Scary Phone Numbers

On Christmas Eve, my six-year-old, Yule, was dying from cancer, and all he wanted was a gift from his dad dressed as Santa. I called Peter, my husband, begging him to come. His reply? "Can you stop blowing up my phone? I don't have time for this! I'm helping Tracey find Puffy. Do you know how upset she is?" Oh, Tracey. His first love. And Puffy? Her dog. I told him Yule might not make it through the night. His response? A straight-up dagger: "Don't act like this isn't your fault, Freya. If Yule hadn't kicked Puffy, none of this would've happened. Tomorrow, make sure he apologizes to Tracey." Then he hung up. That night, I sat with Yule, crying as I helped him celebrate his last Christmas. By morning, Peter's social medias were still full of posts about that freaking dog. Mine? Yule's obituary. Ten years of marriage, gone.

My brother-in-law passed away in an accident. Out of pity for his widow, my husband decided to be the breadwinner for both families. After that, my husband and son both gave all their love to my widowed sister-in-law. On her birthday, my husband and son reserved a restaurant in town for her party. I was plucking corn in the field when I started bleeding, a sign that I was miscarrying. I called my husband, begging him to come home and take me to the hospital. However, he scolded me angrily, calling me a liar. “What the hell are you talking about? I haven’t touched you in months! How could you be pregnant?” My son grabbed the phone impatiently as well. “Mom, the teacher said lying is wrong! Aunt Laura’s blowing out the candles now, bye!” We had been married for seven years, yet they had completely forgotten that today was my birthday too. Despairing, I dialed another number. “Mother, I changed my mind. I’m going back to inherit the clinic.”

"You really should run away from me, Aunty," he kissed her cheek- so soft, he melted. "But I'll find you. No matter where you go, even death can't hide you from me," he mumbled one of his most sacred vows into her cheek. His words resonated deep in her consciousness. If he said that to her ears everyday, she would wake up one day feeling like she belonged to him. Squeezing her hands, she cursed the obvious blush on her face and cursed herself too for being sick in the head. How could something so scary make her heart beat so fast? *** Anastasia Robie has been accused of killing her Alpha. Put behind bars by her Pack, she faces trial at the hands of the new Alpha who turns out to be her mate. One rejection later after nights of passionate sex and his wife is asking for her head. She manages to escape only to be chased by the top assassins in the world. As fate would have it, Leroy Adams has found his mate and no hands must touch her. He must have her to himself but first, give her the revenge she seeks. Her immunity is assured when he's the Boss of the same association sent to kill her. A dangerous game of hide and seek, a broken beta scarred to love again and a sweet Lycan who would stop the world for his mate. What could possibly go wrong? or who... would dare touch his pride and Joy?

Just as Justin proposed to me, a phone call interrupted him. Standing close by, I clearly heard the voice on the other end of the line. “Justin, I’m hurt. My leg hurts so much!” Justin snapped the ring box shut and looked at me. “Alice is injured. I’ll have to do this another time.” With those words, he sprinted away, leaving everyone around us staring in astonishment. I had never met Alice, but her presence lingered in every corner of our lives.  At meals, Justin would mention her fondness for sweet desserts.  When I dressed, I came to know her love for soft lavender hues. I argued, I wept, I lashed out, but Justin always countered with the same line. “You’re so jealous. Everyone has their first love. She’s my past, but you’re my future.” So, I turned to a man who had once called me his first love—Quentin—and made a bold proposition. “Let’s get married.”

After helping the company secure a project worth 30 million dollars, the HR department suddenly tells me that I'm fired, and I will not be receiving any of my bonuses this year. Confused, I look for my boss, Jett Leroy, to ask him about it. However, he points his finger in my face and yells at me, "If it weren't for you being a stupid Scorpio, being the most toxic match for me and affecting the company's luck, we wouldn't have had a 30% drop in net profits this year! "I'm already generous enough by not making you compensate for all the losses you caused me! How dare you still ask me for more money? Get lost if you know what's best for you!" I smile when I read the text message notification on my phone and hurriedly sign the release documents. Jett is right. My horoscope and his definitely don't get along well. After all, I will be coming for his ass just a short while later!

In the two years after Bradley Vaughn's so-called "memory loss," we divorced seven times—all to keep his childhood crush Vivian Monroe happy. Number eight? Because Vivian got pregnant. "You can't have kids anyway. Once Vivian has the baby, we'll get back together. You can raise the kid." That was his usual ice-cold line as he slid the papers across the table. That night, he kicked me out—said Vivian got nauseous just seeing me. I moved into another house. Alone. In the rain. Even after I landed in the ER from a near assault, he didn't bother asking if I was okay. Then one day, I spotted him at a clinic with Vivian. He rubbed her belly and laughed, "So what if she finds out I faked the amnesia? She can't live without me. Toss her a bone, she'll come crawling." I looked away, steady. Then my phone buzzed. [How did your checkup go?]

"I have found your woman" Mark, said through the phone. "What!" James who was coming out of the shopping mall exclaimed "Yes, I saw her in Northland. In very pitiful conditions. She was......." James cut the phone immediately without letting Mark finish with what he wanted to say. "Prepare the jet immediately we are going back to Topland," James told his assistant Toby after he hung up on the phone. He is not prepared to come back home so soon because he is still hurt by the way Catherine abandoned him. However, after receiving such information from Mark he has the urge to see her and ask her why she left him like she did. He thought he could move on with his life, but that girl was irresistible. Her image kept coming back to his memory and made him lose control of his emotions. Fortunately when he least expected he received such news. "The jet is ready boss" Toby announced and instantly James and his men headed to Top Land.

My son asked me for something I couldn’t give. “Just three chances, Mom,” he whispered. “If he really doesn’t love us after that… we’ll leave forever.” He was talking about his father — Giovanni Romano. The heir to a Mafia empire. My husband in name only. He never called our son his own. He never once said he loved me. Chance one, Giovanni forgot. Chance two, he lied. Chance three… he broke something no apology could fix. So I packed our bags, held my son’s hand, and walked away. No tears. No goodbyes. Just quiet. The night our plane took off, my phone buzzed. “Wait,” his message read. “I’m coming home.” But home isn’t where he is anymore. It’s wherever my son finally sleeps without crying. Because some promises don’t break — they shatter. And some mothers never wait again.

Everyone thought he called me into his office to scold me. But when I got home, my phone lit up. “I’m sorry… did I f**k you too hard?” he asked, calm as ever. *** After years of being Grant’s invisible wife, Aurelia finally chooses herself. She leaves the mansion, the marriage, and the man who made her feel small. But healing doesn’t come easy, not when your ex can’t let go. Her new boss turns out to be the man every woman whispers about, Julien Knightley, ruthless in the boardroom, magnetic in every other room. The kind of man who sees through the walls she built, and makes her want to live again. But when Grant realizes he’s lost control, obsession replaces love, and the lines between power, passion, and possession blur. The end of her marriage was the beginning of her dangerous new story. A story of healing, second chances, and a woman who refuses to stay broken...

Isabela "Isha" Vergara has it all - beauty, brains, and a future everyone envies. To the world, she's the daughter of a wealthy, respectable family living comfortably in one of Manila's richest cities. But behind the elegant façade is a home built on lies and fear. Her father, a desperate businessman drowning in debt, hides his failures behind charm and manipulation. A narcissist and a gaslighter, he gambles away what's left of their fortune while her mother, too afraid to lose the luxury she clings to, chooses silence over truth. One night, Isha overhears a phone call that shatters her world: a deal made in the shadows to settle her father's massive debt. The price? Her. Without her knowing, she's been sold... and the man who bought her is Kervin - her father's powerful business partner whose intentions go far beyond business. Now, trapped in a web of deceit and desire, Isha must face the darkest truths behind the perfect family portrait and decide how far she's willing to go to reclaim her freedom.