Pathetic Artinya

Selama lima tahun, Alessandro Wijanarko adalah sosok pria sempurna. Setidaknya, itulah yang selalu kupercaya. Semua keyakinan itu runtuh pada malam pesta pertunangan kami, saat perempuan simpanannya menerobos masuk, menggandeng seorang bocah lelaki berusia sekitar lima tahun. Anak itu langsung berlari ke arah Alessandro sambil menangis tersedu. “Ayah! Ayah, akhirnya aku menemukanmu!” Ini pasti lelucon. Lelucon yang kejam dan menjijikkan! Namun, Alessandro menoleh padaku. Tak ada lagi kehangatan dalam suaranya ketika dia berbicara. “Ini putraku, Rivan. Sebuah … kesalahan yang Chyntia dan aku buat lima tahun lalu.” Dadaku menegang. “Rivan adalah pewaris Keluarga Wijanarko. Aku harus beri mereka status,” lanjutnya datar. “Artinya, aku harus bertunangan dengan Chyntia dulu.” Dia menatapku, seolah masih berhak memintaku memahami segalanya. “Tapi, Saskia, percayalah. Aku masih mencintaimu. Kita bisa menggelar pesta pertunangan enam bulan lagi. Kamu tetap akan jadi Nyonya Keluarga Wijanarko. Aku harap kamu bisa bersikap lapang dada. Ini keputusan finalku.” Aku tertawa, dingin, singkat, dan tajam, lalu menarik cincin pertunangan dari jariku dan melemparkannya begitu saja. Pandangan mataku menyapu ruangan, lalu berhenti pada seorang pria di sudut aula. Kresna Kartawijaya. Bos mafia paling berkuasa di Vantros. Dan aku satu-satunya pria yang mengetahui satu gelar lain dirinya. Yaitu pria yang sejak lama berniat menjadikanku miliknya. “Kresna,” panggilku, suaraku tenang dan jernih. “Aku sedang butuh tunangan baru. Kamu tertarik tidak?”

Aku meninggal di hari aku memenangkan Penghargaan Doktor Medis Global. Tiga jam setelah kematianku, orang tua, kakak laki-laki, dan tunanganku baru saja pulang dari pesta ulang tahun ke-16 adik perempuanku. Ketika adikku mengunggah foto keluarga kami saat merayakan ulang tahunnya di media sosial, aku sedang terbaring di ruang bawah tanah yang tertutup rapat dan berlumuran darah. Aku mencoba menggunakan lidahku untuk menggeser layar ponsel dan meminta bantuan. Di antara kontak darurat, hanya tunanganku yang menjawab panggilanku. Artinya orang tua dan kakakku telah memblokir nomorku. Begitu telepon diangkat, tunanganku hanya mengucapkan satu kalimat, “Karin, pesta ulang tahun Lina yang ke-16 itu sangat penting. Jangan pakai alasan nggak masuk akal untuk cari perhatian kami dan bersikap manja lagi!” Dia menutup telepon dan memutus harapan terakhirku untuk bertahan hidup. Jantungku berhenti berdetak karena nada sibuk telepon. Ini adalah ke-100 kalinya mereka memilih adikku, ke-100 kalinya mereka mengabaikanku, mengecewakanku, dan ini juga yang terakhir. Aku terbaring di dalam genangan darahku sendiri, merasakan napasku perlahan berhenti. Mereka mengira aku kabur dari rumah lagi sebagai alasan untuk melampiaskan ketidakpuasanku. Mereka pikir bahwa selama mereka memberiku pelajaran, aku akan kembali dengan patuh seperti 99 kali sebelumnya. Sayangnya, itu tidak akan terjadi kali ini. Karena aku tidak pernah meninggalkan rumah, aku terus terbaring di ruang bawah tanah rumahku.

Every witch awakened a gift when she came of age. Mine was simple. I could siphon my husband's fortune. On Christmas Eve, my husband spent 20,000,000 on a ring and proposed to his mistress as if he were buying a headline. The trending page exploded. Everyone waited to see how quickly I would be thrown out. The pathetic wife was finally swept out the door. When I stayed quiet, Jasper Prescott's tone turned playful, almost indulgent. "She's just a kid. She wanted the whole 'moment.' Your place isn't going anywhere." Then he added, as if assigning me a chore, "She's young. She can't handle things. Pay more attention to the engagement party's details." As though he feared I might cause trouble, he slid a black card across the table with casual ease. "Babe, you know what I value most," he said. "You being sensible." I pinched the cold card between my fingers, smiled, and nodded. No one knew the rule hidden inside our marriage. After we married, every time Jasper betrayed me, I took a piece of his fortune, stripping it from him one point at a time and adding it to my own. Once Christmas was over, I would take whatever he had left.

Fate. What is fate? According to my research, it is to be destined to happen, turn out, or act in a particular way. Iyon na ang dapat na mangyari e—nangyari na e. May magagawa pa ba? It is what it is kaya tatanggapin na lang? Para bang kahit anong mangyari sa buhay mo, wala ka nang magagawa. Iyon ang nakatadhana, iyon ang dapat na mangyari, iyon ang nakasulat sa libro ng buhay mo kaya wala na. Tanggapin mo na lang. I was born rich. Nakukuha ko ang lahat ng gusto ko—kailangan ko man o hindi. My attitude and personality was already rotten that nobody can tame me except for the man who introduced himself as my fiancee. If my parents were both heartless for me, he isn't. Ako lagi. Ako muna bago ang iba—bago siya. But, the story of my life isn't favor of me. From being proud and arrogant to pathetic life. Good thing that I have him. He is always the shoulder that I always have to lean on. He is like my guardian angel for taking care of me. Siya lang talaga ang may kayang umunawa sa akin. Siya lang talaga ang nag-iisang umiintindi sa akin. That's why I kept on asking him, why — why does he love me so much?

Her name was Cathedra. Leave her last name blank, if you will. Where normal people would read, "And they lived happily ever after," at the end of every fairy tale story, she could see something else. Three different things. Three words: Lies, lies, lies. A picture that moves. And a plea: Please tell them the truth. All her life she dedicated herself to becoming a writer and telling the world what was being shown in that moving picture. To expose the lies in the fairy tales everyone in the world has come to know. No one believed her. No one ever did. She was branded as a liar, a freak with too much imagination, and an orphan who only told tall tales to get attention. She was shunned away by society. Loveless. Friendless. As she wrote "The End" to her novels that contained all she knew about the truth inside the fairy tale novels she wrote, she also decided to end her pathetic life and be free from all the burdens she had to bear alone. Instead of dying, she found herself blessed with a second life inside the fairy tale novels she wrote, and living the life she wished she had with the characters she considered as the only friends she had in the world she left behind. Cathedra was happy until she realized that an ominous presence lurks within her stories. One that wanted to kill her to silence the only one who knew the truth.

“How can you do this to me, Zane?!” I ask in a heartbroken and devastated tone as tears roll down my cheeks in torrents.  “I stood by your side when everyone else left you! Hell, I donated my skin to you!” I say in a frantic tone as I try desperately to understand the reasons behind his actions.  “Stop being pathetic, Zara. You have lost the one thing that made you useful: your beauty, and in turn, your modelling career. The only woman who can secure my inheritance is Elora. You were only good while you lasted.” Zane says with a sneer on his lips.  “It's over between us,” Zane says with a tone of finality.  __________________________ Zara Smith, blinded by love, abandons her heiress legacy and hides her identity to marry an illegitimate billionaire heir, Zane Wesley. After getting into an accident staged by his step-siblings, he urgently needs saving. Despite being informed of all she had to lose, she donates parts of her skin to heal him. When Zane no longer sees a need for her, he divorces her and marries another heiress to secure his inheritance.  Three years later, she returns and is determined to bring Zane down. To do this, she reclaims her legacy and... forms an alliance with her all-along silent investor and billionaire heir, Leo Armstrong. Watch them ruin the cheating couple—piece by piece!

When Elara Vance was at her breaking point—homeless, grieving, and clutching a positive pregnancy test—she turned to the only person she ever trusted: Julian Thorne. But instead of the protection he promised, he gave her a cold shoulder and a one-way ticket out of his life, choosing his family’s empire over their "pathetic" love.Five years later, Elara is no longer the girl who begs. She has rebuilt her life from the ashes, fueled by a quiet strength and the secret she kept from the world. But fate has a cruel sense of humor.When her new job lands her in the inner sanctum of the tech industry’s most ruthless billionaire, she finds herself face-to-face with the man who destroyed her. Julian Thorne is now at his peak—more powerful, more handsome, and more dangerous than ever. He doesn't recognize the woman he discarded, but he wants her.He thinks he can win her with his billions, unaware that Elara isn't there for his money or his heart."You told me I was a mistake you couldn't afford, Julian. Now, I’m the debt you’ll never be able to pay off."As the past and present collide, Julian is determined to claim her, but Elara has a bombshell that could topple his empire: The child he never knew existed is waiting at home.

The day my husband, Ethan Hart, posted wedding photos in a bridal gown with the college girl he was sponsoring on his social media, I didn't fly into hysterics like I usually did. Instead, I gave them a like. I even left a comment: [Such a perfect match. Let's all wish the newlyweds a lifetime of happiness.] People in our circle said I was the most pathetic wife alive, letting the mistress walk all over me without resistance. A week later, he came home and explained, "It was just an act. Her grandfather is sick. Before he dies, he wants to see her get married." I nodded calmly. "I didn't take it seriously. I believe you." In my previous life, I had stormed into their wedding ceremony that very day and caused a scene, ruining their wedding. To punish me, Ethan went after my parents' company. He drove them into bankruptcy and forced them to jump to their deaths. And I was sent to a mental hospital by that woman, tortured until I truly went insane. So in this life, reborn with everything laid bare, I no longer crave his love. All I want is his money. Every time he cheats, I transfer a portion of the assets under his name. Three chances remain. After that, he will have nothing left.

“Fine, I accept your pathetic rejection, but mark my words, I, Abigail, vow to make you regret this decision!” I screamed, my voice shaking with the raw pain tearing through me. I locked eyes with him—the man I had loved with every fiber of my being. But he stared back, his expression cold and unmoved, as though the years we’d spent together meant nothing. How could he be so blind? I was his wife, bound to him by sacred vows, while Amanda was merely his mistress. Yet he chose her over me, casting aside our bond as though it were nothing but dust. --- Abigail had endured years of neglect, overlooked, and discarded like a shadow in her own home. She was Luna, yet she’d never known the respect or love that came with the title. Her one failure? She hadn’t given Alpha Chris a child, an heir to strengthen their pack. But when Amanda, his first love, returned, Chris became ruthless, flaunting his betrayal before her eyes. But destiny has a way of bringing light to the darkest of hearts. He’s everything Chris isn’t: strong, compassionate, and willing to break all rules for her. His heartbeat calls to hers, but can her shattered heart ever learn to love again? Will Abigail risk opening herself to the possibility of new love and redemption, or will her thirst for revenge consume her completely?

“You must be fooling yourself if you think I would accept being mated to a filthy, wolfless omega like you. Let’s cut to the chase and get to it. I, Xavier, future Alpha of Crystal Pack, reject you as my mate.” Xavier said and threw me to the ground. “Pathetic!” With one last disgusted glance, he left the room. *********** Abused and disregarded by the entire pack members, her adoptive parents, and her twin sister, who loathes her. Ariana endured all of this, hoping for a better life when she finally meets her mate. But when she is rejected by the one person she has waited for all her life, Ariana is heartbroken and plots to escape and start a new life of freedom, but fate has other plans for her. When Alpha Arthur comes to trade for omegas, and Ariana is brought forward as the last omega, she discovers she has been given a second chance mate. Arthur, the ruthless Alpha King who doesn’t believe in love but sees it as a weakness to his legacy, and a fragile, wolfless omega who happens to be his mate and maid. Can these two ignore the pull that keeps drawing them closer? Can Ariana break through the cold-iced heart of Arthur and bring warmth into it? Arthur is related to Ariana’s painful past. Will she claim her rightful place as his Luna at Shadow Howl Pack or let the consequences of their past destroy her forever?