One Step Too Far

I have claustrophobia, yet Luther Jansen abandons me in a stopped elevator so he can bring some flu medicine to his assistant. I ask for a divorce after that. He signs the papers without hesitation and laughs about it with his friends. "She's just throwing a tantrum—her parents are dead, so there's no way she'll leave me. "Besides, there's a 30-day cooling-off period for divorces, right? I'll generously let this matter slide once she regrets this, and she'll be back." The following day, he shares an intimate photo of himself with his assistant. "I want to record every moment of your shyness." I count the days until I'm free. Then, I calmly pack my stuff and make a call. "Can you buy me a flight ticket to Nanderton, Uncle David?"

He forced me to marry him because of my sister. Now he found out that the story he believed was not true. He was lied to. He wanted me back but all I want is his regret.

Simoune Andrew Buenaflor is one of the hottest bachelor in town. He is the owner of Buenaflor Group of Companies na tanyag sa buong Pilipinas. Sa edad na trenta ay napalago niya na ang kanilang negosyo na ipinamana sa kanya ng yumao niyang mga magulang. Maituturing na isa siya sa pinakasuwerteng tao sa larangan ng pagnenegosyo subalit pagdating sa larangan ng pag-ibig, tila ba ito'y isang dagok sa kanya ng kapalaran. Tatlo na rin ang naging kasintahan niya ngunit wala ni-isa sa mga ito ang nagtagal. Hanggang sa isang araw ay hindi inaasahang magkatagpo ang landas nila ng isang babaeng may mapait na karanasan sa buhay at kagaya niya ay nakasarado rin ang pintuan ng puso nito. Paano kong ang babaeng ito pala ang itinakda sa kanya ng kapalaran? Magagawa niya pa kaya'ng buksan'g muli ang kanyang puso o hahayaan niya na lang itong manatiling nakapinid at habang buhay na maging sawi?

I never believed in second chances. Not after Cynthia. She was my confidant… until death tore her from me and left this mansion echoing with ghosts. Inilibing ko na rin ang puso ko kasabay ng pakamatay ni Cynthia . She was my wife. My peace. My mistake. Then her daughter moved in. Liza. The forbidden reminder of everything I shouldn’t want—young, alive, reckless in ways her mother never was. She looks at me like she sees through the monster I’ve become. Sa tuwing ngingiti siya,  the ache in my chest returns—violent, dangerous, hungry. Every brush of her skin ignites something I can’t bury anymore. I tell myself it’s guilt. I tell myself I’m just protecting her. Pero ang totoo? I want her. Hindi bilang stepdaughter. Not as Cynthia’s child. I want her as mine—completely, ruinously, irredeemably mine. They’ll call me a sinner. A man who crossed the line. Ngunit sa tuwing tinitingnan ako ni Liza, trembling, wanting... I knew I’d already crossed it. I tell myself I’m protecting her, but each night, the lie weakens. Because when she looks at me, it isn’t fear I see—it’s want. And God help me... I want her too. This isn’t love. It’s a beautiful disaster. And I’d burn the world just to feel her breathe my name again.

My CEO wife insists on taking a young, fresh intern under her wing. She wants to train him personally. She says to me, "Don't overthink this. I just value his potential." She's always been stern and stoic, but she starts dressing in pink and pulling her hair back in high ponytails. On our third wedding anniversary, she and the intern even willfully disappear for 48 hours. When others are searching for her like mad, she shares photos of her riding a carousel and holding cotton candy. She captions them, "I found the purest of joys in the most joyful of places—all because of you!" Our company loses a huge project because of this, and I lose my wife. I slip a divorce agreement between the pages of the intern's application to become a permanent staff member. My wife signs it without even looking and says, "Knowing what Elliot can do, he's more than capable of carrying out the role of a vice president." I calmly hand her my resignation. "You're right. That's why I'll make way for him."

Some lessons are learned too late. Watch me give my step-brother, my fated mate, the taste of something bitter than his own medicine.

Cassandra knows loving him is wrong. He’s older. Forbidden. Her mother’s husband. She was hired to take care of him. She never expected to crave him. George’s touch ruins her innocence, his kiss burns through her rules— and right when Cassandra finally gives in, a single threat from her mother returns to tear everything apart.

"Spread your legs." I did, wide. He looked at my pussy, swollen and wet. "Look at you. Dripping for me." He knelt and licked me clean. His tongue was magic, flicking my clit, dipping inside. I grabbed his hair, grinding on his face. He sucked hard, making me moan loud. "Alexander... please fuck me." He stood up, smirking. "Since you asked nicely." He lined up and thrust in again. This time slower, teasing. In and out, deep. His hands roamed my body, squeezing my tits, pinching nipples. "You feel so good. Tight around my cock." Lush thought she understood desire until Alexander Voss looked at her like property. He is powerful, arrogant, and dangerously in control. A billionaire untouchable by law, by scandal, by consequence. He commands boardrooms the way he commands her body without apology. What starts as a secret affair becomes an addiction. But Alexander is still married. And his wife is not the type to lose quietly. When threats turn violent and his son steps into the game with jealousy burning in his eyes, Lush realizes she isn’t just sleeping with a powerful man. She is inside a war. And Alexander doesn’t share what he owns. Not even with blood. Desire turns darker. Power turns lethal. It will destroy them all.

Nadine Sullivan doesn't come home to have dinner with me on my birthday. Instead, she transfers 100 dollars to me and sends me a text, saying, "I love you." Coincidentally, a resident doctor at her hospital updates his social media with a photo. It's a screenshot of her transferring 10,000 dollars to him. She's also texted him, "I love you to the moon and back." I don't throw a tantrum or kick up a fuss. All I do is leave the city without hesitation. The first day after my departure, I hear that Nadine is unfazed. She says, "He'll be back after a few days." The first month after my departure, Nadine calls me. "I'll transfer 100 thousand dollars to you, alright? Can you come back now?" I've never wanted her money, though.

My fiancé’s first love Chloe had returned. Rumor had it she’d been overseas, treating some rare disease. I hadn’t believed it—until the day she showed up at my engagement party. And I watched as the man I’d been hopelessly in love with since I was sixteen left our party with her. “Wait for me,” Nathan said, “She is fragile. I need to make sure she is well.” He ignored me, but accompanying her to everywhere. I threw away the rings, trashed the wedding gown. When I was pale and trembling from a heart failure later. Nathan finally showed up. “Don’t you dare die on me, Emily,” His hands were shaking. His voice cracked. “We still have a wedding.”