Likelike Closure

*Excerpt* My gaze met Sergio's. He didn't look away. I couldn't look away either. It felt like there was an invisible magnet pulling us towards each other. He looked away, breaking us from the trance. "Are you sure you're okay, Nicole?" "Come inside." He shook his head. "I was worried, and—" "Come inside, let's talk." He shook his head again, unyieldingly. "We're already talking." "Are you scared?" I asked in a challenging voice, my gazed fixed on him. "What are you so scared of?" "Nicole..." "To answer your question, no, Sergio, I'm not okay." "What's bothering you?" The vulnerability in his eyes towards me was palpable. It was my chance to act. I couldn't afford to waste it. "You," I replied, my gaze still boring into his. "And your fiancee. I couldn't bear watching you together." Sergio swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing. "I was jealous, Sergio." • *Blurb* In a turn of events, Juliana bears witness to the brutal murder of her father—a sight she never thought she'd witness. Amidst the turmoil, she finds out she's their next target, but somehow, she manages to evade them. Determined to seek closure and justice for what happened to her father, Juliana takes on a new identity as Nicole and embarks on a quest for vengeance against the masterminds. With a heart hardened by grief, she takes on the journey. A journey that would test her limits and push her to do unthinkable things. Will she succeed? Follow her on this journey as she confronts the demon of her past.

It's been a rollercoaster ride for Cooper. From being a player, to becoming a one-woman man and to being a first-rate gigolo, and eventually living his life like a bargain-basement rubbish. He felt that way, opposite to what other people see in him as someone who has everything on his reach; fame, wealth, and looks that anyone would kill for. But he was empty inside. He has nothing. He lost everything because he made a wrong choice. If only he could turn back time. He could have protected Zyon as what he promised to her. Yes, he could have but he was not able to as he was the reason of her heartbreak. And now, he is paying the price of his unwise decision, a price that he thought he could afford but he knows he couldn't. Zyon has been coping up with everything she had been through pretty well. With a very nice job she is very passionate about, spending all her time for it, making a huge name for herself internationally, somehow helped her big time with escaping her sorrows. Going back to Philippines was not on her choices as of the moment. She still wants to achieve more and armored herself with invincible success so she can win the battle when the right time comes. Kapag hiningi ng pagkakataon, wala siyang magawa but for now she is still enjoying everything she can grasp and won't allow bad memories to haunt her. She wouldn't! But as she set her foot back in the country, memories came flooding in for both Cooper and Zyon. Will their paths cross again? Will they give their past a final closure? Or will they be able to revive what happened before and give it a new twist with a happy ending?

EZREN: Kiss or kill. Those were always the two options left.. until the past walks back into my life in the form of blue eyes, ginger curls, and a tattoo he swears I should remember. Knox Graye. A diagnosed psychopath. Says he was my brother’s boyfriend. That I left him to die and that I hold the only truth to his death. He is everywhere. Digging up my lies. Ruining what’s left of my life. Call me ‘Cherry’ like it means something. I swear I hate it. I hate him. I don’t know if he wants closure, revenge, or just someone to break. Either way, I’m his target and his third option. KNOX: Everyone thinks I’ve got a loose screw in the head but they're wrong. I lost the whole damn toolbox, buried six feet under with the only person I ever loved. I've spent six years grieving. Dying in pieces while he rots away in a grave but now? Now someone else walk around in his bones, smiling with his lips like he fuckin’ owns it. Like I wouldn’t recognize my own goddamn Cherry. Except now he calls himself Ezren. Cute. He thinks he has been hiding behind top grades and golden-boy charm, but I built his whole damn maze. And now that he's close? I’m done with subtlety. I want chaos in his veins, his secrets peeled off like skin. I want to crawl into the part of his head where he still hears his brother’s laugh and whisper: “You were always mine." He doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going to dismantle him. Brick by fucking brick. And when he finally breaks, I’ll be there to offer him a choice. “Kiss or kill, Cherry?”