Once Falling Slowly

I didn’t hear it from my mother or from family—I saw it online, just like everyone else. A headline, a picture, a ring on her finger. And the man standing beside her? Philip Davenport. Billionaire. CEO. Untouchable. The kind of man who takes what he wants and keeps it. Including my mother. I was supposed to hate him—the man who replaced my father, the man I swore I’d destroy. So I made a plan: get close, get under his skin, make him want me… then watch everything fall apart. It was simple. Until he looked at me like I was the only woman in the room. Until his touch lingered longer than it should. Until every glance, every word, every moment started to feel like something I couldn’t control. Now I’m caught in a dangerous game of desire and deception, where the lines I drew are slowly disappearing. The closer I get to him, the harder it is to remember why I started. My mother trusts me, my boyfriend loves me, and the man I was supposed to ruin is becoming the one I can’t resist, and every step I take only pulls me deeper into something I was never meant to feel. I wanted revenge. What I got instead was something far more dangerous. And now? I might lose everything. Because falling for my mom’s fiancé was never the plan. And if I’m not careful, I won’t just lose the game… I’ll lose myself.

"Mario Chandra was once a famous fitness celebrity. Unfortunately, his fate was so tragic—his ex-wife, who also served as his personal manager, cheated him out of everything until he became poor. Amidst all the confusion caused by his 'sudden poverty,' Mario received an offer to become a contract husband for a VIP client of his former gym. The woman is a wealthy single mother and widow named Aunt Inez. Pressed by financial needs, Mario agreed to be Aunt Inez's contract husband. What will their contract marriage be like? Will it be merely a paper-based husband-wife status, or will there be a blazing passion between Mario and Aunt Inez? Find the answers only in the novel Falling for My Contract Husband by Agneslovely2014.

Athena Madison is living her life to the fullest. Even though her life wasn't as fancy as others, she still managed to be grateful and contented. She graduated and is currently doing her job as a computer programmer and web designer. All is well not until she received a letter from an international mail. Never on her mind did she thought that that letter would bring such great changes on her life. Because according to the letter, she's actually an heiress of multiple publishing companies, lots of properties, and even tons of money! But the drill is, before she could take all her inheritance, she needs to work first for her mother's unfinished book. And that's not just a book. Because that book basically tackles all about having sexual intercourse! How can she start doing her part on that kind of book, when she doesn't even know what is it to be kissed?

When I return to the day I discover my husband, David Stone, is cheating on me, I immediately switch shifts with my colleague. In my previous life, David had been fooling around with my best friend, Roxanne Lane, in his car when they got into an accident and were rushed to the hospital. When I received the news, I hurried there at once and saw them tangled together, naked, in the aftermath of the wreck. My colleague operated on them, and both of them survived. However, the shock was too much for me, and I passed out. When I woke up, David sent me divorce papers, demanding that I leave the marriage empty-handed. Citing his affair, I demanded half of his assets. In response, he sneered, "Me? Cheating? Where's the evidence?" That was when I remembered that I had fainted before taking any photos. The hospital's surveillance cameras happened to be down that day, leaving me without a shred of proof. I lost the case and walked out with nothing. On the day of the divorce, broke and numb, I stumbled out of the courthouse and was hit by a car. Now, the moment I open my eyes again, I'm back on the day David and Roxanne are taken to the hospital.

On the night my family got wiped out, someone had hidden me behind the barrels inside the wine cellar. The gunshots kept going off the entire night outside the cellar. I could only curl up between the barrels while listening to unfamiliar voices cursing in Etarino. All I could do was gnash my teeth together in order to not make any sounds. At the break of dawn, the wine cellar's door was opened from the outside. Two people could be seen standing in front of the pouring light. The first person was Antonio Corleone, a 15-year-old teenager who was also the oldest son of the Corleone family. He was still holding a gun, which had smoke wafting from its barrel. The second person was Matteo Corleone, Antonio's younger brother. His clothes were stained with blood that didn't belong to him. Antonio crouched down before draping a coat over my body. "Don't be scared, Elena," he said. "From today onward, I'm your family." Matteo squeezed Antonio away before stuffing a warm slice of panettone into my hands. With red-rimmed eyes, he said, "My brother is right. I'll kill whoever has the guts to hurt you." It was Christmas Day of 1999. Back then, I was ten years old. For the next 20 years, I grew up in the estate located in Vosaro and became an essential part of the Corleone family. At the same time, I also grew up to be the woman both Antonio and Matteo have a crush on. The entire family has noticed their obsession and love for me. Antonio and Matteo help me exact vengeance on the people who killed my family. They even buy a football team and name it after me. Everyone thinks that the brothers are head over heels in love with me. They patiently wait for the news when one of them will marry me. Even I also think the same. But on the night before my 30th birthday, when Don Corleone asks the brothers who among them wishes to marry me, Antonio snuffs out the cigar in a crystal ashtray. "Father, you should know that I'm terribly busy with the family's affairs, so I have no time to marry anyone." Matteo swirls the whiskey in his glass while wearing a flippant smile. "Father, I'm only 33 years old, and I'm not done having fun just yet. Besides, marrying Elena is just a joking promise that I've made when I was young. I'm not going to follow through with it." The next day, the brothers decide to propose to my enemy's daughter, Sophia Volpe, at my birthday banquet which I have painstakingly prepared. They even force me to drink the entire bottle of grappa despite the fact that I've been suffering from stomach issues for ten years just to please Sophia. When I get carted into the ambulance after suffering from stomach bleeding, Antonio and Matteo immediately cover Sophia's eyes with their hands while claiming that I'm just faking my illness. The moment I feel blood rising from my throat, I've made up my mind. On the day I'm set to get discharged, I dial a phone number. "I will get married to the heir of the Rossi family."

"Iwasan mong lagi akong tingnan, bawal yan," sabi ni Kara habang kumakain. "Bakit bawal?" Kinakabahang tanong ko. Nag-iba ang pakiramdam ko, ewan ko ba sa babaeng ito, may lahi yata mangkukulam. "Baka ma-inlove ka."

He was an infamous, cold hearted business magnate while she was the beloved first daughter of an almost bankrupt family. To redeem her family back to thier former glory, she had to get married to a man she wasn't familiar with for two years. After all, it was just a marriage to save her family from bankruptcy, so she decided to risk it. At the altar, she was shocked by the person she was getting married to. But unfortunately, on their wedding night he disappeared and never showed up until.........

Rwegian Simon Delgado is a half-Spanish and half-Filipino who is hard working and doesn't even know how to enjoy life outside of work. He enjoys firing employees and his secretary if they did a mistake. He once met Aryah Belle Abad who is the weirdest girl he's ever met in his life. He changed all of the sudden. He learns to enjoy life without thinking what other people might think about him. He learns to manage his anger and he learns to try new things. He learned a lot from her. His boring life turns into a meaningful life because of his weird secretary. In a world full of problems, it's great to have somebody who is weird like Aryah Belle Abad in our life who can make everything colorful.

“But listen to me.” His voice lower, filled with hunger. “When those six months are over, if he doesn’t choose you—if you realize he can’t love you the way I do—you’re mine. I won’t hold back anymore. I won’t watch you waste yourself on him. I’ll come for you with everything I have. Every weapon. Every ounce of desire. Every piece of me that already belongs to you.” My chest tightened. “And when that time comes,” he growled, his face so close I felt his breath on my lips, “I won’t let you run. I will never let you go because you’ll be mine, wholly down to your soul. There will be no escape. Six months, sweetheart. That’s all the freedom you get. After that—” His lips brushed my ear. “—you’re mine. Whether you like it or not.” **** Elise thought her life was finally falling into place. She turned down her father’s company to work as executive assistant to Marcus Grey—the boy she’s loved since childhood, now the powerful CEO she’s devoted her life to. But when Marcus proposes to another woman, Elise’s world crumbles. Then comes Sebastian Deluca, Marcus’s tattooed, ruthless, long-estranged brother. He’s everything Marcus isn’t: dangerous, magnetic, and determined to take back his place in New York. But, there's something odd about him. Something changed since he arrived. Tied by secrets and mutual desire to expose Marcus’s fiancée, Elise and Sebastian form an alliance. But as sparks ignite between them, Elise must choose: remain loyal to the boy she thought she loved, or risk everything for the man who sees her as more than a shadow. Some loves are safe. Others are consuming. Which one will she survive?

In her last life, she was dealt a card of betrayal, hurt and abandonment, but in her new life she was going to be dealing the cards. Isabella devised a cunning plan and turned the tables. With calculated moves and unexpected twists, she set in motion a game of revenge. The stakes were high and the consequences were unforeseen. But she was determined to go for it still. Because she had no intention of letting herself be betrayed twice. She navigated the dangerous path, testing the limit of her own morality and discovering the true power of vengeance. However, there were chances for her to be consumed in this game of revenge, she could even turn into a monster lacking morals. Will Isabella succeed in her quest for retribution, or will the game consume her in the process after she gets an arranged marriage with Douglas waltar? A thrilling journey of deceit, manipulation, love and the art of revenge.