Shouldn't Be Chords

Running late for work, I had no choice but to call an Uber. As luck would have it, my boss turned out to be my Uber driver. We stared at each other awkwardly. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Let me guess... running late?" Me: ... Later, he docked my pay. I gave him a one-star review.

On the day the gauze was removed from my eyes, I joked that I was blind. "Don't be afraid if you can't see. I'll take care of you my entire life." My husband and best friend took care of me while I was in the hospital. They sincerely made that promise to me. However, when we got home, all three of us were on the same bed. My best friend rode on top of my husband breathlessly. They were caught up in their intimacy as they thought I could not see. My best friend was worried I would suspect something and spoke up to eliminate any suspicion. "Uhh… Summer, I'm just giving your husband a massage." I was so disgusted that I wanted to throw up, but I held myself back. Once they were done, I was about to find an excuse to leave the room when my five-year-old suddenly ran in. "I miss you so much, Mom!" Hearing that warmed my heart, and I opened my arms to hug him, but he ran past me and lay down next to my best friend instead. The 'happy family of three' were all smiles and threw me looks of disgust. I could no longer tolerate this. When I called my lawyer, I told him to bring me the divorce papers. If they wanted to become a family so badly, I would make their wish come true. I just did not know if my best friend could afford to earn a decent enough income to take care of my useless husband and son.

Five years after Mom and Dad died, my sister, Miley Jenkinson, sent me away to a residential treatment center to "fix" me. She flung my luggage at me and roared, "You love fighting so much, Delia? Then, stay here. Maybe I'll come back for you once you've learned to behave." Next thing I know, Miley's sworn enemy is beating me senseless. Meanwhile, Miley loses it on the other end of the line. "Fight back! Why aren't you fighting back?" My gaze is blank as I say, "Because you said fighting made me one of the bad ones."

My wife, Lindsey Kelsey, suffers from an aversion to intimacy. For ten years of marriage, she pushed me away again and again. Then, on our anniversary, she abandoned me and, in front of the crowd, kissed another man with reckless passion before the two of them walked hand in hand into a luxury hotel. Afterward, Lindsey brazenly declared that a real man should be magnanimous, not petty. Magnanimous? Then I wish them both eternal bliss—may they be bound so tightly they can never break free from one another. Later, I handed Lindsey the divorce papers with a blank expression. I was determined to walk away from her. But Lindsey went mad when she realized she couldn't find me anymore.

My billionaire husband suffered from chronic insomnia for years. Only the sleep balm I made could help him sleep. On the night of our seventh wedding anniversary, his childhood sweetheart poured a basin of scalding water over the old camphor tree in our garden. I wept and tried to save the tree as she apologized, “I didn’t know you used its leaves to make the sleep balm.” My husband gently comforted her and ordered his men to tie me to the tree trunk instead. “What a precious tree. You’ll spend the rest of your days with it!” With my wrist fractured as a result, I filed for divorce immediately. A month later, my husband was unable to sleep late one night. He stood in the garden and stared at the withered camphor tree.

"I will forever be your nightmare and you can't run from me, you are my whore!", David whispered into her ears as tears rolled down her cheeks Elena Brooks was tortured, abused, and betrayed by her husband, David Paul, the very man she loved with all her heart. And after she was cast out to die and rot in shame, she crossed paths with a daredevil who was no other person than her husband's top enemy and uncle, Mark Russell. A ruthless man whose wealth commanded respect and fear in the entire city. Will she offer her loyalty to the feared billionaire in exchange for an opportunity to get revenge on her ex-husband and make him suffer?. Or run back to David and beg with tears, to redeem herself and their broken relationship?. Read to find out the intriguing, sad, and heartbreaking paths of this journey.

Three days ago, I almost died. A birthday cake was needed for my sister, Rosa Esposito's birthday, so my dad told me to pick it up. He claimed that this was my way of making it up to Rosa for accidentally spilling coffee onto her new dress. When I was cornered in an alley by the thugs, I was in the middle of sending Rosa an apology text. They covered my mouth and dragged me into a van. That was when I heard them say, "Yup, that's her alright. That's the bitch named Rosa Esposito." I shook my head, trying to explain that I wasn't Rosa at all. But my name didn't matter at all when blows started raining down on me. That was how I spent the next three days in living hell. By the time I wake up in the hospital, my phone harbors a new family photo sent by Rosa. It features my dad, my older brother, Rafael Esposito, as well as my husband, Enzo Vitale. All three of them can be seen surrounding Rosa. When I was in the middle of getting pinned on the ground while feeling blades slashing my skin, these people were celebrating Rosa's birthday happily with her. Later on, Rosa smiles at my face. "Do you have any idea how much I hate that face of yours? I also hate how much better you are than me as well as the fact that everyone likes you more than me! "That's why I've robbed all of their love from you… be it Dad, Rafael, or your husband! You, on the other hand, deserve to be alone till the day you die!" At that moment, I've made three choices. First, I forge a miscarriage report. Next, I place a signed divorce agreement into a giftbox. Finally, I dial the number of my mentor, Sofia Bianchi. There, I agree to participate in a classified project research that will last for ten years without getting in contact with anyone. Since then, I, Valentina Esposito, have never existed in this world.

BE WITH YOU (TAGALOG) Lumaki si Adeline Pendleton sa isang mayamang pamilya. Nasa kanya ang lahat ng gusto ng isang tao sa buhay. Kayamanan, katanyagan, kagandahan, pera, mga damit na taga-disenyo, at mga masasarap na pagkain. Lahat, maliban sa lalaking mahal niya- si Drake Wright. Si Drake Wright ay ang tagapagmana ng Wright's Corporation. Sa kanyang murang edad, bumuo ang kanyang mga magulang ng isang imperyo na mamanahin niya balang araw. Okay ang lahat para sa kanya, hanggang sa nasangkot ang kanyang ama sa isang seryosong sitwasyon na nakaapekto sa kanilang kumpanya. Sinabihan siya ng kanyang mga magulang na malulugi ang kanilang kumpanya at ang tanging makakalutas sa kanilang problema ay dapat niyang pakasalan ang anak ng kanilang kaibigan- si Adeline Pendleton. Hindi niya gusto ang babae dahil ito ay masyadong walang muwang para sa kanya; naiinis siya sa presensya nito, at may mahal na siyang iba. Sa kasamaang palad, may malubhang karamdaman din ang kanyang ama at wala siyang magawa sa kanilang kumpanya kaya't humingi ito sa kanya ng pabor na ayusin ang problema para sa kanya. "Marry her, son. That's the only way. If you won't, maglalaho lahat ng sinakripisyo at ginawa namin ng ina mo para sa kumpanya natin." Sabi ng ama ni Drake habang nakahiga sa kanyang kama, hindi maigalaw ang kanyang mga kamay. Ano kaya ang mangyayari sa one-sided at broken marriage nina Drake at Adeline? Kakayanin kaya ni Adeline ang malupit na pagtrato at kayabangan ni Drake? Mabubuhay ba silang magkasama bilang mag-asawa nang walang pagmamahal at pagkakaintindihan? O mamumulaklak ang pag-ibig sa gitna ng bawat poot at hindi pagkakaunawaan?

THE PLAYBOY AND THE GOOD GIRL Mixing business with pleasure can be dangerous but also quite sexy. “Playboy” Liam Right works for one of the best insurance companies in the States. His skillfulness and professionalism are well appreciated by his boss and rightfully so, he’s in line for a huge promotion. Unfortunately, only married men get such promotions. So, for the next three months, Liam needs someone to play the role of the dotting fiancée. And it’s quite urgent to find this perfect “someone” since his boss wants to meet the “future Mrs. Right”. Chef Maxima Davenport has returned to New York to fulfill her goals: become one of the best chefs in the country and create her own “empire”, starting from a small catering business. She needs a perfect place big enough to take her first steps. The solution to her problem comes from Liam, her best friend’s brother and the one Maxima has loved since she was fifteen. So, Maxima agrees to help him but a few rules of this fake engagement must be followed religiously. No kissing or touching unless it can’t be helped. No sex... Definitely no sex. No fooling around while they are in the privacy of Liam’s apartment. But can they really follow these simple rules?

BLURB: Dianne Ace Reyes. Isang babae na sa murang edad ay nag padalos-dalos ng desisyon pagdating sa paghahanap ng kanyang Truelove. Kaya nakapag boyfriend ito kahit wala naman siya ni katiting na nararamdaman sa lalake. Hanggang sa hindi rin sila tumagal. Ang hindi niya alam ay simula First Year Highschool palang siya ay may isang lalake na ang palihim siyang minamahal. Hanggang sa makilala niya si Jaxxon Kade Ibarra. Kuya ng Best Friend niyang si Maxine. Hindi alam ni Dianne na ang kapatid ng kanyang best friend ay yung lalake na palihim siyang minamahal sa loob ng ilang dekada. And then naging sila ilang buwan ang makalipas simula nang pinagtagpo sila ng tadhana. But in an unexpected incident, they separated and there was no closure for six years. After six years of being seperated without good closure, muli silang pinagtagpo ng kanilang koneksyon at doon parehas na silang succesfull sa buhay. Ang Dianne Ace na dating Sales-Lady lang sa Mall ay ngayon ay isang kilalang Architect na. At ang Jaxxon Kade na dating CEO lang ng kompanya ng kanyang pamilya ay ngayon ay may sarili nang Firm at mga Mall. “ If the connection is real, We'll see again. Maybe not in weeks, months or even years. But at some point, we will connect again. We will meet again in the best version of us.” Yan ang pinanghahawakan ni Jaxxon. Pero posible pa ba na magkabalikan sila? Kung ang pag kaka-alam ni Dianne ay may anak na si Jaxxon.