Papa Smurf

Prologue: Moi: Mais papa enfin! Lui: N'insistes pas ma décision est prise. Moi: Tu n'as même pas essayer de m'écouter! Elle: Quand l'homme parle, la femme écoute et se tait. Moi: Maman!... 0_0... Je n'arrive pas à croire qu'elle soutienne la décision de papa. Qu'est-ce que je dis?... Elle a toujours été de son côté de toute fâçon. Mais j'espérais pour une fois qu'elle prenne ma défense vu les enjeux. Moi: comment vous pouvez prendre de telles décisions? Lui: Ce n'est pas à toi de décider ma fille mais à moi. Et j'estime que tu as trop fait l'école. Dans nos traditions la femme ne doit même pas y mettre les pieds mais toi tu y es allée alors maintenant c'est fini. Moi:...mais... Quoi? À cause de ces stupides traditions encore?...je ne sais même plus quoi dire, quoi faire pour les convaincre de me laisser continuer….

My husband, Luca, had a childhood sweetheart named Sophia. Years ago, during a brutal gang shootout, Sophia shielded him from the worst of the bloodshed, and since then, she had suffered from severe PTSD. Because of that, Luca would push aside family business every year and fly to our estate on a secluded island off the coast of Sicily to spend three months “helping her recover.” “Victoria, she lost her mind because of me,” he told me. “I’m responsible for her. I hope you can be magnanimous.” So, I nodded. And eventually, I got used to the fact that every year, my husband would disappear for three months to fulfill what he called a moral obligation. That was until the day I flew in without warning to inspect the family’s money-laundering network on that island and saw him. In the town square, under the bright Mediterranean sun, Luca was standing there with a five-year-old boy by his side. “Papa, how long do we have to hide on this island?” the child asked. “I want to go to New York. I want to see the Empire State Building.” Luca laughed gently and scooped him up in his arms. With his other hand, he held Sophia’s. “Antonio, be good,” he said affectionately. “Papa’s position is… complicated. When you turn eighteen and pass the family’s initiation ceremony, I’ll kill that woman and her dead old man. Then, I’ll take you back to New York to inherit the entire Corleone family.” I stood in the shadows, unseen. Slowly, I lit a cigarette. The smoke curled around me as their voices drifted over, the conversation getting more vicious as it went. Sophia leaned into his chest, her tone sweet and coy. “Luca, I’ve been with you for seven years without a name or a title. How much longer are our son and I supposed to live like ghosts?” Luca sighed. “I don’t have a choice. The old man in the Corleone family is still alive. I married Victoria just to get her territory. Don’t worry. I’ve been adding something to her milk every day. She’ll never get pregnant in this lifetime. My family bloodline will only continue through you.” The last thread of reason in my mind snapped. In the six years of marriage we shared, I had been infertile. I’d taken countless hormone injections to stimulate ovulation. I’d knelt in church and prayed more times than I could count. Yet, all along, the devil poisoning me was my own husband. The initial shock faded quickly into rage. I crushed out my cigarette and pulled out my phone. Then, I dialed my uncle, the family’s clean-up man. “Uncle Rocco,” I said calmly, “Luca betrayed me. He betrayed the family. Order a coffin in the finest black walnut for me, and make it large, large enough to fit a family of three.”

In New York’s Upper East Side, there were two heirs. One was a speed-obsessed daredevil dominating the racetracks, the other was a brilliant actuary who controlled the flow of capital. Born into powerful families and polar opposites in temperament, yet they grew up side by side as each other’s only best friend. They had fought over girls and bickered endlessly over racing bets. However, at fifteen, there was one thing they did in perfect unison. They each put on the same roughly carved bronze badge. They were trinkets Mia had idly made during a craft class, marked only by a faint “M” scratched on the back. Back then, Mia was seated in the last row of the classroom. Her background was a complete mystery to everyone. Yet they wore that badge for ten whole years. Whether standing on the F1 podium or locking in billion-dollar trades at the exchange, the cheap little badge on their chests never changed. Until Ella showed up. She was the cherished daughter of a rising conglomerate family. She hand-stitched two gold-thread fabric patches and gifted them to them. The patches looked so ordinary they looked like the kind of trinket you would find three for a dollar at a flea market. And yet, they both replaced their bronze badges with her plain patches. Mia did not say anything. She simply folded away an old newspaper clipping with a photo of the three of them smiling together. That night, she called her father in Sicily. Her voice was emotionless. “Papa, I accept the marriage arrangement.”

Setelah mendengar kabar dari pasukan bahwa kakak kembar suamiku gugur dalam sebuah misi, kakak ipar yang baru ditinggal suaminya itu sangat terpukul hingga pingsan. Saat sadar kembali, dia kehilangan ingatannya. Tangannya menggenggam erat tangan suamiku dan tidak mau melepaskannya. Hanya karena dokter mengatakan, “Pasien tidak boleh menerima guncangan.” Suamiku dan ibu mertua pun membujukku agar ikut dia bersandiwara. Setiap kali aku menyinggung soal itu, mereka berdua selalu menjawab, “Tunggu aja sampai kakak iparmu pulih kembali ingatannya!” Maka dari itu, aku hanya bisa memandangi suamiku sendiri tinggal dan makan bersama kakak iparnya dengan mataku sendiri. Bahkan putri kami pun hanya bisa melihat anak kakak iparku memanggil suamiku sebagai papa di hadapannya. Sampai suatu ketika, putriku demam tinggi dan tak kunjung sadar. Aku memohon padanya untuk mengantarkan kami ke rumah sakit. Dan yang tidak kusangka, kakak ipar justru marah besar karena hal ini. Dia menangis sambil mengancam bunuh diri. Pada saat tarik menarik pertikaian mereka, sebilah gunting itu malah menancap ke jantungku. Saat kembali membuka mata, aku mendapati diriku telah kembali ke hari ketika suamiku memutuskan untuk menjadi suami pengganti bagi kakak iparnya.

At our wedding, Don Marco DeLuca, my fiance, answers a phone call. That's when his expression changes drastically. He then looks at me, his eyes filled with pain and conflict, two of the emotions that I've never seen plaguing him before. "Lina, Fiora will be flying this afternoon. She will leave Novaris permanently. This will be our last time seeing each other. I… I need to send her off." As I rub my thumb against the diamond ring which has just gotten slotted onto my ring finger, I just gaze at Marco quietly. "Are you sure you want to go see her off?" Marco's voice is trembling at this rate. He dares not even look me in the eye. "Lina, I swear that you'll be the only woman for me from now on. We'll get married, and we'll have children together. Life will be perfect for us." After that, he turns on his heel and walks away without looking back. He doesn't see the way I've crumpled onto the floor, where a puddle of blood has formed beneath me. My papa kisses me on the forehead. "My darling principessa, are you sure you want to break up with Marco?" I close my eyes and nod in response. I don't want Marco nor this farce of a marriage contract anymore.

To protect his biological child, the mafia Don deliberately announces to the world that my fiance is his long-lost son. A Rolls-Royce pulls up outside my house. My fiance stares at his custom-tailored suit, his entire body trembling with excitement. I'm about to tell him it's all a lie when he shoves me aside and brushes off his sleeves with disgust, like he's touching something filthy. "Stay away from me. I can smell the poverty on you from here!" "Since I'm the Don's son, our engagement is over. An unwanted nobody like you isn't even fit to lick my boots." I try to explain, but he pulls out a check and slams it against my face—the sharp paper edge slices across my cheek. "Here's a million dollars. Consider it a breakup fee, and don't bother me again. We're not from the same world anymore." Watching the check flutter down into the mud, I quietly dim my phone screen. On it is a text from my father, the mafia Don. "Mia cara figlia, bear with it a little longer. Papa will bring you home soon to take over the family." Since he wants to burn every bridge between us, fine. He can have all this fortune on a silver platter. Whether he'll live long enough to enjoy it is another question entirely.

Nang i-announce ng kanilang Lola Flordelisa, na ang unang maikakasal sa magpinsang Tahlia at Xamara ay magmamana ng sampung bilyong piso, nagbago ang takbo ng kanilang buhay. For Tahlia, this was supposed to be the perfect timing to marry her long-time boyfriend, Axton. Kaya lang ay isang trahedya ang dumurog sa kanilang mga pangarap. Nabaldado na si Axton sa nangyaring aksidente at hindi na nila matutuloy ang kasal. Dahil sa inis ng Mama at Papa ni Tahlia na naging alanganin ang pagkuha sa reward na sampung bilyong piso, pinilit siyang humanap ng ibang lalaking mapapangasawa bago pa maunahan ni Xamara. It was at that moment that she met Zain—a drunk man, heartbroken and whose world was falling apart because of his mother, who urgently needed heart surgery. Sa isang iglap, nagkaroon ng solusyon ang problema nila pareho. Tahlia needed to secure the ten billion pesos, while Zain needed millions to save his mother’s life. At dahil guwapo si Zain, inalok siya ni Tahlia na babayaran ng milyon-milyong piso para maging groom sa kasal niya. Pumayag kaya si Zain? Kung oo, is it possible that Tahlia and Zain’s act as a married couple could turn into something real, or will Tahlia remain loyal to her paralyzed boyfriend, Axton?

Bayangkan bagaimana rasanya kalau ternyata Mommy kamu yang telah menjanda selama belasan tahun tiba-tiba menikahi duda yang merupakan pengusaha sukses dan memiliki seorang anak laki-laki tampan? Sialnya, sang kakak tiri tampan ini memiliki Love language pshycal touch. Tanpa segan menyentuh, mengusap kepala bahkan mengecup kening. Itu lah yang dirasakan Shayla saat Mommynya yang merupakan Pengacara menikahi kliennya sendiri dan membawa Shayla tinggal di rumah Papa tirinya. Selain harus bertemu setiap hari dengan cowok tampan yang memiliki kepribadian dingin dan misterius bernama Ryuga itu di rumah, ternyata Shayla juga satu kampus dengan kakak tirinya. Otomatis pulang dan pergi kuliah, Shayla akan bersama-sama dengan Ryuga yang kelakuannya selalu mampu membuat kinerja jantung Shayla menggila. Lalu apa jadinya bila Shayla dan Ryuga harus ditinggal selama satu minggu di rumah berdua saja karena kedua orang tua mereka memiliki urusan di Luar Negri? Mau tahu enggak modus Ryuga si cowok cool ini untuk menggoda adik tirinya? Dan apa saja usaha Shayla agar bisa menjaga hati dan hormon estrogennya yang sering tidak tahu diri karena mendamba sentuhan Ryuga?

À l'étape de l'échange des alliances, mon mari n'a toujours pas prononcé le « oui, je veux l'épouser ». C'était simplement parce que son premier amour avait soudainement annoncé sa rupture, une heure auparavant. Elle avait publié une photo de billet d'avion, avec une heure d'arrivée prévue dans une heure. Mon frère est soudainement monté sur scène et a annoncé à tout le monde que le mariage avait été reporté. Ils m'ont laissée là, en parfaite entente, faisant de moi la risée de tous les invités. J'ai géré tout cela avec calme en regardant la mise à jour sur Instagram du premier amour de mon mari. Sur la photo, mon frère et mon mari étaient autour d'elle, lui offrant le meilleur de tout. J'ai souri amèrement en appelant mes parents biologiques : « Papa, maman, je suis prête à rentrer à la maison, j'accepte le mariage arrangé en tant que fille de notre famille des Thomas. »

Setelah menikah tujuh tahun, Manuel merasa hidupnya terlalu datar, jadi dia memelihara seorang mahasiswi di luar. Burung kenari yang lemah dan menyedihkan itu memanfaatkan tubuhnya untuk membujuk Manuel sampai dia tidak pulang sebulan. Tidak peduli bagaimana aku memanggilnya, tetap tidak ada gunanya. Di hari ulang tahun anakku yang ketiga, aku menggendong anakku yang demam tinggi, berlutut di luar vila, demi memohon Manuel pulang. Namun, Manuel justru berulang kali menginginkan tubuh simpanannya itu di depan jendela kaca besar. Di tengah suara kenikmatan mereka, anakku akhirnya mengembuskan napas terakhir di pelukanku. Di pemakaman, Manuel memelukku sambil menangis tersedu-sedu, bersumpah akan kembali ke keluarga dan mencintaiku dengan sepenuh hati lagi. Aku menyetujuinya. Namun, hanya karena sebelum meninggal, anakku berharap aku dan dia bisa kembali seperti dulu. Empat tahun kemudian, taman kanak-kanak tempat anakku dulu belajar merilis sebuah video penghargaan keluarga terbaik. Di dalam video, Manuel merangkul Nelly yang tampak berseri-seri. Di pelukannya juga ada seorang anak laki-laki berusia tiga tahun. Anak kecil itu tersenyum ke arah kamera sambil mengangkat piala. "Papa, Mama, kita adalah keluarga paling bahagia!"