Official Officially

It was meant to be the happiest night of Layla’s life—her eighteenth birthday, the moment she officially stepped into adulthood. Instead, she walked into a crowded nightclub and watched her boyfriend laugh, drink, and kiss another girl while the world looked on. Humiliation followed swiftly. Dragged into a cruel game of Truth or Dare, Layla became the night’s entertainment. When the bottle landed on her, the challenge sounded harmless enough: seven minutes in heaven with a man of her choice. Everyone expected her to choose him. She didn’t. Her gaze went to the man watching silently from the shadows—his uncle. The one man she was never supposed to want, yet couldn’t look away from. Seven minutes was all it took to spark something forbidden. Something dark. Something that refused to stay contained. When the night ended, nothing returned to normal. He became her obsession and most dangerous temptation. And Layla found herself willing to risk everything—family, reputation, even her own heart—for a man she was never meant to desire. This is a story of betrayal, passion, and the pull of a love that should never exist. Once caught in it, there is no turning back.

Isa si Evangeline 'Eva' Cuestas sa mga kasisikat pa lamang na actress at model sa bansa. Pinangangalagaan niya ng maigi ang kanyang karera dahil bukod sa pinaghirapan niyang makamtan ang kalagayan niya ngayon ay pakiramdam din niya ay roon lamang siya magaling. Subalit nang dahil sa kataksilan ng kanyang fiance sa mismong araw ng kanilang official engagement party, gumuho ang lahat. Dahil sa labis na kalungkutan at pighati, basta na lamang nakipagsiping si Eva sa hindi kilalang lalaki. little did she know, na ang lalaking kanyang naka-sex ay walang iba kung hindi si Alas Constantine Fuegerro, isang tanyag na abogado sa bansa. Kilala niya ito na isang mayabang, arogante at babaero. Sa pagtatagpo ng kanilang landas, magbabago ba ang tingin niya sa lalaki? Paano kung may bagay siyang gagawin dahilan upang mas magtagal pa ang kanilang ugnayan? Higit pa kaya sa init ng katawan ang kanilang mararamdaman para sa isa't isa?

On the day of the United Nations meeting, I noticed a new electronic watch on my wife’s wrist. She said it was a gift from her first love to monitor her health. It was a veiled jab, which implied I was not as thoughtful or caring as an outsider. Something felt off, so during her lunch break I secretly checked, and found a bugging device. I reported it immediately, using my official title to cover her wrongdoing. Her first love, however, was now wanted by the authorities. While fleeing, he tragically died in a car accident. My wife said coldly that it served him right, yet treated me with even more care and attention. However, she deliberately leaked my translation files at work, which resulted in me being accused of espionage and taken in for investigation. “Miles, that bug was clearly planted by you. You were jealous of Ash and wanted him dead!” “I truly regret giving up Ash to marry someone as malicious as you. You should go to hell and atone for him!” When I opened my eyes again, I was back there once again on the day her first love gave her that watch. I did not interfere this time. I simply signed my name on the divorce papers.

The unknown Internet celebrity Kristen Healey became popular overnight. There were many anti-fans and rumors about her. "I heard that she has a backer who was powerful and wealthy. She seduced five young masters of the Oliver Family and did not even spare the master of the Oliver Family. She is such a whore." The Oliver family denied the rumors, "Sorry, She is our beloved Miss!" Everyone was shocked! "She"s so beautiful. I guess she"s just an empty vase, without any acting skills." Kristen said nothing and then she won the award for Best Actress to prove herself. However, the anti-fans still didn"t give up. "What"s so great about Her? Isn"t it because she shamelessly pestered Mr. Wharton every day?" That night, a reporter took photos of the distinguished president of the TNK Group taking a necklace worth 100 million dollars. He said humbly to the beautiful woman in the garage, "Kristen, come home with me." "I"m sorry, Mr. Wharton, but my fans are all saying that I"m pestering you. Please stay away from me." TNK Group official immediately announced, "Everyone, I am pursuing Miss Kristen. Please don"t spread rumors, or it will be more difficult to pursue Kristen."

At dinner, Tiffany White grabs my fiance's phone and spends 100 thousand dollars on a designer bag. She even sticks her tongue at me. "Come on, Meredith. You're loaded. You won't mind such a small amount, right? Shawn and I share everything. His money is my money," she says. Everyone at the table waits for me to lose my temper or smile and let it slide like a saint. Instead, I calmly take out a voice recorder and my laptop from my bag and adjust my gold-rimmed glasses. "100 thousand meets the threshold for criminal filing. Since you said you two share everything, I have to ask—is this embezzlement or an illegal transfer tied to an improper personal relationship? "Oh, and what you just said about 'his money is my money'? I recorded that. According to the supplemental clauses in our prenup and the company bylaws, I'm officially initiating an asset-freezing order against Shawn Harrison." I turn to Tiffany. "Enjoy your free meals in prison, Ms. White." Shawn is livid. "It was just a joke, Meredith. Is it really necessary to ruin me over this?" I hit the "enter" key. "Sorry. In my book, there are no jokes—only bad debt."

When I see someone asking for help in an assignment related to the entrepreneur course on the college forum, I join the group chat using a student account. I even help refine several financial models and market strategies because of my job's nature. Everyone in the group chat is excited, to say the least. Every day, they keep calling me a genius while urging me to improve the details of the whole assignment. Two months later, the assignment's quality is very close to perfection. But the group chat suddenly goes silent. I scroll through the chat history out of curiosity, only to find out that the students have already created another group chat. "That senior isn't an official teammate of ours. Let's not tell her about us using this assignment for an upcoming competition." "Precisely! Our names are the only ones on the list! She'd better not steal the credit during tomorrow's finals!" "With one less person involved, we each get an additional tens of thousands of dollars' worth of rewards!" As I look at the screen, I just let out a soft chuckle. It appears that this isn't an assignment at all. But unfortunately for these students, I happen to be one of the judges sitting at the judging station tomorrow.

When I was having a heart attack, my parents, my brother, and my fiancé were all at our family casino—celebrating Eva, our adopted daughter, at her twenty-first birthday, her official debut into the mafia world. The doctor refused to operate without a legal guardian’s signature. So I called them. My father’s assistant answered. “Sorry, Miss. The Don is in the middle of a toast.” My brother and mother let it ring until it went silent. Finally, my fiancé, Adam, picked up. Music roared behind him. I could hear laughter, glasses clinking. “Cecilia,” he said, impatient. “If you can’t even show up for Eva’s party, stop causing trouble. Today is Eva’s debut. Every Don from three territories is here. Whatever drama you’re playing can wait.” I lost count of how many times they chose her over me. So after this call, I stopped calling. I signed my own name. My family thought I’d finally learned to be obedient. But they should’ve known that in our world, silence only means one thing—I was preparing to disappear for good.

On our seventh wedding anniversary, Harrison Drummond arrives with the woman he's been seeing behind my back. Tears fill Kate McCauley's eyes. Before I even have a chance to speak, she drops to her knees in front of me. "Ms. Kershaw, love isn't about who came first or last. Harrison and I care for each other with all our hearts. Please, let us be together." I turn to look at Harrison. With a heavy heart, he lifts Kate into his arms. The man who's always obsessed with cleanliness now wipes her tears away, not caring about the mess she leaves behind. Without raising his gaze, he says, "Kate has been by my side without any official name or title. I owe her that much. Don't worry, she's not after anything else. Having her here is no more than adding an extra pair of cutlery at the table." With that, he carries Kate into the bedroom and closes the door behind them. He seems to have completely forgotten that today is our wedding anniversary. Does he even remember the other woman who followed him without status seven years ago? I stare at the glowing "Happy Anniversary" sign resting on the table. In that instant, I realize there is no future left for us.

When Alexander Smith stands in front of me and says he's going to marry someone else, that's when I realize he's been reborn too. I remember our 20 years of love in our past life. A plane crash. And then, rebirth. "This is to save Sophia," he says. "In our past life, she was sold to a Vostmark oligarch after her father's political scandal. Not long after, she took her own life due to abuse. I can't let that tragedy happen again, so I need to get engaged to her." As he speaks, he hands me an orange prescription bottle. "If you take this, you'll forget me for a little while. You won't feel the pain. It's just seven days. Once her father's scandal blows over, you'll stop the medication and your memory will return. Then I'll end the engagement and officially propose to you." I stare at the bottle, knowing it's a lie. Not the part about Sophia's suicide. The lie is about the drug. He thinks it only causes temporary memory loss. But I know better. The suppressant causes permanent damage to emotional memory. The seven-day countdown isn't the time it takes for my memories to return. It's the time it takes for my love for him to die.

Also known as Daddy Won't Know. Scarlett could have pulled out all of her hair and screamed into the void until her lungs give out thinking about being her dad's plus one to a week long business trip on the last two weeks of her summer vacation. Then she found out that for the week they will be sharing a luxurious rental with her father's boss: Mr Blackwood, one of the most powerful men in the world who has a reputation for being ruthless, deadly, feared by anything and everything that walks and is infamous for not being particularly fond of women- And she concluded that her summer was officially ruined. Scarlett hesitantly makes the trip having convinced herself that her father's boss is probably another ugly, rich, fat, power- crazy man with a collection of tacky vintage suits and she's set on going out of her way to avoid him. That is, until on the first night, she awakens in the middle of the night and finds the muzzle of a gun pointing at her and a very tall, very naked, muscular, sexy as hell man of otherworldly gorgeousness wielding the weapon. And when he spoke in that dark, deep, velvety voice, she knew that her summer was about to get very interesting. "Who the fuck are you and what are you doing in my bed?"