Pathological Joking

Sa loob ng apat na taon, wala nang ibang pinangarap si Elize Monteverde kundi ang maikasal sa kanyang nobyo na si Calvin Sarmiento. Subalit sa araw mismo ng kanilang kasal, hindi sumipot si Calvin sa simbahan dahil mas inuna nitong tulungan ang kababata nito na humingi rito ng saklolo. Dahil labis na nasaktan, nagpasya si Elize na makipaghiwalay sa nobyo, magpakalayo-layo at muling makipagkasundo sa kanyang pamilya na nakasamaan niya ng loob mula nang piliin niya ang tawag ng pag-ibig kaysa sa pakiusap ng mga ito. Sa muling pagbangon ni Elize, muli niyang bubuuin ang kanyang buhay at mga pangarap sa tulong ng mga taong tunay na nagmamahal sa kanya. At kung kailan inaakala ng dalaga na maayos na ang takbo ng kanyang buhay, saka niya makikilala si Rafael Dominic Del Fierro o Ralph, ang bilyonaryong kinatatakutan ng lahat dahil sa magaspang na pag-uugali nito. They will share one drunken night together, prompting Ralph to offer her marriage the next day. “K-kasal? Hindi ginagawang biro ang kasal, Mr. Del Fierro,” ani Elize, puno ng pagtutol ang tinig. “And who told you I’m joking? I’m dead serious. Marry me, Ms. Monteverde.” “P-pero bakit? It’s just a one-night-stand!” Umangat ang gilid ng labi ni Ralph. “I only have one reason, your brother is my enemy. Now, you marry me or you will never ever go back to your family.” Napasinghap si Elize, nanginig. Ano na naman ba iyong pagkakamaling nagawa niya?

The night Enzo was made boss of the Moretti family, I gave him my virginity. He was the heir I'd been promised to since before I could speak. We kissed against the floor-to-ceiling windows, tangled in the humid, twilight heat... His rough, urgent hands hurt me, but I didn't pull away. Even the pain felt sacred, a sacrifice I was willing to make for love. Lost in the heat of the moment, he promised me a pair of the most beautiful crystal shoes, so I could dance the opening waltz with him at his coronation ceremony the next day. The first dance is always reserved for the new boss and his future bride. I cried with joy, believing my years of secret pining and patient waiting would finally culminate in a fairytale ending. But I was wrong. So terribly wrong. The next morning, I dragged my aching body out to get his favorite espresso, only to overhear the guys joking as I returned: "So you finally popped the family cherry, huh? How was Vivian on your first night as boss?" Enzo's voice was lazy, mocking. "Face of an angel, body of a devil. She's a hot little viper in bed." The room erupted in sleazy whistles. "So, you really gonna marry her, young boss?" "Are you kidding me?" Enzo scoffed. "Vivian's just a warm-up. Once I get some practice in, I'll go tame the Falcone ice princess. When I get bored, I can always circle back and put a ring on her." I stood frozen in the doorway, my vision blurring, the coffee cup trembling in my hand. Before the world faded to black, I sent a coded message to the Don: "Uncle Romano, for the promotion in three days, get me a transfer. As far away from Enzo as possible."

For the past three months, I've slept only three hours every day just so my team and I can create an app. Thanks to our hard work, the app goes absolutely viral to the point we've garnered over 100 million registered users on the first week of its launch. At the afterparty, my wife, Stacie Woodward, announces that her godbrother, Tory Frost, who's the PR manager, will be the one receiving the million-dollar bonus. She then tosses me a few 50% discount coupons that can be used in shopping malls as my bonus. "You're just a code monkey—why do you need that much money anyway? You can have these discount coupons. Use them on anything you want. At least buy some nice clothes for yourself. Don't go around wearing these rags. You'll just end up humiliating me more." I plead to her in a low tone, "Have you gone crazy, Stacie? My dad needs the money for the best medication in order to save his life! Can you please stop joking around?" But Stacie clings to Toby's arm, looking high and mighty. "Your dad's dying, isn't he? He might as well stop wasting the public resources! I can always choose him a better grave and hold a nice funeral for him when his time comes!" As I look at Stacie's smug face, I just smile at her instead of getting mad at her. She must have forgotten that the app's core algorithm and the user growth model are built using my private, undisclosed technology stack. That means the copyright is mine and has nothing to do with the company. I just smile while nodding at Stacie. That night, I activate the technology stack's self-destruct and migration protocols.

Ed grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him, his hand wrapping her tiny waist, without a second thought he pressed his lips on hers, kissing her. It was filled with hunger, lust and passion. He yearn for her, all this while. And right now he had to show this crazy rich guy, she belongs to him. And only him. "I don't care what people say, I the only one for you." He breath slowly, but as he devour every inch of her lips, she hadn't responded, but struggles to get free. She pushed him back, getting free from his grip. "Ed, listen to me, I don't love you anymore." She gulped, wiping her lips. Wiping away his kiss. As if it some filth was rubbed was her. "No, you do." He let out a weiry chuckle. "Actually I only fall for you because of your money and fame." Areena raved harshly. This is a joke, right. she is'nt like this ... The shy Areena he fell for. Though she ignore him recently. But this isnt happening. Areena is dumping him. That not happening even in his wildest dream. But sadly this is no dream. "You're joking right." "I'm not!!" she yelled and walked towards the handsome guy, grabbing his hand. He gently grab her chin, he wiped her lips with his hankie, and landed a kiss on her. *** In a world where love between the Noble and Servile is forbidden, Ed and Areena fall in taboo relationship, despite the dangers, they cannot resist their fiery passion for one another and are willing to risk everything to be together. Areena is torn away from Ed as Dean came into her life, she must make a heart-wrenching decision between the two, who is she going to choose ...

The day I finally secured an investment worth over 20 million dollars, I walked into the office and immediately caught sight of that calculating assistant wearing a smug look as she spread gossip around. According to her, my husband, the CEO, was planning to strip me of my position and exile me to some forgotten branch in Northreach. Contract in hand, I headed straight for the CEO's office. I stood behind my husband and rubbed his temples while joking casually, "You won't believe what I just heard. Apparently, you're sending me off to a branch office. If only they knew we've been married in secret for seven years and are about to make it public." He didn't look surprised at all. He gently pushed my hand away and smiled. "It's not a rumor. Andrea messed up the last project, and the board is breathing down my neck. They want someone sent to Northreach, and they picked her. That place is brutal. She wouldn't survive it. She's not like you. She doesn't have the luxury of failure. If she goes there, her career is finished. She was my junior back in school. I can't let her life fall apart." He paused, then added softly, "Once you come back, I'll announce our marriage. And I'll make sure you get what you've always wanted. A child." I smiled, but it held no warmth. I turned around and walked out without another word. Before I reached the elevator, I made a call to his biggest competitor. "Looking for a vice president? I'm bringing 20 million dollars of funding with me. I only ask for one thing: Don't send me to Northreach."

The Millennium Wolf Series: The Millennium Wolf: King Of Alpha's (BOOK 1): The Millennium Wolf: Pleasure Of A Dark Alpha (BOOK 2): "I owe your body, Samira, all of it, from your lips to your breasts and pussy, they're mine and if you say a word about it not being owned by me, then I am going to have to pin you in that bed and engraved my name over them because they're mine properties, M.I.N.E, and believe me I will bring out your soul and stamp it with my name." She is her own Alpha And Omega. Legends has it that Omegas are known as weak creatures but Samira rose from the top to prove legend wrong. The first time I saw him, he was five years old and I was fourteen. He had helped me. He had saved me. He, the strongest Millennium King of the Alpha's, was my savior and that day he made a promise to me that he will marry me when he grows up. I thought the little kid who had saved my life was joking until I met him a third time years later and had a one night stand with him and had his child in secret without him knowing. I, known as Mr King, who is the most dangerous assassin you will ever come across, became his prey while hiding his son who is just as dangerous as him. "My mum is single, beautiful and likes you a lot and since she likes you a lot, you have to marry her even if I have to force you." BOOK 2: He is a dangerous Psychopath. A wicked Sadist. She is a forbidden fruit. "Where have you been all my life?" "You were still in your mother's womb Hiro." Rozralas sneer.

It was our seventh bonding anniversary. However, Xavier Ashton, the Alpha who controlled everything, brought home his pregnant lover. For the past seven years, he worshipped me. He would kiss my hand in front of everyone and say I was his moon, the only Luna of his life. Yet now, his hand rested on another she-wolf's belly, as if showcasing a miracle. "She's carrying my first pup. You have the Moon Goddess's power. I want you to bless her. Also, she's been having nightmares during the pregnancy, so she'll take the main bedroom." I froze, almost convinced I had misheard him. "Are you joking? That's my room!" He looked up, his tone carrying a warning. "From today, it's hers." Anger nearly made me laugh. My voice shook, but it was clear. "You got some lowly Omega she-wolf pregnant and brought her into our home? Xavier Ashton, you've completely lost your mind!" "I won't say this a third time. Move out now." His aura turned ice-cold in an instant. His Alpha pressure hit me head-on, making my wolf whimper inside me. He thought I would obediently submit, but he did not know that I had already packed my bags weeks ago, when I received the video of his affair. As I walked toward the front door, I heard him sneer behind me, "Let her throw a tantrum. She'll come crawling back in less than three days." The pack members snickered behind me, already betting on how many days I would last this time. However, the private car sent to pick me up was already waiting at the door. This time, I was cutting ties with him for good.

Every bonding anniversary, Shawn would bring home a new human girl from the outside—always under the lovely pretense of letting me mentor her on how to serve an Alpha. On our seventh anniversary, he brought back a nightclub girl dressed in a Princess Snow White outfit—cheap satin trembling under the chandelier's light. “She doesn’t have anything appropriate for an occasion like this,” he said casually. “Let her borrow your bonding dress. And the jewelry I gave you last time. As for shoes—what you're wearing now will do.” Then he added, with a trace of irony, “She’s just a young human girl, clueless. Teach her a few things about our world, will you? Especially the part about the bed.” Everyone was waiting for the spectacle—for me to break again, as I always had. And I didn’t disappoint them. I looked at Shawn, my voice steady, and said I wanted a bond-severance. He laughed—short and sharp—and leaned back like he was watching a comedy. “Clara, when are you going to stop with this bond-severance nonsense? I’ve heard it so many times. They’re just human girls, while you are my Luna. How could they ever compare to you?” Then, grinning as if doing me a favor, he added, “Fine. If you really want a bond-severance, I’ll gift you a territory in the south. Consider it a reward for doing your job as my Luna.” The room erupted in laughter. To them, I was ridiculous—greedy, jealous, hysterical. But what they didn’t know was that this was the 365th time I’d asked for a bond-severance. And the first time, I truly meant it. When he found out I wasn’t joking this time, he lost his composure. He searched for me across the world—only after he realized I was no longer where he thought I’d always be.

Thor and I grew up together—we were the definition of childhood sweethearts. We'd promised to attend the same university, graduate, and marry right after senior year. Everyone envied us. They said we were a perfect match, destined for a lifetime together. And I believed that too. I truly thought I'd spend the rest of my life with him. Until the final semester of our senior year in high school, when a new transfer student named Lina joined our class. At first, the two barely spoke. But as they grew familiar, their bond deepened in ways I could no longer ignore. He started staying after school to tutor her, bringing her breakfast every morning. When she was upset, he'd take her for a drive along the coast. If she craved Italian steak, he'd have fresh cuts flown in. Even during her period, he'd quietly prepare everything she needed. I was furious. I confronted him, argued with him, and even threatened to break up. The first time I said it, he thought I was joking and coaxed me out of my anger. The second time, he dismissed it as another tantrum and tried different ways to please me. The third time, he broke down—standing outside my house in the pouring rain all night, half kneeling before me, begging for forgiveness. Again and again, I tried to leave, and every time, he refused to let me go. Yet with each reconciliation, something in him shifted. He started taking me for granted, assuming I would always come back. His patience wore thin. His apologies turned perfunctory. Even when he came to make peace, there was no sincerity left in his voice. So I said it for the hundredth time, and that was the last. That was the moment I finally gave up on him.

"If I knew I would lose all of it, I would have let you go from the beginning." Those were the last words Nadine said before collapsing from falling down the stairs. "If you had never been in my life, you wouldn't have lost it all." And the last thing she remembered was the cold face of her husband, who was disgusted to see her. Nadine thought it was the end of her life. And when she opened her eyes hell would await her. "Wait.. Why is it so comfortable in hell? And why is it similar to my room?" When Nadine opened her eyes she didn't feel any pain in her head and she was still wearing her nightdress. The sound of her mobile phone alarm made her startled. And what surprised her most, she found out the date on her phone. She returned three years ago. More precisely, one day before her wedding day with her husband. In disbelief, he circled her house, asking the servant what date it was. But they have the same answer. "God... Must be joking! Ha ha ha... For all day...." She laughed frantically. "If You want me to pay for my sin, choose before I've forced him to marry me." She bit her nail nervously and began to think. "I separated him from his lover once to marry me. Make an innocent man become a cheater and a despicable husband. Kill our unborn baby to get his attention. And end my life in misery. Now I have a second chance. I have to fix everything. Everything.... Maybe he and my unborn baby will forgive me and I won't die young." How can Nadine fix this mess? Can she get her husband's forgiveness? Or will she end up losing everything like before?