Placating Gesture

After our class reunion, my best friend naturally expected me to play chauffeur and drive everyone home. I agreed. However, halfway down the road, a limited-edition luxury car slammed into the back of my car. The owner, who claimed to be a wealthy businessman from overseas, waved off the idea of filing an insurance claim. He said the crash was fate, and with a grand gesture, handed the luxury car over to me on the spot. From that day on, I drove the million-dollar luxury car every day, until jealousy consumed my best friend. She secretly sabotaged my car, and it ended with my death in a fiery wreck. My boyfriend turned on me, insisting I had simply fallen asleep at the wheel. My parents, unable to bear the shock, both died of heart attacks. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of the reunion.

What if nalaman mong 6 months na lamang ang ilalagi mo sa mundong ito? Ano ang pipiliin mo? Ang enjoyin mo na lamang ang natitirang oras mo rito sa Mundo o mas pipiliin mong sundin ang gusto ng mga magulang para lang masabi mo na bago ka mamatay ay naging proud sila sa 'yo? Isagani Ferrer, a handsome billionaire drugs Ziri Montefalco with intensity, and once Ziri have completely invested in that relationship, he intermittently reward and then withhold. This causes Ziri to behave in ways that go against her values and boundaries just to feel close to him, and a simple smile or gesture from Isagani will send Ziri into a momentary high. Slowly, he mold that innocent lady into a human puppet, which means that her mood and mental well-being depend on Isagani's wants.

She was deceived by people who were wolves in sheep's clothing and ended up dead on the operating table with both her eyes and uterus removed. However, God was kind enough to give her a second chance of life. She was gifted with ethereal beauty and a gaze that could kill. Every gesture and expression she made was as poisonous as opium poppy. Step by step, she laid out her scheme, swore to send people who murdered her down to hell and suffer in eternal doom. At the same time, she took great lengths to insinuate herself in the life of her ex-fiancé after breaking off the engagement in her past life for the douchebag. One day, she approached him with a seductive smile and said, "Mr. Gu, you might view me as wild and promiscuous, but in reality, I am a well-mannered lady. I am also loyal and faithful to my loved one. You will have to see past this facade in order to know the real me."

Miley's life fell apart on the night of her 19th Birthday. The celebration was tainted by the business of betrayal. At the party, Miley's drink was spiked, and when she felt ill, she staggered out of the room, only to stumble upon a conspiracy between her boyfriend and her sister. She had always known that her sister didn't love her. but what she hadn't expected was that her boyfriend, whom she had always trusted, was also in cahoots with her. Realization stung sharper than the cold air outside as she discovered their cruel intentions to humiliate her. Overwhelmed and betrayed, she found refuge in an unfamiliar room. But fate, it seemed, had a cocktail of sorrows lined up for her. In the room she sought refuge in was Logan Pierce. This man, a dominant and arrogant person, and her boyfriend's uncle were known to be a living nightmare for those who would cross his path. Under the influence of drugs, they slipped into a night, and he took her for the first time in ways she wished she could forget. Waking up to a world where accusations were hurled at her from all corners, her family turned their backs on her. Placating Logan seemed to have ranked higher than standing up for Miley, their own blood. Disowned and discarded, Miley found herself abandoned on the relentless, heartless streets. Years later, she had blossomed into the U.S. manager of Hales company. During a business meeting, she stumbled upon Logan once again. But the passing years had erased Miley's face from Logan's memory, arousing within him a curiosity and fascination for this elusive lady director. unable to recall the tragic past, Logan felt unwarranted anger towards Miley as he continuously evaded her- thus beginning their forbidden dance of desire yet again.

"I've known you forever, Mathia. I can read your every move, every gesture, every reaction, and every word. You don't need to say it out loud because you're mine, and that's all that matters. Your feelings for me don't change the fact that you belong to me." ~ Draken Luzevia. ---- Mathia and Draken were deeply in love, and fate seemed to have destined them to be inseparable. However, life had other plans, and their relationship bore fruit in the form of a child growing within Mathia's womb. Instead of joy, Mathia felt overwhelming sadness and a heavy heart when Draken abruptly left her. Uncertain about her future, she found strength in her determination to care for their child. As time passed, the inevitable happened - the two were reunited, and Draken laid eyes on his child with his former lover. But what drove Draken to abandon his child and the mother of his child in the first place?

My husband, Daniel Thompson, looked down on me. I was just a farmer's daughter in his eyes, and he never loved the son I gave birth to. It wasn’t until our baby turned 100 days old that he held him for the first time. Then, one day, his first love, Claire Matthews, came back to the city. That night at dinner, Daniel, who was always cold and distant, finally smiled. He even reached across the table and placed a piece of meat on Noah’s plate. Noah beamed all evening, clutching onto that tiny gesture like it was a treasure. Just before bed, he whispered to me, "Mom, do you think he likes me now… even just a little?" I wrapped him in my arms, tears blurring my vision as I gently shook my head. "No, sweetheart. It’s because the woman he truly loves is back. It’s time for us to go."

Seven years into our marriage, my husband, Lucas Thorne, is hailed as a legendary astronomer in the field of astronomy. It is no secret that he absolutely adores me, his wife. He always keeps a polite, distant demeanor with those around him. Even when his new assistant, Serena Cox, asks for his number, he coldly turns her down. In the year he proposed to me, he named a star "LAW", which was an acronym for "Lucas Adores Wilma". Since then, every asteroid he discovers is named with initials that hold a special significance only the two of us know. To others, they might just be scientific achievements. But to me, they are unspoken love letters. This goes on until this morning, when I stumble upon an unfamiliar phone. I unlock it easily with my middle name, thinking it's yet another quiet gesture of his love. But to my horror, I find a string of explicit messages between him and another woman. The person who was at the receiving end of those messages was none other than… Serena, his assistant.

Newly married and over the moon, Sienna inks her husband’s name on her lower back. A permanent gesture for a forever union, right? Wrong. Five years later, in the throes of a messy divorce, she is back to the tattoo shop to get a coverup tattoo. But she doesn’t expect to find that her tattoo artist is the hottest man alive — and he has been waiting for her. He is Gavin Kessler, the Tattoo Master. Tough on the outside, tougher on the inside. With an ugly past casting a long shadow on his present and future. What starts out as a crazy contract between them spirals into something far more dangerous. Sienna soon realizes she wants more than a tattoo from the Tattoo Master. She wants his díck, his protection, and if the differences between them will allow, his heart. Which of these is Gavin willing to give? ⚠️ WARNING: This book is exclusively for adult audiences (18+). It explores explicit sexual language, morally complex characters, toxic family dynamics and occasional violence.

"You should rest." I said, my voice embarrassingly breathless. "Probably." he agreed, but made no move to put distance between us. "You're trembling." "I'm tired. It's been a long night." I lied, my voice lacking conviction. "Liar." His free hand came up, brushing a strand of hair from my face. The gesture was surprisingly gentle, at odds with the raw intensity in his eyes. "Your heart's racing. I can hear it." ~ When the fierce Alpha wolf Roman Blackthorn shows up injured at her doorstep, village healer Mirabelle's life turns upside down. She's forced to join his pack as their healer, and honestly? She can't stand him. He's arrogant, dangerous, and infuriatingly attractive. As threats close in from all sides, Mirabelle and Roman find themselves drawn to each other, despite their best efforts to keep their distance. Can they survive each other long enough to face the real threat?

My birthday present this year is a written contract titled 'Behavioral Reform Contract'. My fiance, who was the mafia head Matteo Giovanni, and my parents have already signed their names at the bottom. Together, they had me sent to the Behavioral Correction Center. … The windows are always shut, and the sunlight is filtered through the metal window bars. They drug, reprimand, and ostracize me to make me shove my feelings of aggrievement down. Even while I am being humiliated and punished, they teach me to force a smile and maintain a steady breath. It was all done in the name of "treating" me. A year passes, and I go from being a so-called "troublemaker" to their ideal version of me—quiet, elegant, and utterly perfect. Matteo beams at me and says, "You've finally become my perfect wife. We can finally marry." I match his smile, a gesture that they think means obedience from my part. However, it is not true. It is just me bidding my farewell before I leave for good. There's something I don't understand, however. They constantly found me lacking, so now that I am gone from their lives, why are they falling apart?