Osmanthus Wine

WE'RE BACK! Yes, your favorite cousins are back at it again, but this time it ain't about me. So, buckle up and grab your wine glasses, because it's gonna be crazy! Mina’s POV: Wait a damn minute. Am I in hell? Because if I am, I need to speak to HR. I didn't even get a chance to plead my case, give a reference or something. I'm about to start freaking out because, I'm not a “go to hell” and mean it type of person. I can't do heat for five minutes let alone an eternity. I feel like giving my life to save a baby and a man should have gotten me at least joint visitation six months in heaven and six months in hell. “Mina, are you awake?” I heard the voice quietly say next to my ear. I tried opening my eyes, but it felt like I had sand in them. I decided to try speaking, but only let out something that sounded like a sick animal. "Wait right there let me get you some water.” I heard a voice whisper again. Who the hell is that? I have heard that voice before but couldn't figure out who the hell it was. “! We need to move; they've found us.” The voice came again. Wait, what? Who the hell are they? I tried opening my eyes again, this time I managed to get them open enough to see the figure picking me up bridal style. Then the stranger turned his head to look directly in my eyes and I knew instantly who it was. “Blaze? You gotta be shitting me.” I said, obviously shocked. “Hey, can we join the party? I hope you are serving food because we are famished.” I heard a man say.

“Relax. It was meaningless. It didn’t mean a thing.” Three years. That’s how long Lena Carter loved Evan Brooks—three years of loyalty, late nights, and believing she was building a future with him. Until she finds him in a hotel suite bathroom, hands braced against marble, whispering excuses while her cousin—and closest friend—fixes her lipstick in the mirror. All this happens during Lena’s promotion celebration. Lena should be home, crying into cheap wine and shattered dreams. Instead, she’s stranded on a quiet Los Angeles street at midnight, phone dead, heels in hand, with a group of drunk men circling closer than comfort allows. Then a black luxury sedan pulls up. The man who steps out wears a tailored suit, calm eyes, and an authority that makes the street go silent. Mason Hart. Billionaire. Tech CEO. And—unknown to him—the elusive owner of the company where Lena works as an executive assistant two floors below the C-suite. He offers her a ride. She hesitates. She takes it. That single decision rewrites her life. Mason doesn’t mix business with emotions. He doesn’t date employees. And he definitely doesn’t rescue strangers with haunted eyes. But Lena’s quiet strength, the way she refuses pity, the way pain sharpens her instead of breaking her—it gets under his skin. Lena just wants to forget the man who betrayed her. Mason offers distraction. Protection. Desire without promises. But Evan refuses to let go, spreading lies and suddenly desperate to “fix things.” Her cousin is determined to destroy what little Lena has left. And the closer Lena grows to the powerful CEO who signs her company’s paychecks, the more dangerous her heart becomes. Because falling for a billionaire who doesn’t believe in love might hurt worse than betrayal.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself supposedly transmigrated to some ancient era. Every morning, before light touched the sky, someone would yank me out of bed to haul trash, chop wood, and do whatever filthiest job needed doing. Somehow, I'd become the lowest-ranked servant in the entire estate. The estate lord's son would climb onto my back and ride me around the courtyard like some pet he was proud to show off. Anyone in the household could hit me, kick me, or shove me aside, and not a single soul would speak up. Five years passed like that, so awful that I almost lost my mind, as if I were living in hell. Then one day, a group of servants cornered me. They didn't bother hiding their intention. The moment I saw their faces, I knew I was in trouble. Fists flew, boots landed, and everything blurred. Just before I passed out, I heard them whispering, "We're going to kill him if we keep this up." "Come on. This place only looks like some old noble estate. It's not an actual one. If he dies here, we're the ones who'll get dragged to court!" "Relax. Ms. Shaw will handle it. The idiot pissed off her childhood sweetheart. Getting tricked into this place is exactly what he deserves." Fear swallowed everything, and the world went dark. When I woke again, the lady of the house had conveniently "returned from visiting her family." The lord threw a grand celebration with tables full of food, wine flowing, and musicians playing like nothing had happened. I carried dishes into the banquet hall and lifted my head. Her face was the same as my wife's, Melissa Shaw. I set the final dish down, stepped closer, and in a voice only she could hear, asked, "Ma'am… are you enjoying your little game?"

Ilang beses na naghanap ng trabaho si Gianna para kumita at nakahanap naman ito ng trabaho sa isa sa pinakamalaking kompanya ng inumin sa Pilipinas. Pero sa hindi nya inaasahang pagkakataon magiging boss pala nya ang taong kina-iinisan nya ng gusto at ito ay si Francis Locan the CEO and President of one of the most famous Wine Company in the Philippines, The Golden Scenery. Cold ito at ayaw sa mga taong pera lang ang habol sa kanya. Pero sa kabila ng malalamig nitong mga mata ay nakakubli ang secretong tinatago nya ng mahabang panahon. Meron itong karamdaman na tinatawag na monochromacy disorder , kaya't hindi ito nakakakita ng mga kulay at malabo rin ang paningin nito kumpara sa normal na tao. Ngunit nang makilala nya si Gianna hindi nya maipapaliwanag kung bakit nakikita nya ang kulay ng dalaga. Kaya gumawa ito ng paraan para gamitin si Gianna para tuluyan na itong gumaling. Pero habang tumatagal ay nagiging totoo na ang nararamdaman nya sa dalaga kahit na ilang beses man nya itong balewalain. Ayaw nya mang tanggapin pero sya narin mismo ang nahulog sa sarili nyang patibong. At paano kaya kapag bumalik ang unang babaeng inibig nito sino nga ba ang mas mahalaga sa puso nya? Ang babae bang una nyang minahal o ang babaeng handang mahalin sya kahit anong oras at pagkakataon? Paano kaya kapag nalaman ni Gianna na planado ang lahat ng ipinaparamdam sa kanya ng lalakeng natutunan na nyang mahalin? Mapapatawad nya pa kaya ito o pipiliing umalis dahil sa nasaktan nyang puso?

After a vicious family power struggle, I fled to a small border town in the south. I took on a new identity and found work in a flower shop. Everyone believed I was dead. Then one day, someone from the family came to the shop to order flowers for the birthday party for Roman Jackson, the head of the Jackson family. The person who arrived was my former Underboss. She stared at me in shock and demanded to know why I had not returned to the Jackson family if I was still alive. She told me that Roman had kept watch over my grave for two years and that he had attempted suicide three times in the cemetery, each time stopped by someone else. Roman was my ex-husband. He had an adopted sister, Liliana. Fifteen years ago, her parents were gunned down while covering Roman's father's escape from a rival family. After that, Liliana became Roman's most cherished sister. She tampered with my armored car. The brakes failed, and the vehicle plunged off a cliff. I broke three ribs. Roman mobilized every resource the family had and pulled me back from the brink of death. She bribed my bodyguard and laced my red wine with a neurotoxin. I lay unconscious in the villa for three days and nights. Roman sealed off the entire city, hunted down everyone involved, and made them pay in blood. She tried to kill me, and he saved me. This absurd cycle went on for three years. Until the last time. She detonated a bomb at an arms deal I was overseeing, burning seventy percent of my body. As I was lifted onto the ambulance stretcher, I clutched Roman's suit and, with the last of my strength, begged him. "Kill her, Roman. She sabotaged the deal. Those are the family rules." He crouched down, his fingers brushing my bloodstained face. His voice was calm, almost cruel. "Liliana didn't mean to. Let it go. For the sake of what her parents sacrificed for the family." In that moment, my heart to him died completely.

I parted my lips to speak, when Lila cut in. "It's a sensitive topic, father. Can we eat now?" She requested. I sighed gratefully, watching his actions without showing that I was. He held a glass of wine, and raised it gracefully. I stifled a moan. Goddess, his actions alone were enough to arouse me. He took a sensual sip, and I looked away, feeling my nipples hardening. When last had I felt the life being fucked out of me. Ever since my last boyfriend, that was. I hadn't had good sex since then. ~~~ "If you'll excuse me please." My voice barely sounded like a whisper. Without waiting for another minute, I rushed away, towards my room. I placed my back against the door, breathing hard. I didn't need to check, I could feel my juices soaking through my painties. It was lucky none of them saw my hardened nipple peeking through my dress. Goddess knew why I hadn't worn a bra. I needed a release. The thought had hardly formed in my head, when I rushed towards the bathroom, shutting the door close. I got under the shower, and turned it on. Placing my left leg on the wall, I closed my eyes. I pictured Vincenzo tracing his hand over my shoulder and I shuddered. I pushed my head back, my finger moving farther down my leg. I rubbed gently on my folds through the material, and moaned softly. I was fucking aroused. **** After banishment from her pack, Ella seeks refuge in her friend’s pack. The last thing she ever thought would happen was to fall for her friend’s father and the pleasure he has to offer. Can she navigate the treacherous waters of forbidden love and still maintain her relationship with her best friend?

The day the Thorne family announced our engagement, the New York underworld let out a collective sigh of relief. Because I was set to marry Daemon, the most straitlaced Don in the city, which meant I could no longer be the wild rose who tore up the racetrack. But I resisted with every fiber of my being, finding creative ways to test his limits. During his ten-million-dollar card game with a rival family's Capo, my hand "slipped" and sent a bottle of 1945 Romanee-Conti spilling across the ancient map that outlined their territories, sabotaging the entire negotiation. Daemon, however, just slowly and deliberately wiped the wine from the back of his hand. He didn't even frown as he cleaned up my mess. Then I "accidentally" let my spirited Arabian stallion loose in his immaculately manicured courtyard. The beast went wild, trampling his prize-winning rose garden into mud. But he arrived with his private doctor in tow, crouching before me as his long fingers gently traced the scratch on my arm. "Did the beast hurt you?" Just that one question, and my heart melted completely. "Daemon, I can marry you. But before that, has there ever been another woman who owned your heart?" "I don't share my man. Not in any way." He pointed to his heart, his gaze unwavering as he met my eyes. "Before you, this was empty." After we married, the word on the street in New York's circles of power was this: If you angered Don Thorne, his Donna might plead your case. But if you angered the Donna, you were on your own. Even I began to believe that Daemon, that mountain of ice, would eventually melt for me. Until the day I went to find him, clutching a positive pregnancy test, bursting with joy. Only to hear the family's Consigliere ask him, from the top-floor study, what the best lie he'd ever told was. Daemon chuckled and said casually, "She asked me if anyone had my heart before her." "I told her no."

Everyone said I was Domenico Calvetti's most obedient woman. On our first wedding anniversary, he flirted with a pair of twins at the gambling table. He had lipstick smeared all over his shirt. I smiled and wiped it away with a silk handkerchief, but he swatted my hand aside. "Don't kill the mood." In the third year, the star performer from the club he ran showed up at my door with a gun pressed to my temple, demanding to take my place. Without flinching, I disarmed her using the technique he taught me and disposed of the body myself. Behind me, he held his new lover and laughed softly. "Lucia, you always know what to do." In the fifth year, he blew up the library my father left behind just to make his new flame, Marilena Rossetti, smile. That library was my mother's favorite spot when she was alive, and it held the only photographs of our family of three. The explosion made me the laughingstock of the city. People whispered, "Signora Calvetti can't even protect her own memories." Everyone believed I could never leave the Calvetti family or Domenico, but they forgot how this all started. Back then, he rescued me from my adoptive father and fell in love with me at first sight. He knelt and begged to marry me, swearing he would protect me from blood and pain for the rest of my life. For ten years, I held onto those empty words. At our tenth anniversary party, his hundredth mistress arrived. Alice Russo, fresh out of college, held a glass of red wine and poured it down my gown while Domenico watched. "Signora Calvetti, this dress is so old. Given your position, you should be wearing something better." Everyone at the party waited to see my humiliation. Instead, I lowered my eyes and dialed Domenico's father's number. "Father, the ten-year agreement is over. I won't be Signora Calvetti anymore."

My boyfriend, Percy Gaskell, suddenly flaunts an engagement ring on the Internet. He also announces that he'll get married in two months. Everyone thinks I'm the lucky bride who will get proposed soon, including myself. Anticipation fills my heart as I start making wedding preparations. But unwittingly, I end up overhearing Percy and his friends' conversation at the doorway of a private room in a bar. "I'm seriously impressed with the method you used to select your wife, Percy. You actually gave all 19 of them different scores! Those with lower scores get kicked out, whereas those with higher scores get to ascend to the next round! In the end, you choose the best wife out of all participants! "Now, the only ones left are Maisie and your beloved mistress, Sabrina. Not only that, but you're also biased toward Sabrina, so you gave her a relatively high score. Maisie is definitely losing this time! "What if Maisie finds out that she's not the one you're marrying in the end? Will she throw a hissy fit?" Percy took a sip out of his wine glass lazily. In a flippant tone, he replied, "That will have to depend on who satisfies me the most. Let me observe them for three more days. If Maisie is still that disappointing, she shouldn't blame me for being ruthless." His friends all burst into laughter. "You're far too soft-hearted, Percy! Maisie is inferior to Sabrina, be it her figure, age, or bedroom skills! I can't believe you're still giving her a chance! "If I were you, I'd have kicked her out in the first round!" Percy just smiles in amusement. "I only wish to give her a chance because I see how pathetically low her score is. If she can't even use the final chance given to her properly, she shouldn't blame me for not marrying her." I can feel my blood turn to ice in my veins. My mind has completely gone blank. All I can hear is my heartbeat, which slowly becomes louder. With a trembling hand, I dig out my phone and text that man's number, which lies at the bottom of my contact list. "Are you up for a whirlwind marriage right now?"