eric handed me the divorce papers and said, "I’m only marrying Yvonne to help her revoke her foreign citizenship and restore her citizenship here. Once it's done, we'll remarry." I did not hesitate. I signed my name without a second thought. By the time he came looking for me again, I was already sitting on his archenemy's lap, smiling like a flower in full bloom.

The story of the prince and princess is a fairy tale. So what's the story of you and me? She stood in the dark, looking up at the stage filled with lights, and she saw him shine like a radiant sun. He was in a place filled with light, and he reached out my hand to hide that light so that he could see her better. “Indeed, your eyes don't see the light. That light is so beautiful, and it’s radiating from you….”

Our seventh wedding anniversary. I sat at the dining table—alone. My phone buzzed, lighting up with two messages. First, from Tom: [Working late at the office tonight.] Second, anonymous: [Tom is incredible. Can you even keep up?] Attached was a picture of him, lips locked with a woman I didn't recognize. I blew out the candles on the anniversary cake. Eyes shut, I typed back: [Let's divorce.]

The day after the new year, during a family gathering, my aunt sneered at me as I worked overtime, reviewing a proposal. "Why are you pretending to be so busy? It’s not like we don’t know you only make three thousand a month. Real money-makers are people like my daughter, a designer so successful she doesn’t even have time to come home!" I ignored her, but she directed her spoiled son to delete all my files while I was in the bathroom. My hands trembled with rage. "This proposal is due in ten minutes—if I don’t submit it, everything is ruined!" She scoffed dismissively. "He’s just a kid. What could he possibly know? Besides, your job isn’t even worth much. If you lose the files, you lose them. Worst case, you get fired." I chuckled coldly but said nothing. She had no idea it was the proposal her daughter had spent an entire month working on. And I was the client who held her daughter’s fate in my hands.

It's already hard being Black in America, but it's even tougher surviving America as a Black Vampire. N, who is a vampire, has been on a long search finding the police officer who killed his family and cut off half of his tongue when he was young. He believes that the cop is in Virginia; he goes on a grueling battle to find him. But he also ends up falling in love, meet other unique black vampires like him, find his true origin, and leads a revolution to end police brutality and racism.

Back in the day, in the legal world, Finn Cross and I were the top dogs. Untouchable. He ran New York, a king in criminal defense, never lost a case. I held down Boston, crushing it in civil court. People in the biz used to say it was a good thing we weren't in the same city. If we were, we’d have gone head-to-head, and it was anyone's guess who'd come out on top. But they never would've guessed. Three years ago, I, Victoria Sterling, quietly married Finn Cross. And just like that, the legend of "Vicky" was locked away. I was willing to leave my career behind, to be the quiet, supportive woman behind the great man. I made his coffee, went with him to all sorts of events, and left a light on for him when he came home late. But when Elena, the one he’d always carried a torch for, showed up again, I couldn't keep up this charade anymore.