Short Story By A Filipino Author

WE'RE BACK! Yes, your favorite cousins are back at it again, but this time it ain't about me. So, buckle up and grab your wine glasses, because it's gonna be crazy! Mina’s POV: Wait a damn minute. Am I in hell? Because if I am, I need to speak to HR. I didn't even get a chance to plead my case, give a reference or something. I'm about to start freaking out because, I'm not a “go to hell” and mean it type of person. I can't do heat for five minutes let alone an eternity. I feel like giving my life to save a baby and a man should have gotten me at least joint visitation six months in heaven and six months in hell. “Mina, are you awake?” I heard the voice quietly say next to my ear. I tried opening my eyes, but it felt like I had sand in them. I decided to try speaking, but only let out something that sounded like a sick animal. "Wait right there let me get you some water.” I heard a voice whisper again. Who the hell is that? I have heard that voice before but couldn't figure out who the hell it was. “! We need to move; they've found us.” The voice came again. Wait, what? Who the hell are they? I tried opening my eyes again, this time I managed to get them open enough to see the figure picking me up bridal style. Then the stranger turned his head to look directly in my eyes and I knew instantly who it was. “Blaze? You gotta be shitting me.” I said, obviously shocked. “Hey, can we join the party? I hope you are serving food because we are famished.” I heard a man say.

Aurora Hills marked the genesis of it all, where she was drugged, surrender her innocence to a stranger by night, stripped of power by morning and narrowly evade death grasp. six years later, Olivia Reynolds is back, perhaps fleeing from something and she is ready to mete out karma to those who wronged her, things are exactly as planned or so she thought. Till try throw Alexander kings, a filthy rich CEO, who happens to share an uncanny resemblance with her kids, and whom she is inexplicably drawn to, then suddenly it becomes a lot harder than expected. Will it unravel disastrously or could it lead to unexpected twist of fate? Will Olivia seek out her sweet perfect retribution or get caught up in an unexpected romance with Mr. CEO?

"Gusto kong pag-isipan mo ang inaalok kong kasal sa 'yo. Hindi kita mamadaliin, pero hindi rin ako tatanggap ng sagot na hindi. Tandaan mo 'yan, Saskia. Una pa lang kitang nakita, alam ko sa sarili kong magiging akin ka pagdating ng araw. Malas lang ng nobyo mo at niloko ka lang niya sa kabila ng pagiging perpekto mong babae," sambit nito sa seryosong tinig. Isang estrangherong gwapong lalaki ang lumapit kay Saskia Magsaysay Santos sa kalagitnaan ng kanyang kalungkutan dulot ng pagtataksil sa kanya ng kaniyang long-time boyfriend na si Gerald at ng pinsan niyang si Vivian. Tinanggap niya ang alok ng lalaki ayon sa idinidikta ng kanyang puso't isipan. Ngunit paano kung matuklasan niyang ang lalaking pinakasalan niya, si Weston Buencamino Del Flores, ay tiyuhin pala ng kanyang ex-boyfriend? Mamahalin pa rin kaya niya si Weston, kahit na kadugo ito ng lalaking nanloko sa kanya? O isasantabi na lang ba niya ang lahat upang patuloy na mahalin ito?

My mother claims my husband has cheated on me and pushes me to get a divorce. I want to collect evidence before proceeding with anything—if it's true, I have to uphold my rights. Yet she causes a scene at an art exhibition I've worked on for three years, humiliating me in public and making me sound like a gold digger. "How are you any different from a prostitute when you're holding this dumb exhibition with a man's money? I didn't raise you to be a gold digger! How can you be so revolting?" She slashes the million-dollar paintings in the exhibition, claiming that she's doing this for my good. She wants me to see the error of my ways and return to the right path. Meanwhile, I clutch my bloody hand, which she slashed with her blade. I say, "You say you want me to return to the right path, but is that what it really is? You want me to divorce my legally wedded husband, who's a CEO, without a penny to my name. "Then, you want me to marry a 45-year-old cheap man who has a child and no money? He even wants me to support him!"

There's an earthquake. My husband, the captain of the rescue team, abandons me to save Wendy Smith, his true love. I don't stop him. I let him go. Why? Because when he was faced with the same choice in my past life, he saved me because I was eight months pregnant. Meanwhile, Wendy remained trapped under the rubble. She ultimately died due to a lack of oxygen after the delayed rescue. Later, on the day I went into labor, my husband brought me to Wendy's grave. He watched me coldly as I collapsed on the ground from the searing pain. He ignored my pleas. "Does it hurt, Yelena? Wendy's pain was a thousand times worse when she was trapped under the rubble!" I stared at him in disbelief as he descended into insanity. "You were safe that night—you were in the safe triangle zone! Wendy would never have missed the best time for rescue if not for you using your pregnancy to threaten me! I want you to experience all the pain she went through!" He forced me down on my knees and bumped my head on the ground before Wendy's grave. He ignored the blood that flowed down my legs. Ultimately, I died after major blood loss from a difficult labor. When I open my eyes again, I'm back to the day the earthquake happened. This time, neither I nor my child will wait for him.

"Why do I even want you? I don't know Michelle! i don't know why I find it difficult, to think, to breath, to be human when I'm around you! My life ended the day I heard you were kidnapped and killed, I slept by your grave every day and night because that was the only place I could find peace, everyday I begged the heavens to take me instead and bring you back, I will die for you Michelle, and I will live because of you ", he said.I sniffed, "I live for you only", I said and then crashed my lips against his. * * What do you do when you walk into your best friend and your boyfriend having an affair a day to your wedding? What do you do when you get drunk and sleep with an alluring stranger? What do you do when you change town and find out that your new boss was your one night stand?What do you do when you sign a contract to be his fake wife for e year in exchange for help? And what do you do when you end up falling for him and what happens when he halls harder?

Skye Harris, a 24-year-old with nothing to her name except an old Subaru wagon and now a gothic style Victorian home that she bought at a Memphis house auction. She is determined to rebuild her life after wasting 6 years in an abusive relationship. While working on renovations of her new home, she begins to feel another presence. Jesse Martin has been alone in his old family home for some time. Some families have come and gone. Even some businesses as well. However, when a dark-haired beauty enters through the front door of his home, he is surprised to find that she can see and touch him. The two occupants of this old Victorian home begin to form a connection that bridges the space between the world of the living and the spirit world.

"Isang pirma sa kontrata… Isang kasunduan sa demonyo… Isang pag-ibig na parang bitag." Para kay Ava Castillo, ang kasal sa isang kontrata kay Dominic Velasco—isang bilyonaryong kilala sa pagiging malupit at walang puso—ay isang hakbang papunta sa gantimpala… o kapahamakan. Wala siyang ibang choice kundi tanggapin ang alok niya, pero hindi lang si Dominic ang may lihim—Ava has her own revenge to take. Pero hindi niya inaasahan kung gaano kalalim ang obsession ng lalaki sa kanya. Hindi lang kasal ang gusto nito. Gusto siyang ariin isip, katawan, at kaluluwa. Habang unti-unting lumalantad ang mga madidilim na sikreto, hindi na alam ni Ava kung sino ang tunay na biktima. Siya ba ang nagtratraydor o siya ang naloloko? Sa larong ito kung saan pag-ibig ang armas, tiwala ang pinakamapanganib, at ang pagnanasa ay lason, sino ang tuluyang mabibitag? Isang intense na billionaire romance na puno ng mind games, revenge, at isang obsessive na pagmamahal na maaaring sumira o magligtas sa kanila.

“I’m s-sorry *hiccup* I won’t try to run again *hiccup*” Kayla pleaded when she saw him coming towards her like a grim reaper. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as he closed the last of the distance between them, backing her into a corner of the room. She closed her eyes and covered them with her palm, unable to endure his dark gaze. He curled his fingers around her arms and pulled them back, but a frown set on his face when he saw that her eyes were still closed. “Look at me Kayla...” he demanded, his voice thick with the need to see her golden-brown orbs. He let go of her hands and cupped her face. “Open your eyes...” he tried a little gently this time. Kayla ever so slowly lifted her eye lids, giving him the sight that he had been deprived of. A rare smile flitted on his lips when his eyes collided with the most stunning pair of pearls that adored the girl that he had become obsessed with. “Will you *hiccup* p-punish me?” she asked. “For what you did, you deserve a punishment. Don’t you think so, Malyshka?” he smirked as he caressed her bottom lip with his thumb. Even even before she could say another word, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, gaining a surprised yelp from her. “W-what are you *hiccup* doing!?” she felt scandalized to be hanging upside down on his muscular torso. “You’ll find out soon enough” he stated coldly and strode towards the bed. And upon reaching it, he transferred her onto the mattress. “And now for the punishment...” he muttered as he leaned onto the bed and hovered above her, sending a cold shiver down her spine.

Warning: This book is for fearless readers only. If you can’t handle heat, knotting, breeding, obsession, or two Alphas who would kill to claim what’s theirs… turn back now. I mean it. Because once you step into this story, there’s no way out. Not without scars. Not without shaking. Not without wanting more. I went into heat for the first time on campus. He found me. He pinned me down. He dragged his tongue up my thighs and told me I belonged to him. Then his father walked in. He didn’t stop us. He didn’t speak. He didn’t blink. He watched. He growled. And he wanted me next. Now I can’t forget what they did to me. One held my hips. The other held my throat. They made me fall apart until I couldn’t remember who I was before them. They are both Alphas. They are both my mates. And they both left their mark. But I only get to keep one. So tell me… How do you choose between the man who claimed you first. And the one who made you beg? Read at your own risk. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when your heart races… and your thighs won’t stop clenching. Welcome to the heat. See you on the other side.